Homily on Romans 5 Lent 3 Year A March 23,2014

The story of the Samaritan woman at the well meeting Jesus is one of the longest encounters with Jesus recorded in scripture. That’s why is good to be able to do it as a narrative reading—to accentuate the dialogue.

But while this story from John’s gospel explores many important themes, I’d like to look instead at the reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

When we suffer through physical or mental illness, we may wonder where God is in all this. We pray for healing, for restoration of health. Yet if our prayers aren’t answered in the way we hope, then what does that mean?

Does it mean our prayers were ignored? That we are being punished or judged to have fallen short?

Paul has an answer, but not one we necessarily expect or hope for. He says we are justified by our faith. In Paul’s time justification was a legal term. A person was justified if declared not guilty of the charge, which brought him or her before the court.

Paul uses this metaphor to describe how we have a new relationship with God, through what God has done for us in his so Jesus. We are “not guilty” of our sins through the grace of Jesus.

And not only that we have a chance to share in God’s glory through the gift of eternal life.

However that doesn’t mean things will be easy.

Next comes a very important reminder of the nature of human life: “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the holy spirit. That has been given for us.”

This is a statement of faith, but also a statement of reality. Too often particularly in our affluent society we expect to have instant gratification. Suffering doesn’t fit into our idea of the good life, so we struggle when suffering comes along, and don’t develop that endurance that Paul is talking about.

As followers of Christ we must develop endurance out of our sufferings, whatever they may be, on order to carry on as a a people of hope.

Too much we see cynicism and individualism prevail in our common life as a society.

But in Jesus, God has offered us blessings, reconciliation, the chance of a life filled with the love of God and our fellow human beings.

That is a life with the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we can share with our families, our friends, our community. It is a gift freely offered. It doesn’t mean we won’t have sufferings or even doubts. But Paul gives us the powerful message that Christ came for us in our weakness, not our strength.

God loves us in spite of how we fall short. Our reconciliation to God, through Jesus, brings us peace and salvation.