In the opening scene of Saint John’s Revelation, before the terrifying scenes of suffering and judgment, before the four horsemen, before the vision of the new heavens and the new earth, we encounter a great proclamation. In the opening verses, we read, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” The past, present, and future are the Lord’s. Nothing stands outside of Him. Nothing is beyond His dominion. All of history and all of eternity are His. Now, this can be terrifying if you are seeking to escape the gaze of God, if you are trying to flee from Him, for there is nowhere to run. But this becomes the very best of news for those who feel lost and discarded, those who wonder if they have a place in the Kingdom of God.

And this is the reality Saint Paul takes up in our text today. It is a text full of promise, promise of the totality of God’s work for you. The past, present, and future of your faith, life, and salvation are in the hands of God. He says, “Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”  It is a shocking statement. It places the assurance of your salvation outside of your work. It is not your morality, your devotional living which determines the gift of faith. No, it is the foreknowledge of God. It is His action of predestination. He chose you. He called you. He set you aside. And He did so long before your works factored into the equation.

But it does not end there. He goes on to say, “And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified.” This is your reality, here, today. You have been chosen. God has called you. Therefore, you have been justified. You are called through the washing of regeneration, through the gift of Holy Baptism. In those waters you have been clothed with the righteous garment of Jesus Christ. All that is His has been graciously given to you, and all that is yours, all your sin and disobedience, He takes into Himself. He alone pays the price for your sin, and then, with unsurpassed mercy, He proclaims that you are justified. You are declared righteous before your God.

But this present reality of the people of God stretches far beyond this age. After all, the one into which you are baptized is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. So, Paul says, “Those whom He justified He also glorified.” A future glory awaits you, an eternal splendor experienced in the presence of God. It will be an age where there is no more weeping and mourning, no more pain and suffering. This hope fuels our drive in this age. This hope gives us cause to rejoice, even to rejoice in our sufferings, for we know that this age is not all there is. A more glorious day is coming. Yet, this assurance can often get drowned out. It can get pushed aside by the concerns of our day. Consequently, a big reason we continue to gather here is to hear the proclamation of the Good News, so we do not lose hope.

I have had this copy of The Lutheran Hymnal since the eighth grade. There is an inscription inside which says, “To Paul, for your support and participation in eighth grade Bible class. Talk to the Lord daily and remember His promises. Read Romans 8:31-32. Mr. Franklin, March 1989.” Now, Mr. Franklin, I have to confess, I have not always been that faithful in talking with the Lord or even in remembering His promises daily. But I think I have gotten better over the years. And there is great wisdom in this encouragement from my former Sunday School teacher, for the text you cited is in our reading today. Paul says, “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?”

This is not an easy task. For at times, life can be marked by such great suffering and hardship that the darkness of our age seems to be all there is. The things which rise up against us drown out the promise that God is for us. We can easily find ourselves at a point where we feel as if there is no hope, nothing we can do will change the situation, nothing we try seems to make an impact for the better, so why even attempt it? In fact, we are often told by the world and even by misguided Christians that our suffering is a sign of our unfaithfulness. If we were simply more diligent in our actions, if we cleaned up our thoughts, words, and deeds, then we would experience more fully the glory God has prepared for us.

Yet, the testimony of Scripture is that suffering is not a mark of God’s absence. It does not mean you are forgotten and forsaken. The cross of Christ itself bears witness that God’s greatest work is found right in the midst of suffering. I have yet to see Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey.” But I have loved the fact that this movie has renewed an interest in the epic poems of Homer. In the past few weeks, several of my favorite podcasts have featured experts in the classics to discuss the themes and structures of these foundational texts of the Western world. One major theme of the Odyssey is that the hero, Odysseus, is a man who must endure much suffering. His journey home is marked by grief, loss, and pain. The suffering shapes the hero’s arc. It is integral to the story of his reunion with his wife and son, who have also suffered greatly along the way as well.

In a similar way, Luther would speak about the Christian life as one shaped by prayer, meditation, and trial. Our prayer is for understanding the Word, prayer that our eyes would be opened to the divine truths and promises that God reveals to His people. Then, the meditation upon the Word, the searching of the truths given, the hearing again of the promise that God is for us. These are the conversations we have about the realities of our faith. But then comes the trial, then comes the testing of the world, where the truths you hold are tried and stretched. In fact, Luther will go as far as to say that the great teacher is the Devil himself, for in his attacks and trials, we are driven back to where it began, back to prayer, back to the Word. So, the cycle goes on. Suffering shapes our journey, as God drives us again and again back to His promises.

And in the Word, what you hear, what you are promised, is there is more than meets the eye. Suffering will not tear you from the hands of Christ. He chose you. He called you. He justifies you and He will not let you go. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”