Sermon for 2/2/25: Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany (c)

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Understanding

I Corinthians 13:1-13

 

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

 

 

Though we do not always understand the ways of God, the way of faith is to calmly trust Him. We walk by faith, not by sight. And that faith leans on the Word of the One who cannot lie, whose love for the world has been clearly shown in the saving gift of His Son. Though we cannot always comprehend, much less explain, the ways of God, we know that everything He does and all that He permits to come our way will serve as a blessing to us. So St. Paul directs us to that day when we will understand these things. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been known.”

St. Paul, that great apostle of the Lord, did not always possess the knowledge needed to solve every problem he faced. At times it seemed as though evil forces were in control; he was hindered in the very work the Lord had given him to do. The same has been true of the children of God of every age. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, his only son. Job, a man who feared God and hated evil, saw his children and possessions taken from him, and his body covered with boils and sores. Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt. Truly, God’s ways are past finding out. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways.

The same experience is ours today. We cannot understand why God often permits His faithful children to weep while the ungodly laugh and prosper. We cannot understand why one child of God spends a lifetime in suffering while another enjoys continuous health. We cannot understand why parishioners advance in age and are weary of life and long for the hour of deliverance from this world of sin and sorrow, while a young child can be quickly and even tragically taken from this life. We cannot understand why Christians often struggle mightily and seem to get nowhere, while the children of the world gain wealth and power so easily. There is so much that is beyond our comprehension.

So it is not surprising that many a faithful soul asks, “Why does God deal with me this way?” This side of eternity, there is not always a satisfying answer to be found. Now we know only “in part.” But what we do know, we know with certainty! All of God’s dealings with us are just and right; indeed, they are His ways of love and mercy. As St. John declared in the Book of Revelation: “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints!”

Short-sighted mortals that we are, we must learn to trust God in all His ways. Our life here is not the end; it is only the beginning of our existence. Here we are learning only those first elementary truths of the great counsel of God: “...Now we see in a mirror dimly... Now I know in part.” Can a child in kindergarten grasp and understand all the intricacies of algebra or physics? Of course not. But as years pass into maturity, that child grows in knowledge and understanding. And by the grace of God, as years pass, we also make some progress in understanding the wisdom and ways of God. As we grow in age and experience, we begin to see with more clarity that the seemingly aimless ways of God have a definite end in sight; all things come from and return to the love and mercy of our heavenly Father.

Faith and confidence in God is strengthened through trial and testing. We learn to look beyond death and the grave, to rejoice increasingly more in the hope of the eternal blessing that is ours. And though the ways of God remain beyond our understanding, we eventually come to realize that this should not trouble us. We have a loving Father who never seeks to harm or hurt—a Father who has our eternal good in mind.

When we are tempted to complain about our lot, let us turn our eyes to that midnight scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Savior knelt in agony, already bearing the burden of the sins of the world. He cried out in agony. But His anguished cry was tempered with prayer: “Father, not My will, but Yours be done.” If we will but go from day to day with that same confidence in the Father’s will, we will begin to see the preparation for heaven that occurs even in the darkest days: a greater patience, a more perfect trust, a longing and desire for “the courts of the Lord.”

We are moving toward understanding because our faith rests on the promise of the One who is the Truth—the One who has redeemed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil—so that we would be the children of God, heirs of His heavenly glory. That is what we will ponder again in the coming season of Lent. As we walk with our Lord again to His suffering, death, and resurrection that wins for us life eternal, we will find reason again to rejoice that the Day is coming, when we will see for ourselves those glories of the life to come through Christ our Lord. For now, we can only wonder. But then we will see Him face to face. “For now we see in a mirror dimly...Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” In the name of the Father and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.