Christ Died For Us
Romans 5: 1-8
Lent 3
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the third Sunday in Lent is the epistle reading Romans 5. I remember hearing about a speech that was given to a group of seniors who were graduating from college. Normally these sorts of speeches are encouraging pep talks as the graduates prepare to go out into the world. On this occasion however, the speaker begins telling the graduates that they are actually quite unpaired to face the challenges of the world and that they all know deep down inside that he is right. What he said was not very encouraging at all. Of course he did not end on that note. He eventually did give the graduates encouragement when he told them that God would be with them. He told them that they need not fear because the Lord is gracious to them.
The speaker who said those words to the graduates gave them a message that fits very well in the season of Lent. He encouraged them to honestly evaluate themselves. He knew that they were afraid to go out into the world. He knew that they were far from perfect. He knew that the world that they faced would be harsh. He wanted the graduates to acknowledge those things to be true because they were. He then pointed them to God and quite rightly reminded them that their strength comes from God. He pointed them to the Lord and told them that He is the rock that will sustain them.
During this Lenten season we should also honestly evaluate ourselves and we should remember that our hope is ultimately in the Lord. The words of Paul in our reading from Romans will help us do just that. Remember what he said. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” He goes on to say this. “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Notice how Paul describes people. He calls them weak and ungodly. He calls them sinners. It may not be easy to hear but it is a true description of people. It is a true description of us all. Paul also directs our attention to the Lord. Paul speaks about our Savior. He tells us that Jesus Christ died for us to atone for our sins and give to us peace with God.
We see examples of what Paul is taking about in our other readings. In our Old Testament reading we hear about the people of Israel in the wilderness. God was the one who delivered them from the bondage of slavery and the tyranny of Pharaoh. He called upon Pharaoh to release His people, and He sent the ten plagues to make it happen. The Lord then parted the Red Sea so that the people of Israel could escape the Egyptian army. Now that they were in the wilderness they complained to Moses because there was no water. Keep in mind that all this complaining was being done after God had already provided them with manna to eat every day. It didn’t matter. The people thought that God had brought them to this place to die. The people were weak, ungodly, and very much still sinners. Yet we notice that the Lord still cared for them. God told Moses to strike a rock and promised that water would come out of the rock so that the people could drink the water. That is exactly what happened. The Lord rescued a group of weak ungodly sinners with His gracious hand.
We see another example of what Paul is talking about in our Gospel reading. John records for us a conversation that Jesus has with the woman at the well. Jesus offers her living water. The woman at first does not understand Jesus because she thinks He is talking about the water in the well. In a sudden change of direction, Jesus asks the woman to go get her husband. With this one question He reveals the woman’s sinful condition. The Lord knew that she had five husbands and that the man she was living with was not her husband. The woman was living an immoral life. The fact that she was coming to the well at noon in the heat of the day also shows her isolation. This woman knew a lot about broken relationships. She was weak, ungodly, and very much a sinner.
Yet the Lord did not leave her in that broken condition. He said that He was the Messiah who came into the world to bring her living water. He was taking about the Holy Spirit. He came to give to her peace with God. He came to give her the gift of eternal life. The woman’s life was forever changed because though the power of the Holy Spirit she repented of her sins and believed in Jesus. She was brought into the Kingdom of God, and she was richly blessed by the Lord.
The Lord wants us to honestly evaluate ourselves. When we do, we will see the many gifts that God has given us. But when we honestly evaluate ourselves, we will also see our sin. We will see the pride and greed that reside in us. We will see self-centeredness, jealousy, and bitterness. We will see weaknesses, fear, confusion and uncertainty. When we take a closer look at ourselves, we will see that we are by nature weak, ungodly, and very much a sinner. When we take a look at ourselves, we will see a person who needs a Savor.
Remember the words of Paul. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
I remember hearing about a man who by God’s grace came to faith in Jesus Christ. His friend asked him to describe his conversion. The man gathered several sticks, laid them on the ground in a circle, took a worm and placed it in the middle of the circle, and set the wood on fire. As soon as the worm began to feel the heat of the fire, it crawled to this and then to that side of the circle, trying to find a way of escape. Observing that all its efforts were in vain, it returned to the middle of the circle and stretched itself out to die. In that moment the man put out his hand and seized the worm and lifted it to safety. The man replied, on my own I had no true peace. I could not save myself from sin, death, and hell. Then the Lord Jesus caught me with His merciful hand and rescued me.
It is the same with us. Jesus came to us when we were weak, ungodly, and sinful and He was merciful to us. Jesus went to the cross and He died to atone for our sins. He died and then He rose from the dead to give to us peace with God. And we do have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. I once again go to the words of Paul. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Lent truly is a time to examine ourselves, to repent, and to turn to the Lord. Indeed we turn to the Lord for He is our rock who sustains us. We turn to the Lord and receive living water that will become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Amen.