May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:18-25)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: No one likes waiting. We look for the shortest line at the store; we do not want to wait. Children cannot wait to grow up thinking adults have perfect freedom. Adults know that their freedom has responsibilities and cannot wait until they retire. Retirees know that getting older is no bed of roses; they cannot wait until their hurts go away and life is easier, better, in heaven. We are all waiting for something, and it is not easy to wait.

As children of God, we are all waiting for heaven. That wait too can be unpleasant at times. It is easy to get impatient, get tired of waiting, or even upset with God about who has to wait and who goes to heaven too earlier in our estimation. It is a sin against the 1st commandment when we get impatient or upset with God in waiting. And besides, getting impatient with God is a waste of valuable time. So the Lord would cleanse us of sinful impatience in the atoning blood of Christ and by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. So let us listen to his Word today that God may do his good work on us and in us. Today His powerful Word gives us strength to WAIT.

A few words and phrases jump off the pages of this little reading into our ears and down to our hearts to give us patience and hope in waiting. The Apostle starts by saying: I consider that our present sufferings…It sounds this way in his own language: The troubles of the now. The now is life here in this sinful world as opposed to the then in heaven. The point is that the trouble will end. One difference between "the blues" and clinical depression is that the blues are sad feelings that one knows will go away sooner or later while the truly depressed can see no escape from their sadness and emptiness. To keep us from getting spiritually depressed God says to us repeatedly, "Your troubles have an end. You may feel at times that they go on and on, but I am telling you that I will end them." (Ps 126:5; 1Pet 1:6; 3 1/2 of Rev.) Hearing this promise of God is what gives us patience to wait.

The Apostle goes on to say our present troubles are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. His next patience-giving thought is that troubles are little compared to the glory to come. Heaven will be so great as to make us forget our present troubles. We know the disappointment of mixed expectations. A movie clip looks great; we see the movie only to be disappointed. We buy new and improved Tide; but our clothes do not sparkle as the advertisement promises. We live a sinful world; and it is easy to be skeptical. But the Lord never makes false promises. Wise Solomon once observed: Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave (1Kgs8:56). The good Lord says, "Wait; you will not be disappointed." Hearing this promise of God is what gives us patience to wait.

The Apostle gives us more strength to wait. When talking of the universal troubles and hardship sin has brought on the whole creation he says: For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. His point is that God has purpose behind the troubles. His purpose is not to punish and vent his wrath but to redeem, save, and liberate us from trouble. His wrath he vented on Jesus Christ, his Son, sent to bear the guilt of all the world. With his wrath over our sins drowned in Jesus' blood, the Lord now spends himself on turning souls to contrition over sin and faith in Jesus that they might enjoy this salvation now and forever. He lets the "frustration" or "vanity" that he set on all creation make us forget all thoughts of life here ever being worth hanging on to and makes us "hope" for a better time and place he has prepared for us. See! His promise is that troubles will actually help us. Hearing this promise of God is what gives us patience to wait even in troubled times.

Reinforcing these comforting truths—that troubles will end, what is coming makes our troubles seem small by comparison, and that our troubles are part of how God brings blessing into our lives - are the words: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. The pain and anxiousness of giving birth eventually ends. When mom and dad see the baby, right away the troubles begin to melt in the rearview mirror and the joy of the baby overrides, and parents say: We are happy to have this blessing even though getting it caused us such pain and trouble. Life now is like childbirth; but the troubles will end, heaven will make us forget the present troubles, and we will see clearly then how the troubles actually were a blessing to us. Hearing this promise of God is what gives us patience to wait.

And, just for added measure the Apostle says: we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. I know I have not told you anything this morning that you did not already know. God has already planted inside you this hope, this trust that God will rescue you. We present day Christians still struggling with our sinful nature just forget it every now and then or at least do not let it make us brave and confident in troubles. But just the fact that this hope is there in our hearts is the promise of God that the great redemption will certainly come. This hope, this faith, is God's down payment, his guarantee of the best to come. God's hope gives us hope.

At the end we hear the Apostle say: But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. You might be thinking: not me; I'm not very patient. Well, that is why God speaks to you today. Here is the source of patience - God's promise. Let us listen and we will have God's patience.     Amen.