Episode 1667: More Than Conquerors

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,667 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

Morgan McCarver: I'm Morgan McCarver. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to discover your own creativity is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

Scott Maderer: Having community around helps lift me up. Being part of something bigger than me is important. It- that's the victory that we're talking about, being connected, not out of strength and power, but to overcome our weakness. [00:01:00] Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the

world.

In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about Romans 8:26-39. I share how we are victorious, but that isn't our doing, and I also share how this is a communal experience. Romans 8:26-39 says, "Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very [00:02:00] Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words.

And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn within a large family.

And those whom He predestined He also called, and those who He called He also justified, and those who He justified He also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, how will He not with Him also give us everything else?"

Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who [00:03:00] was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword?

As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us. For I am convinced 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.

Like the last two weeks, we pick up right where we left off in Romans. Yet another passage from Paul to the church of Rome, and in here he asks the question, "What are we to say about these things?" And honestly, I have a lot to say, and [00:04:00] Paul has a lot to say about this text and what we should say about it.

As Methodists, uh, we don't believe in predestination, and verse 29 and 30 seem to be talking about predestination, and how do we understand that in terms of our tradition and our theology? Verse 28 has good news in it, right? News that we should celebrate. It talks about how we know that all things work together for good for those who love God.

But I don't know about you, but in moments when things seem to be going wrong, in moments where there's great suffering and pain, and let's face it, that's true of the world today, it's hard to say that and not sound like you're being di- dismissive of the suffering and the pain that is very real. In fact, that's part of the theme of this, where Paul is saying, [00:05:00] "We're more than victorious," or in other translations, "We're more than conquerors."

There's this idea in there that has been used by some people claiming that you can do no wrong if you're a believer. If you're a Christian, you're always right because God has made it so. But I don't know about you, with moments of Christian nationalism and other beliefs like that, I don't see Christ's message and political power as being the real message here.

This idea of conquering and victory and warfare is language that is used a lot. But in this passage, at least, I think Paul is using it to challenge the view that we conquer suffering By enduring it without any response or complaint, that somehow or another suffering is noble and earns you the right or the [00:06:00] position of something.

Instead, he's saying we are redeemed in our suffering, not because of what we do, but because of what Christ does in us. We're more than victorious. We're more than conquerors in an opposite way from the way that we usually hear that, because that victory is not ours, but is a gift from Christ. It's not about power, but it's about how we learn to be closer to God, and even more, how we learn to be closer and more caring for one another.

How we look over at the suffering of another and say, "Let me help." Not, "You must be less." And all of this, Paul is implying, is a corporate experience. It's something that we do together. Because us, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Not me, not you, [00:07:00] but us all together in community. That is needed. Don't get me wrong, individualism and individual choice is important, obviously.

It, it's a personal relationship with Jesus that can change your life. But it still has to also be alongside the walk in community, or at least that's helpful. Do you need to be part of a church to be a follower of Jesus? And the answer is probably not necessarily, but it's important. Because hermits can become Christians.

But it's easier when we're together. We need that community around us to give us a sense of belonging, to echo back to us that hard work that we're doing is worth it. Because that community, that caring, that lifting up... I don't know about you, but when I get tired, when I get [00:08:00] exhausted, when I get fed up and beat up, having community around helps lift me up.

Being part of something bigger than me is important. It-- That's the victory that we're talking about, being connected, not out of strength and power, but to overcome our weakness. Thanks for listening.

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