Dear Christian friends:

I know that many of you are thinking about the wedding celebration we will have after church today. When I was wondering what I would preach about today, I felt that I should join it with our 40th Anniversary celebration or I would not have your interest and attention today.

You who come here every Sunday know that I always preach on one of the three lessons in the book: either the Old Testament Lesson or the Epistle Lesson or the Gospel Lesson. I do not choose a free text unless it is a very special day.

Well, today is a very special day, however, I am not using a free text today. Why? The Epistle Lesson for this Sunday seemed to be a very fine text, also for a 40th wedding anniversary.

On a day such as today we look back to the day we were joined in marriage. Over in the Hall you may see some pictures of our wedding 40 years ago. And when we look back, we are amazed at the grace which our kind God has shown to us. When we lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we had a neighbor who said more than once, “God doesn't owe me anything." One day I asked him what he meant and he replied, "Well, now I am 76 years old and the Bible says we may live 70 years. God has already given me 6 years of-grace." "I said to him, "Not 6, but 76!" God does not owe us one year. All our years we live under His grace. If I read my Bible correctly, not one person deserves to live even one day. When I consider that, and then to be given 40 years of marriage, nine children, living and well and relatively successful, 6 healthy grandchildren, several beautiful in-laws, plus the additional, special grace of being a minister of the Gospel for 39 years, I must sing with the choir: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see."

While we look back, we also look ahead on such a day as today. We wonder and ask, "How many more years will we have together? Five? Ten? Fifteen?" Some of you will wish us to have 40 more years of married happiness, but in your heart you know that cannot happen. Some of you will wish us good health, but you know and we know that our health will not improve but decline gradually, perhaps rapidly. The wedding pictures in the Hall will show that our health has already declined a lot during the past 40 years. Our marriage will end as all marriages must end. Our God has decided it. Death ends even the best marriages.

However, we do not despair about that. True, we are sad in some ways, but not sad like’ those who have no real hope. Ferol and I can rejoice about our future, the same as all Christians can rejoice about the future. Why?

OUR GOD PROMISES US A GLORIOUS FUTURE

From our text we see that God leads us to a future with hope. Those who do not believe in Jesus have a future without real hope. St. Paul says in our text, "All creation is frustrated, not because it wanted that, but God has decided that." (v.20) Paul is referring to God's cursing all creation after Adam and Eve fell into sin. (Genesis 3) Those who plan, work and build for this life on earth will be frustrated, disappointed. Our plans and dreams succeed for a short time, but at last they fail. We plant good seed and dream and hope for a perfect crop, but weeds grow among the good plants, bugs come or hail or perhaps there is no rain like now in the mid-west. Sometimes we receive one-half a crop, sometimes nothing. Those who celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary without faith in Jesus will be very frustrated. They may plan for retirement and travel, but things happen. Their hopes and dreams are not happening, and they are frustrated. There seems to be no real purpose in life.

Those who believe in Jesus also suffer and experience the same frustrations as the unbelievers, but the believers have hope in their frustrations and sufferings. St. Paul says in our text, "All creation waits eagerly and wants to see God show His children in glory. Because now all creation is frustrated, not because it wanted that, but God has decided that, and God gave hope in that frustration. Because finally, God will free creation from the bondage of decay to the glorious freedom of His children. Until now all creation suffers same as a woman suffers during child birth. And we also suffer, we who have the the Holy Spirit's first blessings. We suffer in our spirit while we wait for the redemption of our bodies. Then we shall see that we are truly His children." (vwv.19-23) God leads us to a future with hope.

God comforts His suffering children with the hope of this glorious future. In our text St. Paul says, "I think we cannot compare any suffering we have now with our future glory that God will reveal in us." (v.18) The sufferings that we must endure now for a short time are really nothing when compared to the fantastic glory which God will reveal in our new resurrected bodies and the new heaven and earth (creation) which He here promises. St. Paul in our text compares our suffering now with that of a woman giving birth to a child. (v.22) A woman giving birth suffers in hope and is comforted with the hope of seeing and having a healthy baby soon. So our hope for real, eternal health in the new world comforts us in our present sufferings.

Many of you remember Dick Howser, former manager of the Kansas City Royals baseball team who died a short time ago with a brain tumor.

Gib Twyman wrote about Dick Howser's faith in an article which was printed in the Kansas City Star on June 18, 1987: "Three weeks ago Howser turned to his friend, Trevor Gibbs and said, "Jesus wants me to come home. It would be fine if He took me today." Howser's deepening faith was the central thing about his life ever since his doctor discovered that he had a malignant tumor last July 18, three days after the All Star game. When Howser got out of the hospital, he couldn't wait to share his freshened relationship with Jesus Christ. It led him to read the Bible daily and study it often with Nancy, Grubbs and other friends. It led Howser to speak at a Billy Graham crusade, at Fellowship of Christian Athlete functions and churches throughout K.C."

Let us rejoice about our future, our glorious future in the new creation.

Amen