Romans 15:4

Midweek 2

Theme: Joy

⁴For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Horatio Spafford was a successful Chicago businessman until the great Chicago fire of 1871 wiped out his real-estated holdings. Two years later, in 1873, Horatio, his wife, and their four daughters were planning to vacation in Europe. When last-minute business threatened to delay their departure, Horatio sent his wife and daughters on ahead of him. In the middle of the Atlantic, their ship, the Ville du Havre, was struck by another ship, the Lochearn. The Ville du Havre sank and Horatio’s four young daughters were drowned. Mrs. Spafford survived and the rescue ship transported her to Europe. Immediately, Horatio departed for Europe to join her. One day during the voyage, the ship’s captain called for Horatio to come up to the bridge. The captain informed Horatio that he estimated they were at the location of the tragic shipwreck. It’s hard to image how sorrowful that must have been. After taking it in, Horatio went to his cabin and wrote this famous hymn:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way;

When sorrows, like sea billows, roll;

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul. (LSB 763:1)

How did it happen that Horatio Spafford, on that high, blustery sea, afflicted with such unbelievable grief, was able to say, “It is well, it is well with my soul”?

If only we could say the same when we are tossed about on the seas of life. Finances, health, relationship, loss of people and things dear to us. What howls on the outside churns our emotions on the inside. Fear. Anger. Grief. Worry. Disappointment. There’s not one of us who doesn’t know these emotions and know them well. Philosophers have observed that it’s not the storms outside that bother us as much as the way we respond to them within. We’re not only behind, we are behind and buffeted.

“Advent” means “coming.” One of the comings we think about in Advent is the day when God will take us to heaven. That day is why we look forward with hope. Last week we talked about being located behind but following our Savior to heaven. We are behind but filled with hope. In Advent, we also remember that God comes to us through his Word and Sacrament. That coming locates us in a different place; on faith. We are behind, but have hope. We are buffeted by life’s storms, but stand on faith.

What do I mean by “on faith”? We are living in a very spiritual time. Spirituality is a popular word today and Americans believe all kinds of spiritual stuff. A lot of it is nonsense. All this spirituality around us is completely subjective. Most people today do not believe in such a thing as absolute truth; that is truth that is objective and certain. It is all subjective. When people talk about faith, they are thinking of that subjective, warm, fuzzy feeling within. But what good will that do on Judgment Day when it turns out to be false? That is why we need another meaning for the word “faith.”

The word faith as we believers use it, is based on the objective facts that the Bible teaches. The truths of God, the truths that God gave to the prophets, to the evangelists, and to the apostles. These are the truths in the Bible—this is the faith. This faith is centered in Jesus Christ. “Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name,” says St. John. And Paul says, “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Yes, we do have warm feelings within us about God and Jesus. We will have those warm, fuzzy feelings on Christmas Eve. But the real meaning of faith is the biblical truth centered in Jesus Christ. Faith is standing on these truths that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. That he descended into hell and on the third day he rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead. That is the faith we confess as believers in Jesus Christ. On faith we believe in the forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting.

So, back to Horatio Spafford and back to us. How can we be buffeted by all sorts of emotions and still say, “It is well, it is well with my soul”? We can when we are located on faith, standing on the teaching of the Word of God. In our text tonight, St. Paul said, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” To hope in Jesus Christ on our way to glory, we have to be located on what’s written in Scripture. THE FAITH, THAT WORD OF GOD, GIVES US ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT AS OUR EMOTIONS ARE SO OFTEN BUFFETED BY THE STORMS OF LIFE.

A few years ago 500 pastors were surveyed. They were asked, “What do you feel is the major reason Christians do not read the Bible?” Forty-seven percent responded that their members were too busy. Nineteen percent that they lacked discipline, fifteen percent said they thought it was irrelevant, eight percent considered Bible reading not a priority, three percent couldn’t understand it, and three percent had poor reading skills. Do you fit into one of these categories? Be honest. With everything swirling within and without, does it make any sense not to locate yourselves every week on the objective truths of faith through worship and Bible study and daily Bible reading and devotion? How else do you think that it will “be well with your soul?” “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Amen.