There is Love Ahead of You
Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
St. Johns Episcopal Church, Park Slope, NYC
Readings: Romans 8:26-39, Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
“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.”1 My siblings in Christ, this is the good stuff. Allow me to paraphrase— nothing can separate us from the love of God. However, I think for so many of us, we have a running list of all of the things that we do believe keeps us from the love of God. Most of us seem to have an internal version of these verses that goes something like, “For I am convinced that everything bad that has happened to me, everything bad I have done to others, the brokenness I see in the world, all my hurt, my shame, pain, failures, separate me from the love of God.”
The groaning taking place within us, we mistake as proof of the absence of God’s love. Yet, that groaning, those sighs, are in fact God’s Spirit interceding within us. Our groaning is not proof of the absence of God’s love, but is in fact God’s love working out God’s purposes in the world.
The Epistle reading this morning picks up right where we left off last Sunday in Romans Chapter 8, and as Rev. Ben highlighted in his sermon, all of creation is groaning in labor pains, in expectation of the redemption and restoration of all creation. The groaning happening within us is a part of that reality. Today our reading picks up with a description of how the Spirit of God sighs within us, interceding beyond words when we are at our lowest points. Our groans and our sighs are the Spirit crying out through and in God’s love as creation awaits the birth of the new creation out of the old. In the words of Dr. Barbara Holmes, “The moan is the birthing sound…”. 2
When St. Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome, he knew his fair share of imprisonment, of violence, beatings, and persecution. He also had violently persecuted Christians in his own past. Paul did not have the luxury of turning a blind eye to the realities of the brokenness of the world— he knew what it feels like when it seems like the powers and principalities have the upper hand. And yet, as he lays out for his fellow Christians, those experiences of the brokenness, are not proof of God’s absence, rather, in Christ it is within the brokenness that God’s love is ever present.
Outlaw Country Music Star, Tanya Tucker is one of the great heroes of American music. For so many people, her first hit song, ‘Delta Dawn’ – you know – “Delta Dawn, whats that flower you have on…”— is one of those songs that is so familiar and so classic it almost feels like it lives inside of us. Tanya was one of the biggest names in music and had an active career throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. In the early 2000’s however, both of her parents passed away, and she struggled with depression and substance abuse. Her father had been her manager for her whole life, and in the grips of grief, depression and addiction she was unable to make a transition in her career. Away from the spotlight, groaning in the Spirit, Tanya came to believe that her career was over. Or even more specifically, she believed that the love in her life was behind her. She could not see that the groaning taking place within her was not a sign of the end of love, but of love crying out in labor pains. Then, in 2019, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, convinced her hero, Tanya Tucker, to record a new album.3 Reluctantly, Tanya agreed and the recording process is documented beautifully in the film, ‘The Return of Tanya Tucker: featuring Brandi Carlile’. The album they made together went on to bring Tanya her first ever Grammy win– winning both Best Country Album, and Best Country Song. As Tanya accepted her Grammy, Brandi was on the stage with her and said the following– “Me and Shooter [Jennings] asked Tanya why she hadn’t made an album in almost 20 years, and she said its because when her mom and her dad died she just couldn’t do it anymore, and that she thought that it meant that there was more love behind her in her life than ahead of her.”4 And as they looked out over the crowd, with Tanya accepting her first Grammy after 50 years in the music industry, Brandi ended with, “And she knows that’s not true right now.” 5
If you have felt or believed that you are separated from the love of God, I hope you know that’s not true right now. Just as Tanya thought love was behind her but was astonished to find love ahead of her— so too the love of God in Christ always lies both with us and ahead of 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.”6 No matter how lost you may feel at times, through all of your pain and trauma, through the truly dark times, when all you can muster is groans and moans, you are given the promise that those sighs are God’s very Spirit interceding and groaning within you. Through life, and even through death, there is always love ahead of you in Christ.
My siblings in Christ, this is the stuff that will see you through the night. When you are dealing with fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, deep pain, you can trust that you have a God who is right there in the midst of it. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God in Christ, and in Christ there is always love ahead of you.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
(They start singing at 2:44— enjoy!)
Romans 8:38-39
“Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church”, by Dr. Barbara Holmes
“Broken Horses: A Memoir”, by Brandi Carlile
‘The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile’, Directed by Kathlyn Horan
‘The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlile’, Directed by Kathlyn Horan
Romans 8:38-39