Title: The Holy Spirit Intercedes for Us
Romans 8:18-27
* Who is not sick?
After undergoing breast cancer surgery last year, an alumnus who was healthy again
We are groaning under the weight of life.
It has only been a few days since I saw Butler Jung Moon-soo.
Pain arises in the heart.
On the first day of September, my heart fluctuates to be renewed, what should I tell you?
I've been listening to you all week.
Finally, this morning, God spoke to me.
"Deliver my heart to the alumni. And give them new strength!"
This is the voice we will be hearing this week.
These words are for those who want to moan because it is painful to live, but cannot even do it. In today's text, Paul first describes the circumstances of our suffering. It is said that all creation is groaning together, and we, who have received the Holy Spirit as the firstfruits, are also groaning within ourselves.
In verse 18, Paul starts the problem with the suffering we are currently experiencing. After that, all creation is said to groan together. And it is said that we ourselves are groaning and waiting to be redeemed. Furthermore, it is said that the Holy Spirit also intercedes on our behalf with groanings. Finally, God is responding to our earnest groans through the Holy Spirit. This order is different from traditional doctrine, theology, or the order in which the church speaks. There, it is usually the order of God - Jesus Christ - the church - the world, but here it is rather the opposite. It's not going from top to bottom, it's going from bottom to top. It goes back to the cry of creation trying to be freed from the pain of death, the moans of those who respond to it, the Holy Spirit interceding for them, Jesus Christ interceding for them, and God answering their prayers.
The Exodus event did not start from top to bottom. This happened when God heard the cries of the Hebrew slaves who were slaves, saw their suffering, and came down to the scene. The groans and cries of the Hebrew slaves are the starting point of the history of the Exodus. It is an event that started from the bottom up. Therefore, if there is someone who is currently groaning with indescribable pain, please use it as the starting point of your own history.
This has important implications. We always regard our wishes, prayers, and groanings as trivial and think that we should seek the will of the Holy Spirit beyond them, but that is not necessarily right. What we feel, experience, wish, and pray in the field of life is precious, and it is also important to know how to hear and see the sighs, prayers, and wishes of creation.
What is interesting here is the phrase “we do not know how to pray” (verse 26). Here, “we” can be said to represent Christians, the church, and even the people of the world. They say they don't know how to pray. It is important to acknowledge that we confess, “We do not know how to pray.” This is not going to refer to a method or technique of prayer. Our prayer itself is a realistic confession of the Christian's existence, which we often babble in, speak only, and fail to keep.
In comparison, the creatures who cannot speak and cannot pray are eagerly waiting for the children of God to appear, to be set free from enslavement to death, and to obtain the glorious freedom that the children of God enjoy. They cannot speak, but they have clear wishes and are praying with specific goals.
Therefore, there are two ways to pray when we do not know how to pray.
One is to “know” the sufferings and desires of these groans and childbirths of the creatures (verse 22). Paul had ears to hear the groans and groans of creation. Paul is such a spiritual man. God had ears to hear the groans and cries of the Hebrew people. We too must have ears to hear from below. We need to be able to hear the groans of nature, the groans of children and women, the groans of street vendors and the unemployed, the groanings of the sick and the poor and the handicapped. When I am in excruciating pain, I should take it as an opportunity to listen to the groans of these creatures, not my own problems.
This is possible when we have the spirituality to protect nature, become close with nature and become one with them in it. When we do not see nature as an object of conquest, but treat it as 'you' who can touch, embrace, and talk to, when we do not put our lives on the logic of the world and treat everyone as a creature, we will be able to hear their moans and prayers is.
Another is to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit interceding on our behalf.
We cannot necessarily limit the language of prayer to human speech. Creatures other than humans have no language. So Paul said they groan. People also moan when they are tired. It is also a prayer. At that time, prayer cannot be said in words. So, “Ouch”, “Ah-!” and just sigh. Sometimes these sighs are more truthful than words. According to Luke 18:9 and below, the tax collector's lament is considered a better prayer than the prayer of the Pharisees? That's it.
Sometimes we too are unable to pray. Sometimes words don't come out. When I am really sad, I am speechless. Then Paul says, “The Holy Spirit intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit knows even what we cannot express in words and prays for us.
“Be careful that you do not despise even one of these little ones. I tell you, their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 18:10)
Thus, the writer of Matthew says that every person, even a small one, has an angel who speaks for him before God. These days, he is like a guardian angel. In the Gospel of John, the Holy Spirit is called the Paraketos, which means lawyer, spokesperson, or speaker. The Holy Spirit is more interested in our wishes and problems than trying to carry out his will to us. If you look at the bottom of today's text, it says that Jesus Christ also rose from the dead and intercedes for us at the right hand of God, right? (Romans 8:34). When we do not know what to do, there is someone who speaks for us, there is someone who prays for us, what could be more grateful and gracious than this?.
Paul says that the Holy Spirit is like this. When we are unable to do anything, when we cannot do it in our own strength, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered.
True prayer is speaking fluently, but it's not just me struggling. Feeling that I am unable to pray, knowing that there is someone praying for me and listening to his voice even when I am unable to pray is another true prayer.
In Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, an old man tells the protagonist:
“There is one great truth in this world. If you want something with all your heart, it will surely happen. It is because the desire for something comes from the heart of the universe. And to make it happen is your duty on this land.”
And the old man talks about beginner's luck. Whoever plays the card for the first time is sure to win. It's because he so desperately wants it. Life is usually what he wants, and the providence of nature and fate and good fortune around him helps make it happen.
These stories are fictitious fiction and literature, but we must have warm faith in Him because He has a Holy Spirit who knows in advance what we need and what we want and who intercedes on our behalf.
It's the first week of September.
As the wind blows, my heart is refreshed. There is a constant demand that something new needs to be done. Still, I don't know what to do. Just a long or short moan. That's right. You may not know what and how to pray for your life, what to pray for, or what to start with. At that time, let's remember that there is someone who earnestly prays on our behalf, for each of us, for our home, family, and life.
Also, when my plans don't go as planned and my prayers don't seem to be answered, let's not get discouraged and get frustrated that our prayers aren't answered. Let's think that it is the Lord who has given us such a wish. Just like a mother outside the SAT, I remember that there is someone who cares for me and prays for me with a more heart than that, and that there is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who appeals for me and pleads for me with more pain and sorrow than I grieve. do it. And we have to thank him, leave it to him, and stand up again.
When the world speaks of an alchemist, we should become alchemists of faith. Just as an alchemist melts various materials to make gold, we should be able to listen to nature and hear their moans. I need to know that what I desperately want in me may be not only myself, but also what the Holy Spirit in me earnestly seeks. I must listen to my inner wishes and cherish them. You must learn to value what is inside of you to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
That way, as we learn that nature groans for one person, another prays for me, and the Holy Spirit groans for me, we know that our own life is not our own. From my own wishes, my own pain, my own joy, and my own sorrow, I will be able to refine, melt, and create a gift that is not only mine, but is given by the one who loves me. In doing so, we will be able to become wonderful alchemists of faith.
Well, it's the first day of September. Let's go out to the fields full of ears of rice that have begun to bow after passing the days full of moans. There, let's meet the Holy Spirit, who groans, pleads, and desires for us more than I do. And let's look at the wonderful golden fields of my life.