June 14, 2026 Text: Romans 5:6-11
Dear Friends in Christ,
Are you a demonstrator? I have been alive for 7 decades – 1960’s to the 2020’s. what have people demonstrated for? In the 1960’s some of you might have been burning your draft cards and bras or marching for civil rights and against Vietnam. In the 1970’s it was Vietnam still, also inflation and Watergate. The 1980’s brought Apartheid, aids, Iran-Contra and in Europe the great demonstrations against Communism. The Million Man March and WTO protests were in the 1990’s. In the 2000’s people took to the streets against the Iraq War and the never-ending problems of the Middle East. 2010’s was social change and climate change. And now so far in the 2020’s people get off their couch to demonstrate against police overreach, racial injustice, the 2020 election and all things Trump. And the one I have been a part of…Pro-Life demonstrations. So, yes I will answer in the affirmative to being a demonstrator. How about you?
Let’s be honest. The greatest demonstration occurred on Golgotha and at the open tomb. God knew that the only way humankind could be rescued from sin and death was the death of His beloved Son. He demonstrated this by sending Jesus into the world to live the perfect life and lay down his life for us. What a demonstration.
“GRACE IS DEMONSTRATED”
We do not deserve God’s grace. Maybe we question if we should even be saying grace. In our text we are called “weak” and “ungodly.” We have ingrained in our hearts and minds a moral weakness. Haven’t you ever said something like this, “I was so weak there. I have to do better.” Because of our inherited sin and the daily consequences of our thoughts and actions, we are incapable of getting God to love us or earn forgiveness and salvation.
This demonstration of grace is highlighted in verse 7. “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person though perhaps for a good person one would dare to even die.” We understand the concept. We find it easier to help people that we like or who share our values and faith. This is wonderful proof of God’s love. Look at the world He was willing to die for. It is filled and always has been with not so good human beings.
Then we get to my favorite verse. Law and Gospel. It is the verse on our church website and notecards. Again, we translate it accordingly, “But God demonstrates his love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (v. 8). Not only words of grace, but deeds of grace. People like to hear “I love you” from us, but they also want us to demonstrate that love. We help out, we take time, we show our loved ones the love that we possess because of Christ. Our demonstration of love can be powerful, but it in no way compares to what God has demonstrated.
God’s demonstration of grace was like no other demonstration. When God demonstrated His grace, it cost Him His only Son. Christ demonstrated His grace through his humiliation. “Born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” We are now reconciled to God. The barrier of sin has been removed. We have been “justified by his blood.” We are no longer in our sin because of God’s work for us.
His rising from the dead has secured our salvation, now and forever.
So forgiven Christian believer that is going to heaven, you are free to demonstrate. Be a demonstrator in your daily life. March onward as a Christian soldier. Pick up your cross and demonstrate what Christ has done in your lives. Don’t be afraid to be a branch because you are connected to the vine. Take the grace initiative and show love to others. Demonstrate sacrificial action in a God-pleasing way.
As seen by the beginning of this sermon, we are a nation of demonstrators. I gave you just a few. I could have listed many more. Have your words and deeds been demonstrating your gratitude? What kind of demonstrating have you been doing? The Holy Spirit empowers and energizes us through Word and Sacrament to demonstrate daily God’s grace to us and for us. Let the demonstrations begin!
Amen.