Sermon from June 25, 2025

Sermon on Romans 11:33-36

A Trinity Sunday Reading (One-Year Series)

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)

I had the privilege of preaching on June 15 for the service for a Purdue grad, who became a Lutheran pastor and was celebrating the 25th Anniversary of his ordination into the ministry. His church in Illinois uses the one-year series of Scripture readings, where we are using the three-year series, and I thought that the Epistle Lesson for Trinity Sunday, Romans 11:33-36, was worth our thinking about for a few minutes today. I printed it below:

“Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?’ ‘Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?’ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen”

These words of Paul are a doxology, a word of praise to God, like the song of praise we often use: “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.” Paul begins by saying, “Oh, the depths of the riches of God.” When we hear the word “riches,” we often think about money and resources as we get older. Can we pay all our bills? Will our money last until we die? How will things work out? I know that sometimes I worry far too much about such things, even though Jesus tells us, in His Sermon on the Mount, “Don’t be so anxious… for your Heavenly Father knows all that you (really) need. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:30-33).

That’s why Paul turns our thoughts, in this passage, to the riches of “the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Earlier in Romans, Paul had written of “the riches of the kindness and forbearance (putting up with us and our weaknesses) and patience of God… meant to lead us to repentance” and trust in Him (Romans 2:4). And he wrote of “the Lord, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him, for all who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved” - salvation for eternal life (Romans 10:12-13)! And Paul means, of course, calling upon the One True Triune God, Whom we just celebrated not too many weeks ago:

• The Father, who loved the world so much that He sent His only Son to us
• and the Son, of whom Paul wrote: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
• Christ Jesus, who is called “the power of God and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3)
• and God the Holy Spirit, of whom Paul writes: “We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given to us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)

Paul calls this Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the “vessel of mercy” (Romans 9:23), bringing us forgiveness and grace and peace in this life and eternal life in heaven, through God’s Word and Sacraments. There is our hope.

Paul also reminds us that this is the Wisdom and Knowledge of God that is far beyond our own human wisdom and thinking and understanding. Paul writes, “How unsearchable are God’s judgments and how inscrutable His ways.” I looked up the word “inscrutable” again in both English and in Greek, and it is defined as “things not easily understood, mysterious and puzzling, sometimes even incomprehensible.” In the Greek, it means “things that can’t be tracked down” and figured out by our human minds, even if we try hard to do so. For example, the whole idea of the Trinity - only One God and yet three distinct Persons - can’t be fully understood or explained - just believed.

We run into this trouble, too, when difficult things are happening in our lives, and we just can’t seem to understand why God would allow or permit such things. Why should I or one of my family or friends have this illness or problem? - and we struggle. Paul then quotes from a portion of Isaiah 40:13-14: “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?“

It is OK to talk over anything with the Lord and bring our concerns to Him. But sometimes in our prayers, we do try to counsel God and tell Him what He ought to do, as if we really knew better than He. Finally, we just have to say, though, “Here’s my wish and opinion, but Your will be done, O Lord,” as the Scriptures teach. And we then try to trust God’s promise to “turn all things to some good, for those who love Him” (Romans 8:28), though we can’t always see it for ourselves.

Paul adds one more quotation, based on words from Job, Chapters 41-42 (Job 41:11, especially): “Or who has given a gift to God, that he might be repaid?” This is the age-old temptation, and sadly, the teaching of most religions and even of some churches, that if we are good enough and do enough good things, we can earn and merit God’s favor, and He will have to accept us and repay us with His blessings. That idea simply will not work, according to the Scriptures.

In the verse right before this doxology, Paul says that we are all disobedient sinners, but that God wishes to have mercy on us all, by His own choice and work. And how does that happen? Paul put it so clearly, earlier in Romans: “There is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice, by His blood, to be received by faith.” “It is the righteousness from God through faith in Christ Jesus for all who believe” (Romans 3:22-25).

As James wrote in his letter, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, from the Father… Of His own will, He brought us forth by the Word of Truth” to the new and eternal life we enjoy (James 1:17-18). We don’t understand it all, and we still have our struggles, but we say in faith and praise, with Paul: “For from God and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).