‘God's Spirit sighs with us’ (Sermon on Romans 8:1–27)
Max Hartmann, Rivne, 8 June 2025
Image: ‘Christ's blood also seals us’ (watercolour by Danylo Movchan)
I am delighted to be here in Rivne as a guest preacher for this Pentecost celebration. This is a first for me. I have never before had the opportunity to speak publicly in a country whose language I do not understand. Thank you, Taras, for translating for me. I have also acquired an electronic translator, which I will be using for the first time today. This will open up new opportunities for me to engage in conversation with interesting people.
Incidentally, a great miracle of language also happened at Pentecost: during the Jewish week-long festival of Shavuot, many people from different languages and nations gathered in Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, everyone was able to understand Peter's message.
The Holy Spirit continues to overcome our human, linguistic and cultural differences among us Christians today. We are brothers and sisters through our common Lord. That is precisely why I am in Ukraine, to show you that your situation is also very much on my mind.
When Taras asked me by email if I would give the sermon today, I gladly agreed. With my visit, I don't just want to take up Taras' valuable time, but also give him some time so that he can show me a few things to help me understand better and pray more specifically for you. Since the beginning of the great war, a group of people has been gathering every week in our parish in the town church in Zofingen for a prayer for peace. A woman who fled from Ukraine also takes part regularly. I also lead this prayer from time to time and am convinced that the many prayers for you around the world will not be in vain.
Unfortunately, I have noticed that even some very devout Christians are influenced by Russian propaganda. Our Western world is indeed decadent in many areas. Nevertheless, it is a lie that Russia is morally superior to us. Very few people know the real situation in Russia: the incredible number of crimes and violations of the most basic human rights, as well as the truth about this war.
We pray for you. And others do so too. I believe in the power of this international prayer network. But our brothers and sisters also need good information, because Russian propaganda is also having an effect on us.
When I now proclaim God's message to you, dear congregation in Rivne, I do so with the utmost respect. What can I really say to you in this terrible situation? In the face of this constant threat, this uncertainty, all the death and destruction, the global situation and the politics of the great powers under which you are suffering?
How can I convey comfort and hope to you all? I do not know the reality of war first-hand, I live an incredibly privileged life in Switzerland, where we have not experienced direct war for more than 150 years, apart from the threat and mobilisation during the First and Second World Wars with the associated restrictions. The only thing I can do is refer to the message of the Bible and let God's word speak for us.
There is a chapter in our Bible in which the word ‘spirit’ appears 22 times, mostly understood as the Holy Spirit. I suspect that there is no other chapter in the Bible in which God's Spirit appears more frequently.
Living in the Spirit of God – Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, what it was unable to do through the flesh, God did: he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [...]; but we do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
9 But you are not in the flesh, if the Spirit of God dwells in you.
11 If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is dead because of sin, your life is alive because of Christ.
Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of sonship, in which we cry, “Abba, Father!” Abba, Father! It is this very Spirit that testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I am sure that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed.
20 The creation was subjected to futility, but we are not without hope. 21 For the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the glorious freedom of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now.
23 Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
We were saved in the hope of this. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit takes care of our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. He who searches our hearts knows the thoughts of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
My sermon has three parts
1. The gift of the Holy Spirit
2. Our experience of suffering
3. An incredibly great promise
1. The gift of the Holy Spirit
What Paul says about the Holy Spirit in this chapter is incredibly great and awakens in me a longing to discover the fullness of the Holy Spirit and to experience more of it. To be touched by the Holy Spirit is the best thing that can happen to us.
But we all know that we cannot yet live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit in this world. God's Spirit is already given to us here, but only partially and differently in each of us. Through our decision for Christ, we have all received a share in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And we should serve one another with them. My wife, for example, has been given an extraordinary gift for serving others. Her loving care is a great help to many. For me, it is more the spirit of special knowledge.
The Holy Spirit is not always available to us with the same intensity. However, the expression ‘available’ is dangerous. We cannot simply dispose of God's Spirit; we can only ask for it again and again. God is sovereign in His work. He decides what is right for us at any given moment and when and in what form He wants to give us something. But He does not leave us alone.
There are times in our lives when we experience God's Spirit particularly strongly and God seems very close to us. But there are also times when He seems distant and we feel completely abandoned by Him.
God's Spirit works like the wind: we don't know exactly where it blows from or how strong it is. Is it a gentle breeze or a storm that almost knocks us over?
The Holy Spirit often surprises us completely unexpectedly or in ways we never expected. Often we only recognise his work in retrospect.
We could tell each other a lot about this. I will just say this much: in my 35 years as a pastor in Brittnau, I have never experienced God leaving me completely alone in very difficult situations – such as after the accidental death of four skiers who were swept away by an avalanche.
Even during the years when I myself suffered from depression for a very long time, God's Spirit accompanied me unnoticed, even when I could no longer believe in my healing.
When I read Paul's words, I believe that he could only write all this because he himself experienced God's Spirit very often. His great enthusiasm for the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit is obvious.
Paul constantly searches for new words and concepts to show us what the Holy Spirit is and how He works. They are an invitation to follow his example and also strive for God's Spirit.
Some key words: God's Spirit testifies to us that we are sons and daughters of God. He therefore shows us our true identity. We are not slaves who are exploited or used by God as long as we can do something for him. If we do too little or nothing for him, we are dismissed.
We are and remain his beloved children. No one can take this status away from us.
God's Spirit is the experience of a meaningful life and freedom from the power of sin and death.
It is the experience of a new spirit deep within us: a different aspiration, a different way of thinking, a different way of acting than what is normal for us as human beings. And above all: love.
God's Spirit is also an experience of special peace, a calmness and inner serenity that accompanies us.
2. Our experience of suffering
When I preach today in Rivne, in a very difficult and uncertain situation, I cannot simply remain silent about what has been happening to you for 1,000 days.
Last year, I was able to publish a book entitled ‘A Cry of Despair – The Watercolours of Danylo Movchan on the Russian War in Ukraine’.
Danylo, an icon artist from Lviv, was no longer able to do what he had done before after 24 February 2022. Paint icons. God seemed completely distant to him. He began to paint what he felt inside: his perception of the events of the war.
In his watercolours, he gradually created a kind of diary about this war, which he continues to this day. So far, he has created more than 150 paintings.
What he shows us in his paintings – his feelings, his perception of the war and his connection to his faith – is so moving that everyone should see it, especially us in the West.
His paintings impressively show what war really means. We should not only talk about politics in Russia, the USA or the EU, but also about what this war means for your everyday life.
As a worldwide community of brothers and sisters in Christ, it is our duty to share the suffering of our brothers and sisters, to inform ourselves about their fate, to support them as best we can and to pray for them.
In the small town of Zofingen, where I live, a prayer for peace has been held every Tuesday since the beginning of the war.
I got to know you, my brother Taras, through Facebook. What I read in your blog ‘Human Being’ touched me deeply. You don't just gloss over your real feelings and questions with nice, pious words.
Last year, your youngest brother Andrij, who was a very talented doctor and served in the military, was killed by the Russians. I read your thoughts on his passing, which touched me deeply.
I find your openness and honesty in describing your own suffering and that of the whole of Ukraine exemplary. You do not hide your true feelings from us and do not swallow everything silently.
You do not resort to pious words, as some of you as priests are expected to do.
Some of your friends abroad, respected people from very pious churches, felt compelled to admonish you for this.
You should not only see yourself and the suffering of Ukraine, but also the suffering of others: the many Russian enemies who have been killed and their relatives. A Christian should bless his enemies, as it says in the Bible.
Must we do this in all situations? We must ask ourselves this question. Does God demand something of us that is completely beyond our capabilities? Must we conceal our grief, our questions and our despair? Must we act in a way that is not natural to us?
Why, then, are a third of the Psalms lamentations and even psalms of vengeance? Why is the Book of Job in the Bible, in which Job initially tries to accept all evil from God as if it were completely unaffected? His façade of piety completely collapsed when he saw the truth. He became honest, expressed his despair and even questioned God. His honesty ultimately paid off, because God expressly praised him for it.
Why did Jesus cry out as one of his last words on the cross: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’
Why did Jesus ask in his despair in the Garden of Gethsemane, ‘My Father, let this cup pass from me’?
God therefore understands our suffering and our groaning. This is exactly what Paul tells us in Romans 8: "For we know that the whole creation groans and labours in pain together until now. Even we ourselves, who have received the Spirit as a first gift, groan together and wait for the recognition as sons and daughters, for the redemption of our lives.‘
It goes on to say: ’We do not know what we should pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8 is a chapter full of groans.
Those who experience difficult things often find themselves unable to pray. We lack the words to express how we might pray if we are to be truly honest. We can only remain silent before God, sigh, lament or even cry out loud.
Therefore I say, when these things come upon you, do the same. Sigh, lament and cry out, give free rein to your tears and feelings.
Your cries and sighs are also prayers. God loves very honest prayers. What did we do when we were children and something terrible happened to us? We looked for our mother or father, even if it was only a small problem.
As children of God, as his sons and daughters, he has given us the spirit of childhood, through which we can cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So let us go to God as our Father, as we did when we were children, and tell him everything: our needs, our questions – without inhibition, without embarrassment.
Our suffering. Paul writes: “Not only we, but the whole creation groans until now with the pains of childbirth.” So it is very intense and almost unbearable.
And Paul goes even deeper. “We too groan together.” As individuals and sometimes all together.
‘The Spirit of God intercedes for us with wordless groans.’ Even the Holy Spirit groans with us. God's Spirit identifies with us. That is how far this groaning, God's compassion, goes.
Do we dare to proclaim this message in our churches? Or do we just preach cheap consolation to our parishioners? Do we accompany one another, especially in suffering?
Our personal and collective sighing is very biblical. I dare say: even holy.
3. Encouragement and assurance
We are sons and daughters of God. So let us act like children. Let us speak to him very openly and honestly about what is really in our hearts.
Let us do so in the biblical conviction that ‘God's Spirit sighs with us; our suffering is also his suffering.’
‘The Spirit takes care of our weakness,’ Paul writes at the end.
None of us can be strong all the time. The honest admission of our weakness, our helplessness and our despair does us all a lot of good.
Even your soldiers, your heroes, cannot fight constantly. They need regular breaks in which they can breathe, face their fears and admit their incredible anger about the war and their despair – perhaps accompanied by a good military chaplain.
Only in this way can they continue to fight and find themselves again.
Paul recalls once again his experience with the Spirit of God: ‘The Spirit of God searches the mind, because the Spirit of God is the judge of the mind, according to God's will for the saints.’
This verse is very important. We should hear and read it several times to internalise it and anchor this truth deeply within ourselves.
Amen.
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