What God Does…What We Do

Let me begin with a question:  Can you capture what you believe about the mystery of God in a few verses of scripture?    Is there a place where all of the deepest fears and longings of your heart come together and are fully answered by God’s promises?    Is there one set of verses that reveals not only God’s love, but God’s power… and the plan that God laid out before time began for you… for me… and for this church?    These verses from the eighth chapter of Romans come the closest, in my mind, to sharing the incredible miracle of God’s plan for all of humankind.  In these few verses, I find comfort… I find a sense of belonging… a sense of protection… and heart-pounding… throat-choking awe in the face of the glorious majesty of our sovereign God.    These verses are a pearl without price buried in the hundreds of texts in the Bible.  They are a priceless treasure. 

I had the opportunity this week to travel to Clifton to meet with several pastors to discuss these verses from Romans and our text from Matthew.  What brought us together?   Even though we come from a variety of Christian traditions… United Methodist, Evangelical Lutheran, Missouri Synod Lutheran, United Church of Christ, American Baptist, and, yes, Presbyterian… we all have one thing in common:  We all preach from the Revised Common Lectionary… following a pattern of scripture that, over three years of time, forces us to move through every part of the Bible and, thus, deliver the full breadth of the scriptures to those who worship in the churches we serve.    It was Peter, the Missouri Synod pastor, who first voiced the lament that we all felt.  Why would the ecumenical committee who developed the Revised Common Lectionary put this majestic passage from Romans in the middle of the summer months when so many are absent from church?    No one posited an answer to his question.  I think we were all equally mystified.    But, for those of you, who are here today… what a joy and a blessing to hear these words from the Apostle Paul! 

God is clearly in charge.    God is clearly in charge!    If you had any doubt, open your bulletin to the insert and read again all that God promises in the plan that God has for us.    Just listen to how it begins… it begins in our weakness… in our stumbling… and fumbling doubt and fear.    How many of us have been in a place where we do not know how to pray… when the troubles of our lives overwhelm us… when we feel derailed… or lost and uncertain of God’s plan for us… when we feel isolated… or distant… and abandoned by everyone… including God… or when too many opportunities… or, perhaps, too many temptations… present themselves…?    And yet, here we are told that at those times, the Spirit helps us… interceding with sighs too deep for words… and God understands. 

Immediately following that is the declaration by Paul that we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.  Notice that he doesn’t say that we think this… or we hope this is true… or that we trust that God will make this be true.  Paul says that we know it.    Well, how can we possibly know it?    Isn’t that a prediction of the future… and who knows what the future holds for us? 

Well, according to Paul, it is just pure logical deduction.  First of all, we know that those whom God foreknew, God also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.    Yes, my fellow Presbyterians, this is from whence our belief in predestination originates.  But let’s take a closer look at that sentence.  Those whom God foreknew… well, who are they?    Think about it.    The question would seem to be, is there anyone that God did not know beforehand… from the beginning?    And if not, then all are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.    And, those whom God predestined, Paul says, God also called.    And those whom God called, God also justified… for it is God who makes us righteous… despite our humanity… even if the only way that God can do this is through the death of his own Son. 

Now, if that were not enough, Paul goes on to say that those whom God justified, God also glorified.  And all of this leads logically to the question:  If God is for us, then who can possibly be against us?    How would you answer that question?    If God is for you, then who is against you?    Who is it that makes you doubt your own worth… who is it that makes you doubt your place in God’s kingdom… in God’s great plan for humanity?    Who is it that brings your fears to the surface so that your life is ruled by fear, rather than by the love of God?    Where do those fears come from?    Do they not come from your own lack of faith?    Don’t your doubts flow from your own insecurities? 

One thing we do know is that it does not come from God!   Keep reading:  “He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us… will he not with him also give us everything else?”    Put another way, if God has already made the supreme sacrifice of the life of his only Son for our sake… for you and for me… why would God withhold anything else from us?    What would be the point?    He has already given us the most important thing.  Wouldn’t he give us everything else as well… for these other things would be chump change… would be peanuts… would be nothing… compared to the gift of his Son? 

We are God’s elect… all of us.    And, by the way, Calvin would agree with that statement, for Calvin believed that we would not even be in church on Sunday morning if we were not one of God’s elect.    We are all God’s elect… known by God from the beginning… predestined… called… justified… and, one day, glorified.  And, if we are God’s elect, who will bring a charge against us?    Paul doesn’t answer the question, but I will.  No one!     No one can bring a charge against us, because it is God who makes us righteous by the blood of his Son.    So then, who can condemn us?    Again, no one!    No one can condemn us, for it is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God and God Incarnate, who died… who was raised… and who now sits at the right hand of God… he is the One who intercedes for us.  He is the one who has broken the yoke of sin and death, which made us slaves… and he has freed us forever from its grasp. 

            What are you afraid of?    What is it that you fear?    Where does that fear come from?    Do you not understand that there is nothing… nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ?    He who gave up his own life to save you… he will never let you go!    There is no trial… no danger… no difficulty… no anguish… no destitution… no war… no persecution… no hunger… no famine… nothing on this earth… nothing initiated by this world… by humankind… can separate us from the love of Christ.  In fact, if you read further you will see that Paul is convinced that nothing that is even beyond this world… beyond this life… beyond our comprehension… nothing extraordinary… nothing supernatural…in fact, nothing at all… anywhere … in any time or place… can separate us from the love of God… the love that is revealed to us in the life and death of Christ Jesus. 

            We are God’s… and we always have been.    God is the source of our life… and it is upon God that we are wholly dependent.  And yet… this is a God who loves us beyond reason… a God who gave his own life… the life of his Son… for us.    This is a God who puts all of creation at our feet!   This is a God who opens the doors to eternity for us.    Do you understand that because of this… and only because of this… all things are possible!    There is nothing that is beyond our grasp… nothing that is beyond God’s power!    No.    Nothing!    We are limited only by our own vision… by the finitude of our own thoughts… and by our own doubts… by our own fears… and by our own lack of faith.    Can you see that we are our own worst enemies?    For we are the ones who put limits on God and what God can do. 

            And all this is ours even though we have done nothing to earn it.    Indeed, we cannot earn it, for it is a gift… a gift of God.    This is what God does.    This is what God does… for it is God’s essential nature to do this.    God cannot not do this… for this is who God is.    This is what God does… and it is a gift.  … a pearl of great value… a pearl without price.  It is a treasure buried in a field… a treasure that no one knows is there… but a treasure that has been revealed to you… to me… to all of us.  (Longer pause)

            So, we know what God does.  What do we do?    Matthew tells us… through the parables of Jesus… that, if we are smart, we sell everything we own to obtain possession of this pearl… to possess the field in which this treasure is buried.    For, you see, there is nothing that we currently own that has greater value than this:  a relationship with God, our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Guide… nothing! 

So, the question today is not “what has God done for me?”    No.    God has done… and continues to do… all these things.    So, the real question is “What have you done lately to acquire this priceless pearl… this treasure?”  “What have you done to strengthen your faith… to build a stronger relationship with God… to get closer to this One who loves you… cares for you… has a plan for your life… and longs to lay the world at your feet?”    What are you waiting for?    Are you afraid that you are not the one?    Is that what you fear… that you might not be the one that God loves… that God longs to hold in his embrace… that you might not be the person for whom these promises were made… that you might not be the one for whom Christ died?    Where do those fears come from?    For I am here today to tell you that they do not come from God… nor from any part of the gospel story.    No.    Listen:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever… whosoever… that’s you… that’s me… whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”    How many times do you have to hear the promises of God before you begin to believe them?    God is on your side.  There is nothing that can stop you… nothing that can separate you from God… nothing in this world… nothing anywhere.    Reach out… grab it… hold on to it… for it is a priceless treasure. 

Just one more thing.    Think for a moment about the man who discovered the priceless pearl and sold everything he owned to possess it.  Think of the man who found the treasure buried in a field and sold everything he had to buy the field in which it lay.  What do you think this man did once this treasure was his?    Do you think that he just sat at home and looked at it?    Do you think that he kept this great story to himself?    No.    I don’t think so.    Once this treasure was truly his, I believe that he told everyone about it… his friends… his family… his business associates… his golfing buddies … his fellow Lions… Optimists… Rotarians… everyone!    It would be such a natural thing for him to do. 

Does God expect anything different from us?    Possess the treasure.  And then… go… tell the story.  Tell it to everyone.    For you see, telling the story of God’s love is like putting yeast in the dough… it multiplies everything that it touches.  Telling the story of God’s love is like planting a tiny mustard seed… it grows… and grows… and grows… far beyond anyone’s expectation… far beyond the work that you do.    “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”     Tell the story… this is what we do.  We tell the story of what God has done… and what God is doing.    “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."    The treasure is ours… share the good news!   Amen.

Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-35, 44-46