Cheating

So I have started several posts about exciting things and then I get bogged down in details. I realized part way through my incredibly long post about Maine that people might not actually care to read an entire blow by blow of my weekend. I also realized that I don't really care, they can stop reading at any time. I kinda like being able to look back and remember what happened. So I am slogging along on that.

Just now I had a brief scare when I thought I would be giving a sermonette out on the common tonight (sort of a last minute thing). It reminded me of the last time I gave a sermonette and I decided to post that for the two of you who haven't already read it :).

So here it is:

Tonight I want to talk about loss and I want to talk about blessings. I want to talk about how through all of it, everything belongs to God and the God we serve is a God who wants the best for us.

There was a guy in the Bible named Job. He was a great guy, he was rich and happy and had a big family that all got along and a lot of property and he wasn’t stuck up or proud, and was incredibly faithful to God. The story goes that one day Satan was up chatting with God and God said, have you seen my servant Job who’s soo faithful? And Satan was like, duh he’s faithful look at all you’ve given him, it’s easy to be faithful when you’re rich and your family gets along etc. So God says, no, he’s really faithful, do whatever you want to him as long as you don’t physically hurt him and you’ll see.

Of course Job didn’t know any of this was going on so he’s living his life like normal, praying for his children to be faithful thanking God for his blessings etc. when a servant comes running to him and says the oxen that were plowing and the donkeys nearby were taken by a gang visiting the village and I was the only one who survived. Before Job could say anything, another servant comes running from the other direction and says, there was a freak fire and all the sheep were burned up and I am the only one who survived! Then another servant came running from yet another direction and said your camels were stolen and all of the servants riding them, and I am the only one who survived. Then ANOTHER servant came running (I think we all know where this is going) and he said there was a tornado that hit the house of your oldest son and all of your children and grandchildren were killed and I was the only one who escaped.

Talk about a bad day right? I would be whining and complaining and I would certainly be bitching to God. But this is what Job says:

Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised

Let me repeat that one more time. That’s what he said in the face of all that loss. May the name of the lord be praised. I’m not gonna lie, I have been hugely blessed, but everyone’s had some loss right? Think of the most blessed person you know, brad pitt Angelina jolie, whoever it is whatever person you know who has the greatest life ever, they’ve all had some kind of loss. And I can tell you when I have had my losses, I haven’t handled it with the same grace as Job, I haven’t always looked at my loss recognizing whatever it was, was God’s originally and through it I need to say “May the name of the Lord be praised!” After reading the story of job and re-reading numerous times his response to loss, I now strive to live so I can say praise the lord in the face of any loss. I’m not trying to tell you I actually succeed, I fail at this a lot. But I think they’re powerful words and I pray that I can meet them, and I pray that they’re as powerful for you.
So now we’ve talked about loss, but I promised I would talk about blessings tonight too though, not just about loss. Job said, the lord gave and the lord has taken away, so let’s talk for a moment about when the lord gives, or his blessings. . . .There are two passages I want to read about blessings, the first is:

Matthew 7:9-11:

9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

I was telling a friend of mine recently (and I really believe this when I am at my best) that our God is a God who gives us far more than we ask or imagine, sadly in the process the obvious/ best choices we see don't fit into that “I'm giving you more than you can imagine plan” and so we're left wondering what the heck is wrong with God that he can't see what we need/desire and give us just that meanwhile he's probably thinking I KNOW I GOT IT, thanks for your input but I am handling it!!! Or as he said to our friend Job at one point when being questioned, chapter 38: 2 -3 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."

Usually, God isn’t that vocal though, and we’re left to wonder as we continue to pray/ask for good things what he could possibly be thinking. The thing is, God has promised to give us good gifts (and not because we deserve them – because we don’t in the least, but because he loves us), He’s promised us good things, but he hasn’t promised to give us everything we desire.

I have a friend whose brother was in a cult. The friend and his family prayed for years that the brother would see the light, that he would leave the cult and re-join the faith of his childhood. Wasn’t that a good thing? Why wasn’t God answering? Because our God is a God who can do more than we can ask or imagine. Recently the friend’s brother did return to his Christian faith but he didn’t return alone, he took everyone in his cult with him and they’re now a budding Christian Congregation. There are lots more examples (I am sure you can think of some yourself) where God’s timing and God’s blessing is far more perfect than anything we can ask for.

I’m not saying it’s not tough waiting for that blessing, yeah, it sucks for now I get that I am often right there with you in the frustration, but I also know that God does such amazing things when we let him that we need to stop getting caught up in that frustration, and focus on his power and goodness. Sometimes we have to pray to have the desire to have the patience we need, or the desire to have the understanding, when we can't just pray for patience or understanding because we’re still to focused on what WE think is better or what timing we think God should have. We’ve forgotten Job’s reminder that we came with nothing and it’s all God’s and we need to praise him no matter what.

I said I had two verses on blessings I wanted to read. The second passage I wanted to read comes from Ephesians and I would like to close with it.

Ephesians 3:20:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

So there you go, do you feel enlightened? One guy liked it so much he asked for the verses from Job. He told me he wanted to hang it on his wall. I found this rather amusing since he's homeless (so he doesn't really have a wall). I managed not to laugh at the irony and promptly gave him my copy!