Did you know that the song, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” is the only religious song that made it to the top of the “Top 100 Hit’s” chart? This song made it to number one in 1958 and remained there for 4 weeks. That is not bad for a song that talks about how God has the entire world, even the little bitty baby in His hands.
However, that song raises a question: IF God really has the whole world in His hands, why are things such a mess? In Psalm 24:1, we read these words, “The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” (NIV). We also know from the Creation Story in Genesis that God created the world and everything in it and so it stands to reason that the world as we know it today still belongs to God. So why then is everything such a mess and why does God not step in and clean up this mess? The simple answer is that God chooses not to, at least not yet! The truth is, the answer is much deeper than that. As God created humanity, we were gifted with this little thing called “free will.” As humans, we have choices to make every day. We choose what we eat, where we work, where to live and so on and so forth. Sometimes we make good choices and sometimes we make bad choices. If it were all up to God, none of us would ever make a bad choice. But no matter how hard we try, there are times when we all come short of making God happy! (Romans 3:23) This reminds me of how when I was a young child, I hated to clean up my room. My mom would make me and I would have much rather been outside playing or riding horses! So, there were lots of times that I would simply shove all my stuff under the bed! I thought my mom did not know what I was doing. Then one day after I had “cleaned” my room and went out to play, my mom came in and cleaned out all the stuff I had shoved under my bed and dumped it on my bed! When I came in I was in for a big surprise. I was not allowed to go back outside until everything was put where it belonged, the bed made, the floor swept and mopped and she inspected my work! One day, God will send Jesus back to clean up the mess humanity has made with God’s wonderful creation! There will be no hiding or shoving stuff under the bed. Jesus is coming back in God’s time, not ours. So you see, God really does have the whole world in His hands! Amen. We live in such a fast-paced world these days and it seems that I am always in a hurry! I sometimes wish there were more than 24 hours in a day; but if there were more hours I’ll bet that I would still always be in a hurry. So how are you doing with the pace of your life?
The psalmist writes, “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10) When we allow the fast pace of this world to consume our lives, it is difficult to be still and know God. We fail to hear God over all the noise which surrounds us. The odd thing about all this is I (we) always find the time to do the things we want to do! We need to be reminded of Romans 3:23 (All have sinned and have come short of God’s glory – paraphrase mine). As I have written before, this does not mean that once we move into a right relationship with God that we no longer sin; far from it in fact. What it really does mean is that we sinned yesterday, we will sin today and we will sin again tomorrow. That is the humaneness within each one of us. We need to take time, maybe even schedule “quiet time” each day so that we can listen for that still small voice that speaks to us. Be still and listen. God speaks if we will just listen! What would happen in this world if we would give as much time to God as we give to other things which clutter out lives? Take golf for instance – it takes about 4 hours to play 18 holes, not counting the time it takes to drive to and from the course, warm up before we play and possibly eat something when we are finished. Easily that round of golf can turn into 6-8 hours! I am not sure where your priorities lie, but what could be accomplished if each one of us spent as much time with God as we do in other things? God has gifted each of us to do a specific thing – do you know what you are supposed to be doing for/with God? Ask and God will show you, I promise! Amen. This week’s Gospel reading from the Lectionary is a passage that is used at funerals quite often (John 14:1-14). This passage is very comforting and it assures us that if we are in a right relationship with Jesus, there is a place for us in heaven, a place prepared by Jesus himself! This passage is part of the “farewell discourse” as told by the author of John’s Gospel.
Jesus begins this passage by comforting and reassuring the disciples. The verb translated as “troubled” (tarasso in Greek) has already been used three time in John’s Gospel (11:33, 12:27, 13:21) and all three are used to describe Jesus’ condition of distress and agitation in the face of the power of death and evil. Jesus also tells them (and us today) how we can live a life with certainty as to where we will be when we die. Jesus is quoted as saying, “Believe in God, believe also in me.” (v. 1b NRSV) These two verbs should be taken as an imperative. In other words, Jesus is telling his disciples and you and me today that we MUST believe in God and believe in Jesus so that we will have life eternal with them in heaven. Jesus is telling his disciples this as he prepares them for his death. Through their eyes of faith, the disciples should be able to see that Jesus’ death is the culmination of his work. Jesus came to die for our sins, paying a debt we cannot pay and this was all part of God’s plan of salvation for the world. Jesus offers us the gift of grace, forgiveness and life eternal but we are required to believe—believe both in God and in Jesus. It is in believing that we learn to do what Jesus did! So then, stop asking (what would Jesus do) and start doing what Jesus did! He demands no less! Amen. Decoys—good plastic “fake ducks” (or geese or other animals) made to lure unsuspecting game in close so that the hunter can shoot them hopefully for food! These decoys don’t fool we humans, at least they don’t fool most of us but they are very effective to the animals the hunter is hunting. I used to hunt duck as often as I could. Steve (my hunting partner) and I would set our decoy spread, making sure to make it look as real as possible. Then we would sit very still, being as quiet as possible and wait for the first sight of ducks. Then we would begin to call to them, trying to get them to come to our spread. It was like we had a big neon sign out which read, “All ducks are welcome! Come on in, join your friends—it’s safe here.
Truth is our decoy spread was far from a safe place and many ducks fell victim to our little scheme! Order turned to chaos in the blink of the eye and most of the time we were able to get our limit in a very short period of time. Our spiritual lives are no different at all. Satan sets his spread of decoys, using whatever he knows will entice us to fall victim to him. Do you know what decoys you should avoid? I can assure you that Satan knows what will entice you. And, by the way, what entices you may not entice me at all! But Satan knows where your weakness is and he will use it against you every opportunity he has. For me, I would say that golf most certainly is a weakness to me, along with some other things. I have played golf on a Saturday in sleet and then decided not to go to church the next day because it was too cold! (That was before I became a minister!) In 1 Corinthians 10:13(NRSV) we read these comforting words: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” So, keep watch on whatever it is that tempts you. Keep your eyes fixed firmly on Jesus and you will be able to stay away from Satan’s decoys – God guarantees it! Amen. |
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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