August 5, 2012 Page 1 of 5 The Sacred Journey: Significance Biblical Text: Romans 8: 28-30, 35-39 Dr. Michael F. Gardner, Senior Pastor Old Mission United Methodist Church, Fairway, KS. Success is a goal for most of us. We want to be a good person, or parent, or partner. We want to do a good job. We want to ensure the education of our children, have security for retirement, enough resources to enjoy life. And, we wouldn't mind a nice car, house and clothing, and some measure of health along the way, too. There is nothing really wrong with any of those things. In fact, God desires good for us. It s in our text. Romans 8: 28 is instructive: We know that in all things God works for good for those who love him, and are called according to his purpose. Christians often get this verse wrong, courtesy of the King James Version. In this case, the King James gets it wrong. It says, All things work together for good, for those who love God But that s a dangerous theology. All things do not work for our good. In fact the most difficult passages of our lives are those where things are not working. Where we see no purpose, only pain. But the original Greek is clear; it is not things, nor people, nor circumstances that work for our good. Romans 8:28 assures us that in all things, God works for good. That makes all the difference! Ann and I know that on a personal level. In our twenties, we both were in marriages that did not work for anyone s good. Only brokenness and pain. But we found one another. Tomorrow is our thirty-fourth anniversary. Thanks be to God! I have learned through joy and pain, that God is at work, always. I often put it this way, In the economy of God, nothing is wasted. But there s also a catch, a gotcha, a speed bump in the promise contained in our text. It says: In all things God works for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.
August 5, 2012 Page 2 of 5 Life often feels like a big jigsaw puzzle, without the picture on the box to show us how it all fits together. We can spend a lifetime striving for success and never understand how it all fits together. In our text, Paul explains God s picture of his purpose for us. Verse 29: For those God foreknew, God also has destined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Verse 30: Those God has so destined, he also has called; those he called, he also has justified; those he justified, he also will glorify. This is the essence of the Wesleyan understanding of Christianity. What separates us from other approaches to the Christian faith is that we believe this is God s plan for every life, not just the elect. I have a book by Dr. Carl Bangs, on the Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius that delineates that in great detail. I see the look of panic! Don t worry! I m not going to read it to you this morning! A more recent book expresses the same idea - check out Love Wins by Rob Bell. It also is what this series is about. First, our life begins and ends in God. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Second, God shapes our lives through His grace. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Third, God offers us a life of abundance in Christ. (John 10:10) Fourth, God calls us to use our gifts in service. (Romans 12:6) Fifth, God intends to fill our lives with joy! (John 15:11) Sixth, God offers us a life of significance. (Romans 8:28-30) Another way to remember those six key concepts is to remember six words: God, Grace, Abundance, Service, Joy, Significance. (I know some of you hate to repeat things, but all the teachers here know it is a sound pedagogical method. So humor me!) The last one, significance, is so important! Let me tell you why. In his book, Satisfy your Soul, Bruce Demarest says, We schedule ourselves to the eyebrows but leave little time for reflection on matters of spiritual significance. 1 So, what if he s right. What if significance matters? 1 Satisfy Your Soul: Renewing the Heart of Christian Spirituality by Bruce Demarest. Copyright 1999, NavPress.
August 5, 2012 Page 3 of 5 What if the net worth of our life lies deeper than what we own? What if we obtain whatever we are striving for, and find it empty? What if success is not the ultimate reward? What then? A few years ago, I met Jack and Marilyn DeBoer. Jack has been a prominent real estate and business developer for a long time. Among the hotels he founded are: Residence Inns, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Suites, and most recently Value Place. A couple of years ago, Jack and Marilyn invited me to a dinner they hosted with Rich Stearns of World Vision. That was such a privilege. Rich s book, The Hole in the Gospel, chronicles he personal journey from being the CEO of Lennox China to leading World Vision. But the most meaningful words spoken that evening were Jack s. He talked about discovering a deeper value than just making money. He said this, Success is no longer my ultimate goal in life. I want to live a life of significance. I want to make a difference. Isn t that powerful? I want to live a life of significance. It made me ask, What do I want? When my life is over, when my children are grown, when I am long retired, what do I want my life to have counted for? So I am asking you today, What do you want? You know by now, if you have been listening, that I believe that there are four essential practices for every Christian, every week: 1) Worship. 2) Growing spiritually with other Christians. 3) Serving God. 4) Giving away what we have received. The last one is the hardest for all of us. It is the hardest because it involves the things that matter most to us: Our success, our security, our resources, our time, and our money. And the last one is hardest of all. That s why giving anywhere near a tithe of our income is so hard for most of us. It s hard for me! Still, we give10% of every dollar we receive to Old Mission. It isn t easy. We have kids and grandkids, a house on the market in Wichita, retirement savings that were hit hard in 2008. So Why do we do it? We do it, because it is one way of saying what we really believe.
August 5, 2012 Page 4 of 5 The Apostles Creed is one of the oldest statements of what we believe from the early Church. But it is not the oldest. The first creed of the Church is much simpler. Here it is. Jesus Christ is Lord. Repeat that with me. You ll find it in your Bibles - Romans 10:9, I Corinthians 12:3, Philippians 2:11. If Jesus is the one you follow, then he seeks to be Lord of your life. He is to be Lord of how you make your decisions, what kind of parent you are, what kind of student you are, what kind of worker you are, what kind of husband and wife you are. And he seeks to be Lord of what you do with what you have been given. All of it. But there s also a bonus. And if he is Lord of your life, the one you follow above all - there is a promise for you: Romans 8:37-39 says: In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Death or life; angels or demons; past, present or future; powers, height or depth; nothing else in all creation can then separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Not financial hardship, not divorce, not even death or loss. About twelve years ago I met Melvin and Mona Winger. They are ranchers and bankers from Johnson, Kansas. I met them when they signed up to travel with me to trace the footsteps of Paul, who wrote this text, in Rome and Greece and Turkey. They came because Mona knew they had to do something to deepen their spiritual lives in the aftermath of losing two of their children. I knew them slightly. They had a long record of philanthropy, in their community, their home Church, Saint Paul School of Theology where a building is named in their honor. I never knew why. One afternoon off the coast of Greece, Melvin told me. He asked me if I knew Dr. Forest Robinson. He was their pastor years ago. He was one of my predecessors in Wichita at First Church. When he came to Johnson, it was after making an unsuccessful bid for governor of Kansas.
August 5, 2012 Page 5 of 5 Melvin said that one evening; Dr. Robinson gathered a bunch of young professionals from the Methodist Church in Johnson, for dinner, and he asked them this question: When was the last time, if ever, that you did something of significance for Christ and his Church? Melvin said none of them could remember when. Melvin said, Dr. Robinson asked a second question that changed their lives forever. Here it is: Isn t it about time that you did? Amen.