GOD’S WORK

A sermon by George R. Pasley

Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:16-21 

Mark never thought much about God. That’s because mostly, when he did think about God, he figured God “had it in for him” and was punishing him in hard ways.

Mark lived a hard life. He worked hard, when he worked, but he had a hard time keeping jobs. That’s because he was hot tempered, argumentative, sullen, and prone to do things his own way and not the company way.

But one night, over a beer with a friend after losing his most recent job, Mark said what he thought:

“God doesn’t like me.”

But Mark’s friend was a Christian, and a thoughtful person, and though he didn’t know all the scriptures, he knew enough. So he replied:

“Mark, God’s job is love and you are part of that work.”

Mark was flabbergasted, and almost amused, but since he couldn’t possibly respond to something as lovey-dovey as his friend’s statement, he changed the subject.

But this is what we know, and we affirm it every week: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Then there was Sarah.

Sarah had always been, well- a perfectionist. Of course she KNEW she wasn’t perfect, and never pretended to be perfect, but she wanted to do things right- correct- without mistake or error.

Yes, she learned from her mistakes, but she was hard on herself. So when her marriage started falling part, she blamed herself as much as her spouse, maybe even a little more, because that’s just the way she was.

But when they finally decided to divorce, Sarah was disconsolate and went into a long depression. She blamed herself, and she saw the divorce as God’s punishment. It did not help matters when one of her friends insisted that divorce itself was a sin.

I need to say this: the Bible, in particular Jesus, is pretty hard on divorce, for good reason. But if we call it a sin we cannot say it is an unforgivable sin, nor can we say that it is always an avoidable sin. Sometimes it’s the only way we can place ourselves in a situation where we can experience God’s grace.

That’s what Sarah’s pastor told her when she finally asked, and he showed her the Bible verse we read this morning: “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.”

But let me tell you about Ed.

Ed was a Christian. Not a life-long Christian, but a born-again Christian.

Ed had a good life before becoming a Christian. He couldn’t explain his conversion- but he was one, through-and-through.

So Ed was surprised when bad things started happening, even though he was trying to be obedient and live by the light of Christ.

Ed’s second oldest son fell into bad company and got into trouble, despite Ed’s best efforts to help. The soreness of that relationship was heavy on Ed’s heart.

Ed started to have health problems.

The company that Ed worked for started to do poorly in the changing economy.

Ed knew that some of his friends- those who never had faith in God- might feel their lack of belief vindicated by Ed’s troubles.

Ed knew that other people might claim that his troubles were proof that God was not as loving as the preachers might insist.

But Ed was a man of prayer, and he discovered that in his time of trial his prayers brought him closer to God.

Ed discovered that when life was the hardest, he felt the love of God in a most wonderful way.

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Make no mistake: The Bible does talk about God’s wrath, about punishment for our sins, about God’s judgment for our sinful ways.

Sometimes life goes so bad that we experience situations we might call wrath.

But we need to be clear.

Every decision has a consequence, as does every behavior.

The wrath we experience as results of sin is caused by sin itself.

If you forget to recharge the battery on your cordless electric screwdriver, it won’t be ready for you when you’re ready to use it. Just ask Paul.

If you practice promiscuity, sooner or later someone’s going to get hurt.

If you eat too many French fries, it will start to show.

That’s just the way it is.

But we also need to be honest: not every suffering is a result of our sin.

Sometimes we can place the blame on someone else’s sin.

Sometimes not.

Sometimes we have to acknowledge that it’s part of life, and maybe concede to the theologians that all suffering is the result of Adam’s sin.

But whatever we concede, whatever we struggle with, we must remind ourselves: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

It might be interesting to ask each other, “What are the top ten things you need to know in order to live a good life?”

We could probably get a good discussion going. But whatever else we put on that list, if we are Christian we need to put “Jesus loves me” right at the top.

Jesus loves me,

The cross proves it.

Jesus loves me,

That changes everything.

It changes the way we think about ourselves- if Jesus loves me, then who am I to hate myself?

If Jesus’ love is meaningful to us, if it’s something we carry in our heart, then it changes the way we think about other people. If Jesus loves me, unconditionally, then he must love them, and if Jesus loves them then I need to try and love them too!

Meg walked into church one Sunday. She hadn’t been to church in a long time, not since Sunday School, but she went that Sunday because her life was falling apart and she needed to do SOMETHING.

In another neighborhood, Bill went to church with his friend Sue. They weren’t girlfriend and boyfriend, but Sue had known for a long time that Bill’s lifestyle was going to cause him suffering and pain, so she had invited him to church on several occasions. Finally, one time when Bill was feeling the pain, he said yes.

Meg was nervous walking into the church. It was no place for someone like her.

Bill wanted to change his mind, but he was the kind of guy who hated being caught at changing his mind, so when Sue blew the horn outside his door, he was ready.

Meg was afraid someone she knew would see her- and they did. But their expression was not shock, not disgust, but delight. They called her by name. They shook her hand. They invited her to sit with them.

Neither Meg nor Bill were surprised when each church made a mention of sin early in the service. The church Meg went to read the Ten Commandments in unison that week. The church Bill went to heard a testimony from one of the members of their former sinful life. Both churches had a unison confession of sin. Both churches had time for silent prayer. Meg and Bill both felt uncomfortable trying to pray.

But then, both Meg and Bill heard some words that took them by surprise: “The proof of God’s amazing love is this: while we were sinners, Christ died for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, I declare to you, your sins are forgiven.”

Almost as soon as those words were spoken, everybody stood up and started singing for joy. In their separate churches, Meg and Bill stood up, but they were so bewildered they could hardly read the words in the hymnal.

Afterwards, Bill asked Sue what that was all about.

Her answer was, “The love of God. We don’t earn it, we can’t earn it, we just receive it, but when we do, it changes everything.”

Meg didn’t need to ask. The person who knew her, who knew what kind of life she’d been living, who shook her hand and greeted her with a smile- that person had demonstrated to Meg the love of God that comes for all of us while we are still sinners, over and over again, every week.

“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.”

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Love- made possible by mercy- that’s God’s work.

Know that you are forgiven. Know that you are forgiven, and be at peace.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.