Sermon 8-03-08

Our Old Testament reading parallels the Gospel Lesson. Seven hundred years before Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, Isaiah wrote that it would happen. Jesus fulfilled the prophesy from Isaiah that God would come and not only feed our bodies physically but He would also feed us spiritually with His word.

Old Testament – Isaiah 55:1-5 Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, a nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.

Our second reading from the Book of Romans serves as the basis for our sermon today and tells about because of what Jesus did for us, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Epistle –Romans 8:35:-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The first sentence in our Gospel lesson says, “When Jesus heard what had happened…” What Jesus heard is that John the Baptist had just been beheaded by Herod for preaching the Good News of the Gospel.

Gospel – Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As even approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds way, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have only here five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Sermon –

How many of you worried this week as to whether or not the five thousand people mentioned in our Gospel Lesson would be fed? Were you stressed whether the five loaves of bread and two fish could actually feed that many people? Did that situation cause you undue anxiety or concern? Did you lose any sleep wondering how all those people would eat? Did you?

Everyone is looking at me as though I were nuts! You’re saying, “Well of course not! We know the conclusion, we know that Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fish and everyone ate and had more than enough...there’s no need to worry about that!”

Well how about this? Two thousand years ago Jesus died, went to the Cross and paid for our sins to reconcile us to God so that we, as Romans 8 says, would never be apart from God’s love but that all depended on whether or not Jesus would rise from the dead on the third day. Did any of you spend time this week worrying if Jesus would rise from the dead? Probably not, because it already happened. Or has anyone spent any time this week in doubt, fear, worry, stress or concern about whether or not we’re going to be able to defeat the British and win the Revolutionary War? No one worried about that either, you’re at complete peace about the Revolutionary War because it already happened.

This is a very important concept. When things move from the future into the past, we can stop worrying about them. The matter has come to a conclusion and we don’t have to worry about it anymore; there’s no worry, no stress, no anxiety – nothing of that sort. It’s only when things are in the future that we have some concern. So if we could move things from the future into the past, all of a sudden worry, stress, anxiety would be eliminated.

Now, Romans 8 tells us there are things that will come into our lives in the future; trouble, hardship, persecution, danger. We don’t know what we are going to have to face and that causes us some concern. High oil prices, the war, the elections, all those things are looming in the future and we don’t know how they are going to affect our lives. That can cause worry, stress, concern, and anxiety. But if we could just move all those things that are out there in the future into our past, worry would be eliminated.

Well, God tells us we can move our future into the past. In Romans Chapter 8 there are two key verses that are intertwined; verse 28 “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to his purpose” and verse 37 “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” God can bring good of all things, it doesn’t matter what they are. God can bring good for those, and it’s a select group, those who love God, who have confessed their sins, who believe on Jesus Christ and are called according to His purposes, those trusting in Christ as Savior. The Bible tells about the trouble, persecution, and hardships we face in life and then goes on to tell us that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

See what God does? He takes our future, the trouble, the hardship, the persecution, and moves it into the past! God, who sees everything all at once, who knows the future says, “Here’s what’s up, here’s the conclusion of the matter –– through hardship, persecution, and trouble you are more than conquerors through Christ who loved you.” God takes the future and eliminates the uncertainty; He says that in everything you face, you are more than a conqueror.

Let’s look at some examples of this. When Paul wrote this, his life was anything but good. He will go to Rome and be under house arrest, and eventually be murdered for his faith. In fact, writing about his life in 2 Corinthians 11, he says “five times I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled, and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressures of my concern for the churches.” That’s what Paul’s life was like; no one would volunteer to trade places with him. But through all this he writes, “We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.”

How can Paul say that? Because he knows that God knows the future; he knows that he can take his future with all the uncertainty and move it into the past because the conclusion of the matter is that “we’re more than conquerors”. He knows he doesn’t have to worry about the trouble, the hardship, the persecution anymore than you worried about whether the five thousand would be fed, anymore than you worried whether Jesus was going to rise from the dead, anymore than you worried about whether we’re going to win the Revolutionary War. It’s a done deal. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us!

A couple of weeks ago Tony Snow, who was Press Secretary at the White House, died of cancer. He was a Christian and before he died he wrote his testimony. It begins, “Blessings arrive in unexpected packages - in my case, cancer.” He had moved his future to the past. He knew that in all things, even cancer, even death, Romans 8 is true. He knew that he was more than a conqueror through Christ who loved him. He went on to write, “God doesn’t promise us tomorrow. He does promise us an eternity filled with life and love so great we cannot comprehend it.” How can he say that as he’s suffering and dying from cancer? Because he knows the conclusion, he’s read Romans 8; he understands that in all things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

For whatever you’re facing right now, whatever you’re struggling with, whatever is going on in your life, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. As difficulties come, and Romans Chapter 8 says they will – trouble, hardship, persecution, danger, – God promises that He will be with you in those situations and that “we are more than conquerors.” And you need to understand that when those difficulties come, it doesn’t mean that God has turned on you, it doesn’t mean that God has forgotten about you. He still loves you more than you can possibly imagine; He is still more involved in your life than you can possibly imagine. Remember, because you believe on faith that Christ died and paid for your sins “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

A couple of Sundays ago we talked about a parable that Jesus told from the book of Matthew. Jesus told how God plants his seeds in this world and the good grows. Satan also plants his seeds in the world and evil grows; trouble, hardship, persecution, and difficulties. God says He’s going to let them grow side by side until Judgment Day. He lets this happen because He doesn’t want robots. If God eliminated all the evil, all the difficulties in this world, there would be no one to serve except Him; God would be the “default God”. So He lets the evil grow along with the good so that we have a choice. God wants you to follow Him because of who He is, not because there’s no one else to follow. Or, what if there were no other choice on a Sunday morning but to go to church? God doesn’t want you in church because there’s nothing else to do; He wants you in church because you want to worship and praise Him; He wants you to choose Him on a Sunday morning as opposed to something else. That’s why He lets good and evil exist together.

And God lets evil grow along with the good so that He can show His power. He can take evil and bring good from it. The classic example of this is Jesus Christ going to the Cross. The evil of this world nailed Jesus to the Cross yet God showed his power and brought good from it; He purchased our salvation through it. God wants to show that He is so powerful that, not only can he bring good from the good things in life; He can bring good from the bad!

If you’re struggling and you feel defeated and you don’t feel like a conqueror, remember you haven’t reached the end of the matter yet. If you ask me how your favorite baseball team did in their game yesterday and I told you that they were losing 5-0 at the end of the second inning, what does that tell you? The game is not over; there are still 7 more innings to play! You want to know how it ends, there’s no need to be concerned about the score at the end of the second inning. So let’s think that way about the game of life. Just because we may be losing in the second inning or the fifth inning or even the top of the ninth inning, it doesn’t mean we’ve lost the game. Here’s the final score, here’s the conclusion of the matter, and God gives it to us. He says “In all things you are more than conquerors through Christ who loved you.” All things! So if you’re struggling, keep that in mind. Take your future and bring it into the past. In all things you are more than conquerors. And, if you don’t feel like a conqueror yet, remember you’re still in the middle of the game. Look to the end – you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved you!

The future is out there - the election, the war, the economy, the high oil prices, the concern about paying the heat bill next winter, retirement, illness - and we don’t know what exactly is going to happen. But what do we know? We know that nothing can change God’s love. We know that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. We face hardships in life. Sometimes there is not enough money to go around; lack of money cannot separate you from God’s love; He says you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved you. Family problems, problems at work, problems in the neighborhood cannot separate you from God’s love. In fact, the conclusion of the matter is that God says in all those things you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved you. Trouble cannot separate you from God’s love; you are more than a conqueror. Hardship cannot separate you from God’s love; you are more than a conqueror. Persecution cannot separate you from God’s love; you are more than a conqueror. You know the end of the matter - you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loved you!

Prayer -

Heavenly Father, thank You for the techniques You give us in the Bible. Romans 8:37 says to take the future and move it into the past. We know the conclusion – we are more than conquerors through Christ. Thank You for that, Lord. May Your Spirit be with us and help us to remember during those times of hardship, persecution, or whatever comes that You are there, Your love is there and that through You, trusting in You, and relying on You we are more than conquerors. Thank You for that promise, Lord. And we pray all this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Home Page News Contact Us