Jesus, Not Jesús: Finding The Divine In The Space Between Us.
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact
  • Be Kind
  • About this blog
  • About the author
  • Contact

Plan Ahead: A sermon

10/16/2016

 

Whenever we tell someone, “It’s God’s plan,”
we should add, “So buckle up- it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

Picture
I tell you, these last few days have certainly flown by. It felt like ten minutes…under water! However, the week finally ended on two distinctly different notes; wonderful celebration for the life of K.C., and then off to Grand Ledge to officiate C.S.’s amazing wedding.   
 
As you can imagine, these were two completely different events, each with its own set of emotions. Along with the expected outpouring of love, there was also a sense of hope and promise; the very undertones of assurance that we find in Jeremiah 29:11,
 
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” 
 
This popular bible verse is often used to provide comforting words of promise. Whatever circumstances we face today, we know God has a plan to change our tomorrow. And that’s gotta make you feel good, right? To know God isn’t going to leave you out to dry… like a sheep among wolves.  

​But what happens when your plans and God’s plans don’t match up?

 
Let’s face it, no one plans for a child or spouse to pass away at such a young age. Instead we plan vacations, graduations, open houses, and holiday festivities.

Some brides plan weddings months, if not years, in advance. They might even go so far as to have a backup plan in case the weather changes. But nowhere in that plan is there a trip to the emergency room. I mean, come on, what bride would book the ICU to mark the most important day of her life? As we all know, things can radically change, for better or for worse.
 
Whenever I hear myself say to someone grieving,  “Well, I’m sure it’s part of God’s plan,” I shake my head wondering, “How I could believe such a thing?”
 
It seems so out of character for a loving God to have a “plan” that involves wiping out thousands in earthquakes and tsunamis, giving people cancer, parents losing children, car accidents, trauma, abuse, and all manner of pain and suffering. I don’t get it. To quote Benjamin Cory, “If every life event is being directed and controlled by God, then God is really bad at making plans.” (Cory 2016)
 
I’m not convinced God has a giant master calendar where everything that happens in life is divinely mapped out like a school schedule or a weekly dinner menu. In a world of such brokenness, this simply cannot be true. Because then it would seem like God is just passing the time by making bad stuff happen. Why would God do that?
I’m not saying God isn’t in control of all life, or that God hasn’t known me since I was knitted in my mother’s womb; the scriptures give us that assurance. But I find it hard to believe God’s plan is as sugary and sweet as we often make it out to be.
 
Jeremiah’s words do promise hope, but there is no promise that it’ll be easy. The promise is for your welfare, and no harm, but nowhere does it say you will be comfortable all the time. Real hope, as we learned last week, often comes through a tremendous amount of pain and suffering; the hardest part of faith. It’s cruel irony that our greatest strengths are mostly birthed from our darkest days.
 
But it’s in these tough times we rely more on God, and discover who we’re called to be. Whenever we casually comfort someone by saying, “It’s God’s plan,” we should also add, “So buckle up- it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
 
Too often we throw around Jeremiah’s words with false hope, expecting quick results. We do so because we often take his words out of context. Had we read the chapter before, we’d get a better sense of God’s promise to his people, and what it means to us today.
 
So here’s what you need to know. The Jewish people disobeyed God in every possible way, and as a direct result of that disobedience, God sent them into Babylonian exile. In chapter 28, there’s a theological throw-down between the prophet Jeremiah and another prophet named Hananiah, who claims God is going to restore Israel within two years.
 
This is about as realistic as any politician who promises to rebuild the economy or secure our country all by himself.  To the Jews, this certainly sounded good. And in the short term would make Hananiah very popular with the people who are suffering in captivity. But it wasn’t true. God told Jeremiah he had no plans to make everything better in two years.  Instead, it would be 70 years before relief would eventually come.
 
In chapter 29, Jeremiah writes a letter to the exiles, encouraging them to settle in, marry and bury, to plant vineyards, and to seek the prosperity of their current place. God had spoken. Restoration will come. Buckle up and have faith, it’s going to be a long and bumpy ride.
 
Chris Blumhofer argues that it’s not so much “a plan” that God makes, but a desire and will for us. In other words, whatever God wills, and whatever God desires to bring into reality, is always beautiful whether we know it or not. It gives our life, and the events within it, purpose and meaning. “It’s not that we would escape our lot, but that we would learn to thrive in the midst of whatever it is we are going through.” (DeMuth 2015)
 
I do not know why suffering is essential to who we are as people. But the word of God gives us promise and hope that God does not abandon us. God is with us through it all; not masterminding the events, but experiencing them with us. God’s relationship with us is personal and intimate. He cares for every intricate detail of our lives. Jesus said, “even the hairs on your head are numbered…” in my case, all six of them. 
 
Think about this in terms of where our church is today.  There is hope on the horizon; we just cannot plan on when it will come.  Instead we have to settle into our situation, and do the hard work of faith.  Too often, however, we want freedom, but we don’t want our exile to create it. We want to be strong in Jesus, but we don’t want to carry the cross he carried. We want healing without pain. 
 
But as we walk out our lives through this crazy earth, let us not forget that our most fruitful growth comes through persevering through trials, not escaping them entirely. As Jesus demonstrated on Calvary, before the wondrous beauty of the resurrection came the horrific brutality of the cross. 
 
Our faith in God through Jesus Christ offers us the hope-filled promise that something better is on the horizon. In spite of all the darkness in our lives, we must never lose sight of that light of hope and bright future that shines far beyond the parameters of this life. 
 
If “all scripture is divinely inspired by God,” as the Apostle writes in his letter to Timothy, then we have this assurance: that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day we reign with Christ Jesus forever and ever.
 
This is the good news! Life will be restored fully and completely, the way God intended since the beginning of creation. The resurrection was not an after thought. It was intentionally created for us, so that we could remain with God throughout eternity.  
 
God’s will was well-planned ahead, well in advance, to give us what we need to get us through the struggles we are bound to experience. Jeremiah’s letter tells us that in both sweet and difficult times, we are to search God with our whole hearts, and he will redeem and restore our fortunes, bringing us back to where we first came; his divine love.
 
As Henri Nouwen so prophetically claimed, “If we believe love comes from God, then love will return to God.  When we die, we will lose everything that life gave us except for that gift of love.” 
 
As you leave here today, remember the words that I gave to both the grieving family and the celebratory newlyweds, love is what binds us to God. Love is what binds us to one another. Love is the beginning and the end of life’s greatest plan.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Works CitedBible  Jeremiah 29:10-14; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5.
Blumhofer, Chris. relevantmagazine.com. December 10, 2010.  (accessed October 13, 2016).
Cory, Benjamin. patheos.com. May 24, 2016.  (accessed October 13, 2016).
DeMuth, Mary. www.marydemuth.com . Sept 10, 2015.  (accessed Oct 13, 2016).




Comments are closed.

    Ian Macdonald

    An ex-copywriter turned punk rock pastor and peacemaker who dedicates his life to making the world a better place for all humanity. 

    "that they all might be one"  ~John 17:21


    “Prius vita quam doctrina.”
    ​~ S
    t. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)​
    * “Life is more important than doctrine.”


    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Be Kind

About this blog

About The Author

Contact

Copyright © 2011