GOD’S PURPOSE
Text: Romans 8:28
Our church secretary Paula (at Indian Field UMC) often shares insightful thoughts for the day that come from a daily calendar she has. The one that she shared from May 11, 2018 fits very well with the message for today. It reads… “God’s purpose is greater than our problems”. How many times have we thought the opposite of that notion? Satan lies and magnifies and distorts our problems to appear top be larger than what God can fix. Nevertheless, God, our Heavenly Father always has a plan for us. In fact, even before you were born, God knew the plans He had for us (Jeremiah 29:11).
Today, I want to share with you a father and son story that started off on a rocky foundation that was problematic until God’s greater “purpose” was revealed. We will see two things. We will see the the elements of unfinished business and God’s purpose. Before we get there, lets recall how many things impossible to man are possible to God.
If God can create the world out of nothing and He did; if can make Israel cross on dry ground when Egypt’s army was closing on them and He did; if God can make Sarah to give birth beyond her childbearing years to Isaac and He did; if God can enable Gideon’s army of 300 to beat the Midian army of 135,000 and reduce them to an army of 15,000 and He did; If God can keep Shadrack. Meshack and Abednego from from burning in a fiery furnace, escaping and not even smelling like smoke and He did; if God can help Daniel escape the lion’s den, and He did; If God can give us Jesus through a virgin birth and restore his crucified body and resuscitate Jesus through His resurrection and He did, then beyond the shadow of a doubt as it says in scripture, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26)!
The father and son that I speak of this morning are both famous. Though they were separated for many years, it is more than obvious that God’s “purpose” was at work in bringing them together.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Have you ever known anyone with unfinished business? If the truth is to be told, it is possible that we all have some unfinished business that drives us toward an answer or conclusion. Consider the first two verses of the hymn “Creation’s Lord, We Give Thee Thanks” by William DeWitt Hyde.
Creation’s Lord, we give Thee Thanks …
That this Thy world is incomplete;
That battle calls our marshaled ranks;
That work awaits our hands and feet.
That Thou hast not yet finished man;
That we are in the making still,
As friends who share the Maker’s plan
As sons who know the Father’s will.
Only Jesus Christ can complete---perfect us toward doing God’s will! Like St. Augustine once concluded, “we will be restless until we find our rest in God”.
Frank’s unfinished business: Frank, the dad was born in 1944 and the son, Samuel was born in 1967. It would be eleven years before Samuel found out who his real father was. (Country Weekly magazine, June 21, 1994). It was not until 1985 that Samuel and his father Frank became close.
Frank’s family: Frank and his ex-wife Diane had a son named Matthew and two step sons Christopher and Ian. He had a son Mark McGraw and a daughter and Cari Lynn by his second ex-wife Phyllis. Frank was only twenty three when he met Elizabeth [Betty] d'Agostino; their son, [Samuel] Tim McGraw, was 11 when he learned of his paternity. [Frank] knew of the possibility of [Samuel] Tim at the time, but refused to fully acknowledge the boy and wasn't interested in being a part of his life. The two eventually became close, and [Samuel d'Agostino] Tim took the surname [Frank] McGraw . https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1346860/bio. Even though Frank was not always there for Samuel in his youth, Frank later made amends and became the father he was always meant to be for his son.
The neglected son:
1) Athletic: Samuel was such a good athlete that he was offered scholarships but turned them down to enter the nearby Northeast University in 1989.
2) His major: His first choice for a major was pre-law until his grades discouraged that dream. He changed course and switched to “public relations” as a major and again, he saw from his grades that it was not going to work.
3) A detour: Samuel gave up on college altogether to pursue a career that did not need a college degree. Frank told his boy Samuel that he needed to stay after his college education. Samuel argued and reminded his father Frank that he had left college to pursue his athletic dream only after two years of school. (Country Weekly magazine, June 21, 1994). Samuel found his niche in music.
PURPOSE
How do you respond to trials, setbacks, failures or any other adversity?
1) First reaction: “Worship is not usually our first reaction. As someone , (Chris Tiegreen) has said, “When our lives fall apart we’re inclined to accuse God of not living up to His end of the bargain.” (Chris Tiegreen. One Year With God. Carol Stream: Illinois:Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2007, p. 196).
2) Usual reactions: In most stories like these, hate, bitterness and anger usually upstage any chance of reconciliation. Again, with God all things are possible! Frank’s exwife Phyllis and Samuel’s mom Betty had a hand in bringing them together. Frank gives them credit. Samuel was born to what he called his mother’s “summer romance” in 1967. Until Betty, was divorced Samuel always thought his step -father was his real dad. (Country Weekly magazine, June 21, 1994). There is no doubt that Samuel probably had some resentment in his life at this time.
How many of us like obstacles? Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote, “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all”. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/255749-though-the-mills-of-god-grind-slowly-yet-they-grind. Do you hear an echo Romans 8:28 there?
Can obstacles have hidden blessings? “… an 11 year-old Samuel …” found out that his father---his real father was a baseball star relief pitcher whose birth name was Frank Edwin McGraw Jr. The nickname that everyone knew him by was Tug McGraw. The June 21, 1994 Country Weekly magazine also had a hand in bringing the two together explaining that Tug’s relationship with his son really did not take root until 1985 when Samuel was 18.
Have you connected the dots in this story yet? If you know baseball or country music history, then you have probably connected the dots as to who Samuel is. Samuel’s birth name is Samuel Timothy Smith. http://tasteofcountry.com/tim-mcgraw-real-name/. I imagine that “Smith” was his stepfather’s last name. The article in the June 21, 1994 issue of Country Weekly explains how Tim wanted take his real father’s name when he was starting college.
Their biggest obstacle became one of their biggest blessings! We can only guess how things might have turned out differently if both Tug and his son Tim had not chosen to go beyond the obstacle. Until this reconciliation successfully took place, the 11 year old time had only knew of his father Tug through baseball cards. The issue June 21 1994 issue of Country Weekly was a big help in telling most of the details of this story. It was only ten years later when Tug lost his battle with cancer. His son Tim wrote about it in a song that same year in a song as a memorial tribute to his dad entitled, Live Like You Were Dying.
He said I was in my early forties, with a lot of life before me
And one moment came that stopped me on a dime
I spent most of the next days, looking at the x-rays
Talking bout' the options and talking bout' sweet times.
I asked him when it sank in, that this might really be the real end
How's it hit 'cha when you get that kind of news?
Man what did ya do?
He said
I went skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'
He said I was finally the husband, that most the time I wasn't
And I became a friend, a friend would like to have
And all of a sudden goin' fishin, wasn't such an imposition
And I went three times that year I lost my dad
Well I finally read the good book, and I took a good long hard look
At what I'd do if I could do it all again
And then
I went skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Shu
And I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I gave forgiveness I'd been denyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'
Like tomorrow was the end
And ya got eternity to think about what to do with it
What should you do with it
What can I do with it
What would I do with it
Skydiving
I went rocky mountain climbing
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu
And man I loved deeper
And I spoke sweeter
And I watched an eagle as it was flyin'
And he said some day I hope you get the chance
To live like you were dyin'
To live like you were dyin'
To live like you were dyin'
To live like you were dyin'
To live like you were dyin'
http://www.metrolyrics.com/live-like-you-were-dying-lyrics-tim-mcgraw.html
Again, “God’s purpose is greater than our problems”. How many times have we thought the opposite of that notion? Satan lies and magnifies and distorts our problems to appear top be larger than what God can fix. This story ends the way that God wants all stories like it to end. Although God was never mentioned in any of the details, God’s work and will in this story illustrate Romans 8:28! Everyone here knows of a story about someone else or maybe its even their own story that needs a conclusion based on redemption, salvation, and love. Luckily, by the grace of God, the people in this story were reconciled and had quality time before they were separated by death. God does not want anyone to be separated from Him. Our Heavenly Father is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance, belief and living a life as His redeemed who produce fruit in keeping with repentance! With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)! Only God can take our stumbling-blocks and turn them into the stepping stones of accomplishing His will! That is what Romans 8:28 is all about. The message of Tim’s song reflects a truth that we should all take to heart. We all need to live like we are dying. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
