“Christ in Our Future”
(Outline by Walter Goode)
Romans 5:1-8
Isaiah 43:10-13
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
A few nights ago—I think it was on CNN—they were promoting an up-coming special about the events which occurred in 2004.
I turned to Jeanne and said, “Why would anyone want to watch that? We know what happened in 2004.”
We know about the war.
We know who won the presidential election.
We know who won the World Series.
It’s not as if it occurred very long ago…and…
…as a matter of fact—it’s still 2004!!!
Then I remembered that the last year I was a t-v broadcaster I had done a story on “What’s going to be hot, and what’s not going to be hot in 1995.”
I turned to Jeanne and said, “I can’t believe that was already ten years ago!”
It seems like yesterday…yet the only thing I remember listed under the “What’s going to be hot for 1995 list was—Prozack for dogs.”
Obviously I hadn’t been covering a very hard-news story that evening.
I do know that one thing which was definitely missing from the list was “Christ in Our Future.”
Little did I know that ten years later I would have completed 3 years of seminary and would have been a United Methodist Minister for the past six years.
So much for the accuracy of that list.
I had asked Walter Goode to preach this morning, as Jeanne, Ben and I were to be heading to Atlanta Christmas morning…
…and I asked Walter to do this…oh, maybe a month ago.
Last week, when I asked him what he was going to be preaching on, his face lit up and he gleamed: “Well, considering that this will be the last Sunday before the new year, I figured I’d preach on the future.”
“Good idea,” I responded. “What’s the title?”
Again, Walter gleamed: “I’m calling it ‘Christ in Our Future.’”
Of course, Christ was always part of the future for Walter, and it should also be a part of the future for all of us.
In trying to decide what to preach on this Sunday, I figured that I would look and see if Walter had written a manuscript of his sermon.
So I went to his home, and I searched and searched and searched.
Finally, I found a one page outline, neatly typed.
From Walter’s outline, I will attempt to convey the essence of the message Walter would be giving you this morning had the Lord not decided to take him so suddenly and graciously to paradise this past Wednesday.
Walter’s introduction reads as follows: “As we come to the end of 2004, we can look back and ponder…
…What have I done that made the world a better place to live in?
…Have I reached out to those who are in need…
…those who are lonely…
…and most of all…
…to those who are unsaved, without Christ?”
I could go into a long list, and I know all of you could too, of what Walter did in 2004 to make this world a better place…
…but this is not what Walter would have preached on.
In our Old Testament Reading from Isaiah for this morning we find that the task for the Israelites was to be witnesses to the world—telling the world Who God is and what God has done.
In verse 10 of Isaiah Chapter 43 we read: “You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord… ‘Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me…’”
… and in verse 12 we read again: “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”
And we, the Church of Jesus Christ, share the responsibility laid upon the Israelites so long ago, of being God’s witnesses today…in today’s world!
Are we doing this?
Did we do this in ’04?
Do we plan to do this in ’05?
There are many uncertainties about our future…but there is one certainty…
…one thing we can count on without a doubt…
…Christ will be in our future!!!
And Christ will be in the future for all people—even for those who do not know him or do not believe in Him.
“I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.”
God has “revealed”, God’s self to us…
…God has “saved” us and we are to be witnesses to this fact!
Most folks, if we were to ask them, believe that there is a God.
There really are few atheists.
A few weeks ago, Jeanne and I went to Norfolk to have some genetic counseling—as we are expecting a baby this May.
As the geneticist was explaining the very delicate and highly scientific intricacies involved that decide whether a child will be a boy or girl, a person with physical or mental handicaps, a person with Down’s Syndrome and so forth I found myself completely enthralled.
“That is absolutely fascinating!”…I kept saying over and over again.
Then I asked the geneticist if all this knowledge enhanced her belief in God or took away from it.
“Oh,” she replied, “It definitely enhances it. Everything is set up so precisely—how could one not believe that God is behind all of this?”
On the way home, I told Jeanne that I wished I had paid more attention in my biology classes…because there certainly is a direct link between scientific discovery and the definite existence of God.
So, as I said, most people take it as a given that there is a God…but not everyone knows Who this God is or what kind of God this is that created this vast universe and everything…absolutely everything!
So, as saved people to whom God has so graciously revealed Himself—we are to proclaim God—not as some foreign god—but as the God Who has shown us what He is like by coming into our world in the form of a man—that is, Jesus Christ!!!
We are to show people what God is like by our words and by our actions—as they are in conformity with Jesus Christ.
Do people know what God is like by what we say and what we do?
As Walter wrote: “They cannot see God directly, but they can see Him reflected in us.”
This is our call…
…to give the world an undistorted view of the One and Only living and loving God!
Paul tells us in Romans that through faith in Jesus Christ we have the assurance that we are reconciled to God.
We have peace with God, and no more hostility.
“we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
The glory of God allows us to know that we are SOMEBODY…
…we are precious in the eyes of God—mistakes, sin and all.
As Paul writes in Romans Chapter 5:8: “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
That includes you, me, and everyone else in all of creation!!!
Our job is to make the world a better place by witnessing to the fact that the God…the One and Only God…loves His sinful creatures with an unfathomable and unconditional love!
And therefore, we are to love others, just as God loves us!
On the surface this might sound pretty easy…
…but if we look at how God loves us…
…if we read our Bibles for ourselves…and don’t just take for granted what someone else tells us the Bible says and means…
…we may find that this is actually one of the hardest things in the world to do!
A Christian author writes: “I’d like to think God loves me because of my sterling character and pleasant demeanor, but when I suggest this possibility, my wife’s uncontrollable laughter quickly deflates such delusions. It seems much more likely that God loves every person as much as God loves me.”
God is love, and everything God does, God does because of love.
When God’s love is poured out on the wicked, the rebellious, and the resistant—adjectives that fit all of us on occasion—we call it grace. Where sin abounds, God’s grace increases all the more.
Unwilling to abandon us, God works in the lives of every person to redeem and restore.
And this restoration of all things—which is God’s ultimate desire—is not an event, but a process…
…a process that we are called to take part in!
We are to grow in Christ, we are to become more and more like Christ—and we are to do this by reading His Word and putting His Word into practice.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:13 that faith, hope, and love are the heart of the Christian life.
It is God’s love that gives us the ability to reach out to others.
But God’s love is useless if it is only looked upon as an abstraction.
When Jesus called His disciples to love their enemies, He gave examples.
He told them, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”
These may be the most difficult, and the most disobeyed, Words Jesus ever spoke.
But Jesus not only spoke these Words, He lived these Words.
In those hours before His death, He was spit upon, slapped, whipped, mocked, and bloodied.
Yet Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of those who did these things.
And when He rose from the dead, He didn’t seek out those who had killed Him and demand their lives…
…instead He commanded His disciples to spread the kingdom of God—the kingdom of love and grace—throughout the world.
So, as we come to the end of 2004, let’s look back and ponder…
What have we done that made the world a better place to live in?
Have we reached out to those who are in need, those who are lonely and most of all, to those who are unsaved—without Christ?
If not, may we repent, knowing that the slate has been wiped clean and we have a brand new year to do these things with a new gusto—because Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit.
As Walter concluded in his outline for this morning: “Always remember that the Bible says, “While we were still sinners—God sent Jesus Christ to Die for us,” …
…not because we were good enough, but because He loved us even when we were uncertain about God’s love for us…
…Remember that He loved us even before we turned to Him.
