November 7, 2021 "Unless The Lord Builds the House..." - Pastor Hines

 

November 7, 2021

"Unless The Lord Builds the House..." - Pastor Hines

On this all Saints Day we think of the great highlights that all Christian Saints have in our live. There are things that all of us have done that stand out and please God, for everyone who has some God in them can surely be credited with great good that they have accomplished, whether privately or publicly. We make a point to remember so that we won’t forget how good our God is. All Saints Day is about remembering and being grateful.  

There have been times when the word “saint” has been used with tongue in cheek. In one Adult Sunday school class, the teacher was trying to lead her class in a discussion on the biblical concept of sainthood. She asked, “Does anyone here claim to be a saint?” No one responded at first. Finally, a gentleman spoke up saying, “Well, I didn’t know him, but I’ve heard of one saint.” The teacher asked who it was, and the man replied, “My wife’s first husband.”

Our Psalm today is one hundred twenty seven, reminding us to remember to put God first in every area of our lives. Verse 1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.” Test it for yourselves. Is God the foundation of your life? Have you dared to pray about everything? Have you surrendered something to God while waiting for God’s will to be revealed to you? Have you surrendered anything? Is there something you think you should surrender today? Whatever your case, as a Christian, God has enabled you to do great and Godly things.

All Saints Day is about remembering and being grateful that God does wonderful things in our life. We especially remember the great and Godly things God has done through our deceased loved ones. God has used them to bless us abundantly. They are gone but not forgotten. We stand on the shoulders of their greatness. We live with the treasures of memories and legacies that they have left behind. As we live our lives day to day, it is good to remember the extraordinary and magnificent ways that God is good and God is great. Every day of our life is surrounded by majesty and miracles that we may not notice.

Journalist and poet Alfred Joyce Kilmer was known for poetry that celebrated beauty in nature. Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1886, he studied at Rutgers and his father was the inventor of Johnson and Johnson’s Baby Powder. Kilmer was a War Veteran killed by a German sniper bullet. However, he is best known for his poem Trees. I love the lines – 

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree, A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. Don’t you love that poem?

Our lives are surrounded by God’s magnificence.  God’s glory and beauty is not only around us, it is in us. There are things that only God can create. Only God can create goodness in us. We might describe saints as one whose footprints lead us to God and God’s goodness, whose memories are precious and alive in our hearts, whose favorite hymns strike a cord with us, whose voices speak directly to our situation, whose trials have taught us to pray, whose prayers were like wings lifting us from  trouble and anguish.

There are saints in all of our lives, especially at Bethel, whose good deeds connect us, comfort us, hold us together and turn our lives around, whose small acts of kindness bring tears to our eyes, whose generosity leaves us speechless, whose very memory makes our hearts skip a beat and brings a smile that illuminates the whole world for God’s sake.

The reason we gather as Christians is so that we will grow to be thankful for God’s goodness and grow in that goodness. When we grow, we change every day in small ways and large ways.

Bill gates, college dropout is categorized as the fourth richest person in the world. Third is Bernard Arnault of luxury designer brands like Christian Dior. Second is Jeff Bezos from Amazon. First is Elon Musk of South African known for Tesla and Space X. Bill Gates knows the rewards of change. We can learn from the business world and appreciate that God is always helping us to grow and change for the better. Gates says that humans fear change.  He looks back in history saying there were those who were afraid to mine and burn coal; some feared gas powered engines; some even feared electricity.

The church, like the world has feared change, too. We have feared unity and we have feared sinners. We have feared gays and blacks and browns, and yellows, and whites. Nevertheless, change has happened and WILL HAPPEN with or without us, in us or around us, for our benefit or the benefit of the one who dares to take the risk. In contrast to the richest people in the world, we won’t find a list of the poorest people in the world. However, the poorest countries in the world are Central African Republic, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Malawi, Liberia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan.

Don’t you agree, a change is needed, not only for the sake of the poor, but for the million ways that God’s goodness is needed in our lives?

In the world and in our lives, the Holy Spirit is guiding us toward growth in goodness. Spiritual growth means change. It is a change that is for our long-term benefit as well as short-term profit. We cannot be the ones to stand still lest our blessings pass us by. As Mr. Gates puts it: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two ears and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.”

If God guides us to change for the sake of our spiritual growth, it is good to move forward without delay. It is good to be good, Saints! We grow slowly, but surely. If we ask God to help us, we will change for the better slowly but surely. Looking at God’s goodness in the lives of our loved ones who have gone on before us inspires us and helps us to see what God has done and will also do in us as we are willing to pray and watch and wait.

God has a purpose and a plan worth waiting for, worth holding onto, worth trusting and having faith in. So, we wait, not for the check in the mail, not for a miracle, not for life, not even for death. We can learn to wait for God to reveal God’s self in whatever powerful and loving ways God has and always will have for all the Saints. Amen.