Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

Life is Difficult; God is Good

Matthew 11: 2-11

December 16, 2007

Life is Difficult; God is Good

Two New York risk-taking entrepreneurs decided to see if some money might be made by introducing bungee-jumping to Mexico. They fronted some venture capital to build a platform, where people who like "extreme sports" could dive off and spring up and down as they do in the states.

When it came time for the trial run these two entrepreneurs climbed up the platform and looked down on the gathering crowd. They knew what they had to do, but decided to flip a coin to see who would do it.

The entrepreneur who "won" (or "lost," depending on how you look at it) put on the harness and dove off. When he came up the first time his partner noticed that his nose was bloody. When he came up the second time it was obvious that one eye was turning black. When he came up a third time part of his ear was missing. As he headed down for the fourth time, his partner yelled out, "Are you okay?" And on his fourth ascension the bungee-jumping entrepreneur yelled back, "What's a pinata?"

Many of you, because of this or that circumstance, feel like that bungee-jumping, pinata-resembling businessman. You're bloodied and beaten and find it hard to join in the joy and festive mood that characterize this season. Some of you are struggling with a chronic illness that threatens life itself, or are caring for a family member who is. Some of you are mourning the death of a loved one: a parent, a spouse, a child. Some of you are trapped in a job that you don't like but can't escape. Some of you are facing family finances that feel overwhelming, bills far exceeding income, indebtedness that weighs like an anchor around your neck. Whatever the circumstance that weighs on your spirits there are two things that you all share: a despair that there is no hope and a sense of isolation that you struggle in your fears, sorrows, and anxieties alone. Not only can you not join in the holiday celebrations that surround you, all that bright light and happiness serve to cast your own sense of darkness and dread in even starker contrast.

A few years back there was a haunting country song that went like this: "If we make it through December..." It is sad but nevertheless true that while most people look forward to the December holiday season, for many it will be the hardest month to "make it through.” John the Baptist knew something of that kind of despair. He, himself, had come preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near," as he prepared the way for the Messiah. His was a message of hope-filled expectation. Visions of Isaiah 35, some of which were read today, must have danced in his head. "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.... They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God... Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, Be strong, do not fear! He will come and save you.' Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water..." John felt that God's kingdom was as close to him as Christmas is to us.

But in today's reading John the Baptist is in prison and he begins to doubt whether or not his preaching had been true. John had been hearing about the *deeds* ("erga") of Christ - but none of these deeds has helped John. He's in prison. He will die in prison. There are no miracles coming his way from the one he called "more powerful than I" (3:11). The certainty of his wilderness proclamations has now turned into a single question: "Are you the coming one, or are we to wait for another?".

This is a word of hope for us. We can take hope in this story of a biblical giant who wavers between roles, just as we often do. John the Baptist is both an unflinching proclaimer of God's Word and at the same time a doubter of what is and will be. How can John proclaim the power of the coming Messiah to bring in a new age when he is sitting in prison?

John's experience is reflected in our own in a similar question: "How do we proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Lord when miracles are not coming our way?" Can we rejoice this season, or must we merely get through it? Can joy still triumph when the circumstance doesn't change? when the dead remain dead, when the illness remains chronic and life-threatening, when the job is still odious, and when the bills continue to overwhelm income?

John's experience says "yes". John may have had doubts but he also had hope. There was one thing John wanted to know before he died. John wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt if Jesus was really the Messiah. If Jesus were the Messiah, then neither prison, nor even death could rob John of his hope and ultimate joy. John knew an eternal truth: In Christ, hope-ful always defeats help-less.

"Life is difficult." Anyone know where this phrase comes from? These three words "Life is difficult" may go down in history as one of the most famous first lines of any nonfiction book. "Life is difficult" are the opening words of one of the best-selling books of the '80s and '90s: The Road Less Traveled (Scott Peck, 1981). These first lines came at a time in our country when we were beginning to experience just how difficult life could be from a variety of perspectives. The modern world was breaking up, and another world - the postmodern world - was being born. In that one breakup there was an avalanche of other breakups: careers were breaking up, families were breaking up, ministries were breaking up. We began to realize that we were educated to live and move and have our being in a world that no longer existed. Life was difficult then. And life hasn't gotten any easier for some of us since then. Those three words. Life is difficult, continues to be our 21^st century mantra.

But the world only gives us one side of reality. It is our trust and faith in the goodness of God and his love for us that supplies the other half. It worked for John 2000 years ago; it works for us today. Our earthly experience says "Life Is Difficult," but our Christian faith answers, "But God Is Good." Say that with me: Life is difficult...LIFE IS DIFFICULT. God is good...GOD IS GOOD. Say that again. Life is difficult...LIFE IS DIFFICULT. God is good...GOD IS GOOD.

Those who live by faith in Jesus know what it is to worship a God who does the best of things in the worst of circumstances, a God whose goodness shines through life's greatest difficulties. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, Paul challenges church leaders to "not lose heart" because of the difficulties they are facing, and then in verse 8 begins a litany that puts both halves of this single truth together, that life is difficult, but God is good.

Let's do that litany together. After each of Paul's words or phrases from 2 Cor. 4, I will lift up the corresponding truth, and we will say it aloud together.

Paul writes: "But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (Now he continues...)

That in this body also life may reveal itself, the life that Jesus lives... [GOD IS GOOD.]

For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake,... [LIFE IS DIFFICULT.]

So that the life of Jesus also may be revealed in this mortal body of ours ... [GOD IS GOOD.]

How do we proclaim Jesus as Messiah and Lord when miracles are not coming our way? How can we enjoy this season, and not just get through it? How can we, bloodied, beaten, and broken still have hope when circumstances seem hopeless? The answer is in the knowledge that the world only gives us half the truth, that the Bible gives us the other, redeeming half. The world says, "Life is difficult." But the Bible affirms, "God is good." In the fullness of that truth there is hope. In the fullness of that truth is the assurance that you are not alone. In the fullness of that truth you can know joy. Life is difficult, but what? GOD IS GOOD. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.