Sunday Sermon: What We Know
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Text: Romans 8:28
Series: Certain Truths for Uncertain Times
Dave Barry is to me one of the funniest writers going. Many of you will remember him from his syndicated columns that emanated from his home newspaper The Miami Herald. I always considered Barry a less “redneck” version of Lewis Grizzard, and over the years his zany, offbeat approach to everyday life has been for me a welcome relief from the more somber and serious stories that dominate the daily news cycle.
I remember some years ago, in uncharacteristic fashion, Dave Barry wrote from a totally different perspective, one that was as serious as a heart attack. It was a time when his son had recently suffered an accident, which caused Barry to realize how in one second everything can go from being all crystal blue skies to as gloomy as it can get.
When he arrived on the scene, Barry writes that the only thing he could think to say was, “It’s going to be OK, son. It’s going to be OK.” But the only problem was, Barry didn’t really know that everything was going to be OK.
We can all relate to having being caught in such a quandary at some point in life; can we not? In a time of crisis when we couldn’t really say that we were in any way certain of the outcome, we too can remember succumbing to some glib assurance, one that on the surface may have offered some modicum of comfort, but one that was not really based on anything other than our hope and prayer that somehow everything would work out for the best. But then, in such a time as that, what more can one say?
That’s a question that the Apostle Paul sought to answer in this most famous verse of Scripture in all the Bible, Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, (for the good of those) who have been called according to His purpose.” This verse of Scripture is not only one of the most famous in all the Bible, it’s also one of the most misquoted.
For example, how many times have you heard people refer to it as promising “all things work together for good,” which is actually how the King James Version of the Bible translates the verse? But that translation of this most famous verse has in my estimation led many to all manner of spiritual distress because of how in so many situations they have not seen things working together for good, in spite of the fact that others have told them that it would – situations such as the patient whose medication button had lost its power to ease the pain, or the breadwinner who had lost his job and his ability to provide for his family, or the ones who had gathered under the little green tent that gets set up every day at the cemetery to mourn the untimely passing of a loved one. For none of those persons it never helps to hear someone tell them, “This is somehow going to work out for your good.” We don’t know that to be truth. We don’t know that to be truth at all.
But what we do know is what this passage of Scripture most definitely promises, which is that in all things God is at work for good for those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.
Do you see the difference between saying that you know that “all things will work for good,” which no one really does, and saying that you know that “God is at work for good?” It’s not a matter of semantics, because to say that “all things work for good” doesn’t do enough to point people to the possibilities that only God can bring about. It’s instead to suggest that somehow you are responsible for seeing the silver lining in every cloud so that your inability to do so is more a commentary on your own character or fortitude (or lack thereof) as opposed to looking at the challenges that come your way as ones that are not beyond the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has a plan and a purpose that He has been working out from the beginning of time, a plan and a purpose that no pain, no disappointment, or no loss in life will ever frustrate or obstruct.
That’s not to say that in those awful moments the pain will subside or the fear will vanish or the loss will erased. But it is to say that the pain and the fear and the sense of loss will through our trust in God’s redemptive purpose be swallowed up and overcome by a peace and a sense of wholeness, by the knowledge that God’s plan for us and our little lives will not be diminished so that as we look to God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, God will see us through to a good place, to a better place than we know today.
How can we be certain of that hope? We can be certain of it because of what happened that bleak Friday on a hillside outside of Jerusalem, called Golgotha, or Calvary, the Place of the Skull. There on that hill a man who had done no wrong was lifted up on the cross to die like a common criminal. He was despised and rejected. He was forsaken and disbelieved. Anyone present that day would have looked at what happened to Jesus and thought to themselves, “What good can come from this?”
And there would have been no answer to that question, if three days later God had not raised Jesus from the dead. His death would have been just another example of the vicious absurdity of life. Jesus’ life would have been made meaningless, His teachings made false, and His deeds made futile.
But He was raised from the dead, and as Paul says in this eighth chapter, in all things “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,” and there is nothing in this life – not famine, not persecution, not peril or the sword - there is nothing in all creation that will ever separate us from the love of God, which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord. All that is required is our confession that in all things God is at work for our good through our faith in Jesus.
Let me ask you a question this morning. Is there something in your life that needs working out? Is there something that is unpleasant or unhealthy, painful and non-productive? Is there something that’s eating away at your hope and causing you to feel more anxious about your tomorrow?
I can say to you without a shadow of a doubt that it’s not to work out on its own. It’s not going to be resolved by itself. And it’s also not anything that you’ll be able to deal with in your own power. I know that from personal experience. You need God to work it out for you. You need the same power at work in your life that brought Jesus to life and good from that evil done to Him so that for you God might bring meaning to your hurt and purpose to your pain. That, too, is something I know to be possible.
How do I know it? Well, let me tell you the story of Billy Oggs. Billy is now with Jesus, but if he were here, he wouldn’t mind me telling you his story.
Billy was a man in one of my previous churches, who prior to his conversion was always the object of much prayer and the subject of much conversation, especially around the time for our annual church revival. Billy’s wife and his family were all strong church members, but for some reason Billy never saw his own need for the Lord.
Billy and his family owned a drug store, and I’d often go there to look for opportunities to build a relationship with Billy and share Jesus with him. “How you doing, Billy?” I’d ask, and Billy would always grumble and complain. He’d complain about his health. He’d complain about his business. He’d grumble about his beloved Auburn Tigers. Grumble, grumble, grumble. That was pretty much Billy’s story.
Then it hit. A flood that swept through that tiny community caused devastation that no one there had ever seen. Billy’s business, his son’s business, his son’s home, his grandchildren’s school, his family’s church – all of it was swept away in the span of a single day.
Two weeks later, we gathered for worship in facilities not our own. And as I looked out at the congregation that first morning we were back together, lo and behold, there was Billy Oggs in attendance. Oh, Billy had been to our church’s worship before, on special occasions like Christmas or Easter, or a children’s musical. But here he was on an ordinary Sunday.
I watched him carefully that day. Billy sang the hymns. He participated in the readings. He bowed dutifully for the prayers. He listened intently to the message. And when I extended the invitation, Billy came forward. “Billy?” I asked. “What decision do you want to make today?” And Billy answered, “I can’t make it without him.” “I can’t make it without Him.”
Some months later, when we were able to get back into our church, I baptized Billy. And after that time, when I’d go by the drugstore on my weekly rounds, there were many things that hadn’t changed. Billy’s health was still bad. The bills that had to be paid now included a new one from the Small Business Administration. Auburn still wasn’t where Billy thought they needed to be. But some things were radically different, like his attitude. “How are you doing, Billy?” I’d ask him. And he now would reply, “I’m doing OK. I’m doing OK. Everything is going to be fine.” And he believed it. And so did I.
Because that’s how God works. In all things God works for the good of those who love Him. God works for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose.
All things do not always work out for good. But God always is working for good in all things. There is a difference, a big difference – a difference that you can only detect when you allow Him to be doing that in your life, so that for you, regardless of what you have to go through, you can know even in the midst of it all that everything will most definitely be OK.