April 29, 2012
OSLC Paradise
Title - "It is all gravy"
Theme - Blessed by the good news of salvation - the rest of life is just "gravy", blessings from God.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 I Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Ephesians 3:17-19
I have to preach at the Circuit Pastor’s Conference on Tuesday and I came across a message I had preached here 4 years ago and I decided to rework it for the Pastor’s conference. And, as I worked on it and made some changes, - I decided it might also be worth sharing the thoughts with you today. In our reading, Paul prays for the people of Ephesus and for us .
Different versions of the Bible say it these ways:
"That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
"Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."
"I am praying this so that you may be completely filled with God."
Suppose for a moment that you are on death row. I don’t know what you did, you can even be innocent if you want to be - it isn’t important for our discussion. But suppose you are death row and the warden asks you what you want for your last meal. What would you choose for your last meal on earth?
I would have to think about it for a little bit. Growing up in Nebraska with all that good beef, I would certainly have to consider a nice thick steak. Probably have them send away to "Omaha Steaks" to get it. Later in life, I have come to love crab, so I could certainly be tempted by a big pile of Alaska King Crab. But I think for my last meal, I Just might go with a ‘Thanksgiving Dinner." I love Thanksgiving Dinner. And, I don’t need a lot of things with my Thanksgiving Dinner. Just give me roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, and lots of mashed potatoes. I don’t need stuffing, I don’t need green bean casserole, I don’t need a corn dish, I don’t even need hot rolls.
Just turkey, cranberries, and mashed potatoes. .... And, Oh yes, lots of good turkey gravy. Gravy - most of us love good gravy even though we seldom have it anymore. We have expressions about gravy don’t we?"Everything else is gravy." or "The rest is all gravy now." or ‘Its all gravy now." With a good meal, - it means we have had a lot of good stuff to eat, and we even get gravy on top of it.We use the expression to say that "what we have had has been good, and now anything extra will be a bonus." For example, on a Monday morning I might say something like. "It is a beautiful morning, I am on the golf course, I am with friends, . . . if I play a good round - that will just be gravy.
"Gravy" - Well, listen carefully to what I am about to say. "I have reached a point in my life, where it almost seems to me that almost everything is gravy." What do I mean? I mean that although I am only 63 years old, I feel like I have been able to enjoy much of what is good in life. I have been so blessed, - that all further blessings in this life will just be gravy.
There is a movie called "the Bucket List." As you probably know, it is about two old men who learn that they have cancer and will die. So they make a list of things they want to do before they "kick the bucket" and die. Then they went out and did things like skydive, and visit Africa and India, and eat great meals everywhere they went. Thinking about that idea, I realized that I don’t have much of a "bucket list." Maybe I am just to lazy to want to do anything, but I am very content with my life, and feel I have been blessed with so much of what is good.
Proverbs 31:10 says, "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." For many years, on the gages screen of my car I have had an old black and white photo of Ellie when she was about 21 years old. A picture of how she looked when we are married. I will probably need to remove it at some point, but for now it is still there and I see it every time I get into my car. For almost 40 years, I had the love of a wonderful woman. She was my partner and companion and friend and lover and encourager. No man has ever been loved more than I was loved by Ellie. I had obviously hoped the Lord would give us many more years together. I had looked forward to growing old with her, but Lord did give almost 40 years of a wonderful marriage. I do not know what the future will bring. The Lord may choose to bless me again with the love of a wonderful woman and that would be a joyous bonus for my life. But I have already been blessed and whatever else the Lord brings would be all gravy. . .
I have known the joy of being a father. The ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the disappointments and the successes. The thrill of victory, if you will, and the agony of defeat. But it is all part of being a father and I have experienced it and loved. I am enjoying getting to love my daughters as adults and look forward to sharing life with them in the future - but it is all gravy now. If I were to be gone, I have already experienced the full joy that being a father brings.
I have been a grandfather - the past ten years have brought me so much joy. There is nothing like the tears of pure joy the first time you get to hold a grandchild. I loved making baby bottles and changing diapers and watching first rollovers and first steps. I love it with my grandchildren in a way I didn’t seem to have as much time to appreciate with my own daughters. I love being a very important Papa and having guys wanting me to do things with them and spend time with them. I love holding and tickling and reading stories to little Nala and having her hold out her arms and want to "see Papa" many times each day.
I look forward to enjoying so much more with them, but I could never love them more or feel more loved by them than I already do. It is all gravy from here on out.
I have been privileged to be a pastor. I have felt the joy of graduating from seminary, and the excitement of being ordained, and privilege of being installed as a pastor of congregations. I have been blessed to share the lives and important experiences, good and bad of so many people. I have served three congregations early in my career and now I have been the pastor here for almost 30 years. I could never be more loved by a congregation than I have been loved here. And there is no greater joy for a pastor than to be able to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to the people of God and know that they listen, and hear, and respond. Know that they respond to God’s love but reaching out to others and by giving love and honor to your efforts to serve them as pastor. The Lord may Call me somewhere else someday, I may serve some years part-time somewhere after I retire, but I could never know more joy that I have experienced right here in this place. It is all gravy now.
I could go on and on. I have been so loved by my parents, and I include Ellie’s parents, whom I have always called mom and dad, because that is what they have been to me. I love the relationship I now have with my brother and sister as we have grown older and matured and grown to appreciate each other even more than we did as kids. I get to play golf - I have been blessed to play some really great courses - but, more importantly, I love the course I play routinely . I have played some really good golf, but more importantly I really enjoy playing. Would I enjoy playing an Augusta National or other great courses? - sure - but it would only be gravy - I already have the blessings. I don’t really have a bucket list of things I desperately want to do. Any other good things, any other blessings, are all gravy.
But I have just been listing earthly blessings haven’t I. There is a reason I can feel so content in this life. It is because I have confidence in the next. The apostle Paul grew up rich and privileged and well educated, but listen to what he wrote to the Philippians
Phil 3:7-11
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.* For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Paul says that all the blessings of this world cannot compare to the blessings of knowing God.Again, There is a reason I can personally feel so content in this life. It is because I have confidence in the next. I have been baptized. When I was two weeks old, my pastor-father baptized me in front of the congregation at Trinity Lutheran Church in Woodward, Oklahoma.
I was baptized. God reached down from heaven and claimed me as his child. God adopted me and claimed me for all eternity. God promised to keep his covenant with me even though I would break mine with Him, even though I would never earn it or deserve it. In a sense, everything in life has been gravy since then. At that moment, God forgave my sins and claimed me for all eternity. He promised to love me every day of my life and one day take me to heaven to live in perfect joy and happiness for all eternity.
I was raised in a Christian home. I got to go to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and sit in church every Sunday. I got to spend 5 of my elementary years in Lutheran schools. I was confirmed, I got to stand in front of the congregation at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, Nebraska and confess (publicly state) my faith in Jesus Christ and promise to strive to be faithful unto God even unto death.
I have been blessed that all of my life I have known that Jesus Christ was the Lord and Savior of the world.I was taught that I was a sinful human being in need of salvation. I was taught that I could not earn nor deserve the forgiveness of sins - but that God gave it to me as a free gift.I have always known that God knew who I was and everything about me, and still loved me. I have always known that although I would disappoint God - He would never disappoint me. I have always known that the minute, I close my eyes in this world, I would awake in heaven and spend eternity with God.
But let me pause here for a moment. I know that many of you have been echoing my thoughts. You have been reflecting on all your blessings and on the joy of knowing that God loves and forgives you. But maybe someone is saying, "I didn’t grow up so blessed." "I was an abused child." "I was a battered wife." "I lost a young child." "My spouse left me." "I didn’t always have a decent job." "I struggled with alcohol or drugs." "My health has been terrible." "A cherished loved one has died." And I could go on and on - there is a lot of ugliness and hurt and pain in our world. Not everyone can look back on life and feel they have been blessed.
If that is your situation, in a way, you can cling even more to the words of Paul and say that the things of this world are not worth comparing to the things of God. The things of life on earth are not worth comparing to the joy of knowing you are a baptized child of God, that your sins are forgiven, and that one day you will live in the perfect joy of heaven. In some ways, "How much more will you enjoy the perfection of heaven, if you have not enjoyed many of the blessings of this world?"
Paul said, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
God is in control for this life and the next and God is able to do far more than all that we ask or think." Jesus Christ came into this world to live a perfect life and fulfill the law. Jesus Christ came into the world to suffer and to die to pay for the sins of the whole world. Jesus Christ arose from the grave victorious over sin and death.Jesus’ death and resurrection assures us that we have the forgiveness of sins and we have the gift of eternal life.
If we can say, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know" - The rest is all gravy.
On this joyous day, as we continue to celebrate Easter, as we pause to reflect and give thanks for the gift of salvation. . . We have much more we can look forward to in this life. There is much more we can look forward to as we try to live and put our faith into action.
Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you."
You are baptized.
Your sins are forgiven.
You have the assurance of eternal life.
You have been so blessed by God.
So, let us enjoy our blessings, and please - Keep on "Passing the gravy." Amen.
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