“The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!  Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”  Psalm 126:3-6

The Psalms often lament a loss, and they often proclaim joy. The writer of Psalm 126 is happy because of the things the Lord has done, and the things the Lord will do in the future. This is true faith – trusting that the Lord will do great things.

Few of us can predict the future. Those who can predict the future are often wrong more than they are right. There are many reasons that we can fear life, and have doubts. In 2020/21, the year of the pandemic, we have all experienced more losses than we have experienced gains in our lives. So many people have lost jobs, homes, apartments, and relationships this pandemic year. Many more are viewing the church in a state of decline, and our society is perhaps becoming more secular and less religious. We fear that we worship in futility, not in the futility of the promises of G-d, but in the futility of fulfilling the great commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19 –to make disciples of all nations. Will people come back to church? Or will they become comfortable worshipping from home and believe it is too risky to their health to gather in large groups ever again. We worry about how we are going to reach people in the community with our message of Christ – the message that brings us joy.

Sometimes we think we are called to go out and drag people in to hear the Gospel of Jesus. What we need to remember is our very life is a living proclamation of the Gospel of Christ – that when we live into the joy of Christ, our lives should be living demonstrations that the Lord is doing great things in the world. When G-d has filled us with joy, everyone around us notices. So that when people ask us what is up, we don’t need a sermon to explain — just a simple word, or perhaps seven words that proclaim to those around us the greatness and glory of G-d, and how G-d is working in our life.

If G-d is doing great things in your life, then live in a manner in which people take notice.

Pastor Dave

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:7-9)

Paul is making an important statement in this passage. He has just laid out what gains he had as a Jew, and a Pharisee: “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6).  He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He did his job the best he could, to the degree that he felt he must, to gain righteousness before G-d. But then Jesus intervened in his life – and now he was no longer a persecutor of the Church, he was one of its leading proponents. And all that he had gained in his previous life, he now considered as rubbish. It all means nothing to him – what matters now is his relationship with Christ – sustained by faith.

So many people spend too much of their lives trying to “gain” something – to gain a lot of possessions, money, and other material items. Some people struggle to gain money, fame, stuff, power and prestige. This would have been the things that Paul would have had – as a Pharisee he was a man of power and prestige. He was feared by many. But then he was thrown onto a new path – through his encounter with the “Risen Christ”. Nothing was the same after that. 

Our encounters with the “Risen Christ” should do the same to us.  An encounter with the “Risen Christ” should move us to live differently. And look, I know it is not possible for most people today to leave everything and follow a path of total devotion of Jesus. But we are supposed to be changed by Christ – living differently, if not putting away some of our needs for possessions – and to use that money to help the poor and the needy. When we lose for Jesus, we have become winners in the eyes of G-d.

Pastor Dave