It's a Gift

The message given at the Oahe Manor service Sunday, June 15, 2014 in Gettysburg.  The Bible verses used are Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19.

            I cannot pretend to know what it’s like to be your age and to be living here.  I can see some things, and I can understand some of it, but that’s about as close as I can come.  I know, though, that there have to times when it’s not easy.  All of us, no matter what our situation is, have times that are not easy.

            When we have those times, it’s hard to feel very thankful to God.  We wonder just what it is we have to be thankful for, because at that moment we’re hurting.  We’re suffering.  Maybe physically, maybe emotionally, maybe some other way, but we’re in pain.  And when we’re in pain, it’s hard to feel very thankful.  In fact, when we’re hurting like that, and especially when it feels like the hurting may not be going to stop, it can be really hard to trust God at all.

            It seems to me that when we’re in a situation like that, that’s when we find out just how real our faith is.  Because at that point, we have a choice.  We can give up on God, decide that God does not care or that God is does not hear us.  In fact, we can decide that God does not exist at all.  Or, we can continue to trust God and continue to believe that God is there and does hear us even when we don’t really understand what’s going on or why.

            I think that to an extent, what we decide depends on what our view of God is.  Do we think that if God loves us, God is obligated to make life easy for us?  Do we think that, if God loves us, God owes it to us to take away our pain, keep us from ever hurting, and make us happy?

            There are times when it seems like do.  We’d never put it like that, but that’s what it comes down to.  When we blame God for things being the way they are, when we get upset with God because things are the way they are, when say God should’ve prevented this or that from happening, we’re really pretty much saying that God owed it to us to make things better for us, and that God let us down.

            Now, I’m not pointing a finger here.  I’ve done these things, too.  I still do sometimes.  But it’s not a very good thing to do.  It’s kind of arrogant of us, really.  God does not owe it to us to make us happy.  God does not owe us anything.  God did not have to give us life in the first place.  Any good thing we get in our lives is a gift from God, not an obligation.

            And that’s what our psalm talks about.  The writer of the psalm understands that not only does God not owe us anything, but we owe God everything.  And he recognizes that there’s no way we can pay God back for it.  He asks the questions, “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?”

            And the only answer he can come up with is to serve God.  To do what God wants him to do.  To live the way God wants to live.  And to live in an attitude of thankfulness for all God has done for him.

            And that really is about all we can do.  What else is there?  There’s nothing we can do to repay God.  The only thing we can do is serve God as best we can.

            And even that is nowhere near sufficient.  I mean, think about it.  This is the almighty, all-powerful God we’re talking about here.  Is there anything we can do for God that God could not do without us, if God so chose?  No.  There’s no amount of money we can give, there’s no amount of time we can give, there’s no amount of anything we can give, that would do something for God that God could not do without us if God wanted to.

            What that means is that God does not need our service.  God allows our service.  God allows us to help in the way a parent or grandparent allows a five-year-old to “help” with chores.  There’s nothing the five-year-old can do that actually helps--in fact, the parent or grandparent could probably get the chores done faster if the five-year-old was not there at all.  But the five-year-old is allowed to “help” because the parent or grandparent wants to teach them some things and because, out of love, they just like having the kid around.  That’s how God is with us.  God could get things done faster and better without our help, but God allows us to help because God wants to teach us some things and because God, out of love, just likes having us around.

            And what that means is that even our service is not a gift from us to God.  It’s a gift from God to us.  God allows us to serve.  God allows us to be in God’s presence, and to help God, because God loves us, and for no other reason.

            So the next time we get down, the next time we get discouraged, the next time we wonder why God is not taking away our pain, let’s remember this.  Let’s remember that God does not owe us anything.  We owe God everything.  And let’s decide to serve God to the best of our ability.  And let’s remember that even our service to God is a gift from God to us.  It’s a gift God gives us because God loves us.  And that’s something to be thankful for.