This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday, November 17, 2019. The Bible verses used are Psalm 98.
Are you an optimist or a pessimist?
Whichever you are, it’s okay. It’s not a sin to be an
optimist, and it’s not a sin to be a pessimist. God made us all different,
and God did that for good reasons. Our
society needs both optimists and pessimists. Besides, most of us are
probably not completely one or the other, anyway. I mean, I consider myself an optimist, for
the most part. But there are times when I get down, times when I get
pessimistic. I think it’s human nature.
I will say, though, that I think it can be easier to be a
pessimist. Not “easier” in the sense of it making life easier. “Easier” in the sense that it always seems to
be easier to find reasons why things will go wrong than it is to find reasons
things will go right. It’s easier to think of reasons why something will
fail than to think of reasons why it will succeed. In any organization, if someone thinks of a
new idea, there’ll be someone who can give about twenty-five reasons why it
won’t work. That’s just how it is.
But it seems to me that, as Christians, we should always be
optimistic about the future. Not the near-term future, necessarily. We’ve all seen the statistics about how faith
in God and belief in Jesus as the Savior is in decline. And not
necessarily our personal future, either.
Faith in God is no guarantee of an easy life on Earth. It never has been.
But what I mean is that, as Christians, we believe in an
all-powerful God. That means there is nothing that happens anywhere on
Earth that God does not allow to happen. I’m not saying God causes all
things to happen. Humans still have free
will, and we have the ability to do things God does not want us to do.
But we only have that ability because God gives it to us. Our human free will only exists by the grace
of God. And remember, God can work all things
for the good of those who love him. Even the worst things we can imagine,
and even things that we cannot imagine, can be used by God for ultimate
good. Good for us personally, and good
for the world. Good for God’s plan of
salvation, which we know is going to work out the way it’s supposed to.
And so, when we think about the long-term future, we should
always be optimistic. Because we know that no matter how things look
right now, God is going to win. Jesus is
going to come again. God’s plan of salvation is going to happen. There will be the new heavens and the new
earth. Our righteous, holy, perfect God
will prevail against everything. And as long as we stand firm in our
faith and accept Jesus as the Savior, we are going to win, too.
Our psalm this evening, psalm ninety-eight, is one of the
most joyous, uplifting, optimistic psalms in the Bible. When that psalm
was written, everything was not going perfectly for the nation of Israel. They had problems, just as we do. In
fact, at this time, the nation of Israel was often in trouble. They had enemies all over who were trying to
defeat them. And yet, when you read that
psalm, the person who wrote it makes it sound like everything has already been
decided and that God has already won. Not that God will win. Not that God is winning. That God has won. There’s no doubt about it. It’s game over. It’s all over but the shouting. All that’s left to clear up is the details.
Listen to the first two lines: “Sing to the Lord a
new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.”
The Lord “has done” marvelous things. His right hand
and holy arm “have worked” salvation. Past tense. Those marvelous things--they’re as good as
done. Salvation has already been worked.
All we need to do is claim it and accept it.
Now that’s optimism. To look at all the problems of
the world, to look at all the enemies of there are, to think of all the people
and all the other countries that might come after Israel. To look at all
the problems the author of the psalm must have had in his personal life, too,
because everybody has stuff like that.
To look at all that and say, “Hey, it’s all over. It’s done. We’ve already won. Period.”
There’s no reason you and I cannot look at things that way,
too. Because those marvelous things--the Lord “has done” them for
us. For you and for me. God’s
right hand and holy arm “have worked” salvation. It’s done.
Game over. God’s victory is
assured. Our salvation is assured.
All you and I need to do is accept it.
That’s really cool, don’t you think?
The author of the psalm thought so. He thought it was
time to celebrate! Listen to this:
“Shout for joy, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music
to the Lord with the harp; with the harp and the sound of singing, with
trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn--shout for joy before the Lord, the
King.”
In other words, it’s party time! God has won! Our salvation is assured! Let’s praise
the Lord for His great victory, a victory He has won for us!
I wonder if, when people first heard this psalm, there were
some skeptics. I wonder if there were some pessimists. I wonder if there were some people who said,
“What in the world are you talking about? God has not won anything. Neither have we. There are enemies all around us. They want to kill us, take our land, take our
cattle, take everything. And there are people all around us worshiping
all these foreign gods, and trying to stop us from worshiping the one true God. How in the world can you say we’ve won?
And how can you say God has won?”
The author of the psalm says it because he has faith.
He has the faith we can have. He has a
faith that says “I don’t care what you see around you. I don’t care
what’s going on around us right now. I
know I worship the almighty, all-powerful God. I know there is no one and
nothing that is more powerful than God.
I know there is nothing that God cannot do. I worship the God of
Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I worship the God who created
everything. I worship the God that defeated the mighty Pharaoh, who
defeated Goliath, who has defeated everyone.
I can say God has won because I know God cannot lose.”
That’s faith. That’s a strong faith. That’s an
incredible faith, really. And that’s the faith you and I can have.
And you know what’s really incredible about this?
It’s not just you and I who can have that faith. All of creation has that faith. All of
creation celebrates God’s victory.
Listen to this: “Let the sea
resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the
rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing for joy; let them sing before
the Lord.”
That’s how complete and total God’s victory is. All
of nature, all the natural forces of the world, rejoices at the triumph of
God. In fact, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our
God.” That’s pretty incredible.
So, does that change anything about life right now?
Well, yes and no. Our problems still
exist. They’re still real. They’re
still just as serious. Having faith in
God does not magically take all our problems away.
But that faith can give us confidence. We can be
optimistic. Maybe not about our current
situation. But we can be optimistic about the future, and especially the
long-term future. We may have problems, but we can know that our problems
will not defeat us. God may or may not
take them away while we’re in this world. But God is going to triumph
over them. God is going to win. And through our faith in Jesus as the Savior,
you and I are going to win, too. God will triumph over everything, not
just for Himself, but for us, too, if we have faith.
If you’re a natural pessimist, that’s okay. As I
said, God made us all different. God
created both pessimists and optimists, and both have their place and their
purpose in God’s world. But never be pessimistic about God’s chances of
victory. God is going to win. In fact, God has already won. The game’s over. It’s all over but the shouting. The
only thing that remains is the details.
And for that, we truly can shout for joy.
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