“The will of God shall be my pleasure/While here on earth is mine abode; My will is wrong beyond all measure; It doth not will what pleases God. The Christian’s motto ever must be: What pleaseth God, that pleaseth me.”
Sometimes hymns can just break it down for you. Today’s sermon hymn is one of those. “The Christian’s motto ever must be: What pleases God, that pleases me.” If it makes God happy, it makes me happy. If that’s what God values, then I value it, too. Is that your motto? I think we’d all like it to be. But it’s easier said than done.
Part of the problem is that what pleases God is very, very different from what pleases us. He says as much in today’s Old Testament Lesson from Isaiah 55. Here’s verses 8 and 9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Do you hear what God is saying? There’s a pretty big gap between what he values and what we value.
Need some examples? Look at the Epistle Reading. Paul begins his letter to the Philippian Christians by letting them know he is under arrest. Think about that for just a moment. How do you think you would feel if you were imprisoned, not because you had committed a crime, but simply because you were a Christian? I know that I would be tempted to feel rejected by God. I’d feel like my life and ministry were over. I certainly would not feel anything close to happy. Yet look at what the apostle Paul says. “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” The Holy Spirit enabled Paul to see that because he was imprisoned, a whole new group of people were going to hear about Jesus. That’s what pleased God, and so that’s what pleased Paul. And do you know what that says to you and me? It says that God does not value our personal comfort as much as he values sending the gospel message through us. Can you deal with that? In other words, God just might put you in a difficult spot so that you can witness to Jesus; so that a whole new audience can see Him.
Then there’s the story Jesus told in Matthew chapter 20—today’s Gospel lesson—totally unfair by anyone’s standard. Everyone knows that the people who work longer hours deserve more pay. And yet the Master of the house in this story pays everyone the same. People who worked one hour get the same as those who worked all day, and we cry “foul!” But let’s not forget, this is a story about God’s kingdom—this is a story about a place where the gospel rules. And where human beings value being treated fairly and getting what we deserve for the hours that we have put in, the Lord God Almighty values generosity. He values grace. He values more people in His kingdom, as opposed to less. There is a gap between what pleases God and what pleases me. This is the God after all, who tells you to love your enemies and to pray for them. This is the God who tells you that being a servant is the path to greatness. This is the God who tells you that you shouldn’t worry, but instead you should seek His kingdom and His righteousness. There is a huge gap between what God values and what I value. What do I do with that?
I’ll tell you what some people do. They just ignore it. They just pretend that God never said those things, or if He did, that it doesn’t apply to them. They invent a safer god for themselves who isn’t so doggone demanding. But let me tell you, that’s the equivalent of a child plugging his ears and going, “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!” That doesn’t make the gap go away. It just means that “they” have learned how to deceive themselves. And, of course, it’s not just a “they” thing, it’s a “we” thing, and if it’s a “we” thing, it’s also a “me” thing. A famous preacher was once asked, “What’s wrong with society today?” He answered, “I am.” There’s this gap between what pleases God and what pleases me. What do I do with that?
The answer is given in Isaiah, in the same passage that started us down this path. The prophet says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God’s values are not the problem; mine are. God is not the problem. I am. And even though that’s true, the invitation stands: give up worldly ways of thinking—leave behind old selfish ways of acting—and return to the Lord. He’s waiting for you and me with pardon; compassion; forgiveness. If you can admit that your values are all screwed up; if you can confess to God that you need Him to constantly correct and fine tune your values and to forgive you when you get it wrong; then He can work with you. More than that, He will overwhelm you with His mercy. He will apply the priceless sacrifice of Jesus to you. You know what that means, right? Without God’s intervention, we try to figure out a way of life that makes sense to us, but in the end it leads to destruction. But because God intervened, sending His Son to sacrifice His life on the cross, you don’t have to endure the hell of not knowing Him and how much He loves you. You just don’t have to!
You see, we totally benefit from the fact that God’s values are not like ours. Would you sacrifice your child for the sake of other people? Would you willingly take a criminal’s death sentence on yourself so that they could walk? Would you risk giving up everything for people that you suspect are going to reject you? That’s exactly what God did in order to give you forgiveness; to give you a life; to give you a place in His family; to give you a leg to stand on before His judgment throne. Thank God, and I mean that literally, that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways!
So here’s the final piece: if you benefit from God’s values, those values will change you. To put it another way, if you think you get it; if you think you’re a Christian and yet your values aren’t even gradually becoming more Christ-like, then you have some serious contemplation to do If you benefit from the gospel, the gospel will change you; it has to change you; it cannot leave you the same. Think about it: you and I were sliding down to hell until Jesus blocked the path; and that’s not going to change you? That’s not going to change the way you navigate life? You and I were looking at a death sentence that lasts forever, and Jesus took it. That’s not going to affect you at all?
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