October 29, 2006

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Whose Is It?

Psalm 24

            It is said that Bishop Edwin Hughes once delivered a sermon on “God’s Ownership” of all that we have.  In his congregation there was a very wealthy parishioner who took offense at his message.  That week he called and asked the Bishop to come over to his home for lunch.  During their visit, the man walked Bishop Hughes through his elaborate estate — gardens, woodlands, and farm.  Coming back to the grand house they stood overlooking all the property of the man, who said, “Now are you going to tell me, that all this does not belong to me?”  Bishop Hughes smiled and simply said, “Ask me that same question a hundred years from now.” 

            It reminds me of the farmer in one of my churches who took offense at us thanking God for the abundant crop that year.  He said to his wife, “I didn’t see God out there plowing the field and planting the crop!”  No, of course not, but neither did we see the farmer out there making the seed grow.  It is like the parable of Jesus when he said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.  A man scatters seed on the ground.  Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how” (Mark 4:26-27). 

            Christians are people who understand the world differently from others.  We believe and know that God created the world.  And because he is the Creator of the world, the world belongs to him.  God also created all human life, therefore all the people of the world belong to him as well.  All the plants and animals belong to him also, because they exist as a result of his creative acts.  And all the things that we have made belong to him, because they were made from the material which God provided.  So all the world and all the people of the world, and all the things in the world belong to God.  As the Psalmist said, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). 

            The first point I want to make this morning is: The world belongs to God.  The earth is the Lord’s.  But not only this earth, but this galaxy, and all the galaxies beyond.  All that exists everywhere belongs to God, the grand Architect of the universe.  This is not the devil’s world, it is God’s world.  It is the world he loves.  Remember the Scripture that says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).  I remember the day when the truth of that Scripture dawned on me.  I was out in the wilderness drinking in the beauty, and out of my mouth came the words, “God, you really do love the world, don’t you!”  I think I had in the back of my mind that God was mad at the world; that he saw it as dirty and sinful.  But I began to understand in a new way that God infinitely cares for the beautiful world he has made and wants to redeem it.  He has not given up on the world and he is drawing the world to himself.  God is on the move in ways that we cannot always see or understand. 

            The hymn says,

This is my Father’s world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.
 

            The message that Scripture helps us to understand is that this is God’s world, and we are not in charge.  This is not our world.  We are not in control.  God is in control, and he will have his way.  It also means that we have a responsibility.  It is a good idea to go back and read the story of creation in Genesis 1 & 2 again.  When God placed man in the garden, he said, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15).  Sometimes people make fun of those they call “environmental wackos,” and it is possible to be extremist about any position, but Scripture says that we have been given the responsibility to care for the world.  It is our job to take care of the earth.  Shouldn’t Christians be more concerned about the environment of the world than anyone else, since we believe it is God’s world and the product of his creation — the world which he has handed into our care?  God cares for the world, and so should we.  Psalm 65:9 sings about God saying,

You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
 

            When Isaiah had his great vision of heaven, he heard the angels worshiping God and calling to each other saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;  the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).  Only those who have experienced the presence of God in their lives can see the glory of God that fills the earth.  Elizabeth Barrett Browning reflected this thought in her writings where she says:

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush aflame with God;
And only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

             The second point is: All that we have belongs to God.  In our culture we place primary importance on our individual freedom and rights.  We have a high sense of ownership.  We talk of our accomplishments and possessions.  But as Christians we realize that everything that we have is a gift from God.  We do not own anything.  All that we have is a trust from him. 

            Jesus told this parable about a man who did not understand God’s ownership of his possessions: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do.  I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years.  Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’  But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21). 

            A certain radio personality talks about having “talent on loan from God.”  It is actually a good statement, and properly understood and applied, it is a statement of humility.  None of our talents and abilities are self-made, they are a gift from God and on loan from him.  All our possessions are on loan from God.  All the people in our lives are a gift from God and on loan from him.  We recognize God’s ownership of all these things and we are grateful for what he has given us — even if God chooses to take them away. 

            You will remember Job as he faced disaster after disaster.  First, his wealth and material possessions are taken away, one after another.  Lastly, his children are taken away and die in a storm.  Job’s wife told him to curse God, but instead he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).  Job realized that all he had, whether it was possessions or people, belonged to God.  Because of that, he could praise God for the things and people God had loaned him for a time, and he could praise God when those things were removed.  It was not easy.  He grieved and he mourned, but ultimately he acknowledged God’s ownership of everything — and he worshiped.  And the Bible says, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). 

            Our spouses, our children, our homes, our job, our finances, all the things we value most, belong to God.  Our talent and abilities belong to God.  Our health, our minds and our bodies all belong to God.  Our future, our happiness, our prosperity, our plans all belong to God.  As Christians we lay it all at his feet and acknowledge his ownership of it all.  When the Lord gives, we say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  When the Lord takes away, we grieve, but we say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  When all we have left is God, we learn that God is enough.  It was the apostle Paul who said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). 

            The third point is: Our lives belong to God.  All human beings belong to God because they were all created by him.  All Christians belong to God.  All Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists belong to God.  All terrorists belong to God.  All murderers, thieves and liars belong to God.  All of these people are accountable to God and infinitely important to him because he made them all, even if they are hostile toward him.  They may have chosen the wrong path, and even decided to live away from God and rebel against his laws, but they are still important to God and answerable to him.  Just because a person rejects God, decides not to believe in him or live for him does not change the fact that they are still responsible to him.  They are still accountable, even if they claim to follow another God, because there is only one God and they were all created by him.  You are free to reject God for a time, but ultimately every person will stand before the righteous Judge of all the earth.  The Bible says that God, “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:4-5).  All people are alike to God.  The Bible says, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:12-13).  The Good News is that no one is hopeless.  Everyone has the potential for having a relationship with God and inheriting eternal life. 

            Life begins when you realize that your life belongs to God.  The Bible issues this important call when it says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  It is the responsibility of every person alive to answer this call, no matter where they live, what race or nationality they are, what their belief system is, or even what they have chosen to do with their lives.  Everyone must come to the place where they surrender their rights, their desires, their belief and trust to the living God who created them.  Moses said to the children of Israel : “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  There is no other.  Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time” (Deuteronomy 4:39-40).  Peter proclaimed to the people of his day, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

            What we are talking about is abandonment — abandonment to God.  It is about not trying to control everything and force life to come out the way we want.  This abandonment begins as we recognize his ownership of the world, everything we have, and even our very lives.  We are indebted to the God who created us to give ourselves to him in glad abandonment — knowing that he deeply cares for us and wants the best for us. 

            Disney’s animated movie Toy Story, is about a collection of toys belonging to a little boy.  Two of the main characters are Woody, who is a stuffed cowboy figure, and Buzz Lightyear who is a plastic toy astronaut.  One day Woody confronts Buzz with the fact that he is only an action figure and not a real space hero.  At one point in the movie Woody shouts, “You’re not a space ranger!  You’re an action figure — a child’s plaything.”  Buzz tries to prove him wrong and attempts to fly.  But he falls on his face instead and realizes the truth of what Woody has been saying.  He is grief-stricken and disillusioned.  His pride is broken.  Looking depressed, Buzz hangs his head and says, “I’m just a stupid, little, insignificant toy.”  Woody sees what he has done to his friend by trying to get him to face reality.  But he realizes he has only told him half the story, and he then tries to get him to see a more important reality.  Woody says to Buzz, “You must not be thinking clearly.  Look, over in that house, there’s a kid who thinks you’re the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a space ranger; it’s because you’re his.”  Buzz looks down as he lifts his foot and sees a label stuck to the bottom of his little shoe.  There in black permanent ink is the name of the little boy to whom he belongs.

            We do not belong to ourselves because we belong to God.  And this is the God who has created us and deeply cares for us.  And he says to us: “Those who are victorious I will make pillars in the temple of my God. . . and I will also write on them my new name” (Revelation 3:12, TNIV).  But not only is his name written on you to show you belong to him, your name is written on him to show that he belongs to you, for the Scripture says, “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16).  And in those hands he holds you, the world, and everything in it. 

Rodney J. Buchanan

October 29, 2006

Mulberry St. UMC
Mount Vernon , OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org