Gloria Dei Lutheran Church | Urbandale, Iowa

Packed with Possibilities Celebration

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

We live in a world of statistics, do we not? A world of probability, the world of odds and chances and likelihood of something happening. All one has to do is just a little bit of research or even just read through a magazine and you’ll just have this barrage of statistics coming at you.

For instance, did you know that you have a 1 in 18 million chance of winning the statewide lottery? Did you know that 3 out of 10 people can flare their nostrils? Don’t know why you need to know that but somebody researched that. 3 out of 4 people will keep their money in their wallet rigidly according to its denomination and I’m positive that 9 out of 10 dentists recommend something. As my daughter, Alyssa, likes to say, “You know, Dad, 96.99% of all statistics are useless.” But we like them, don’t we?

We use them all the time. We’ll buy one car as opposed to another car. Why? Because tests have shown that it’s less likely for this car to break down. We’ll do the treatment that the doctor prescribes for us as long as the odds are in our favor that it will be successful. We’ll take the medication even though it has side effects but the chance of the side effects is so low, we’ll go ahead and risk it. We use probability, odds, likelihood all the time. Sometimes it’s based on scientific fact. Other times, it’s more of just a feeling we have. The boy won’t ask the girl out because, well, she’ll probably say no. You won’t go for the promotion because, more than likely, you won’t get it. You won’t talk to that friend that you had an argument with because, odds are, he won’t listen to you anyway.

I wonder how many opportunities have been lost, how many goals haven’t been met and how many dreams have been shattered because we live in the world of probability, of odds, of likelihood? Wayne Gretsky, the great hockey player, tells a story of an early coach of his. The coach was frustrated because Gretsky wasn’t scoring enough so, when he came off the ice, he looked at him and said, “Gretsky, do you know that you miss 100% of the shots you never take.” How many shots have you never taken? That’s the world of probability.

This morning, Jesus invites you into the world of possibility. He says everything is possible for him who believes. Scripture tells us that all things are possible with God. There’s nothing outside the realm of what God can do and what God will do. In the world of possibility, we don’t deal with probabilities. We don’t deal with chances. We don’t deal with odds. We don’t deal with likelihood. We deal with God and what God can and will accomplish. In the world of possibilities, it’s a world of faith. The Hebrew writer puts it the best, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see.” Sure of what we just hope for but we’re sure of it. Certain of what we can’t see but yet we know that it’s there. That’s faith. That’s the world of possibilities.

But which world would you rather live in? Do you want to stay in the world of probability or enter into the world of possibility? You see, we know the world of probability. In the world of probability, we know that God can do anything. We’re just not so sure that He will. We know God is capable, that He’s able but we’re just not sure He will. This is where the boy’s father is when Jesus comes up to him. He says, “If you can do anything, Jesus,” in likelihood, I see him saying, “You know, not that you would but if you might, if you could, could you do something for my boy?” Now understand where the father is. Jesus says, “How long has he been like this?” “Since childhood.” You and I can’t imagine the living hell this family has gone through. From childhood, this boy of his has not been able to speak. And on regular occasions, it throws him into convulsions. He foams at the mouth. It’s thrown him into the fire trying to kill him, thrown him into the water trying to destroy him and now Jesus comes down and he says, “Well, I guess I’ll take a chance.” You see, he’s living in the world of probability, my friends. In his mind, the disciples couldn’t help him, the Pharisees couldn’t help him. More than likely, there’s been this whole line of other teachers who have come by who couldn’t help him so the odds are, the probability is, the chances are Jesus won’t help him either. He’s living in the world of probability.

You see, in the world of probability, we like to make decisions for God. We make decisions for God because we say, “We understand that God can. He’s the creator of the universe. He’s the sustainer of all life. Certainly God is capable of doing anything but the likelihood of God doing something, ah, that’s a different story. So we make decisions for God. You see, we reason that if we can figure out what the solution is, if we can come up with the proper steps that need to happen for the goal to be accomplished or for the thing to be done away with, then the odds are God will do it. But if we can’t see any possible solution, if we can’t dream up how this is all going to work out, well then, more than likely, God’s not going to do it. You don’t believe me. How often in your prayers have you not only asked God to do something but you spelled out exactly how God needs to do it? Right? We give God the 10 easy steps that He needs to do so He can answer your prayer. We just say, “God, you know what, if you give me more income, that will solve all my financial problems.” “God, if you would just change his attitude, our relationship would be a whole lot better.” “God if you could just do Steps 1, 2 and 3, then, bingo, things are going to be wonderful.” But if we can’t come up with the steps, if we can’t see any kind of solution to it, well, then we conclude, more than likely, God’s not going to do anything. We don’t like to say it that way but, in the back of our mind, we’re praying that God would do something but we don’t want to be disappointed so our expectation is pretty low.

James has something to say about that. He’s talking about a man who prays. “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blowing and tossed by the wind. That man should not think that he’ll receive anything from the Lord. He is double minded, unstable in all that he does.” Double minded. Praying to God that He would do something while all the while not believing that it’s really going to happen. That’s the world of probability. How much time have we spent listing all the reasons of why God isn’t going to do something and then act surprised and even get angry with God when He doesn’t? That’s the world of probability. The world of probability doesn’t limit what God can do. It just limits what God will do.

The world of possibility, the world Jesus invites you into, knows no such limitation. Everything is possible for him who believes. All things are possible with God. There are no constraints. There are no restrictions. There are no limitations of what God can do and what God will do. You see, that’s the big difference here. We’re going beyond just the intellectual knowledge that God is capable of doing it, that God is able to do it and now we’re saying in our heart, “But God will do it.” We’ve entered into the realm of expectation. We not only pray that God is going to do something. We expect Him to do something. In fact, we’re anticipating. We’re waiting to see what it is that God is going to do. All of a sudden, the impossible becomes possible because we’re waiting to see how is God going to answer this prayer. In the world of possibility, we open up our eyes to see God working miraculously around us. No longer constrained by just what we can come up with, the solutions we have but we open ourselves up saying that God can answer our prayer any way He sees fit and, more than likely, He’s going to come up with something that we never dreamed of, we never thought of, we couldn’t even comprehend and yet God shows up and does something incredible in our lives. That’s the world of possibility.

Let me explain what I mean. Just this past week, I had an opportunity to talk with a pastor. This pastor travels around from congregation to congregation and he helps them in their capital fund campaign. So they have a building project, they’re going to do something, he works with them and helps them do that. He was working with a congregation down south. The congregation said to him, “We need to raise $2.3 million. That’s our goal.” He looked at them and he said, “That’s an ambitious goal. That’s a fine goal but I need to tell you, from my experience and from all the research being done, you’re probably going to raise $1.2 million.” And they said, “Well, that’s good. Our goal is $2.3.” “No, let me explain a little bit better,” he said to them, “You don’t understand. If you hit it out of the park, you might go a little bit beyond $1.2 but really statistically, the odds are you’re going to raise about $1.2 million.” “I don’t care. We need $2.3 and we believe God’s going to give us $2.3. That’s our goal.” “Okay.” They ran through the whole campaign, came up to commitment Sunday. Everybody brought their commitments up. That afternoon, they tallied them all up. You know what they tallied to? $1.2 million. Just like he said. So he kind of slunk his head and thought, “Well, I told you so. That’s what the odds said.” And so he left. He said a week later, he got a call from the pastor. He said, “The middle of this week, a man dropped by my office. I’ve never seen him before. We visited about our ministry. And then all of a sudden he got to the point of why he was there and he said, ‘I don’t know why but something inside me said I needed to stop at your church and talk to you and I’m going to donate a parcel of land to your church and to your ministry. I really can’t explain why I’m going to do that but I am. Two months later, they sold that parcel of land, $1.1 million.” Okay, some of you out there are saying, “Yeah, right, sure, okay. Sounds like a preacher’s story to me.”

Okay, a little closer to home. About 18 months ago, somewhere around there, I got an e-mail the first part of the week from Pastor Charles down in Uganda. Now we as a congregation, we support a seminary student down in South Africa, Waako, and he wanted to write to me about Waako. Waako had a challenge. He was $500 short of sending his children to school. That was the tuition, in Uganda, you don’t pay the tuition, you don’t go to school. It’s not like here. $500 short of sending his two children to school and he just wanted to make me aware of that. I read that e-mail and I sat back in my chair, stunned. You can ask the staff. You want to know why? One week earlier, one of you came up to me, handed me a check and said, “Pastor, I want this to go for one of our missions. I don’t care which one, wherever the greatest need is, I want this to go for it.” You already know how much that check was for, $500.

You see, in both cases, there is no way that we would imagine that God would show up that way. There is no way we say in our mind and work it out for God that this is how it’s all going to turn out and that’s the point. That’s the point. In the world of possibility, that means we open ourselves up to see God do some incredible things so there is no doubt who is doing the work, who is answering the prayer, who gets the credit, who gets the glory, who gets the honor. It all goes to God because God is the one who is doing it among us. That’s the point of opening ourselves up saying that impossible becomes possible with God. And when we open ourselves up to that world, we see God do incredible things. Incredible things in ways that we’d never imagine, that we’d never think of.

This is the world that the boy’s father wanted to enter into. He says to Jesus, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” “Lord, I believe you can. Now help me believe that you will.” Isn’t that what our prayer should be? “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” “Lord, I know that you can. Now help me believe that you will.” You see, it says, “Lord, I believe that you can fix my marriage. Help me believe that you will.” “Lord, I believe that you can solve my financial problems but help me believe that you will.” “Lord, I believe that you can cure me of the disease but help me believe that you will.” But remember, God answers in His own way, sometimes in ways that you never even thought of. Maybe God solves your financial problem, not by giving you more money but by taking away some expense. Maybe the way that God heals you of your disease is not temporarily for this life but He takes you home to eternity where there is no sickness and there are no health problems. You see, God comes through in His own way and He answers in ways we haven’t thought of, that we haven’t dreamed of and so we say to Him, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” “Lord, I believe you can. Now help me believe that you will.”

That’s the world of possibilities. And as much as that should be part of our world as individuals, it should be part of our world as the community of believers, as God’s people who are gathered here at Gloria Dei. You know, it was last spring that we approved a rather ambitious strategic plan. We said, to the best of our human ability, to the best of our discernment and our prayer, even though everyone doesn’t agree, the best thing we can come up with, if we want to reach more people with the news of Jesus Christ, if we want to help people grow in their relationship with God, we have to move our family. We have to relocate. And some would say the odds are against us. Some would say the chances aren’t good. We’ve been down that road before.

I have to believe that when this place was formed and they established this congregation, the odds were against them, the chances weren’t good. I have to believe there were times when people said, “I don’t know how we’re going to make it. I don’t know how we’re going to keep the doors open.” And that was just the point. Because then there was no doubt. There was no doubt who was in charge of this ministry. There was no doubt in who was keeping the doors open. God was. There was no doubt God wanted a ministry here and He was going to use it through these people and there’s no way that anyone could have imagined what God was going to do 40-some odd years ago, that God would touch so many lives and that He would change so many lives through the ministry of this congregation and that’s the point because, be no doubt about it, it is to God’s glory, God’s honor and God’s credit. God is the one who has done the work.

And, my friends, as it was in the past, it shall be in future. You see, I’m excited about the future. And I’m going to say something that’s rather strange. You know why I’m excited? Because we don’t have all the answers. Because we don’t have a 99.9% chance of success. Because we haven’t figured it all out. That means we live in the world of faith. That means we’re sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see. That means we live in the world where we see God doing amazing things. You see, I look forward to the times where we’re going to run up against brick walls and, in my sinful self, I’m going to lose sleep, I’m going to stay up all night and say, “But, God, I can’t figure out how we’re going to make it past that.” And just at that moment, God’s going to break down that wall and God’s going to come through because there will be no doubt of who’s doing it. There will be no doubt about who gets the credit, who gets the glory and who gets the honor because it will be God’s work among us. And I have no doubt, in the years to come, we’re going to see God do amazing things, things we’ve never thought about so there will be no doubt.

So do you want to live in the world of probability or possibility? For me, my prayer is, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I know that you can. Help me believe that you will. Amen.”