“Lord, Lord, Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On!”   ( Return to Sermon Page)

June 1, 2008

Romans 3: 22b-28           

Matthew 7: 21-29

“Lord, Lord, there’s a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on!”  ………

the horrific earthquake in China;

devastation in Myanmar—both political and community wide;

The mortgage crisis in the US is huge and rolling and overwhelming for some.

The gas prices exert a steady pressure; who can see what will buckle as a result?

          Life is rockin’ and rollin’ in some awful ways!

          Mini earthquakes are happening in thousands of households as

school’s almost out for thousands of students; what’ll we do now? 

Households across the country are adjusting, re-balancing, making do.

Folks are moving; will they make it?  Things are changing; will we make it?

It seems like there’s always something!  Something new to cope with;

some surprise, something changing, something unexpected.

And Jesus said—yep, that’s life.  It doesn’t stay still; it bubbles and shifts.

And in that is both gift and torment; new life and difficulty.

For every ending is a new beginning.: 

Congratulations on your graduation; now get a job!

          Or, you got that recommendation; when are you moving?

It would be easy to hear the gospel of Matthew saying that

if you just get things right the difficult times won’t come to us, things won’t end;

we’ll never have to give up what we want to keep.

In Jesus’ story the storms hit everybody’s house. 

Endings and new beginnings come in all kinds and all sizes to every one of us.

Of course there will be joy too. 

New adventures, and new friends, and new places to go---

but you can’t go to the new place without leaving the old. 

Trying to hold onto to the old so it won’t change or

so it won’t end is like trying to hold onto sand. 

The harder you grasp the less you can keep.

Jesus advises us to root ourselves in his words,

to hear his words and believe them,

to let his sayings, his way of doing things be the foundation for what we will do.

When you are confused, remember that Jesus said:

ask and it will be given to you,

seek the Lord and you will find.

Knock and the door will be opened.

When you are sad, remember that Jesus said:

come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Know matter how difficult things are,

when life comes crashing in or when the joy of life is just slowly sucked out of you,

remember that the Lord is your rock.

Now matter how the earth shakes with global crisis or personal chaos,

the Lord is our refuge and strength.

I spoke with someone who was planning their funeral. 

They are trying to avoid certain earthquakes that might occur after their deaths.  In the course of the conversation they said, when you speak at my service

“try to get in your message to my children that if they would live more like I do, they would have a better chance of getting into heaven.”

And then she said, “Oh, is that awful of me? 

“Why should I assume I’m going to heaven?”

The assurance of faith is a joy to be treasured and not apologized for.

But it does make you think. 

Jesus said not everybody who says Lord, Lord is going to get into heaven. 

Those who are quick to tell you the Lord this and the Lord that and

do not treat their neighbor with kindness and justice are not going to heaven.

Anybody can call on the name of the Lord;

Jesus wants to know do they give other evidence of knowing God? 

Any other word of mercy?  Any other word of hope?  Any justice?  Any caring? 

Are they speaking Christ’s language in the rest of their life? 

Are the people you listen to when you are in trouble or anticipate change

speaking from Christ’s truth?

Are they grounded in Christ’s ways?

          If not, don’t let them have power over you.

What about you? 

When the chips fall, when the world rocks,

when you feel like you are losing your balance,

          who stabilizes you?  Jesus Christ is our rock and our salvation.