I have a plaque in my office that says “Jesus loves you but I am His favorite.” I cannot recall where I got it. Perhaps I bought it at the estate sale of St. James the Elder. I am sure his brother John had his own version. Don’t we all? We all expect that God has favorites and we hope that we are God’s favorites. But with that favoritism comes a hidden cost. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism I am baptized?
James and John did not know what they were asking when they came to the Lord. But the other ten did. At least they thought they did and they did not like it. They thought James and John had beaten them to the punch and gotten something special from the Lord. In the end Jesus treated the audacious request of the Sons of Zebedee with more respect that we would have. Although He could not promise that they would get the coveted places at His right and His left, He could promise that they would, indeed, drink of His cup and be baptized with the baptism with which He is baptized. And we know the rest of that story.
James died as the first of the apostles to be martyred. John died in exile away from the people in his care, at the end of a long life in which he saw many of the flock persecuted and martyred for the sake of the faith. You need to be careful what you ask of God. For what you had in mind and how things end up are not always the same thing. Only a year ago we were coming off a pandemic in which we did everything we knew how to stop the flow of a virus. Now, more than a year later, the cost of that virus is more clear to us than it was then.
But there is a promise. We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. All things. For good. For those called by the Lord. Sounds straight forward enough but there is still a problem. Whose good? Is it the good that we envision and plan and desire or is it some other good – a good we cannot define or control. And how did it work together for good that James the Elder was cut down in the prime of his life by the unrighteous sword of Herod Agrippa only a dozen or so years after Jesus died on the cross? If that is what happens to favorites, who wants to be the favorite? If that is the best good we can expect from a God who makes all things work together for good, then who wants it? So what does this promise mean and what blessing is there in such a promise?
The blessing lies not in being promised you will get what you want but that the One who delivers on that promise knows you best and has your best interest at heart. The blessing lies not in being assured of your best life now but knowing that however good or bad today is, it cannot compare with the wonderful future God has prepared for you in Jesus Christ. The blessing lies not in the promise that you will never suffer, never be persecuted, or never fear but that your sufferings cannot compare to the suffering Christ endured for you, that your persecution is the mark of faithfulness not judgment, and that however big your fears, the peace that passes understanding is bigger. The stark image of Christ's body on the cross shows to what end God has gone to save us. Do we fear His good will for the things of this body and life or does the cross move us to trust Him with these also?
The good that God makes every work for is the eternal good. It is the new and glorious body to replace the body that aches in pain today. It is the new and eternal life that death and tears cannot touch that replaces a life too short on happiness and too long on trouble. It is the heart and mind filled with the peace and joy of God’s presence to replace the loneliness and hurts we bear inside this side of glory. This is the good that we struggle to understand, that we struggle to see, and that we pray to know but this good is known only by the faith that prays confidently, “Thy will be done!”
James died young at the hands of God’s enemy. John died old and alone while God’s enemy gloated. But the sons of Zebedee did not lose anything that was not worth losing and they gained more than they every expected. What do we say in the face of all the bad stuff that happens to us? Faith says “If God be for us, who can be against us!” What do we say when it seems that in spite of our faith we are paying a high price for belonging to God? Faith says “He who did not spare His only Son but gave Him up for us all, will He now also graciously give us all things in Him? What do we say when we do not see the future clearly and when it seems the future we do see is not one we would have chosen? Faith says “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation? Distress? Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
I have no illusions about your life and trials and troubles. I hope you have no illusions about mine. We have all nursed broken hearts, salved hurt feelings, paid a high cost for being faithful, lost friends, felt alone, and watched others seemingly prosper while we lived in want. But none of these things can kill our faith and none of these things are worth giving up the faith.
No, I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in this creation and life can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This good end is waiting for you and waiting for me and waiting for all the baptized who believe in Christ’s promise. That challenge before us is not to figure out how to make the good we want be the good that God has promised. No, the challenge before us is to believe that the good God has promised is enough to sustain us through these days.
Everyone of us comes to Jesus with a list of what we want. At the top of most of those lists is an easy, full, and blessed life. Probably at the bottom is the gift of eternal life in heaven. It is usually the last thing we want but it is always the first thing we need. Today we ask the Lord for faith, enough faith not to give up when what is at the top of our list does not come and enough faith to recognize that what is at the bottom is really the best thing of all.
Because the truth is I AM Jesus’ favorite. And so is James. And so is John. And so are YOU. He will not pick between us but promises us both that everything will work together for our eternal good. Do you believe it? Holy Spirit, help me to say “Yes, I believe; help my unbelief.” Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment