Do things on your plate seem impossible as CV-19 continues to change our lives?  Read this sermon about trusting in God who loves to walk with us in the toughest times and to deal in impossibilities.

 

 

SERMON             CALVARY UMC            06-28-20            REV. ELAINE WING

 

Focus:  “Nothing is Impossible with our God" 

Scripture:  Interwoven throughout the sermon

 

OPENING – REFLECTION QUESTIONS  

         What are some things you (or others) have done that you initially thought were impossible?  

         What things have you wanted to do (or still have on your bucket list) but haven’t because you’ve told yourself “that is impossible for me”?  

 

INTRO TO SCRIPTURE READING

         There are a lot of individuals in the Bible that have done what seemed impossible…  For example: Young David who slayed the giant Goliath with a stone.   Joseph who rose from a slave to a prince.  Daniel, who as an old man, survived being thrown into a den of hungry lions. 

         Our scripture story is familiar to many people – it underscores how nothing is impossible for God.  Mary and Elizabeth are cousins, and both become pregnant through the power of God. Elizabeth does not know her young cousin is pregnant before she arrives for a time of sanctuary from the challenges she is facing.   

            39 A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40 She went into Zechariah’s home, where she greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby moved within her. 

         The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. 42 Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:  “God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. 43 Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? 44 

         As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. 45 The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.”

         This story – often pulled off the shelf and told only during the Christmas season – has far-reaching applications for you and I today.  It is about a God who revels in doing the impossible and empowering us through our acts of faith to scale the mountains that seem impossible in our time.

         Let’s dig into the text. Mary faced death by stoning when she agreed to be the servant of the Lord and carry the baby born to offer us salvation.  

         What are you facing by saying “yes” to whatever God is gifting you with as an impossible opportunity?

         Elizabeth, well beyond childbearing years was already the object of scorn and pity for not bearing children. When she becomes pregnant, she remains in seclusion for five months with her husband who had been struck mute by the angel Gabriel. 

         You and I have been in isolation for 3-4 months and we’re going crazy.  Imagine Elizabeth’s situation!  She was in isolation because of something people believed she had done, not because of the threat of catching a virus.  

         Even when there are times during CV-19 lockdown that we might have wished our spouse was quiet, can you imagine how this situation might have felt to her?  

         Yet, we read in Luke’s gospel she said, “The Lord has done this for me.  In these days he has shown me his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” 

         One of the many things that amazes me about these two women is how they persevered with such courage.  Their faith in God who does the impossible, didn’t make their mountainous obstacles disappear. 

         Instead, they are living out the words found in Philippians:  “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.”

         How often have you and I been faced by something that seems impossible…andwe’ve let our fear overcome our faith in God’s abilities?  

         How often have you and I defeated ourselves before we even give something a try or a chance to succeed?

         As usual, God’s Word is multi-layered with many blessings.  We recognize the greatest miracle of this story -- two women who give birth to John the Baptist who prepares the way for the Messiah and Jesus our Savior – who  will change the world.

         This is also a story about God’s liberating power and intentional reorienting of injustice systems.

         God was working to free Elizabeth and Mary from gender injustice embedded in a patriarchal culture.  They faced tremendous challenges just because they were born as women.

         God was working to liberate Elizabeth and Mary from a narrative that would have said to them, “I can’t or shouldn’t do that.”  During the time that Elizabeth’s husband was unable to speak I imagine she learned to speak up for herself as a woman.  

         I believe she learned to handle many of the tasks that her husband had been responsible for… finances, provisions, and other areas of decision making.

         This story reinforces our belief that God CARES for each of us when we say “YES LORD” to an opportunity to serve.  I believe that God is ready to provide whatever we need to achieve the plans for good God has for us.  

         The Gospel of John records seven miracles that show Jesus’ astonishing power over things that we over label as “impossible.”   For example:

Jesus has power over quality – he turned water into wine

Jesus has power over distance – he healed a dying child from afar

Jesus has power over time – he healed a man who had been lame for four decades

Jesus has power over quantity – he fed a crowd of 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two small fish.

Jesus has power over nature – he calmed the sea and walked on nature

Jesus has power over misfortune – without hype of hoopla, he healed a blind man

Jesus has power over death – he brought Lazarus back to life after his death and Jesus himself rose after three days in the tomb.

         EACH OF THESE CHALLENGES SEEM impossible.  But to Jesus, the solution was obvious.  He lived out the words found in Luke 18:27.  “What is impossible for people is possible with God.  

         I also believe that God’s gift of free will comes into play as we face our impossibilities.  Like Mary and Elizabeth, we have the freedom to decide whether we will be the victim of injustice or hardship or whether we will look for the hand of the Lord as we face our mountainous obstacles.

         Did any you see the movie “Hidden Figures” a year or two ago?  It was about Mary W. Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA.  She started her NASA career in the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the agency’s Langley Research Center. 

         Jackson, a mathematician and aerospace engineer, never accepted what might seem impossible to others.  She helped break gender and race barriers and open the field of engineering and technology to women. 

          Jackson was part of a group of important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Astronauts such as Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut who flew in space in 1983.

         NASA announced recently that the agency headquarters building in Washington DC will be named after Ms. Jackson. 

         Trusting God to do the impossible often requires that we surrender our control and expectations around HOW and WHEN the impossible will be achieved.  

         In closing, I encourage you to offer the Prophet Jeremiah’s prayer daily.  It goes like this:

         “O Sovereign Lord, nothing is too hard for you including my personal “impossibility”  (write it down)

_______________________________________.  I surrender this impossible situation to you from this day on.  Help me not to take it back!  Amen.”

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We invite you to give back to God while supporting the ministries at and through Calvary UMC.  The amount of your gift is far less important than the decision to trust and thank God for your blessings even in this difficult time.  We want you to keep growing in your faith – not to stop or take a siesta out of fear.  Go to www.calvarydumont.com for a recurring or one time electronic gift or mail a check payable to CUMC to CUMC, 185 W. Madison Ave, Dumont, NJ 07628  Thank you in advance of taking this step of faith!

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