A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Nothing is Impossible with God

Luke 1:26-38, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, February 25, 2007

A U.S. Customs official found a traveler carrying a half-gallon bottle in from Mexico. The official asked the man what it contained. “Oh, it’s just holy water,” he said. “I took it from the shrine I visited.” The inspector was suspicious and opened the bottle and took a sniff. “This isn’t holy water, this is tequila!” “Good heavens,” the traveler cried out as his eyes lifted to the sky, “A miracle!” Not all miracles have to be huge events. For example a bank robber in Minneapolis told arresting police officers that he had been converted at a Billy Graham Crusade, and that is why he didn't use a weapon during the holdup. See what God can do: Nothing is impossible with God.

The motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II was “the difficult, we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.” Worthwhile things often take a long time. Noah Webster, for example, worked on his dictionary for 36 years, crossing the ocean twice to collect material, before publishing it. And yet at times, it looks like things are more than just difficult, they are truly impossible; but here again, appearances are more often than not deceiving.

Some classic examples:

And Ray Bradbury said it best of all: “We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.” And yet here we are. And why did the impossible occur? Because God said it should be so.

If our imagination is so limited when it comes to what we can do, we ought to consider how infinitely limited we are when it comes to what God can do. As Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” Listen: the unexpected and the amazing occur each and every moment, but when we only look for the expected and the ordinary we lose sight of the God of the impossible. There is definitely more to God than meets the eye. So believe that God is able. From a rock has sprung forth water, from the desert manna; If the Lord can make a great king out of a shepherd boy and the king of all kings from a carpenter’s son, consider his work in you. “For no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” From a maiden was born the Savior and by a prostitute the Lord was blessed. Do you need forgiveness? God forgives you. Do you seek power to forgive? God will answer you with such strength. Are you afraid of what the future brings? Fear not; be bold and of strong courage. For great is the Lord’s steadfast love toward you.

 What we want to see this morning is that our faith goes beyond believing in the God of the possible to embrace the God of the impossible. Faith can overcome fear, just as light outshines darkness. Jesus tells us, “Don’t be afraid, but believe.” Mk. 5.36 What stands as impossible can fall to the power of faith. The Lord makes amazing things happen when we forget our fear and embrace our faith. Mary, Jesus’ mother, is a hero of faith overcoming fear. She is someone who believed in the miracle. Let me just have you think for a moment what not believing in God’s ability to do the seemingly impossible is like. Think of it like this: Not believing in miracles is like betting against your home team. Isn’t that just the worst thing? “Yay, I’m right! We lost.” It’s the same things as betting against God. “Yay, I’m right! God can’t/won’t do it.” That is absolutely not the position in which you want to stick yourself. In any wager, take God’s side.

First of all, there is impossible and then there is impossible. Know what I mean?  Louis Brandeis, the Supreme Court Justice, said, “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” Go, talk to a kid, maybe a young teenager type. You will more hear of more things that are impossible than a blind man seeing again. The whole world is full of impossibilities. Everything is written in stone: from friendship to popularity, to grades to talent. The only thing that might be worse is the older teenager who thinks that the quite possible, such as getting into a serious car accident when driving impaired and at high speeds, is the impossible.

Several years ago I read a story about a young executive, a man who had risen quickly up the corporate ladder. Can’t remember his name now; it doesn’t matter anyway, other than for someone who might want to invest in his company, because he had something. He definitely had something. And his story told you what it is, probably more than any other mini-biography that I’ve ever read in, say, USA Today. He was a man who believed it could be done. For him, the impossible was possible. And he knew this was true because his grandfather made him make the impossible possible. Now his grandfather had something going for him as well. He had been a very successful businessman in his own right, but whereas some might just shower their grandchildren with gifts and such, this grandfather did something special: He built a believer out of his grandson, someone who believed the impossible was merely that which needed to be accomplished next. The story the man told was how he would spend his summers with his grandfather, and his grandfather would put him in charge of a project for the summer. The one I remember was when the grandfather had his grandson build him an airport. That’s right. An airport, for his business. At this time, he was only in high school. He had to oversee the engineers, the city codes, the builders, everything was in his hands, but he did it. His grandfather believed in him and he believed in himself, and so it got accomplished. It’s easy to see how this teenager now grown to a man is someone who will accomplish the seemingly impossible. As scripture says, “See a (person) diligent in his business? That one shall stand before kings.” Proverbs 22.29

Much of what we deem “impossible” comes from lack of faith in ourselves and/or God. It seems impossible because we don’t deem ourselves capable. But we are capable and the Lord is able. Look at Mary. When told she is about to become pregnant with the Son of the Most High, she responds, “How can this be?” You know what most of us would have said, “That’s impossible.” At least she asks a question and doesn’t jump to an absolute negative declaration. She’s a good model for taking a breath before we open our mouths. Before we stick a foot in between our teeth and tongue, we should go ahead and stick a foot between our teeth and tongue, as a placeholder. You can always get back to that negative thought later. But the fact is it isn’t as impossible as it first sounds. It may change your life. It may require help from someone else. It may not take you where you were thought you were going. But it’s not impossible. So think with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4.13 Remember that when laboring for good, you labor with God, and the hand of the Lord rests upon you. So consider your strengths. Give weight to your determination to succeed. And rely on prayer.

In Sunday school one morning, the minister was trying to illustrate the word “miracle.” “Boys and girls,” he said, “suppose I stood on the roof of a ten-story building, lost my balance, and fell off. Then all of a sudden, in midair, a whirlwind swept me up and brought me safely to the ground. Now what word would you use to describe this?” After a moment a boy raised his hand and said, “Luck?” “True, true,” replied the minister. “It could be luck, but that’s not the word I wanted. I’ll repeat the story, I’m on top of the ten-story building again, and I fall. A whirlwind catches me in midair and places me safely on the ground. Think now, what word would describe the result?”

“Accident,” cried out one girl. “No, no,” answered the minister. “Listen carefully for the third time. I’m on that same building, I fall and am swept to safety by a sudden whirlwind. What word could account for my safely reaching the ground?” The boys and girls shouted in unison: “Practice!” For kids, everything is possible, and that’s a great way to believe.

In the movie, Castaway, Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a FedEx executive who must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island. At the end of the movie, Noland is sitting with a fellow FedEx executive, a friend of his. He is a much quieter man now after four years by himself, but he opens up finally about his fiancé, Kelly, the woman he was going to marry before his plane went down, and everyone thought he had died.

“Kelly added it all up and... knew she had to let me go. I added it up, and knew that I had... lost her. 'cos I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over nothing. And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?”

Yes, who knows, but God, what the day will bring. Keep breathing. Keep believing. Stay true to your faith. Overcome your fears. If you have to start fresh, be bold. If you have to turn back around, strike out today. The Lord

 

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