A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

“God Is Good”

Psalm 97, Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, May 20, 2007

An older fella said to his eighty-five-year old buddy, "So I hear you're getting married?" "Yep!" "Do I know her?" "Nope!" “Is she a looker?" "Nah, not really." "Is she a good cook?" "Naw, she can't cook too well." "Does she have lots of money?" "Nope! Poor as a church mouse." "Wait a minute, now. She can’t cook. She’s nothing special in the looks department. And she doesn’t have any money. Why in the world do you want to marry her?"  The eighty-five year replied, "Because she can still drive!" What’s good (or good enough) for us is often in the eye of the beholder. You know, it’s not like he’s lowered his standards; it’s that he knows what’s important now.

Our text for today gives us the ultimate answer, life’s one true and final answer, when all the “Whys,” “Whos,” and “Whens” are felt and asked. “The Lord reigns!” is the answer, or as the New Revised Standard Version says it: “The Lord is king!”

They mean the same thing, but I like “the Lord reigns!” It’s much more action-oriented. God is good, and more than good. God is Great. The Greatest! And this is what is important, now and forever. There is one God, and only one, the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, living and true, dwelling in light inaccessible from before time and forever. So when you’re worried about what’s going to happen next, consider the hand that keeps your life. When you need help, turn to God. When you face difficulties, trust in the Lord. For God knows the path you are to take—and when the Lord establishes something, nobody can stop it. What God does, God does for good. What God does is just and right altogether. If there ever was a team you want to be playing for, it is God’s, which I guess is what this kid was trying to say when he brought home his report card heavy with poor grades. His mother demanded, “What do you have to say about this?” And he said, “One thing’s for sure—you know I’m not cheating!” He may not be good at school but he is good at ethics.

What we want to see this morning is that we are not merely to be good. We are to be great, and great means to be just.

What’s the difference between being good and being just? Look, when I was growing up I had a good dog. I have been practicing/playing golf for a couple of years now, so now I am getting a fairly good golf swing. Having grown up in the Midwest, I like a good cut of beef. This is all well and good, but none of these make sense at a deeper level, at the deepest level. A dog and definitely not a cat will never be just. I will never acquire a just or righteous golf swing. There is no cut of beef that is just. You see what I mean. “God is good—all the time” is a great proclamation and response. But be careful that the good here doesn’t become too small. How about “God is just—all the time!” I know it doesn’t have the same ring to it, but it is the more important truth.

Perhaps this is what New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra was after one day when Joe Garagiola stepped up to the plate. Before assuming his stance, however, fervent Roman Catholic Joe took his bat and made the sign of the cross in the dirt in front of home plate. Catcher Yogi Berra, also a devout Catholic, walked out and wiped out Garagiola's cross. Turning to the astonished Garagiola, Berra smiled and said, "Let's let God watch this inning." God is more than good for Joe or good for Yogi. As Jesus used to say, “(God) makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Mt.5.45 God’s goodness is greater than our goodness. God is just and righteous altogether. In his 1983 book,  Approaching Hoof Beats, Billy Graham wrote, “My basic commitment as a Christian has not changed, nor has my view of the Gospel, but I have come to see in deeper ways the implications of my faith and the message I have been proclaiming. I can no longer proclaim the Cross and the Resurrection without proclaiming the whole message of the Kingdom, which is justice for all.”

The Lord reigns not to forgive sins but God forgives sins because God reigns.

God’s greatness is his justness. As Psalm 97 says, “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.” As one who trusts in God, make integrity your hallmark. Let honesty be your calling card. Make a name for yourself as one who looks at things evenly and honestly. Don’t let self-interest color your response, but be courageous enough to speak the truth. Not everyone is going to like it, but you’re the one who has to live with yourself. Don’t take on friends who can’t carry themselves honorably and honestly. The good person walks safe from trouble, but it’s the lost who stumble into holes. Get real with yourself and you will have the commitment to be real with others. There is great joy in the little acts of being truthful and having integrity.

Some of you may know who Joni Eareckson Tada is. She is a Christian author and speaker, who has been a quadriplegic for decades now. Joni says in Joy Hard Won that honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you're surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women's conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded. "How do you do it?" She asked as she capped her lipstick. I glanced at the nicely dressed women around me. I knew that the break would soon be over. How could I answer her question in about 60 seconds? How could I sum up in a sound bite what has taken me three decades of quadriplegia to learn?

"I don't do it," I said. That raised their eyebrows.
"In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?" Several women leaned against the counter to listen.
"This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 a.m., I'm alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 a.m. That's when a friend arrives to get me up."
"While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, 'Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don't have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don't have a smile to take into the day. But You do. May I have Yours? God, I need You desperately.'"

Looking at their expressions, I could tell that underneath the makeup and the jewelry, they too were carrying burdens. They were weary. Their hearts were bruised and numb.

And they were curious to know more: "So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked. "I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It's not mine. It's God's. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning." The women in the restroom were silent. The break was over, it was time to move on. That evening many of them went home with weary bodies, swollen ankles and sore feet to face broken garbage disposals, indifferent husbands and rebellious children. I hope that the women also went home knowing that they can go desperately and urgently to God for grace. I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover Him to be.

People often struggle to find meaning in their life, but this is only because they try to find it in themselves by doing things their way with themselves as the recipient of their efforts. Do you want to know the reason that this doesn’t work? Because it goes against God’s nature, and this universe’s rules reflect its creator. The phrase “the Lord reigns” means that God’s character permeates and ultimately decides all things and wins all struggles. Since God is a generous, selfless, loving, just creator and savior, the only thing that works is if we reflect that character. Nothing else has the power to sustain ourselves or be sustained by God. And so it fails.

There was a humorous story in Reader's Digest recently. Mike Goodell of Apopka, Florida, wrote in to tell of his wife's experiment in cross-cultural appreciation. Goodell's wife knitted a sweater incorporating a set of lovely Chinese characters she saw on a restaurant menu. She did not know the meaning of the characters, but they appealed to her. A Chinese friend later told her that the symbols on the sweater meant, "Cheap, but good." That’s the thing about being more than good; it’s never cheap. It’s always right. It’s always just. It’s the only way to be truly great.

On a cloudless September afternoon, Don Corbert, 54, stepped out along Sunset Beach in Vancouver's West End. Jobless for nearly three years and now a resident of the city's Skid Row, the former construction worker was just passing time. As he walked, he saw a wallet on a nearby park bench. Inside was $50 in cash, money that could come in handy for Corbert. Then he noticed a man's ID card and pictures of a smiling mother and three young children. This guy's got a family and probably needs every cent, he thought. An hour later he called to return the wallet. In a mini-mall within the upscale Douglasdale Estates in suburban Calgary, a fit, black-haired man in his 40s jumped out of a 1996 Toyota four-wheel-drive vehicle. Spotting a wallet on the sidewalk, he scooped it up and slipped it into his pocket. After visiting a video rental shop, he drove off $50 richer. The wallets these people found were among those Reader's Digest staffers lost all over Canada. In each (they) put a name, local address and phone number, family pictures, receipts, and $50 in cash. We dropped 120 wallets, 10 each in three large cities, three major suburban areas, three medium cities and three small towns. We left them in parking lots, malls, bus stops and on sidewalks. Then we waited to see what would happen. To each person who returned the wallet, we offered the $50 as a reward. This was no rigorous scientific study but rather a real-life test of integrity. Would people in small towns return the wallets more often than those in big cities? Old folks more than young? Women more than men? Every wallet told a story like the ones above, whether of outright theft, a struggle with temptation or a refreshing affirmation of honesty.... Out of 120 wallets dropped in Canada, 77 were returned intact, 64 percent. In a similar Digest survey of 12 U.S. towns and cities, the figure was 67 percent. Robert Kiener, Reader's Digest Canada

There is amazing freedom and a redeeming kindness in being right with God and our neighbor. It’s what makes us right with ourselves. A good and great God reigns, full of justice and righteousness, and no matter how it looks at a quick glance, the world reflects its creator. So be on the winning team. Be on the best team. Be on your best behavior. Be just. Because God reigns—all the time!

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