Sermon – Psalm 73, Philippians 4:4-23

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Psalm 73, Philippians 4:4-23

Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church

May 25, 2008

Tomorrow our nation will be setting aside a day to remember all the men and women who have died or been injured in our wars. This practice was started after the Civil War to remember the sacrifice that so many men made to keep our nation free and undivided. Many people in our congregation have served in the military or have family members who are currently serving. All of you have made a great sacrifice for our country.

Please pray with me. Lord Jesus Christ, many of us today need healing in our hearts as we remember family members and friends who have gone to you; we ask that you heal our broken hearts this day. Many of us today need healing in our bodies as we or family members deal with disease or injury; we ask that you heal those bodies this day. We boldly make these requests to you because you healed the sick and comforted the bereaved while with us. So today we call on your power. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-13 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. ¹⁰ I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. ¹² I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

When I was growing up, every Memorial Day, or as it was once called Decoration Day, we went to my grandmother’s house and visited the cemeteries. My father’s family is in Oak Grove, near the hospital. My mother and her family are in Silvian Heights up on the hill. We always took flowers to decorate the graves. And my grandfather’s grave had an American flag indicating that he had served during World War One. There was always a picnic outside in my grandmother’s backyard with burgers, deviled eggs, and potato salad. And there were parades and patriotic songs. But what I remember most of all about Memorial Day was watching my grandmother become older and more and more feeble until she died and then we stopped placing flowers on all those graves.

As I think about my grandmother I remember her great faith in God and her desire for me to find God myself. She had a pure heart and scripture says that anyone with a pure heart will be blessed by God. But if my grandmother was blessed, why was she a widow for so many years? Why did she have problems with her heart? Why did she suffer though so many illnesses? Does God really bless those with a pure heart as scripture says?

Anyone watching television this week might conclude that scripture is wrong on this point. You might believe the God blesses people for reason other than a pure heart. If you watched the finals of Dancing with the Stars you might think that God blesses those who are beautiful and can move about the dance floor gracefully. If you watched the finals of American Idol you might think that God blesses those who can sing popular songs with powerful voices. And if you watched the Lakers in the playoffs you might think the God blesses athletes who can dribble and shoot. But when we think about the saints of this church, the people who have worshiped with this church so faithfully for so long, who have such pure hearts, and now see them suffering from cancer, or seizures, or neurological diseases we have to wonder if God really does bless the pure in heart.

This observation that the godless seem to prosper while the faithful suffer illness bothered the psalmist. It angered her that this injustice prevailed. She was ready to enter the sanctuary and complain to God about it. Surely God would hear her prayers and punish those who profit unjustly. But when she entered the sanctuary something amazing happened. She began to see the world from God’s perspective.

The way God sees it, the prosperity of those who do not know God is here today and gone tomorrow. Those who depended on beauty or ability or skill will find that one day all of these things will fail. Those who are beautiful now will grow old and wrinkled. Those who can sing beautifully now will one day lose their voices. And those who are great athletes will one day lose their skills to age or injury. Their blessings are temporary and will soon fade.

But those with pure hearts will be blessed for eternity because they are always renewed by being in the presence of the living God. God holds us in his arms and guides us in her way and receives us with great honor. When we realize that God truly blesses us we are filled with the overwhelming desire to be with God. So as we age and our bodies begin to fail we are blessed because God is right there with us to comfort us along the way.

The Apostle Paul tells us that as we grow old and experience difficulties in life we should not hesitate to bring those difficulties to God. We do this in prayer where we ask God to help us, to heal us, and to heal our families and our friends. Whatever troubles us: grief for a loved one who has died or sickness in our bodies or in the bodies of members of our families and friends we are not to worry about these things, but with confidence we should believe that we and our families will be blessed by God. We are to take all of our concerns for our bodies and our families to God in prayer.

When it comes to healing our bodies there are those who think that prayer does no good. Some discount the existence of miracles today and believe that only modern medicine can heal. Others believe that God knows when we are sick and will decide for himself whether or not to heal us. So why bother praying? Scripture tells us the Jesus healed the sick and gave that power to us to heal in his name. Jesus simply spoke a command and people were healed. For us we heal by praying in Jesus’ name. And when we pray in confidence for Jesus to heal us or a loved one we are filled with hope.

When we pray for healing we must first understand the God desires healing for all who experience illness. This understanding allows us to anticipate that our prayers will be heard and acted upon. We must also have compassion for those we pray for. Our prayers for healing will only be effective if we truly desire for someone to be healed. When we pray for someone who is ill we become vulnerable, but we take the risk because the reward is so great. And finally we must always remember that when we pray for healing we are not doing magic. There is no direct cause and effect relationship between prayers and healing. Many times our prayers do not have the desired result. But we should not be discouraged because God heals in many different ways; our job is just to pray unceasingly and to trust God to act.

So on this Memorial Day Weekend lets not just spend our time at picnics and parades and decorating the graves of those who have gone to the Lord a long time ago. Rather spend some time in prayer for the living who are experiencing sickness. Boldly, pray for healing, believing that God desires the everyone be whole. Pray for the well being of the people in your family and in your church. Be a part of the healing ministry of Jesus Christ on earth.

Lord Jesus, we ask this day that you give us the authority to heal. Help us to pray for healing. Listen to our prayers as we pray for family and friends this Memorial Day Weekend. And heal those in Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church who are suffering from illness this day. We pray in your strong name, amen.