In a perfect world, everyone gets what they want.
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I remember one summer Sunday 2 decades ago. We decided as a family, at the last minute, to spend Sunday afternoon with the grandparents who lived at the lake. We were blessed that my parents lived close enough that we could see them for an afternoon, yet it was still far enough that it took two hours of drive time for each visit. When church ended, we quickly packed the car for an afternoon of family fun at the lake and headed toward the highway. To “save time” we decided to pick up “fast food,” which we would eat while driving to “save time.” I made my first leadership mistake when I asked everyone in the car, “What do you want to eat?”Now as I remember it, I got 4 different answers. I then made my second leadership mistake when I responded, O.K, everyone gets what they want as I proceeded to the first drive through window to place the first order. After the first order was complete, I drove to the second drive through window to place a second “fast food” order. We did this two additional times as I remember. So much for saving time. But Everyone got what they wanted.We never did that again.
In a perfect world everybody gets what they want but in case you haven’t noticed, We don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world that has been cursed, remember?
Genesis 3:17 (NIV) To Adam he (God) said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
That explains why the world is not a perfect place. If you question the curse, just plant a garden, and watch the weeds grow. If you don’t pull out the weeds, they’ll take over the whole garden and ruin the harvest. Why is it that weeds grow without cultivation and planting, but tomatoes, green beans, corn and all the other good things in the garden need to be cultivated, planted, weeded, in order to have a harvest? Why? The Curse!
If we lived in a perfect world people would never get sick. Illness wouldn’t touch our lives. COVID has been with us for way too long now and it just keeps coming back around. Is there anyone here who has had Covid twice? You may be the among the minority if you have escaped Covid -19 so far, but no one escape the grim reaper, death. Have you notice how many of our Faith Family have left us this year for eternal life? If we lived in a perfect world people wouldn’t die and people die because people sin.
Romans 6:23 (NIV) 23 For the wages of sin is death,
We don’t live in a perfect world and that means people will go hungry today. Too many will sleep on the streets without a roof over their heads. Some will suffer terrible evil at the hands of others. Fires, floods, earthquakes are all proof that we live in a less than perfect world. We live in a world, where sin touches every life. It touches our thinking distorting the truth. Sin is the reason we say things that never should be said. Sin is the reason we do things prompted by pride, anger, fear, resentment, and a whole host of sinful aberrations that arise from a sinful heart, mind or hand.
In a Perfect world everyone gets what they want, but in a sinful world, not everything we want is what we need, or is even helpful.
Having the daily joy of watching little ones growing up in our home, where the primary responsibility is not ours, its fun to watch and they provide sermon illustrations almost every minute. I’ve noticed that if you ask children what they want, much of the time, what they want is not what they need. And sometimes what they want is not healthy, or even life-threatening.
In our home the little one’s often fight over technology. If you ask the two-year-old what he “wants to do” he will say boldly, won’t hesitation. “Ipad.” If you let him do what he wants, he’ll spend all day watching a screen. But giving him what he wants is too often not what he needs.
Thus, the dilemma of raising children in a less than perfect world. Do parents give their children what they want or what they need? We’re not just talking about the moments of play. If you give children what they want, they’ll stay up all night until they finally crash, they’ll eat foods that aren’t good for them. They’ll choose what their sinful hearts desire, want, and crave even though it may not be good for them. Like the child, so the adolescent, and event the adult. For we all lives in a less than perfect world, tainted by sin, tempted by the world and the evil one who lead us into every kind of shame and vice. So, do we choose what we want or what we need? Do we choose what our sinful hearts desire or do we follow what what God wants for us.
In our second reading today, Paul writes, 1 Timothy 2:3–4 NIV “…God our Saviour, 4 who wants…”
Have ever thought of God as “wanting” something? He does. He created us because He wanted to have a loving relationship with us. He made us in His image. He gave man a mind to know and a heart to do His will. He gave us hands and feet and voices not to do as we please but please Him. He made us to be like Him. He gave us hands to help those in need, feet to walk with one another in fellowship, voices to speak words of grace and kindness to build one another up in love. But because we don’t live in a perfect world, God wants something we need.
1 Timothy 2:3–4 NIV God our Saviour, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
WE need to be saved from our sinful selves. AND God wants people to be saved. In fact, God wants all people to be saved, none to be lost. He wants to reclaim the people HE loves, He wants to restore fellowship with us, But in order for God to get what God wanted for us, He has to send His only Son as a baby to,
“…the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 (NIV)
He sends a Savior into the world to
John 10:15 (NIV) “… lay down (his) life for the sheep.
John 15:13 (NIV) to he lay down his life for his friends.
God wants all to be saved, so
1 John 4:9 (NIV) He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
But know this, for God to get what He wants for us, for His world, and for Himself, Jesus MUST give His life in death. JEsus must suffer for all our sinful wants, word and works.
John 3:17 (NIV) 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
If you ask God what He wants for you, He will say, I want you, to
5 Love (me), the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 NIVUK84
I want you to “love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39 NIV
If we ask the question: What happens when God gets what He wants? The answer is: We by His grace and receive the Holy Spirit? And BY the working of His Spirit, whom He gave to the world at Pentecost and to every believer in their baptism, God gets what He wants for us, our hearts and wills align with his.
Psalm 37:4 (NIV) 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When our hearts align with God’s heart, will, and ways, he gives us what our hearts desire and we get to live in His perfect world of grace, mercy and love.
Where the Son of God reigns with His grace and mercy in the hearts of men, women and children, everyone gets what they want and need because their hearts, minds and wills aligns with God’s. And this is now our prayer for one another.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
On this Sunday, as we celebrate the day of Pentecost – let us rejoice and give thanks to God for the gift the Holy Spirit, for we who have received the Gift of the Holy Spirit, get what we want and what we need for this life and the next in Jesus’ name.