It’s Friday
It’s Friday…
And I have been asked many times…
I have asked many times…
Is it worth it? Do all that we go through… all that we suffer…
Does it add up to something good?
The Sunday school answer is to quote St. Paul in Romans 8:28:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
And I don’t want to belittle this answer. It is a promise to us, the baptized children of God, that we can stand on.
But there is more to this than that. It is and has to do with God Himself considering it all worth it. And I mean at the beginning.
If God knew (and He did) that all of this would happen. That the devil would rebel and take a third of the angles with him in his rebellion, that he would tempt Adam and Eve to eat of what was forbidden by God’s Word…
That they would mistrust God! As that was the first sin (unbelief)—to think God was holding back on them—that He was not as benevolent as they first thought…
All of that.
That they would then pay the price for their sin—to die, when there was no such thing as death on this good green earth. That the earth itself—all of creation would suffer death and decay because of humanity…
That soon there would be murder under heaven!
And then there is the rest of history…
From the mess of nature to the messes of humanity!
So you have to wonder… you have to ask…
And as I said, many have asked: God, was it worth it?
Knowing all this?
And this question is one in which people have used to either deny the existence or at least deny that God is good.
It is why all the other gods that we know of that have cropped up among the various peoples were always depicted as capricious, and some down-right malicious!
And if not these, at least the God of creation is a God who is not very merciful or forgiving.
It is the question of why bad things happen to good people?
And a quick answer there is that there is no one good other than God Himself.
But… to rephrase it, then, why do bad things happen to people who are at least trying to be good, and live repentant lives?
Answer: we are being molded into the likeness of God’s Son, Jesus. And He still to this day, and forever remains: The Crucified One! So pick up your crosses and follow Him.
Not the cross you picked, but the one God has set in your life for you to carry.
Oh… that one…. Can’t we choose something a little less… ?
Again, we are asking… as we lug it about… is that worth it?
But still then there is the bigger question to ask, because if it not so for Jesus, then why do we have to?
So, was it worth it for Jesus? We need to answer the question for ourselves by asking and answering it of Jesus.
Because these are the fact: only a small part of humanity will believe and be saved! That is what Scripture tells us!
Jesus died for everyone, but few are chosen. Only a remnant.
There are people who solve this by saying, that in the end, all—even the devil—will eventually will be saved.
…After a certain amount of punishment.
To think and believe this you have to ignore quite a few “forever/eternal/unending” passages in the Bible. And there are other ways around this too, but none take God at His word—not completely.
All because we have a hard time with it all. We cannot tell if it is all worth it many times in our own lives, never mind what Jesus decided when He counted the cost and said it was.
So, for some reason Jesus thought you and I were worth it.
Remember that conversation with Abraham over Sodom? If there were a hundred righteous people in Sodom, would God still destroy them? God said no! And Abraham kept pushing and whittling down the number.
So, the ratio represents the remnant. Only Lot and his family! No one else in the whole city– in the whole of both cities!
And then you have Elijah. He tells God he was the only one left. God told him no. God had reserved 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to the false god Baal. But only 7,000 out of at how many millions in all of Israel and Judah?
And that is the reason Jesus has not called it quits yet. Why He has not come back and put an end to all this sin and sinning!
There are people yet to be rescued and saved!
Are they worth it? God thinks so… and so He puts up with all that sin against Him and us… all so that the ones that will be saved will be saved.
We might not, in this life, ever understand or see how all of this pain, suffering and destruction could ever justify and be said to be worth the result.
It is the very reason some have refused the call to salvation. They refuse to believe in a God that allows what they have seen and heard about that has gone on, in this, God’s creation.
We might not be able to stand up with very much faith or courage with the crosses we are asked to carry, but the surprise is, we were never meant to do that alone. That is a lie of the devil.
We are to help carry one another’s burdens. That is what the Church is for and all about. It is a field hospital, setup in the midst of the battle.
…And to say nothing of the fact that Jesus promises to be with us until the end.
Do think He is just here watching whether we stand or fall over under the weight? Many people have concluded this!
No! He is actually carrying us much of the time!
So another text of St. Paul’s that at least helps pick up our heads and wonder at:
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” [KJV][1 Corinthians 2:9].
So…
We will see one day just how much it WAS WORTH IT! For now, we are called to live by faith. Faith in the Son who endued even the cross so that we can follow Him home where He has made a place for us…
A place where we can live and move and have our being with Him, forever, in the house of the Lord.
So yes, even though this is Friday, thank God that Sunday is only 2 days away…
Where we will once again see clearly our salvation prepared… and given.
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Sunday, September 13, 2026 – 15th Sunday after Trinity
Old Testament – Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Epistle – Galatians 5:25-6:10
Gospel – Matthew 6:24-34
Sermon Theme – LIVE BY THE SPIRIT
Based on the Gospel reading Matthew 6:24-34
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Prayers: For a lasting peace that would be established and would remain between the people of Israel and Gaza as well as for the People of Russia and the Ukraine. Between the US and Iran. For our congregation that it would please our Lord that we would increase in numbers and there remain in this place a congregation that calls upon Him rightly, practicing the faith according to the Scriptures. For those who are being persecuted and murdered because they call upon the name of Jesus—especially in Africa. For the end of violence in our cites and that our schools and congregations would be protected from those who wish them harm. For our families that parents would courageously discipline their children and raise them in the fear of the Lord, teaching them about salvation in Jesus alone.