The Strength to Keep Going

Sermon Title: The Strength to Keep Going

Good News Statement: God never gives up on us

Preached: Sunday, September 19, 2021 at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (CEB): Galatians 6:6-10 – Today’s scripture reading comes from one of Paul’s many epistles, Galatians chapter 6 verses 6-10. Listen to what the LORD is saying:

⁶ Those who are taught the word should share all good things with their teacher. ⁷ Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant. ⁸ Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness, but those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹ Let’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up. ¹⁰ So then, let’s work for the good of all whenever we have an opportunity, and especially for those in the household of faith.

 

Introduction:

Listen to this insightful joke. My boy, Arthur, is slow. He is the slowest child I’ve ever met. And I don’t mean mentally, he just doesn’t move quickly at all no matter what the urgency.

He takes an hour to get out of bed and stand up in the morning. He takes an hour to eat. When we go anywhere we have to tell him 20 minutes in advance because he takes that long to get his shoes on. His showers…we had to install an industrial sized water heater and hook it up to his shower exclusively because he would drain the tank and shower in ice cold water and started getting sick from it.

The worst part is that even if you help him out he doesn’t go faster. We can feed him and he’ll just swallow slower. We can wash him and he’ll just sit there for longer.

I’ve learned to live with it and be content because I know he won’t change. But my wife can’t take it. Just the other day she told me she was going to punish him to make him go quicker:

“I’ve had it with him! I’m going to start giving him timeouts and taking away toys for going so slow!” “Honey,” I said, “it’ll never work.” “Why not?!” she said.  “Because you can’t rush Art.”

How many of you have ever encountered a situation where you were ready to give up: to simply walk away from the situation because it was too hard, too stressful, too frustrating, too fast, or even too slow? How many of you did something in your life which you worked so hard to complete but only to have it destroyed, forgotten, received a bad grade for it, had it thrown in the attic or basement or storage unit, or continually had to fix something because it didn’t work the first or second or third time? How many of you, because of situations like these, have simply wanted to give up?

Well I’m here today to tell you not to give up. Why? Because God has given you the strength to press on, to take one more step. And when we take that next step, we become closer to fulfilling the dream that God has for us: to do good and to be loved by His Son even in times of devastation.

Opening Prayer:

            Let us pray… Dear Provider of Strength, there are moments in each of our lives that have caused us to want to give up, but because of your love we have taken the next step to not give up but instead gain strength. Help us gain that strength even more today. I pray that my words fall to the ground as your words settle in the hearts of all those before me. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Body:

It’s not every day that I tell myself that I want to give up but it’s also not every day which I tell myself that I want to do something that will challenge me either. Throughout my life, the words “I give up” may have never been said aloud, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think about them. I remember one particular moment in my junior high days where I wanted to give up. I was simply done with what I was doing. I was getting no where.

In seventh grade, I signed up for track (as did every other seventh grader at the time). Why? I was not a runner. I didn’t even run to the bus-stop when I accidently slept in. Maybe it was because being part of a team sport sponsored by the school meant that I got to wear something with the school name on it that was not bought but provided by the school. For the first time, I got to wear the school colors and be representative of the “mighty” Maple Leafs. (Yes, I was a Maple Leaf! Not a panther, not a tiger, not a bulldog, but a maple leaf….) Whatever the actually reason may have been, I decided to run track.

Halfway through the season, the words “I want to give up” came out of my mouth. Both my parents looked at me and asked, “Why do you want to give up?” I gave them my reasoning. And then, my dad said, “Well I had to walk up and down a hill, cross dangerous railroad trucks, in the middle of a blizzard to get to school every day.” I looked at him and said, “You leaved a block away from the school and there were no hills.” His response was, “That’s not the point. What the point is: is that once I began the walk, I was committed until the end.”

I was committed until the end of the season. I ended up running in four events and quickly proved to the coaches why this was my last season as a track athlete. I’m sure we have all had moments when we wanted to give up. But then we remembered what God gave us: he gave us the strength to keep going.

In Galatians, Paul is reminding us of the same thing. He begins by reminding us that we are taught to do good things and to not mock God because we “will harvest what [we] plant” (Galatians 6:7). This idea of harvest stems from what we learned last week. We learned that in order to produce a good church, we must be willing to do the good work that is required to produce a good harvest. This work comes in the form of 1) realizing that God gives us more than enough to build his kingdom (2 Corinthians 6), 2) that we are to produce and share our leftovers with others as we tend to their needs (Matthew 14), and 3) empowering the church as it strives to plant a generous amount of seed in the hearts of everyone.

In doing so, we must ask ourselves what is it that we, as a church, need to do in order to make sure that our harvest is continually growing. Do we start new ministries? Do you offer small groups outside of Sunday gatherings? Do we change the time of our service? Do we offer other services during the week? Should we gather at the park? Should we host events and/or other individuals? What will it take to make sure that we are constantly producing a harvest that has leftovers and fulfills the needs of God’s people? The answer could be as simple as this: “Don’t give up.”

Paul after stating that we are not to mock God—we are not to tease God or to laugh at God’s decisions or creations, therefore challenging him—but we are to not give up. Verse 9 states, “Let’s not get rid of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up.” But how easy is it to give up when something we worked so hard to create and plan doesn’t leave the table. How easy is it to give up when our numbers don’t increase, when people constantly drive by but don’t stop in? How easy is it to give up when nothing seems to be working? When we give up, our decision not only affects us individually, but it affects all those around us.

Let me provide you with a few examples. In the books of Joel and Habakkuk, devastation entered their lives and quite presumably the lives of those present in the village. Both Joel and Habakkuk, two minor prophets of the Old Testament, wrote about devastation and ruin. After planting, nurturing, and growing their crops, God allowed them to be annihilated: the crops were destroyed, the grain, wheat, oil, and barley dried up, and the wine, fig trees, and other fruit trees were no more. Joel in chapter 1 verses 10-12 even shares that the farmers were “dismayed,” the vinedressers “wailed,” and the ground “mourned.” Everything that they worked so hard to produce was gone. The staples of livelihood were ruined. The people couldn’t make bread, couldn’t obtain supplements for medications, couldn’t receive proper nutrition, and certainly were unable to find something “healthy” to drink. I would be wailing too if this happened to me.

Habakkuk tells of a similar incident in his poem in chapter 3. He writes, “Though the fig tree doesn’t blossom, and there’s no produce on the vine, though the olive crop withers, and fields don’t provide food; though the sheep is cut off from the pen, and there is no cattle in the stalls” (Habakkuk 3:17).  Writing three-hundred years apart from Joel, the idea of watching your hard work be destroyed before your very eyes provides a sense and almost willingness to give up. But unlike Joel, who may have hinted at the idea of hope, Habakkuk provides us with the hope and strength to keep us going.

Habakkuk shares, after experiencing devastation, “I will rejoice in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my deliverance. The LORD God is my strength.” Even in times of complete destruction, God gives us strength to keep going. Needless to say, sometimes it is hard to find that strength when everything seems to be going against you. About five or six years ago, my parents got a call to drive eight hours to bring my brother home. Not too long after that phone call, myself, my sister, and my other brother got in a van and drove up to be with my parents and brother. My brother attempted suicide for the second time. My parents also found out that he lost his job, that he had less than one-hundred dollars to his name, and that there were a lot of lies to decipher through. My brother was ready to give up. But God had a different plan.

Today, my brother is living with my parents, has been working at his job for more than two years, is looking for a house, and is doing things that he used to love doing. Because God didn’t give up on him, he continues to live today. Today, although my brother wanted to give up, he didn’t. With everything against him, he didn’t give up. He found the strength to keep going. Even in times of devastation, God calls us to rejoice because God has a plan for each of us.

We are reminded in Romans chapter four and 1 Corinthians chapter 12, that God has gifted us with certain gifts to keep us motivated to not give up. Some of us are gifted with teaching others, with giving to others, with sharing the gospel with others, with being compassionate with others, or with simply being present with others. No matter what we are gifted with, God has given us these gifts to override our feeling of giving up. From these gifts, we are to plant for the “benefit of the Spirit” and not for the “benefit of flesh” (Galatians 6:8). What this means is that we are to plant a harvest that produces for the Kingdom of God and not simply for the benefit of greed, want, or recognition. We are to plant in the Spirit of God so that others will be saved.

When we choose not to give up, our harvest will truly produce a good harvest. When we choose not to give up, our church will generate so many leftovers that we will be forced to put up signs that read “standing room only.” When we choose not to give up, our ministries will feed the needs of this community. When we choose not to give up on our ideas and dreams, our harvest will become bountiful with God’s love. And when our harvest becomes bountiful with God’s love, we can finally fulfill what Paul wants us to do: to do good whenever we have the opportunity.

Conclusion:

Paul closes this section with these words: “So then, let’s work for the good of all whenever we have an opportunity…” (Galatians 6:10). Even when we feel like giving up, let us remember that we are called to do good whenever the opportunity presents itself. By doing something good, we not only build-up our own confidence, but we build-up the confidence of others who may feel like giving up. Remember, what we do affects those around us. Remind people that they are loved. Remind people, that they don’t have to give up. Remind people and yourself, that God provides you with the strength to keep going.

In times of devastation and ruin, in times of stress and frustration, in times of feeling overwhelmed, know that giving up is not an option but simply an excuse. Knowing that God gives you strength and love to do good for others through your good work and bountiful harvest is the reality we live when we realize that Jesus loves us for who we are.

Even though we may want to “rush art” for our own benefit, or we know that running track is not in our genes, we must not give up on what is before us. Instead, we must use it to strengthen us so that we can keep going.

Closing Prayer:

            Let us Pray…Dear Provider of Strength, we thank you for not giving up on us. We thank you for giving us the strength to overcome our want to give up. We thank you for loving us for who we are. And we thank you for teaching us what needs to be done in order to produce a good harvest for your Kingdom. In your name we pray, Amen.

 

Benediction:

In the words of John Wesley, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you ever can.” When you do good, know that you are loved and that you have the strength to keep going. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, go in peace as you reap a bountiful harvest and serve the Lord. Amen, Amen, Amen.