Sermon for the Second Sunday after Pentecost
Your Purpose-Filled Life
Theme: Your purpose in life has more to do with what your loving heavenly
Father does for you than for what you can do either for Him or for your
neighbor.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. When King David magnificently prays in today’s Introit from Psalm 138, he
says something that you would do well also to pray: “The LORD will fulfill His
purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake
the work of Your hands.”
Dear Christian friends, I am very soon going to ask you a question. Please:
when you hear the question I am about to ask you, do your best to examine and
judge the reaction you feel inside yourself.
· When you hear this question, you might feel a little squirt of pride in
your chest, especially if you regard yourself to have been at least somewhat
successful in life. (If you feel proud of your accomplishments, whatever they
may be, that is fine. Don’t apologize because that is not really my point.)
· Alternatively, you might feel a wave of fear or dread in your stomach
when you hear the question I am about to ask. You might feel dreadful about my
question, especially if you have had many struggles in your life; if you have
worked hard but not gotten ahead; if you do not feel as though you have
anything so show for your years; or if you have suffered some very important
losses, such as a job or a loved one or an ability you once had.
· Yet again, you might feel disgusted at my question or genuinely
confused about its answer. When you hear this question, you might to say, “GOOD
question! I have no idea what is the answer, but I would sure like to find out!”
I am going to ask you a question and this question might hurt for a moment. Do
not fear! Not only will I ask you this question, but I will also give you the
one and only answer you will ever need for this question, no matter what
darkness or light you have experienced in this life and no matter what awaits
you in your future.
Here is my question: What is your purpose in life? Here again is the same
question, asked in different ways: What was the point of your birth? Why are
you here? For what reason do you exist?
Please do not rush into your answer of this question. Whatever the sensation
was that you felt inside of yourself—whether it was pride or fear,
contentedness or disgust—this sensation will fool you into giving the wrong
answer! There is an important reason why many people feel inner sensations when
they hear the question, “What is your purpose in life?” This question causes
feelings of pride or guilt, happiness or revulsion, because many people—many
Christians—foolishly think that their purpose in life has to do with them.
· I am the first of the fools when it comes to this question. For
example, I easily fall into the self-centered trap of thinking that my purpose
in life is to preach the Gospel to you. But if that is the case, what happens
to my purpose when I suffer an injury and lose my voice? Again, I could deceive
myself into thinking that my purpose is to be a good husband and loving father.
If that were the case, not only would my track record stand as witness against
me, but I would also lose my purpose if I were to lose my dearest loved ones.
· Psychologists will tell you that people need a sense of purpose in the
context of the community around them. Flavor-of-the-moment preachers will tell
you that Christians in particular need to have a purpose-filled life—then these
preachers will tell you that each Christian should spend forty days or so
seeking out their purpose and place in God’s kingdom. (If you want any help,
you can buy the how-to book.) I cannot help but wonder if any of these
blabbermouths stop and think about what they are saying to you and to your
fellow Christians.
· My dearly loved saints of God, I beg you: Please do not determine or
judge your purpose in life by gazing into your own bellybutton. If your purpose
in life has to do with your strengths, your abilities, your opportunities, your
talents, your position, your possessions, or anything else about you
personally, this line of thinking will force you into a terrible conclusion. If
your purpose in life has anything to do with what you can bring to the table,
then you will be forced to conclude that some people have more purpose or
greater purpose than others. You will also be forced to think that there may be
times in your life during which you have more purpose than in other times, and
maybe the best years of your purpose and contribution are behind you. Please,
please, please:
o Do not judge your purpose in life by looking at your strength or your
ability or your talent, because there is always someone who is stronger and
more able than you. Do you dare to think they have more purpose than you—you
whom God has baptized into eternal life?
o Do not judge your purpose by your position in life or your
relationships with others around you. Positions can be abandoned and
relationships can be taken away from you in the wink of an eye. If you have not
yet learned this for yourself, just ask the retiree or the widow sitting
closest to you. Do we really want to think that people lose purpose because of
the ebb and flow of their lives in this world?
o Do not judge your purpose by looking at yourself in any way because you
are just like me. Dust we are; to dust we return. “All flesh is grass,” says
the prophet, “and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass
withers and the flower fades… surely all people are grass (Isaiah 40:6-7).
I am not the only one who thinks it is a bad idea for you to determine your
purpose in life by looking at yourself. King David does not think it is such a
good idea, either. David seems to know that looking at yourself to find your
purpose in life is somewhat like looking through the wrong end of a pair of
binoculars: you get a very little picture. David would have you, not so much
turn the binoculars around, but David would have you walk around the binoculars
to the other side and look in the opposite direction—the right direction, the
big direction. David would have you look, not at yourself, but at the God who
once created you and who now faithfully sustains you in every moment of your
life, no matter how good or how bad you personally think your life has turned
out to be.
What does David say to his God in today’s Introit, from Psalm 138? “I walk in
the midst of trouble, You preserve my life; You stretch out Your hand against
the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand delivers me” (Psalm 138:7). Then,
after saying this, David turns and announces to you and to all Christians and
to the entire creation, “The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me” (Psalm
138:8).
David does not say, “I will fulfill my purpose for the Lord.” David does not
even say, “The LORD will enable me to fulfill my purpose for Him.” David says,
“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.” With these Words, David sets aside
all of his victories and all of his defeats; with these Words, David throws off
his royal crown and all his good works of love for neighbor—whether they were
friend or enemy. “The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me.” With these Words
David even sets aside all his dear sons and daughters and everything he has
ever attempted to do for them. David ignores his successes and his failures
alike. He turns away from his sources of pride and his sources of regret and
David focuses his eyes exclusively upon his God: “The LORD will fulfill His
purpose for me.”
I will ask you again: What is your purpose in life? Here again is the same
question, asked in different ways: What was the point of your birth? Why are
you here? For what reason do you exist?
Do not attempt to answer this question by looking inside yourself. If
you do, it will not take you long to hit a wall. Answer the question by looking
at Jesus and only Jesus:
· What is your purpose? Your purpose is to be loved by the God who hung
upon a cross for your salvation and life. Stated another way, your purpose is
not to serve, but to be served by Him who gave His life as a ransom for many
(Matthew 20:28).
· What was the point of your birth? You are the work of God’s hands, as
it says here in Psalm 138. That is to say, you were individually created and
knit together in your mother’s womb by your heavenly Father. This is because
God your heavenly Father is the creator and He just doesn’t feel like Himself
unless He is creating and sustaining and preserving all things by his Word.
· Why are you here on this earth? You are here because your God is just
tickled to have you here, guarding you in every hardship, sustaining you in
every difficulty, protecting you in every evil attack, doting upon you as a
grandfather would dote on the child of his child.
· For what reason do you exist? You exist because God is love and because
God loves you and because there is nothing He will refuse to do in order to
keep you where He is. That is the reason for His only-begotten Son Jesus; that
is the reason for the forgiveness of sins; that is the reason for Baptism and
Holy Communion and the preaching of the Word.
“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures
forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands.” Think of the great freedom and
joy that David speaks to you in today’s Introit from Psalm 138. Your life is
filled with purpose because the steadfast love of the LORD endures forever!
Your life is brimming with purpose that shall never drain or fade away because
your purpose has nothing to do with your strength or your talent or your
courage or your opportunities. Every morning when you get out of bed, make the
sign of the holy cross and say with David, “The LORD will fulfill His purpose
for me.” Keep saying this with David, even when you grow old, even when you no
longer have people in your life who seem to need you, even when everything else
crashes and falls. Heaven and earth will fade away (Luke 21:33) but your
purpose in life shall NOT fade away. It CANNOT fade away because it is rooted
solely and exclusively in
the God who loves you enduringly and made you His own forever.
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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