He is my Everything

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

I don’t often frequent “fast food outlets” but from time to time you’ll find me at McDonalds, Burger King, or Kentucky Fried, and usually in those kind of places if one orders what they call the “meal” deal this includes the main menu together with fries and a soft drink. In other words, it all comes with the meal. You don’t pay extra for your drink or your toppings or your sauces or your fries or salads.

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

We thank God for the Gift, for the greatest gift ever given to our humanity, the gift of Jesus, the gift of a Saviour, the gift of abundant and eternal life in Him. Yet few of us fully realize and appreciate that Jesus came with all the extras thrown in, they are all included in the deal.

My Homily today is entitled He Is My Everything, for when God gave us Jesus, he gave us everything we will ever need.

With Jesus came my forgiveness and my life eternal; with Jesus came my healing, with Jesus came my peace, with Jesus came my wisdom, with Jesus came my faith, with Jesus came my gifts and talents, with Jesus came my provision and prosperity, with Jesus came my strength, with Jesus came my anointing, with Jesus came my destiny and with Jesus comes my Joy every day. That’s why I can sing, “He is my everything, He is my all“.

The problem with most folk today is that while they want these things, the don’t want Jesus and so life becomes a struggle to find satisfaction, fulfilment and peace without him.

Of course there is a level of success and achievement out there in the world, but such plaudits are invariably short lived

and become as the hymn writer called them …

“broken cisterns” that hold no water!

Few of us realize that without God we cannot survive, we need him like we need the air we breath. In a recent poll, more than 50% of the membership of one of Americas Largest Political wings, voted to leave the word “GOD” out of their charter – “In God we trust” has become “in man we trust”… and we all know where that will lead? Can man really help us, … any man?

Much emphasis has been placed in recent times on the failure of consecutive governments both here and elsewhere to deliver what the people want. Millions of Pounds, Dollars and Euro are being poured into all kinds of schemes to help ease social and political tensions and to create and provide environments where people are healthy and can achieve levels of success and emerge into a utopian heaven on earth. Yet much of these efforts are failing every day, while the costs soar.

The people expect the governments to have all the answers, but most of the people don’t even know the questions? We can see how stretched the funding is for schools, hospitals and welfare and how many jobs are being axed every week to try to keep the wolf from the door. Industry too has its own problems, with falling orders and rising costs. Fuel prices are rocketing out of control while greed and selfishness create a two tiered world, of the “have” and “have-nots“! The world is little changed from it was 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, and yet there is still NO ROOM for the Saviour. 2000 years on, we cannot see that with him God has freely given us all things.

Not many people know it but I would go so far as to claim that all the good things we enjoy today we owe to Christian influence, we have them because we had Him, we have them because Jesus came first. Homes for the poor, Hospitals, Orphanages, this Welfare state, even our Holidays we owe to Christian influence. Men and women who spoke up at a time when these privileges did not exist and they fought with industrial and commercial overlords to secure these things for us.

Yet dear friends, there is a rot at the heart of Ireland – North and South. There is a sickness sweeping our nation of epidemic proportions among our people, and a destructive power at work which unless we destroy it, it will destroy us? I remember a time when you went to the doctor only when you were seriously sick, and you went to hospital only when your doctor thought there was no way in which you could survive at home.

Nowadays, our doctors waiting rooms are bulging at the seams, waiting lists are growing, hospital queues are lengthening, and there is less money to pay the bills. Yet we are still looking to the government and asking “what’s wrong”… when we should be asking “why are the people in our day and generation so sick, why are our hospitals full, why is there so much pain and suffering all around us? What’s wrong with the People?

The answer is staring us in the face, but we cannot or will not see it. Thank God some of us can see it, and are eager to change it and do something about it. I truly believe and am fully persuaded that our People are sick by and large because they do not any longer go to Church – and many if not most people have left God out of their lives. Now don’t switch off – hear me out.

People don’t know how to deal with stress, how to cope with anxiety, how to discipline children, how to manage their money, how to forgive their enemies, how to live and speak with honesty, how to reject bitterness and hatred and how to talk with God. Years ago while most of us North and South flocked to our Churches Sunday by Sunday, we were being taught these things from the pulpits. How to cope, how to handle crisis, but nowadays there are no answers outside the Church and

people still won’t go. Stress is our No 1 killer.

In the secular media, they have largely removed all the “informative” debating type programmes from radio and television, replacing them with mere entertainment to boost the ratings of the station or channel. But this has left us with nothing but – (what I call) things to laugh at! But its time to stop laughing and time to get up and do something about it.

This is the call that lies at the heart of my message.

The economy is failing because of the news medias

Obsession with reporting only the negative and calling it NEWS? Economy is based on perception, investment and expansion is only possible as the business world perceive opportunity. So if we continue to spoon or shovel out nothing but negativity, no-one will ever want to invest or to take a chance. I recon we should shut the news media down for

a year to give us all a chance to get back on our feet.

Let us get back to GOOD NEWS, let us focus on this fact that one of the most wonderful “gifts” that came with Jesus, along with his love, his mercy, his healing, his saving and his pardon … with Jesus we have received (for those who will desire it) The Heart of God. It is indicative of a man or women who cares

deeply and intimately for his fellow human beings, and especially cares in their suffering, it is indicative that

such a person possesses The Heart of God.

I don’t believe that you and I can be moved or motivated “naturally” for the plight of our fellow human beings, but that we are moved by the heart of a Loving God and a tender and merciful Saviour. Gods heart moves my heart!

So my question to you on this is, Do you have the Heart of God for the people around you? And if so, how will they know it? If the problem is that they won’t go to Church, then there is only one solution, we must take the Church to them. We must be prepared to go next door, to go across the hall, across the street, across the town, across the religious divide, across the sectarian borders and barriers and across the fear of men, to bring them something of the Heart of God. To tell them in these times of crisis and stress that there is a God who loves them and cares for them. That there is a God who wants to help and support them. That there is a God who wants to be part of their lives day by day, but He cannot help until they make room for him. And remember that he doesn’t want to be kept outside in some convenient stable, he wants to be warmly welcomed into their homes and into their hearts.

It’s the heart of God for them, so will you tell them this story like it is?

…and – God bless you and yours …

Amen.