What Tomorrow May Bring

SERMON: “What Tomorrow May Bring”
Romans 8:18-30
March 29, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

Once a new pastor went out to visit an old farmer
down the road. The pastor asked the
farmer: “Do you belong to a Christian family?”
“No,” said the farmer, “they live two farms down.”
“No, no, I mean, are you lost?” asked the pastor.
“Lost, why I’ve lived here thirty years,” said the
old farmer. “I mean, are you ready for judgment
day?” asked the pastor.” “When is it?” asked
the farmer. “Well, it could be today or tomorrow.”
“Well,” said the farmer, “when you find out for
sure when it is, you let me know. My wife will
probably go both days.”

Hello, everybody! How’re you doing?
Do you belong to a Christian family?
I mean, are you lost?
What I really want to know is, does any one
know where you’re going to be tomorrow?

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Do you ever feel like Humpty Dumpty?
You lose someone you love, it’s like the
end of the road.
One day I was having lunch with a member who
lost her husband and she was having a hard time.
He died from a heart attack at the age of 49. She
a business, she had a loving family, but her grief
was difficult to cope with. I asked her, “Have you
been back to the cemetery?” She said, “No.” I
asked her, “Why not?” She said, “It’s too hard.”
I said to you, “After we finish with lunch, you and
I are going to the cemetery. We’ll drive to the lot
but if you don’t want to get out, that’s okay.”

We finished our lunch and I drove her to the cemetery.
I parked the car and we sat there for just a moment.
She said, “I want to get out.” So we walked on the
grass to her husband’s plot. We stood there for a moment
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in total silence. Then she said, “We shouldn’t have
bought some flowers.” I knew at that moment that
she was going to be okay. A rabbi once said, “Grief
is love not wanting to let go.”

In Romans chapter 8, the apostle Paul teaches, The suffering
of this age cannot compare to the glory about to
be revealed to us. Creation he says was subjected to
futility—to uselessness and hopelessness. The whole
creation has been groaning and moaning in labor pains
like a child being born. All are waiting for the redemption
of our bodies, to be adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Pauls says, hope for what we can see is not hope. But we
hope for what we cannot see, that is hope. So—wait in patience.

Then Paul brings light to our life of circumstances. Sometimes
we cry out, “Lord, why me?” “I can’t take this any
longer.” “This world is not fair!” “Why do some people
have all the luck?” When I was in a store in Flagstaff
right after a heavy storm, lightning struck a golf course;
the cashier told me, her mother
had been hit by lightning not once, but twice. And she
lived. Some people have all the luck.

Paul says, “We know that all things work for good for
those who love God, who are called according to his
purpose.” And Paul also says, “If God is for us, who can
be against us?’

All of us have a choice. We can see the world as essentially
good or we can see the world as essentially bad. The
cup is either half full or half empty. God placed in all
of us a divine will. We can let sit in the corner and let it
waste away or we can take it and run with it.

Do you remember Maxcy Filer of Compton, California. You
should, I told you about him three years ago. There is an
the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
In 1960 Maxcy began taking the California Bar Exam.
He didn’t pass it the first time and not the second time.
After 25 tries, he failed. After 40 tries he failed. Finally
On the 48th try, he succeeded. The apostle Paul said,
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we
shall reap if we do not grow weary.” (Gal. 6:9)


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I have learned working in churches that there are all kinds of
people we have to work with everyone. In every church
there are a hand full of people you can all on almost
any time. In the 1906, Wlfredo Pareto, an Italian
economist and sociologist developed the 80/20 Rule.
He observed that in Switzerland, 80% of the wealth
was held by 20% of the people.

In this application,
80% of the roads are used by 20% of the people,
20% of the people do 80% of the work,
80% of the people are honest, 20% not so honest,
20% of the products will generate 80% of the gain,
80% of the complaints and problems come from 20% of the people.

So which one are you? Are you the 20% or are you the
80%. Each of us is a part of the team. Each of us
is a part of the church. Jesus teaches us: each of us has
a talent if we don’t use it, it will be taken away. Each of us
is meant to become sons and daughters of God.
In each of us there is a mustard seed. That seed is a
good seed. Don’t change that into a stubborn seed
or an angry seed, or a lazy seed, or a “not me” seed.

Did you hear about the basketball team from Milwaukee
Madison High School. One of their players, Johntell
Franklin lost his mother from cancer on February 7
so he decided he would not play that night. So Coach
Aaron Womack did not put him on the roster. Well,
He showed up so Coach Womack decided he wanted
Johntell to play. The Rule Book says, if he is not on
the roster and he plays, that’s a technical foul. The
opposing team knew the situation and they did not
agree with that call. The referees said, the rule is the rule.

What happened next was dramatic. Dave Rohlman, the coach
from DeKalb, Illinois called his players together. On a
technical, that means his teams get to shoot two free throws.
The Dekalb coach said to his player shooting the free throw,
“You realize you’re going to miss right!” “Right!” The player
got to the free throw line and he shot the ball only three
feet and it rolled on the floor. Now the crowd caught on.
The he shot the second free throw and did the same thing.
The crowd stood up and cheered. The player said, “We did this
for the kid who lost his mother.

That night all the players on both teams learned: they play as a team.
The true spirit of the game is not just to win, it is to learn good
sportsmanship. That night all the players learned the meaning
of goodwill and what it means to have sympathy.

So I ask you again,
Are you a Christian?
I mean, are you lost?
Do you have any idea what tomorrow will bring?

Jesus didn’t come to build a city of
Stone and steel. That was a surprise wasn’t it?
Jesus did not say, gather all your spoil, whatever you can
get and take it home. That would have been to easy.
The Assyrians did. The Romans did.
Jesus knew better. The only way this world would change
is if all of us came to our senses:
To know that we are part of we are a part of
God and God is a part of us.

As a pastor, I learned that until we suffer we have no understanding.
One day I thought, when will this end. I had a terrible pain
in my back on the right side. I went to the chiropractor
twice. I went to Urgent not twice but three times.
It was so painful, I couldn’t use the mouse. Every
time I did, it ran a pain down my arm to my finger.
Is there anyone here with pain?
Now I understand more than ever.
When Jesus died on the cross, he took with him
all our pain,
all our suffering,
all our sins and all our imperfections.
Jesus teachers us, suffering is the road to understanding
and understanding will bind the world into one—
yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”