Don't Worry, God will
make it Better!
(Who’s on Your Cross?)
I went to a memorial service this week for a long-time friend. Sherry
was a gracious, optimistic, and a most Christian person. She could find a
bright spot in every situation and always had words of encouragement. She
could build a person up, no matter how dejected they were. In a bad situation,
she would say, “God will make it better!” And when a situation improved, she
would praise God saying “Isn’t it a blessing.” Sherry worked at the University
for 30 years touching the lives of students, parents, other employees, and even
visitors. People's spirits were raised up by her “Don’t worry, God will make it
better!” as she taught them to recognize their blessings.
She lived the Psalm: “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. I will
bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth.” It takes a
special person to be like this.
Elijah needed this. He had lain down to die. Elijah was in such a bad
place that he prayed, “take my life Lord!” Elijah was sitting under a
broom tree in the desert, murmuring his discontent. Elijah didn’t believe
God would make things better.
The people murmured against Jesus. A murmur is that mumbled or quite
expression of discontent hovering in the background. If we listen closely;
it is still heard today. We do it ourselves saying, “Things are bad and and
getting worse.” The evil in the world uses these murmurs to grow the
things St. Paul warns us about - bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling
and malice. Murmurs of discontent denying people dignity and respect; murmurs
that deny people freedom and safety. Murmurs building anger, bitterness, and
malice. Murmurs spoken against God’s creation that needs our care. Even those who
call themselves Christians murmur.
Open the newspaper or the internet and you see racism, hatred,
bitterness, injustice, and disrespect. Most is disguised as patriotism,
heritage, national safety, justice, or one of many other things we could call
good. It calls us to circle our wagons, lock down the churches, and makes us
forget Jesus.
I am going to say something many of you may not like. We do not have a
flag on our altar. We come to worship God, through Jesus Christ. It should not
be conservatives or liberals, democrats or republicans speaking to our hearts
but the Holy Spirit. It’s not the President or a Supreme Court judge or a
member of Congress that looks down from the Cross. It is the Lord, the one who
whispers the words “Father forgive them.”
Words drowned out by the murmur. We live too short a time to be in a
murmur of discontent.
The Angel of God quieted Elijah with bread from heaven; Jesus quiets the
murmur in those who truly live by the bread of life; the bread of life that
hung on the cross. He is “Our God and He makes things better.” The bread
of life is Jesus, God who teaches us. Jesus is the bread of life God sends to
us. “Everyone who listens to my Father and learns comes to me.”
Through the bread of life, we can be kind to one another, compassionate,
and forgiving, just as God has forgiven us. Be imitators of God and live in
love. Look at life and if it’s bad remember “God will make it better!” If it’s
good remember, “Isn’t it a blessing!”
Just days before Sherry slept in the Lord, a friend
visited in tears, despondent as her friend neared the end to her worldly life.
Sherry looked at her and with a smile said, “God’s going to make it better and
it will be a blessing.” Sherry went to be with the Lord and God did make it
better and God did bless her.
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