25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Matthew 19:25-26
Good morning. Of all of the assurances Christ gives to the disciples, I find myself depending more and more on this assurance that Christ proclaims in Matt 19. This is especially true any time I am reminded of being without the things I desire greatly.
Whether it be lofty ambitions like the desire to possess a trust in God so complete that my selfishness and fear no longer hold me captive; or more simple desires like wanting a brother to call on the phone, having a wife to care for in sickness, or getting to tell the kids their favorite bedtime story.
Now this morning I have neither the time, nor the interest to relive all the circumstances and choices that contributed to the enduring absence of such ambitions and desires in my life. I share them only in the hope it might strengthen the bonds between all of us.
A bond that comes from a mutual understanding where each of us knows how it feels to go through our day without those things or people that matter most to us. And though our astonishments and disappointments take different forms, the assurance that Christ gives to us is the same and again that assurance proclaims, “...with God all things are possible.”
Of course there exists an addendum to this assurance that does not present itself until later in the text. Yes, Matt 19 makes it known that with God all things are possible, but then comes Matt 27 with its addendum that shows us that all things are possible...BECAUSE.
All things are possible BECAUSE the God of the Universe was without a place to lay his head. All things are possible BECAUSE the Lord of History often went to bed without food or water. All things are possible BECAUSE the Son of God went to the cross without the Father or a friend.
I suppose the question each of us need to ask is, “what will we do with all the possibilities that God provides?” Will we tell ourselves that we are too busy to pursue them, or worse convince ourselves that we are unworthy of God’s possibilities? Or will we commit to following after God’s possibilities whatever it costs and wherever it leads?
These are not easy questions to answer and I confess my own fear of answers that would prolong the possibility of being without things or people I love most. This week, however, PS 68 spoke to this fear and reminded me of how grateful I am that there remains at least one possibility I will never have to consider.
In v4, the psalmist declares, “...4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,extol him who rides on the clouds[b]; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.6 God sets the lonely in families,[c]he leads out the prisoners with singing;..”
Even though I commit myself to the notion that all of God’s possibilities for my life remain as tangible at 39 as they were at 19, there still exist moments when I feel a great deal of uncertainty as to the possibilities that await me.
But in those moments of uncertainty that I hear PS 68 assure me saying,, “Chris, should you ever become homeless or remain childless; always trust that you will never be fatherless.”
CJE