Over my 37 years on this earth I estimate
I have heard 3,478 Sunday sermons give or take a few, and have attended roughly
1,739 Wednesday night Bible classes. These figures do not include 4 years at a
Christian University taking a Bible class every semester, attending
lectureships, ladies’ day programs, ladies’ Bible classes, youth rallies,
summer youth series, camps, gospel meetings, retreats, and workshops.
After so many years and so many
lessons I think it’s a safe assertion that I do not remember every word spoken
in those sermons and classes. I do, most certainly, carry with me the lessons
and principles from God’s word that they instilled in me. My faith has been
shaped by these times of study with many wonderful teachers who wanted nothing
more than to share God’s love, grace, and mercy. Preachers who were committed
to teaching me about following God’s commandments, understanding His holiness
and having confidence in His justice. They wanted to impress upon me the
importance of knowing God’s will for His creation. For most of my life I took
these lessons for granted.
Despite the lack of appreciation
in my youth God was and is working through those thousands of lessons taught in
classrooms and from behind pulpits. I am glad to reflect on the memories, vague
though they may be, of sermons from many years ago. One lesson I have been
reflecting on in recent weeks is from the book of Ephesians.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons
through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of
his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to
the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he
set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in
him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)
The mysterious will of God has
been revealed and we can know and understand what that will is. From the
beginning, from the time of creation, from the first separation because of sin,
God had a plan. His purpose, His every move, His will, is to give us the most
gracious gift of being united in a relationship with Him. That hope lies in
Christ alone. God has called to us through the death of our adopted brother,
Jesus Christ, to have unity in the hope He gives us because of His sacrifice (Ephesians
4:1-4).
I have thought of this lesson
many times through the years but it has taken on a special meaning to me in the
last several weeks. You see, the man who delivered this message was not just “my
preacher,” he and his family were and are some of my dearest and closest
friends. From the time I was 2 or 3 years old until I was 17 or 18 years old he
was the one who revealed the mystery of God’s will to me from behind the
pulpit, in the classroom, and even in his home. Though he wasn’t the one who
dipped me in the waters of baptism, he was there to hug me and cheer me on as I
grew in my faith. He stood beside Paul and me as we exchanged vows and were
joined together as husband and wife. He and his wife raised two faithful daughters
that I love deeply and I have the distinct honor of claiming as my lifelong
friends and sisters. He has left us here on this earth far too soon. I have
cried for my friends and I have cried that this world has lost a faithful
preacher that loved to reveal the mystery of God’s will to people in his
neighborhood and even across the world.
I cannot remember if it was one
sermon or a series and I cannot remember the exact words spoken but I certainly
remember the man that taught me those lessons and more importantly I remember
the principle that has been applied to my life and tied to many important
decisions I have made. I don’t recall
ever uttering the words thank you to Johnny Mack Young but I am confident that, because he revealed the mystery to me, I will thank him in our heavenly home as
we worship together the One who called us to His worthy cause.
