(Launched message with “God Has a Plan” Video)
We were down by 8 points. Just 3 minutes left to play. The other team had pretty much dominated us all night, but we still had a slim, small, slight chance. So I called a time out. And the boys ran over to me, got in a huddle, looked to me for those great words of wisdom and advice on how we were going to pull off this victory, and it was at that moment that I realized…
I had nothing.
I had stopped the clock. I had gotten the attention of eight 13 year-old boys, which is no small feat. I could see the parents looking over, wondering what profound coaching knowledge I was about to drop on their young men. And I had never even given a thought to what in the world I was going to tell them.
So I went with “Boys. It’s show time.” How’s that for a cheesy quote. The boys looked back at me with blank faces, apparently not familiar with the 1980s version of the Los Angeles Lakers. Possibly because they had not even been born yet. So I said it again, “It’s show time. Forget about the offense. Forget about getting the ball in the hands of the point guard. Forget about taking your time dribbling up. Forget about all the screens and cuts. When you get the ball, you just get to the basket and put up a shot.”
How is that for dynamic, world-class coaching? Take the ball and shoot it. I was like one of those dads out of “Hoosiers”. Remember them? “Just shoot the ball. Stop passing. Shoot the ball!” What can I say? I had no plan. And you know what? It almost worked. We cut the lead to 2 with less than a minute to play, but in the wonderful world of Upward and the always running clock, we just didn’t have enough time to pull it off.
One of the dads caught me in the locker room afterwards, and said, “What did you tell them at that last time out? It must have been genius because it almost worked!” Little did he know.
God, however, is never caught in a time out without a plan. Throughout all history, regardless of our circumstances or missteps, God has always had a plan.
There have been many times, when from a human perspective, it sure may have seemed like the plan was in doubt. Up in the air.
If King Herod had sent Mary and Joseph a baby gift when Jesus was born, the card would have read. “Congratulations. Now I am going to kill your son. There is only room for one king in this corner of the world.” But God had a plan.
If you were to gather all the church leaders who believed that a Messiah had been born in Bethlehem, and put them together in one room, it would have been a very lonely place. A very empty place. There were some believers, but they were of rather strange walks. A few stargazing wise men, some night-shift shepherds, and a teenage newlywed. So as a reward for being a part of bringing God into the world, Mary and Joseph were given a two year honeymoon in exile, learning Egyptian. But God had a plan.
The Christian movement had begun. Jesus would grow up, and the words on the streets in Jesus’ hometown when He claimed to be sent from God were probably words like, “Weird family. Boy claims to be from God. And have you seen his cousin? Roaming around in the wilderness, and eating bugs. Something is not right with that bunch.”
Jesus’ friendly neighborhood homeowners association wanted to stone him. His brothers thought he might need to be locked up. He was eventually able to recruit about 70 disciples. 12 that grew rather close to Him. A band of men recruited off the shipping docks and out of the red-light district. Unfortunately, of this fine band of merry men, not a single one of them defended Him to the authorities.
In fact, during His life, Jesus healed an unknown number of lepers, blind people, lame people, demon possessed people. Too many to count. And when push came to shove, and the courts cried out, “Can I get a witness?” Not a single healed, freed, or fed person stepped forward on Christ’ behalf. But God had a plan.
As the end of Jesus life neared, many were ready for Him to run for political office. Less than a week before His death they gave Him a royal ride down Pennsylvania Avenue. It was time for an inauguration ceremony. But when he cleansed the temple, the campaign seemed to be scandal ridden and dead.
So the Jewish council decided on three spikes and a spear. The talk of the town was that Jesus should have stayed in the furniture business. Three times Jesus prophesied that he would come back to life three days after his death. Three times. All of the apostles heard His predictions. And how many of them waited around the tomb to see if He would do what He said? None. Not a one.
Any guesses as to how many “believers” believed in the resurrection before it occurred? Goodness, some of them didn’t even believe after it occurred! If you would have visited a street-corner bookie the day after the crucifixion to place a bet on the possibility that Jesus’ name would be known in the year 2000, he probably would have said, “I’ll give you better odds that he’ll rise from the dead.” But God had a plan.
Of course, the Jewish leaders had to put out an official response following the rumors of a resurrection. So they went with, “Of course they say he’s alive. They have to. What else can they say?” That was the official response. The actual response? According to Acts 6:7, “A great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.”
How did the synagogue leaders deal with this dynamic movement that had risen to life? Well, they are quoted in Acts 5 as saying, “If their plan comes from human authority, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them.” (Acts 5:38-39) And guess what…God had a plan.
In Acts chapter 6 “The number of followers was growing”. Saul became Paul, and the Jewish leaders said, “Good riddance. Won’t be months before he is in jail, and then what will he do? Write letters?” A movement was launched, and it continues today.
French philosopher Voltaire said that the Bible and Christianity would pass within a hundred years. He died in 1778. The movement continues.
In 1882 Friedrich Nietzsche declared, “God is dead.” The dawn of science, he believed, would be the doom of faith. Well, science has dawned, and the movement continues.
The Communist dictionary defined the Bible as “a collection of fantastic legends without any scientific support.” Communism continues to diminish, and the movement continues to grow.
Every person, throughout all of history, who has made an attempt to bury the faith have discovered the same results as the one who tried to bury its Founder. It won’t stay in the tomb. The movement continues.
There are now over one billion Catholics and roughly as many Protestants. So how in the world can you explain a backwater peasant named Jesus, who never wrote a book or held an office, never journeyed more than 200 miles from his hometown, was abandoned by all of his friends, and even betrayed by one of them, was forgotten by everyone he helped, but after his death could not be resisted by any of them. What makes the difference?
God has a plan. And its beginning wasn’t all that different than the one I gave to the Cavaliers in that time out just a few weeks ago. The son of God had been crucified, dead, and buried. And somewhere in the depths of that tomb, on that first Easter Sunday. While the guards slept and the disciples hid, God declared “It’s show time.”
And just another death became anything but when it was coupled with a resurrection. Because God has a plan. And it goes something like this.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All have sinned. That means me. That means you. That means every single one of us. We each have a huge problem. We have sinned, and because of that we fall way short of the glory of God.
And as we gather together for this “time out” from life, we need to recognize that the first part of God’s comeback plan is for us to admit that we are sinners. Acknowledge that we are way behind, there is not much time left on the clock, and we’ve got a God sized problem that is going to require a God sized solution.
But it gets worse before it gets better. Romans 6:23 tell us that the wages of our sin is death. If nothing changes. If the clock just continues to run. Time is going to run out. And left to our own game plan, we are going to lose.
“But” starts the second half of that verse. “But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 5:8 says that, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
While we were still sinners. Nothing has changed in our lives yet. But God has a plan, and it isn’t waiting for us to act. It is a pro-active plan. While we are still behind. While we are still sinners. While we are still on the losing end of a lopsided score, Christ died for us.
And yet, the coach doesn’t play the game. No matter how bad I wanted to, and no matter how much I would have argued with the officials that I should be allowed to. I was not going to be allowed on that court to help those boys pull of a comeback. I could come up with a plan, but they had to run it.
And the same is true with God’s plan. He has drawn it up. He has put things in motion. You have a time out available to hear it laid out before you. But if you want to be on the winning side, you have to run the play.
Romans 10:9 says, “If you”…You. Not God. Not your mom or dad. Not your grandma or grandpa. Not your husband or wife. Your son or daughter. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord.” Say it with your mouth. Declare it with your words, “Jesus is Lord.”
“And believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.” Believing inside that this day is about more than bunny rabbits and candy. Fancy dresses and glazed hams. Believing in your heart that God did in fact raise Christ from the dead.
“You will be saved.”
I had someone say to me this week, “I don’t know if I am saved or not.” I had prayed with this person a few weeks earlier, so I asked, “Did you ask God to forgive you of your sins?” Yep. “And did you mean it? Did you really know that you had sins and that only God could forgive them.” Yep. “And did you ask Jesus to become the Lord of your life?” Yep. “And do you believe that He forgives you of your sins, and that He died for you, and that He rose again, and wants to be Lord of your life if you will let him?” Yes. “Then you know what? According to God’s Word, you have been saved.” And a smile swept over her face.
That’s God’s plan. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved.”
Paul goes on to write (read Romans 10:10-13)
About 10 days ago I walked into that locker room and saw a great sight. Having come back, and almost having pulled off the victory. Having come so close that they could taste it, some of the boys, including Jamie, looked really disappointed and discouraged. And it was a great sight. You know why? Because it told me that they believed in their heart. They believed they could do it. They sensed within them the ability to make something special happen and when it didn’t, it left them feeling a bit empty. But they had believed!
And in God’s plan, if you believe in your heart, you will not be left feeling empty. “For God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God has always had a plan. And in just a few moments, the horn is going to sound. The whistle is going to blow, and the game is going to start again. Life is going to kick back in to high gear as we each walk out those doors. This weekly time out that we call church is going to come to an end, and the chaos, blocked shots, turnovers, and competition for your life between Satan and Christ is going to shift back into high gear. So whose plan are you going to put into play?
(Closing Prayer)
