FRIDAY 29th
Today is a very special persons birthday, Happy Birthday Elaine. Today, had we been in Australia as planned, we were intending to visit the town where Elaine was born (Cessnock NSW) and to find the house where she lived for about three years. But it has not happened. Instead we will spend the day in Middlesbrough. Disappointed, yes there is a measure of disappointment, as although the trip was only arranged last year it is something we had planned to do for a long time. But alongside the disappointment is the realisation that it is far better to be safe during this period of uncertainty. See, we can plan, but the future is out of our hands, it is in much safer hands, it is in the hands of the One who made all things and who sustains all things.
The word for today is disappointment. I wonder how many of us can look back at a time in our lives when we were disappointed in some way or another, maybe with someone or something? It may have been a job that did not work out, a relationship that went sour, a business venture that did not work out, a holiday that didn’t happen, a dream we did not realise! We can plan, but very often what we plan, what we hope for, what we expect does not always happen or turn out as we would have wished. But when I use the word disappointment today, I want to use it in-line with the theme where we have been all week and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and say that ‘HE’ is not a disappointment. We used to sing an old chorus, ‘Never failed me yet, never failed me yet, Jesus’ love has never failed me yet, there’s one things I know everywhere I go, Jesus love has never failed me yet.’ I mentioned in a chorus yesterday that ‘he’s omnipotent, magnificent, all-glorious, victorious’. Jesus is this and so much more. When it comes to describing who Jesus is, we can use words that we would also use to describe God, because he is God. Take the word already mentioned, omnipotent, this means that Jesus is all powerful, there is nothing he cannot do, then there is the word omnipresent, which means that he is everywhere, then the word omniscient which means that he knows everything, and then another word is immutable which means that he is unchanging – in Hebrews 13:8 the writer declares, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’ That is one of the reasons why he could call himself the ‘I am’ (John 8:58), as the unchanging one, he will never change his mind and he will always keep his promises. This is what we read in 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ‘For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.’ This reassures us that when everything around us may falter or fail Jesus will never fail, while family and friends or circumstances may disappoint us Jesus will never disappoint, he is dependable, he trustworthy and he faithful. His love never changes, his mercies are new every morning, his grace is sufficient, and his promises are sure.
Some of you may recall the old hymn, ‘He is not a disappointment’ I will use it as todays hymn, to help us remind ourselves in this ever shifting and changing world, that oft times can disappoint us, Jesus never changes and he will never disappoint.
He is not a disappointment!
Jesus is far more to me
Than in all my glowing day-dream
I had fancied He could be;
And the more I get to know Him,
So the more I find Him true,
And the more I long that others
Should be led to know Him too.
He is not a disappointment!
He has saved my soul from sin;
All the guilt and all the anguish,
Which oppressed my heart within.
He has banished by His presence
And His blessed kiss of peace,
Has assured my heart forever
That His love will never cease.
He is not a disappointment!
He is coming by and by.
In my heart I have the witness
That His coming draweth nigh.
All the scoffers may despise me,
And no change around may see,
But He tells me He is coming,
And that’s quite enough for me.
He is not a disappointment!
He is all in all to me –
Blessed Saviour, Sanctifier,
The unchanging Christ is He!
He has won my heart’s affections,
And He meets my every need;
He is not a disappointment
For He satisfies indeed.
Mary Warburton Booth CCCL 788682