You Never Know
(We apologize that the video cuts out about two minutes in. But it restarts so hang with it.)
Texts: Psalm 127:1-2, James 4:13-15
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah
December 31, 2023
We have less than thirteen hours before we enter a new year. What are we going to do in 2024? Do we have plans? Things we are counting on? I want us to consider the two passages we just heard and glean their wisdom to help us in 2024.
Starting with the words from James. We hear James say that it is foolish to say we are going to do this today or tomorrow. He says don’t say that because we don’t even know what is going to happen tomorrow. It sounds like James was reading his Old Testament because it says in Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”
It’s true, you never know what a day will bring. You never know what a year will bring. You never know.
It sounds like James is saying we are not supposed to make plans or have any goals. But if we are going to take a vacation we have to get the dates set. If we are going to fly you have to buy a ticket way in advance. If we are going to go to school we have to apply and find housing.
James isn’t saying don’t make plans. And he may be writing these words primarily to people whose main desire was business and making money. He might well be writing to people who see a great business opportunity and make their goal getting rich.
Every responsible life needs to be planned out. But when plans are made without accounting for the Lord it is foolish. James doesn’t say, don’t plan. James says be wise by saying, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will do this or that.”
James puts the Lord smack dab in the middle of whatever plans we make.
James warns against presuming that life can be planned apart from accounting for the Lord’s will. Have we sought the Lord’s counsel about this? Have we asked him if this is what he wants for our lives? Is this where he wants us to put our energies and time?
The evil is not the plan, but the fact that God is not in the plan. That’s what James would say. James warns against the arrogance of thinking life is all about us.
The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians and two different times says that he plans to come to them and spend time with them. Both times he adds that it depends on the Lord’s will and the Lord’s permitting. He submitted his plans to the Lord’s will.
Our lives are fragile. How many of us have had some kind of serious incident in your life and know how an illness, an injury, a death or loss of job can change your whole life? You know not to run too far ahead. You have gained the wisdom of living in reliance on God knowing his will may be very different from what we have planned.
If I heard it once I heard it a hundred times - my late grandmother would always end any statement concerning her future plans with, “If the Lord wills it.” I would say, “see you at Christmas” and she would say, “if the Lord wills it.” She would plan a trip but always add, “if the Lord wills.” That is the wise humility James is telling us to live with. One hand with our calendar and the other hand holding the Lord.
So, James isn’t saying we can’t look down the road. He is warning against presuming we can plan out our life without any consideration of the God who is active in our lives and sovereign in our lives.
The second passage I bring to us this morning is Psalm 127.
Psalm 127 tells us that unless the Lord builds the house the workers labor in vain. Well, if a house is going to get built it’s going to take workers with hammers and saws and nails and concrete. We can have a prayer meeting and ask the Lord to put together a house but chances are that won’t happen. Is the Lord in construction?
But the Psalm, which by the way is attributed to Solomon who also gets credit for the proverb I quoted earlier, isn’t saying that we don’t do anything or that our efforts don’t matter. It means that the Lord needs to be in the building of the house. And the building of a house is just a metaphor for whatever accomplishments we endeavor.
Same with the second image of guards watching over the city. Yes, that is their job but it is the Lord who will help them in that.
When Psalm 127 says it is vain to go to bed late and rise early it means that putting in long hours without figuring God into whatever it is we are doing is vain. We can burn ourselves out and become exhausted. But Psalm 127 is telling us that if we allow the Lord to be in our project, our work, our endeavors, it will go better. It is the Lord who gives sleep, which is to say we the Lord provides the refreshment to do our labors well.
It is a matter of trust – trusting God to provide what we need and accomplish whatever we are trying to do.
Unless the Lord builds the family the parents do it in vain.
Unless the Lord leads the project the people fulfill it in vain.
Unless the Lord leads the church the people fill it in vain.
Just take your goal or ambition and fill in the blank.
Unless the Lord is in what we are doing, we do it in vain. It is all about us. It is on our own strength. Wisdom is for us to seek the Lord in what we desire. We seek his strength, leading, help and guidance.
Tomorrow begins a new year. Whatever plans you are building for 2024 make sure the Lord is in it. James and the Psalm teach us to live in reliance on the Lord. So whatever ambitions, visions, dreams, goals, plans we have for 2024, let’s live by that wisdom because you never know.
Prayer For The New Year and The Lord’s Prayer
A new year coming and God is with us
In loving, in caring, in hoping and expecting,
God is with us and never lets us go
God live in us, God live with us, God live through us
God keep us faithful through the days that lie ahead
God keep us caring as we see the pain that fills your world
God keep us serving as we seek to do your will
God live in us, God live with us, God live through us
God keep us loving toward neighbours near and far
God keep us trusting through the uncertainties of life
God keep us sharing from your generous abundance
God live in us, God live with us, God live through us
Amen.