There is much on my mind here at the beginning of 2025.  The top of which is, of course, my mother’s health.  For those that don’t know, my mother, Martha, has had a recurrence of Uterine cancer.  Despite the hysterectomy to remove her uterus, it has returned as tumors in her abdominal lining.  The cancer has caused digestive issues, so she cannot eat at the moment and is in the hospital to try and correct that.  So pray for her, me, and everyone on the prayer list.

I bring up my mother’s condition in this context because of what she said to me on Saturday as we were at the hospital, having gotten the news about her cancer that morning.  I asked how she was doing.  That was not about her physical condition that had been laid out before us over the last 24 hours; the question was about her spiritual/mental condition.  She said: “It’s going to be OK, I am going to be OK; no matter what happens.” Despite the sort of trite sound that statement could have, we both understood its deep theological meaning and the faith behind it.  That statement is uniquely Christian and Methodist as it passed between us, raised in the same church by many of the same people a generation apart, and for me, raised by her.

“It’s going to be OK; I am going to be OK no matter what happens” is a statement that speaks of deep faith in Jesus Christ, in the promise of eternal life, in the belief that He is indeed working out all things for our good for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  It is a statement that has been lived into by a long line of believers stretching from the apostles down to my mother and me.  It is a statement that echoes the words of Paul in Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

To say, “It’s going to be OK; I am going to be OK no matter what happens,” is not fatalistic but hopeful.  It is not a resignation to death but a statement of life.  She hopes to live in this world for years to come, but regardless of the date she departs it, she knows that it is not the end of life but rather a life transition.  To have this hope is to understand and believe that Christ overcame death, conquered death, and transformed death into a new beginning.

I hope you have this kind of faith that looks at the face of death and says I am not yours because I am His.  I do not surrender to you because I have already pledged myself to the giver of life.   I hope you have faith that can say,  “It’s going to be OK; I am going to be OK no matter what happens.”

Join us Sunday as we begin a series entitled:  “New Beginnings: A Fresh Start with God!”

Pastor Burt