How Long, Oh Lord? (Psalm 94)

Posted by Chris on July 11, 2004 under Sermons

My text for today is Psalm 94 …

¹ O LORD, the God to whom vengeance belongs,
       O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice be seen!
²Arise, O judge of the earth.
        Sentence the proud to the penalties they deserve.
³How long, O LORD?
       How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
⁴Hear their arrogance!
       How these evildoers boast!
⁵They oppress your people, LORD,
       hurting those you love.
⁶They kill widows and foreigners
        and murder orphans.
⁷“The LORD isn’t looking,” they say,
       “and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”
⁸Think again, you fools!
       When will you finally catch on?
⁹Is the one who made your ears deaf?
        Is the one who formed your eyes blind?
¹⁰He punishes the nations–won’t he also punish you?
       He knows everything–doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
¹¹The LORD knows people’s thoughts,
       that they are worthless!
¹²Happy are those whom you discipline, LORD,
       and those whom you teach from your law.
¹³You give them relief from troubled times
       until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴The LORD will not reject his people;
        he will not abandon his own special possession.
¹⁵Judgment will come again for the righteous,
       and those who are upright will have a reward.
¹⁶Who will protect me from the wicked?
       Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷Unless the LORD had helped me,
       I would soon have died.
¹⁸I cried out, “I’m slipping!”
       and your unfailing love, O LORD, supported me.
¹⁹When doubts filled my mind,
       your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.
²⁰Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side–
       leaders who permit injustice by their laws?
²¹They attack the righteous
        and condemn the innocent to death.
²²But the LORD is my fortress;
       my God is a mighty rock where I can hide.
²³God will make the sins of evil people fall back upon them.
       He will destroy them for their sins.
       The LORD our God will destroy them.

My secondary text for today is the Southwest Times Record …
(July 11, 2004, edition)

• “At Ramadi’s hospital a child caught in the crossfire [between Marines and militants] moaned inagony.” (Marines, Militants Clash, page 8A)
• “They shot him in his house. They blew her apart with a bomb. They cut him to pieces withswords. They dragged her into the desert and raped her. As the world’s attention was turned tocrises in the Middle East, a slaughter has raged for 17 months in Sudan’s Darfur region. ‘We arelate in Darfur. We have to admit that,’ U.N. Under-Secretary-Generral for Humanitarian AffairsJan Egeland said on a visit last week.” (Systematic Slaughter Unfolds in Sudan, page 10A)
• “A 16-month-old boy was released unharmed Saturday after being taken by his father, who hadshot the mother of the boy and her brother-in-law late Friday, the Benton County Sherriff’s Officesaid.” (Benton County Shooting Wounds Two, page 4A)
• “A 20-year-old man reported that he turned and saw a male acquaintance at the wheel of a sportutility vehicle that had pulled up beside his vehicle. The acquaintance then told the 20-year-oldman to tell a mutual acquaintance that he is “dead” because “he killed my homeboy,” the 20-year-old man told police. The 20-year-old man said he then looked forward and heard a loudbang and breaking glass. He then drove away, and he last saw the sport utility vehicle travelingsouth on Massard.” (Drive-By Shooting Suspects Arrested: Incident Occurs on Rogers Ave.,page 2A)

In Psalm 94, the Psalmist refers to “evildoers.” The term seems a bit dramatic. The Presidentused the term after 9/11 and has received some criticism. Evildoers? That would seem todescribe characters like Doctor Octopus or Darth Vader!

But all it takes is a daily recap of the headlines to remind us that there is evil in the world – andthere certainly are evildoers in Sudan, the Middle East, Arkansas, and Fort Smith.

Like the Psalmist, we are disturbed by such evil because of the arrogant and foolish attitude ofpeople who seem unconcerned with the ugliness of their deeds. We feel restless and angrywhen we see innocents – our loved ones, even – oppressed by such evil and no one seems tonotice.

Christians, women and children, are being slaughtered and tortured by military in the Sudan andthe government there is not held accountable by the U.N. or other nations. This goes onearound the world, but even here within America we witness the impact of evil and the harm ofinnocents …

Even in our own neighborhoods young men and women sucked into a life of conflict, drug abuse,and conflict settle arguments with gunfire. They boast about killing. They threaten the lives ofeveryone around them, and they seem proud about it. And they threaten our loved ones too.

Last week 18-year-old Amelio Romero was killed on the street in what seems to be related to arecent series of shootings. (www.swtimes.com/archive/2004/July/05/news/shooting.html)Sounds like just another story of violence – I tried to dismiss it as such, until I realized that it tookplace in Dick and Mary Broyles neighborhood.(www.thehometownchannel.com/news/3497478/detail.html)
I know them. They are members of this church. I love them. And I am tired of those I lovebeing threatened.

I think I know why people want revenge. I admit that I would support drastic action to fix theproblems of our neighborhood. And I confess that in my own mind and heart I have ideas abouthow we can end the problem – but my ideas are really worthless. They simply involve bringingout a bigger club than your enemy wields, which leads to more violence and more oppressionwhich creates even more arrogance.
I thank the Lord for his discipline and his instructions, for they cause me to realize that if I try tostraighten out the mess I am part of the mess! I am not qualified to dispense justice becauseI am unjust myself. I meditate on the teaching of Jesus – the anger that I feel in my hearttowards others – even the evildoers – is the seed to murder.

And even though we know we are unqualified to take matters into our own hands, wehave to ask if there is something that can be done. We have to ask can we do anything atall.
Psalm 94 shows us that something can – and is – being done. And it points us in the directionwe should go to do something:

When our anxious hearts pray, “How long, O LORD? How long will the wicked be allowed togloat?” We might also raise the question the Psalmist raises, “Who will protect me from thewicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers?”

The creator of eyes and ears sees and hears what is going on. It may seem to us that aresponse from God is slow in coming, (and we will address this in the weeks ahead as we hearthe word of God for the last days in 2 Peter) – but even if final judgment seems delayed,God’s help is ever-near. We have relief through troubled times even as a pit is being dug forthe wicked.

Yesterday I was exploring rock cliffs and caves. When you come down the side of the mountainthat falls off steeply, moving is a sort of series of intentional slipping and sliding. Your feet neverreally hold on to anything because everything beneath you (pebbles, dirt, leaves) slips. But yourest when you come to a flat surface – like a large rock.

God is our Rock – our place of refuge in the slippage of an evil world. When we are indanger of falling, we can cry out and the unfailing love of God supports us. When we aredistressed and our hearts and minds grow restless, we are encouraged to know that God renewsour hope and cheer. The Psalmist doesn’t just look forward to this – he has experienced it.

Nothing gets by our heavenly Father. He takes care of us – and only he is qualified todeal with those who are foolish in their wickedness …

Some weeks ago I experienced everything the Psalmist is saying just walking to our van in aparking lot. All of us were leaving the store and suddenly two high-powered, souped-up carscame roaring toward us. My first thought was for the safety of my family, so I commanded mychildren to get to the van quickly. My second thought was outrage at the arrogance of thesereckless fools – and I confess I did a stupid thing – I yelled at them. I did not curse them. I justyelled at them to slow down. But they had already turned and were probably off to terrorizesome other parking lot. My third thought was for my children and the example I set for them -Daddy is always saying, “Don’t yell at each other.” And of course the boys are stirred up at thispoint: “Who were those guys? Are you going after them? Are they coming back?” And myfourth thought was how the arrogance of evil and my inappropriate reaction had injected just alittle anxiety into my sons’ world. So I tried to restore hope and cheer, “It’s alright, those are justsome reckless fools who are driving dangerously. You just sit down and be good and let mehandle anything that comes along.” And my five-year-old son expressed the idea of the Psalmistquite well to his older brother. “Okay, let’s be good and let Daddy fight the fools.”

God will make the sins of evil people fall back upon them. He will destroy them for their sins. TheLORD our God will destroy them.
Our Father in heaven will fight the fools. God will take care of this, not us. The Psalmistexpresses a confidence that God will deal with the foolish, arrogant evildoers. Their own sins willfall back on them. This confidence is not only expressed at the end of the Psalm, but also in thebeginning when he addresses the God of vengeance. It is an old teaching in Israel – vengeanceis mine says the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:35). “Let me handle it,” says God. (And remember that we arenot qualified!) The old teaching is found also in the New Testament. …

Romans 12:16-21 – Do not think that you are wiser than you really are. Do not pay anyone back evil for evil, but, focus your thoughts on what is right in the sight of all people. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live in peace with all people. Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord.” But “if your enemy is hungry, feed him. For if he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will pile burning coals on his head.” Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.

If our Father is going to handle the evildoers then the best thing we can do is be good! And thismeans more than staying out of trouble – it means conquering evil with good.

That’s what Dick and Mary Broyles are doing in their neighborhood. Dick told me that the youngman, Romero, knew he was in trouble and had been in hiding. When he came back to town, hetold his mother the first thing he needed to do: “I need to see Mary – she will pray for me.” Andthe Broyles will continue to pray for the young people and families in their neighborhood. Theyare not going to be conquered by evil, they are going to do good and let God deal with the evilonce and for all.

Now that’s the sort of fight I want to be part of. I am thinking about ways I can pray for myneighborhood – to do good and try to be a blessing in a cursed world. Why don’t you pray aboutsome ways you can be good. Perhaps we can do a lot together.

There’s a lot of evil in the world – why can’t there be just as much good?

For Your Thoughts

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

“How do I help?” Likely that is a question we each ask ourselves many times. That question does not focus on the desire to help–the desire is there! The question focuses on being helpful to the need and the situation–“I want to help, but what do I do to be helpful?” The issue is not the desire. The issue is the what.

In the early 70’s, Deborah Wilson, Joyce, and I worked as part of a mission group in a country in West Africa about the size of California. Deborah Brown Wilson had not yet met Jim. She, as a single lady, worked as a nurse with the mission group’s mobile clinic. She also taught numerous ladies’ Bible classes. Joyce and I, with our children, worked as a family unit in the teaching and evangelizing portion of the mission group. Much of my work focused on stabilizing newer congregations–those were times of rapid growth for the church in that country.

Those were also turbulent times in that work. Within the first two years of our time there, for numerous reasons the number of known congregations grew to be almost 100. Most of the congregations were small in size and rural in nature. In this same period of rapid growth there were few national preachers/teachers. At its full strength, the mission group numbered no more than six families. If fully staffed, we had only two single nurses. The need for teachers and preachers far exceeded the available preachers and teachers within the mission group.

For that reason plus other reasons, the mission group began a preachers’ training school. Most (not all) of the students were teenagers. One of those teens was Eugene Elangwe.

It has been over 30 years since that school started. Eugene finished his training, and some time later moved to a remote area of the country–where he continues to work today. He has a large family, serves numerous congregations (at times his circuit takes a month to visit, and he walks), and has little resources available for the work. Yet, he has begun a school to train others to help teach and preach.

The question I face is the same one you face. The desire to help is there, but what do we do to help? With the aid of the C.U.R.E. program and the help of Bob Fisher, we plan to send a large container of medical supplies (greatly needed!) to the medical clinic in Eugene’s remote area. With those supplies we plan to send Eugene some Bibles and some basic reference books. In this way we hope to (1) increase meaningful opportunities for Eugene’s work, (2) address some urgent medical needs, and (3) supply some basic Bible study aids to those studying with Eugene.

As plans come to conclusion, we will seek the help of anyone interested. Everything supplied will be a gift. Our costs for shipping and for a few of the medical supplies must be raised. We will keep you informed of the situation as needs in collecting the gift become specific. I would much appreciate you putting this effort and Eugene in your prayers.

Transformation Illustrated: Tax Collectors

Posted by David on July 4, 2004 under Sermons

This is the fourth lesson in an emphasis that challenges you to deepen your understanding of transformation. In the first two lessons we dealt with the fact that what humans became after rebelling against God in no way compared with what God intended when He created us. We are nothing like what God intended for us to be.

In the third lesson I focused your attention on the fact that the objective of transformation in Christ is on radically changing ourselves as persons. The goal of Christians is to journey toward the intentions of God when God made us. Jesus Christ is our guide. We know we are journeying to the highest good known to humans.

For two or three weeks I want us to focus on specific illustrations from scripture that reveal and stress the nature of transformation. Tonight I want to illustrate the meaning and nature of transformation by focusing on the tax collectors.

1. Let’s begin by going back to the first century world of tax collecting in Jewish society in Jewish Palestine.
   1. In the world of right now, today, most people do not like to pay taxes.
      1. I had my truck worked on recently, and $63 of the bill was taxes.
         1. That was not the business’s fault–they had to charge the $63.
         2. That was not the mechanic’s fault–it cost what it cost to do the work.
         3. It merely was the cost of living in Fort Smith and in this nation.
         4. Though I greatly enjoy living in Fort Smith and cherish living in this nation, I do not enjoy paying taxes.
      2. My Dad hated paying taxes–he almost regarded it as something dishonest which was trying to steal his money.
         1. He died of complications created by Alzheimer’s about a decade ago.
         2. One of the last things he forgot was the quarterly due date for paying his taxes.
         3. Even sick, he would get so upset around the time to pay quarterly taxes that we feared he might have a heart attack.
         4. He really, really hated to pay taxes, and his dislike of taxes grew after he retired.
   2. The first thing we need to understand is the Jewish attitude toward tax collectors in first century Jewish society had little to do with a general dislike of taxes today.
      1. With us, we do not like giving our money to our government.
      2. With Jewish society in Palestine, there was much more involved.

2. Why did the Jews in Palestine dislike paying taxes so much?
   1. The first thing is that the tax collectors mentioned in the gospels were not collecting taxes for the Jewish state, but for the Roman Empire.
      1. Their taxes were not going to support a Jewish cause, or Jewish society, or to help the nation of Israel–they were supporting a gentile government and occupation force.
      2. It is very difficult for us to understand how offensive it was to Jewish people to support a gentile empire.
         1. Their intense desire was for Rome to leave them alone, to get their troops out of their country, and to let them govern Israel as they wished.
         2. Jewish law always had been very generous in Jews helping Jews, and in Jewish society taking care of its own.
         3. Consider just the first 11 verses of Deuteronomy 15.
            Deuteronomy 15:1-11, “At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’ “
      3. Note: that was to be the Jewish attitude toward Jewish people in the society.
      4. To give support to gentiles who are hostile toward the Jewish people of Palestine was quite another matter!

3. Second, there was a radical sect within first century Jewish people who regarded any kind of support to a government other that Israel as an act of treason toward God.
   1. They were known as Zealots.
      1. In their view, the only One who has the right to rule Israel was God.
      2. To support an idolatrous empire to supplant God’s rule in Israel was a rejection of God, an act of treason against Israel!
      3. They were so convinced this was absolute truth that they felt it was an act of faith in God to kill a tax collector!
   2. To them, giving money to tax collectors was a religious issue to be dealt with through an act of faith in God!
      1. They realized that the average Jew was helpless when he was assessed by a tax collector.
      2. They also realized that their responsibility was to express contempt when they were convinced they could escape.

4. Third, the Roman system for collecting taxes lent itself to excess, exploitation, and corruption.
   1. Consider the structure.
      1. The Roman government “bid out” the right to collect taxes in a region of the empire.
         1. The Roman government would say, “We need X revenue from this region of the empire.”
         2. Wealthy people would bid on the right to collect taxes in that region.
         3. Anything they collected above the government’s demand was their profit.
      2. These regional collectors often would hire managers in specific districts of the region (like Zacchaeus).
         1. The man would have a specific sum he must collect in the district.
         2. Anything he collected above that sum was his.
      3. Often these managers would hire local people in the district to do the actual collecting.
         1. It was their job actually to collect the amount assigned by their manager.
         2. If they collected more than the manager requested, the amount they collected above what was required was theirs.
      4. It does not take a genius to see that the system lent itself to opportunity for abuse.
   2. This is not to suggest that every tax collector was dishonest, but it acknowledges that tax collectors were commonly associated with dishonesty.
      1. First, they were considered “unclean” by the “faithful” in Jewish society because they had unacceptable forms of contact with gentile people.
      2. Second, they were regarded to be thieves because they were often fraudulent and extortioners.
      3. The common attitude toward tax collectors easily is seen in the way they are referred to.
         1. Often in the gospels the Pharisees associated them with sinners: “Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (see Matthew 9:10-13)
         2. At times the chief priests and elders denounced them by associating them with prostitutes: Jesus noted that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the kingdom before the chief priests and elders did. (See Matthew 21:31)

5. Keeping in mind the contempt that faithful Jewish society had toward local Jews who collect taxes for the Roman Empire, consider these matters.
   1. Consider the “unthinkable lesson” Jesus gave in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14.
      1. Briefly review this “prayer story.”
      2. The Pharisee would symbolize the ultimate righteous man in their society.
      3. The tax collector would symbolize the ultimate unrighteous man in their society.
      4. The end result was the exact opposite of what that religious society expected: God heard the prayer of the tax collector, not the Pharisee; God forgave the tax collector, not the Pharisee.
      5. Jesus’ point was incredible!
   2. Consider the “unthinkable lesson” Jesus taught in his visit to the home of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).
      1. Briefly relate the story about Jesus’ visit.
      2. Of all the homes in Jericho to visit, why go to the chief tax collector’s home?
         1. To bring salvation to Zacchaeus!
         2. As a Jew, he had every right to hear Jesus!
      3. Jesus desire to “seek and save the lost” was incredible!

6. Jesus had contact with Jewish tax collectors, which was forbidden!
   1. Jesus called Matthew (a personal invitation!) to follow him and selected him to be one of the twelve (Matthew 9:9).
   2. Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors (Luke 5:29-32).
   3. Jesus used a tax collector to teach a God value (Luke 18:9-14).
   4. Jesus visited Zacchaeus (19:1-10)

7. When tax collectors followed Jesus as a disciple, did they continue to be fraudulent people who extorted others?
   1. No! Jesus pursued them as the lost!
      1. Accepting him meant transformation, a commitment to change!
      2. His love for them changed them!
   2. That is a difficult, hard lesson for us to learn.
      1. We are more prone to seek people we like instead of seeking people Jesus died to save.
      2. We find it hard to believe people can redirect their lives.
      3. We find it difficult to call people to change by leading the way in changing our lives.

May our attitudes not be kindred to the attitudes of the Pharisees. May our attitudes be committed to transformation, and may our willingness to change give hope to those who need Jesus!

If You Would Just Listen To Me (Psalm 81)

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Today is Independence Day. Every year we observe this festival with the same sort of celebrations – feasting, vacation time from work, getting together with family (or in some cases getting way from family), and then of course there are the shopping sales and special events that often take advantage of the vacationers. And these sort of celebrations are about the same as any of our American summertime holidays. Memorial Day likewise is often a good "go to the lake/lawn chairs and ice cooler/cookout" holiday.

On our American holidays, I think of Col. Clinton Taylor. He is a veteran of World War 2. I met Col. Taylor in Lake Jackson. I have known many veterans – and all of them are distinguished – but Col. Taylor is distinguished among veterans.
I think of him on these holidays because I know that on every patriotic observance Col. Taylor is involved in some honorable way remembering the true reason for the holiday. Only once did I hear him lament, in his quiet measured tone that everyone seemed to enjoy a day off on Memorial Day or the 4^th, but few made time to honor those who make these festivals possible.

Perhaps that’s the nature of freedom and independence. We enjoy our liberty – but mainly for the pursuit of happiness. Not only with the patriotic holidays, but with others – even Christmas – there are just a few voices among us who speak up trying to remind us of the "real reason for the season." And if we listen we consider it just before we return to our own life and pursuit of happiness. For a day off is a special liberty – a sort of reprieve.
          And perhaps it is our nature to lose sight of the "real meaning" of the holidays in our ritual and routine because we have good practice doing so every Sunday. Yes, even on Sunday we gather out of routine and we hear the call to worship like a conductor rapping his stick on the podium. Then we lift up our song books and sing out or hymns – three to four at the most – we do our communion, give our gift and now that our duty is done we may listen to a sermon – if we have time, after all this is a day off.

I realize the title of this sermon sounds like my frustrated plea. I don’t intend to complain because no one listens to my sermon that I have worked on and prepared all week. But what if the preacher making this statement was God?

That’s the way this Psalm is presented – Israel has assembled for a special holiday and they are keeping the festival just as the old law decreed. The Psalmist is the worship leader and he has called them to make their music and reminded them of the proper time and day and shown the Scriptural basis of it, and now that they have done their duty it is time for the sermon – and they hear the voice of one they do not expect to hear. An unfamiliar voice. There’s a guest speaker. God is the preacher at this festival praise service and he is anxious for the worshippers to listen.

God’s text for His sermon is the first commandment and the story of the Exodus. ⁶ “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.”
He is bringing them back to the "reason for the season" but he is speaking of it in a personal way rather than citing the legal decree to worship. "I saved you. I worked to win your freedom from slavery and oppression.” But now things have changed and the people have not listened to the voice of God – in fact his voice comes as one they do not recognize. ⁸Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

Preachers of old might call this the "toe-stompin’" part of the sermon. God is calling out the sin. But this isn’t condemnation. It is lament – God’s lament; because just as the Psalmists have lamented before God, now God also has a lament. They haven’t listened.
⁹ “There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. ¹⁰ I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. ¹¹ But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.
They have pursued their idols of happiness, but they are not happy. They have declared their independence, but they are not free. How could such a thing happen? How could it happen to them? How could it happen to us?
It is because God is punishing us, yes? It is because God wants to condemn us and kill our joy and take away our happiness, right?

Strangely, there is never a tone of condemnation in this sermon from God. God does three things in this sermon: First, he rescues us. We have noted that. It is the "reason" for our celebration. For Israel it was the Exodus. For us it is the cross and the empty tomb. God saved Israel by leading them through the waters of the Red Sea. He saves us by bringing us through the death, burial and new life of baptism in Christ.

The second thing God does is this – When we declare our stubborn independence from Him, He gives us everything we wanted. ¹²So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way, living according to their own desires.
The most chilling expression of the wrath of God is not fire from on high, earthquakes, pestilence or a flood that covers the earth. No, it is that God would give us everything our bull-heads could imagine and everything our stubborn heart’s desire.

Paul describes the action of God’s wrath this way: "So God let them go ahead and do whatever their hearts desired." (Romans 1:24.) Some expect the wrath and judgment of God to descend on America any day. I think we can understand why. Especially as we as a nation fail to listen to him and as we forget the virtues that exalt a nation. But those who expect the wrath of God in a dramatic way might be surprised. What if God gives America everything it wants. What if God gives us homosexual marriages, what if he gives us easy access to pornography and cultural tolerance of alternative lifestyles of every sort? What if God gives us freedom from personal responsibility and allows us to worship greed? What if God gives us the opportunity to define holiness by prosperity? What if God allows us to justify our discomfort, fear, and hatred of people from other nations, people of other races, people in a different economic bracket so that we are able to say "These differences are just the way it is and it is just a secular issue." What if God allows us to take his word – his revelation of himself – and turn it into a legal rule book so we can "cut to the chase" and simplify the gospel down to easy slogans so we can get busy and restore the church for ourselves.
That, I think, is more frightening and more oppressive than fireballs and meteors striking the earth. How chilling is it to think that we might create and army of idols and wake up one day realizing that we have been invaded? How chilling it is to think that we might tune out the voice and truth and ruin our hearing with the blaring music of deception so that we suddenly find that not only have we become spiritually deaf, but mute as well and we cannot speak the truth to anyone anymore – including ourselves.

No wonder God laments. It is a heart-rending thing to let your children have what they want – even though you know it will hurt them. But this isn’t the end of God’s sermon. Listen to His lament – listen carefully! ¹³ O that my people would listen to me, that they would walk in my ways!
If our stubborn idolatry and spiritual deafness leads to oppression and horrible consequences, then listening leads to something hopeful and promising. And just as the lament of the Psalmist turns to hope trusting that God will hear – so also God’s lament turns to hope if we will hear … ¹⁴ “Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. ¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. ¹⁶ I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you!"

When the Congress of the United States signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, they were dissenters. They separated themselves from king and homeland, breaking bonds of connection. But in the final line of the declaration they affirm a reliance on Divine Providence.

This is the third thing God does – He conceives of a new reality despite the sin. God’s hope, should His people listen, imagines protection from enemies – God will topple with the swat of his hand the armies of idols that have invaded his people and oppressed them. His mere presence will shrivel and repel the lies and deceptions that detest God.

And God imagines providence. [And forgive me but I think that God’s image of providence is just a bit richer than Thomas Jefferson’s mention of providence as a stand-in for the presence of God.] For God describes providence as a feast at His table and He Himself is serving up fresh-baked, steaming hot rolls and slathering them with pure honey dripping off the honeycomb.

That’s how God envisions worship. That’s His standard for communion and I’m sorry but I think that vision just rises a little higher that doing the five proscribed acts at the proscribed time – not that there’s anything wrong with such decrees – but would you rather eat a recipe for hot rolls or the fresh bread that the recipe bakes!

James warned the church about being hearers but not doers of the word. I fear that sometimes we are doers – busy bees – but we never hear. We don’t listen to God.

And the way into the God’s kingdom – into his presence where there is provision and protection – is a way of listening.
"Today, if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart as we have all done in the past." – (Psalm 95:7.)
Open your heart, walk in His ways, and worship Him. Declare your dependence on God!

Hard Decisions, Not Half-Hearted Promises

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Matthew 7:24, 25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

Jesus’ coming into this world involved numerous hard decisions. Either he would or he would not be a human being. That cannot be a maybe decision. (See Philippians 2:6, 7.) To say “No!” to the rule of Satan was an “either/or” decision, not a perhaps decision. (See Matthew 4:1-11). To assume the role of a poor servant in his ministry involved a definite commitment, not a “wait and see” attitude. (See Matthew 20:28.)

Jesus’ commitment involved being misunderstood by his own followers, rejection by the people he came to help, resentment from those he tried to redirect, and criticism from those who were certain “we know God better than you do.” When we carefully consider his Gethsemane prayers, his suffering prior to and during death, and his willingness to become a cold, dead body, we know those involved hard decisions.

He did not say to God, “Maybe we will do it your way.” He did not say, “I will suffer some — but I say when enough is enough!” His decision to die was a non-reversible decision! Jesus did not live with “one foot in evil and one foot in godliness” — just to be on the safe side. He decided for God, and he followed through on his decision.

Could it be, in the past, it has been too convenient to be a Christian in this society? There was a time when society’s values commonly were Christian values. Christians often did not have to make a decision! However those days are gone.

Today, society’s values and God’s values often are in contrast-unless we redefine God’s values. It seems we can transpose any ungodly pursuit into godliness if we alter God’s definitions a bit. By altering God’s definitions we can be a little bit sexually active outside of marriage, a little bit dishonest, a little bit untruthful, a little bit greedy, a little bit vulgar, a little bit against God, a little bit selfish, a little bit hypocritical, a little bit …

Often we create the impression that Christians can be converted when conversion suits their immediate desires, serve when it is convenient to serve, make God their priority when it suits the moment’s purposes, honor Christ when it is the thing to do, and live for God when we are surrounded by those who live for God.

Jesus becoming our Savior involved hard decisions. Following Jesus as our Savior involves hard decisions. Just as becoming the Savior involved being misunderstood, rejected, resented, and criticized, being the Savior’s disciple often involves being misunderstood, rejected, resented, and criticized. We follow Christ or we do not.

After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (John 13:16, 17). The storm is gathering!

The Hand of God (Psalm 77)

Posted by Chris on June 27, 2004 under Sermons

The Questions That Keep Us Awake At Night:

I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought theLord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. I rememberedyou, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes from closing; Iwas too troubled to speak.

If we can be perfectly honest, most of us would admit to asking questions that keep us awake atnight. We might call it stress or too much coffee, but there are terrors, fears and doubts that strikein our most vulnerable hours. We pace the floor or lay awake with our eyes wide open staring intothe empty dark. The quiet intimidates us. We find it difficult to even name our feelings or the exactreason why we are distressed. It is there, but we cannot speak about it.

3,000 years after the Psalms we have available to us a variety of remedies: The “quick-fixes” of ourage – some of them are socially unacceptable (alcohol, drug abuse, pornography). Some are lesscontroversial (anti-depressants, TV, chocolate and carbs). Yet, the “quick-fixes” of all sorts have atendency to fail – if we can be perfectly honest with one another. Even the religious “quick-fixes”fail us – these are the pat answers that attempt to repair our grief and distress:

When minister, William Sloane Coffin, lost his twenty-four-year-old son, Alex, in a terribleautomobile accident, he said he received letters, cards and telephone calls from manyfriends and acquaintances, all of them well-meaning, but very few of them helpful. He saidsome of the worst of them came from my fellow ministers who proved by what they said thatthey know more about the Bible than they do about the human heart. “I know all of the rightBiblical passages,” said Coffin, “Blessed are they who mourn. Weeping endures for thenight, but joy comes in the morning. I know all of that. But the depth of my grief made thosewords unreal.” (see Thomas Long, “Through the Churning Waters,” at 30 Good Minutes http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/long_4603.htm)

It’s hard to know what to say to those who hurt – (sometimes I think we err to the other extreme bysaying nothing at all – thus alienating those who hurt.) But, if we are perfectly honest with oneanother, we all hurt, don’t we? Now I know that it is considered presumptuous to say to thegrieving – “I know how you feel” when in fact we cannot ever know exactly how someone else feels- and it is meaningless to say “I know how you feel” it doesn’t really do any good. But “everybodyhurts, sometimes.” Right?

The Psalms are not an attempt to fix the hurt. They are the perfect honesty of God’s people who areexperiencing grief, fear, doubt. They are a proclamation that those who hurt are not alone. We haveseen how each psalmist pours out his heart in anguish and despair. He doesn’t express it simply forone verse or two verses or three verses, he goes on and on and on with his grief. But more still, thePsalms are perfectly honest before God.

In Psalm 77, the perfect honesty of the hurting soul gets right to the core of matter – Has Godturned against me? “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has hisunfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to bemerciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”

Then the moment of perfect honesty: I will say it, “What really wounds me is that the righthand of God Most High (El-Elyon) has changed.” – 77:10 [In my opinion, the NIV translation of thisverse (v. 10 in English, v. 11 in Hebrew) does not communicate the sense of the Hebrew, which communicateshonest disappointment and hurt (chalôthî) and concern that the Right Hand (yemin) of the Most High (Elyon) haschanged (?enôth). See the Contemporary English Version translation of this verse.]

Right Hand of God Most High: God is supposed to be watching over us with his strong right handof power. He is the Most High – the ultimate power. But it seems like all that has changed. That’snot right. It seems disrespectful, we ought to know our place – but the question is “Is God in hisplace?”

And ironically, false humility cannot do what perfect honesty does: the honest admission – the angerand disappointment with God opens a door to a new hope. It is as if there is a breakthrough in therelationship.

Like a couple who have been in a “cold war” for years, their relationship only has a hopeof being healed when the partners decide to be perfectly honest – rather than avoid conflict,they face it head on and all the past comes welling up.

The Psalmist also decides to dredge the past – to remember who God is and what God has done inthe past. He pulls out the old albums and scrapbooks of his memory … I will remember the deedsof the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your worksand consider all your mighty deeds.

The Faith that Gives Us Hope Day and Night

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God?
You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.

The movie, “The Story of Us” is about a couple planning to divorce. In the end they resolve to staytogether because they have a story – they have a history both good and bad and they just can’t startover with someone else. For no one else shares their story. (For more information see http://www.smartmarriages.com/story.of.us.html Note: “The Story of Us” is rated R by the MPAA. Do not assume that mention of this movie or the SmartMarriages Impact award constitutes anendorsement of the film. You are urged to use your own judgment in deciding whether to see thisor any movie.)

The movie realizes something so often missed in the real world: that knowing someone involves alot more than just being happy with him or her. Knowing someone involves much more. It involvestime, trust & faith.

Relationships – How do we really know someone? [To explore the concept of knowing God, I recommendPhillip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002).] It takes time. Taking someonefor granted seems bad, but there is something wonderful about the stability of a long term relationshipfor it is the unnoticed, ordinary, everyday things that make all the difference. These are the coresubstance of the relationship. Certainly we always want to honor and show grace to those we love(because we certainly need it! – and this is where trust is important), but what sort of a relationshipis built on having to continually make progressive effort to maintain it lest it collapse – with that inmind it will at some point break down – because we are breaking down!

Now, if even our best human relationships are built on time, trust and faith, then isn’t that true ofour relationship with God?

If we are perfectly honest as we look over our history with God we see that there is much we havetaken for granted. Things we may not have noticed that are in fact the substance of the relationship. We discover all over again that God’s ways are holy and there is no one else like him – we just don’thave a story or history with any other God.

Ok, but relationships change and what if God has changed? The days of miracles and power haveceased, right? – What if we really just cannot expect much from God anymore? That’s the tragedyof it isn’t it. In our effort to make faith reasonable and then to prevent God from being the magicpower of hucksters and well-intentioned people who want to put a claim on God so he will grantthree wishes – maybe we reduced God to a code of ethics or an overseer of standards and practices. But this extreme is no better than the one we tried to avoid. If God is limited then is he still God? If we cannot expect greatness and power from God then is he still God? Is he God for us? Magnifying the problem of trust and faith is the fact that God isn’t seen. Couldn’t he show up a littlemore often like he did in the old days? Doesn’t all of it mean that he changed on us – and notnecessarily for the better? I have heard the argument that “this age of reason” is better than “the ageof miracles” – but I have never bought it (I would give up ten principles about God for one burningbush, wouldn’t you?) – after all God was more visible and near in those days . . . or was he? Was itreally all that different? Then and now …

Was he really all that visible during the Exodus? The Psalmist says that he was still unseen and hisfootprints were unseen. What was seen was the influence of God’s hand that parted the sea andguided the Israelites through Moses and Aaron.

Was God so visible at the cross? To many it seemed the end, they abandoned Christ. They left him. They insulted him. Even at the resurrection there were those who doubted and others whodisbelieved despite the evidence – What was seen was the influence of God’s hand that shook theearth and raised Jesus from the dead and opened the tomb.

When God seems absent, his influence is there – even as he chooses to remain hidden. The way thepsalmist puts it is: in the middle of the churning waters, your footprints were unseen. God was therehealing, bringing redemption and hope, but God could not be seen.

To be perfectly honest, God is even nearer than before. He is just as active as always – even moreso now that Jesus rules. His fingerprints and footprints are everywhere – and they are fresh! Maybethe absence of God is due to our lack to be perfectly honest with ourselves and others.

We are using the wrong senses to experience God. When we look for God with reason or doubt weare looking with the wrong senses. It’s like trying to feel red, touch sour, taste loud. And this isn’ta touchy-feel cop-out. For the scientists among us: It is not just that God is at the edge of oursensory range – but we have to keep in mind that this isn’t a laboratory experiment – we areparticipants, not observers – we influence the outcome. God is perceptable to a sense for which wehave no name – that closest we come is to call it spirit. It is more than intellect and action. It is morethat a sterile, non-participatory gaze.

This sense is honed and developed in relationships of perfect honesty: Relationship with Godand with one another. We affirm to one another the experience of the hand of God. Not just all ofus here, but the Scripture is the deposit of faith passed on to us – the Bible did not fall out of heaven- no it is inspired of heaven but it has been passed on to us through our cloud of witnesses. Peoplesuch as Asaph who, like us, have been so disturbed that they stayed awake all night – but in his nightmusing he beheld the hand of God.

And we also need people like you and me. We need to be perfectly honest with one another – and Iregret that we sometimes are not. We put on more than our best clothes for church. And none ofus wants to draw undue attention to ourselves – that’s a good characteristic. But maybe we are lessthan honest with God and one another because we are not honest with ourselves.

We are concerned with the problems of burdening one another or fearing what happens if we speakup. Our only category for the invitation is penance and public confession -other wise we bear upprivately. But what do we miss if we aren’t perfectly honest? Would Psalm 77 be inspired if Asaphhad held back and said everything fine? When we are not honest, we miss the opportunity toexperience the hand of God in the past, present and future.

We believe that the hand of God is as powerful and as mighty as ever – Why? Jesus is risen, he isliving in his church. Now more than ever God is strong and powerful to save. You don’t want yourstory with God to end with the questions that keep you awake at night – do you? Rest in the Handof God!

The Courage to Let Faith in God Guide

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

John 1:9-13 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Rarely, if ever, do human beings comprehend Jesus’ courage! Jesus trusted God at every turn in life, in every circumstance. For us to declare that we comprehend how much faith Jesus had in God probably is a commentary on how little we understand faith. To have great faith in God requires enormous courage. Without courage, there is little faith.

Jesus had the courage to be rejected by those who claimed to have the greatest understanding of God. Enduring rejection is traumatic. Enduring rejection by those who hate and despise us is disconcerting. Enduring rejection by those who should understand and encourage us is devastating. Jesus had the courage to endure the rejection of those he could not “amen.” These people mistook faith for rebellion.

Jesus had the courage to renounce injustice. Matthew 8 and 9 reveal he healed lepers, Gentiles, demon-possessed people, paralytics, and the blind. He called a tax collector to follow him and associated with sinners. Those were the wrong kind of people! Either they suffered because of their evil past or they rejected the “known ways of God!” When the religious questioned his priorities and actions, he said, “The sick need the doctor. You need to learn the meaning of Hosea 6:6, ‘I desire compassion, not sacrifice.'”

Jesus had the courage to be lonely. After his “flesh and blood of life” lesson in John 6, many of his disciples deserted him never to follow him again. This withdrawal of disciples was so severe that he asked the twelve if they also were leaving. A following of twelve is not a big following!

Examples could be multiplied: he had the courage to surrender living to God; he had the courage to do what was right when no one understood; he had the courage to suffer for God’s values; he had the courage to die for God’s will; he had the courage to trust God to raise him from the dead. Jesus had great faith which demanded great courage.

What about us? Often we disassociate faith in God from courage. It takes courage to redirect life. It takes courage to leave less accurate understandings and grow toward more accurate understandings. It takes courage to face raging personal problems that control our minds, our actions, or both. It takes courage to help those suffering as a result of injustice. It takes courage to understand and submit to God’s values and priorities. It takes courage to die to self in order to become alive to God.

How is your faith in God? Do we have the courage to live by faith in God?

Thankfully, God Calls Me To Change

Posted by David on June 20, 2004 under Sermons

This evening I want to begin with two readings. I deliberately want to make connection with our thoughts from the past two weeks. I want these readings to focus our thinking.

Romans 12:1,2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Philippians 3:17-21 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

In the past two weeks I called your attention to this truth: the way God defines humanity and the way we humans define humanity is different. (1) God’s definition is based God’s intent and purposes for us when He made us. (2) The human definition is typically based on influences that have nothing to do with God, that often even deny God is our origin.

God’s objective in Christ is to change us into what God intended for us to be when He brought us into being.

1. Let me begin with a warning.
   1. Typically the religious world that declares it defines itself by acceptance of Jesus Christ [and that includes far too many in the Church of Christ] does not stress transformation.
   2. Typically what is stressed is grace to the exclusion of transformation.
      1. Often it is suggested in one way or another that God’s grace makes transformation unnecessary.
      2. Often, in some way, this seems to be the current stress: “Because God knows your heart, how you behave is unimportant.”
      3. Too often we at least create the impression that transformation is the enemy of God’s grace instead of God’s grace being the opportunity for transformation.
   3. The result is that too often we become addicted to what often is called “cheap grace.”
      1. What does the term, “cheap grace,” mean?
      2. It means “I cannot earn salvation” [true], “I cannot deserve salvation” [true], “I cannot place God in my debt” [true], so “How I live and behave is unimportant” [false].
      3. It is the concept, “God’s grace will cover everything, so I can just live as I please because I am in God’s grace.”
   4. The motive for Christian obedience has nothing to do with earning salvation, deserving salvation, or placing God in my debt.
      1. Grace gives me the opportunity to make the journey of changing the person I am.
      2. No matter how evil my past has been, I can be a different person.
      3. Transformation is my way to say, “Thank you!” to God for the grace that made my forgiveness possible.
      4. As a Christian, I cannot make transformation’s journey without changing my life.
      5. My salvation is not all God and it is not all me, it is God and I in partnership–God doing for me what I cannot do for myself [forgiveness, etc.] and me showing my appreciation to God by wanting and agreeing to transformation.

2. Let me continue with a question: “Do you like change?”
   1. Your answer to that question will depend on your environment factors at the moment you hear the question.
      1. Some would respond, “No! I do not like change! Change is terrible!”
         1. “I wish gas prices could go back to the levels of 50 years ago!”
         2. “I wish cars did not cost more than my first house cost!”
         3. “I wish marriage was like it used to be!”
         4. “I wish parenting was like it used to be!”
         5. “I wish you could have a lifetime job or career like we used to!”
         6. “I wish we could go back to a time when cars did not use computers, when businesses did not use computers, when homes did not have computers, when banks did not use computers–every time you turn around, you have to deal with another computer!”
         7. “I wish the church was what it was 50 years ago!”
      2. Some would respond, “Yes! I am glad change can occur! Change brings blessings!”
         1. “I am glad that you do not have two year olds for life or teens for life.”
         2. “I like microwaves, hot water “on demand”, tubeless tires, power steering, power breaks, power windows, something beside a coal or wood heaters to heat your home with, air conditioning, and comfortable mattresses.”
         3. “I like knowing who won a political race immediately after the vote instead of two weeks later.”
         4. “I like the new medicines and medical procedures that add years to life.”
         5. “I like cell phones.”
         6. “I like having variety in what I eat.”
         7. “I like the availability of college educations.”
         8. “I am glad we can know so much more about scripture and the will of God today.”
   2. Whether we realize it or not, life involves change, and it always has.
      1. Aging is a change process–not just physically, but hopefully in wisdom as well.
      2. Experience is a change process–only an extremely foolish person refuses to learn from experience.
      3. The entire process of education is a change process–in mind and understanding that results in changes in life.
      4. While we all hate death, I hope we realize that the ability to age but the inability to die would be a curse right now in this physical world.

3. Conversion to Jesus Christ produces change, a change scripture calls transformation.
   1. Allow me to call your attention to some statements found in scripture.
      1. The first is this statement from Peter in 2 Peter 1:2-4 which occurs just before what is typically called the Christian graces.
         2 Peter 1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
         1. Let me point out some things in this reading we really like.
            1. We like the thought of the multiplication of grace and truth–that is good stuff!
            2. We like the divine power that grants us everything pertaining to life and godliness–that is good stuff!
            3. We like precious and magnificent promises–that is good stuff!
         2. Let me point out a couple of things that strike many as less than desirable.
            1. God expects us to partake of the divine nature–“if I do that I won’t fit in.”
            2. God expects us to escape the rottenness produced through ungodly desire—“but I like some of those ungodly desires, and I would debate the idea that such desires cause rottenness.”
      2. “Oh, David, you are exaggerating!”
         1. “Partake of the divine nature–that is a stretch!”
         2. “Ungodly desires do not produce rottenness–they produce pleasure, and I like pleasure.”
   2. Consider Paul’s statement in Ephesians 4:20-24.
      But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
      1. If we put this statement in its fuller context, it is about transformation
      2. Paul said, “This is the kind of persons you were before you became Christians.”
      3. “This is the kind of persons you are to become because you accepted Christ.”
      4. “There is to be a ‘before and after’ because God, with your permission, changed you–your reason for coming to Christ was to put off the old self and put on the new self.”
      5. “You committed yourself to becoming a person created in the likeness of God, a person created in the righteousness and holiness of truth (Jesus Christ).

4. The word Paul used for transformation in Romans 12:2 is the same Greek word that gives us metamorphosis.
   1. Metamorphosis is the word used to describe what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
      1. Now, that is change!
      2. They neither look nor function alike!
   2. God’s intent with Jesus Christ in you is to change you!
      1. Not merely a superficial change is a few habits and behaviors that allows you to do the “going to church” thing.
      2. But a radical change, a change of who you are as a person.
      3. God wants it to be evident in you that this change occurs as a continuing process because you are in Christ.
   3. Please note how this change occurs.
      1. It is a change you want to happen, that you cooperate with God through Christ to make happen–it is not some mysterious happening that occurs against your will!
      2. First, you change the way you think–God teaches you a new way to think.
      3. Second, you begin a search, a continuing study to prove what is God’s will–you do not wish to live your life on your assumptions, but you wish to live in an understanding of God’s purposes and priorities.
      4. The end result:
         1. You adopt God’s definition and concept of good.
         2. You change your understanding of what is acceptable.
         3. You want God to form your concept of perfect or complete.

Is that what is happening in your Christian existence as a man or woman who has, by choice, placed yourself in Jesus Christ?

Where is God? (Psalms 42 and 43)

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Psalm 42 As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and stand before him? Day and night, I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, "Where is this God of yours?" My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks- it was the sound of a great celebration! Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God!

Psalm 43 O God, take up my cause! Defend me against these ungodly people. Rescue me from these unjust liars. For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside? Why must I wander around in darkness, oppressed by my enemies? Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God-the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God! Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God

Do you remember a really special worship service? What we might call a mountain top worship? I do.

All of the mountain top experiences have something in common: I was sure I was in the presence of God.
Worship was good not because it was entertaining or emotional but because the spirit of the Lord – his grace, mercy, and mysterious majesty surrounded the assembly.

The psalmist remembers mountain top experiences – They were celebrations! He led groups of people to the worship singing songs of thanks! They were marching up the hill singing songs of joy. They were on their way to God’s house. Those were special times – but the psalmist is singing a different song today. Today his heart is broken because worship isn’t much of a celebration. He’s not on the mountain top and he doesn’t know where God is.

We always want mountain top experiences to last, but they don’t. Just as you can remember really special worship services, maybe you also know about times of worship that seem routine and stale. Maybe you even remember days you didn’t bother to worship because you just didn’t have it in you. Not that you were lazy or wanted to do something else – no, you just felt numb and cold inside. No matter how loud you sang or how catchy the songs – even if the preaching was better than usual – something was missing. You felt like a deer, panting for water and unable to find even a trickle of a stream to quench your thirst.

That’s the way the psalmist describes it. He is dry and parched. He longs to be near God but instead of the mountaintop – he’s in the desert. No songs of praise come from his parched lips. His swollen, red eyes see no sign of God’s face. He is only blinded by the sun. And there isn’t even an edifying voice of a fellow worshipper speaking a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song to spur him on to love and good works.

In the desert, he faces questions about God – "So, where is your God? Why do you think he abandoned you like this? Maybe it is something you did? Maybe there is some unresolved sin or pride in your life? What is God trying to teach you through all this suffering? How is it you have fallen out of favor with him? If you don’t feel close to God, then who moved?"

That last one is a good question. If you ask the Psalmist he might surprise you and say – well it seems to me that God did!

The psalmist feels abandoned and forgotten. Being forgotten is one of the worst feelings: rejection can hurt worse than punishment. Being forgotten means being alone – defenseless before enemies and the forces of nature. Being forgotten means losing stability and security – nowhere is safe, darkness surrounds.

Military remembrance – Never Forget – The only thing worse than dying is being forgotten in death, as if our sacrifice was meaningless, as if our life meant nothing – As if we had a throw-away life.
The hostages in Saudi Arabia and Iraq – The terror of being a hostage is additional to the threat of harm and death. It is in part the fear that you will be forgotten. Waiting for a rescue that never comes. Waiting for the tables to turn on your captors – and it never does. What if no one cares? What if your life isn’t much to bargain with? What if you have a throw-away life?

The psalmist wants to know why God has thrown him aside. He is lost in darkness, enemies have taken advantage of his misfortune. And he feels shame – an embarrassment for God. He has praised God like an adoring child praises a Father – confident in the Father’s goodness and boasting that the Father can do anything! "My dad is stronger than your dad!" And then in the moment he is needed most, the Father isn’t there. And the child is – abandoned. All the praise and boasting about the Father becomes embarrassing.

Whose Psalm is this? Who are the children of Korah? Maybe they are among us. Maybe our names, along with the names of Job, Jacob, David, and Jesus belong in that title line. Any of us who feel thirsty for God’s presence.
Those who hear people say "Where is Your God?" because something terrible has happened and they are put to shame by it. It calls into question their relationship with God. Those who find themselves in oppressive surroundings as family members or co-workers insult them for their faith. And those who feel stressed and disappointed because God hasn’t seemed to do much to help them out of a difficult situation.

This song is for the thirsty, parched souls who long for God – those who long to be immersed in his mercy and rescuing grace. The chorus of the song doesn’t appear in our contemporary song "As the Deer" – but maybe you will remember it from now on. It is a chorus that admits to the sadness and despair we feel. It starts off with a little self-talk …
Why am I discouraged? Why so sad?
(Despair is a vicious thing. It is a sort of auto-immune disorder of the soul. It attacks your soul then turns your soul against you for feeling sad.)

But the chorus caves in to hope. The thirsty soul in the desert decides to become a pilgrim. He calls for God to send the light from his mountain. To lead him out of the darkness. To bring him to the source of his joy. Like the deer he is going to sniff out the source of water. He will trace it back to the head waters and his hope is that he will be plunged into the deep!

I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again- my Savior and my God!

Being a pilgrim means accepting the wilderness, but settling for nothing on the journey except the deep waters of God. That’s why we need this song – to send us on our pilgrim journey. Too many people settle for poison in the wilderness. "Feeling better has become more important to us than finding God.”

In his autobiography, "When You Can’t Come Back," Dave Drevecky (pitcher for the San Francisco Giants lost his pitching arm to cancer – www.davedravecky.org) says that he "learned that the wilderness is part of the landscape of faith, and every bit as essential as the mountaintop. On the mountaintop we are overwhelmed by God’s presence. In the wilderness we are overwhelmed by his absence. Both places should bring us to our knees; the one, in utter awe; the other, in utter dependence."

Jesus once spoke to a thirsty woman in the wilderness of Samaria (John 4). She felt far from God and so it isn’t strange that she asked "Where is God?" She had heard from her family – the generations before her – that God is on his holy mountain – Mount Gerazim. But she’s heard from her enemies that God lives in a big house in Jerusalem. Where is God? She’s thirsty. Jesus isn’t surprised by the fact that she’s had five husbands and the man she is with now isn’t her husband. Like many of us who long for God, she’s turned to other people to satisfy what only God can. She is thirsty and so when Jesus speaks of living water – deep water – that not only satisfies thirst but taps a spring of gushing water in their soul – she wants it! Like a deer panting for water!

To those who are in the wilderness aching with thirst: You are invited to join the pilgrim journey. There is a beam of light we are heading for – it leads to God’s mountain. The source of his kindness and joy is there – deep waters to wash over us and soak us. On the journey we sing the song left to us by the sons of Korah …

Why are you so discouraged? Why are you so sad? Put your hope in God! You will praise him again – your Savior and your God!

There Is No Substitute For Faith In Jesus’ Identity

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Luke 24:25-27 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

The above words came from the newly resurrected Jesus. He spoke to two disciples traveling to Emmaus. Likely they were going home after an event-filled Pentecost in Jerusalem. They went with great expectations because of Jesus’ successful recent activities (Lazarus’ resurrection; his triumphal entry; his public teaching in the temple area). They returned home confused, bewildered, and directionless.

They knew Jesus was dead. They heard he was resurrected. Yet, they were grieved. Things occurred so suddenly! They knew Jesus was God’s mighty prophet. They hoped he was God’s means to redeem Israel. When Jesus joined these sad men on that road, they were amazed he was unaware of all that happened in Jerusalem the past few days.

How ironic! These men who knew Jesus by sight, who knew Jesus received his power from God, who hoped Jesus was Israel’s redemption, did not understand God’s redemption. They heard Jesus’ resurrection occurred. Yet, it meant nothing. How could God possibly use a man raised from the dead to deliver Israel from her enemies? His resurrection was fine, but it could not solve their problems or meet their needs.

Jesus, unrecognized by them, called them foolish. Beginning with Moses he explained the Scriptures concerning him to these men. They, who had God’s redemption “figured out,” learned how little they knew. Their concern was Israel’s redemption. God’s concern is the world’s redemption.

The essential key to understanding redemption is understanding God’s intent in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. No faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection always means no understanding of redemption. There was no substitute for faith in the resurrected Jesus.

All my life, with other Christians, I have played the human game, “If only…” In the 60’s I worked in a congregation with pitiful children’s educational facilities. “If only…” In the 70’s I was in foreign missions. There was nothing–no secretaries, no offices, no machines, no literature, and in many instances no Bibles. “If only…” In the 80’s I was part of a congregation whose facilities were too small for worship or education. “If only…” In the 90’s change was rampant throughout our society. Transition took a toll on a church living in the past. “If only…” After 2000 I am part of a church who dares to seriously examine itself. Self-examination through scripture takes a toll. “If only…”

Always, in every decade, there are relevant “if onlys.” Always in every lifetime there should be faith in Jesus Christ. We always will need the material. Yet, the material never will substitute for faith in the resurrected Jesus as the Christ. People with much less and much more can live by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus once asked, “When the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)