Lately, we've been discussing "the church" and what the church is and what the church should be in our Bible Studies and Sunday night services. The church is not a building. The church is not an idea. The church is not a denomination or a sign out front. The church is God empowering His people to love others and to share with them the awesome power of the resurrected Christ.
I have been trying to get the point across that we don't "go" to church -- we "are" the church, regardless of whether we meet in the largest sanctuary in town or in a borrowed business or in the park on a Sunday afternoon.
The question that we need to ask ourselves on a daily basis is, "Am I being the church or am I just going to church?" Can you imagine what a difference it would make if people would stop looking at church as a Sunday morning form of entertainment and started looking at it as a lifestyle and a calling and a responsibility?
The early Christians turned the world upside-down through their faith and their love lived out in action. Why aren't we seeing this today? Because for too many years we have gone to church and not been the church. Let's make a difference today.
I ran across this article on Huffington Post's Religion Page the other day, and thought it was very much in line with what we had been teaching and striving for at Koinonia. I thought it really showed what happened when the church left the building and started living for Christ by putting their faith into action.
Rev. Bowman speaks from her experience at seeing and being the church in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast.
-----------------------------------------------
"When the Church Shows Up" by Rev. Gail Bowman
"When the church shows up by praying for you, long and hard, that seemingly mundane practice takes on shocking substance, picks you up off the floor, and carries you around town. When the church shows up by acting on your behalf, that means the situation is pretty darn serious and while you may have been a giver of help before, you are a recipient of help now, and some humility and grace on your part is warranted. When the church shows up and disagrees with you about what to do next in your situation, that probably means that your clear recollection of what once was is not pertinent in a conversation about what needs to be. When the church shows up bringing you everything from tiny handmade prayer mats to hymnals newly returned from retirement, it means that for the rest of your days you will have precious things with a value that may be invisible to anybody but you. When the church shows up, you are encountering those who believe that people-helping-people is not just generous/fair/appropriate; they believe it's holy. Welcome, now, the change of lens.
"Church is supposed to be about "things hoped for" and "things not seen," and it's good at encouraging that murky "here but not here, now but not now" walk of faith. But the church walked into a whole bunch of lives and situations in this area, and it did so physically, actually and really -- chewing gum and gutting houses and ignoring blueprints and slinging hammers and pausing at mid-day to pray like it was Sunday then going right back to work again. I still don't know quite what to make of this, or quite what to tell young people who were 12 or 14 or 16 when Katrina happened. How can I capture both how real and practical and messy it was and is, and how stunning it also was and is? Maybe I'll just begin by saying, "I like church.""
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
SERMON: A MOMENT WITH GOD
13 March 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 4:1-2
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
-- I want you to think for a moment about gifts -- everybody loves gifts, don’t they? -- we love to give them -- and we love to get them -- there’s just something about seeing a nicely wrapped package with your name on it that gets your heart beating just a little bit faster -- especially if there’s something that you’ve been wanting and you think that this just might be it
-- I was thinking about gifts this morning and I came to the realization that I am 44 years old -- you know what that means? -- that means I have been through 44 Christmases -- 44 birthdays -- and countless other gift-receiving events throughout my life -- conservatively thinking, I have probably received over 1,000 gifts since I was born -- and if you’re somewhere around my age, then that’s probably true for you, too
-- but you know what? -- even though somebody took the time to go out and purchase every one of those gifts for me and then they wrapped them and wrote my name on them and gave them to me on a special occasion -- and even though that gift might have been really special to me at the time -- for the life of me, I just can’t remember them all
-- it occurred to me that I can’t even remember most of the gifts that I’ve gotten in my life -- in fact, when I tried to sit down and think about all the gifts I have gotten over the years, I could only remember a handful of them out of the thousand or so that I have received in my life
-- but, I can tell you what I do remember about all of those gift-giving occasions, especially the big one -- especially Christmas
-- when I sit down and think about Christmas -- I don’t think about the gifts that I got -- when I think about Christmas, what I remember is going to Grandma’s -- when I was a kid, that was what we would do -- we didn’t have any family up here -- all of our immediate family was down in Florida -- so every Christmas, we would load up and head to Grandma’s
-- we usually had to wait for Daddy to get done loading greens on Christmas Eve, but as soon as he got home -- no matter how late it was -- we’d load up the car and head south -- driving for four hours or so until we finally saw that great big mailbox that said, “Lee,” on it and we turned down that narrow, bumpy lane that led to Grandma’s house -- scraping the bottom of our car as we drove down it -- that is what we did every year -- and that’s what I remember most about Christmas
-- and like I said, thinking back on it, it’s not the gifts that I remember -- the best part of being at Grandma’s happened after the gifts had been opened -- when the whole family -- all six of the kids and their spouses and all seven of us grandkids would gather on the front porch with Grandma and Granddaddy after lunch
-- and while the kids played with their new toys -- the adults reminisced -- they talked about memories of past Christmases -- memories of growing up in the country in Florida -- memories of life together
-- this is what I remember most about Christmas -- not the gifts -- not the trees -- not the tinsel -- but these moments that our family would gather -- these moments when we would be reminded of who we were -- of our place in the world -- of the things that really mattered
II. The Season of Lent
-- this morning, we’re going to talk about just such a moment -- a moment in time when our church families stop what we’re doing -- and we gather together to talk and to share and to be reminded of who we are -- of our place in this world -- and of the things that really matter -- this is what the Christian Season of Lent is all about
-- now, before we go too far, let me make sure you understand that I’m talking about Lent -- L-E-N-T -- not lint -- L-I-N-T
-- I read about this preacher who was giving his first sermon at the start of Lent -- and so, during the children’s service, he asked the children who had gathered around him if they knew what Lent was -- one 8-year-old boy said, “I do” -- the preacher said, “Well, great -- why don’t you tell us all?” -- so the boy reached into his pocket -- fished around for a moment -- and then pulled out a handful of lint and showed it to the church -- “This is lint”
-- yes, that is one type of lint -- but that's not the type of Lent we're going to talk about this morning -- we are going to talk about the season of Lent -- the period in the Christian Calendar where we take a moment to stop in the middle of our busy lives and intentionally spend time remembering -- remembering what is important -- and remembering who we are as Christians -- as we prepare to celebrate Easter together again
-- the word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "lencten" -- meaning spring -- the time of the year when the days grow long -- it begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for forty days -- not counting Sundays -- and ends on the Saturday before Easter
-- the season of Lent is not in the Bible -- it was started in the early days of the church as a remembrance of two events in the life of our Lord where He took time out from the world to spend a moment with the Father and to prepare for what the Father was about to do through Him
-- the first event that Lent is based on happens at the start of Jesus’ public ministry -- look back at the passage that we opened with in Luke 4
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
-- this passage happens immediately after Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist -- Luke tells us here that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit -- as we talked about a few weeks ago, to be filled with the Holy Spirit means more than just being filled up like a cup -- it means being filled with the presence of God like a sail on a ship is filled with wind to the point that the Spirit gives direction and meaning and purpose to your life
-- that’s what we see right here -- the time has come for Jesus to begin His public ministry and the Spirit has completely filled Him and leads Him out into the desert
-- that seems kind of strange, doesn’t it -- here Jesus had just been baptized and the Spirit of God came and rested on Him like a dove and the voice of God spoke out from heaven saying, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”
-- Jesus is getting ready to carry the message of salvation to the world -- but, rather than leading Jesus to where the people were -- rather than leading Jesus into Jerusalem or to Rome or to any other large city in that time -- Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert -- why?
-- because Jesus needed to spend a moment with God -- He needed to take a moment just to be with God and to prepare Himself for what He was about to do -- and so, for 40 days, Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness and spent time with God -- all the while suffering temptation by the devil who was trying to keep Him from His appointed task -- this is the first event that the Season of Lent is based on
-- the second event that Lent is based on is Holy Week, starting on Palm Sunday and ending with the crucifixion
-- now, while Jesus was always seen going off to spend time alone with God while He was ministering here on earth, we really see that pattern during the last week of His life -- as things started to get difficult during that last week -- as opposition increased and as Satan started to do everything he could to keep Jesus from accomplishing His task here on earth, Jesus would take a moment out of His busy life and go out with His disciples to the Mount of Olives to pray and to fast and to spend time with the Father
-- let’s look at that real quick
-- flip over, if you would, to Luke 22:39-44
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him
-- now, there’s an important phrase there in verse 39 I want you to see -- Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives “as usual” -- this was something that He did on a regular basis -- it wasn’t just a one-time thing -- it was a habit
-- as Christians, we’re called to imitate Christ -- in fact, the word “Christian” literally means, “little Christ” -- Jesus routinely would go out and spend a special moment with God in a quiet place to just rest in His presence -- to just spend time with Him -- and so should we
-- verse 40
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
-- here we see Jesus getting ready for what is about to happen -- He knows that He is about to be betrayed by Judas -- He knows that He is going to be put into the hands of His enemies -- He knows that He will be beaten and mocked and crucified -- He knows that the sins of the world are about to fall on Him -- that He is going to take into Himself all the sins that you and I and everyone who has ever lived has committed
-- and, what does He do? -- how does He get ready to suffer on the cross for our sins? -- He takes a moment to just spend time with God in prayer -- while the world around Him was melting down, Jesus withdrew to the Mount of Olives -- to a quiet place where He could be alone with God -- and He spent time with the Father in order to prepare Himself for the trials to come -- for the burden that He had to carry -- for the suffering that He had to endure
-- Luke tells us that Jesus’ moment with God was so intense that as He prayed, He actually sweat drops of blood
-- these two events -- the 40-days in the wilderness and the experience of Holy Week -- were special moments for Jesus -- periods of spiritual reflection and preparation for the task ahead of Him -- they were times for Jesus to strengthen Himself against the temptations of the devil and to prepare to accept the responsibility for the sins of the world
-- following the example of Christ, the early church developed the season of Lent as a time of reflection, prayer, and strengthening to help Christians get ready to celebrate Easter -- Lent was developed to be a special moment for us -- a time when we could take a break from our normal routines -- to stop the world for just a moment -- so we could spend time with God and prepare ourselves for Easter
-- it is also a time for us to look honestly at who we are to see if we are truly walking with God or if we have sin in our lives that we need to repent of -- and it is a time when we try to share in the sorrows and sufferings of Christ so we can better appreciate what He has done for us and who we are in Him
III. Ash Wednesday
-- as I said, the season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday -- traditionally, on Ash Wednesday, a special service is held where people are marked with the sign of a cross on their forehead in ashes that they are to wear the whole day as a reminder of who they are and of what Christ has done for us
-- there are several reasons why we use ashes -- first, they are a reminder of who and what we are -- the Bible tells us that we came from dust and that we will return to dust -- if you remember, in the Book of Genesis it says that Adam was created from the dust of the ground and that he only became alive when God breathed the breath of life into him -- so, the ashes remind us that without God in our lives, we are just like dust -- without life and without worth
-- the ashes also remind us that anything we do in our own power -- apart from God -- are worthless -- the Bible tells us that there is nothing that we can do on our own that has any value to God -- that’s why we can’t work our way to heaven -- our lives and our actions only have value if God works through us and gives us meaning and purpose -- so the ashes remind us that we have to depend on God throughout our whole lives
-- the third reason we use ashes is that ashes have traditionally been a sign of repentance and mourning in the Bible -- back in the Bible days, it was common for those who were sorry for their sins and who wanted to make a new beginning with God to cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes -- that’s why it says in Job 42:6, "I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." -- ashes are a symbol of our repentance and a sign that we seek forgiveness through God's grace
-- the ashes are placed on the foreheads in the sign of a cross as a reminder that after we have mourned and repented of our sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit -- traditionally, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday would be mixed with oil to symbolize the presence of the Holy Spirit who works to keep us holy and who intercedes on our behalf
-- one more thing about the ashes -- the ashes used on Ash Wednesday usually come from palm fronds -- palms are symbols of victory and were waved before Christ as He entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday -- by making the ashes from palms we are reminded of how we have victory through Christ's death and resurrection
-- so, the overall purpose of putting the ashes on your forehead on Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent is to remind us that we belong to Jesus and to celebrate what He has done in our lives
IV. Closing
-- then, for the next forty days, people are encouraged to break from their normal routines so they can spend a special moment with God every day
-- traditionally, this involved fasting and prayer -- and people would give up one meal a day or one day a week and not eat -- and then they would use that time that they would normally be preparing their meal and eating to just spend time with Jesus -- to have a special moment with Him
-- but, it’s really all up to you -- you don’t have to give up eating to celebrate Lent -- the overall idea is to offer up something that you replace with time with God -- maybe instead of giving up a meal, you give up watching TV for a night and spend that time reading the Bible and praying
-- or maybe you try to take up some new spiritual discipline --- like having a set quiet time with God every day or starting to journal or reading through the entire New Testament during the forty days of Lent
-- the important thing is that you’re taking time with God -- that you’re using this season to examine your life and to get ready to celebrate Easter and what Jesus has done for us all
-- so, as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to go ahead and take a moment and think about your life -- think about where you’ve been and what Jesus has done for you -- and take a hard, honest look at yourself and see if you need to make any changes in your life and the way you have been living -- and, if so, then confess your sins to God ask Jesus to forgive you and give you a new start this morning
-- this is what Lent is all about -- this is what the cross is all about -- this is what Jesus is all about
-- let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 4:1-2
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
-- I want you to think for a moment about gifts -- everybody loves gifts, don’t they? -- we love to give them -- and we love to get them -- there’s just something about seeing a nicely wrapped package with your name on it that gets your heart beating just a little bit faster -- especially if there’s something that you’ve been wanting and you think that this just might be it
-- I was thinking about gifts this morning and I came to the realization that I am 44 years old -- you know what that means? -- that means I have been through 44 Christmases -- 44 birthdays -- and countless other gift-receiving events throughout my life -- conservatively thinking, I have probably received over 1,000 gifts since I was born -- and if you’re somewhere around my age, then that’s probably true for you, too
-- but you know what? -- even though somebody took the time to go out and purchase every one of those gifts for me and then they wrapped them and wrote my name on them and gave them to me on a special occasion -- and even though that gift might have been really special to me at the time -- for the life of me, I just can’t remember them all
-- it occurred to me that I can’t even remember most of the gifts that I’ve gotten in my life -- in fact, when I tried to sit down and think about all the gifts I have gotten over the years, I could only remember a handful of them out of the thousand or so that I have received in my life
-- but, I can tell you what I do remember about all of those gift-giving occasions, especially the big one -- especially Christmas
-- when I sit down and think about Christmas -- I don’t think about the gifts that I got -- when I think about Christmas, what I remember is going to Grandma’s -- when I was a kid, that was what we would do -- we didn’t have any family up here -- all of our immediate family was down in Florida -- so every Christmas, we would load up and head to Grandma’s
-- we usually had to wait for Daddy to get done loading greens on Christmas Eve, but as soon as he got home -- no matter how late it was -- we’d load up the car and head south -- driving for four hours or so until we finally saw that great big mailbox that said, “Lee,” on it and we turned down that narrow, bumpy lane that led to Grandma’s house -- scraping the bottom of our car as we drove down it -- that is what we did every year -- and that’s what I remember most about Christmas
-- and like I said, thinking back on it, it’s not the gifts that I remember -- the best part of being at Grandma’s happened after the gifts had been opened -- when the whole family -- all six of the kids and their spouses and all seven of us grandkids would gather on the front porch with Grandma and Granddaddy after lunch
-- and while the kids played with their new toys -- the adults reminisced -- they talked about memories of past Christmases -- memories of growing up in the country in Florida -- memories of life together
-- this is what I remember most about Christmas -- not the gifts -- not the trees -- not the tinsel -- but these moments that our family would gather -- these moments when we would be reminded of who we were -- of our place in the world -- of the things that really mattered
II. The Season of Lent
-- this morning, we’re going to talk about just such a moment -- a moment in time when our church families stop what we’re doing -- and we gather together to talk and to share and to be reminded of who we are -- of our place in this world -- and of the things that really matter -- this is what the Christian Season of Lent is all about
-- now, before we go too far, let me make sure you understand that I’m talking about Lent -- L-E-N-T -- not lint -- L-I-N-T
-- I read about this preacher who was giving his first sermon at the start of Lent -- and so, during the children’s service, he asked the children who had gathered around him if they knew what Lent was -- one 8-year-old boy said, “I do” -- the preacher said, “Well, great -- why don’t you tell us all?” -- so the boy reached into his pocket -- fished around for a moment -- and then pulled out a handful of lint and showed it to the church -- “This is lint”
-- yes, that is one type of lint -- but that's not the type of Lent we're going to talk about this morning -- we are going to talk about the season of Lent -- the period in the Christian Calendar where we take a moment to stop in the middle of our busy lives and intentionally spend time remembering -- remembering what is important -- and remembering who we are as Christians -- as we prepare to celebrate Easter together again
-- the word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, "lencten" -- meaning spring -- the time of the year when the days grow long -- it begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for forty days -- not counting Sundays -- and ends on the Saturday before Easter
-- the season of Lent is not in the Bible -- it was started in the early days of the church as a remembrance of two events in the life of our Lord where He took time out from the world to spend a moment with the Father and to prepare for what the Father was about to do through Him
-- the first event that Lent is based on happens at the start of Jesus’ public ministry -- look back at the passage that we opened with in Luke 4
1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
-- this passage happens immediately after Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist -- Luke tells us here that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit -- as we talked about a few weeks ago, to be filled with the Holy Spirit means more than just being filled up like a cup -- it means being filled with the presence of God like a sail on a ship is filled with wind to the point that the Spirit gives direction and meaning and purpose to your life
-- that’s what we see right here -- the time has come for Jesus to begin His public ministry and the Spirit has completely filled Him and leads Him out into the desert
-- that seems kind of strange, doesn’t it -- here Jesus had just been baptized and the Spirit of God came and rested on Him like a dove and the voice of God spoke out from heaven saying, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”
-- Jesus is getting ready to carry the message of salvation to the world -- but, rather than leading Jesus to where the people were -- rather than leading Jesus into Jerusalem or to Rome or to any other large city in that time -- Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert -- why?
-- because Jesus needed to spend a moment with God -- He needed to take a moment just to be with God and to prepare Himself for what He was about to do -- and so, for 40 days, Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness and spent time with God -- all the while suffering temptation by the devil who was trying to keep Him from His appointed task -- this is the first event that the Season of Lent is based on
-- the second event that Lent is based on is Holy Week, starting on Palm Sunday and ending with the crucifixion
-- now, while Jesus was always seen going off to spend time alone with God while He was ministering here on earth, we really see that pattern during the last week of His life -- as things started to get difficult during that last week -- as opposition increased and as Satan started to do everything he could to keep Jesus from accomplishing His task here on earth, Jesus would take a moment out of His busy life and go out with His disciples to the Mount of Olives to pray and to fast and to spend time with the Father
-- let’s look at that real quick
-- flip over, if you would, to Luke 22:39-44
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him
-- now, there’s an important phrase there in verse 39 I want you to see -- Jesus went out to the Mount of Olives “as usual” -- this was something that He did on a regular basis -- it wasn’t just a one-time thing -- it was a habit
-- as Christians, we’re called to imitate Christ -- in fact, the word “Christian” literally means, “little Christ” -- Jesus routinely would go out and spend a special moment with God in a quiet place to just rest in His presence -- to just spend time with Him -- and so should we
-- verse 40
40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
-- here we see Jesus getting ready for what is about to happen -- He knows that He is about to be betrayed by Judas -- He knows that He is going to be put into the hands of His enemies -- He knows that He will be beaten and mocked and crucified -- He knows that the sins of the world are about to fall on Him -- that He is going to take into Himself all the sins that you and I and everyone who has ever lived has committed
-- and, what does He do? -- how does He get ready to suffer on the cross for our sins? -- He takes a moment to just spend time with God in prayer -- while the world around Him was melting down, Jesus withdrew to the Mount of Olives -- to a quiet place where He could be alone with God -- and He spent time with the Father in order to prepare Himself for the trials to come -- for the burden that He had to carry -- for the suffering that He had to endure
-- Luke tells us that Jesus’ moment with God was so intense that as He prayed, He actually sweat drops of blood
-- these two events -- the 40-days in the wilderness and the experience of Holy Week -- were special moments for Jesus -- periods of spiritual reflection and preparation for the task ahead of Him -- they were times for Jesus to strengthen Himself against the temptations of the devil and to prepare to accept the responsibility for the sins of the world
-- following the example of Christ, the early church developed the season of Lent as a time of reflection, prayer, and strengthening to help Christians get ready to celebrate Easter -- Lent was developed to be a special moment for us -- a time when we could take a break from our normal routines -- to stop the world for just a moment -- so we could spend time with God and prepare ourselves for Easter
-- it is also a time for us to look honestly at who we are to see if we are truly walking with God or if we have sin in our lives that we need to repent of -- and it is a time when we try to share in the sorrows and sufferings of Christ so we can better appreciate what He has done for us and who we are in Him
III. Ash Wednesday
-- as I said, the season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday -- traditionally, on Ash Wednesday, a special service is held where people are marked with the sign of a cross on their forehead in ashes that they are to wear the whole day as a reminder of who they are and of what Christ has done for us
-- there are several reasons why we use ashes -- first, they are a reminder of who and what we are -- the Bible tells us that we came from dust and that we will return to dust -- if you remember, in the Book of Genesis it says that Adam was created from the dust of the ground and that he only became alive when God breathed the breath of life into him -- so, the ashes remind us that without God in our lives, we are just like dust -- without life and without worth
-- the ashes also remind us that anything we do in our own power -- apart from God -- are worthless -- the Bible tells us that there is nothing that we can do on our own that has any value to God -- that’s why we can’t work our way to heaven -- our lives and our actions only have value if God works through us and gives us meaning and purpose -- so the ashes remind us that we have to depend on God throughout our whole lives
-- the third reason we use ashes is that ashes have traditionally been a sign of repentance and mourning in the Bible -- back in the Bible days, it was common for those who were sorry for their sins and who wanted to make a new beginning with God to cover themselves with sackcloth and ashes -- that’s why it says in Job 42:6, "I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." -- ashes are a symbol of our repentance and a sign that we seek forgiveness through God's grace
-- the ashes are placed on the foreheads in the sign of a cross as a reminder that after we have mourned and repented of our sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit -- traditionally, the ashes used on Ash Wednesday would be mixed with oil to symbolize the presence of the Holy Spirit who works to keep us holy and who intercedes on our behalf
-- one more thing about the ashes -- the ashes used on Ash Wednesday usually come from palm fronds -- palms are symbols of victory and were waved before Christ as He entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday -- by making the ashes from palms we are reminded of how we have victory through Christ's death and resurrection
-- so, the overall purpose of putting the ashes on your forehead on Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent is to remind us that we belong to Jesus and to celebrate what He has done in our lives
IV. Closing
-- then, for the next forty days, people are encouraged to break from their normal routines so they can spend a special moment with God every day
-- traditionally, this involved fasting and prayer -- and people would give up one meal a day or one day a week and not eat -- and then they would use that time that they would normally be preparing their meal and eating to just spend time with Jesus -- to have a special moment with Him
-- but, it’s really all up to you -- you don’t have to give up eating to celebrate Lent -- the overall idea is to offer up something that you replace with time with God -- maybe instead of giving up a meal, you give up watching TV for a night and spend that time reading the Bible and praying
-- or maybe you try to take up some new spiritual discipline --- like having a set quiet time with God every day or starting to journal or reading through the entire New Testament during the forty days of Lent
-- the important thing is that you’re taking time with God -- that you’re using this season to examine your life and to get ready to celebrate Easter and what Jesus has done for us all
-- so, as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to go ahead and take a moment and think about your life -- think about where you’ve been and what Jesus has done for you -- and take a hard, honest look at yourself and see if you need to make any changes in your life and the way you have been living -- and, if so, then confess your sins to God ask Jesus to forgive you and give you a new start this morning
-- this is what Lent is all about -- this is what the cross is all about -- this is what Jesus is all about
-- let us pray
SERMON: WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN
6 March 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Isaiah 30:15-22
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
-- I know it’s a little odd to have church in a doggie daycare, but there are advantages -- we’re not having to pay to rent a facility -- we have a nice open space to worship in -- and we are joined in our worship by our furry and fuzzy friends
-- one of the things I have enjoyed since we have been worshiping together in here is the way the animals join in our worship of God -- you’ve probably all noticed how the birds, especially the parakeets, just join in when we’re singing praise songs in our worship services
-- I’ve been up here a lot of times before and there’s music playing and the television is on and the birds aren’t singing like that -- but when we join together and start praising God, they just seem to join in
-- I’m constantly reminded of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees on Palm Sunday -- when they complained to Him about the people shouting “Hosanna” as He rode into Jerusalem on that Sunday, He said that if the people were quiet, the rocks and the trees would cry out -- the message that Jesus was telling us is that all creation joins us in our worship of God, although we may not always hear it
-- I was thinking of that as I started working on this sermon and it reminded me of the story of a parakeet named Chippie that Max Lucado talked about in one of his books -- Lucado said that Chippie’s owner loved him very much because he was such a happy little bird -- he would sit at the window and watch the other birds outside and as the sun came up, he would just sing and sing and sing
-- but then Chippie had a bad day -- his owner was cleaning the bottom of the Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner when the telephone rang -- she reached for the telephone without removing the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner from the cage, which was a mistake -- as she reached for the phone, the nozzle came up off the bottom of the cage and pointed right at Chippie and sucked him into the vacuum cleaner
-- when she heard the noise, she looked in the cage and saw Chippie was missing and immediately, she dropped the phone and turned off the vacuum cleaner and ripped open the dust bag to rescue her bird -- Chippie was a real mess, but he was alive -- she ran to the kitchen sink and turned the water on full force on the bird -- almost drowning him in the process
-- then, she ran to the bathroom and started trying to dry Chippie with her hair dryer -- wide open and on high heat -- almost cooking him in the process
-- finally, she got the bird dry and put him back in his cage and closed the door
-- several days later, a friend called and asked how Chippie was doing -- “He’s alive,” she said, “but he just sits in his cage and stares out into space -- and,” she added thoughtfully, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore”
-- how many of you can relate to what happened to Chippie? -- you’re just going through life, minding your own business, singing your song -- and then all of a sudden -- without warning -- life starts to suck and you get hit with a bad day
-- sometimes it’s not big things -- sometimes it’s just minor issues -- the stuff of life -- losing your keys -- losing your phone -- just minor irritations
-- but, sometimes, it is the big things -- a few weeks ago, we looked at the introduction to the Book of Job when we were talking about hearing God through our circumstances -- Job got hit with a lot of bad things all at once -- and sometimes that happens to us, as well
-- bad things -- really bad things -- come our way -- trials and tribulations -- afflictions and adversities -- things like sickness or death -- crime or violence -- wayward children -- cars break down -- our finances tank -- everything we touch -- everything we do -- just goes wrong
-- and we don’t know why -- what do you do when bad things happen? -- how do you respond?
II. Scripture Lesson -- Isaiah 30:15-22
-- well, that’s the question that the Israelites were facing in this passage from Isaiah -- just to give you the background -- at this time, the nation of Israel had split up and divided into two kingdoms -- Israel and Judah
-- Israel was the kingdom in the north of the Promised Land -- it had just been attacked by the Assyrians and all of the people were carried off into exile -- the northern kingdom had been destroyed
-- Isaiah lived in the south -- in Judah -- the kingdom where Jerusalem and the Temple of God was located -- the people of Judah had stayed out of the fight while the northern kingdom was being attacked by the Assyrians -- they thought if they minded their own business, Assyria would leave them alone and trouble would pass them by and they could just go on enjoying their life
-- but, now, as the Book of Isaiah tells us, the Assyrians have turned on them -- and are attacking towns and villages throughout Judah -- one moment, life is going on just like normal -- and, in the next, bad things are happening
-- the people don’t know why this is happening -- they don’t understand why they are being attacked -- why they are suffering the way they are -- so God speaks to them here through the prophet Isaiah -- let’s see what we can learn about how to respond to life when bad things happen through what God tells Isaiah here
-- look back with me at verse 15 again
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
-- when the Assyrians started threatening the people of Judah, the leaders of the Jewish people tried to make a deal with Egypt to come to their rescue and to fight on their behalf -- even though they were the people of God, when trouble came their way, they looked to Egypt for strength and salvation
-- so, God rebukes here for what they have done -- He reminds them that salvation and strength come from Him and not from man -- He tells them that if they had repented for their sins, He would have given them rest -- If they had come to Him with humble and trusting hearts, they would know the peace and quiet of His strength
-- He would have fought the battle for them, but they would have none of it -- instead, they went to Egypt -- and when that didn’t work their plan was to run and leave their troubles behind
-- so, what do you do when bad things happen? -- where do you go for salvation and strength?
-- in order to really answer that question, we first have to know why the bad things are happening -- the Bible teaches that the things that we call “bad,” -- trials and tribulations and troubles in our lives -- come to us for a couple of different reasons
-- first, as we see here in this passage, God will allow trouble to come into our midst as a consequence of our sins -- as a means to correct us and to bring us home when we have strayed from His path
-- the Israelites had quit trusting in God with all their hearts and souls and mind and strength -- instead, they were just going through the motions of religion and were trusting more in the strength of man and in their idols for their salvation
-- instead of asking God to help when bad things happened, they asked Egypt -- instead of turning to God, they prayed to their idols
-- so, God allowed this calamity to come into their lives to get their attention and to lead them back to Him
-- the other night I came up here with Kim for the graduation of her dog obedience class and she had me work with our schnauzer, Cookie, along with the class -- I rarely walk Cookie on leash or do obedience with her, and I realized that night just how strong-willed that little dog was -- she did some things good -- but, on other things, she just dug her heels in and refused to do what I told her to do -- and so I had to force her to obey
-- you see, I knew what she needed to do -- I knew that if she obeyed and did what I said, she would get a treat -- but she had other ideas -- so when I told her to go down, and she didn’t, I pulled her down with the leash -- the opposite direction from where she thought she wanted to be -- and she fought against me, but eventually gave in and got the treat
-- that’s one way God uses adversity in our lives -- that’s what we see here in this passage --when we run away from God and go in a direction He doesn’t want us to go, He will allow adversity and affliction into our lives to force us to come back the right way
-- the Israelites had turned away from God in their faith and in their trust, so God used the Assyrians to lead them to repentance and true salvation
-- the second way God uses affliction and adversity in our life is to mold our character -- Hezekiah, the King of Judah, was a Godly man -- he was opposed to turning to Egypt for help, but he allowed himself to be swayed by the arguments of his advisors -- he gave in to peer pressure
-- so, God used the Assyrian attack to help Hezekiah grow in his faith -- to help him become more mature so that he would stick to the right path and not give in when others tried to tell him otherwise
-- In James 1:1-3, we read that God allows trials and tribulations to come our way to help us develop character and to allow us to become mature in our faith
-- it’s kind of like the refining of silver -- in order to refine silver, the silversmith has to put the silver in the hottest part of the fire in order to burn away the impurities -- as the silver is subjected to heat, the impurities come off and the silver is made more and more pure until it is fully refined -- that is the way God uses adversity and affliction in the life of a believer -- not to punish us or discipline us for disobedience -- but to burn off any impurities in our life and to make us holy and mature in His eyes
-- so, when bad things start to happen, the first thing we should do is to find out why bad things are happening -- we need to examine ourselves and to ask God if we are sinning against Him -- if we are in disobedience to His will and if He is trying to get us to repent -- or if this trial and affliction we are going through is just part of God’s refining process to mold us into the people He has called us to be
-- if He shows you that you are in sin -- that you are living in disobedience to His will -- then you must repent of your sins -- this means more than just asking forgiveness -- this means more than just confessing your sins -- it means that you actually turn away from whatever it is you are doing -- you stop what you’re doing and you turn 180 degrees and you start following God instead
-- and then you ask God to give you the strength to walk with Him rather than in the path you have been walking
-- one important thing to see here is that God tells the Israelites that He is on their side -- He doesn’t want them to suffer -- in verse 18 He says that He longs to be gracious to them -- He rises to show them compassion -- He wants the best for their life -- but they have to choose it -- they have to choose to turn away from what they have been doing -- they have to repent and accept what He has for them instead
-- just like my dog Cookie had to turn away from fighting me about going down so that she could receive the treat I had for her
-- and, what happens when we repent? -- verse 19
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
-- as soon as God hears us call for forgiveness -- as soon as He sees us repent -- God moves -- He springs into action and takes away all our tears-- He allowed adversity and affliction into our lives -- not because He was trying to harm us -- but because He was trying to teach us--either to show us the error of our ways or to refine us as silver so we would be holy as He is holy
-- God says here that when we are walking with Him, He walks with us -- He shows us the path we should follow-- and He speaks in our ears and in our minds and tells us, “This is the way -- walk in it rather than the path you want to follow”
-- in verse 22 we see the picture of a people who are finally getting it -- who understand why bad things have happened to them -- who recognize and confess their sin and turn completely away from it by getting rid of everything in their lives that had defiled them -- everything that had kept them from following God and turning to Him in the first place -- so that God would rescue them and show them His salvation and empower them through His strength
III. Closing
-- in 1929, Georgia Tech was playing the University of California in the Rose Bowl -- they were losing the game and were making a final drive to the goal for the winning touchdown when Roy Riegels, a California defender, recovered a Georgia Tech fumble, then turned and ran sixty-five yards in the wrong direction -- one of Riegels’ own teammates had to tackle to stop him from crossing the wrong goal line -- on the next play, Georgia Tech scored and went on to win
-- from then on, Riegels was known throughout the country as “Wrong Way Riegels” and endured a lifetime of ridicule
-- sometimes, we are also “wrong way people” -- sometimes bad things happen to us because we are going the wrong way in our life and God wants to stop us before we cross the wrong goal line
-- so, He allows bad things to come into our life -- not because He hates us -- not because He wants to do us harm --but because He loves us and wants the best for our lives
-- God uses these bad things to lead us back to Him when we are in sin and disobedience -- and He uses them to refine us and to make us holy as He is holy
-- bad things happen -- but our response should always be to look to God in the midst of the storm -- knowing that His sunshine is on the other side of the clouds and that He wants to bring us out of the darkness of trouble and into the light of His love better than we were to start with
-- I don’t know what trials you may be suffering through right now -- I don’t know what afflictions or adversities you may be experiencing or why -- but if you need prayer, I would be happy to pray with you and to help carry your burden to Christ
-- as we close, I want to invite you to lift up your needs to God -- and if you want me to pray with you, either come up here as the last song is playing or let me know after the service, and I will pray with you
-- Let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Isaiah 30:15-22
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
-- I know it’s a little odd to have church in a doggie daycare, but there are advantages -- we’re not having to pay to rent a facility -- we have a nice open space to worship in -- and we are joined in our worship by our furry and fuzzy friends
-- one of the things I have enjoyed since we have been worshiping together in here is the way the animals join in our worship of God -- you’ve probably all noticed how the birds, especially the parakeets, just join in when we’re singing praise songs in our worship services
-- I’ve been up here a lot of times before and there’s music playing and the television is on and the birds aren’t singing like that -- but when we join together and start praising God, they just seem to join in
-- I’m constantly reminded of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees on Palm Sunday -- when they complained to Him about the people shouting “Hosanna” as He rode into Jerusalem on that Sunday, He said that if the people were quiet, the rocks and the trees would cry out -- the message that Jesus was telling us is that all creation joins us in our worship of God, although we may not always hear it
-- I was thinking of that as I started working on this sermon and it reminded me of the story of a parakeet named Chippie that Max Lucado talked about in one of his books -- Lucado said that Chippie’s owner loved him very much because he was such a happy little bird -- he would sit at the window and watch the other birds outside and as the sun came up, he would just sing and sing and sing
-- but then Chippie had a bad day -- his owner was cleaning the bottom of the Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner when the telephone rang -- she reached for the telephone without removing the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner from the cage, which was a mistake -- as she reached for the phone, the nozzle came up off the bottom of the cage and pointed right at Chippie and sucked him into the vacuum cleaner
-- when she heard the noise, she looked in the cage and saw Chippie was missing and immediately, she dropped the phone and turned off the vacuum cleaner and ripped open the dust bag to rescue her bird -- Chippie was a real mess, but he was alive -- she ran to the kitchen sink and turned the water on full force on the bird -- almost drowning him in the process
-- then, she ran to the bathroom and started trying to dry Chippie with her hair dryer -- wide open and on high heat -- almost cooking him in the process
-- finally, she got the bird dry and put him back in his cage and closed the door
-- several days later, a friend called and asked how Chippie was doing -- “He’s alive,” she said, “but he just sits in his cage and stares out into space -- and,” she added thoughtfully, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore”
-- how many of you can relate to what happened to Chippie? -- you’re just going through life, minding your own business, singing your song -- and then all of a sudden -- without warning -- life starts to suck and you get hit with a bad day
-- sometimes it’s not big things -- sometimes it’s just minor issues -- the stuff of life -- losing your keys -- losing your phone -- just minor irritations
-- but, sometimes, it is the big things -- a few weeks ago, we looked at the introduction to the Book of Job when we were talking about hearing God through our circumstances -- Job got hit with a lot of bad things all at once -- and sometimes that happens to us, as well
-- bad things -- really bad things -- come our way -- trials and tribulations -- afflictions and adversities -- things like sickness or death -- crime or violence -- wayward children -- cars break down -- our finances tank -- everything we touch -- everything we do -- just goes wrong
-- and we don’t know why -- what do you do when bad things happen? -- how do you respond?
II. Scripture Lesson -- Isaiah 30:15-22
-- well, that’s the question that the Israelites were facing in this passage from Isaiah -- just to give you the background -- at this time, the nation of Israel had split up and divided into two kingdoms -- Israel and Judah
-- Israel was the kingdom in the north of the Promised Land -- it had just been attacked by the Assyrians and all of the people were carried off into exile -- the northern kingdom had been destroyed
-- Isaiah lived in the south -- in Judah -- the kingdom where Jerusalem and the Temple of God was located -- the people of Judah had stayed out of the fight while the northern kingdom was being attacked by the Assyrians -- they thought if they minded their own business, Assyria would leave them alone and trouble would pass them by and they could just go on enjoying their life
-- but, now, as the Book of Isaiah tells us, the Assyrians have turned on them -- and are attacking towns and villages throughout Judah -- one moment, life is going on just like normal -- and, in the next, bad things are happening
-- the people don’t know why this is happening -- they don’t understand why they are being attacked -- why they are suffering the way they are -- so God speaks to them here through the prophet Isaiah -- let’s see what we can learn about how to respond to life when bad things happen through what God tells Isaiah here
-- look back with me at verse 15 again
15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. 16 You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift! 17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.” 18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
-- when the Assyrians started threatening the people of Judah, the leaders of the Jewish people tried to make a deal with Egypt to come to their rescue and to fight on their behalf -- even though they were the people of God, when trouble came their way, they looked to Egypt for strength and salvation
-- so, God rebukes here for what they have done -- He reminds them that salvation and strength come from Him and not from man -- He tells them that if they had repented for their sins, He would have given them rest -- If they had come to Him with humble and trusting hearts, they would know the peace and quiet of His strength
-- He would have fought the battle for them, but they would have none of it -- instead, they went to Egypt -- and when that didn’t work their plan was to run and leave their troubles behind
-- so, what do you do when bad things happen? -- where do you go for salvation and strength?
-- in order to really answer that question, we first have to know why the bad things are happening -- the Bible teaches that the things that we call “bad,” -- trials and tribulations and troubles in our lives -- come to us for a couple of different reasons
-- first, as we see here in this passage, God will allow trouble to come into our midst as a consequence of our sins -- as a means to correct us and to bring us home when we have strayed from His path
-- the Israelites had quit trusting in God with all their hearts and souls and mind and strength -- instead, they were just going through the motions of religion and were trusting more in the strength of man and in their idols for their salvation
-- instead of asking God to help when bad things happened, they asked Egypt -- instead of turning to God, they prayed to their idols
-- so, God allowed this calamity to come into their lives to get their attention and to lead them back to Him
-- the other night I came up here with Kim for the graduation of her dog obedience class and she had me work with our schnauzer, Cookie, along with the class -- I rarely walk Cookie on leash or do obedience with her, and I realized that night just how strong-willed that little dog was -- she did some things good -- but, on other things, she just dug her heels in and refused to do what I told her to do -- and so I had to force her to obey
-- you see, I knew what she needed to do -- I knew that if she obeyed and did what I said, she would get a treat -- but she had other ideas -- so when I told her to go down, and she didn’t, I pulled her down with the leash -- the opposite direction from where she thought she wanted to be -- and she fought against me, but eventually gave in and got the treat
-- that’s one way God uses adversity in our lives -- that’s what we see here in this passage --when we run away from God and go in a direction He doesn’t want us to go, He will allow adversity and affliction into our lives to force us to come back the right way
-- the Israelites had turned away from God in their faith and in their trust, so God used the Assyrians to lead them to repentance and true salvation
-- the second way God uses affliction and adversity in our life is to mold our character -- Hezekiah, the King of Judah, was a Godly man -- he was opposed to turning to Egypt for help, but he allowed himself to be swayed by the arguments of his advisors -- he gave in to peer pressure
-- so, God used the Assyrian attack to help Hezekiah grow in his faith -- to help him become more mature so that he would stick to the right path and not give in when others tried to tell him otherwise
-- In James 1:1-3, we read that God allows trials and tribulations to come our way to help us develop character and to allow us to become mature in our faith
-- it’s kind of like the refining of silver -- in order to refine silver, the silversmith has to put the silver in the hottest part of the fire in order to burn away the impurities -- as the silver is subjected to heat, the impurities come off and the silver is made more and more pure until it is fully refined -- that is the way God uses adversity and affliction in the life of a believer -- not to punish us or discipline us for disobedience -- but to burn off any impurities in our life and to make us holy and mature in His eyes
-- so, when bad things start to happen, the first thing we should do is to find out why bad things are happening -- we need to examine ourselves and to ask God if we are sinning against Him -- if we are in disobedience to His will and if He is trying to get us to repent -- or if this trial and affliction we are going through is just part of God’s refining process to mold us into the people He has called us to be
-- if He shows you that you are in sin -- that you are living in disobedience to His will -- then you must repent of your sins -- this means more than just asking forgiveness -- this means more than just confessing your sins -- it means that you actually turn away from whatever it is you are doing -- you stop what you’re doing and you turn 180 degrees and you start following God instead
-- and then you ask God to give you the strength to walk with Him rather than in the path you have been walking
-- one important thing to see here is that God tells the Israelites that He is on their side -- He doesn’t want them to suffer -- in verse 18 He says that He longs to be gracious to them -- He rises to show them compassion -- He wants the best for their life -- but they have to choose it -- they have to choose to turn away from what they have been doing -- they have to repent and accept what He has for them instead
-- just like my dog Cookie had to turn away from fighting me about going down so that she could receive the treat I had for her
-- and, what happens when we repent? -- verse 19
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 22 Then you will desecrate your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”
-- as soon as God hears us call for forgiveness -- as soon as He sees us repent -- God moves -- He springs into action and takes away all our tears-- He allowed adversity and affliction into our lives -- not because He was trying to harm us -- but because He was trying to teach us--either to show us the error of our ways or to refine us as silver so we would be holy as He is holy
-- God says here that when we are walking with Him, He walks with us -- He shows us the path we should follow-- and He speaks in our ears and in our minds and tells us, “This is the way -- walk in it rather than the path you want to follow”
-- in verse 22 we see the picture of a people who are finally getting it -- who understand why bad things have happened to them -- who recognize and confess their sin and turn completely away from it by getting rid of everything in their lives that had defiled them -- everything that had kept them from following God and turning to Him in the first place -- so that God would rescue them and show them His salvation and empower them through His strength
III. Closing
-- in 1929, Georgia Tech was playing the University of California in the Rose Bowl -- they were losing the game and were making a final drive to the goal for the winning touchdown when Roy Riegels, a California defender, recovered a Georgia Tech fumble, then turned and ran sixty-five yards in the wrong direction -- one of Riegels’ own teammates had to tackle to stop him from crossing the wrong goal line -- on the next play, Georgia Tech scored and went on to win
-- from then on, Riegels was known throughout the country as “Wrong Way Riegels” and endured a lifetime of ridicule
-- sometimes, we are also “wrong way people” -- sometimes bad things happen to us because we are going the wrong way in our life and God wants to stop us before we cross the wrong goal line
-- so, He allows bad things to come into our life -- not because He hates us -- not because He wants to do us harm --but because He loves us and wants the best for our lives
-- God uses these bad things to lead us back to Him when we are in sin and disobedience -- and He uses them to refine us and to make us holy as He is holy
-- bad things happen -- but our response should always be to look to God in the midst of the storm -- knowing that His sunshine is on the other side of the clouds and that He wants to bring us out of the darkness of trouble and into the light of His love better than we were to start with
-- I don’t know what trials you may be suffering through right now -- I don’t know what afflictions or adversities you may be experiencing or why -- but if you need prayer, I would be happy to pray with you and to help carry your burden to Christ
-- as we close, I want to invite you to lift up your needs to God -- and if you want me to pray with you, either come up here as the last song is playing or let me know after the service, and I will pray with you
-- Let us pray
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)