Do you remember celebrating your first Christmas? Go back into the recesses of your mind and try to recall the first Christmas that you can remember celebrating. I can remember a tree, and all the presents underneath. The tinsel and the ornaments. The stockings hanging from the mantel. Mistletoe over the doorway between the kitchen and the den. I can remember the anticipation of Christmas, and I can distinctly remember my first Christmas prayers. I prayed and prayed and prayed for a gokart. I was totally consumed with wanting Santa Claus to bring me a brand new gokart. In all honesty, I don’t think that the birth of Jesus factored into my first Christmas celebration. When was the first time you truly celebrated Christmas? When it dawned on you that Christmas was not about the presents and the tinsel and the ornaments....and it is not about the material gifts.....when was the first time you truly celebrated the meaning of Christmas?
Gerald Coffee said his first “real” celebration of Christmas came in 1965 after his plane was shot down over Vietnam. He was captured and placed in a POW camp, and when Christmas rolled around, the guards showed about the only compassion they had ever shown - in the form of three chocolate bars wrapped in shinny foil. One red. One green. One silver. Bordering upon starvation, Coffee, relished the chocolate. And then he took the foil wrappers and fashioned them into Christmas symbols. A star. An angel. A cross. With pieces of straw, Coffee hung the ornaments from the wall of his cell. He said he laid on the hard floor that Christmas night looking up at the ornaments. The lights from the tower would catch the foil and sparkle. Everything would fade away. His pain. His captivity. His hunger. His loneliness. His worrying for family back home. He said for the first time in his life, he truly celebrated Christmas. They could take everything from him, even his life. But they couldn’t take away his faith in his Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
If you have allowed yourself to get caught up in all the periphery of Christmas, I’m glad you came today. We need to let God’s Word minister to us and remind us of the real celebration of Christmas - that our Redeemer has come. And to understand the real meaning of Christmas, we have to go back....way back....beyond our earliest memories...even far beyond a particular moment 2000 years ago marking a particular miraculous birth.
You will recall that last Sunday we briefly examined the prophecy of Isaiah which points clearly to the coming of the Messiah some 700 years prior His birth. A few enlightened souls were celebrating the birth of Jesus 700 years before He was born What were they celebrating? What were men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and others looking forward to? As we seek the biblical answer to that question, our understanding of what really happened on the first Christmas begins to deepen significantly. We begin to discover that the heart of our celebration is the reality that Christmas is the fulfillment of God’s great plan to send a Redeemer, His Son Jesus, who would bring us back to the Father. Paul sums it up in Galatians 4:4: “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son...”
What does Paul mean by the phrase - “when the fullness of time...”
If you have your Bibles, I encourage you to turn with me to Genesis Chapter 3. Earlier in Genesis, we read of the creation of the Universe by the power of Almighty God our Father. It is very clear to me as I read the first two chapters of Genesis that Moses (the author) has a primary concern with the record of creation. Moses, who is inspired by the Holy Spirit, isn’t nearly as concerned with the question “how did God create,” but “why did God create?” The answer? God creates a Universe with man and woman at the peak of His creative work because He wants to be in a loving relationship with those whom He has created? Love is the reason. The love shared between the Father and His beloved children.
And so maybe one of the most important question you should be asking as we reflect on the Christmas Story is, “Why did God create me? What does He want with me?” He wants a loving relationship with you. He wants to be your Father. He wants to be able to call you His very own son or daughter. God made you for this reason, and your life will find its meaning, purpose, and fulfillment when you truly begin to love Him as your Father, and rejoice in His love for you.
Do you really know God as your Father? Do you truly love Him as a Father? Or, in all honesty, would you say you “know God,” but don’t really feel a love for Him. Recently, I heard someone describe their relationship with God as being “distant at best and often estranged...he’s my God but I don’t really see Him as a Father.” Could you have said that? And if so, do you understand why you feel that way?
Again, we have to go back to Genesis 3 to begin understanding why we sometimes feel distant or even estranged from God the Father. Adam and Eve were created to share in a loving relationship with the Father, but they chose to follow the “Father of Lies.” A false father. Satan himself manifest in the form of a serpent. Satan is a “false father” who doesn’t create children. He abducts them. He lures them away and abuses them, and perverts their identity, like that horrible man we all saw in the news several months ago, who lured an 11 year old little girl, Jaycee Dugard, away from a bus stop, away from her loving parents. This horrible man held that poor little girl captive in a filthy tent in his back yard for 18 years, doing all kinds of unspeakably horrible things to her, even for a while convincing her that he was her “father” who “loved” her. A false father. A father of lies who wants pain and destruction and death.
The difference between that poor little girl and Adam and Eve is that Adam and Eve actually chose their false father. They chose to let themselves be taken, and ever since the Fall you and I allow ourselves be lured away every day. It’s called sin. Every sin we commit is in effect saying to God, “I’m going to follow a different father... I want to recreate myself in the image of another father.”
Can you imagine how much pain it brings to God’s heart? No. We can’t begin to imagine it. He created them in His own image. He provided them with everything they would ever need, and much more. Everyday as the Father watched His children in the garden, it brought great joy to His heart. He loves them. He’s so proud of them. He delights in everything they do. And then one day they blatantly forsake Him and go the way of sin. No words can adequately describe how God felt. A heartbroken Father, but a determined Father too.
That’s Genesis 3 is so important. We read in Genesis 3 that God is determined to battle the evil that has damaged the hearts and lives of His children. God is determined to not give up on His sinful children. He has a plan to redeem them, and the whole Bible from Genesis 3 onward is the record of that plan. He works out His plan through the great patriarchs of the Old Testament. He works out His plan through His people, Israel. He works out His plan through great events like the Exodus and the giving of the Law. He works out His plan of redemption with everything in the Old Testament pointing toward the fulfillment of the plan. And when the time was just right, the Father sends the Son to be our Redeemer. Jesus is the fulfillment of that plan. “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son...” The “fullness of the time” is Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, who died upon the Cross 33 years later.
The very first glimpse into the redemption we celebrate on Christmas is seen way back in Genesis 3. The plan of redemption begins to unfold when God curses Satan, the false father. Look at Genesis 3:14 and 14:
“And the Lord God said to the serpent, “ Because you have done this, cursed are you...on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; You shall wound Him, but He shall crush your head.”
And we have to wonder, who is this “He.” The Bible says it is Christ It is Jesus of Nazareth, the child of Mary, born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. So what do we, as children of God, have to celebrate this Christmas? God the Father His Son to win back many sons and many daughters to the real Father.
Paul says:
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba Father ” (Galatians 4:4-6)
This is what we celebrate at Christmas - Our Father has won us back. He sends One Son who redeems many sons and daughter, and leads them back into the Father’s loving embrace. We celebrate Christ Jesus who climbed upon the Cross, and through His own suffering and death, crushes the head of the serpent, so that you no long need be held captive by a false father, and so that you can come home and fall into the loving embrace of your true Father.
What an amazingly loving Father we have
My prayer for you this Christmas is that you will be utterly blown away by the Father’s love for you...that when you wake up Christmas morning, you will celebrate the birth of your Redeemer...and that you will understand that Christmas didn’t just happen 2000 years ago. It was all a part of a glorious plan...a plan for you....so that you could really and truly become one of God’s beloved children. Isn’t it worth celebrating? That He would begin planning for your redemption long before you were born...that He would begin working toward your forgiveness long before you fell into your first sin...that He would have His fatherly eye upon you, and that He would send His only begotten Son Jesus to pay the price for you, so that you could be His son, His daughter.
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Son of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:1-3; Luke 15:16-20
I want to try to tie together three texts:
1. Isaiah 40:3.
2. The message of John the Baptist as recorded in all four Gospels.
3. And Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son.
The connection is repentance.
Isaiah prophecied, “prepare the way.”
Skip ahead some 700 years beyond Isaiah, and there is John, coming in from the desert preaching a message that called upon the people of God to repent. All four Gospels see John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3. It was John’s job to help the people prepare the way for the Lord...to build that highway in the desert of their souls for the Lord’s coming. And John says the way we do that is through repentance. And then Jesus shows what repentance looks like in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
Before we tie those texts together, let me ask you: Do you understand repentance? It is often misunderstood. Some people think of repentance as putting yourself on a guilt trip, or beating yourself up for you past indiscretions. Others think repentance is the subject matter for holy roller preachers and legalists; that old time religion of hell fire and brimstone.
I want to encourage you today to let Isaiah, John, and Jesus help you understand repentance in more biblical and gospel oriented terms, because I’m convinced that if you will listen to what he says, your faith will deepen and your life will become a more joyful and loving relationship with the Lord.
Isaiah, John and Jesus want you to think of repentance as a road way. There are many roads you can travel in life but only one road leads you home....only one road leads to the Lord...only one road ends at the doorway of mercy. This is the Gospel road - the road of faith and repentance. The road about which Isaiah prophecied, the road John preached about, the road Jesus walks with us.
What is repentance? It is the heart of the Gospel message.
If you haven’t heard the message to repent, then you haven’t heard the Gospel. 60 times in the New Testament we are called to repent. It was the first sermon Jesus preached. “Repent and believe the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) It was the sermon Jesus commanded His disciples to preach when He sent them out into the world...that “men should repent.” (Mark 6:12) It was the charge Jesus gave to His disciples before He ascended into heaven. “Repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name among all nations.” (Luke 24:47) Jesus came that we might come to Him in faith. Turning toward Jesus is conversion. Turning away from sin is repentance. Any genuine conversion to Christ involves a turning toward Him and turning away from sin. And not just once in a lifetime. All of life is repentance....everyday a journey of turning away from sin in repentance and turning toward Christ in faith. J.I. Packer explains:
Conversion means commitment to God in response to mercy from God and consists of repentance and faith. In Scripture these two overlap. Repentance is not just regretful remorse but a total about-turn in one’s thoughts, aims, and acts, so that one leaves the paths of self-willed disobedience to serve God in faith and faithfulness. Faith is not just believing Christian truth but forsaking self-confidence and man-made hopes to trust wholly in Christ and his cross for pardon, peace, and life, so that henceforth one lives for God in thankful, penitent obedience....What is crucial, is that the marks of conversion—faith and repentance...—should be found in us; otherwise, we cannot be judged Christians at all, whatever experiences we may claim. (Growing in Christ, page 108)
What does repentance look like in life, and how does one repent?
Repentance is both a gift of God and a human responsibility. It is the grace of God at work within His children, which allows us to “come to our senses” like the Prodigal Son. Think back to the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We examined the parable several weeks ago, from the standpoint of the Father’s great love. The parable also paints a perfect picture of repentance. At the beginning of the parable, the prodigal turns away from his father to go his own way. That’s a picture of sin - turning away from the father and going our own way in life. But he came to a place in his journey wherein he discovered that he had allowed sin to strip him of everything good in his life. All sin could give him was misery, hunger, depression, filth and desperate loneliness. That’s when Jesus says, “he came to his senses.” That’s a powerful moment It doesn’t originate in sin. Sin produces not clarity but confusion. And it doesn’t originate within the heart of the Prodigal. Left to his own devices, he would only pursue more sin. The power to come to his senses originates in the Father’s love. When sin had stripped away everything good in life leaving him only misery, one glorious thing remained - the Father’s love. I can see it in my mind’s eye - can you? I see the Prodigal in the darkness and filth of a pigsty of sin, but then, from above, a beam of light shines down upon him. That’s the love of the father, by grace bringing him to his senses.
And then, with the light of the Father’s great love shining upon him, the young man must stand, and turn toward home, and begin taking one step after another. That’s repentance. It is the grace to come to our sense, and the responsibility to turn away from sin and start walking the road that leads back to the Father’s love.
He wants you to take that first step. It’s a step that involves coming to an understanding of your sin...of where sin has led you and where it wants to lead you still...of all that sin has stripped away from your life...but moreover, it’s a step that involves coming to an understanding of what our sin does to the Father. It breaks His heart. It grieves God. It hurts him. And so, as children who are loved, we should mourn over the hurt that we have brought to God who loves more than we can know. True repentance involves grieving over the pain our sin has brought to God.
The next step is to confess that sin. Repentance always involves telling the Father (like the prodigal), “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight...” We have to cry out to God, to pray to God, to ask God to forgive us. And there’s amazing grace in this step of the journey too. Unconfessed sin is a huge burden, but it’s a burden lifted when we say “Father, I have sinned...”
And the next step in true repentance is the conscious decision to forsake sin. We must decide to leave our sins, to bury the old self in the pig sty so that we can put on the new. We must choose to change not only the direction of our life, but who we are going to be (I don’t want to live for myself any longer. I want to be my father’s son again...). We must choose what we are going to spend our time doing...how we are going to think....how we are going to speak...how we are going to act....how we are going to relate to God and to others.
And another step in genuine repentance is training yourself to no longer enjoy sin but to be disgusted by it...seeing it for what it truly is - filth, and what it truly leads to - death. The prodigal had to get to the point in life in which he despised the pig sty he had made of his life. You’ll never really experience true repentance without learning to hate sin for what it does to you and to God. The more you grow to love God, the more you ought to hate your sin. And, the more you hate your sin, the more grace He will give you to continually forsake it.
Faith is the grace to make a personal commitment to Christ. Repentance is the grace to make a personal commitment against sin. Faith and repentance are one and the same journey. You can’t truly repent without faith. Likewise, if you say you have faith but your life shows no evidence of repentance, your faith is suspect.
Have you experienced repentance lately? Have you come to your senses and turned back? Are you working now to prepare a roadway in your heart? Are you traveling that road that leads away from sin’s destructiveness and toward your Father’s embrace? Come to your senses. Turn away from sin and turn toward the Lord. What great love you will find when you travel that road of faith and repentance What great joy you will find when you come home
Bishop J.C. Ryle tells a great story about a prodigal daughter who came home:
“I remember hearing of a mother whose daughter ran away from her, and lived a life of sin. For a long time no one could tell where she was – Yet that daughter came back and was reclaimed. She became a true penitent. She was taught to mourn for her sin. She turned to Christ and believed in Him. Old things passed away, and all things became new. Her mother was asked one day to tell what she had done to bring her daughter back. What means had she used? What steps had she taken? Her reply was a very striking one. She said, I prayed for her night and day.” But that was not all. She went on to say, “I never went to bed at night without leaving my front door unlocked, and the door on the latch. I thought if my daughter came back some night when I was in bed, she should never be able to say that she came to her mother’s home, but could not get in.” And so it turned out. Her daughter came back one night, and tried the door, and found the door open, and at once came in, and to go out and sin no more. That open door was the saving of her soul....a beautiful illustration of the heart of God toward sinners ” (Old Paths, page 424)
There are many roads you can travel in life but only one road leads to the Lord. It is called the road of faith and repentance. At the end of that road, and that road only, is a door of mercy, and you don’t even have to turn the knob. The Father has left it wide open.
1. Isaiah 40:3.
2. The message of John the Baptist as recorded in all four Gospels.
3. And Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son.
The connection is repentance.
Isaiah prophecied, “prepare the way.”
Skip ahead some 700 years beyond Isaiah, and there is John, coming in from the desert preaching a message that called upon the people of God to repent. All four Gospels see John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3. It was John’s job to help the people prepare the way for the Lord...to build that highway in the desert of their souls for the Lord’s coming. And John says the way we do that is through repentance. And then Jesus shows what repentance looks like in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.
Before we tie those texts together, let me ask you: Do you understand repentance? It is often misunderstood. Some people think of repentance as putting yourself on a guilt trip, or beating yourself up for you past indiscretions. Others think repentance is the subject matter for holy roller preachers and legalists; that old time religion of hell fire and brimstone.
I want to encourage you today to let Isaiah, John, and Jesus help you understand repentance in more biblical and gospel oriented terms, because I’m convinced that if you will listen to what he says, your faith will deepen and your life will become a more joyful and loving relationship with the Lord.
Isaiah, John and Jesus want you to think of repentance as a road way. There are many roads you can travel in life but only one road leads you home....only one road leads to the Lord...only one road ends at the doorway of mercy. This is the Gospel road - the road of faith and repentance. The road about which Isaiah prophecied, the road John preached about, the road Jesus walks with us.
What is repentance? It is the heart of the Gospel message.
If you haven’t heard the message to repent, then you haven’t heard the Gospel. 60 times in the New Testament we are called to repent. It was the first sermon Jesus preached. “Repent and believe the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15) It was the sermon Jesus commanded His disciples to preach when He sent them out into the world...that “men should repent.” (Mark 6:12) It was the charge Jesus gave to His disciples before He ascended into heaven. “Repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name among all nations.” (Luke 24:47) Jesus came that we might come to Him in faith. Turning toward Jesus is conversion. Turning away from sin is repentance. Any genuine conversion to Christ involves a turning toward Him and turning away from sin. And not just once in a lifetime. All of life is repentance....everyday a journey of turning away from sin in repentance and turning toward Christ in faith. J.I. Packer explains:
Conversion means commitment to God in response to mercy from God and consists of repentance and faith. In Scripture these two overlap. Repentance is not just regretful remorse but a total about-turn in one’s thoughts, aims, and acts, so that one leaves the paths of self-willed disobedience to serve God in faith and faithfulness. Faith is not just believing Christian truth but forsaking self-confidence and man-made hopes to trust wholly in Christ and his cross for pardon, peace, and life, so that henceforth one lives for God in thankful, penitent obedience....What is crucial, is that the marks of conversion—faith and repentance...—should be found in us; otherwise, we cannot be judged Christians at all, whatever experiences we may claim. (Growing in Christ, page 108)
What does repentance look like in life, and how does one repent?
Repentance is both a gift of God and a human responsibility. It is the grace of God at work within His children, which allows us to “come to our senses” like the Prodigal Son. Think back to the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We examined the parable several weeks ago, from the standpoint of the Father’s great love. The parable also paints a perfect picture of repentance. At the beginning of the parable, the prodigal turns away from his father to go his own way. That’s a picture of sin - turning away from the father and going our own way in life. But he came to a place in his journey wherein he discovered that he had allowed sin to strip him of everything good in his life. All sin could give him was misery, hunger, depression, filth and desperate loneliness. That’s when Jesus says, “he came to his senses.” That’s a powerful moment It doesn’t originate in sin. Sin produces not clarity but confusion. And it doesn’t originate within the heart of the Prodigal. Left to his own devices, he would only pursue more sin. The power to come to his senses originates in the Father’s love. When sin had stripped away everything good in life leaving him only misery, one glorious thing remained - the Father’s love. I can see it in my mind’s eye - can you? I see the Prodigal in the darkness and filth of a pigsty of sin, but then, from above, a beam of light shines down upon him. That’s the love of the father, by grace bringing him to his senses.
And then, with the light of the Father’s great love shining upon him, the young man must stand, and turn toward home, and begin taking one step after another. That’s repentance. It is the grace to come to our sense, and the responsibility to turn away from sin and start walking the road that leads back to the Father’s love.
He wants you to take that first step. It’s a step that involves coming to an understanding of your sin...of where sin has led you and where it wants to lead you still...of all that sin has stripped away from your life...but moreover, it’s a step that involves coming to an understanding of what our sin does to the Father. It breaks His heart. It grieves God. It hurts him. And so, as children who are loved, we should mourn over the hurt that we have brought to God who loves more than we can know. True repentance involves grieving over the pain our sin has brought to God.
The next step is to confess that sin. Repentance always involves telling the Father (like the prodigal), “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight...” We have to cry out to God, to pray to God, to ask God to forgive us. And there’s amazing grace in this step of the journey too. Unconfessed sin is a huge burden, but it’s a burden lifted when we say “Father, I have sinned...”
And the next step in true repentance is the conscious decision to forsake sin. We must decide to leave our sins, to bury the old self in the pig sty so that we can put on the new. We must choose to change not only the direction of our life, but who we are going to be (I don’t want to live for myself any longer. I want to be my father’s son again...). We must choose what we are going to spend our time doing...how we are going to think....how we are going to speak...how we are going to act....how we are going to relate to God and to others.
And another step in genuine repentance is training yourself to no longer enjoy sin but to be disgusted by it...seeing it for what it truly is - filth, and what it truly leads to - death. The prodigal had to get to the point in life in which he despised the pig sty he had made of his life. You’ll never really experience true repentance without learning to hate sin for what it does to you and to God. The more you grow to love God, the more you ought to hate your sin. And, the more you hate your sin, the more grace He will give you to continually forsake it.
Faith is the grace to make a personal commitment to Christ. Repentance is the grace to make a personal commitment against sin. Faith and repentance are one and the same journey. You can’t truly repent without faith. Likewise, if you say you have faith but your life shows no evidence of repentance, your faith is suspect.
Have you experienced repentance lately? Have you come to your senses and turned back? Are you working now to prepare a roadway in your heart? Are you traveling that road that leads away from sin’s destructiveness and toward your Father’s embrace? Come to your senses. Turn away from sin and turn toward the Lord. What great love you will find when you travel that road of faith and repentance What great joy you will find when you come home
Bishop J.C. Ryle tells a great story about a prodigal daughter who came home:
“I remember hearing of a mother whose daughter ran away from her, and lived a life of sin. For a long time no one could tell where she was – Yet that daughter came back and was reclaimed. She became a true penitent. She was taught to mourn for her sin. She turned to Christ and believed in Him. Old things passed away, and all things became new. Her mother was asked one day to tell what she had done to bring her daughter back. What means had she used? What steps had she taken? Her reply was a very striking one. She said, I prayed for her night and day.” But that was not all. She went on to say, “I never went to bed at night without leaving my front door unlocked, and the door on the latch. I thought if my daughter came back some night when I was in bed, she should never be able to say that she came to her mother’s home, but could not get in.” And so it turned out. Her daughter came back one night, and tried the door, and found the door open, and at once came in, and to go out and sin no more. That open door was the saving of her soul....a beautiful illustration of the heart of God toward sinners ” (Old Paths, page 424)
There are many roads you can travel in life but only one road leads to the Lord. It is called the road of faith and repentance. At the end of that road, and that road only, is a door of mercy, and you don’t even have to turn the knob. The Father has left it wide open.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Luke 15:11-32
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him." Luke 15:20
Every parable has a precipitating event. Here, it is the fact that Jesus is surrounded by two different kinds of lostness. People were lost and needed finding, and as Scripture proclaims, Jesus “came to seek and save the lost.” The first group of lost people were the obvious. In chapter 15:1 Luke says, “all the tax gatherers and sinners were coming near to listen to Him.” Sinners of all kinds, coming to their senses in the recognition of their sin and hoping to find forgiveness in Jesus.
There was another group of lost people there too. The Pharisees and Scribes. They were the hypocritical religious leaders of the day. They didn’t come to listen and learn. Instead, they came to criticize. Luke 15:2 says, “they began to grumble saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” They were lost too, and didn’t know it. The Pharisees and Scribes failed to recognize that they too were sinners. And, one of the most important things the Reformed Tradition teaches us is that if you don’t know the depths of your own sin, then you can not fully know the depths of the Father’s love for you.
And so Jesus tells them all a series of stories. Connected stories, one leads to the other.
First Jesus told them about the lost sheep. He said there was a shepherd who had 100sheep. One went astray. Kind of like the prodigal son. And so, leaving the 99, the shepherd went after the prodigal sheep. And when he found it, he placed it over his shoulders and carried brought it back, and he called together his friends and neighbors and invited them to rejoice for he found that which was lost. Jesus ends that first little story by saying that in heaven, there will be more joy over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who seemingly need no repentance.
Second, Jesus told them about a woman who had ten silver coins, but she lost one of them. It’s somewhere close by. Right under her nose, but lost. Kind of like the elder brother - close by but lost. And she lights a lamp and looks under every piece of furniture and in every corner, and in every crack, and she sweeps the house clean until she finds it. And when the lost coin is found, Jesus says, she calls together her friends and neighbors and invites them to rejoice with her for the lost has been found. Jesus ends the second little story, again, by saying there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner repents.
Now, Jesus tells THE story about a father and his two lost sons. The younger son is ready to sow his wild oats. He wants to leave the family farm to see what kind of excitement is out there in the world. He tells his father to give him his share of the estate. The father divides his wealth among the two sons and the younger hits the road. He travels into distant countries and spends his father’s money on loose living - reckless extravagant spending. A famine falls over the land. And one day he finds himself at the pit of his existence - a young Jewish boy feeding pigs, and so hungry that he even entertained the notion of feeding out of the same trough.
But Jesus says, “he came to his senses.” He decided to make his way back home. The boy can’t imagine that his father would take him back, after the fool he’s made of himself. ‘There’s no way he’ll take me back, but maybe just maybe, my Dad will let me come back as a hired hand. There’s no where else I can go.’
Years ago, I had the privilege of studying in Jerusalem at the feet of Dr. Ken Bailey who has spent his life studying ancient middle eastern culture as a window into better understanding the New Testament. Dr. Bailey told us of the time he shared this parable with a group of middle eastern men, bedouins, who had never heard it before. He said they were shocked, mystified by the actions of the father.
Dr. Bailey explained that the middle eastern culture of Jesus’ day dictated a father’s response to a son who would be guilty of dishonoring his father in such a horrible way. The prodigal son basically told his father to drop dead. “Give me the share of the estate that falls to me,” as though you were dead. That’s the worst thing a son could ever do to dishonor a father. And the culture dictated that the father is to take the back of his left hand and strike the son across the face. He would then banish him from the family farm. They would hold a mock funeral, and the son who had dishonored his father in such a horrible way, would be forever considered dead.
But in Jesus’ story, there is no mention of the father striking the boy with the back of his left hand. No mention of the culturally prescribed mock funeral. Instead, in Jesus’ story, the Father divides his wealth. He lets the boy go. He waits for the boy to come home. He never gives up on the boy because the boy will always be “my son.” And when the father sees the son.....that’s the part that always gets me...he runs to his boy. He embraces his boy. He kisses his boy. And doesn't even let the boy finish his contrite speech.
Dr. Bailey said many of the middle eastern men hearing this story for the first time couldn’t understand the father’s actions. You see, in middle eastern cultures, to this day, the sign of an old man’s dignity is in how slowly he walks. Men don’t run. A dignified man wears long robes and walks slowly. Running requires lifting your robe and men don’t do that. A man never abandons his dignity. But you see, this parable is not about an ordinary man. It’s about our Father who loves us with an extravagant never ending love.
(Do you know what the word prodigal means? It means “extravagant.” The son blows wastes all the money on extravagant living. That’s why we call him the “prodigal son.” But the story is more about Father’s extravagant love. The Prodigal Father. There’s no limit on the love He will expend on us. There’s no condition. There’s nothing that we could ever do to make God love us more and nothing we could ever do to make God love us any less. His love has no end.)
And Jesus paints a picture of that love in the story. The Father sits on the front porch scanning the horizon, hoping beyond hope, never giving up, always ready to take back, his boy. And, lo and behold one day, the father sees something in the distance, the figure of a man walking down the road kicking up the dust. He knows who it is. He doesn’t stand there and wait for the boy to come to him. He doesn’t ask the boy where he’s been and what he’s been doing. He doesn’t put the boy on probation. He doesn’t give him a lecture about irresponsibility and how he broke the father’s heart. The Father’s heart simply overflows with pure love. He runs to meet him. He embraces him. He kisses him. He calls for rings for his fingers and sandals for his feet. He puts a robe around him and orders a huge party be thrown, because “this son of mine who was lost has been found.”
It could stop there, and be the kind of story that brings tears to your eyes every time. Like at the end of a great play. The characters come and take their bows. The boy and his father both get a standing ovation. “Great story,” people would say. “I’d pay to see it again ” Curtains close. Lights up. Doors open. And everyone can go home satisfied that the story had such a happy ending
But that’s not how the story ends. There’s still one more lost soul that needs the be found by the father’s great love. The Elder Brother. He’s the one who stayed close to home. He’s the one who worked the farm, and tried to comfort his Daddy, who’s heart had been broken by that sorry, no count little brother. He’s working out in the field late one afternoon, and he hears the beating of drums and the sound of flutes. It’s party music. He hasn’t heard a joyful noise like that in years. And so he makes his way toward the sound, and calls one of the servants over and asked of him, “What in the world is going on here? Somebody throwing a party I don’t know about?”
I have to wonder if maybe for just a moment, the Elder Brother’s spirits began to soar. ‘Is it for me? Is my father throwing a party to honor me, for being the good son, for working so hard, for never letting him down, for staying close to home, unlike my sorry no count little brother? Is it for me?’
“It’s your brother. He’s come home and your father is throwing a big party. Why they even slaughtered a calf and we’ll be eating BBQ for days ”
It’s just not right. Where’s the justice? Where’s the punishment? Where’s the judgement? That’s what the Elder Brother is asking. His little brother wasted all that money. He broke his father’s heart. He made a fool of himself and a mockery of the family name. And what does he get for it all? He get’s a party
Can you imagine the scene? The Elder brother stands there with a hoe in his hand and the dirt and sweat of a hard days work on his brow. He’s fuming mad It’s just not right. And then his Father comes out and he’s so overjoyed that he can hardly see what’s happening. “What are you standing out here for?....come on in ” And then it just all comes tumbling out:
“Look, all these years, I stayed right by your side. I’ve been a good son. I’ve done everything you wanted me to do and more, and what do I get? Nothing Who throws me a party? No one. But when that sorry no count son of yours who spent all your money on prostitutes....”
Just one more line in the drama. The father’s line:
“My child, you have always been with me, and all that I have is yours. But I can’t help it, I love your little brother too. And for all these years, I thought he was dead. He’s alive, and has been found.”
Now the curtains close. No applause, no standing ovations. Just a deadly silence. And we’re left to drive home wondering what would happen next. Would the Elder brother join the celebration, or would he spend the rest of his life angry at the prodigal who came home, and dismayed at the prodigal nature of the father’s love....an undeserved love that seemed a little too extravagant...the father’s prodigal love?
Where are you in the story?
Maybe, today you recognize yourself in the prodigal son. You’ve gone astray...far from the Father. Come to your senses. Turn back. Peace, happiness, joy, fulfillment in life will only be found in coming home to the Father’s great love. He’s waiting for you to come home. Your Father still loves you.
Or maybe you recognize yourself in the elder brother. You’ve stayed close to home and never really strayed far. But today you’ve come to realize how you never really understood what love is until you looked into the Father’s heart. You thought God would love you IF.... that you had to earn His love...that there were limits and conditions and requirements. And maybe you’re starting to realize too how much that misunderstanding of God’s love effects the way you love others. You can come to your senses too. You, who thought you had never strayed, can come home to the Prodigal Father’s love.
Come home. He’s running to you. His arms are wide open. He wants nothing more than for you to know of His extravagant love and to rejoice in it. Will you?
Glory be to God! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Every parable has a precipitating event. Here, it is the fact that Jesus is surrounded by two different kinds of lostness. People were lost and needed finding, and as Scripture proclaims, Jesus “came to seek and save the lost.” The first group of lost people were the obvious. In chapter 15:1 Luke says, “all the tax gatherers and sinners were coming near to listen to Him.” Sinners of all kinds, coming to their senses in the recognition of their sin and hoping to find forgiveness in Jesus.
There was another group of lost people there too. The Pharisees and Scribes. They were the hypocritical religious leaders of the day. They didn’t come to listen and learn. Instead, they came to criticize. Luke 15:2 says, “they began to grumble saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” They were lost too, and didn’t know it. The Pharisees and Scribes failed to recognize that they too were sinners. And, one of the most important things the Reformed Tradition teaches us is that if you don’t know the depths of your own sin, then you can not fully know the depths of the Father’s love for you.
And so Jesus tells them all a series of stories. Connected stories, one leads to the other.
First Jesus told them about the lost sheep. He said there was a shepherd who had 100sheep. One went astray. Kind of like the prodigal son. And so, leaving the 99, the shepherd went after the prodigal sheep. And when he found it, he placed it over his shoulders and carried brought it back, and he called together his friends and neighbors and invited them to rejoice for he found that which was lost. Jesus ends that first little story by saying that in heaven, there will be more joy over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who seemingly need no repentance.
Second, Jesus told them about a woman who had ten silver coins, but she lost one of them. It’s somewhere close by. Right under her nose, but lost. Kind of like the elder brother - close by but lost. And she lights a lamp and looks under every piece of furniture and in every corner, and in every crack, and she sweeps the house clean until she finds it. And when the lost coin is found, Jesus says, she calls together her friends and neighbors and invites them to rejoice with her for the lost has been found. Jesus ends the second little story, again, by saying there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner repents.
Now, Jesus tells THE story about a father and his two lost sons. The younger son is ready to sow his wild oats. He wants to leave the family farm to see what kind of excitement is out there in the world. He tells his father to give him his share of the estate. The father divides his wealth among the two sons and the younger hits the road. He travels into distant countries and spends his father’s money on loose living - reckless extravagant spending. A famine falls over the land. And one day he finds himself at the pit of his existence - a young Jewish boy feeding pigs, and so hungry that he even entertained the notion of feeding out of the same trough.
But Jesus says, “he came to his senses.” He decided to make his way back home. The boy can’t imagine that his father would take him back, after the fool he’s made of himself. ‘There’s no way he’ll take me back, but maybe just maybe, my Dad will let me come back as a hired hand. There’s no where else I can go.’
Years ago, I had the privilege of studying in Jerusalem at the feet of Dr. Ken Bailey who has spent his life studying ancient middle eastern culture as a window into better understanding the New Testament. Dr. Bailey told us of the time he shared this parable with a group of middle eastern men, bedouins, who had never heard it before. He said they were shocked, mystified by the actions of the father.
Dr. Bailey explained that the middle eastern culture of Jesus’ day dictated a father’s response to a son who would be guilty of dishonoring his father in such a horrible way. The prodigal son basically told his father to drop dead. “Give me the share of the estate that falls to me,” as though you were dead. That’s the worst thing a son could ever do to dishonor a father. And the culture dictated that the father is to take the back of his left hand and strike the son across the face. He would then banish him from the family farm. They would hold a mock funeral, and the son who had dishonored his father in such a horrible way, would be forever considered dead.
But in Jesus’ story, there is no mention of the father striking the boy with the back of his left hand. No mention of the culturally prescribed mock funeral. Instead, in Jesus’ story, the Father divides his wealth. He lets the boy go. He waits for the boy to come home. He never gives up on the boy because the boy will always be “my son.” And when the father sees the son.....that’s the part that always gets me...he runs to his boy. He embraces his boy. He kisses his boy. And doesn't even let the boy finish his contrite speech.
Dr. Bailey said many of the middle eastern men hearing this story for the first time couldn’t understand the father’s actions. You see, in middle eastern cultures, to this day, the sign of an old man’s dignity is in how slowly he walks. Men don’t run. A dignified man wears long robes and walks slowly. Running requires lifting your robe and men don’t do that. A man never abandons his dignity. But you see, this parable is not about an ordinary man. It’s about our Father who loves us with an extravagant never ending love.
(Do you know what the word prodigal means? It means “extravagant.” The son blows wastes all the money on extravagant living. That’s why we call him the “prodigal son.” But the story is more about Father’s extravagant love. The Prodigal Father. There’s no limit on the love He will expend on us. There’s no condition. There’s nothing that we could ever do to make God love us more and nothing we could ever do to make God love us any less. His love has no end.)
And Jesus paints a picture of that love in the story. The Father sits on the front porch scanning the horizon, hoping beyond hope, never giving up, always ready to take back, his boy. And, lo and behold one day, the father sees something in the distance, the figure of a man walking down the road kicking up the dust. He knows who it is. He doesn’t stand there and wait for the boy to come to him. He doesn’t ask the boy where he’s been and what he’s been doing. He doesn’t put the boy on probation. He doesn’t give him a lecture about irresponsibility and how he broke the father’s heart. The Father’s heart simply overflows with pure love. He runs to meet him. He embraces him. He kisses him. He calls for rings for his fingers and sandals for his feet. He puts a robe around him and orders a huge party be thrown, because “this son of mine who was lost has been found.”
It could stop there, and be the kind of story that brings tears to your eyes every time. Like at the end of a great play. The characters come and take their bows. The boy and his father both get a standing ovation. “Great story,” people would say. “I’d pay to see it again ” Curtains close. Lights up. Doors open. And everyone can go home satisfied that the story had such a happy ending
But that’s not how the story ends. There’s still one more lost soul that needs the be found by the father’s great love. The Elder Brother. He’s the one who stayed close to home. He’s the one who worked the farm, and tried to comfort his Daddy, who’s heart had been broken by that sorry, no count little brother. He’s working out in the field late one afternoon, and he hears the beating of drums and the sound of flutes. It’s party music. He hasn’t heard a joyful noise like that in years. And so he makes his way toward the sound, and calls one of the servants over and asked of him, “What in the world is going on here? Somebody throwing a party I don’t know about?”
I have to wonder if maybe for just a moment, the Elder Brother’s spirits began to soar. ‘Is it for me? Is my father throwing a party to honor me, for being the good son, for working so hard, for never letting him down, for staying close to home, unlike my sorry no count little brother? Is it for me?’
“It’s your brother. He’s come home and your father is throwing a big party. Why they even slaughtered a calf and we’ll be eating BBQ for days ”
It’s just not right. Where’s the justice? Where’s the punishment? Where’s the judgement? That’s what the Elder Brother is asking. His little brother wasted all that money. He broke his father’s heart. He made a fool of himself and a mockery of the family name. And what does he get for it all? He get’s a party
Can you imagine the scene? The Elder brother stands there with a hoe in his hand and the dirt and sweat of a hard days work on his brow. He’s fuming mad It’s just not right. And then his Father comes out and he’s so overjoyed that he can hardly see what’s happening. “What are you standing out here for?....come on in ” And then it just all comes tumbling out:
“Look, all these years, I stayed right by your side. I’ve been a good son. I’ve done everything you wanted me to do and more, and what do I get? Nothing Who throws me a party? No one. But when that sorry no count son of yours who spent all your money on prostitutes....”
Just one more line in the drama. The father’s line:
“My child, you have always been with me, and all that I have is yours. But I can’t help it, I love your little brother too. And for all these years, I thought he was dead. He’s alive, and has been found.”
Now the curtains close. No applause, no standing ovations. Just a deadly silence. And we’re left to drive home wondering what would happen next. Would the Elder brother join the celebration, or would he spend the rest of his life angry at the prodigal who came home, and dismayed at the prodigal nature of the father’s love....an undeserved love that seemed a little too extravagant...the father’s prodigal love?
Where are you in the story?
Maybe, today you recognize yourself in the prodigal son. You’ve gone astray...far from the Father. Come to your senses. Turn back. Peace, happiness, joy, fulfillment in life will only be found in coming home to the Father’s great love. He’s waiting for you to come home. Your Father still loves you.
Or maybe you recognize yourself in the elder brother. You’ve stayed close to home and never really strayed far. But today you’ve come to realize how you never really understood what love is until you looked into the Father’s heart. You thought God would love you IF.... that you had to earn His love...that there were limits and conditions and requirements. And maybe you’re starting to realize too how much that misunderstanding of God’s love effects the way you love others. You can come to your senses too. You, who thought you had never strayed, can come home to the Prodigal Father’s love.
Come home. He’s running to you. His arms are wide open. He wants nothing more than for you to know of His extravagant love and to rejoice in it. Will you?
Glory be to God! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Psalm 69
“Deliver me from the mire, and do not let me sink.” Psalm 69:14
Most of my childhood was spend on the bank of the Tallahatchie River up in Greenwood, just down river from the Tallahatchie River bridge. 501 Robert E. Lee Drive. Summer time was always full of muddy adventure. We caught mudcats from the floating dock, and built mud slides and got in mudball wars. There were times when the river would be so low that you could almost walk across it, if not for the deep mud - mud so deep you couldn’t touch bottom.
Most days, I fancied myself as a young Tarzan. Climbing up the willow trees with cutoff bluejean shorts. They covered me about as well as a loincloth. We’d swing from the tree tops, not on vines, but ski ropes tied so high up in the trees that with a good enough effort, you could propel yourself almost half way across the river. There was an art to letting go at the right time, and then turning up end over end and diving into the muddy water just like Tarzan would.
Tarzan wrestled with crocodiles. We had aligator gar, snapping turtles and water snakes as thick as your arm.
My mother hated the river and was rightly afraid of it. The current, the undertow, the water moccasins, the dreaded diseases that lurked in the water. At the beginning of each summer, Momma would sit us down and give us a long lecture forbidding us from even putting a big toe in the river. At the conclusion of the lecture, she would drive us over to Doctor Carroll’s office for a round of vaccinations. Mother was no fool! The next day, we were no where to be found. She’d come out the house, march to the edge of the river bank and yell, “What are ya’ll doing down there? Are ya’ll in that river again?” “No ma’am momma, we’re not doing nothin’” “Well come on inside anyway; I don’t want you in that filthy river.”
We’d hose off and go inside, and turn on the T.V. That was back during the era of three channels. The only thing on T.V. on Saturday around noon was Bill Dance, wrestling, and Tarzan. Not bad options! Usually Tarzan won out. He was more of a man than Bill Dance and could probably whoop Jerry the King Lawler in a wrestling match. The good Tarzan - the old black and white with Johnny Weismuller, the Olympic swimmer with the slicked back hairdo. Tarzan was about the coolest guy in the whole world. And what a great life!
There was pretty Jane. I don’t know how she did it, but she always stayed clean and beautiful in the jungle. Her hair was always fixed just right.
There was boy. Man he had it made! He lived in the jungle and he never had to get dressed up or come inside, or go to school. He swung around on vines and rode a baby elephant. But the coolest thing of all about boy’s life is that he had a pet monkey. A chimpanzee, to be precise; one by the name of Cheetah.
And they all lived together; Tarzan, Jane, Boy, and Cheetah, in the coolest tree house in the whole world. We built one too, up in a willow tree that hung out over the river. And what I wanted most as a young boy, was to live just like them for the rest of my life, down on the bank of the Tallahatchie River.
Do you remember those old shows? They were great! Every day in the jungle was another conflict riddled episode. The dreaded Englishmen in khakis and pith helmets would storm through the jungle with their fancy guns, unwelcome and uninvited; shooting everything that moved, threatening every species into extinction, and Tarzan would have to figure out how to run them off, back to the Royal Safari Society in London. Or the Zulu natives would smear on white war paint and try to take over more of the jungle than they deserved. They’d harass the peaceful natives, until finally, over the constant beat of the war drums, Tarzan would have to fight the chief to the death and then convince the rest of them that peace was the way live. Or someone would fall deathly ill by the bite of a rare jungle insect and the antidote could only be found at a certain witch doctor’s hut many day’s journey away, and Tarzan would swing vine to vine for hundreds of miles through the jungle, coming back just in the nick of time. And he never spilt a drop! It seemed like in almost every episode, Tarzan would have to stab a crocodile in the gut. Good thing he always swam with a knife in his mouth.
But there was one particular episode that I will always remember because it struck the chord of primal fear deep down in my soul. It was almost too frightening and too real to watch. Just one wrong step, and Tarzan found himself sinking in quicksand. It scarred us half to death, because we knew about that kind of mud. Tallahatchie River mud so deep you couldn’t touch the bottom. The mud would suck Converse hightops right off your feet and you’d never see them again!
So there’s our hero, stuck in the mud. Sinking down. Several others had already been swallowed up in that particular episode. A poor native. A nasty Englishman. A few helpless little animals. And now, Tarzan - cool, strong, seemingly invincible Tarzan, is trapped and slowly sinking.
Do you know why you sink in quicksand? It’s the unnecessary movement. It’s the fighting, and the thrashing, the desperation, the struggle to keep one’s head above the wicked quagmire. That’s what makes you sink. Not the quicksand, but the fighting of it.
And do you know how to keep from sinking in quicksand? I would recommend that you commit this to memory because you never know when you might find yourself in a patch of quicksand. Seriously! It might not be on the jungle floor or the river’s edge. It might be in your home. A sticky relational problem. Marital quicksand. Parental quicksand. It could very well be a conflict in your office, or a situation with an old friend that is sucking the life out of you. Your’s might be a medical quicksand. A diagnosis you never wanted to hear for you or someone you love. Or a grief that’s got a hold on you and won’t let go. Or an addiction that wants to bring you down to your grave.
Quicksand sucking you down. You can flail away and struggle and fight and draw upon your own power to pull yourself out of the mire. But the more you fight alone, the deeper you’ll sink. The only way to keep from sinking is to be still and wait for Someone who has the power to do something about your problem. The psalmist knows that. “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Quit flailing away. Be still. “Save me, O God, for the water has risen to my neck. I sink in muddy depths where there is no foothold.....I am exhausted with crying, my throat is sore, my eyes are worn out with waiting for God.” (Ps.69:1-3) He realizes that his own thrashing has sucked him down even further, but now, the Psalmist has wised up. He’s given up struggling by his own power, and he’ll do the only thing left to do....the only wise thing to do....and the only thing that will keep him from sinking any further. The Psalmist says, “I’m going to be still and wait for You to come and pull me out, because I know now that I can’t pull myself up out of this mess. I’m going to wait for you.”
And that’s what our hero did too. He knew the wisdom of stillness and waiting. Slowly the quicksand sucks him down inch by inch but Tarzan patiently waits for help. Soon enough Cheetah the chimpanzee stumbles over Tarzan neck deep in the muddy death. Cheetah is one smart monkey so he tries everything. He hangs from a limb, stretching out his little black hand almost close enough to touch Tarzan, but not close enough. He runs away and comes back with a stick. He throws it to Tarzan, but Tarzan needs more than a little stick. Cheetah scampers away again and comes back with a long bamboo pole. Tarzan grasps one end and little Cheetah pulls with all his might, but he’s not strong enough to pull Tarzan out and he sinks another inch, almost covering his mouth. And with his last heroic cry, Tarzan yells.....that perfect Tarzan yell. You know how it sounds. AND DON’T THINK I’M GOING TO DO IT NOW! You can hear it, can’t you?
That cry has great power. Suddenly the jungle comes to life. The birds squawk, and lions roar, and the monkeys howl, and the Elephant answers. The same sort of thing, only bigger, happens when you quit struggling and fighting with your own power, and start praying. James says, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) And the righteousness James was talking about is not a righteousness of your own. (That’s like flailing away in the quicksand...self-righteousness is dead weight in the quicksand.) The righteous man is the one who waits upon the Lord, and prays unto the Lord for deliverance. If you will stop trusting in your own power and pray, heaven will move. The angels will take notice. And God will answer. The Psalmist said, “I lift my prayer to You, O Lord, in your great and enduring love answer me, God, with sure deliverance. Rescue me from the mire. Do not let me sink...” (Ps.69:13-14)
Tarzan let out that last desperate cry and the great elephant heard. He comes charging through the dense jungle, barreling through the undergrowth with reckless abandon, knocking down tree trunks, thundering and trumpeting in all of his immense power, and when he finally makes it to the edge of the quicksand, right in the nick of time, he gently reaches out with his trunk, and lifts Tarzan’s limp and exhausted body out of the mud, laying him gently on a moss covered rock, safe and secure, high above the danger. “Let your saving power, God, set me securely on high, and I shall praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.” (Ps.69:29-30)
Are you sinking? Quit thrashing about. Quit trying to handle it all by yourself. Be still. Wait upon Him. Call to Him for help and He will come to your rescue. He’ll lift you up and place you on firm ground. And then you and I shall praise Him in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving, and we’ll say:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Glory be to God! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Most of my childhood was spend on the bank of the Tallahatchie River up in Greenwood, just down river from the Tallahatchie River bridge. 501 Robert E. Lee Drive. Summer time was always full of muddy adventure. We caught mudcats from the floating dock, and built mud slides and got in mudball wars. There were times when the river would be so low that you could almost walk across it, if not for the deep mud - mud so deep you couldn’t touch bottom.
Most days, I fancied myself as a young Tarzan. Climbing up the willow trees with cutoff bluejean shorts. They covered me about as well as a loincloth. We’d swing from the tree tops, not on vines, but ski ropes tied so high up in the trees that with a good enough effort, you could propel yourself almost half way across the river. There was an art to letting go at the right time, and then turning up end over end and diving into the muddy water just like Tarzan would.
Tarzan wrestled with crocodiles. We had aligator gar, snapping turtles and water snakes as thick as your arm.
My mother hated the river and was rightly afraid of it. The current, the undertow, the water moccasins, the dreaded diseases that lurked in the water. At the beginning of each summer, Momma would sit us down and give us a long lecture forbidding us from even putting a big toe in the river. At the conclusion of the lecture, she would drive us over to Doctor Carroll’s office for a round of vaccinations. Mother was no fool! The next day, we were no where to be found. She’d come out the house, march to the edge of the river bank and yell, “What are ya’ll doing down there? Are ya’ll in that river again?” “No ma’am momma, we’re not doing nothin’” “Well come on inside anyway; I don’t want you in that filthy river.”
We’d hose off and go inside, and turn on the T.V. That was back during the era of three channels. The only thing on T.V. on Saturday around noon was Bill Dance, wrestling, and Tarzan. Not bad options! Usually Tarzan won out. He was more of a man than Bill Dance and could probably whoop Jerry the King Lawler in a wrestling match. The good Tarzan - the old black and white with Johnny Weismuller, the Olympic swimmer with the slicked back hairdo. Tarzan was about the coolest guy in the whole world. And what a great life!
There was pretty Jane. I don’t know how she did it, but she always stayed clean and beautiful in the jungle. Her hair was always fixed just right.
There was boy. Man he had it made! He lived in the jungle and he never had to get dressed up or come inside, or go to school. He swung around on vines and rode a baby elephant. But the coolest thing of all about boy’s life is that he had a pet monkey. A chimpanzee, to be precise; one by the name of Cheetah.
And they all lived together; Tarzan, Jane, Boy, and Cheetah, in the coolest tree house in the whole world. We built one too, up in a willow tree that hung out over the river. And what I wanted most as a young boy, was to live just like them for the rest of my life, down on the bank of the Tallahatchie River.
Do you remember those old shows? They were great! Every day in the jungle was another conflict riddled episode. The dreaded Englishmen in khakis and pith helmets would storm through the jungle with their fancy guns, unwelcome and uninvited; shooting everything that moved, threatening every species into extinction, and Tarzan would have to figure out how to run them off, back to the Royal Safari Society in London. Or the Zulu natives would smear on white war paint and try to take over more of the jungle than they deserved. They’d harass the peaceful natives, until finally, over the constant beat of the war drums, Tarzan would have to fight the chief to the death and then convince the rest of them that peace was the way live. Or someone would fall deathly ill by the bite of a rare jungle insect and the antidote could only be found at a certain witch doctor’s hut many day’s journey away, and Tarzan would swing vine to vine for hundreds of miles through the jungle, coming back just in the nick of time. And he never spilt a drop! It seemed like in almost every episode, Tarzan would have to stab a crocodile in the gut. Good thing he always swam with a knife in his mouth.
But there was one particular episode that I will always remember because it struck the chord of primal fear deep down in my soul. It was almost too frightening and too real to watch. Just one wrong step, and Tarzan found himself sinking in quicksand. It scarred us half to death, because we knew about that kind of mud. Tallahatchie River mud so deep you couldn’t touch the bottom. The mud would suck Converse hightops right off your feet and you’d never see them again!
So there’s our hero, stuck in the mud. Sinking down. Several others had already been swallowed up in that particular episode. A poor native. A nasty Englishman. A few helpless little animals. And now, Tarzan - cool, strong, seemingly invincible Tarzan, is trapped and slowly sinking.
Do you know why you sink in quicksand? It’s the unnecessary movement. It’s the fighting, and the thrashing, the desperation, the struggle to keep one’s head above the wicked quagmire. That’s what makes you sink. Not the quicksand, but the fighting of it.
And do you know how to keep from sinking in quicksand? I would recommend that you commit this to memory because you never know when you might find yourself in a patch of quicksand. Seriously! It might not be on the jungle floor or the river’s edge. It might be in your home. A sticky relational problem. Marital quicksand. Parental quicksand. It could very well be a conflict in your office, or a situation with an old friend that is sucking the life out of you. Your’s might be a medical quicksand. A diagnosis you never wanted to hear for you or someone you love. Or a grief that’s got a hold on you and won’t let go. Or an addiction that wants to bring you down to your grave.
Quicksand sucking you down. You can flail away and struggle and fight and draw upon your own power to pull yourself out of the mire. But the more you fight alone, the deeper you’ll sink. The only way to keep from sinking is to be still and wait for Someone who has the power to do something about your problem. The psalmist knows that. “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Quit flailing away. Be still. “Save me, O God, for the water has risen to my neck. I sink in muddy depths where there is no foothold.....I am exhausted with crying, my throat is sore, my eyes are worn out with waiting for God.” (Ps.69:1-3) He realizes that his own thrashing has sucked him down even further, but now, the Psalmist has wised up. He’s given up struggling by his own power, and he’ll do the only thing left to do....the only wise thing to do....and the only thing that will keep him from sinking any further. The Psalmist says, “I’m going to be still and wait for You to come and pull me out, because I know now that I can’t pull myself up out of this mess. I’m going to wait for you.”
And that’s what our hero did too. He knew the wisdom of stillness and waiting. Slowly the quicksand sucks him down inch by inch but Tarzan patiently waits for help. Soon enough Cheetah the chimpanzee stumbles over Tarzan neck deep in the muddy death. Cheetah is one smart monkey so he tries everything. He hangs from a limb, stretching out his little black hand almost close enough to touch Tarzan, but not close enough. He runs away and comes back with a stick. He throws it to Tarzan, but Tarzan needs more than a little stick. Cheetah scampers away again and comes back with a long bamboo pole. Tarzan grasps one end and little Cheetah pulls with all his might, but he’s not strong enough to pull Tarzan out and he sinks another inch, almost covering his mouth. And with his last heroic cry, Tarzan yells.....that perfect Tarzan yell. You know how it sounds. AND DON’T THINK I’M GOING TO DO IT NOW! You can hear it, can’t you?
That cry has great power. Suddenly the jungle comes to life. The birds squawk, and lions roar, and the monkeys howl, and the Elephant answers. The same sort of thing, only bigger, happens when you quit struggling and fighting with your own power, and start praying. James says, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16) And the righteousness James was talking about is not a righteousness of your own. (That’s like flailing away in the quicksand...self-righteousness is dead weight in the quicksand.) The righteous man is the one who waits upon the Lord, and prays unto the Lord for deliverance. If you will stop trusting in your own power and pray, heaven will move. The angels will take notice. And God will answer. The Psalmist said, “I lift my prayer to You, O Lord, in your great and enduring love answer me, God, with sure deliverance. Rescue me from the mire. Do not let me sink...” (Ps.69:13-14)
Tarzan let out that last desperate cry and the great elephant heard. He comes charging through the dense jungle, barreling through the undergrowth with reckless abandon, knocking down tree trunks, thundering and trumpeting in all of his immense power, and when he finally makes it to the edge of the quicksand, right in the nick of time, he gently reaches out with his trunk, and lifts Tarzan’s limp and exhausted body out of the mud, laying him gently on a moss covered rock, safe and secure, high above the danger. “Let your saving power, God, set me securely on high, and I shall praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.” (Ps.69:29-30)
Are you sinking? Quit thrashing about. Quit trying to handle it all by yourself. Be still. Wait upon Him. Call to Him for help and He will come to your rescue. He’ll lift you up and place you on firm ground. And then you and I shall praise Him in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving, and we’ll say:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
Glory be to God! In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Nehemiah 8:1-12
"for the joy of the Lord is your strength" Nehemiah 8:10
It was an ordinary Sunday morning. Mother hollers up the stairs, “Billy, time to get up.” Twenty minutes later, not a stir. “Billy, get up. It’s Sunday. We have church this morning. Get up, now. We’re not going to be late again.” Ten minutes later, not a stir. Poor mother is sick of this. She thinks, ‘That boy, I’d like to tan his hide! It’s the same darned thing every Sunday!’ So she marches up the stairs, and flings open his bedroom door. “Billy, I said get up!” Billy pulls the covers over his face and groans, “Awe Mom, don’t make me go. I don’t wanna.” “Why not,” she asked. “I’ll give you two good reasons, Mom. The sermons are boring and the people aren’t any fun.” She yanked the covers off of him and said, “Billy, you are going to church today, and I’ll give you two reasons: Number one, you’re 45 years old. And number two, you’re the preacher of that church! Get up!”
Well, I’m not sure about the boring sermon part, but I can assure you, I got up on my own this morning. You are fun! I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than right here celebrating the love of God with you. And I can’t think of a better church for a pastor and his family to share life with than Grace Chapel!
I am so excited about what God is doing here and so thankful to be a small part of it. I came to this church because I believed that God had big plans for Grace Chapel. With all my heart, I still believe that. And I believe that this is going to be one of the “red letter days” in the history of Grace Chapel. Generations from now, people will look back with gratitude, and they will say, “Thank God Almighty for what the Grace Chapel family did on November 8th, 2009. That was the day,” they will say to one another, “that the Grace Chapel family came together as one, and put the Lord first, and truly laid for us a foundation of faith.” And we’ll all look down from heaven and smile, and we’ll praise God together for a ministry that will still be flourishing and changing many lives for the glory of God.
You know, when you study the Bible and pay close attention to the history of God’s people, you find that there were “red letter days” for them too...days that marked a turning point in their relationship with God. One such day is recorded for us in Nehemiah 8. It marked the end of one long spiritual journey, and the beginning of a new spiritual journey.
If you think back to the history we have examined over the past few weeks, you will recall that the people of God went through their spiritual dark ages; generation after generation of unfaithfulness. And because of that, the people had to endure a season of chastisement. God the Father loves His children, and because of that great love, from time to time He sees fit to discipline us. Because of their unfaithfulness, they lost everything. The Babylonians were allowed to descend upon Jerusalem. They destroyed everything and enslaved the people. But when the season of punishment was over, God allowed a faithful remnant to return to Jerusalem. Under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Haggai the prophet, the people were encouraged to rebuild a house for God, the Temple. And by God’s grace, the people were successful.
A few years later, the great leader Nehemiah hears a heartbreaking report. The Temple project had been completed, but the people in Jerusalem were vulnerable to attack. There were no protective walls surrounding the city. Nehemiah prays about this and God raises him up to lead one of the most amazing work projects in the history of mankind; to build a wall completely surrounding the city of Jerusalem....10 feet thick, 30 feet high, with towers and gates strong enough to repel the many enemies surrounding them. With limited resources, a tired workforce, under the threat of constant attack, it seemed an impossible task. But the “good hand of God” was on Nehemiah and on the people as they worked. At times, the people literally labored with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, but by God’s good grace, they completed the task in an astounding 52 days.
Now think about that moment, when the last stone was cemented into the walls. You might think it would be a time to pat themselves on the back for all they had done...that long journey back to Jerusalem, rebuilding the Temple, rebuilding the walls, rebuilding their homes and storefronts, rebuilding the City of God. But instead of propping up their feet and taking a breather, instead of resting on their laurels, they all began to sense together that one spiritual journey had ended and a new spiritual journey was about to begin. It was time to build hearts for the Lord.
And what they did on that day, recorded in Nehemiah 8, is one of the best pictures that could ever be painted for us of the kind of church Grace Chapel should endeavor to be.
First, we see a picture of a Church which is committed to the Lord and the building up of His Kingdom. They were few in number but they were strong in the Lord. Do you know how many Jews are worshiping God on that day in Nehemiah 8? Approximately 50,000. But do you know how many Jews refused to take God up on His invitation to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the Temple and rebuild the walls? Approximately 3,450,000. And do you know the difference between the 3.5 million Jews elsewhere and the 50,000 in Jerusalem? Commitment. All the others were comfortable, and complacent, and content with putting themselves before the Lord. But a Church which accomplishes great things for the Lord is a Church which is committed. She puts Him first in all things. “Seek ye first, His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt.6:33) You don’t have to be big in order for God to do big things through you. A small cadre of committed Christians can do far more for the Kingdom than a whole nation of casual believers. What a great lesson for our little church!
Second, we see a picture of a Church which is unified. Nehemiah says, “And all the people gathered as one man...” (Neh.8:1) Their unity was forged in the fires of great obstacles and incredible difficulty. But they never would have experienced a single accomplishment if not for their unity. We know a little about that, don’t we? We’ve fought battles together as a little church. Grace Chapel has faced some tough times, but by God’s grace we’ve come through it stronger, more faithful, and more focused because we are not a collection of individuals who belong to the same association. No, we are a family of faith. Our oneness is a unity of love and faith. For “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, on baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph.4:4-6) A church might have thousands of people and unlimited resources to draw from, but if that church isn’t grounded upon a unity of faith and love, she will never accomplish anything redeeming for the Kingdom.
Third, we see a picture of a Church which yearns for the Word of God. No one had to tell them they needed to hear the Word of God, they ask for it. Nehemiah says, “and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.” (Neh.8:1) That’s a verse that makes this preacher’s heart skip a beat! They asked for the Book! No one had to drag these people to worship. No one had to shame these people into Bible Study. They asked for the Book! And not just a few of them. Nehemiah repeatedly says all the people yearned for the Word of God in verse 2, 3 and 5; all the “men, women and all who could listen with understanding” (Neh.8:2,3)
Why do all the people yearn for God’s Word? Because they have great reverence and respect for the Word of God; they love the God who speaks the Word. Listen to how they respond to just the sight of the Book: “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.” (Neh.8:5)
And it’s a community that is willing to devote a great deal of time to the Word of God.
“And he read from it...from early morning until midday...and all the people were attentive to the Book...” (Neh.8:3)
And Nehemiah shows us they were committed to the ministry of teaching God’s Word. “And they read from the Book...translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.” (Neh.8:8)
Survey 2000 years of Church history and you will see: The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has never done anything great apart from a yearning and a devotion to the Word of God. Every period of renewal and revival in Church history has been built the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God. Every movement that has left a mark of blessing upon the world has been predicated by a renewed devotion to the Word of God. And, Grace Chapel’s future will be full of exciting blessings and glorious opportunities when we ask for the Book...
...when we stand together as one man upon its truth,
...when we treat God’s Word with great reverence,
...when we devote the time that it takes to hear it,
...when we grow in the faithfulness that it takes to obey it,
...when we rightly preach it and thoughtfully teach it,
...when we lovingly share the Good News of God’s Word with those outside this
congregation,
...when the truth of God’s Word becomes embodied in our lives individually and as
a community of believers.
...and when our hearts are moved by the Word of God. That’s what happened to the people on that red letter day in Nehemiah 8. Hearts were moved. Partly because the Word of God exposed their sin and reminded them of how their sin had hurt that God they loved. Nehemiah says they grieved and wept. And there’s another great lesson for us. Hearts that can grieve over their sinfulness, are hearts that can be made new by God’s grace, and they’re hearts that can be cleansed by His mercy, and hearts that can be filled with joy and new strength. “Do not be grieved (any longer), for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh.8:10)
Wow! What an amazing picture Nehemiah paints, and what a wonderful example for Grace Chapel to follow! We’re small but that won’t stop us from accomplishing great things for the Lord because we are committed to Christ. We are unified in our faith and love. I know of no other congregation that better exemplifies what it means to be a family of faith than Grace Chapel. And we are growing into that wonderful description of God’s people as a people of the Book.
Friends, there is great and exciting work ahead of us. Are you ready? We must be even more committed and unified. And I am convinced that every square inch of new space we’re about to build will ensure that Grace Chapel will forever be a people of the Book. We too will be blessed, and we will be a blessing to the generations to come.
It was an ordinary Sunday morning. Mother hollers up the stairs, “Billy, time to get up.” Twenty minutes later, not a stir. “Billy, get up. It’s Sunday. We have church this morning. Get up, now. We’re not going to be late again.” Ten minutes later, not a stir. Poor mother is sick of this. She thinks, ‘That boy, I’d like to tan his hide! It’s the same darned thing every Sunday!’ So she marches up the stairs, and flings open his bedroom door. “Billy, I said get up!” Billy pulls the covers over his face and groans, “Awe Mom, don’t make me go. I don’t wanna.” “Why not,” she asked. “I’ll give you two good reasons, Mom. The sermons are boring and the people aren’t any fun.” She yanked the covers off of him and said, “Billy, you are going to church today, and I’ll give you two reasons: Number one, you’re 45 years old. And number two, you’re the preacher of that church! Get up!”
Well, I’m not sure about the boring sermon part, but I can assure you, I got up on my own this morning. You are fun! I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be than right here celebrating the love of God with you. And I can’t think of a better church for a pastor and his family to share life with than Grace Chapel!
I am so excited about what God is doing here and so thankful to be a small part of it. I came to this church because I believed that God had big plans for Grace Chapel. With all my heart, I still believe that. And I believe that this is going to be one of the “red letter days” in the history of Grace Chapel. Generations from now, people will look back with gratitude, and they will say, “Thank God Almighty for what the Grace Chapel family did on November 8th, 2009. That was the day,” they will say to one another, “that the Grace Chapel family came together as one, and put the Lord first, and truly laid for us a foundation of faith.” And we’ll all look down from heaven and smile, and we’ll praise God together for a ministry that will still be flourishing and changing many lives for the glory of God.
You know, when you study the Bible and pay close attention to the history of God’s people, you find that there were “red letter days” for them too...days that marked a turning point in their relationship with God. One such day is recorded for us in Nehemiah 8. It marked the end of one long spiritual journey, and the beginning of a new spiritual journey.
If you think back to the history we have examined over the past few weeks, you will recall that the people of God went through their spiritual dark ages; generation after generation of unfaithfulness. And because of that, the people had to endure a season of chastisement. God the Father loves His children, and because of that great love, from time to time He sees fit to discipline us. Because of their unfaithfulness, they lost everything. The Babylonians were allowed to descend upon Jerusalem. They destroyed everything and enslaved the people. But when the season of punishment was over, God allowed a faithful remnant to return to Jerusalem. Under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Haggai the prophet, the people were encouraged to rebuild a house for God, the Temple. And by God’s grace, the people were successful.
A few years later, the great leader Nehemiah hears a heartbreaking report. The Temple project had been completed, but the people in Jerusalem were vulnerable to attack. There were no protective walls surrounding the city. Nehemiah prays about this and God raises him up to lead one of the most amazing work projects in the history of mankind; to build a wall completely surrounding the city of Jerusalem....10 feet thick, 30 feet high, with towers and gates strong enough to repel the many enemies surrounding them. With limited resources, a tired workforce, under the threat of constant attack, it seemed an impossible task. But the “good hand of God” was on Nehemiah and on the people as they worked. At times, the people literally labored with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other, but by God’s good grace, they completed the task in an astounding 52 days.
Now think about that moment, when the last stone was cemented into the walls. You might think it would be a time to pat themselves on the back for all they had done...that long journey back to Jerusalem, rebuilding the Temple, rebuilding the walls, rebuilding their homes and storefronts, rebuilding the City of God. But instead of propping up their feet and taking a breather, instead of resting on their laurels, they all began to sense together that one spiritual journey had ended and a new spiritual journey was about to begin. It was time to build hearts for the Lord.
And what they did on that day, recorded in Nehemiah 8, is one of the best pictures that could ever be painted for us of the kind of church Grace Chapel should endeavor to be.
First, we see a picture of a Church which is committed to the Lord and the building up of His Kingdom. They were few in number but they were strong in the Lord. Do you know how many Jews are worshiping God on that day in Nehemiah 8? Approximately 50,000. But do you know how many Jews refused to take God up on His invitation to return to Jerusalem, to rebuild the Temple and rebuild the walls? Approximately 3,450,000. And do you know the difference between the 3.5 million Jews elsewhere and the 50,000 in Jerusalem? Commitment. All the others were comfortable, and complacent, and content with putting themselves before the Lord. But a Church which accomplishes great things for the Lord is a Church which is committed. She puts Him first in all things. “Seek ye first, His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt.6:33) You don’t have to be big in order for God to do big things through you. A small cadre of committed Christians can do far more for the Kingdom than a whole nation of casual believers. What a great lesson for our little church!
Second, we see a picture of a Church which is unified. Nehemiah says, “And all the people gathered as one man...” (Neh.8:1) Their unity was forged in the fires of great obstacles and incredible difficulty. But they never would have experienced a single accomplishment if not for their unity. We know a little about that, don’t we? We’ve fought battles together as a little church. Grace Chapel has faced some tough times, but by God’s grace we’ve come through it stronger, more faithful, and more focused because we are not a collection of individuals who belong to the same association. No, we are a family of faith. Our oneness is a unity of love and faith. For “there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were also called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, on baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph.4:4-6) A church might have thousands of people and unlimited resources to draw from, but if that church isn’t grounded upon a unity of faith and love, she will never accomplish anything redeeming for the Kingdom.
Third, we see a picture of a Church which yearns for the Word of God. No one had to tell them they needed to hear the Word of God, they ask for it. Nehemiah says, “and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel.” (Neh.8:1) That’s a verse that makes this preacher’s heart skip a beat! They asked for the Book! No one had to drag these people to worship. No one had to shame these people into Bible Study. They asked for the Book! And not just a few of them. Nehemiah repeatedly says all the people yearned for the Word of God in verse 2, 3 and 5; all the “men, women and all who could listen with understanding” (Neh.8:2,3)
Why do all the people yearn for God’s Word? Because they have great reverence and respect for the Word of God; they love the God who speaks the Word. Listen to how they respond to just the sight of the Book: “And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.” (Neh.8:5)
And it’s a community that is willing to devote a great deal of time to the Word of God.
“And he read from it...from early morning until midday...and all the people were attentive to the Book...” (Neh.8:3)
And Nehemiah shows us they were committed to the ministry of teaching God’s Word. “And they read from the Book...translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.” (Neh.8:8)
Survey 2000 years of Church history and you will see: The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has never done anything great apart from a yearning and a devotion to the Word of God. Every period of renewal and revival in Church history has been built the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God. Every movement that has left a mark of blessing upon the world has been predicated by a renewed devotion to the Word of God. And, Grace Chapel’s future will be full of exciting blessings and glorious opportunities when we ask for the Book...
...when we stand together as one man upon its truth,
...when we treat God’s Word with great reverence,
...when we devote the time that it takes to hear it,
...when we grow in the faithfulness that it takes to obey it,
...when we rightly preach it and thoughtfully teach it,
...when we lovingly share the Good News of God’s Word with those outside this
congregation,
...when the truth of God’s Word becomes embodied in our lives individually and as
a community of believers.
...and when our hearts are moved by the Word of God. That’s what happened to the people on that red letter day in Nehemiah 8. Hearts were moved. Partly because the Word of God exposed their sin and reminded them of how their sin had hurt that God they loved. Nehemiah says they grieved and wept. And there’s another great lesson for us. Hearts that can grieve over their sinfulness, are hearts that can be made new by God’s grace, and they’re hearts that can be cleansed by His mercy, and hearts that can be filled with joy and new strength. “Do not be grieved (any longer), for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh.8:10)
Wow! What an amazing picture Nehemiah paints, and what a wonderful example for Grace Chapel to follow! We’re small but that won’t stop us from accomplishing great things for the Lord because we are committed to Christ. We are unified in our faith and love. I know of no other congregation that better exemplifies what it means to be a family of faith than Grace Chapel. And we are growing into that wonderful description of God’s people as a people of the Book.
Friends, there is great and exciting work ahead of us. Are you ready? We must be even more committed and unified. And I am convinced that every square inch of new space we’re about to build will ensure that Grace Chapel will forever be a people of the Book. We too will be blessed, and we will be a blessing to the generations to come.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Haggai 2:20-23
""My servant," declares the Lord..."
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord’s Supper this morning, I want to share with you Haggai’s final sermon. This is God’s Word to man, and quite literally, it began as God’s Word to a particular man, Zerubbabel. I believe with all my heart that God’ special message to a particular man in the year 520 B.C. is not simply a record of something that happened long ago, but by the power of the Holy Spirit these words become God’s special message to us today.
Let’s read Haggai 2:20-23 together.
The backdrop to this text is fascinating, and I want to summarize it for you in a few points about the man Zerubbabel.
First, he had royal blood flowing through his veins, but no Kingdom of his own.
Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of King David. And I’m quite sure that when Zerubbabel was a little boy, he grew up hearing of his royal lineage, tragically lost by the sins of those who came before him. In fact, the book of Jeremiah records God’s message to his grandfather, Jehoiachin. (Jeremiah 22:24) After generations of unfaithfulness, God strips the kingship from Zerubbabel’s grandfather and allows the Babylonians to overthrow Judah. Even if you don’t have an intimate knowledge of Old Testament history, you can understand this: Here stands a great man with a kingly heritage, but he has no kingdom of his own. He has no crown of his own, no throne of his own, no scepter, no army, no chariots. He’s a governor sent to Jerusalem to oversee a building project. In the eyes of the world (perhaps even in his own estimation) he is less than he could have been. Because of someone else’s sin.
I wonder if he ever felt that he had been dealt an unfair hand. I wonder how many times he thought, ‘I could have been king, except for my grandfather’s sin. It wasn’t my fault, but I’m paying the price.’ Let me ask you a question about that unfair hand: What does this sacrament have to say about that? Zerubbabel couldn’t see this, but we can. Obviously, there is no fairness in the Cross, thanks be to God Jesus was without fault or sin, yet He paid the price. Someone else’s sin was laid upon Him. Your sin and mine. Before you on the Table you see the symbols of His willingness to submit to the gross unfairness of it all, on our behalf. “He made Him who had no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Salvation isn’t a matter of fairness but God’s amazing grace The next time you feel tempted to say, “But Lord, it’s just not fair,” remember the Cross. Here’s a lesson Zerubbabel’s experience teaches us: It’s far better to be saved by grace than to insist that everything in life be done according to our understanding of fairness.
I wonder too, if Zerubbabel spent a lot of time dreaming about that which never materialized. ‘I could have been king.’ Just like so many people who spend the better part of their lives grieving over what didn’t happen, rather than dreaming about what will happen. What a sad way to live. Maybe there’s a little bit of Zerubbabel in you and me. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.”
I’m confident that Zerubbabel wrestled with those feelings, because God has something very specific and very special to say to him. It is far better to be the servant of God than the king of the world. “I will take you, My servant Zerubbabel, and I will make you like my signet ring...” In the ancient world, the signet ring signified the full authority and power of the king. God is giving Zerubbabel something better than kingship. “I will make you like MY signet ring.” You’re going to be My servant and I’m going to exercise My sovereign power through you. What’s better, the be an earthly king, or the have the King of Kings in you? John said, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) Here’s another great lesson we can learn from Zerubbabel: It is far better to be the servant of the King of Kings than to be king. Infinitely better to let Christ reign upon the throne of your heart than to sit upon your own.
The second point that needs to be lifted up about the background to this text is this: Zerubbabel was bound to feel overwhelmed. The people were finally working. You could see the progress. God’s House was being built. But I bet there were times when Zerubbabel climbed to a high point on the hill to survey the work, and then he would look further, out upon the horizon. In every direction he would perceive enemies, obstacles and great threats. And I wonder if it times he felt totally overwhelmed and discouraged. ‘All those enemies out there are chompin’ at the bit. We won’t even get this house built before they’ll come sweeping in and totally destroy what we’re doing. We’re wasting our time. We can’t do this. It’s just not realistic. We’re too small. This is all just a pipe dream and one day we’re all going to wake up and it’s all going to be gone. Our dreams are going to be crushed.’ Here’s another lesson: Even believers can sometimes think like unbelievers and the only one thing that has the power to lift us out of that pit is confident faith in the Lord. From time to time, do you find yourself like Zerubbabel? A believer but struggling for a season with unbelief? God knew what was in Zerubbabel’s heart. And so, He goes straight to the core of the problem and speaks to this man exactly what he needs to hear.
“I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers, horses and their riders will fall each by the sword of his brother.” (Hag.2:22)
All the enemies, all the obstacles, all the threats combined are nothing compared to the power of God. When God raises you up for a purpose, you’ve got to trust that there is nothing that can stop Him. If He raises us up to do a might work through us, and yet we persist in discouragement and unbelief, it’s not going to prevent God from accomplishing His plans. But He just might move on to someone else. He’s going to accomplish His plan. Don’t miss being a part of the glorious thing God is doing because of needless discouragement and unbelief.
What Zerubbabel needed to do was to look around and examine the evidence. God was doing a mighty work in and through them. The only thing that had interfered with the work in the past was their lack of faith. He needed to open his eyes, and open his heart and be filled with new faith; the kind of confident faith in the Lord that casts out all fear and discouragement. And the man found it in the Word of God. The essence of the word? “You don’t worry about all the potential enemies out there. I’ll handle them. You just take care of the business I’ve given to you. Trust Me. Have faith in Me.”
Friends, I believe that God has raised up little Grace Chapel for a glorious work. Just like the people of God in Haggai’s day, God is calling us to build up this house for His glory. We are going to build this house on faith, confident faith. There is no place in this great work for discouragement. Trust Him with confident faith. Open your eyes to the overwhelming evidence around you. And please don’t miss out on the joy of being a part of the glorious things He will do in and through us.
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask for or imagine, according to His power at work in us, to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord’s Supper this morning, I want to share with you Haggai’s final sermon. This is God’s Word to man, and quite literally, it began as God’s Word to a particular man, Zerubbabel. I believe with all my heart that God’ special message to a particular man in the year 520 B.C. is not simply a record of something that happened long ago, but by the power of the Holy Spirit these words become God’s special message to us today.
Let’s read Haggai 2:20-23 together.
The backdrop to this text is fascinating, and I want to summarize it for you in a few points about the man Zerubbabel.
First, he had royal blood flowing through his veins, but no Kingdom of his own.
Zerubbabel was a direct descendant of King David. And I’m quite sure that when Zerubbabel was a little boy, he grew up hearing of his royal lineage, tragically lost by the sins of those who came before him. In fact, the book of Jeremiah records God’s message to his grandfather, Jehoiachin. (Jeremiah 22:24) After generations of unfaithfulness, God strips the kingship from Zerubbabel’s grandfather and allows the Babylonians to overthrow Judah. Even if you don’t have an intimate knowledge of Old Testament history, you can understand this: Here stands a great man with a kingly heritage, but he has no kingdom of his own. He has no crown of his own, no throne of his own, no scepter, no army, no chariots. He’s a governor sent to Jerusalem to oversee a building project. In the eyes of the world (perhaps even in his own estimation) he is less than he could have been. Because of someone else’s sin.
I wonder if he ever felt that he had been dealt an unfair hand. I wonder how many times he thought, ‘I could have been king, except for my grandfather’s sin. It wasn’t my fault, but I’m paying the price.’ Let me ask you a question about that unfair hand: What does this sacrament have to say about that? Zerubbabel couldn’t see this, but we can. Obviously, there is no fairness in the Cross, thanks be to God Jesus was without fault or sin, yet He paid the price. Someone else’s sin was laid upon Him. Your sin and mine. Before you on the Table you see the symbols of His willingness to submit to the gross unfairness of it all, on our behalf. “He made Him who had no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Salvation isn’t a matter of fairness but God’s amazing grace The next time you feel tempted to say, “But Lord, it’s just not fair,” remember the Cross. Here’s a lesson Zerubbabel’s experience teaches us: It’s far better to be saved by grace than to insist that everything in life be done according to our understanding of fairness.
I wonder too, if Zerubbabel spent a lot of time dreaming about that which never materialized. ‘I could have been king.’ Just like so many people who spend the better part of their lives grieving over what didn’t happen, rather than dreaming about what will happen. What a sad way to live. Maybe there’s a little bit of Zerubbabel in you and me. “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.”
I’m confident that Zerubbabel wrestled with those feelings, because God has something very specific and very special to say to him. It is far better to be the servant of God than the king of the world. “I will take you, My servant Zerubbabel, and I will make you like my signet ring...” In the ancient world, the signet ring signified the full authority and power of the king. God is giving Zerubbabel something better than kingship. “I will make you like MY signet ring.” You’re going to be My servant and I’m going to exercise My sovereign power through you. What’s better, the be an earthly king, or the have the King of Kings in you? John said, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) Here’s another great lesson we can learn from Zerubbabel: It is far better to be the servant of the King of Kings than to be king. Infinitely better to let Christ reign upon the throne of your heart than to sit upon your own.
The second point that needs to be lifted up about the background to this text is this: Zerubbabel was bound to feel overwhelmed. The people were finally working. You could see the progress. God’s House was being built. But I bet there were times when Zerubbabel climbed to a high point on the hill to survey the work, and then he would look further, out upon the horizon. In every direction he would perceive enemies, obstacles and great threats. And I wonder if it times he felt totally overwhelmed and discouraged. ‘All those enemies out there are chompin’ at the bit. We won’t even get this house built before they’ll come sweeping in and totally destroy what we’re doing. We’re wasting our time. We can’t do this. It’s just not realistic. We’re too small. This is all just a pipe dream and one day we’re all going to wake up and it’s all going to be gone. Our dreams are going to be crushed.’ Here’s another lesson: Even believers can sometimes think like unbelievers and the only one thing that has the power to lift us out of that pit is confident faith in the Lord. From time to time, do you find yourself like Zerubbabel? A believer but struggling for a season with unbelief? God knew what was in Zerubbabel’s heart. And so, He goes straight to the core of the problem and speaks to this man exactly what he needs to hear.
“I will shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers, horses and their riders will fall each by the sword of his brother.” (Hag.2:22)
All the enemies, all the obstacles, all the threats combined are nothing compared to the power of God. When God raises you up for a purpose, you’ve got to trust that there is nothing that can stop Him. If He raises us up to do a might work through us, and yet we persist in discouragement and unbelief, it’s not going to prevent God from accomplishing His plans. But He just might move on to someone else. He’s going to accomplish His plan. Don’t miss being a part of the glorious thing God is doing because of needless discouragement and unbelief.
What Zerubbabel needed to do was to look around and examine the evidence. God was doing a mighty work in and through them. The only thing that had interfered with the work in the past was their lack of faith. He needed to open his eyes, and open his heart and be filled with new faith; the kind of confident faith in the Lord that casts out all fear and discouragement. And the man found it in the Word of God. The essence of the word? “You don’t worry about all the potential enemies out there. I’ll handle them. You just take care of the business I’ve given to you. Trust Me. Have faith in Me.”
Friends, I believe that God has raised up little Grace Chapel for a glorious work. Just like the people of God in Haggai’s day, God is calling us to build up this house for His glory. We are going to build this house on faith, confident faith. There is no place in this great work for discouragement. Trust Him with confident faith. Open your eyes to the overwhelming evidence around you. And please don’t miss out on the joy of being a part of the glorious things He will do in and through us.
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask for or imagine, according to His power at work in us, to Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Haggai 2:10-19
“Yet from this day on, I will bless you.”
The Lord is going to speak to us this morning through the prophet Haggai. He’s the preacher, and I’m simply the one who relays the message. And it is good to remember that the book of Haggai is a series of four sermons preached over the period of several months as the people of God undertake the very important work of building a house for God. There are messages in this ancient collection of sermons that you and I need to hear, messages that fit the time and parallel our experience; sermons that diagnose spiritual problems and then bring the Good News of the Gospel to bear upon our lives.
Let’s reflect upon the first two sermons.
You will recall from several weeks ago, that first sermon was preached on August 29, 520 B.C. It was a challenge from God to resume the work they had begun sixteen years prior. They were sent by God back to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s house. The people worked hard for two years, and then the work ceased, and no one lifted a finger to build God’s house for the ensuing fourteen years. God, who is so lovingly patient issues both a command and an assurance of His grace. “Get back to work,” is the command. The assurance? “I am with you.” And on September 21, 520 B.C. the glorious work resumes.
The second sermon is preached on October 17 of the same year. As the work resumes, most people celebrate, but a few grow discouraged. Some of the older members who could recall the stunning glory of the temple built under Solomon, began to live in the past. Discouragement blinded them from the glorious things God was doing in and through them in the present. So again, God speaks exactly the words they need to hear. God issues another command, “Take courage.” He helps them understand that this house is not going to be as big or as ornate as the temple of the past. But if it is built at God’s direction, by God’s specifications, with the resources God provides and with the proper motivation in the hearts of the builders, then it will give God an even greater glory than the temple of the past. And they all learned a very important lesson through that second sermon. The same qualities God looks for in the temple, He looks for in our hearts - faithfulness, simplicity, humility. The people take the message to heart and experience a great blessing. God speaks again to the people those wonderful assuring words: “I am with you.”
God raises up Haggai to preach a third sermon on December 18, 520. God’s Word is true. It spoke to human hearts 2500 years ago, and it can speak directly to our hearts today. So let’s listen, and learn, and let the Holy Spirit minister to us today.
(Read Haggai 2:10-19)
The work on the temple had resumed in September. The people worked very hard over the next few months and they were beginning to see God’s house taking shape. But as they worked on God’s house, there was other work to do too. They had to take care of their families and get their crops ready. In Israel, Fall is the planting time. After the October rains, the fields would be tilled up and then in November the seed would be planted. Then the people would have to trust God to bless them with a bountiful crop.
It pleased God to see them taking care of their families and their fields. He didn’t begrudge their spending time on such things. And from every indication, the people managed all their work faithfully, never letting the work of God’s house fall through the cracks. They are like the Christian man who was the CEO of a very large business who pictured his many priorities as like juggling balls in the air. Some are crystal balls and some are rubber balls. Crystal balls must be kept in the air. Rubber balls can be allowed to drop. You can pick them back up anytime. Your faith, your family, and your vocation are your crystal balls. Everything else can be dropped for a while and won’t be hurt.
By every indication, the people of God had sorted through their priorities and were putting first things first, keeping the crystal balls up in the air. But underlying their faithful work was a growing sense of anxiety. While working on the Temple, up on the scoffolding they could see their freshly tilled and planted fields. They could see their children playing. And they wondered, ‘Will God bless us? Nothing has sprouted yet. Year after year, as far back as we can remember, we’ve waited for our crops to come in, but the pickings have been slim. Is God going to bless us this year?’
Remember, during all the years they failed to labor on God’s house, they experienced drought and famine. They learned their lesson. Unfaithfulness brings drought and famine. Faithfulness to the Lord opens up a world of blessing. They’ve learned that important lesson, but now they are wondering when blessings will come. “We are trusting in the Lord. We are doing His work. We are trying to be faithful and obedient. Will God come through? Will God bless us? Will the crops come in this year? Will God keep His promise?”
Maybe there is someone hear today waiting for a blessing? “Lord, I’ve been trying so hard to be faithful to you. I need your help. I can’t do this alone. I need you to intervene and change things. When, Lord, are you going to bless me?”
Let’s talk about blessing for a moment.
When I study the Old Testament, what I see is a Father who not only wants to bless His children, but a Father who is dogged in His determination to bless. There were times in Israel’s history when it seemed they were determined to do everything in their power to turn back God’s blessings, but God relentlessly pursues them with with His goodness and love.
So we have to ask ourselves the question: Has the Lord changed? Is He not still an immutable God? The Bible’s answer is clear. God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So, friend, that means God is still dogged and determined to bless you.
But we must keep a few things in mind.
First, God blesses us according to His time frame. Sometimes He makes us wait. As Tom Petty said, “the waiting is the hardest part.” So true. But wait we must. And during the interval between our need and its fulfillment, we must trust Him and not lose heart. Blessings don’t always come immediately.
Second, God wants to bless us. But it is possible for us to live in such a way as to block the blessings. God loves you unconditionally, but there are conditions attached to many blessings. “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14) God wants to bless, but sometimes there are conditions attached to the blessing. Unchecked and unconfessed sin is often a huge barrier to blessing.
Are you asking God for a blessing with one hand outstretched while clutching old familiar sins with the other? God’s love is unconditional. God’s blessings are not unconditional.
Too many Christians confuse the two (God’s unconditional love and God’s blessings).
Too often, when blessings don’t come immediately, we assume that God must not love us, and we show forth evidence of both a distorted understanding of God’s love, and a shallow understanding of God’s blessings. ‘God hasn’t granted my wish, so God must not love me.’
Too often we want God’s blessings, but without any demands made upon our lives. We want God to give great things to us, but we don’t want God to ask anything of us in return. ‘Don’t expect anything from me, Lord. Don’t expect me to change my ways, or to give up destructive sins, or to make any kind of serious commitment to you.....Just bless me.’
But friend, the Lord who saved you by His grace, still wants to bless us, and He has every right to demand and expect our obedience. God’s not after an obedience that earns salvation (that’s impossible) but a life of grateful obedience that opens up door after door of abundant blessing.
Long before Haggai preached, Moses preached to the Children of God. They were already God’s children and nothing could change that....but an unfaithful lot. So, God speaks a very clear word to them:
“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and your young flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause you enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways. They Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Deuteronomy 28:2-8)
That was true in Moses’ day. It was true in 520 B.C. And, it is true today. God has every right to place conditions on our blessing.
So, the people in Haggai’s day were waiting for a blessing, and as it turned out, they were very much in need of a careful examination of heart and life, just in case there was something blocking the blessing. With a desire to bless, God gives the people a test through a series of case studies proposed to the priests.
“If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” (Haggai 2:12-13)
What is the point of this test? It is two fold. First, on the human level, holiness is not communicable. Just being in close proximity to the holy house of God, scampering around on the scaffolding, laying human hands on holy stones, doesn’t make a person holy.
Second, sinfulness, however, is communicable. When you allow your heart to touch unholy things, you become unholy. When you let your eyes look upon filthiness, you become filthy. When you entertain sin you become sinful. “ ‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.” (Haggai 2:14) And then we hear words that are so packed full of promise. “Consider your ways.” God speaks these words to His people because He wants to bless them “Just as you are rebuilding My house, you need to be rebuilding your hearts.” And how do we do that? Well, you cleared away all the rubble that used to clutter up this holy hill. Do the same thing in your hearts. Clear away the rubble to make room for a new foundation. Put first things first. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
Then God proposes another test to the people. He invites them to think back to a time of unfaithfulness, a time when they let their sin go unchecked and unconfessed. During that season of unfaithfulness, their lives were marked by misery. There were droughts and famines in the land. When they went to their storehouses for grain, they would only find half of what they expected. When they went to the wine vat, they would expect to find fifty measures but only find twenty. “I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.” (Haggai 2:17)
And what of those other times in life? Compare your life and experience during a time of unfaithfulness with your life and experience during a time of faithfulness
...a time when you put God first
...a time when you were humbly seeking His face and seeking to glorify Him
...a time when you were giving God your best and trusting in Him for everything. You were blessed! No doubt blessed in ways too great for you to comprehend! That, is a day of blessing. Put Him first and He will bless you again. “Yet from this day on, I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:19)
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Put Him first and give Him your best and according to Jesus, this is what He will do, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)
Friend, God is still dogged and determined to bless you. Let us all make sure there is no barrier ignored, no sin unconfessed. Let us search our hearts and trust in Jesus...and trust solely in Him because, although holiness is not transferrable by touching holy stones, it is transferrable when we trust in Him. That’s when He bestows upon us His holiness and we will not only hear but experience the promise made long ago, “Yet from this day on, I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:19)
I want to close with a special prayer by Henri Nouwen, a prayer that speaks to what you and I need to do in order to clear the way for God’s blessings to come:
O Lord, who else or what else can I desire by you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you, everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?
Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let die the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through you the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thought can become a hymn of praise to you.
I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self and to a new life in you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.
Lord, dispel my mistrust and help me become a trusting friend. Amen.
(A prayer by Henri Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy)
The Lord is going to speak to us this morning through the prophet Haggai. He’s the preacher, and I’m simply the one who relays the message. And it is good to remember that the book of Haggai is a series of four sermons preached over the period of several months as the people of God undertake the very important work of building a house for God. There are messages in this ancient collection of sermons that you and I need to hear, messages that fit the time and parallel our experience; sermons that diagnose spiritual problems and then bring the Good News of the Gospel to bear upon our lives.
Let’s reflect upon the first two sermons.
You will recall from several weeks ago, that first sermon was preached on August 29, 520 B.C. It was a challenge from God to resume the work they had begun sixteen years prior. They were sent by God back to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s house. The people worked hard for two years, and then the work ceased, and no one lifted a finger to build God’s house for the ensuing fourteen years. God, who is so lovingly patient issues both a command and an assurance of His grace. “Get back to work,” is the command. The assurance? “I am with you.” And on September 21, 520 B.C. the glorious work resumes.
The second sermon is preached on October 17 of the same year. As the work resumes, most people celebrate, but a few grow discouraged. Some of the older members who could recall the stunning glory of the temple built under Solomon, began to live in the past. Discouragement blinded them from the glorious things God was doing in and through them in the present. So again, God speaks exactly the words they need to hear. God issues another command, “Take courage.” He helps them understand that this house is not going to be as big or as ornate as the temple of the past. But if it is built at God’s direction, by God’s specifications, with the resources God provides and with the proper motivation in the hearts of the builders, then it will give God an even greater glory than the temple of the past. And they all learned a very important lesson through that second sermon. The same qualities God looks for in the temple, He looks for in our hearts - faithfulness, simplicity, humility. The people take the message to heart and experience a great blessing. God speaks again to the people those wonderful assuring words: “I am with you.”
God raises up Haggai to preach a third sermon on December 18, 520. God’s Word is true. It spoke to human hearts 2500 years ago, and it can speak directly to our hearts today. So let’s listen, and learn, and let the Holy Spirit minister to us today.
(Read Haggai 2:10-19)
The work on the temple had resumed in September. The people worked very hard over the next few months and they were beginning to see God’s house taking shape. But as they worked on God’s house, there was other work to do too. They had to take care of their families and get their crops ready. In Israel, Fall is the planting time. After the October rains, the fields would be tilled up and then in November the seed would be planted. Then the people would have to trust God to bless them with a bountiful crop.
It pleased God to see them taking care of their families and their fields. He didn’t begrudge their spending time on such things. And from every indication, the people managed all their work faithfully, never letting the work of God’s house fall through the cracks. They are like the Christian man who was the CEO of a very large business who pictured his many priorities as like juggling balls in the air. Some are crystal balls and some are rubber balls. Crystal balls must be kept in the air. Rubber balls can be allowed to drop. You can pick them back up anytime. Your faith, your family, and your vocation are your crystal balls. Everything else can be dropped for a while and won’t be hurt.
By every indication, the people of God had sorted through their priorities and were putting first things first, keeping the crystal balls up in the air. But underlying their faithful work was a growing sense of anxiety. While working on the Temple, up on the scoffolding they could see their freshly tilled and planted fields. They could see their children playing. And they wondered, ‘Will God bless us? Nothing has sprouted yet. Year after year, as far back as we can remember, we’ve waited for our crops to come in, but the pickings have been slim. Is God going to bless us this year?’
Remember, during all the years they failed to labor on God’s house, they experienced drought and famine. They learned their lesson. Unfaithfulness brings drought and famine. Faithfulness to the Lord opens up a world of blessing. They’ve learned that important lesson, but now they are wondering when blessings will come. “We are trusting in the Lord. We are doing His work. We are trying to be faithful and obedient. Will God come through? Will God bless us? Will the crops come in this year? Will God keep His promise?”
Maybe there is someone hear today waiting for a blessing? “Lord, I’ve been trying so hard to be faithful to you. I need your help. I can’t do this alone. I need you to intervene and change things. When, Lord, are you going to bless me?”
Let’s talk about blessing for a moment.
When I study the Old Testament, what I see is a Father who not only wants to bless His children, but a Father who is dogged in His determination to bless. There were times in Israel’s history when it seemed they were determined to do everything in their power to turn back God’s blessings, but God relentlessly pursues them with with His goodness and love.
So we have to ask ourselves the question: Has the Lord changed? Is He not still an immutable God? The Bible’s answer is clear. God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So, friend, that means God is still dogged and determined to bless you.
But we must keep a few things in mind.
First, God blesses us according to His time frame. Sometimes He makes us wait. As Tom Petty said, “the waiting is the hardest part.” So true. But wait we must. And during the interval between our need and its fulfillment, we must trust Him and not lose heart. Blessings don’t always come immediately.
Second, God wants to bless us. But it is possible for us to live in such a way as to block the blessings. God loves you unconditionally, but there are conditions attached to many blessings. “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14) God wants to bless, but sometimes there are conditions attached to the blessing. Unchecked and unconfessed sin is often a huge barrier to blessing.
Are you asking God for a blessing with one hand outstretched while clutching old familiar sins with the other? God’s love is unconditional. God’s blessings are not unconditional.
Too many Christians confuse the two (God’s unconditional love and God’s blessings).
Too often, when blessings don’t come immediately, we assume that God must not love us, and we show forth evidence of both a distorted understanding of God’s love, and a shallow understanding of God’s blessings. ‘God hasn’t granted my wish, so God must not love me.’
Too often we want God’s blessings, but without any demands made upon our lives. We want God to give great things to us, but we don’t want God to ask anything of us in return. ‘Don’t expect anything from me, Lord. Don’t expect me to change my ways, or to give up destructive sins, or to make any kind of serious commitment to you.....Just bless me.’
But friend, the Lord who saved you by His grace, still wants to bless us, and He has every right to demand and expect our obedience. God’s not after an obedience that earns salvation (that’s impossible) but a life of grateful obedience that opens up door after door of abundant blessing.
Long before Haggai preached, Moses preached to the Children of God. They were already God’s children and nothing could change that....but an unfaithful lot. So, God speaks a very clear word to them:
“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and your young flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause you enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way and shall flee before you seven ways. They Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Deuteronomy 28:2-8)
That was true in Moses’ day. It was true in 520 B.C. And, it is true today. God has every right to place conditions on our blessing.
So, the people in Haggai’s day were waiting for a blessing, and as it turned out, they were very much in need of a careful examination of heart and life, just in case there was something blocking the blessing. With a desire to bless, God gives the people a test through a series of case studies proposed to the priests.
“If a man carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread with this fold, or cooked food, wine, oil, or any other food, will it become holy?’” And the priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean from a corpse touches any of these, will the latter become unclean?” And the priests answered, “It will become unclean.” (Haggai 2:12-13)
What is the point of this test? It is two fold. First, on the human level, holiness is not communicable. Just being in close proximity to the holy house of God, scampering around on the scaffolding, laying human hands on holy stones, doesn’t make a person holy.
Second, sinfulness, however, is communicable. When you allow your heart to touch unholy things, you become unholy. When you let your eyes look upon filthiness, you become filthy. When you entertain sin you become sinful. “ ‘So is this people. And so is this nation before Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.” (Haggai 2:14) And then we hear words that are so packed full of promise. “Consider your ways.” God speaks these words to His people because He wants to bless them “Just as you are rebuilding My house, you need to be rebuilding your hearts.” And how do we do that? Well, you cleared away all the rubble that used to clutter up this holy hill. Do the same thing in your hearts. Clear away the rubble to make room for a new foundation. Put first things first. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
Then God proposes another test to the people. He invites them to think back to a time of unfaithfulness, a time when they let their sin go unchecked and unconfessed. During that season of unfaithfulness, their lives were marked by misery. There were droughts and famines in the land. When they went to their storehouses for grain, they would only find half of what they expected. When they went to the wine vat, they would expect to find fifty measures but only find twenty. “I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.” (Haggai 2:17)
And what of those other times in life? Compare your life and experience during a time of unfaithfulness with your life and experience during a time of faithfulness
...a time when you put God first
...a time when you were humbly seeking His face and seeking to glorify Him
...a time when you were giving God your best and trusting in Him for everything. You were blessed! No doubt blessed in ways too great for you to comprehend! That, is a day of blessing. Put Him first and He will bless you again. “Yet from this day on, I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:19)
“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Put Him first and give Him your best and according to Jesus, this is what He will do, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Luke 6:38)
Friend, God is still dogged and determined to bless you. Let us all make sure there is no barrier ignored, no sin unconfessed. Let us search our hearts and trust in Jesus...and trust solely in Him because, although holiness is not transferrable by touching holy stones, it is transferrable when we trust in Him. That’s when He bestows upon us His holiness and we will not only hear but experience the promise made long ago, “Yet from this day on, I will bless you.” (Haggai 2:19)
I want to close with a special prayer by Henri Nouwen, a prayer that speaks to what you and I need to do in order to clear the way for God’s blessings to come:
O Lord, who else or what else can I desire by you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you, everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?
Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let die the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through you the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thought can become a hymn of praise to you.
I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self and to a new life in you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.
Lord, dispel my mistrust and help me become a trusting friend. Amen.
(A prayer by Henri Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy)
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