Who Is Our King 3: "Walking in Circles" 10.26.08

Last Sunday afternoon, my wife and I got lost in the Ramapo Mountains. Our trail had been marked by white trail blazes, but all of the sudden the trail led to a clearing and the blazes disappeared. I looked around for the next one and found a path leading to the other side of the clearing. There, we found some red blazes, which was the color of the next trail we needed to find, so we figured we must have found the right trail. However, the trail didn’t seem to be going the right direction and the blazes were different (instead of metal plates, painted or tied on w/ plastic ties). And as we walked further and stumbled upon a blue trail, we realized that this was not the right trail and we were lost. We turned around (and around – seemingly walking in circles) and headed back the way we came, following the crazy red (and now even yellow) blazes. We bushwacked our way back to the clearing, eventually finding our original path. And there we discovered our mistake. We had missed the blaze directing us to go to the right. We had blown right by it, following what we thought was the trail. However, we were following a false trail and false blazes and so we had ended up lost and confused. We got back on the right trail and eventually made it back, having learned the importance of watching for signs, following directions and recognizing true blazes from false ones.

In thinking about that hike, while looking at our passage for today, I realized that in a similar way, the people of Israel, during the days of the Judges, got lost. They left the Path of God and followed other paths – false trails and false directions. As we will find in the text, they were walking in circles. It’s ironic that as a people, they were no longer wandering in the wilderness because they had entered the Promised Land, however, now they were wandering spiritually. they had left the way of the LORD and were making their own way (or more accurately following the false blazes of others). See: Judges 2:16-3:11.

As mentioned last week, the Israelites got themselves into a cycle of sin. We find this in Judges 2 and also in the account of the first judge, Othniel in 3:7-11. There we find the Israelites cycling from: rebellion to retribution to repentance to rescue to reprieve and then repeating it all over.

But what caused Israel to cycle in sin? What led them away from the Lord? I suggested three factors last time: prosperity, pragmatism and peccability (being liable to sin; the opposite of impeccable). I think the historical context helps us to understand them.
- First, prosperity. The Canaanites were technologically advanced. They were established in cities. They were wealthy and powerful (if you remember the spies that Moses sent were in awe of the people and the land). The Israelites on the other hand, were ex-slaves who had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 yrs. The wealth and power of Canaanite culture was a very real temptation.
- Secondly, pragmatism and susceptibility to sin. Idolatry was attractive to the Israelites. But why – what was so great about a statue anyway? Idolatry was guaranteed, selfish, easy, convenient, normal, logical, pleasing to the senses, indulgent and erotic.
- But there was even more to it than that. There was a pagan mindset that they fell into as well. Religion in the Ancient Near East, at that time, involved a 3 tiered structure. There was a national god (in case of emergencies or war or big things – the 9-11’s and financial crises of the day). There was a family or clan god (for more local matters which often was a god of the ancestors). And there was a personal god (who was sought for smaller, personal matters). For example, a Canaanite could have El as their national god (to protect them from other nations), Baal as their family god (for more local matters such as rain for the fields) and Asherah as a personal goddess (for fertility say if you were trying to get pregnant or for the healing of an illness). Israelites on the other hand, were to have only one God – the LORD (Yahweh). However, it seems that many Israelites fell into this pagan mindset.

I think we often believe that if you could go back in time and interview an idolatrous Israelite you would find someone who had totally rejected the LORD. But in reality if you were to ask them if they believed in Yahweh, they would most likely say yes. The problem, however, was that they also believed and served a number of other gods and goddesses.

And so the problem of Israelite idolatry was, for the most part, that it was the sin of addition rather than subtraction. The problem was not removing the LORD and inserting Baal, but keeping the LORD and adding Baal. It was syncretism – adding elements of paganism to the worship of the LORD and accommodating the worship of the LORD to fit with paganism.

And this syncretism led to the cycle of sin. The LORD was supposed to be worshiped alone and yet Israel repeatedly worshiped pagan gods and idols. So the Lord brought punishment upon them. And notice that when this national threat came upon them, it appears they did not turn whole–heartedly to the LORD, but simply to Him as their ‘national God’. He would rescue them, but then they would forget and go back to “life as usual” and look to their little, local and personal gods.

The Israelites failed to realize that the LORD is a jealous God. He has a holy jealousy for His people. His wrath is fierce because His love is fierce. He will not be one among many. He is Lord alone – the only King. He is to be Lord over the nation, over every tribe, clan and family, over every person and every situation.

What I find interesting and horrifying in these passages from Judges is how similar we are to them – how we often face the same temptations and fall into the same traps.

I believe we struggle with Syncretism. Often we focus on the syncretistic climate of religion and “spirituality” in our society. And that is a problem. It’s very popular to believe that all religions basically believe the same thing (it’s utterly ridiculous and naïve, but nonetheless popular). It’s popular to think that all the religions have interchangeable parts, in that you can connect parts of Christianity to parts of Buddhism and Scientology. In this climate, one can go from a Bible study to a Reiki healing circle or put down your Bible and pick up your horoscope or believe in the resurrection and reincarnation. I think we recognize this ‘salad bar’ approach to religion (taking a bit of this and a bit of that). Our idol is therefore kind of like Mr. Potato Head (with interchangeable parts that you can construct the way you want). Syncretism, in this sense, is a problem.

However, there is a more subtle form of syncretism which, though we often overlook it, we are quite susceptible to. It’s a syncretism described best as “God-and”. A.W. Tozer puts it this way, “there is little that we need other than God Himself. The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the and lies our great woe. If we omit the and we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing.”

How often are we guilty of that! We fall into the traps of thinking that we are saved by God and our good work; or that we will be happy if we have God and this or that; that we can believe in God and do whatever we please; we are motivated by God and the approval of people; we will be successful because of God and us pulling ourselves up by the boots straps and doing things our way. Like the Israelites, we are very quick to add things to the worship and service of God, whether it be incompatible religious beliefs or our own will and desires. Like the Israelites in the time of the Judges, we don’t find God sufficient. We want to add our own thing and go our own way. We want to inform God of our will rather than conforming our will to His.

We also struggle with Relegation. We often relegate God to the margins or to a certain area of our lives. Imagine a king who ruled a land having it described to him like this:
“Your majesty, behold your land and people. You are king over all this land, except for that area
over there … and there … and the region in between those to places. Other than those, you’re
king over it all. And you are king over this people … usually … sometimes … well actually most
of the people only recognize you as king once a week … and some only a couple times a year.
But if things get real bad, they will usually declare you king … for a while.”

Do you think any king would be ok with that? No king would be and neither is God. God refuses to be relegated to the margins of our lives. He doesn’t want part of us, He wants all of us. God is not simply our national God who we seek when the stock market falls or a hurricane hits or wars continue or the ozone is depleted or a candidate we don’t like may get elected. (God is not our last ditch effort or our hail Mary pass into the end zone – only sought after when everything else that we have tried has failed.) God is not merely our family God (well, I was raised Christian so that means I’m a Christian – my parents are Christian so …). God is not our God by default. And God is not simply our God personally, but maybe not for someone else.

The LORD is King over all the earth and He is King over all of us. He will not be relegated as our national or family or personal God. He is all of that and more. He is the Lord over every part of us (our hopes and dreams, our time and money, our jobs and portfolios, our family and friends). He is our King.

And finally, we struggle with Forgetfulness. Like the Israelites, we easily forget. We face trouble and cry out to God. He helps us and we are psyched, motivated and close to Him. But then the erosion of time occurs and we soon forget and drift away. That is why we are told over and over to remember. And that is why being an active part of the community of God is so important. That is why having an active personal devotional life is so essential. That is why being accountable to another believer or to a small group is so vital. It helps us to remember who God is and who we are – that we belong to the LORD.

We must not forget who He is and what He has done and promises to do. We must not pollute our relationship with Him through false beliefs or seeking God-and. We must not relegate Him to the margins of our lives. God is our King and He must exercise sovereign authority over every area of our lives.

May we not get lost by following false trails and false blazes. To modify Hebrews 12 a bit, may we hike with perseverance the trail marked out for us, casting off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Trail Blazer of our faith. May we not be found (or rather lost) walking in circles.

Who is Our King? 2: "Our King, Who?" 10.19.08

Psalm 145 declares, “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.” Is that true of us? Are we commending the works of the LORD to the next generation? If not, then our children will not know or follow the LORD. If not, then we, as a church, will be diminished. If not, then our culture will sink to new depths of depravity. Am I putting it too strongly? I don’t think so. And I think history backs me up.

Scripture reveals that the LORD is King over all the earth. Sometimes we lose sight of that. How does that happen and what happens when we do? Things become like the world William Butler Yeats describes in his poem “The Second Coming”:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Yeats poem describes fallen human existence – which we experience ourselves and which has characterized periods throughout history – especially the period of the Judges we read of in the Bible. And so, I want us to look at the beginning of the book of Judges, focusing on chapter 2.

The first chapter of Judges reveals an incomplete conquest. God had given them the land and promised to drive out the peoples before them, however the Israelites were unable to drive them out fully. But why? The reason is revealed in Judges 2:1-5.

The Israelites fail to conquer the Promised Land because they had broken their covenant with the LORD. The LORD had delivered them from Egypt, had brought them to their inheritance, therefore, when they entered into the Promised Land, they were not to make any covenants with the inhabitants of the Land nor have anything to do with their gods. But Israel disobeyed the LORD. They made agreements with the peoples and instead of breaking down their altars, they bowed before them.

But why did Israel disobey? Why did they break covenant with the LORD? We find out as we read Judges 2:6-23. The reason for their disobedience is given implicitly rather than explicitly and this implicit reason is found in v. 10, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.” How quickly we forget! By the second generation, the memory of the LORD (that is knowledge of the LORD that would lead to love, worship and obedience) had faded away. A whole generation grew up who did not know the LORD.

It appears then that there had been failure on two fronts: a failure of both the priests and parents.

Priests were not simply supposed to work in the temple and offer sacrifices and perform ceremonial duties, they were also supposed to teach. In Leviticus 10:11, the LORD tells Aaron (the High Priest) and his sons, “you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.” The priests were to know the Law and to live among their fellow Israelites teaching them how to follow the LORD. But evidently, that had not happened. The priests had failed to teach and train the next generation in the Way of the LORD.

But if priests were to blame, so were the parents. More than priests or anyone else, parents are responsible to teach their children how to follow the LORD. It’s still true. More than the church, Sunday School teachers, youth group leaders or Christian schools, parents are responsible for training their children. Read: Deuteronomy 6.

Parents are to impress the way of the LORD upon their children. They’re to teach them how to live for God by following Christ, but how? By personal example (v. 6), through teaching in daily living v. 7 - making it a part of your family’s life), and through commitment, visible reminders, repetition (vv. 8-9). And the text goes on to reveal why it is so crucial to do this. We are to teach our children so that in every circumstance they will remember and remain faithful and receive the LORD’s blessing. Parents were to tell the story of God’s salvation and weave it into the lives of their children. But evidently, this had not been happening. Parents had failed to teach and train the next generation in the Way of the LORD (which led to devastating results).

However, not all the blame can be placed on the parents or priests. The children had a responsibility as well. And these children – this new generation – were not kept in a complete vacuum. They had to know something about the LORD, for our text says that they “forsook the LORD” (they left, abandoned, turned away from the LORD). You can’t forsake something you know nothing about. That phrase implies a break in a relationship. The new generation did not know the LORD in that they did not choose to know Him – they rejected and turned away from Him. We see this in 2:16-17. The LORD raised up Judges, but they would not listen to them. Instead, it says, they “prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them.” The new generation were not simply victims of poor education, they consciously broke their relationship with the LORD. They intentionally walked away. We read, “they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands.” “They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.”

So what caused them to forsake the LORD? I think three things played a role.

The first is Prosperity. Now prosperity (wealth, comfort, security) is not a bad thing in itself, but it can easily cause people to become complacent, self-satisfied and off-guard. READ: Deuteronomy 8:10-20. Prosperity is the blessing of God, not the work of our hands. But often we are so focused on the blessing, we lose sight of the Giver and become complacent.

The second thing is Pragmatism. I think the Israelites just found it easier and more practical to compromise and capitulate (If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em). They found it easier to make exceptions to the rule. Israel often struggled with wanting to be like the other nations. We too struggle with wanting to fit in and blend in. We often choose the way of pragmatism and expediency (what is ‘effective’ and ‘succesful’) over the way of Christ.

The third thing was Peccability (to be ‘peccable’ is to be liable to sin or error. It is the opposite of ‘impeccable’, meaning to be free from sin). The Israelites played with sin. By compromising with the other peoples, they opened themselves up to temptation. They played with sin and when you play with sin, like fire, you get burned. And so, Israel left themselves vulnerable to what the apostle John called, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

What’s the lust of the flesh? Everything that panders to our appetites. This usually involves sensuality whether for food or drink or sexual gratification. But those things are not bad in appropriate amounts, in the right context and when seen as a gift of God. So what is meant here is the abuse of those things – used out of context and separated from God. The lust of the flesh is the selfish, self-sufficient approach to life that pursues its own ends independent and irrespective of God.

What’s he lust of the eyes? Greed, jealousy, covetousness and vanity – desiring things and more things and more things than the other guy. Our consumer and pornographic culture thrives on this. In fact, the lust of the eyes is the backbone of all our marketing and advertising. But it’s nothing new, the Israelites suffered from it as well. Idolatry was visual, tangible and often overtly sexual. For us Americans, image is everything. We have as many idols as Canaan.

And what’s the pride of life? Boasting, arrogance and self-congratulation. It’s showing off for others – boasting of what one has or does. The Israelites opened themselves up to this three-fold temptation and gave into it.

So, that’s how the Israelites lost sight of who their King was. But what were the results of that? I think our text reveals two results: they failed to receive all that God had for them and they made themselves vulnerable to the enemies around them. God had promised them a land of plenty – blessings, abundance, prosperity, protection, victory and the privilege of being a blessing to others. But Israel failed to receive all that God had for them. They turned away and so God handed them over and sold them to their enemies. It’s ironic that those they wanted to imitate and be like became their cruel oppressors. Isn’t that like sin? That which we desire turns out to be our destruction.

And so, here we find a people who had lost sight of who their King was. It is no wonder that the writer of this book chose as his refrain this statement: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

Are we deserving of a similar epithet? Have we as God’s people lost sight of who our King truly is? The danger in that is that like the Israelites we will miss out on the blessings God has for us and we will open ourselves up to the enemies which surround us.

That is why the greatest commandment is one we must never forget: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” That commandment (as well as the one to love our neighbors as ourselves) is to be upon our hearts. We are to impress them upon our children. We are to talk about them (teach them) when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up. We are to tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads (remember them). And we are to write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates (have them in the framework of our familes).

If we, as a church and as parents, don’t train our children to follow the Way of Christ, the fallen world will be happy to train them to follow its way. Our culture is NOT neutral. It is antagonistic to the Gospel. And so, we cannot cop out and say, “leave them alone and they’ll come home wagging their tails behind them.” They won’t. Our children will be devoured by the fallen world and the evil one who is controlling it unless we take our responsibility seriously and train them to know, love and serve the Lord. And we cannot do that unless we know, love and serve the Lord.

One generation will commend your works to another. Brothers and sisters may we do that – intentionally, creatively, passionately, persistently so that we can receive all that God has for us; so that the next generation will know and serve the Lord; so that all the world will know that the LORD is King!

Who is Our King? 1: "The Most High" 10.12.08

Today we begin a new series asking the question: “Who is Our King?” But why ask that question?

Well, first of all, human beings need authority. Though we often resist and resent authority, we need it – even desire it. We see this in children. We tell them no. They freak out, throw a tantrum, tell us that we’re the meanest parents in the world and that they’re not going to get us anything for Christmas, maybe even draw a picture illustrating how mean we are, but then, after they explode and we threaten to sell them to the zoo, and some time passes, they crawl into our laps and sniffle their “sorrys” and we hug and kiss them. Children resist authority, but they are glad it is there. They need it to be there.

We are the same. We need authority. We were made for it. Think about it: every society or culture throughout history and across the globe has structures of authority (tribes have chiefs, teams have captains, even our “democracy” has elected officials). Government is a need and a gift, for anarchy is unsustainable.

Secondly, we need to ask the question because this year is an election year. We will elect a new president in just a few weeks. Sometimes we treat the election of the president like the election of a messiah. We believe that the president will save us from economic downturn, foreign enemies, the fuel crisis, climate change; he will solve every social, educational and economic problem on a national level and every military, political and humanitarian crisis on a global level. In addition he will also save us from whatever we believe the opposite party (if elected) will inflict upon us.

We expect our president to be all-knowing, all-talented, all-efficient and exceedingly righteous – a role model in fact. Some even say that we want our president to ‘lead us in righteousness’. Well, if you mean by that that you want the president to lead in a righteous manner with honesty, truth and integrity then yes - “lead us in righteousness.” But if you mean that the president is elected to be our moral and spiritual head, then no! The president is not the pope (or even a pastor), nor is he the high priest, prophet and king of a new Israel, nor is he a god. Sometimes we place all our hopes on the outcome of an election. If our candidate wins then evils will be outlawed, morality will thrive, birds will sing and revival will come. But if the other one wins, Armageddon.

Now, I believe that the Presidency of the United States is an extremely important position. I do not deny that a president can work for great good or for great evil. However, the president is not the end all and be all; he is not the resting place for all our hopes; he is not the “most high”. The president is not our messiah. The president is not our king.

Thirdly, we ask the question because we human beings tend to gravitate toward false kings and false messiahs. The Bible calls them idols. You see, though we were made to live under the authority of God and our rejection of God’s authority creates a vacuum in which idolatry (in its various forms) can arise. Within humanity there is a hole which we try to fill with little gods and upstart kings. However, human beings were created to belong to God and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.

So, who is our King? The resounding answer that we find in Scripture is that the LORD God Almighty is our King. We see this clearly in Psalm 47.

Psalm 47 can be summarized by the following statement: “God is King over all the earth.” Our God has revealed Himself as the One “who was and is and is to come.” And so, I want us to look at this psalm through that revelation.

The first section (vv 1-2) focuses on the One Who Is. God created us to belong to Him and to worship Him. Therefore, we read, “Clap your hands, all you nations.” To clap hands could mean to clap one’s hands together in terms of applause or approval. But it can also mean to clasp or strike hands together in agreement (like a handshake). And so, the peoples of the earth are called to agree with one another regarding their relationship to the LORD. And they are to shout to God with cries of joy. Human beings were created to praise the Lord.

Why? Because the LORD is the “Most High, the great King over all the earth!” And He is “awesome” or as it literally says, He is “to be feared”. The Lord is awesome and is to be feared. He deserves our awe and reverence and respect. And He deserves it because he is the “Most High”. There is no one greater than our God. He is superior to every other so-called god (whether it be a pagan deity, a person or a possession). The LORD is the Most High - the great King over all the earth. He is not simply a king (one among many) nor is He merely the King of the people or land called Israel, He is the King over all the earth. All the nations, all the peoples belong to Him.

Next, in vv. 3-7, we focus on the One Who Was. We read in v. 3-4, “He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.” The picture is of the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the Promised Land – of deliverance and inheritance. The writer of this psalm could look back and remember how the Lord had rescued his people from Egypt and had brought them into a land flowing with milk and honey – the land promised to their forefathers. God had delivered them and given them an inheritance. We, as Christians, have likewise been delivered and given an inheritance. We can look back, not only to Egypt and Israel, but to the cross of Christ and the new life and the Spirit given to those in Christ. God has delivered His people and dwells among us. As we read, “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.” He is enthroned in the midst of His people. Therefore, we can join in the celebration: “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.”

And finally in vv. 8-9, we focus on the One Who is to Come. “God reigns over the nations.” The tense of the verb reigns tells us that that is an accomplished fact, not a hoped-for event. However, because it is an accomplished fact, it means that we can depend upon it in the future. God reigns now and he will continue to reign forever! “He sits on his holy throne” and no one can remove Him. God is sovereign over the nations and one day His sovereignty will be unmistakable. For we read, “the nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham.” What was called for at the beginning of the psalm will one day take place. All the nations will recognize and agree that the LORD God Almighty, the God of creation, the God of Israel, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is King. (Take a look at Isaiah 45:22-24 and then Philippians 2:10-11.) God is the One Who is to Come. He will come and every nation will recognize Him and every knee will bow before Him.

I’ve mentioned before that I sometimes use Starbucks as an emergency ‘second office’ to study and write. Sitting there this past week while working on this message, the question arose in my mind: “What does the fact that ‘God is King over all the earth’ mean in Starbucks? What does the reality that this psalm presents mean to all the different people sitting around me?” I came to the conclusion that it means nothing … and everything.

It means nothing in that I think people reason: Who bought this venti mocha double-shot non-fat latte? I did. Who owns that Range Rover parked outside? I do. Who controls my life? I do. It’s very easy for us to think that we have it all together and believe that we are in control. Starbucks is a fascinating place because it is filled with human interaction. But sometimes all of our human interaction keeps us from seeing Divine reality. If we’re always looking around at each other or down at our all our stuff, we can’t look up to see God’s reality. The fact that God is King doesn’t seem to matter.

But what happens when we can’t afford the lattes anymore? What happens when the Range Rover gets totaled? What happens when investments fail or we lose our job or life falls apart? We quickly recognize that we are not in control (as much as we may look and act the part).

We are being reminded of that these days. We are in the midst of a financial crisis. The stock market is declining, people are losing jobs, investment portfolios are going belly-up. And this crisis is stacked on top of the fuel crisis, environmental and humanitarian problems, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, political instability in the world and political change in our country. It is an anxious time because we are being reminded that we are not ultimately in control. We are being reminded of how fragile we truly are. Try as we might, we are not the captains of our fate. And so the fact that “God is King over all the earth” means everything.

I started this message by stating that we as humans need authority. Look at how we are scrambling to find some authority in our current financial mess. We look to the Fed, Congress, the president, bank leaders and world leaders. We even ask those running for president how they are going to solve the problem. We’re scrambling to find someone who can help. Well, above the Fed, above Congress, above current and potential presidents, above world leaders, above bank ceos, there is a Great King – the Most High – the LORD is His name! He is sovereign over the nations and the problems we face are not too big for Him. He is the King and He is good.

Isn’t it ironic that on our money (the very object of this crisis – of our fear and anxiety) is written “In God We Trust”. So do we or don’t we? Do we trust God? Do we recognize Him not only as King but as our King?

And do we recognize that though God reigns over the nations, he is still near to us when we call upon Him? Don’t miss that in this psalm. God is the Most High and yet He is also the Most Near. He rules the world and yet we find that He showed concern for the little people of Israel - He loved them. God is not distant and aloof, He is near and concerned. God is love.

“God is King over the earth” is not only Good News because it means someone is in control, but because this God, who is in control, is good and loving and near to those who call on Him.

So in the midst of this financial crisis – sing praises to our God, sing praises.
In the midst of political uncertainty – sing praises to our King, sing praises.
In the midst of world turmoil – Clap your hands, all you nations.
In the midst of personal struggles – shout to God with cries of joy.

And that is not a call to simply “whistle in the dark” – to expect something good to happen when it most likely won’t. It is not a call to be naïve or Pollyanna-ish. It’s a call to take life seriously but to take God even more seriously. It’s a call to seek and to praise God in the face of difficult circumstances. Why? Because our God reigns over the nations and over us. He sits on His holy throne and dwells in the midst of us. He is our King.

Impact 3 "Radically Influential" 09.28.08

The Fabian Society was formed in 1884 in England with the purpose of establishing socialism in Britain not through revolutionary means but through a process of infiltration. They wanted to permeate the political parties at the time with socialist ideas. However, they were largely unsuccessful. In fact, H.G. Wells, who for a time was a part of the society, stated that they had permeated English society about as much as a mouse may be said to permeate a cat. In other words, their movement had been devoured, swallowed up by society rather than permeating it.

Can the same be said of us as Christians? Do we permeate our culture about as much (or as little) as a mouse permeates a cat? Do we make an impact or are we swallowed up by our culture and digested? Are we transforming culture or being conformed to it?

In the last message in this series, we learned that to make an impact we need to be a people who live radically different lives out of love for God so that others can came to know that same love. Now we’re going to find that in order to make an impact we must not only be radically distinctive, but also radically influential.

However, can we be both? – both radically distinctive and radically influential? Doesn’t distinctiveness necessarily lead to isolation and segregation? It can, but not necessarily. We are called to be distinctive and so if we cease to be distinctive, we become useless. This is what Jesus says when He speaks of salt: “if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” Likewise, if we remain isolated and segregated, we become useless. This is what Jesus says when He speaks of light: “people [don’t] light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” Light is radically different than darkness and yet for light to illuminate anything, it must permeate darkness. You see, it is only when something distinctive maintains its distinctiveness while refusing to be isolated or segregated that it is useful and makes an impact.

John Stott wrote in his book, The Living Church, “if society becomes corrupt, there is no sense in blaming society for its corruption. That is what happens when human evil is unchecked and unrestrained. The question to ask is: where is the church? Where is the salt and light of Jesus? ” (133). If we are to make an impact in the lives of the people around us, we must maintain our distinctiveness as followers of Christ while refusing to be isolated or segregated from the world around us. We must permeate our society personally with the love of God and the truth of the Gospel. We must be radically influential.

But how do we permeate our society with the love of God and the truth of the Gospel? We must be sent by Jesus. The Church has been defined for centuries as being one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Usually when we think of being apostolic, we think of being orthodox – following the teachings of the apostles as found in the NT. However, the term ‘apostolic’ comes from the verb “to send”. The apostles were the “sent ones” and so are we. Not that we are apostles, per se, but we are apostolic in that we are sent by Jesus into the world. Now we get that. We know that, in some sense, we are sent into the world. However, we struggle with two things – 1) HOW we are sent and 2) the act of actually GOING. To help us understand the first problem of how we are sent, I want us to look at three passages from Scripture.

The first is Luke 10.1-3. In these verse, I think we find four ways we are sent.

We are sent together as witnesses. Jesus sent His followers out in pairs. We find this throughout the NT: Peter & John, Paul & Barnabas, Barnabas & Mark, Paul & Silas, even Priscilla and Aquila. But why pairs? Certainly for mutual support and encouragement, but I think there is another reason for two being sent and that is because the validity of one’s claim needed to be backed up by 2-3 witnesses. They went in pairs to bear witness that Jesus is in fact Savior and Lord. Likewise, we are sent together (as a people, as a community) to bear witness to the love and truth and saving work of Jesus.

We are sent ahead of Him. We read He “sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.” This suggests that Jesus goes with us. We are sent, not to be the end-all and be-all, but simply to point to Jesus – to “prepare the way” in a person’s life - to make room for Jesus to do His work. Jesus sends us out, trusting that He will act. He goes before us and comes after us.

We are sent into a harvest field. The world is the harvest field. We are not sent into a supervisory office to oversee the combines out in the fields and watch the grain get poured into the silos. We are sent personally into the fields, into the world – the world of people and relationships, of culture and politics, of problems and difficulties and sin. We have been called to the harvest field – to go into the wet, muddy fields - to work hard, get dirty, but in the end, to bring in a harvest to God’s glory.

And we are sent like lambs among wolves. I wish I could put an exegetical spin on this passage, but I can’t. I wish Jesus said, I am sending you out like wolves among lambs, but He didn’t. He meant what He said. We are asked to do the impossible. We are asked to face enemies, hostility and difficulties. No sheep would relish being sent into a pack of wolves. It is a helpless, impossible position. And so what makes it possible? The fact that though we are sheep, we have a Good Shepherd who is with us and has told us, “take heart, I have overcome the world!” We belong to the Good Shepherd and so, like David, we can claim, “I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” We can face the wolves and do the impossible because the Good Shepherd is with us.

The second passage is Matthew 5.13-16. We are sent as salt and light. As Stott points out, salt and light are effective; they change the environment into which they are introduced. Christians are likewise to be effective. We are to bring change to environment into which we are introduced. Often, however, we are effected – we are changed by our environment, but we must strive against that – strive to be effective rather than effected. Salt and light are also complimentary. Salt acts negatively, hindering bacteria from causing decay. Light acts positively, illuminating darkness and creating color. Christians likewise have complimentary roles. We are to check the spread of evil and to promote the spread of goodness and truth, especially the Good News of the Gospel.

The third passage is Matthew 28.19-20. We are sent as disciple makers. That is our primary responsibility – to help people know, love and follow Christ. Christianity seeks the transformation of people. Our mission work is not the conquering and subjugation of nations, but rather telling and living the Good News of salvation and transformation in Jesus Christ. We are called to impact our culture not violently, superficially or merely politically, but subtly and genuinely. We do not seek political domination, but rather personal transformation. We are sent to make disciples - to help people know, love and follow Christ. And so we are sent out with the presence of Jesus. How can we do what Jesus has called us to do? How can we permeate and impact our society and the lives of the people around us? Because Jesus has promised us, “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Therefore, nothing is impossible. We can do all things through Him who gives us strength.

We are sent out together, with the presence and power of Jesus, into the harest field, as witnesses, like lambs among wolves, as salt and light, in order to make disciples.

But there is one verse we have not addressed: Luke 10:4. Jesus instructed His disciples not to take anything with them: “Do not take a purse or bag or sandals.” Their task was urgent and required them to trust God for everything. The task is still urgent and we are still required to trust God for everything. But does God send us with nothing? In the end, all we can depend upon is Jesus Himself, however, He has given us resources. John Stott suggests that we actually have six weapons for social change or, as I refer to them, six instruments for impact.

We have Prayer. Prayer is our strength. How can we make an impact? Because we have been given strength in prayer. In prayer we connect the people and the problems and the potential before us with God.

We have Evangelism. Or since we called prayer our strength, we could call evangelism our heart and voice. We will have no lasting impact unless we are faithful to clearly, continually, compassionately and compellingly communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is true, relevant and powerful and when we share it with our heart and voice, it makes an impact.

We have Example, or we could say a life to share. A Christ-like life of love and integrity is hard to dismiss. We also need to be a little more Reformed in our thinking and regain the concept of the priesthood of all believers, so that we will see our various occupations as our calling. You see, “Calling” is not merely for those going into ‘the ministry’. You can be called to be an artist; called to be a dentist; called to be a writer or film maker; called to be a builder or an engineer. God calls us to do different things, but to do them all for His glory and to better the world as we live out the Gospel through them. You can be a witness of the Gospel on a construction site, in an office building, in a studio or museum, at home, in a classroom, in a restaurant. It is not so much what God calls us to do for a living, but who God calls us to be.

We have Argument. We can use our minds to stand up for truth. We can enter into private discussions and public debate. We don’t have to hide in the corner mumbling our two cents worth. As citizens of our country who are Christians, we can and should enter the political and cultural realm – not as argumentative, cantankerous people, but with truth and love.

We have Action. We have hands and feet. We can act as citizens, working for the good of our nation. And we can act as neighbors, helping those around us. We make an impact with the Gospel not only through our words, but with our actions.

And the final instrument is Suffering. We have a will - “a willingness to suffer for what we believe in”. We must persevere. We must believe whole-heartedly in the validity of the Gospel, in the love of God for the world, and in the power of God to transform that world. And then be ready to give of ourselves, to suffer and struggle and persevere for what we whole-heartedly believe.

We can make an impact because God has given us strength, a heart and voice, a life, a mind, hands and feet, and a will – all of which we are to use for His glory, the benefit of human beings and the furthering of His Kingdom. And all of which can make us radically influential.

But we struggle with two things. Hopefully, we have learned something about how we are sent. The other piece is the issue of actually going – actually following the call of Jesus to permeate our society and make an impact with the Gospel. That is not something that I, as a preacher and pastor, can do anything about. I can’t make anybody do anything (I have a hard enough time trying to make myself do it). I don’t send you, Jesus does. And so, He must be the One who motivates you to make an impact. You have to decide whether or not you will follow Jesus’ call.

Will we strive, by the grace of God, to make an impact? Will we be salt and light in a dark and decaying world? Will we permeate society with the love of God and the truth and power of the Gospel? I hope we will. And I hope that, by the grace of God, we will be more successful than the mouse.

Impact 2: "Radically Different" 09.21.08

Can holiness make an impact in our community?

Wouldn’t marketing a cool image or offering tons of exciting programs or preaching positive thinking make more of an impact? Holiness is not a very popular attribute in our day-in-age is it? Often when people in our culture think of holiness they usually picture such divergent things as incense, candles and church buildings, maybe puritans in stark churches, or monks or hermits or perhaps some mystical/spiritual place. Or, if they don’t think of things, they think of a ‘holier than thou’ attitude or legalism. Holiness to them seems incoherent and inaccessible at best and oppressive at worst. What about us? What do we think of holiness? Often don’t we think of it as some unattainable goal; something we need to be but we find impossible to pull off; something for super-Christians (who are way more spiritual than we are); or something that will define us in heaven, but not here on earth?

What is holiness? To be holy is to be set apart to God and therefore to be characterized by God. Holiness then, in the context of a fallen world – a world corrupted by sin - could be described as being radically different. And we learn about holiness and the impact it can make in our passage for today: 1 Peter 2:9-12.

I want us to look at this passage backwards, because that will allow us to look at the impact we are to have first and then discover how we are to make that impact.

That they may see your good deeds and glorify God

Live such good live among unbelievers

abstain from sinful passions

as sojourners and exiles in the world

Beloved

So, what is the impact? We find it in v.12: “that they may see you good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” In our context, “they” are the unbelievers all around us – people we know and like; people we work with and live by. It is those people whom we want to see our good deeds (i.e. our Christian faith lived out genuinely, humbly and fervently) so that they might glorify God by believing and trusting in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Could our impact be to so glorify God through our lives that others come to glorify Him as well?

I believe so. For what precedes this impact? Peter instructs us to live good lives. Now, this is not living the “good life” (the American dream), but rather living lives that make a difference; lives that make an impact. And what sort of lives make an impact? Lives that have been impacted by Jesus; lives that take His teaching and example seriously. In his book, The Living Church, John Stott describes this kind of life as one characterized by Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount: a life of greater righteousness, wider love and nobler ambition.

And if we are to live such good lives – lives characterized by Christ – we must let go of certain things. The apostle Paul says it this way: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). We must take off what we were apart from Christ so that we can put on Christ. That involves abstaining from sinful desires. If you have remodeled a house, you know that destruction precedes construction. There is stuff to get rid of (clutter to remove, carpets to pull up, walls to knock down). The same is true in us. Before we can be rebuilt, things have to get torn down and removed. And to do that we must fight against the sinful desires which war against our souls. And that is not easy. That is why Peter refers to it as a war. Sin comes naturally to us. We’re all really good at it. Pride, selfishness, conceit, anger, hatred, jealousy etc. all come naturally and easily to us, but we must fight against those things. We must abstain (hold back, keep ourselves from) those sinful desires. And we must do that constantly. “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. That is true of us. Sinful desires war against our soul and we must battle against them continuously.

But how do we do that in a world that preys upon our sinful passions; that encourages them; advertises to them; celebrates them? How do we do that in our Las Vegas culture? We must live as “aliens and strangers” or as it is also translated, “sojourners and exiles”. To sojourn is to stay someplace temporarily; to be a temporary resident. To be an exile is to be separated from one’s native land. When we live as sojourners and exiles, we recognize that this broken world is not our home and the way of this broken world is not our way. This world does not define us because we were meant to live for more. We are in it, but not of it. We live in the midst of it, but it is not our life. How do we abstain from sinful passions and live good lives in the midst of our Las Vegas culture? We change our loyalties and alter our priorities. We strive for something greater, higher, wider and nobler. Or as the writer of Hebrews says, we “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” When surrounded and accosted and tempted by the glitz and glamour, the propaganda and propositions, the easy money and cheap thrills of our Vegas culture, we must train our eyes to see through it (to see it for what it is: empty, base, fleeting); to see beyond it (to what is good, true and beautiful); and to see Christ (to look to and through Christ).

But what makes us want to live as sojourners and exiles in this world? Most people don’t generally choose exile or a life of sojourning. What would cause us to want that? The answer is found in one word: “Beloved”. We are God’s Beloved. And that makes all the difference. It makes all the difference because as Paul says, “Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:14-15). People will do almost anything for human love, how much more the perfect love of God? And so, because we are loved we are willing and able to live no longer for ourselves but for the One who loves us; who died and rose again for us.

To be ‘beloved’ is to belong to the Father by being in the Son, Jesus Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. To belong to the Father is to be reconciled. To be in Christ is to be redeemed. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be made holy. And so, to be ‘beloved’ is to be set apart and made right, or in other words, to be holy. As God’s beloved, we are made holy and as those who are made holy, we are beloved. As we read in vv.9-10, to be holy and beloved means we have received mercy; we are God’s people; we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation; a people belonging to God. And notice that even in that description we are pointed toward the impact we are to have. We read at the end of v. 9: “(so) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

How do we make an impact that causes unbelievers to come to Christ and glorify God? By living good lives in front of them and abstaining from sinful passions as those who choose to live as sojourners and exiles because they are the beloved of God (declared and being made holy). Or in other words, by living radically different lives out of our love for God.

But does that really work? Does living radically different lives (holy lives) make a difference? Yes.

For one reason, if we are no different from the world, what do we have to offer it? Why would people want more of the same? Without holiness (radical distinctiveness) that comes from belonging to God, all we have to offer is gimmicks and games. And our world doesn’t need any more gimmicks. It doesn’t need any more propaganda or platitudes. It needs integrity, confidence, strength and love. And so, holiness is compelling because love is compelling. Our good deeds, our lives of love cause people to glorify God. And holiness is compelling because integrity is compelling. When we live good lives; when our conduct is honorable and Christlike, people take notice. Personal strength is compelling because in a world of license, of indecisiveness and lack of commitment; a culture with the mantra of “if it feels good, do it” personal strength and self-control are rare and therefore striking. And confidence is compelling. Knowing who we are and being confident and comfortable in our identity as sojourners and exiles is somewhat refreshing in a world of identity confusion and identity fraud; of living vicariously and of people constantly trying to find themselves.

A second reason that holiness makes an impact is because holiness is a reflection of God. And when people see God, they are never the same. When people see a reflection of God’s character in us, they are astounded by it and attracted to it.

A third reason that holiness makes an impact is because holiness is personal. Holiness cannot be advertised or marketed or printed on a church letter-board sign, or glued to a billboard or made into a movie; it cannot be communicated through a bumper sticker, a t-shirt, a tract or any other impersonal means. Holiness makes an impact because the only way to see it is personally – we see it in the another person’s life; we see it lived out. You can ignore church letter-board signs. You can throw out a flyer. But it is difficult to ignore someone’s life. When Mother Theresa spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994 (in front of the President and other leaders) what made her compelling was not what she looked like (a small, Albanian woman dressed as a nun), not her performance (she read from a paper held close to her face), but the truth of her words backed up by the holiness of her life. You could ignore her appearance and performance, but you could not ignore her life. Holiness makes an impact because it allows the truth of our words to be backed up by the love and integrity of our lives.

Impact 1: "A Living Church" 09.14.08

Salt and light are two things that make a tremendous impact, but often in subtle ways. Salt brings out flavor in food. It preserves food. And it has antiseptic qualities that help the body heal. Light obviously allows a person to see. Light brings color. Light brings life. It’s no wonder then that Jesus used these two things as metaphors for what His People should be: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”

But are we living as salt and light? Are we having a positive impact in our community, our culture, our world? Does our presence make a difference in this neighborhood? If SRC were not here would it make any difference (other than freeing up some tax-exempt land for development)?

The past two years we have heard a lot of messages about what we believe, who we are and what we are called to do as the Church. Will we allow what we have heard and learned to compel us to think differently, act differently, operate differently so as to make an impact in our surrounding world? The messages in this series are a call to do just that.

And so the call today comes from Acts 2:42-47.

We are called to be a Living Church. And as John Stott suggests in his book by that title, to be a Living Church …

We must be a LEARNING CHURCH. We read in v. 42, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” The first Christians were devoted – they were persistent, committed, loyal - they gave their time and attention to learning how to follow Jesus. They knew their faith had content. There was a message, a teaching that was essential for them to understand and cling to and follow. We too must devote ourselves Scripture - not simply a respect or an appreciation for Scripture - we must devote ourselves to studying, learning and living Scripture. And that takes personal responsibility. Often Christians talk about “being fed” and the pastor is the one who is supposed to “feed the flock”. But as John Stott perceptively asks, “How do shepherds feed their sheep? The answer is that they don’t. To be sure if a newborn lamb is sick, the shepherd will doubtless take it up in his arms and bottle-feed it. But normally shepherds do not feed their sheep; they lead them to good, green pasture where the sheep feed themselves” (The Living Church, 103). So if we are to be a learning church, we must be committed not simply to listening to sermons, but to actively and personally feeding on God’s Word. When led to the green pastures of God’s Word, we must start chewing. Sheep that lie around waiting for the shepherd to stuff grass in their mouths would be pretty sickly sheep. If we are to be a living church that makes an impact in our community, we must be a learning church. And here’s a little secret: the more you are feeding on God’s Word, the more natural it is to make an impact.

We must be a LOVING CHURCH. We read that the believers also devoted themselves to “fellowship.” Their fellowship was a common life. The Greek word, koinonia means “common” and is also at the root of the word “generosity”. We read, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” This was not communism, but rather simple generosity. It was love for each other. Jesus gave His followers the command to love one another. It was how people would know they were his disciples. And so here we see it lived out. And that was huge. Just as the message that the apostles proclaimed was backed up by signs and wonders. So it was also backed up by love. And that was an incredible witness to a watching world. It still is. People can tell us we’re crazy for believing in God and deluded for believing the Gospel, but it’s hard to argue with love. It’s hard to dismiss human beings showing love for one another – and showing love for them. Love is convincing. Love is essential for our impact. Love is the impact we are to have. The thing we often miss as evangelicals is the fact that our methods have to match our message. We focus on the message, but the message is love and therefore must be accompanied by love. If we do not love one another, why would anyone want to be a part of us? If we do not love the broken people around us, why would they ever listen to anything we have to say? The Living Church is a loving church.

Additionally, we must be a WORSHIPPING CHURCH. We read, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God…” The early Church wasn’t fractured by worship as we often are. They worshiped formally (in the temple courts) and informally (in their homes). They worshiped joyfully and reverently (with glad and sincere hearts). What mattered was not where or how they worshiped, but that they worshiped. Often Christians focus on where and how we worship, rather than actually worshipping. And often our worship is corrupted by self-interest. We are often guilty of what Jesus warned against in Matthew 6.7: babbling (“when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”) The word in the Greek is an onomatopoeia (it sounds like what it is). It is battalogia (babble, stammer, repeat meaninglessly). John Stott defines it as, “any speech in which the mouth is engaged but the mind is not.” Jesus speaks of this as He quotes the prophet Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Is our worship just babble? Do our lips move while our minds and hearts are disengaged? May we not be guilty of that. May we worship with joy and sincerity - all that we are praising God for all that He is. Because that kind of worship makes an impact.

And finally, we must be an EVANGELIZING CHURCH. We read in our passage, “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” We need to be doing all of the above (learning, teaching, loving, caring and worshipping) with a view toward others. We need to honestly look at ourselves and ask: Are we a church in which people who don’t know the Lord very well can learn about Him? Are we a church in which people are genuinely cared for? Are we a church in which people can find and experience God?
Here’s a test: Think of a friend, neighbor or colleague (someone you know and have a relationship with) who is not a believer. Would you feel comfortable – even excited - inviting them to attend our church? If not, we have a major problem.
Is our church accessible to the people of our community? I’m not suggesting that we water down our message and strip away all the core elements of worship, but I am asking do we do ‘our thing’ with a view toward our non-believing community? And the question is not only are we accessible? But are we inviting? Are we simply a “waiting church” that sits around waiting for non-Christians, for some reason, to darken the doors of our church? Or are we a “going church” – one that seeks the lost and invites them to know Jesus and worship Him with us? If we are to be a Living Church, and have a future, we must be a “going church”.
- We must understand who we are and what we believe.
- We must also organize ourself in such a way as to reflect our understanding of our self. If we know that we are to be salt and light in the world, do we organize ourself – our worship, our ministries, our money, our time and effort so as to actually be salt and light in the world?
- The living Church must also express itself. We have to articulate our message. We must speak to people. And we must speak to people where they are at (not where they should be or we wish they were). We must share the Good News not ‘the way we’ve always done it, but in a way that is understandable to other people. We cannot simply broadcast the Gospel; we must articulate it - so people can actually hear and understand it.
- And the living Church must be itself. We don’t need to apologize for who we are. We must not shy away from our identity as followers of Christ. We mustn’t water down the Gospel or conceal the radical calling of God in our lives. An embarrassed Christian is not attractive to the world. Be a Christian! Be who God made you and redeemed you to be! Not obnoxiously or abrasively, but honestly, authentically, humbly. An authentic faith, lived out honestly and humbly IS attractive. It IS compelling.

Are we making an impact in the lives of people around us? The only way we can is if we are a church that is learning, loving and living the life Jesus gives us. Brothers and sisters, we are rescued sinners, brought back to God in order to learn, love and live for Him. Pastor and writer David Hansen made the observation that perhaps the most basic principle of evangelism is that “we lead people to Christ through living simple lives of love” (The Art of Pastoring). May we do that, and in so doing, impact the people of our community, our culture and our world.

My God is Salvation [3] "God (With Us) is Salvation"

The theme of Emmanuel (God being with His people) runs throughout Scripture. I believe that God’s promise to be with us is the central promise of the Bible, for again and again, God says, “I will be with you.” Now, we know that theologically, but do we believe it personally? We may know it as a textbook answer, but do we cling to it as a gut conviction?

Often we think that God is only ‘with’ the spiritual big dogs, the heavy hitters – the Billy Grahams and Mother Theresas. We think that God is with people who write books and speak at conferences. God is with pastors and elders and Sunday school teachers, but not really with me. But that is a wrong way of thinking, for God is with His people. God is with us.

In 2 Kings 4:1-7, we will find that God was not only with His prophetic representatives to kings and nations (guys who stopped it from raining and called down heavenly fire and parted rivers and brought people back from the dead), He was also with an impoverished widow and two boys who had lost their father. God was with the marginalized, the overlooked, the vulnerable and the helpless.

Please read: 2 Kings 4.1-7.

Walter Bruggemann has written that, “The marvel of biblical faith is that barrenness is the arena of God’s life-giving action” (Genesis, Interpretation). This woman had practically nothing. She was, in a sense, barren. She could not save herself or her sons. But barrenness is the arena of God’s life-giving action. And so into this arena God brought a miracle.

This story doesn’t attempt to explain how the miracle happens, it just reports that it does. And yet the story hints at the conditions in which the miracle took place. I’ve mentioned the condition of barrenness, but in that arena we also find the core biblical virtues of faith, hope and love. And so, I want us to look at this miracle story through these three virtues.

First, HOPE. Though this woman was in a hopeless situation, she still had hope and therefore she cried out to Elisha. Hope can be defined as a desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment. We are hearing a lot about “hope” lately, especially from one of the candidates running for president. But hope is not simply a slogan or a feeling or a vague promise. Hope is not an end in and of itself. Hope is always directed towards something else. We have hope IN something or someone. And it is who you place your trust in that matters. Real hope (the hope that this woman had) is a hope grounded in God. However, it would have been easy for her to lose hope in God. After all, she was the wife of one of the prophets from the company of prophets – a man of God – on the inside track with God. Couldn’t God have cut her a break? It would have been easy for her to exclaim, as Teresa of Avila did once, “If this is how God treats His friends, no wonder He has so few of them!” However, the unnamed widow did not give up on God. With confident expectation she cried out to God for help.

This woman also had FAITH. The author of the book of Hebrews (11.1) tells us that, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” And it is the surety and certainty of faith that leads to action and to obedience. For faith contains both elements of belief and action. And we find such faith in this woman.

// We find a humble faith. We see this when this story is set alongside one that follows it – the story of the healing of Naaman. On the surface, there is not many similarities between the stories. Naaman was a powerful Syrian general (who suffered from leprosy) who came to Elisha with a letter from his king and with wealth and pomp and bling. He came to Elisha with a show and expected a show from Elisha. The widow however came with nothing and simply cried out for help. However, there is a similarity in that in both stories Elisha was not present for the miracle but merely gave instructions for the miracle to take place. He told Naaman to dunk himself seven times in the Jordan R. and the woman to ask for jars from her neighbors. And notice that their reactions were vastly different. Naaman threw a fit when Elisha refused to put on a show for him. He resisted out of pride. The widow simply obeyed out of humility and trust. Naaman wanted to be healed on his terms. The widow was open to God’s terms. She had a humble faith.

// We also find in her an active faith. Elisha told her to, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” And the woman did as she was instructed. She didn’t grumble at Elisha’s suggestion or second guess it or even question it. She simply did what the prophet instructed her to do. In faith she acted. She took what she had – a little oil (similar to the five loaves and two fish of the disciples) and trusted the word of Elisha.

// And we find an expectant faith. Notice that Elisha tells the woman not to simply ask for a few jars from her neighbors, but to take everything she could get her hands on. God was going to pour out His blessing and she needed to collect as much of it as she could. And so she and her son went around the neighborhood borrowing jars and filled her house with them. Having filled her house with them, she began to pour the oil. And she continued to pour the oil. I don’t know if she knew what to expect, but she expected the Lord to act and she was not disappointed. She had expectant faith.

And so this woman and her sons witnessed a miracle … and experience LOVE. This grieving, scared, desperate, broken family was shown the love of God. The love of God was expressed to them through God’s mercy, His rescue, provision, abundance, redemption, salvation. God heard their cry. He saw their tears. He reached down into their hopeless, fear-filled situation and proved Himself to be “a Father to the fatherless” and “a defender of widows”. This family was shown God’s love in miraculous flow of oil. But they were also shown God’s love through their neighbors’ generosity – by God moving the hearts of their neighbors to respond to their need and share with them. God gave abundantly. He redeemed the woman’s sons from slavery and the woman herself from poverty. He gave them enough oil to pay their outstanding debts and to get themselves started again.

I pointed out last time the similarity between the ministry of Elisha and that of Jesus. Therefore, I find it fascinating that in Isaiah 61:1-3 (the passage Jesus quoted at the beginning of His ministry and went on to fulfill) we read this, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” If anyone knew the “oil of gladness” it was this woman and her sons. For God brings good news to the poor, binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners; He comforts all who mourn and provides abundantly for his Beloved – a crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, a garment of praise.

A simple story but one with deep meaning and profound significance. And so, what is its significance for us? We may not be able to relate to the specifics of this woman’s circumstances, but we can relate to her experience of fear, of grief and loss, of anxiety over finances, worry about children, and a sense of helplessness in life’s circumstances. Sometimes we look around and seem to be in the arena of barrenness (in our personal lives, in our family, in our work, our culture, even in the church). We can relate to what the woman went through, but can we also relate to her response?

DO WE HAVE HOPE or do we think that our situation, our circumstance is helpless, hopeless, unchangeable? Hope caused the widow to look to the Lord. Hope does that. It turns our eyes to the Lord. Hopelessness only turns our eyes toward ourselves. In his masterful work The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis puts these words in the mouth of the devil Screwtape as he writes to the demon Wormwood, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys” (ch. 8). Do we have a hope like that? Even though a particular situation may seem hopeless; even though our lives may seem to be in shambles, do we have a hope that causes us to still obey? Are our lives so firmly rooted in God; do we cling so tenaciously to God that, in spite of our circumstances, we still have hope? Has our hope found its resting place?

DO WE HAVE FAITH TO ACT or do we shy away, pull back, let pride interfere? Do we have the courage to follow the Lord no matter what he asks us to do or give up? Do we have a humble, active and expectant faith? Do we really believe God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3:17-21)? How many jars are we willing to collect? Just a few or do we fill the house expecting God to fill them all? Do we have a little faith or a faith that can move mountains? (And really the issue is not about our amount of faith, but our understanding of God.) Is God a God who does little things or is He a God who can move mountains? The question is not: do we have enough faith to manage or manipulate God, but do we have the faith to allow God to be God and have His way with us? Do we have faith?

DO WE RECEIVE GOD’S LOVE or is it just for others? Do we lay our lives before God (like the jars filling the house) and ask Him to fill us – to pour out His love in abundance? Or do we restrain ourselves and limit God’s grace? Allow yourself to be loved by God. God’s love is not a luxury or an accessory; it is a necessity! We don’t scrimp when breathing and how much more do we need the love of God! Closely associated with this is the question: do we receive each other’s love? I know people who are great at giving gifts (they love giving gifts) but cannot receive gifts themselves. Often we are good and praying for others, but won’t ask prayer for ourselves? We’re glad to support others, but won’t let others support us. Bearing one another’s burdens means not only carrying other people’s burdens but allowing yourself to be carried. Love is two-directional. In order to love, you must also allow yourself to be loved. All of us have faced, are facing or will face hard times; we all have problems; none of us is perfect or has it all together. Therefore love one another … and be loved.

There is one more application from this passage and it is the central one because it is about God. The application is not so much me asking allegorically, “What are the creditors who are coming to steal the children in your life?” This is not an allegory. The application is that the same God who helped this woman in her dire circumstances is the same God who will help you in yours. God is real. And so, the same God who responded to the hope and love of that poor widow with love is the same God who loves us and wants to find hope and faith in us.

God is with us. Do you believe that – not simply as a textbook answer, but as a gut conviction? In Isaiah 41:10,13-14, the Lord says to Israel: "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand … For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid … O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel."

That is the message of this passage. And that is the message of Scripture: God is with us. Our heavenly Father is powerfully present with His children. Not just the ‘big dogs’, but with you and me. We are His Beloved and no matter how barren our situation may seem, He will never leave us or forsake us. For He hears. He sees. And He acts.