“8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you^b free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

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January 29, 2012
Romans 8, Our Confidence in God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:44 — 26.3MB)

⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

²⁸ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

³¹ What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³² He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. ³⁵ Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long;

we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

My final sermon for this month is on Romans chapter 8, another chapter that one could easily go through for many Sundays. The theme is, “Our Confidence in God.” By confidence I don’t mean a belief in our own abilities, but belief or trust in God to do right; to act in a proper, trustworthy, reliable manner. If we take someone into our confidence or tell someone something in confidence it is because we believe we have a relationship of trust. It is hard for me to think of a situation in which confidence both in our selves and in God isn’t helpful and beneficial. At the same time, misplaced confidence can be disastrous and even deadly. In the last few weeks there were several stories in the news about people who had confidence in ice being frozen over a river or lake that was sadly misplaced. Perhaps the most widely known was the tragic death earlier this month of Michael Philbin, the 21-year-old son of then Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin.

When it comes to confidence it is not how much confidence we have that matters, but where we are placing that confidence. We can have great confidence that thin ice will support us and it won’t help us. We can have only a little confidence in thick ice but it will hold us safely because that is its nature. So it is with God. It is not so much the size of our faith, confidence, trust or hope, but where we place them that matters most. Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” A mustard seed is tiny, but tiny faith placed in the right place makes all the difference. Romans chapter 8 describes a host of reasons why we all should have confidence in God. While I won’t go into great depth, I will touch on many of them.

First, Romans 8 begins with the stunning and powerful words, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We can be confident in God because we have been freed from condemnation. Condemnation means judgment, doom, and death, but those of us in Christ have been set free from fearing those things because God has sentenced sin itself to death by sending Jesus who died for us.

We can be confident in God because God has given us the Spirit. Paul describes the difference between life lived in the flesh and in the Spirit of God. Paul uses the words “flesh” and “spirit not to designate two parts of human nature but to represent two ways of living. Life pursued according to the flesh is life shaped by rebellion and idolatry, in which the perspective of the human being is turned in on himself or herself and the person becomes the center of everything. Think country singer Toby Keith’s song “I wanna talk about me.” “wanna talk about me, Wanna talk about I, Wanna talk about number one, Oh my me my, What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.”  Life in the flesh is essentially life carried on under the lordship of the sinful self. It is a life of self-idolatry.

Life in the Spirit, on the other hand, is life set free from bondage to self and sin. It’s life in relationship and service to the Creator, which freely acknowledges God’s lordship in Jesus Christ. The power of that lordship has broken the enslaving power of self-idolatry and sin and sets us free to enjoy a new relationship with the Creator, the relationship of a child rather than a rebel. In this way of life, even the law has been set free from the domination of sin; and it can now serve the way of redemption rather than the way of rebellion.

So another reason for our confidence in God is because thanks to the Spirit we are no longer rebels or slaves but children of God. Pastor Mary has preached before on Romans 8 and the power of that image of being adopted into the love of a new family. God has done that for us, choosing to adopt us and bless us as joint heirs with Christ. Sadly, there are members of our congregation who have been hurt or wronged by a family member when a loved one has died and they have been denied part of an inheritance that was rightly theirs to share in. That is always painful and is often because someone is still living according to the flesh (remember the Toby Keith song), rather than by the Spirit. The awesome thing about being adopted into God’s family is we will be heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ – isn’t that exciting?

It is, but, read the small print, we are “heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ, if, in fact, we suffer with him” (Romans 8:17).  While we may not be any more thrilled about the idea of suffering than we are of being left out of an earthly inheritance, there is still more good news to give us confidence. Paul says in verse 18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” What does that mean? The valleys of suffering we experience in our life on earth, no matter how deep, will be exceeded by the heights of glory we will experience in the life to come. So our confidence in God is not shaken or surprised by suffering. It is sustained by the hope of glory. “Pity the human being who is not able to connect faith within himself with the infinite…. He who has faith has … an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness and assuring trust that all will come out well-even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.” B. C. Forbes. Paul was familiar with physical suffering and hardship in his missionary work of sharing the good news about Jesus, but he had a deep reservoir of trust, confidence, hope and courage that not only sustained him but inspired others as well. Let’s face it, as the great football coach Vince Lombardi noted, “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”

Paul’s confidence in God enabled him to endure great suffering and trials both because of the glory he hoped for in the future and because he was not alone in the present.

In verses 8:26-30, he gives us yet another reason for confidence in God, the Spirit is interceding for us. In our times of suffering and weakness when our faith is wavering, our confidence in shot, our hope seems lost and we don’t even know how to put our thoughts and feelings into words to pray, Paul says, don’t think it is all on you because ²⁶ “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷ And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” It is remarkable, if you stop and think about it, that Paul is suggesting that the Spirit intercedes for us, prays for us, according to the will of God. So the Spirit’s prayers may not be what we are praying for or even what we want to happen, but the Spirit is interceding for us, praying for us all the time. That gives us confidence. Someone made the following observation about prayer: “There are two main pitfalls on the road to mastery of the art of prayer. If a person gets what she asks for her humility is in danger. If he fails to get what he asks for he is apt to lose confidence. Indeed no matter whether prayer seems to be succeeding or failing humility and confidence are two virtues which are absolutely essential.”  The interceding of the Holy Spirit on our behalf is both humbling and lifts our confidence.

There is more good news, beyond the Spirit’s interceding for us. Paul says in verse 28, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” This is one of many verses in Romans 8 that deserves a sermon on its own. What does Paul mean all things work together for good? He doesn’t mean all the things that happen to us or to anyone are good. There are plenty of bad, sad, painful, heartbreaking things that can and do happen in life. However, if we have answered God’s call and love the Lord, then God can work in and through the experiences of life to bring something redemptive. A poet (Rainer Maria Rilke) wrote, “Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches perhaps we would endure our sadnesses with greater confidence than our joys. For they are moments when something new has entered into us, something unknown.” The great American pilot and patriot, Eddie Rickenbacker, who survived an unbelievable 24 day long  ordeal after the plane he was traveling in had to ditch in the Pacific Ocean in October of 1942 during World War Two said, “I believe that if you think about disaster you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully with confidence and faith and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action richer in achievement and experience.” All things work together for good for those who love God. The purpose God has called us to is that we are to be like the Son, Jesus, who came and died and rose again, not so he would be an only child, but the firstborn in a very, very large family. Author James Baillie noted, “To grow and know what one is growing towards-that is the source of all strength and confidence in life.” We are growing toward and into the likeness of Jesus our Savior and our brother in the family of God.

Five times in Romans 8:31-38 the apostle Paul asks questions to emphasize the amazing privileges of belonging to Jesus Christ that give us confidence for living. Verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Verse 32: “Will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Verse 33: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”

Verse 34: “Who is to condemn?”

Verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

The answers are clear and wonderful, Paul lets us supply them and rejoice in them. Verse 31: No one can be successfully against us. Verse 32: God will supply everything we need, even when all seems lost. Verse 33: No one can make a charge stick against us in the court of heaven, no matter who accuses us. Verse 34: No one can condemn us, in fact, the only one who could, Jesus, is also interceding for just like the Spirit! And in verse 35: No one and no-thing can separate us from the love of Christ. Paul spells out the kinds of things that cannot separate us from the love of Christ – not hardships, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, violence, death, life, angels, rulers, the present, the future, height, depth, nothing. The reason Paul chose to mention so many terrible things is to make sure we knew he was saying: there is nothing so horrible that it could separate us from the love of Christ.  Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Not even ourselves.

We can be confident in God because we have been freed from condemnation. We can be confident because God has given us the Spirit.

We have confidence because we are no longer rebels or slaves but children of God.

Our confidence in God is not shaken or surprised by suffering. It is sustained by the hope of glory.

We have confidence for living because the Spirit prays for us and intercedes for us, because all things work together for good for those who love God and we are invited to be part of God’s family and to be made into the image of Jesus. And if all that weren’t enough, to top it all off, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is why we live confidently as disciples of Jesus. Paul closes by asking five questions (vv. 32–35) and answering them clearly. There is no need to fret over what God will do, for God is for us and not against us. The proof is that God gave the very best on the cross. Surely God will freely give us anything else we need. Can anyone indict us for sin? No! We have been justified before God. Can anyone condemn us? No! Christ died for us and lives now as our Advocate at God’s right hand interceding for us. Can anything separate us from God’s love? No! No condemnation—no obligation—no separation! “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (NKJV). That is why we all can have great confidence in God, now and forever.

I close with these words from Martin Luther, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”

Blessing by Andrew Murray

Do not strive in your own strength; cast yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus and wait upon Him in the sure confidence that He is with you and works in you. Strive in prayer; let faith fill your heart-so will you be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

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January 22, 2012
Matthew 5, The Kingdom of God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:34 — 49.4MB)

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³ So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

The first chapter of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is so loaded with rich material that I could easily spend multiple months preaching through it. Matthew 5 with the Beatitudes and Jesus re-stating the Ten Commandments (You’ve heard it said of old, but I say to you…) contains some of Jesus’ most familiar teaching. The Sermon on the Mount addresses what is truly the good or blessed life and how we are to live in the kingdom of God. Jesus’ words push us way out of our comfort zone and into kingdom living.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; ⁴⁰ and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; ⁴¹ and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. ⁴² Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Some of the greatest challenges in all Jesus’ teaching are contained in Matthew 5.  These verses confront us in a host of ways, but perhaps most directly in terms of how serious we are about actually believing and doing what Jesus says. These are some of the best-known words of Jesus and to our ears some of the most difficult. I want to say right away that these are not laws, but illustrations of the way someone responds whose heart has been changed by a relationship with Jesus. If they were laws people could obey them in the wrong spirit, saying for example, “I’ll turn the other cheek, but after that I’ll knock you out.” Jesus begins by referring to Exodus (21:23-25) & Leviticus (24:17-21) where we read about the law of retaliation – an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was in its own time not a harsh decree but a step toward limiting uncontrolled wrath and retaliation – you couldn’t kill someone because they had knocked out your tooth. It was a principle of equalization, but obviously a better approach is needed because as has been noted, “An eye for an eye eventually will leave the whole world blind.” In verses 38-42, Jesus describes situations in which human beings frequently resort to getting even, paying someone back, holding grudges, or demanding fairness. “You hit me; I’m going to hit you back.  You insult me; I’m going to rip you. You sue me, I’ll counter sue. You tell me I have to do something; I’ll do it in a way that makes us both miserable.”

Living God’s way is often the reverse of the way people ordinarily behave. In the human order, the presumption seems to be you return harm for harm, hurt for hurt, that you do only what legally you have to do, and you only give to those who have some claim on you like your family or someone who has done a favor for you. In the kingdom of God, the presumption is reversed. If I am a person of the kingdom of God then I am the kind of person who will return good for evil, I will do more than I strictly must in order to help others, and I will give to people merely because they have asked me for something they need that is in my power to give them. In every case, I accept personal responsibility for determining the most appropriate response as a child of God, not merely as a human being acting only on my own self-interest and a natural desire to retaliate.  I decide before God what to do in each moment. If turning the other cheek means that I will be dead and my children left fatherless or in danger, I have to consider the larger context in choosing my response. Remember these words of Jesus are not laws, but illustrations of how someone living in the kingdom of heaven responds.

The illustration “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile,” referred to the practice of the Romans that permitted every legionnaire on the march to pile his pack and baggage on any passing Jew for the distance of one mile. (An example of this sort of behavior is when the Romans compelled Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross of Jesus as noted in Mark 15:21.) A person had three options – refuse to carry the stuff and run for your life, which was not the wisest decision and often brought severe punishment. Or one could take it and at the end of the mile you could throw the baggage of your oppressor at his feet & flee. Jesus suggests a third option, transforming the compulsory service after one mile into a voluntary service for another mile to disarm the Roman with unanticipated and undeserved grace. During this second mile, perhaps a conversation could begin; perhaps some interaction might take place. Maybe Jesus was thinking of the word of the prophet Amos 3:3,

“Can two wander together without becoming one with one another?” 

Jesus is saying just because someone does or says something that is hurtful or asks you for something, you don’t automatically have to retaliate or to say no. To renounce a violent response doesn’t mean we don’t resist, but we can choose a different response, approach, or attitude than our opponent.  We don’t have to act at their level or in the same manner.  When someone strikes us on one cheek, we don’t have to hit them, nor do we have to run away, we can look them in the eye or question what they’re doing. This is what Jesus did when he was being questioned by the high priest in John 18:22-23 which says, “When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. ‘Is this the way you answer the high priest?’ he demanded.  ‘If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, ‘testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?’”  Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Jesus did this even when he was dying on the cross, praying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

In the less than life and death more mundane matters of every day living – things like parking spaces, careless, hurtful gossip, or bad driving, there are not enough Christians who do what Jesus says on this point. Jesus says God sends sun and rain, the keys to sustaining life, on the evil and unrighteous as well as on the good and righteous. Jesus says if you only love those who love you, if your friends are the only folks you greet warmly – you haven’t done anything that differentiates you as his disciple from unscrupulous people, non-believers, gang members, or a group of thieves.

What marks a follower of Jesus, what distinguishes a true believer is precisely the ability to love and pray for people who are enemies, opponents, or adversaries; people with different views, beliefs, and opinions, even people who desire our hurt or destruction. A follower of Christ does not demean, insult, or seek the destruction of one who is an enemy.  I saw a bumper sticker that declared, “When Jesus said, ‘Love Your Enemies,’ I think that probably meant not to kill them.”  Jesus says to love your enemies, as God does, and to pray for them, even if they are persecuting you. Jesus’ approach is not totally new, it is reflected in Exodus 23:4-5, “When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back. When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free.”

If you help someone who thinks you are his enemy, when you do something unanticipated like bringing back a straying animal, you may change how they think about you. If you see the animal of one who hates you, unable to get off the ground and there’s part of you that’s glad and you don’t want to help, the Bible says, you must help to set it free.  Today we might say, “If you’re driving down the road and see the person who hates you with a flat tire, and you would drive by honking your horn, waving, and laughing at him, you must pull over and help change the tire.”  Deuteronomy 22:4 says, “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road and ignore it; you shall help to lift it up.”  What should a person do when both his brother’s and his enemy’s animals need help at the same time?  When they both have flat tires 100 yards from each other? The biblical answer is, first help your opponent, because then you rescue an animal and win a friend – then go and help your brother’s ox. Change the opponent’s tire first then go help your relative because of course your relative will understand. This is Jesus’ strategy for lowering hostility and shrinking conflicts. The best way to deal with an enemy is to make them your friend. Gloating over the misfortune of others and hating enemies are not part of being a follower of Jesus. The heart that Jesus gives is not one that delights in the misfortunes or failures of others. Proverbs 24:17, 25:21-22 teach us, “Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble. If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.” The Apostle Paul quotes these verses in Romans 12.

Can we actually love those who hate us and do evil to us?  What Jesus is talking about is not the feeling or emotion of liking an enemy nor that we allow someone to kill us, although many Christian martyrs have gone to that ultimate extent through the centuries. What is being advocated is practical love in action. Jesus’ aim is making the enemy cease to be an enemy. Paul wrote in Romans 12:17-18, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” On Christmas Day, 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.  It was based on these verses from Matthew and was titled “Loving Your Enemy.”  Dr. King suggested three ways to love our enemies.

First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. Such forgiveness doesn’t mean that we ignore the wrong committed against us.  Rather, it means that we will no longer allow the wrong to be a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness “is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning.”  Second, we must recognize that the wrong we’ve suffered doesn’t entirely represent the other person’s identity. We need to acknowledge that our opponent, like each one of us, possesses both bad and good qualities. We must choose to find the good and focus on it. Third, we must not seek to defeat or humiliate our opponent, but to win his or her friendship and understanding. Such an attitude flows not from ourselves, but from God as the Lord’s unconditional love works through us. The more we love, forgive, and pray for those who hurt, disappoint, or even hate us, the more clearly we reveal the nature of our Father in heaven. 

In his moving memoir, Meant to Be, Walter Anderson, who was editor of Parade Magazine for 20 years, relates a conversation with Nobel Peace prizewinner, author, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Anderson asked, “Why don’t you hate those responsible?”  Wiesel replied, “It would be silly to reduce such enormous horror, a tragedy unprecedented in the history of man, to hatred.  That would be a betrayal of my parents and friends. Because, if I hated, I would betray their deaths. The enemy wanted us to hate him. I refuse. I will not grant the killer’s wish. In the Bible, the first death is a murder. Cain is slaying his brother, Abel. Is the point of the murder that brothers ultimately must kill each other? Or does the story mean that whoever kills, kills his brother?  We’re told not to hate our brother in our hearts, hatred inevitably destroys the hater as well as the hated. The choice is ours. I choose to believe that he who kills, kills his brother and, finally himself.  We are responsible for what we are.”^[1]

In the Kingdom of God, we are responsible for who we are. Jesus says we are to repay as our heavenly Father repays, evil with good, curse with blessing, enmity by acts of kindness. The inexhaustible and gracious love of God that has changed our lives is what we are to imitate and share with others. We are to follow the strategy of God that aims at moving people to awareness, conversion, and friendship through undeserved kindness, grace, love, and generosity.

 

Blessing: “Finally all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.  Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but on the contrary, repay with a blessing.             

It is for this that you were called – that you might inherit a blessing.” 

1 Peter 3:8-9

 

 

“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. ² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. ³ A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. ⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ⁶ A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. ⁸ The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. ⁹ Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” ¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”

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January 15, 2012
Isaiah 40, The Greatness of God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:41 — 61.1MB)

            Listen to Isaiah 40:12-31 and pay particular attention to the images and words used to describe God and everything that the chapter says God does for us as the Lord’s people.

¹² Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?

¹³ Who has directed the spirit of the Lord, or as his counselor has instructed him?

Whom did he consult for his enlightenment, and who taught him the path of justice? Who taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?

¹⁵ Even the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as dust on the scales; see, he takes up the isles like fine dust. ¹⁶ Lebanon would not provide fuel enough, nor are its animals enough for a burnt offering. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. ¹⁸ To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? ¹⁹ An idol? —A workman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts for it silver chains. ²⁰  As a gift one chooses mulberry wood—wood that will not rot— then seeks out a skilled artisan to set up an image that will not topple.

²¹ Have you not known? Have you not heard?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

²² It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, & spreads them like a tent to live in;

²³ who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

²⁴  Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows upon them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

²⁵ To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

²⁶  Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?

He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name;

because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

²⁷  Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

²⁸     Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹     He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

³⁰     Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;

³¹     but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40 contains one of the most majestic and awesome descriptions of the Almighty in the pages of the Bible. Compared to the Creator, even the nations are like mere drops in a bucket and “less than nothing.” Nothing and no one can compare to The Greatness of God. In doing several sermons on whole chapters of the Bible, part of what we’re doing is listening to some great and inspiring passages of scripture. It also means that I will be doing more of a broad and sweeping look at the passage rather than going deeply into all that is there because that would require more time than we have in Sunday morning worship.

Isaiah 40 describes eight attributes of God.

1. God’s mercy (40:1–2) The Lord comforts his people (40:1). The Hebrew word is naham. It’s a deeply emotional word, overflowing with feelings of pity and concern. It’s a word that often has the meaning of consolation. Isaiah has cried out against the spiritual insensitivity of his generation and warned of devastating punishment. But God’s love for the people has never weakened. So now Isaiah speaks directly to the shaken survivors of the destruction by the Babylonians to comfort and console them. God remains committed to His own. God comforts and forgives. Martin Luther King, Jr., said in Strength to Love, (1963), “We need not join the mad rush to purchase an earthly fallout shelter.  God is our eternal fallout shelter.” God is merciful and comforts us in our need.

2. God’s glory (40:3–5) Isaiah says the time will come when the glory of God will be revealed in such an unmistakable way that “all people shall see it together.”

These verses predict the ministry of John the Baptist who called Israel to repentance in preparation for the glorious appearance of the Messiah. The glory of God is not dependent upon human belief or response. It is. C.S. Lewis, wrote in The Problem of Pain,  “A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell.” Or as theologian and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead humbly noted, “Apart from God every activity is merely a passing whiff of insignificance.”

3. God’s eternal nature (40:6–9, 28): God’s word stands forever, unlike people and our words. “The Lord is the everlasting God.” There is quite a contrast between God who is eternal and people who are more like grass and flowers which are on earth but a short while. It is hard to get a grasp of the difference between God and ourselves. Saint Augustine wrote, “God is not what you imagine or what you think you understand. If you understand you have failed.”

4. God’s gentleness (40:11): God will treat his own with the same tenderness a shepherd displays for his flock. Christian mystic Thomas Merton emphasized that “True happiness is not found in any other reward than that of being united with God.”  The closeness of shepherd and sheep was an image the people of biblical times could readily identify with because they lived it and saw it all around. God is gentle and we can draw near and be welcomed or we can choose to pull away or withdraw from the Lord and go our own way. However, as Augustine admonished, “Remember this.  When people choose to withdraw far from a fire, the fire continues to give warmth, but they grow cold.  When people choose to withdraw far from light, the light continues to be bright in itself but they are in darkness.  This is also the case when people withdraw from God.”

So far we’ve mentioned God’s mercy & comfort, glory & eternal nature, and gentleness. We also see in Isaiah 40 God’s Creative Power (40:10, 12, 26, 28):The Creator is master over all nature. Everywhere we look at nature and creation we see the greatness of God. God “has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span.” Go stand in the ocean sometime, preferably when it is warmer than today, and see how much water you can hold in the palm of your hand. Think of God holding an ocean in the palm of his hand. Stretch out your thumb and index finger as wide as you can, that is a “span” and think about being able to mark off not a few inches but the heavens. As Psalm 19 expresses, “The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.” Nature helps to reveal God’s greatness and glory. Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge observed, “Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.” American author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”

“Whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not, secretly all nature seeks God and works toward him.” Meister Eckhart

6. God’s Wisdom (40:13–14): God knows and understands all things and needs no one’s counsel or advice. God never had to go to school or study for a test. Robert H. Schuller observed, “Any fool can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed.”

7. God’s sovereignty (40:15–17, 21–24).

All nations are as a drop in the bucket, as dust on the scales to God (40:15–17).

The Lord is enthroned above the circle of the earth (40:21–22): He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. God is so far beyond us we want to maintain a proper perspective on God’s sovereign power and greatness compared to us puny, little people. We are God’s servants and not the other way around. 20^th century American preacher, Harry Emerson Fosdick, shared in a sermon, “God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things done.”

God rules over all people (40:23–24). C.S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters
, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.”  Isaiah 40 is trying to lead us toward being people who worshiped God and seek to do the Lord’s will.

8. God’s uniqueness (40:18–20). Verse 25, “To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One.” God simply cannot be compared to anyone or anything. Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, “God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.” Or as Woody Allen stated, “As the poet said, “Only God can make a tree” – probably because it’s so hard to figure out how to get the bark on.”

God has so many great attributes: God is merciful and comforts us. God’s glory and eternal nature are beyond our comprehension. God treats us with gentleness yet is awesome in creative power. God is wise beyond words, totally sovereign over the universe, and utterly unique.  Corrie Ten Boom advises us when we are in trouble, “Let God’s promises shine on your problems.”

Rick Reilly is one of my favorite sports writers and he wrote a great story on Friday about Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow who truly believes in the God Isaiah describes. This is what Reilly wrote, “I’ve come to believe in Tim Tebow, but not for what he does on a football field, which is still three parts Dr. Jekyll and two parts Mr. Hyde. No, I’ve come to believe in Tim Tebow for what he does off a football field, which is represent the best parts of us, the parts I want to be and so rarely am. Who among us is this selfless?

Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster’s), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts. Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat.

Remember last week, when the world was pulling its hair out in the hour after Tebow had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard OT touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in the playoffs? And Twitter was exploding with 9,420 tweets about Tebow per second? When an ESPN poll was naming him the most popular athlete in America?

Tebow was spending that hour talking to 16-year-old Bailey Knaub about her 73 surgeries so far and what TV shows she likes. “Here he’d just played the game of his life,” recalls Bailey’s mother, Kathy, of Loveland, Colo., “and the first thing he does after his press conference is come find Bailey and ask, ‘Did you get anything to eat?’ He acted like what he’d just done wasn’t anything, like it was all about Bailey.”

More than that, Tebow kept corralling people into the room for Bailey to meet. Hey, Demaryius, come in here a minute. Hey, Mr. Elway. Hey, Coach Fox.

Even though sometimes-fatal Wegener’s granulomatosis has left Bailey with only one lung, the attention took her breath away.

“It was the best day of my life,” she emailed. “It was a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days. Tim Tebow gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine. He gave me the strength for the future. I know now that I can face any obstacle placed in front of me. Tim taught me to never give up because at the end of the day, today might seem bleak but it can’t rain forever and tomorrow is a new day, with new promises.”

I read that email to Tebow, and he was honestly floored.

“Why me? Why should I inspire her?” he said. “I just don’t feel, I don’t know, adequate. Really, hearing her story inspires me.” It’s not just NFL defenses that get Tebowed. It’s high school girls who don’t know whether they’ll ever go to a prom. It’s adults who can hardly stand. It’s kids who will die soon. For the game at Buffalo, it was Charlottesville, Va., blue-chip high school QB Jacob Rainey, who lost his leg after a freak tackle in a scrimmage. Tebow threw three interceptions in that Buffalo game and the Broncos were crushed 40-14.

“He walked in and took a big sigh and said, ‘Well, that didn’t go as planned,’” Rainey remembers. “Where I’m from, people wonder how sincere and genuine he is. But I think he’s the most genuine person I’ve ever met.”

There’s not an ounce of artifice or phoniness or Hollywood in this kid Tebow, and I’ve looked everywhere for it. Take 9-year-old Zac Taylor, a child who lives in constant pain. Immediately after Tebow shocked the Chicago Bears with a 13-10 comeback win, Tebow spent an hour with Zac and his family. At one point, Zac, who has 10 doctors, asked Tebow whether he has a secret prayer for hospital visits. Tebow whispered it in his ear. And because Tebow still needed to be checked out by the Broncos’ team doctor, he took Zac in with him, but only after they had whispered it together.

And it’s not always kids. Tom Driscoll, a 55-year-old who is dying of brain cancer at a hospice in Denver, was Tebow’s guest for the Cincinnati game. “The doctors took some of my brain,” Driscoll says, “so my short-term memory is kind of shot. But that day I’ll never forget. Tim is such a good man.”

This whole thing makes no football sense, of course. Most NFL players hardly talk to teammates before a game, much less visit with the sick and dying.

Isn’t that a huge distraction?

“Just the opposite,” Tebow says. “It’s by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’ll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it’s to invest in people’s lives, to make a difference.”

So that’s it. I’ve given up giving up on him. I’m a 100 percent believer. Not in his arm. Not in his skills. I believe in his heart, his there-will-definitely-be-a-pony-under-the-tree optimism, the way his love pours into people, right up to their eyeballs, until they believe they can master the hopeless comeback, too.

Remember the QB who lost his leg, Jacob Rainey? He got his prosthetic leg a few weeks ago, and he wants to play high school football next season. Yes, tackle football. He’d be the first to do that on an above-the-knee amputation.

Hmmm. Wonder where he got that crazy idea?

“Tim told me to keep fighting, no matter what,” Rainey says. “I am.”

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

²⁹     He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

³⁰     Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted;

³¹     but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

 

Prayer:

Almighty, true and incomparable God, You are present in all things,
yet in no way limited by them.
You remain unaffected by place, untouched by time, unperturbed by years,
and undeceived by words.
You are beyond all corruption and above all change.
You live in unapproachable light and are invisible,
yet You are known to all those who seek You with faith and love.
You are the God of the universe and of all who hope in Christ,

Renew our faith and our strength so that we may run the race of our life and not be weary, that we may walk and not faint. Amen.

 

Blessing:  “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself & God our Father, who loved us & through grace gave us eternal comfort & good hope, comfort your hearts & strengthen them in every good work & word.”  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

While sitting in the dentist’s office in December I was perusing a magazine and saw the following statistic: “Percentage of Roman Catholics who knew Genesis was the first book in the Bible: 41%. Percentage of Atheists and Agnostics who knew: 72 %.” I don’t mean to pick on our Roman Catholic friends in relaying that bit of news. The article didn’t say how many Baptists knew the first book in the Bible. The thought struck me, however, that there are chapters in the Bible every Christian should know. Genesis 1 and the description of creation would be one of them. As I thought about it more I decided I would do a little series on some of the great chapters in the Bible that a Christian should be aware of and at least have some familiarity with for our own spiritual journey. There are far more than four significant chapters, but I only needed four in January so I chose two chapters from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament: Psalm 27, Isaiah 40, Matthew 5, and Romans 8. I’m not saying these are the four best chapters in the whole Bible, just that they are significant in what they teach.

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January 8, 2012
Psalm 27, The Joy of Trusting in God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 22:58 — 31.5MB)

Before I share Psalm 27, here is a little background. The Book of Psalms is unique among the books of the Bible because there is a sense in which it is not only God’s word to us, but it is the words of people to God. Like the Lord’s Prayer, the Psalms model for us how to pray and in them we see people bringing every imaginable emotion to God. The psalms are poetry and songs expressing deep longings and pain, as well as praise and trust. There are at least ten different types of psalms, but the two most common types are laments and songs of praise. This reflects the truth we’re more likely to call out to God when we’re overflowing with thankfulness and gratitude or when life is really tough so it shouldn’t be a surprise that more psalms, about a third of the book, are classified as laments than any other type (for example, Psalms 3, 12, 13, 22, 31, 39, 57, 80, 85, 88, 90, 94, and 137). There are individual laments and community laments and they are expressed as grievances or complaints against God and or an enemy. A lot of songs that we might call “the blues” that sing about the trouble someone is in are like the psalms of lament.

As much as we feel life is stressful for us, stress is not unique to our lifetime. People in the past also had to deal with wars, diseases and epidemics, the death of children, constant dental and medical problems, and a host of other hardships. It’s like the poster of the classic painting of Daniel in the Lion’s Den with the caption, “Contrary to conventional wisdom, stress is not a 21st century phenomenon.” The psalms reflect a variety of difficult and stressful life situations that are threatening and disturbing and even cause people to question God or their faith. 117 Psalms have titles or superscriptions. Among these 72 are attributed to or dedicated to David and 13 refer to specific historical events in David’s life. David, the King of Israel, knew about trouble and stress. As a teenager, he defended himself against lions and bears and goliath sized opponents. As a young married man he fled for his life to escape the murderous intentions of his father-in-law Saul. Later in life he had to escape from one of his sons, Absalom who sought to seize the leadership of the country and who eventually was killed for his treason. David experienced the personal failure of betraying a loyal officer and having an affair with his wife, and ordering the death of the officer to cover his own sin. The baby born to David and Bathsheba died. David was familiar with stress, but he also knew where to turn in tough times.

Psalm 27 is a prayer and song about The Joy of Trusting in God. It begins with words of faith and confidence.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—

my adversaries and foes— they shall stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;

though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me!

“Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek.

Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help.

Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!

If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,

for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence.

I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong, & let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27 is a favorite of mine and of many people because it eloquently and poignantly expresses a central focus of biblical faith, the joy of trusting in God in all circumstances. Psalm 27:1-6 is very similar to Psalm 23 and expresses fearless trust in God which enables David to the face the present and future calmly regardless of many threats. These words are spoken by someone who has faced a lot of hardships and received the Lord’s help.

All of us face situations and circumstances in life that might cause us to be fearful or afraid. You know what they are for you right now. Psalm 27 describes how God blesses those who put their hope and trust in the Lord. God is our light, salvation, and stronghold, the source of our confidence, the one who lifts us up and protects us and never leaves us. For David trusting God and remaining confident in the face of enemies, adversaries, and foes was truly a matter of life and death. One thing that stands out to me about Psalm 27 is that it pleads with God FIVE times DO NOT. Because David’s relationship with God is so important to him all of the things David does not want to happen are related to changing his relationship with the Lord for the worse.

DO NOT hide your face from me. To “hide the face” is to turn it away with displeasure, as if we would not look on a person who has offended us. Even today when folks are mad at someone, sometimes we might look away or turn our back and “hide our face.” This is a contrast to someone smiling at us in a friendly way. The favor or blessing of God is described in the Bible perhaps most famously in the blessing of Aaron, “May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

DO NOT turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Can you imagine being in the midst of something difficult and going to God about it and feeling like God turned you away? That hurts. It would be like going to the church on Sunday morning for worship and finding the building locked and a “closed” sign on the door. Again, people can act this way, someone may want to talk to us or us to them and the overture is rejected out of anger which only makes the damage to the relationship worse. In days that are past God has been his help. This is the reason why he prays and trusts that God will come to his aid once again.

DO NOT cast me off. There is a TV series called Survivor where participants get voted “off” the island where they are competing. When someone is voted off his or her torch is extinguished and turned in and they have to leave immediately. There is a painful break and the person walks away into the darkness, cast off, alone. That is what we don’t want to feel with God and this is what David is pleading.

DO NOT forsake me. Forsake means, “to withdraw companionship, protection, or support from somebody.” While some of these Do Not phrases are different ways of saying similar things, what makes being forsaken so painful is that there was companionship, protection, or support in the past and now it has been taken away.

DO NOT give me up to the will of my adversaries. The one thing David was most afraid of was feeling forsaken or abandoned by God. As long as he felt God’s presence and protection, it gave him courage to overcome his fear of other people and their threats.

Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “What words they are: hope, courage, fear! Two of them make life wonderful. One of them blights human existence. How many people have we seen across many years who have suffered from unresolved fear. But, then, also how many have found release and relief through hope and courage. All three of these are mental attitudes that result from the thoughts we think. The mental climate a person creates determines whether he shall have hope even when things seem hopeless, have courage even when apprehensive factors appear, or live in fear because of hopelessness and apprehension. Fear is only the second most powerful force in the personality. One is stronger, very much stronger. And that more powerful force is faith.”

When it comes to whether we will trust God or not, Henri Nouwen wrote about the importance of the choices we make and how they shape whether we will live in hope and courage in the present or live stuck in the past or fear. He said, “You are constantly facing choices. The question is whether you choose for God or for your own doubting self. You know what the right choice is, but your emotions, passions, and feelings keep suggesting you chose the self-rejecting way. The root choice is to trust at all times that God is with you and will give you what you need. Your self-rejecting emotions might say, “It isn’t going to work. I’m still suffering the same anguish I did six months ago. I will probably fall back into the old depressive patterns of acting and reacting. I haven’t really changed.” And on and on. It is hard not to listen to these voices. Still, you know that these are not God’s voice. God says to you, “I love you, I am with you, I want to see you come close to Me and experience the joy and peace of My presence. I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit. I want you to speak with My mouth, see with My eyes, hear with My ears, touch with My hands. All that is Mine is yours. Just trust Me and let me be your God.”

This is the voice to listen to. And that listening requires a real choice, not just once in a while but every moment of each day and night. It is you who decides what you think, say, and do. You always have a choice to think, speak, and act in the name of God and so move toward the Light, the Truth, and the Life. Your future depends on how you decide to remember your past. As you keep choosing (to trust) God, your emotions will gradually give up their rebellion and be converted to the truth in you. You are facing a real spiritual battle. But do not be afraid. You are not alone. Remember, you are held safe. You are loved. You are protected. You are in communion with God and with those whom God has sent you. What is of God will last. It belongs to the eternal life. Choose it, and it will be yours.”

As Christians, we call the Lord our light and salvation and the stronghold of our life because of the deliverance from sin and death given in Jesus. The three Old Testament books quoted most frequently in the New Testament are Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Psalms. When Jesus was on the cross, he quoted the first verse of Psalm 22, a lament. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Read that psalm in its entirety and you will see how it describes both Jesus’ experience on the cross and the impact of God delivering Jesus from death (Psalm 22:27), “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.”

I pray that God will help us all each and every day to trust the Lord in the midst of our troubles, tests, trials, and temptations.

A great preacher of the 19th century, Phillips Brooks put it this way,

“Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger people!

Do not pray for tasks equal to your power; pray for power equal to your tasks.

Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.”

 

Blessing: “Comforted and inspired beyond all fear,

Not faltering at God’s command, Learning and increasing from our sorrow

God’s light illuminating our darkness

Let us boldly face the future, come what may.”

Adapted from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

Happy New Year’s. There’s always something wonderful about the first new day of the year. So many people celebrate New Year’s Eve with parties and by going places like time square…we usually watch the count down on TV if we manage to stay awake.

Readers Digest & Better Homes and Gardens Columnist, Bill Vaughan said, “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.”

He also said, “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”

Whichever you are, celebrating the New Year is a global event. It’s fun to watch some of the celebrations from around the world.

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January 1, 2012
Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25, New Day – New You
Mary Scheer, Brewster Baptist Church

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:53 — 19.3MB)

I wondered how all the traditions for the ways we celebrate got started. Did you know that;

• The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago timed with the first day of spring.
• The early Catholic Church condemned the festivities celebrating the New Year as paganism.
• But as Christianity became more widespread, the church began having its own religious observances.
• New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ’s Circumcision by some denominations.
• Have you ever wondered why a baby is used to signify a new year? That tradition started in Greece around 600 BC, when they celebrated the annual rebirth of their god Dionysus.
• The use of an image of a baby with a New Year’s banner was brought to early America by the Germans.
• Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year.
• One of the longest held New Year’s traditions is the Champaign toast at midnight to ring in the new year.
• Toasting can be traced back to the ancient Romans and Greeks who would pour wine, to be shared among those attending a religious function, from a common pitcher.
• The host would drink first, to assure his guests that the wine was not poisoned as poisoning the wine was a fairly common practice in ancient times.
• In those days the wine was not as refined as it is today so a square of burned bread (toast) would be floated in the wine bowl and then eaten by the last person to drink. The bread was put there to absorb the extra acidity of the wine in order to make it more palatable.
• To avoid being the last to drink and thus having to eat the acidic burned toast, people would drink at the same time. Eventually, the act of drinking in unison came to be called a toast.
• The song, “Auld Lang Syne,” (Old Ang Sye) that we hear every year at the stroke of midnight was at least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700′s and from an old Scottish tune that literally means “old long ago,” or “the good old days.”
• Other traditions includes making New Year’s resolutions which dates back to the early Babylonians who’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
• Speaking of resolutions, someone said, “The man who does not at least propose to himself to be better this year than he was last, must be either very good or very bad indeed, And only to propose to be better is something for there is no such thing as a stationary point in human endeavors; he who is not worse today than he was yesterday is better, and he who is not better is worse.” unknown
• We can pretty much tell it’s New Years by all the commercials for diet programs, aimed at folks who made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight.

Every year, many folks make the same resolutions and every year many experience the same failures.

One author said the simple fact that it’s the beginning of a new year is not enough to make a resolution work. He reasoned that if the beginning of a new time period were enough to motivate people then there are plenty of other beginnings we can celebrate also, “12 times each year a new month begins, 52 times each year we start a new week and 365 times each year we start a new day.” (frugalbabe.com)

In an article on the science behind failed resolutions, Jonah Lehrer said a study of 3,000 people showed 88% of their resolutions fail. And one of the reasons our resolutions often fail is that we strive to achieve them by strength of will, and will power alone is not enough. (WSJ.com)

Fortunately, believers have more than will power to help us achieve greater things. We have the power and promise of God who said the old has passed away and the new has come. Listen to Isaiah 43.

Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25 (NLT)

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25)

The Apostle Paul said, “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17 NIV)

In talking with the Ephesians about what it means to be a new creation, he went on to say, “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…and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (from Eph. 4: 22-5:2; Col 3: 1-17; Gal. 5:13)

The good news is that we can keep our resolutions, and we can be better people. Regardless of what stage in life we are at we can be even better, we can be new!

We have to make time to reflect and clean our mental, emotional and spiritual houses. Ephesians gives us steps for doing this, sort of like a list of resolutions.

To put off the old self;

• Put off falsehood. It all starts with an honest assessment of ourselves and where we’re at with our values, our relationships, etc.,

A while ago I was looking at someone’s picture on face book and they were standing in an angry stance, with baggy pants, hat turned a certain way, and gesturing in a way that displayed newly tattooed fingers. I said, “wow, is that person in a gang?” and the person looking at the picture with me said, “no he’s a poser.” I said, “What’s a poser?” “that’s when someone tries to look like someone or something they’re not.”

Are there times we need to check to see if we’re trying to look or act like someone or something we’re not? So, he tells us to start with an honest assessment.

• The list continues, “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and thereby give the devil a foothold.
• Who doesn’t get mad? But has your anger ever gotten the better of you? Has it affected your relationship or anything that was important to you?
• It isn’t that we have anger, it’s how we deal with it that can help us or hurt us.
• Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice. (I wonder how many people have any of these on their New Years resolutions?)
• Encouraging an attitude of responsibility and generosity, Paul continues, Don’t steal, but work so you will have extra to share with those in need.
• Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. James says the tongue is the hardest part of the body to control.

If we try to put the new on top of the old self, there can be a clash of inconsistency that makes us less genuine and less effective.

To put on the new self; (two things; Be loving and have a good attitude)

Be loving

• “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:13)
• Speak in a way that’s encouraging and helpful for others. Be an encourager.
• Be kind and compassionate to one another
• Be forgiving just as God forgave you
• Follow God’s example extending compassion, kindness humility, gentleness and patience
• Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
• Be grateful
• Let the message of Christ dwell among you

Have a positive attitude

• Allow yourselves to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Is there an area we need to think about in a new way?
• Just as God chooses not to remember our mistakes, it’s an act of grace to practice intentional forgetfulness when it comes to others mistakes.
• It also gives us power over our past. We can choose how the past affects our life and choices today.
• Paul says, do not dwell in the past, don’t live there. Maybe that means letting go of something we did or that someone else did so we can move forward.
• You know where trouble starts, it starts in the heart. That’s where anger and grudges make their home. He says, having been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think on the good.
• And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

God doesn’t leave us to work things out by ourselves, he has blessings for us that are new each day; He said, I will;

• Put a new song in your mouth – Ps 40:3
• Give you a new name – Is 62:2
• Have stores of compassion that are new for you every morning. Lam 3:23
• Extend new Justice every morning – Zeph 3:5
• Each new day holds the promise for victory – Zeph 3:5
• Give you new birth through faith– 1 Pet 1:3
• Provide a new covenant in grace – Heb 9:15; 12:24
• And invite all into a new relationship with me – Ro 5:11
  

Genuine change is possible with God’s help.

Jesus spoke of this promise on the first day of his public ministry. He went into the temple and read from the scroll that was opened to Isaiah saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recover sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4:18-21)

Jesus teachings were always about how to live fully and full of faith.

That’s what one man learned when he met Jesus. There was a pool of water in Jerusalem and every so often an angel would stir up the waters and whoever got in the water first was healed of their ailment. While walking by one day, Jesus saw the man lying by the pool waiting for another chance for things to be better. He told Jesus he had been there for 38 years and every time the angel came and stirred the waters, someone always beat him down into the pool, someone else always got his chance for a miracle. Jesus said, today is your day, pick up your mat and go. He responded to the words of Christ and received his miracle and walked away a new man. (Jn 5)

Is there anything you’ve been hoping to change? Has it shown up on your New Year’s resolution list more than once?

Today is our day to put our old selves, our old lives into proper context, & let go of the stuff from the past that isn’t healthy or helpful and respond to God’s invitation for a fresh start.

Now is the time to for new habits in devotion, and new growth in faith.

ThffTThisFootnotes:

1. Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our
2. Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient

May this be your moment of response and renewal to new life in Christ.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, thank you for the reminder today that you always offer a fresh start to those who come to you. Forgive us for the mistakes and failures that have hurt us and those we love and for the things we let create distance between us and you. Thank you for your willingness to forget and help us to extend that same grace. Help us as we work to put off the old and put on the new. Help us to maintain a good attitude, to live daily in the power of your presence and give us victory in the areas where we need it. Bless this year and all that lies ahead, in your name we pray. Amen.

BLESSING: (from Phil 3: 12-13; 1:6 TNIV)

The blessing is from Paul’s words of encouragement to the Philippians. He said;

“one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” And, He who began a good work in you will see it on to completion.