Exalted Happiness

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 10th of August, 2014.]

Since this was the weekend for our annual retreat at the Blowing Rock Conference Center, I thought it appropriate to look a little more closely at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Listen and follow along to the opening words of that sermon, as recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 5, verses 1 through 12…

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

--Matthew 5:1-12 (NASB)

Let us pray...  Most generous Father, thank You so much for all the many blessings in our lives!  Thank You for comforting us when we mourn, for satisfying us when we hunger and thirst for You.  Forgive us, Father when we sometimes fail to recognize just how blessed we truly are.  Speak to us now, Lord, through this Your servant, that we might hear Your message.  In the glorious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Have you seen the latest Christian bumper sticker?  It reads, “Tithe if you love Jesus.  Any fool can honk.”

There was this man once who made a covenant with his pastor to give a full ten percent of his income every year to the church.  They were both young and didn’t have much money, but that condition changed over time.  The first year, the man made $10,000 and tithed $1,000 to the church.  A few years later he tithed $10,000 when he earned $100,000.  And a few years after that, he gave $100,000 dollars when he made his first million.  But the year he earned six million dollars, he just couldn’t seem to bring himself to write out that check for $600,000.  Visiting his pastor friend, who had since moved on to another church, the man begged to be let out of the covenant he had made so long ago.  He pleaded, “This tithing thing has to stop!  It was fine when I only made $10,000.  But I just can’t afford to give up $600,000!  You’ve got to do something, Reverend!”  The pastor immediately went to his knees and began silently praying.  After a few minutes the man asked, “Are you praying that God will let me out of this covenant to fully tithe?”  “No, the pastor replied.  “I’m praying for God to reduce your income back to the level where $1,000 will be your tithe.”

Now this isn’t a sermon about tithing.  But the bumper sticker points to the story and the story points to how we can sometimes miss just how generous God is to us.  God blessed the man in a way the world clearly understands: with an increasing income.  He rewarded the man for tithing.  But as his income grew and grew, the amount he should return to God also grew and grew.  Pretty soon, he began to forget about the blessing and could only see all those zeroes on the right side of the figure he was expected to give back.  He had begun to take the blessing for granted.  His pastor friend cleverly reminded him of just how much God had blessed him.

And that is the point of this message.  Have we forgotten just how blessed we truly are?

Maybe you’ve been wondering about the title I gave this message: “Exalted Happiness”?  Well, that is how the dictionary defines the word “beatitude”.  Our scripture reading today is that part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount widely known and referred to as the Beatitudes.  

Beatitude: supreme or exalted happiness.  I’m sure we all have a pretty good idea of just what happiness is, but what about exalted?  Turning to the dictionary again, we see that to be exalted is to be raised in rank, honor, power, character, or quality; to be elevated.  So we could say that a beatitude is an elevated happiness, or a happiness that exceeds normal happiness.

In the children’s sermon, I told the kids that a blessing is like a gift.  And a gift can make us happy, right?  So how great and wonderful must a gift be in order to bring us to an elevated level of happiness, to make us happier than happy?  That would truly be a marvelous gift, wouldn’t it?

I can give you one example of just such a blessing:  me being here, with you.  And like the man in our little story, most folks consider monetary wealth to be a blessing.  In his book of Proverbs, chapter 10, verse 22, wise King Solomon tells us…

22 It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich,
And He adds no sorrow to it.

--Proverbs 10:22 (NASB)

That’s not to say that we understand why God may make some people financially very well off while others struggle just to make ends meet.  We simply cannot know or understand all the ways of God, not until He reveals them to us when we meet face to face.

But those examples are obvious blessings, gifts from God that bring us great, even elevated happiness.  What about Jesus?

Our scripture text today opens with the words, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain.”  How do you think He viewed the crowds, the massive throngs of people that were always clamoring around Him, seeking His healing touch, yearning to hear His words?  Do you think they were a blessing to Him, or a curse?  Did He go up on that mountain to escape from the crowds?  The end of that first verse says that the disciples came up to Him after He sat down, but Matthew doesn’t mention the crowds anymore.  What happened to them?

Have you noticed I often ask questions that I don’t have the answers to?

All I know is from what Matthew tells us, and he only reports that Jesus spoke this sermon for the benefit of His disciples.  Look at the 2nd verse: “He opened His mouth and began to teach them”, with “them” being the disciples who came to Him.  Oh, and we’re His disciples too, aren’t we?  We follow Him and strive to learn from Him, so we are His disciples and He is teaching us as well with His sermon.  My guess is that at least some of the crowd followed them onto that mountain and listened intently as He spoke.

As for whether He considered the masses a blessing or a curse, He must have seen them as a blessing, for it was for them, for us, that He came to earth.  It was for all of humankind that our Father set Him on this path.  How could He see the people as anything other than a blessing?

Now what about the Beatitudes, what about those things that Jesus says are blessings?

Blessed are the poor in spirit…  We don’t usually see “poor” as being a blessing, do we?  Poor in health means ill, sick, not doing too well.  Poor financially means not being able to pay the bills or put food on the table.  Hardly what we would consider a blessing.  But here, poor in spirit doesn’t mean lacking spirit, it means being humble, having a humble spirit.

Think of the rich man in our funny story.  He had so much yet he seemed to constantly needed more and more.  For him, too much was never enough.  If we keep longing for more and more, we’re missing the point.

Nothing - neither power nor wealth nor influence - can equal the wonderful grace and mercy God has shown to us through the greatest gift of His Son.  Remembering that keeps us humble, remembering just what Jesus went through on our behalf, just because He loves us that much, keeps us humble.  Being humble means understanding the difference between having everything we want and having enough.  And if we are humble, like both God and Jesus want us to be, we will inherit riches far greater than anything this world can provide, far greater than we can even imagine!  In that way, we are blessed.

I referenced the Beatitudes last week when I quoted from the book of Isaiah, and I think it bears repeating that quote today.  In chapter 66, God is talking about all of creation, how He made everything so what could man possibly offer Him?  But then, in the last half of verse 2 He echoes the words Jesus will later say…

2(b) “But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word."

 --Isaiah 66:2b (NASB)

Isn’t that a blessing, just knowing that God pays attention to those who are humble?  The world might ignore the humble, but God won’t.

And all of that for the humble kind of fits with the blessing for those who are gentle.  But what about those who mourn, there in verse 4 between the humble and the gentle?  We mourn because we’ve lost something, because we’re hurting in spirit.  And we usually associate mourning with grieving over the loss of a loved one.  How is that a blessing?

Well, Jesus tells us the blessing comes in that we are comforted in our grief.  Sometimes our grief can be so great it threatens to overwhelm us in its power, to drag us down to where we are at grave risk ourselves.  If not for being comforted, we could also be lost.  And what better comfort could possibly be found than in the arms of our loving Father, God.

Do we consider being hungry and thirsty a blessing?  Well, Jesus wasn’t talking about hungering after food or thirsting for water or even sweet tea.  He means that those of God’s children who want so much to learn more about God, to build a deeper and truer relationship with Jesus, to grow ever closer to our loving Father.  Those who desire this so much that it is as strong as any hunger, as overwhelming as any thirst.  To those the blessing comes in that they will be satisfied in their strivings, they will be made righteous, found to be righteous in God’s eyes.

Verse 7 tells us that when we are merciful to others, we will be blessed by receiving mercy ourselves.  And the mercy we receive will be far greater than any we can give, for we will receive pardon of our every sin.

If we keep our heart pure, we will see God.  Not that we don’t sin or won’t sin ever again, and not that we can possibly keep our heart pure on our own.  But remember that part about receiving mercy.  God will help us stay pure in our hearts if we ask Him to.

If we are true advocates of peace, we will be blessed by being considered God’s children, by God and by our fellow man.  But whoa!  Here’s another little glitch in verse 10.  We’re blessed if we’re persecuted?

Yes!  If we are attacked and persecuted and insulted and besmirched and lied about and assailed because we stand up for our belief in Jesus as Christ and the one true Son of God, then yes, we will be blessed.  We will be placed in the same rank as the saints and the prophets who went before us, who also suffered at the hands of the world.  God will reward our steadfastness, our faithful adherence to our belief.  And in very many ways He already has.


Family, we are blessed, truly blessed.  Just because we don’t always see what God gives us as a gift doesn’t mean it isn’t a gift.  Remember earlier I said we can’t always understand why our heavenly Father does some of the things He does?  God tells us through the prophet in the book of Isaiah chapter 55 verses 8 and 9…

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

 --Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)

God can see all the way out to the completion of His great plan for mankind.  We can’t even see around the corner.  He knows what He has in store for us, all the riches that await us when we finally come home to live with Him.

And He also knows the expectations He has for us.  Among them is that we not get all hung up on what the world would consider a blessing.  If He gives us earthly rewards, we must not let them become all powerful in our lives.  If we do, then we begin making them into gods, putting them ahead of the Father.  And we cannot serve two masters.  So if He does give us earthly riches, we should put them to use for Him, doing His work on earth, helping to advance and expand His kingdom.  Because nothing we receive on earth will even compare to the glory that awaits us.  All these treasures here will be trash, worthless, when we see what He has saved just for us.

We have been blessed, truly blessed.  And we will be even more blessed when we go home to live with Him in His beautiful many roomed mansion.  No matter how bad our current circumstance may seem.  No matter how dire the situation we are facing right now may be.  Just remember we are blessed!

Be humble, be merciful, hunger for righteousness, strive for peace, be comforted in your grief, and stand up to the world as it tries to beat you down.  One day, none of this will matter.  One day we will stand face to face with the One who created everything.  One day we will begin a new life with a new body and a name Jesus has just for us.  And we will live forever in the house of The Lord.

Blessed are we.

Amen.


Let us pray…    O loving Father, Your Son Jesus tells us we are blessed, but we don’t always see it that way.  Please forgive us, Father, when we fail to understand, when we start to feel sorry for ourselves because of the predicament we’re in, when we are hurting so much inside because a loved one is ill or has passed on ahead of us, when the world is tearing us down and we see no relief anywhere.  We know You are always with us, Lord.  And we know You love us.  You cry when we are in sorrow just as You laugh along with us in our joy.  Thank You so much for all the gifts you give us today, here in this world.  But thank You even more, dear Father, for what you have in store for us when we come home to be with You.

Be patient with us, Father, as we struggle through this earthly life.  Help us as we strive to resist the temptations and stumbling blocks Satan puts in our path.  Nothing he can offer will ever amount to anything in Your great kingdom.  Listen to us now, dear Lord, as we speak to You silently from our hearts, telling You our unspoken needs, seeking Your favor and Your help…

Thank You, loving Father, for listening to us.  Thank You for the many blessings You shower upon us each day, and for the many more that await us.  Help us, please, to remain faithful and steadfast to You no matter what this world might do to us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

What Are We?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 8th of August, 2014, at "the little white church" in Blowing Rock, NC during our weekend retreat at the Blowing Rock Conference Center.]

We’ve come onto this mountain this weekend as a retreat, a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of normal life for a few days and maybe get a little closer to our God.  This idea of getting closer to God by going onto a mountain top is nothing new.  Our Old Testament is filled with accounts and stories of people doing just that, and of altars and shrines and temples being built on “the high places”.  Even Jesus often went into the mountains when He wanted to spend a little personal time with His Father.  Perhaps one of His more better known sermons was delivered on a mountainside, according to the Gospel account of Matthew (although it is very similar to a sermon Luke reports that Jesus delivered on a plain).

This evening, while we are here on this mountainside, I’d like to examine part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Hear the words of our Lord Jesus that Matthew saved for us in his Gospel, chapter 5, verses 13 through 16…

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 

14 “You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

-- Matthew 5:13-16 (NKJV)

Let us pray...  Father, we’ve come to this mountain to try to get a little closer to You.  We know this is not necessary, because You are already in our hearts.  But it does help us to meditate more on Your word when we escape for a time from the busyness of life.  Lord God, please open our ears to hear Your word, our hearts to receive Your message.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

A candidate for church membership was asked, “What part of the Bible do you like best?”  He responded, “I like the New Testament best.”  Then he was asked, “What book in the New Testament is your favorite?”  He answered, “The Book of the Parables”.  Then they asked him to relate one of the parables to the membership committee.  A bit uncertain of himself, he began…

“Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and the thorns grew up and choked the man.  And he went on and met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man a thousand talents of silver, and a hundred changes of raiment.  And he got in his chariot and drove furiously, and as he was driving under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging there!  And he hung there many days and many nights.  The ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink.  And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he fell on stoney ground.  And it began to rain, and rained forty days and forty nights.  And he hid himself in a cave.  Later he went on and met a man who said, ‘Come in and take supper with me.’  But he said, ‘I can’t come in, for I have married a wife.’  And the man went out into the highways and hedges and compelled him to come in!  He then came to Jerusalem, and saw Queen Jezebel sitting high and lifted up in a window of the wall.  When she saw him she laughed, and he said, ‘Throw her down out of there.’, and they threw her down.  And he said, ‘Throw her down again.’, and they threw her down seventy times seven.  And the fragments which they picked up filled twelve baskets full!  NOW, whose wife will she be in the day of the Judgement?”

The membership committee agreed that this was indeed a knowledgeable candidate and approved his application.

OK, so I just had to tell that amusingly convoluted story even though it has little to do with our message tonight.  But as funny as it seems, that tale illustrates a sad and sobering truth: Americans today are effectively Biblically illiterate.  According to a Gallop poll a number of years back, only 4 in 10 Americans knew who delivered the Sermon on the Mount, which does tie in with our message.  And as our little story indicates, many Christians may not know the Bible as well as they think they do.  We won’t dwell on that sad statistic, but just in case anyone is wondering, Jesus delivered what we call the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus says we are the salt of the earth.  Salt: I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I could get by too long without salt.  I salt everything, almost everything, usually without tasting first.  Some processed foods and most oriental food has enough salt thrown in that I don’t need to add more.  But I can’t even contemplate eating potatoes without salt (and pepper, but Jesus never compared us to pepper so we won’t talk about that).  My daughter, on the other hand, hardly salts anything.  She has this little bitty salt shaker in her kitchen, I have a couple fairly large ones and the box of salt nearby.

We might think of salt as just some inexpensive seasoning for our food, something to throw over our shoulder if we knock the shaker over.  But salt was considered very important in Bible times.  In fact, it had a place of honor in many religious observations and rituals.  For instance, in Exodus chapter 30 verses 34 and 35 we read…

34 And the Lord said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.

-- Exodus 30:34-35  (NKJV)

And in Leviticus chapter 2 verse 13, salt is a required ingredient…

13 And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

-- Leviticus 2:13  (NKJV)

So I think it’s pretty safe to say that salt was as important in Biblical times as it is to me today, if not more so.  So when Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, He must think us pretty important to the world.  Now we need to keep in mind that Jesus was speaking directly to his disciples in this sermon.  But aren’t we also His disciples, just removed in time a little?  A disciple, at its core, is simply a follower, one who follows to learn and to serve.  So yes, He was also talking directly to us, to you and I, when He spoke these words.

But then He immediately cautions us with a question:  What good is salt if it loses its flavor?  I know that salt can go stale enough that it no longer has that salty flavor, although that never happens around my house.  What do you do when that happens?  Can you add salt to stale salt to make it salty again?  Jesus says it’s good for nothing but to be walked on, to be used on a path perhaps.

Since He’s talking to us, comparing us to that holy and important seasoning, we need to figure out how we might become so stale that we’re no longer fit for anything but to be paving material.  Have you ever had a season in your life when your zeal for our Lord wasn’t what it used to be?  Or maybe you’ve wrestled with tithing or helping others or doing good works.  Now we know that none of those will buy us salvation - only our belief and faith in Christ can do that.  But in chapter 2 verses 14 through 17 of his book, James tells us that faith without works is dead.  So could we say that if our faith is dead, it is probably too stale to be good for anything?

I don’t think any of us here are at risk of becoming stale.  Otherwise we wouldn’t be here this evening.  But we need to make sure we keep our faith fresh and flavorful!  We can do that by spending more time with Jesus, in prayer and by reading and studying His life and His words.  We can do as much as we financially, physically, and emotionally can to help others, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the prisoners.  And if you’re wondering about that reference, go back and read Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46.

Jesus goes on to say we are the light of the world.  Now that is high praise indeed.  Do you remember one of the ways Jesus described Himself?  From the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to the Apostle John, verse 12…

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

-- John 8:12  (NKJV)

Jesus is the Light of the world, yet He calls us by that same name.  We are the light now.  He has gone to be with the Father, but the light has not gone out from the world.  We are that light.  And just as a city that is set on a hillside cannot be hidden from view, the light of the entire world should certainly not be hidden.  It should not be closed off in some small container, but allowed to cast its beams throughout the area so that all can see.

A number of politicians over the years have declared America to be that city on the hill Jesus refers to.  Ronald Reagan is perhaps the most widely recognized for referring to America as a “shining city on a hill”.  The idea is that we, as a nation, offer a beacon of hope to the entire world.  Hope for a better life, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for themselves and their families.  While there is a good bit of truth to that, maybe not as much today as when Reagan was President, we all know that our only hope is in Jesus, the true Light of the world.

But in this part of His sermon, Jesus is handing this responsibility over to us, His disciples.  We are to help others find that true hope, we are to show them the beacon of Jesus.  The Apostle John may have described this role best, in the opening chapter of his Gospel, verses 6 through 9…

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

-- John 1:6-9  (NKJV)

As the light of the world, we are to bear witness to the true Light of the world, to Jesus.  Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, we should reflect the Light of the Son.

Back to the last part of our sermon text, where does Jesus say we should shine our light?  Before men.  Where are men?  In the world.  Why should we shine our light in the world?  So that others might take notice of our good works.  Oh, OK, then Jesus wants us to shine our light so others can see all our good works and think what great folks we are, right?  Wrong!  We are to do so to glorify God.  In all we do, we must make sure all the glory goes to the Father, not to us.  By humble service, by selfless acts, by not caring about receiving any rewards or praise, we glorify God before men.  We need to shine our light for all the world to see.  Let them see the glory of God.

You are the salt of the earth.  You are the light of the world.

Be flavorful and shine on.

Amen.

Let us pray…    Dearest Lord Jesus, we know that You love us so much that You were willing to take a beating and die for us, to take all of our sins upon Yourself and carry them to the grave for us, to defeat death so that we might live forever with You.  And now, Lord, we see that You think us as important and even holy as salt, so very important in God’s great plan that You have given us the role You once held Yourself: as a light to the world.  Jesus, please help us reflect Your light into a dark world.  Help us remain flavorful and zealous in our faith.  Help us constantly and courageously stand as witnesses to You so that we might serve to glorify God our Father.  Christ Jesus, in Your beautiful name we pray.  Amen.

Where Is God?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 27th of July, 2014.]

Our message text today comes from the Apostle Paul’s sermon to the Areopagus in Athens, as recorded by Luke in his Book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 24 through 31…

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

--Acts 17:24-31 (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, sometimes when we seek Your face, we can’t help but wonder where You are.  We come before You today in the name of Jesus Christ to examine that question, and to look at why we would even ask it.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.   In the sweet name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A pastor phoned the home of some recent visitors to his church.  A voice on the other end of the phone answered with a whispered “Hello”.  The pastor asked, “Who is this?”  The whispered voice said, “Jimmy”.  The pastor asked, “How old are you, Jimmy?”  The voice replied, “Four”.  The pastor then asked, “Jimmy, can I please speak to your Mom?”  “She’s busy”, Jimmy answered.  “Then can I please speak to your Dad?”  “He’s busy.”  “Are there any other adults in your home?”  “The police.”  “Then let me speak to one of the police officers.”  “They’re busy.”  “Jimmy, who else is there?”  “Firemen.”  “Well, can you put one of the firemen on the phone?”  “They’re busy.”  “Jimmy, what are they all so busy doing?”  “They’re all busy looking for me!”


Like little Jimmy, many people spend a lot of time hiding.  They’re hiding from parents and police.  They’re hiding from bosses and spouses.  They’re hiding from the things they don’t want to do.  And in too many instances, they’re hiding from God, or at least trying to.

So why do we hide?  Because we’ve done something wrong?  Because we’re trying to avoid something, or someone?  Because we think we can get away with it?

But Paul tells us in verse 27 that God is not far off.  In fact, Paul says in verse 28 that it is in God that we live and move and exist.  In God we live and exist.  In God we move, we are animated.

Paul was not really saying anything new.  The prophet Jeremiah, giving God voice, made this declaration long before Paul came on the scene.  In his book, chapter 23, verses 23 through 24, Jeremiah tells us…

23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

--Jeremiah 23:23-24 (NASB)

See?  I’m not the only one who asks a lot of questions.

God declares He is not far off, but is near.  He fills the heavens and the earth.  That makes it a little tough to hide from Him, doesn’t it?  According to God as spoken through Jeremiah, there is no place we can go, no place we can hide, where He cannot see us.

King David confirms this for us, in the 7th verse of Psalm 139…

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

 --Psalm 139:7 (NASB)

So have we answered our question of where is God?  Is all we have left to do now is pray and go to lunch?

There’s a little more to Paul’s sermon that we need to look at before we can be completely satisfied with our answer.  Paul also tells us where God is not.  Right at the start of today’s text, in verse 24, Paul says God does not live in temples made by human hands.  For that matter, in verse 25 Paul assures us God has no need of even being served by human hands.  He doesn’t need anything at all!  Let’s face it: God created everything – what could He possibly need that He couldn’t just create for Himself?

But again, Paul is simply restating what God has already said.  In his book, chapter 66, verses 1 and 2, the prophet Isaiah tells us…

1 Thus says the Lord,
“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.
Where then is a house you could build for Me?
And where is a place that I may rest?
2 “For My hand made all these things,
Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord.
“But to this one I will look,
To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

 --Isaiah 66:1-2 (NASB)

I love the last half of the 2nd verse, where God assures us He will pay attention to those who are humble and contrite of spirit.  Where else do we receive this message?  From His Son, Jesus.  And in a number of places in our New Testament.  But perhaps the most beautiful instance comes from the section of His Sermon on the Mount that we call the Beatitudes, as recorded by Matthew in chapter 5 of his Gospel, verses 1 through 12.

So, we know that God is not necessarily in any temple or church building built by human hands.  We also know He is not far off, but is near.  Near enough so that if we would just grope for Him, we might find Him.  Paul says that, right there in verse 27 of our scripture.  That reminds me of the old saying that even a blind hog will find an acorn every now and then.  An acorn would be a prize for a hog, just as we should consider God our greatest prize.  And folks, too often we are indeed blind, or we have been at one point or another in our lives.  For those of us who really get and understand the message of the Gospel, the scales have been lifted from our eyes just as they were from Paul, and now we can truly see.  I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.  God has overlooked our times of ignorance, our blindness.  Paul assures us of this in verse 30.  And He will forgive us when we repent.

Which brings us to a very stern warning that we need to take another look at.  In verse 30, Paul cautions us that God is declaring to all mankind, to people everywhere, that the time to repent is now.  And in verse 31 he tells us why we should heed his warning…

31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

 --Acts 17:31 (NASB)

God will judge the world.  Is that something we dread and would like to hide from?  Or maybe we can just hide some of our actions so as to get by and not be judged on them?  Not very likely.  In Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 14, King Solomon shatters that bubble of hope…

14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

 --Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NASB)

Every action we’ve ever taken, every act we committed, whether good or evil, will be laid bare before God.  We can’t hide anything from Him – not our actions, not our deeds, not our selves.  God has set a trial date for us, for all of mankind, when we will be judged.  He has appointed the One who will stand as Judge over us.  That Man is Jesus, the One about whom God Himself furnished proof to all of mankind by raising Him from the dead, just as Paul explains there in verse 31.

Jesus provides more detail of just what to expect on that fixed day, in His Revelation to John, chapter 20, verses 12 through 15…

12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 --Revelation 20:12-15 (NASB)

I for one do not want to experience that second death: the lake of fire.  I know I will be judged.  And since I can’t hide any of my actions or deeds, I know I will have some things…  well… a lot of things to answer to Jesus for.  But I also know my name is written in the Book of Life so I will be spared that second death.

What about you?  Is your name written in the Book of Life?

Now I won’t pretend to fully know the heart of each person here, but I feel confident that most of the names in our attendance books today are indeed also written in God’s Book of Life.  But how do you know for sure?  How am I sure my name is written down in the most important of books ever known to man?

It’s simple, really.  All we have to do to answer that question is to answer the one I first posed: where is God?

Is He high on a mountaintop?  Is He in a temple or a church?  Is He sitting on His throne in heaven with His feet resting on the earth?

Well, yes, yes, and yes, since God is everywhere.

But most importantly, and the one place He must be for me to avoid the lake of fire for all eternity, God is right here within me.  God dwells in me, in my soul and in my heart.  Paul and Jeremiah said God is not far off but is near.  Well, you can’t get any nearer to me than right here within me.

When we truly and fully accept Jesus as our Lord and Master, when we surrender our lives to Him, when we repent of our evil and sinful lives and follow only Christ Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live within us, to be our constant, faithful, and sure Companion.  The Holy Spirit is God, the Third Person of our Triune God.  God is within me.

So I’ll ask again, and this is a question you really should be able to answer with complete confidence and assurance.

Where is God?

Your answer must be “God is within me”.  If you are unsure, if you do not know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is in you, please come talk to me.  If you’re not sure, now’s the time to recommit to Jesus.  If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your Lord, now is the time to do so.  There may not be a “tomorrow” to put it off to.

Where is God?

Amen.

Let us pray…    O mighty God, Your holy Word tells us You are everywhere - in heaven and on earth.  You are not a God that is far off.  You are near.  So near that nothing can be hidden where You cannot see it, nothing can be kept from Your view.  You know our deeds, both good and bad.  You can see to the deepest, darkest corners of our hearts.  You know even what we try to hide from ourselves.

Thank You, Father, for overlooking our time of ignorance, even though we at times point out the faults of those around us.  Forgive us, Lord, our sinful ways even when we are unforgiving of others.  Be merciful even when we fail to extend mercy.

Be patient with us, Father, as we struggle with doubts and worries.  Listen to us now as we speak to You from our hearts.

If any of you, my brothers and sisters, urgently sense the need to recommit to your Christ Jesus, or if you have never surrendered yourself to Him, speak these words to Him now from your heart, as we pray…

Lord Jesus, thank You so much for the great sacrifice You made for me.  You took a terrible beating, You bled, and You died on that cross just to defeat death so I might not have to suffer that second death.  My dearest Jesus, I willingly accept You as my Lord and Master.  I recognize You as the one true Son of God and my only Savior.  Forgive me, blessed Jesus, for I have sinned.  I have not lived my life to the fullest in Your holy name.  Jesus, I turn my back on my evil ways.  Help me please to not return to them.  I surrender all to You, O Lord.  Give me the strength and courage to stay ever committed to You, to fight the good fight, to finish the race.  Accept me now, Father God, as Your adopted child and fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may live in Your house for ever and ever.  In the blessed name of Jesus I pray.

And now dear Lord, please listen to the pleadings of our hearts here in the silence, as we confess our sins to You and repent, and seek Your forgiveness…

Now my brothers and sisters, know that our merciful Father loves you, that He has forgiven you, and that His Holy Spirit now abides within you.  Father, we thank You and we pray to You in the precious name of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and our Salvation.  Amen.

Standing Watch

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 20th of July, 2014.]

Hear the words of our Lord as spoken through His prophet Habakkuk, from chapter 2 verses 1 through 4, reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected. 

2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it. 

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry. 

4 Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith."

--Habakkuk 2:1-4 (NKJV)

Let us pray...  God in heaven, come to us this morning as we watch for You, as we seek Your face in this sweet hour of prayer.  Speak to our hearts the message You would have us hear.  Show us the vision You would have us see, that it might guide us through the days ahead.  In the holiest name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.


An older gentleman was strolling through the park one beautiful late summer afternoon when he came upon a young boy sitting on a bench very intently saying his ABC’s.  The old man waited until the child was through then said, “I see you’re practicing your alphabet.  Are you getting ready for school to start?”  “No,” the boy replied, “I was praying.  You see, I don’t know how to pray very well.  So I just give God all the letters and He puts them into the right words."

I wonder if sometimes folks don’t pray because they think they don’t know how to pray very well.  They don’t even take the time to give God all the letters, like that little boy.  They don’t realize that God doesn’t care how they pray, just that they seek Him, that they open up and talk to Him.

Habakkuk understood the importance of going to the Lord in prayer.  His book is effectively one long prayer.  The first two chapters form a running conversation with God, with Habakkuk asking questions and God answering them.  The third chapter is more of a monologue, with Habakkuk praising the Lord in a prayer to Him.

In these three short chapters he takes us from doubt and despair, as in chapter 1 verse 2 where he says…

2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.

--Habakkuk 1:2 (NKJV)

…to exultation and rejoicing, as in chapter 3 verse 18, when he prays…

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

 --Habakkuk 3:18 (NKJV)

…if only we keep trusting the Lord and living by faith, as we heard in the last part of verse 4 of today’s scripture from chapter 2.

In those three verses, one from each chapter, Habakkuk goes from worrying to watching and waiting to worshiping!  Instead of complaining, he is praising the Lord.  He is setting an example we should try our best to follow.

Habakkuk looked at his and his people’s circumstances and felt perplexed.  Sounds kind of like us, doesn’t it?  But rather than fretting or shaking his fist at heaven or running around in circles like we are prone to do, Habakkuk waited for God and listened to what the Lord told him.  He understood that any endeavor that does not begin with God ends in failure!

And the last part that God gave him - that the just shall live by faith - sent ripples throughout the world that are still felt today.  That observation so impressed the Apostle Paul that he used it twice in his letters, once in Romans 1:17 and once in Galatians 3:11.  The author of Hebrews also quoted what God told Habakkuk in Hebrews 10:38.  As for those words reverberating through time, Paul’s treatment of Habakkuk’s vision impacted Martin Luther so strongly that it gave him the courage and conviction to press forward with his great reformation, of which our church is a product.


Habakkuk opens chapter 2 by promising to position himself atop the wall and stand his watch.  Now in those days it was critical to their survival that the Israelis would watch for their enemies from vantage points on the walls surrounding their cities.  So they would understand that Habakkuk considered his time alone in prayer, watching for the Lord, to be critically important to him.

He stands watch in prayer, every day, waiting to see what the Lord might say to him and how he himself would respond.  Especially how he would respond to the Lord’s judgments and corrections.  It was in prayer that he could not only talk to God, but that God would also speak to him.

Then when God answers in verse 2, the watching and waiting shifts into action.  God gives Habakkuk a vision and tells him to write it down.  Not only that, but to write it in such a clear manner that even someone running quickly by could easily read and understand what the vision contains.  God wants others to be able to learn from what is recorded.

This concept of watching for the Lord and writing down what He shows us was important enough to God that He gave the same message to the prophet Isaiah.  In his book, chapter 21 verse 6, Isaiah says…

6 For thus has the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman,
Let him declare what he sees.”

 --Isaiah 21:6 (NKJV)

So why is a vision so important that we should not only watch out for it but also write it down?  In Proverbs chapter 29, the first part of verse 18, our good teacher tells us that…

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish.

 --Proverbs 29:18a (KJV)

That was from the King James version.  Switching back to my New American Standard Bible for a moment, we see that King Solomon first voices this warning in Proverbs 11, in the first part of verse 14, where he cautions that…

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall.

 --Proverbs 11:14a (NASB)

With no vision to guide them, people are left to meander through life, just existing day to day.  The Israelis refused to accept the vision God gave Moses, the vision that Moses wrote down to share with God’s people, to guide them.  And they ended up wandering aimlessly through the wilderness for 40 years.

So vision is important, but not just any vision – only the vision given to us by God.


If you haven’t figured it out yet, while we may be talking about Habakkuk and what God said to him and showed him, it all applies to each of us as well.  We are to watch and wait for the Lord.  We are to go to Him in prayer and listen for His response.

One aspect of watching is to look.  Look at what is going on around us.  The author of Hebrews tells us in his chapter 12 to look first to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” – that faith which we are to live by.  And like the little cartoon in our bulletin shows us, if we do so, we can run the race without becoming weary or discouraged.

Take a good, hard look and see if you can spot what God is doing right now, in our society, in our world.  And don’t think that God is not still moving in the world today.  In answer to one of Habakkuk’s questions in chapter 1, God responds in verse 5 that we should…

5 “Look among the nations and watch —
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you."

 --Habakkuk 1:5 (NKJV)

Imagine that…  God is doing such a great work in the world around us that if He told us about it, we wouldn’t even believe it!  But that’s pretty much human nature, isn’t it?  Do we really, deep down inside, believe that God is still doing an utterly astounding work in our world, right now, today?  Or do we have doubts?

In verse 3 of today’s scripture, Habakkuk seems to contradict himself when he says that the vision may tarry but then ends the verse by saying it will not tarry.  I don’t believe there is a contradiction at all, because I believe he is comparing our perception of events as measured in our timing verses God’s perception as measured in His perfect timing.

Perhaps the Apostle Peter can make this easier to understand.  Let’s look at his second letter, at 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9, again in the New American Standard Bible, where he explains…

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

 --2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

In our sense of timing, we may think God is slow to act, but He isn’t slow in His timing.  He is patient, and for a reason.  Remember that Solomon warned that without vision, man will perish?  Well, here Peter assures us that God doesn’t want us to perish.  So the Lord gives us glimpses into His vision for us to guide us, that we might not perish.

This is all about vision: God’s vision for us, what He is trying to show us.  One way to define vision is that it is God’s means of expanding on our perspective.  This is how He shows us what He wants us to see, to grasp, to understand.

Habakkuk went to his spot on the wall, to his tower, to pray, to watch and to wait and then to respond.  To clearly hear God, we need to get away from our routines, from our daily pressures, from all the distractions and busyness of the world.  If we lack vision, maybe it’s because we never put ourselves in a position to hear God’s voice.  We need a quiet place.  We need to set aside the time to stand watch and listen.  And we need the determination to carry through on all this.

Some of you have heard me share the vision God gave me for His church, of a church without walls, a church that goes freely into the community to worship and praise our Lord and lead others to salvation through His word, a church where everyone will know we are Christians by the way we live and act and love.  That is the vision God gave me and I have it written down, somewhere, digitally if not on paper.

What about you? Has our gracious Lord given you a glimpse into His master plan?

I have a challenge for you…  You’ve probably noticed a bunch of composition books throughout the sanctuary, even in the choir seats, at the organ, and in the audio/video booth.  Some are wire-bound, some have tape binding.  Most pews have three, the rest have two, except these right here up front where nobody but the acolytes dare venture.  There are two styles and plenty of colors to choose from.  If they all get gone on your pew, look on some of the unoccupied pews.

If you accept this challenge, take one of the composition books and use it to journal your prayer life.  If you don’t have a regular prayer life, start one today.  It only takes a few minutes a day, but if you want to spend a sweet hour in prayer, that will be perfectly acceptable.  Take time, go into your quiet place (which may simply mean turning off the TV and sitting on the couch), and pray.  And then spend time listening for God to answer, watching for Him to show you something.  Once you’ve given Him that time, thank Him for listening and close your prayer.

Then open up your journal, write down the date and make note of the key points of your prayer.  What did you thank God for?  What did you ask Him for?  And then write down anything He showed you.  Record what He told you concerning you, your family, your community.  Get it all on paper, plainly and simply so that anyone can read it and understand.  He wants us to share our vision with others in a way they can grasp it and learn from it.

And once you’ve got it all on paper, pause again and pray through it, so that it will sink into your innermost being and become a part of you.

Will you accept this challenge?  I’ll be happy to run out and get some more comp books if we need them.  It will only take a few minutes each day, or each week if you choose to stand your watch weekly rather than daily.

But stand our watch we should.  Only through watchful prayer can we discern where God is moving in the world, and where He wants us to move.  Through prayer we can seek His wisdom.  Through prayer we can ask Him questions, and He will answer.  Through prayer we can receive His vision for us, and for our church.

Now, it may be that we will not hear God answer us, that He may not show us His vision in our prayer.  But remember what He told Habakkuk: His vision is yet for an appointed time.  Our time is not God’s time.  He will answer our questions and He will show us His vision, but He will do so in His own good time, not necessarily right when we ask Him to.

So don’t give up if you don’t hear anything the first day, or the 20th day for that matter.  Wait for it, wait for God; don’t try to force the issue.  Just pray and wait.  Keep the faith.  For the just person lives by faith.

So take up your position upon the wall and stand your watch.  Watch and wait for the Lord.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father, we come to You in prayer, earnestly seeking Your vision for us as individuals, for our church family, for our role in Your greater community.  Lord God, right this very minute we stand upon the wall, watching and waiting for You to speak.  Look into our hearts, Lord, and see our commitment to standing watch.  Appear to us now, Father, and show us the direction You would have us take.  Show us how You would have us move as we work to expand Your kingdom.  Come to us now, as we silently pray…

Father, thank You for speaking into our hearts.  Thank You for showing us a glimpse of Your great plan.  Help us, please, to follow as You lead.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray.  Amen.