Sing to
the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim
the good news that he saves.
Psalm 96:2
This
advice from the Psalmist is hard to hear while 2020 is still ringing in our
ears. After all, how do you say Good
News when people are being carted off to the hospital and the morgue is
so full there’s a waiting list? On top
of that the November election results are, according to whichever extreme point
of view you choose,
a.
A fraudulent stealing of the presidency
b.
Under attack by unscrupulous liars
Now,
before your eyes glaze over with O man, I can’t stand to hear one more
bad thing about Coronavirus or the election mess…this verse has much
more Hallelujah than Hell for us today.
The last two words the Psalmist offers should give us a hint: he saves!
So,
what does that have to do with the mess that characterized 2020, and seems to
offer little hope for 2021? Where’s the
good news? If He saves, to what are we
being saved? The short answer is, we are
being saved from ourselves, our selfishness, and (to call a spade a spade),
we’re being saved from our sin, and being saved to His presence, where there is
safety, peace, and joy forevermore.
Now,
short answers are always, by nature, somewhat simplistic, or surface, and we
need to dig a little deeper. So here’s a
thesis-bone for us to pick on this morning, about the kind of mess this world
is in:
2020 was/is a test
…and that’s Good
News
Dear brothers and
sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an
opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your
faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So
let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect
and complete, needing nothing. James
1:2-4
Jesus
warned his disciples that in this world we’d always have trouble, even if we
stick closer to him than a shadow. Jesus
probably gave that an eyeroll when He said it, because, sometimes, we have
trouble because
we are following Jesus.
But
here’s the good news about being that kind of follower who gets clobbered by
COVID19, elections that seem to be controlled by Darth Vader, a jealous
co-worker who lies to the boss about you, or a bully who picks on you for being
a Christian. Jesus knew it would be that
way, and He’s already made a pathway for the Good News to travel your way:
Here on earth you will
have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the
world. John
16:33
So,
knowing we are always being tested in one way or another, we have a strong hope
in which to face 2021. And, that being
settled, we should let our endurance, our patience, grow in any opportunity for
great joy.
The
question for the follower of Jesus isn’t what’s happening, and why do I
have to suffer like Job; it’s more a matter figuring-out of how
I can recognize tribulation, or testing, and live so my walk with Christ will
bear fruit!
And
isn’t it grand that we have that question before the house this morning? Because my very good friend, Apostle Peter
has more than political talking points for that; he has a few life-handles for
us to grab-on and grow in our patience.
Here
are three of the handles:
Life Handle #1 in
troubled times - Humility
So humble yourselves
under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in
honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he
cares about you. 1 Peter 5:6-7
If there is one person
who knew something about learning humility it was Peter. You remember him; he was always the one
speaking-up, messing-up, and giving Jesus a case of indigestion. Peter eventually learned humility when he
stood before Jesus after the resurrection and found out he was forgiven.
The reality about this
in troubled days like we’ve seen recently is that the power of God is ready to
go to work on what ails us in our homes, businesses, schools, and government…if
we’ll just get down on our knees.
Remember the formula:
If my people, which are
called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and
turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land. 2
Chronicles 7:14
Life Handle #2 in
troubled times – Spiritual Warfare
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking
for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be
strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8-9a
Spiritual warfare is a
matter of trust and worship. I know
people who worship fishing; everything else comes second. The same can be said for many other things,
but when anything comes before God, a follower of Jesus Christ is not really a
follower or disciple, he’s merely a fan.
He likes Jesus, but not enough to worship Him. And that sets us up for that prowling evil
one who’s looking for a Christian dinner.
If you’re going to be
ready for spiritual warfare in troubled times, your prayer life, study of
Scripture, worship patterns, and sacrificial love of people will have to look
more like first century, not twenty-first.
Life Handle #3 in
troubled times – Family Strength
Remember that your
family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of
suffering you are. 1 Peter 5:9b
This last life handle
is connection with God’s people…particularly the ones in your own home, and
church, and community – but also the church around the world. The church is taking a huge hit in the
organizational sense…buildings are closed, programs are on-hold, and the
budgets are getting tighter. But the
worship and witness of the true church is unaffected.
Here are two principles
about that:
·
You can take the believers out of the buildings – they
won’t miss a beat worshipping and serving the King of Kings
·
If you take make believe believers, pretenders out of
their buildings and programs, you’ve taken away the only Jesus they know.
Anyone
who knows me knows I love words. I love
reading and learning ways to communicate, so I can do a better job of sharing
God’s Word. I even belong to several
websites devoted to helping your vocabulary.
I get a new word every day. One
day this past week I got a new word that (I’m certain) most of you have never
encountered. It is a slang expression
heard mostly in Great Britain. Are you
ready for this? The word is coddiwomple. It’s so alien to the U.S. brand of English my
spell checker didn’t recognize it. It
means to travel purposefully toward an as-yet unknown destination.
This is exactly what
Paul wrote to the Hebrew believers about serving without seeing first:
Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
An example of this word
would be the meaning of faith. It was by
coddiwomple Abraham obeyed God.
God told Abraham to go offer Isaac as a sacrifice. What did Abraham do…he coddiwompled…loaded
the backpack with firewood, a sacrifice knife, and headed out for Mt.
Moriah! It wasn’t an easy time of it,
but his faithful moving towards the mountain (coddiwompling) meant the power of
God was carrying him through.
Peter’s life-handles
for troubling times, humility, staying on alert in spiritual warfare, and counting
on the family of God…these are the ways you do what the Psalmist said, to sing
to the Lord, praise His name, and proclaim the Good News each day,
building your endurance and experience the assuring peace and joy of God’s
presence each day.
Listen to what Peter
said would come of all that:
In his kindness God
called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he
will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm
foundation. All power to him forever! Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11
Beloved,
while COVID and the Political and economic crises are cleaning everyone’s clock
in the U.S. and around the world, believers who have learned to coddiwomple to
God’s will are excited and looking forward to His next chapter. For us, that is Good News! In the name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, Amen.
Our Prayer
Father,
help us to never lose sight of the direction to which you’ve said we’re
marching…all the way to Zion, that city on a splendid hill, where there is a
temple made without hands, and the doors are open and unguarded, and the light
of your welcoming glory are always on!
For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord,
we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt
the Majesty of the Father.
Let
it be so in each of our lives…Amen!
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