Scripture Text: Isaiah 25:6-9
As I read through the text for today, the passage that leapt into my mind is the 23rd Psalm. Let’s say it together.
Read Psalm 23
For me, the key line in this poem of praise is this – “I shall not want”. Jehovah-Jireh – “the Lord provides”. He provides for all of our needs, and when we receive His generosity, we are completely satisfied. But we need to remember that He satisfies needs in a way that is very different from the gratification that comes from the world. And having said that, I will also say that we need both God’s gifts and those of humanity. And by that I mean that many times, God gives through the lives of His people. Amen? In our Tuesday morning Bible Study, we’ve been reading through Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, and we have just begun chapter 15.
Read Romans 15:1-2
As we read and discussed these verses, in particular the issues of bearing each others burdens and building each other up, we talked about the needs of our brothers and sisters in this congregation. We know that many in our church will be alone during the holidays. We know that some are out of work and struggling to make ends meet. We know that while holidays are generally seen as times for celebration, that there are many folks who really have to stretch to find a reason to be happy, let alone to be celebratory! And the question came up – How can we help them to “bear their weaknesses”?
A plan has begun to reveal itself, and great anticipation is also beginning to build. It seems that there is going to be a dinner and fellowship for all who will be alone for Thanksgiving, and while I can’t tell you much more today, I hope to be able to provide some details next week. Let it suffice to say that you will not be alone for this Thanksgiving! And we’ll just have to see where this takes us and even what may develop beyond this!
Read Isaiah 25:6
I don’t know if we will be providing the “finest of aged wines”, but the Lord will be preparing a feast of the best food. But isn’t that the way that God always works? He not only includes us in the working of His plans, but He seems to inspire and enable us to do the very things that He desires to have done but can’t even begin to do on our own! He could very easily do it through His own miraculous touch, but He wants us to be a part of His work.
Have you experienced this before? You have known that God wants you to do something that is nearly impossible, or at least beyond your own ability, and as soon as you take that first step in faith toward that “unattainable” goal, everything begins to fall into place? Finances start to take shape, people begin to get on board, resources that were previously unknown start to accumulate, needed facilities are suddenly available, and so on.
And you begin to understand the word that says “Nothing is impossible for God.” – that God invariably, provides a feast for us every time we show that we trust Him.
But to go back to our Psalm for a moment, what’s this about “feasting in the presence of our enemies”? Our enemies, especially in this context, are those who would much rather see us starve than receive the best of meats - the world doesn’t want us to find peace and hope for our life. The Lord wants us to feast; it’s the world that wants us to struggle. The Lord wants us to rejoice; it’s the world that wants us to suffer. The Lord wants us to have clarity of vision and fullness of life; the world would prefer that we were blind, totally dependent on them for guidance.
In the middle of our adversity, no matter what form it may take, God is there to help us through it. And even more than that, He doesn’t stop at “just barely enough” - His greatest desire is to bring unbridled joy into our barren lives, to give us a feast of the finest foods when we would be satisfied with a single hamburger.
Read Isaiah 25:7-8a
A shroud is the cover that goes over a dead body. And it is in His banquet that life and trust are restored, that vision is made perfect again, disease and crippling injuries are healed, and spiritual blindness becomes a thing of the past. The shroud that covers us and makes us fearful and holds us down and keeps us in the dark and tells us that all hope is gone won’t just be removed – it will be destroyed, never to enfold us again! Not just an incredible feast for today, but a vision of the future that is filled with God’s goodness and hope!
Read Isaiah 25:8b
The tears that He will wipe away come from our failed life in this world. Remember the story in Luke about the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears?
Read Luke 7:36-38, 44-48
Our sins are just as plentiful as this woman’s were, but how many tears have we shed? Have we become too comfortable with God’s forgiving and generous nature? Has sin become so commonplace in our lives that it’s no longer given a place of contempt in either society or the church? How grateful are we for God’s personal sacrifice on our behalf? If we are grateful, why aren’t we shedding tears of shame, as well as ones of gratitude?
But if we have no tears, how will we ever experience God’s mercy gently wiping them away? We just might miss out on one of heaven’s greatest gifts! And if there is no shame, how can there be any repentance, and without our turning away from sin, how will the Lord be able to remove our disgrace.
Read Isaiah 25:9
The joy of those who dine at His glorious banquet will be overwhelming. Now I don’t know if our plans for a special church Thanksgiving feast will be quite that glorious, but I imagine that it will be pretty good! And this last verse for today will be the theme verse for that dinner. How ever it comes about, it will come because of God’s Grace and Will; because we will trust in His great gifts, many just might be spared from the solitary loneliness of a holiday; and it will be a day of rejoicing for us because it will also be a day of rejoicing for the Lord.
Feasting in the presence of our enemies – maybe we should invite those who have snickered over our predicaments, or who may have even caused our trials in the past so they, too, can see what our all powerful and all mighty God can really do. We’ll have to pray about that won’t we?
“Surely, this is our God.” What a glorious God! Praises to His majesty!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Cup of Christ
Scripture text – Mark 10:35-45
Christine Oscar, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, tells this story of her four-year-old niece, Alisha:
One day while babysitting, I fixed the [children] their favorite lunch of burritos and apple juice. As I left the room, I heard four-year-old Alisha begin to celebrate communion with her lunch items. She seemed to have memorized the words of institution quite well, except when it came to the cup. She was heard to say, “And Jesus took the cup, and he blessed it, and he gave God thanks for it, and he said, 'Fill it with Folgers and wake 'em up!'”
-Parables, 10 (July 1990) 8, as reported in Homiletics Online.
I guess that from time to time, we all could use some Folgers in our communion!
Read Mark 10:35-39a
And it seems that the disciples could have used some Folgers 2,000 years ago. In this passage, as in the Matthew equivalent, His small band of followers didn’t quite get what He was saying. “Can you drink the same cup that I will drink?” And the brothers answered, and all too quickly I might add, “Yes, we can!” Now, we have to admire their eagerness to follow Christ’s example – “wherever you go, Lord, we will go; whatever you do, we will do; we’re with you all the way, Lord – you can always count on us!”
How many Christians today have this same attitude? Probably more than we think! And I would also guess that they are, for the most part, fairly new to the faith. Anyone who has walked Christ’s path for any length of time will already know that this is a nearly impossible claim to make with any certainty! Just as soon as we think we are up and running as a believer, we stumble over some huge spiritual obstacle and fall flat on our face. Are we truly able to drink from the same cup that Jesus drinks from? The truth is that we can, but only with His help!
Jesus’ cup can be a rather bitter cup if we let it. Consider Paul’s life, before and after he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road. Before that meeting, what was his life like? It was really something to watch! He was a rising star!
Read Philippians 3:4-6
Paul had a firm grasp on life, and he was on a down hill pull! But then he decided to go to Damascus to ferret out some more of those “Jesus people” and bring them to justice. And how did his encounter with the Risen Christ change his life? Completely!
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-30
Talk about drinking from Christ’s cup! And this is the same man, who in his letter to the church in Rome, would write “We .. rejoice in our suffering.” (Romans 5:3-5) He would come to see the glories of his former life as worthless and the suffering in his new life as glory and a reason to rejoice.
Can we ever grow to have that kind of faith? Absolutely. But it requires a complete change in our attitudes, our priorities, our focus, our entire life. We have to understand that the insults and attacks and disbelief that will be directed at us are not for us. Remember Jesus’ words to Paul on the road – “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4) It is Jesus who is bearing the brunt of the disbelief in the world, and it is He who is being tormented. Our place is simply as an intermediary – the messenger who is carrying the messages both ways.
And we all will drink from His cup, but the heavenly honors that we may think we deserve may not be what we will receive.
Read Mark 10:39b-44
Why? Because the glory and honors and rewards of heaven are determined in a totally different manner than those of earth, and the exercise of authority on earth is totally different than that in heaven.
- If you want to be great, you must be a servant to those around you. Note that Jesus doesn’t say that we’re to be a servant first! It’s a servant always!
- If we want to be first in His Kingdom, we must be a slave of all in this one. In the world, slaves come in dead last - they have no rights, no honors, no rewards, and they have only one purpose, and that is to do whatever their master decides that they must do.
Is there any wonder that people of this earth are skeptical about becoming a Christian? This entire approach to faith doesn’t make any sense to them, because they try to understand Jesus in worldly terms!
As an example, I understand that the Quakers sometimes allowed one symbol to be displayed in their barren meeting-halls. It was the picture of an ox between an altar and a plow. And underneath were the words: “Prepared for either.” Sacrifice or service. David thought of himself as a servant of God, and no more; Mary thought of herself as a servant of God, and no more; Paul thought of himself as a servant of Christ, and no more. What was in it for them all? Nothing but betrayals, abuse, suffering, death, and, oh yes, the joy of serving the Lord. (Homiletics Online)
Read Mark 10:45
Jesus thought of himself as a servant of God, and no more, and that defines His Cup. Our servanthood to God becomes evident and real through our servanthood to those in need, to those who are lonely, to those who are hungry, to the destitute, the emotionally wounded, the spiritually lost, and to the least of this world. These are the ones who need our servanthood the most, and they are also the ones who will never be able to repay our service to them. These are the ones who Jesus came for, and they are the ones who Jesus is sending us to. And the mere fact that we have extended the hand of Christ to a hurting world should bring us an incredibly joyful sense that the cup of Jesus Christ that has been held in our hand has just been filled to overflowing.
Jimmy Dean, country-music star, co-wrote a song about celebrating life's little blessings called “Drinking From My Saucer”. The key verse is this one:
So, Lord, help me not to gripe
'Bout the tough rows that I've hoed,
I'm drinking from my saucer
'Cause my cup has overflowed.
(From Homiletics Online)
But our cup can never overflow with Christ’s blessings until we empty our cup of all of our own agenda. James and John had their own plans for eternity – they wanted the glories and honors of earth to be given to them in heaven. They both would soon come to understand, as all of Jesus’ followers would, that earthly standards – both the good and the bad – must stay in earth, and that the rewards of heaven will always be in heaven. Paul’s words “Rejoice in our suffering” don’t mean that we should be happy when we suffer – just that while we are suffering in Jesus’ name, we can rejoice that the glory of heaven is getting a little closer with every step we take. We need to empty our cups of earthly desires, so that God can refill them with His!
The cup of Christ – is it too bitter to swallow for you, or is the taste perfect? For Paul, while he once saw it as a poison, would soon begin to swallow it in great gulps. Can’t each of us do the same?
Christine Oscar, pastor of St. Mary's Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, tells this story of her four-year-old niece, Alisha:
One day while babysitting, I fixed the [children] their favorite lunch of burritos and apple juice. As I left the room, I heard four-year-old Alisha begin to celebrate communion with her lunch items. She seemed to have memorized the words of institution quite well, except when it came to the cup. She was heard to say, “And Jesus took the cup, and he blessed it, and he gave God thanks for it, and he said, 'Fill it with Folgers and wake 'em up!'”
-Parables, 10 (July 1990) 8, as reported in Homiletics Online.
I guess that from time to time, we all could use some Folgers in our communion!
Read Mark 10:35-39a
And it seems that the disciples could have used some Folgers 2,000 years ago. In this passage, as in the Matthew equivalent, His small band of followers didn’t quite get what He was saying. “Can you drink the same cup that I will drink?” And the brothers answered, and all too quickly I might add, “Yes, we can!” Now, we have to admire their eagerness to follow Christ’s example – “wherever you go, Lord, we will go; whatever you do, we will do; we’re with you all the way, Lord – you can always count on us!”
How many Christians today have this same attitude? Probably more than we think! And I would also guess that they are, for the most part, fairly new to the faith. Anyone who has walked Christ’s path for any length of time will already know that this is a nearly impossible claim to make with any certainty! Just as soon as we think we are up and running as a believer, we stumble over some huge spiritual obstacle and fall flat on our face. Are we truly able to drink from the same cup that Jesus drinks from? The truth is that we can, but only with His help!
Jesus’ cup can be a rather bitter cup if we let it. Consider Paul’s life, before and after he met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road. Before that meeting, what was his life like? It was really something to watch! He was a rising star!
Read Philippians 3:4-6
Paul had a firm grasp on life, and he was on a down hill pull! But then he decided to go to Damascus to ferret out some more of those “Jesus people” and bring them to justice. And how did his encounter with the Risen Christ change his life? Completely!
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-30
Talk about drinking from Christ’s cup! And this is the same man, who in his letter to the church in Rome, would write “We .. rejoice in our suffering.” (Romans 5:3-5) He would come to see the glories of his former life as worthless and the suffering in his new life as glory and a reason to rejoice.
Can we ever grow to have that kind of faith? Absolutely. But it requires a complete change in our attitudes, our priorities, our focus, our entire life. We have to understand that the insults and attacks and disbelief that will be directed at us are not for us. Remember Jesus’ words to Paul on the road – “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4) It is Jesus who is bearing the brunt of the disbelief in the world, and it is He who is being tormented. Our place is simply as an intermediary – the messenger who is carrying the messages both ways.
And we all will drink from His cup, but the heavenly honors that we may think we deserve may not be what we will receive.
Read Mark 10:39b-44
Why? Because the glory and honors and rewards of heaven are determined in a totally different manner than those of earth, and the exercise of authority on earth is totally different than that in heaven.
- If you want to be great, you must be a servant to those around you. Note that Jesus doesn’t say that we’re to be a servant first! It’s a servant always!
- If we want to be first in His Kingdom, we must be a slave of all in this one. In the world, slaves come in dead last - they have no rights, no honors, no rewards, and they have only one purpose, and that is to do whatever their master decides that they must do.
Is there any wonder that people of this earth are skeptical about becoming a Christian? This entire approach to faith doesn’t make any sense to them, because they try to understand Jesus in worldly terms!
As an example, I understand that the Quakers sometimes allowed one symbol to be displayed in their barren meeting-halls. It was the picture of an ox between an altar and a plow. And underneath were the words: “Prepared for either.” Sacrifice or service. David thought of himself as a servant of God, and no more; Mary thought of herself as a servant of God, and no more; Paul thought of himself as a servant of Christ, and no more. What was in it for them all? Nothing but betrayals, abuse, suffering, death, and, oh yes, the joy of serving the Lord. (Homiletics Online)
Read Mark 10:45
Jesus thought of himself as a servant of God, and no more, and that defines His Cup. Our servanthood to God becomes evident and real through our servanthood to those in need, to those who are lonely, to those who are hungry, to the destitute, the emotionally wounded, the spiritually lost, and to the least of this world. These are the ones who need our servanthood the most, and they are also the ones who will never be able to repay our service to them. These are the ones who Jesus came for, and they are the ones who Jesus is sending us to. And the mere fact that we have extended the hand of Christ to a hurting world should bring us an incredibly joyful sense that the cup of Jesus Christ that has been held in our hand has just been filled to overflowing.
Jimmy Dean, country-music star, co-wrote a song about celebrating life's little blessings called “Drinking From My Saucer”. The key verse is this one:
So, Lord, help me not to gripe
'Bout the tough rows that I've hoed,
I'm drinking from my saucer
'Cause my cup has overflowed.
(From Homiletics Online)
But our cup can never overflow with Christ’s blessings until we empty our cup of all of our own agenda. James and John had their own plans for eternity – they wanted the glories and honors of earth to be given to them in heaven. They both would soon come to understand, as all of Jesus’ followers would, that earthly standards – both the good and the bad – must stay in earth, and that the rewards of heaven will always be in heaven. Paul’s words “Rejoice in our suffering” don’t mean that we should be happy when we suffer – just that while we are suffering in Jesus’ name, we can rejoice that the glory of heaven is getting a little closer with every step we take. We need to empty our cups of earthly desires, so that God can refill them with His!
The cup of Christ – is it too bitter to swallow for you, or is the taste perfect? For Paul, while he once saw it as a poison, would soon begin to swallow it in great gulps. Can’t each of us do the same?
Sunday, October 11, 2009
"Are Any in Need of Healing?"
Scripture text: James 5:13-16
My Course of Study class this week [seminary classes required by the United Methodist Church for Local Pastors] was focused on the Reformation, and in our studies, we considered the issue of righteousness which seemed to have such a great impact on Martin Luther’s life. One verse is Romans 1:17 and the other passage is related, and is from Romans 3:10-11 .
Luther was concerned with these words in the 1st chapter that seemed to imply that we can attain the status of righteousness, and that we need righteousness. But chapter 3 tells us that we need to be righteous but can never become righteous, and if that’s the case, how can we ever get to heaven?
The issue of indulgences - the paying of pentenances to shorten the time required in purgatory - bothered Luther considerably, and this very issue is what lead him to the Wittenburg University door where he posted his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which we know as the 95 Theses. We can’t buy righteousness, we can’t gain righteousness, but we need righteousness to come into the presence of God. See his dilemma?
Over the years, Luther came to the realization that while we can’t create our own righteousness, we can receive the righteousness of God as His holy and generous gift through faith, which, incidently, is also His gift to us. And in faithful righteousness, all things are possible. And this leads us to our reading for today.
Read James 5:13-16
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” In faithful righteousness, all things are possible! In faithful righteousness, our prayers will be powerful and effective – our petitions, our offerings, our needs can all be met in the righteousness that can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.
Is anyone in trouble? Is anyone sick? Is anyone struggling in their sinful ways or suffering in loneliness or loss? Is anyone being abused or abased by the sin of others?
Is anyone in need of healing?
James wants us to know that prayer offered in faith will bring health to the sick, relief to the troubled, forgiveness to the sinner, restoration to the lost and lonely, and renewed strength to the abused.
Every prayer, offered in faithful righteousness, will be powerful and will be effective.
Today, we offer each and every person here an opportunity to come forward in faith and God-given righteousness for anointing and prayers for whatever may be burdening you, and for whatever may be causing you pain. Come with a friend, or come by yourself. Come on behalf of another, or come for yourself. Come for some huge struggle, or come for an irritation. But regardless, come.
“Call the elders of the church to pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.” And in the context that the elders are the faithful and righteous children of God, that’s exactly what we will do today. I may be saying the words, I and one or two others may be the ones who lay hands on you, but all of the faithful who are here today will be joining in prayer for you and with you.
(We then held a healing service, with many congregants coming forward - some for their own issues, many for the burdens that haunt their friends and family)
My Course of Study class this week [seminary classes required by the United Methodist Church for Local Pastors] was focused on the Reformation, and in our studies, we considered the issue of righteousness which seemed to have such a great impact on Martin Luther’s life. One verse is Romans 1:17 and the other passage is related, and is from Romans 3:10-11 .
Luther was concerned with these words in the 1st chapter that seemed to imply that we can attain the status of righteousness, and that we need righteousness. But chapter 3 tells us that we need to be righteous but can never become righteous, and if that’s the case, how can we ever get to heaven?
The issue of indulgences - the paying of pentenances to shorten the time required in purgatory - bothered Luther considerably, and this very issue is what lead him to the Wittenburg University door where he posted his "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", which we know as the 95 Theses. We can’t buy righteousness, we can’t gain righteousness, but we need righteousness to come into the presence of God. See his dilemma?
Over the years, Luther came to the realization that while we can’t create our own righteousness, we can receive the righteousness of God as His holy and generous gift through faith, which, incidently, is also His gift to us. And in faithful righteousness, all things are possible. And this leads us to our reading for today.
Read James 5:13-16
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” In faithful righteousness, all things are possible! In faithful righteousness, our prayers will be powerful and effective – our petitions, our offerings, our needs can all be met in the righteousness that can only come through faith in Jesus Christ.
Is anyone in trouble? Is anyone sick? Is anyone struggling in their sinful ways or suffering in loneliness or loss? Is anyone being abused or abased by the sin of others?
Is anyone in need of healing?
James wants us to know that prayer offered in faith will bring health to the sick, relief to the troubled, forgiveness to the sinner, restoration to the lost and lonely, and renewed strength to the abused.
Every prayer, offered in faithful righteousness, will be powerful and will be effective.
Today, we offer each and every person here an opportunity to come forward in faith and God-given righteousness for anointing and prayers for whatever may be burdening you, and for whatever may be causing you pain. Come with a friend, or come by yourself. Come on behalf of another, or come for yourself. Come for some huge struggle, or come for an irritation. But regardless, come.
“Call the elders of the church to pray over you and anoint you with oil in the name of the Lord.” And in the context that the elders are the faithful and righteous children of God, that’s exactly what we will do today. I may be saying the words, I and one or two others may be the ones who lay hands on you, but all of the faithful who are here today will be joining in prayer for you and with you.
(We then held a healing service, with many congregants coming forward - some for their own issues, many for the burdens that haunt their friends and family)
Sunday, October 4, 2009
"Are Any Suffering"
Scripture Text: James 5:7-11
The issue of suffering seems to permeate the scriptures.
What could God’s plan possibly be that it so much pain is involved in following Him? Interesting question! We know that the Christ was constantly under attack – from the moment that He was baptized and went into the desert to be tormented by Satan, until He breathed His last on Calvary. His message was of healing and salvation, but those who opposed His Way only wanted to get Him out of the way, even by death if necessary. And yet, through it all, He remained focused on His task, and never gave up. And that mind-set must be ours, too – we can never give up, no matter what may come our way!
If we are to believe Romans 5:3, we discover that “we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;” It is through our suffering for Christ that we are able to persevere, that we might never give up.
Read James 5:7-9
James uses the word “patience”, but it amounts to the same thing.
Why is patience so important when we are discussing what God will do, and what He won’t do? Don’t we have Jesus’ word on this subject - “And I will do whatever you ask in my name”? (John 14:13-14) Why not just ask Him to take away the pain and suffering, and have done with it? But it doesn’t seem to work that way, does it?
Maybe the point that many biblical writers, including James, are making is that whatever we have asked for in His Name (and that’s an important distinction – in His Name!) will come, but not on our schedule!
- Psalm 27:13-14 tells us to be confident in the LORD, and to wait for Him to act.
- Isaiah 8:17 says that we will wait for the LORD, even though it may appear that He has turned His back on us!
- The books of Job and Habakkuk are about trusting and waiting until the time for the LORD to act arrives.
- Romans 8:23-24 encourage us to wait expectantly and eagerly for the LORD’s Day of Hope to come.
- And isn’t Revelation about waiting, even in great tribulation, for the LORD’s judgment?
But it isn’t human nature to be content in waiting! We want it our way, and we want it now! Can’t you just imagine Christians taking to the street chanting:
“What do we want?” “SALVATION!”
“When do we want it?” “NOW!”
That would make for an interesting demonstration of faith, wouldn’t it?
In one of Charlie Chaplin's great silent films, he plays a prisoner being transported to jail, but his boat has been shipwrecked. At the film's beginning, Chaplin is sitting on a beach looking at the clasp around his leg attaching him to a ball and chain. The whole film shows him relating to this ball and chain and attempting to escape its weight.
First, he thinks to humor it. “When its guard is down, I will dash away.”[, he thinks] So he makes little jokes to accomplish this purpose. He then walks the length of the chain and falls into the sand.
Scratching his head, wondering what to do next, he decides that he can outsmart it. He gets up and, nonchalantly, tries to walk away -- and again falls into the sand. Now, he becomes more thoughtful. His next strategy is one of reason. I know. I will talk to it! I will reason with it! But, as I’m sure you know, the result is no different, and down he goes again into the sand.
Now at the end of his patience, he pretends the ball and chain are not there. He kicks sand over it, and for a while it looks as if his problem has vanished. Thinking he has solved his dilemma, he strides to the end of the chain. And you know what happens.
At this point, understanding finally dawns. Like a light turning on in Chaplin's head, he realizes that he cannot solve the problem alone. If he is going to gain his freedom, it has to come from the outside. In the last scene, he is seen looking upward in hope of a rescue.
Even though we may think that we can reduce, or even eliminate the burdens of our lives, the truth is that, most of the time, we can’t. Some think that psychiatrists are the answer, but they’re not. Others turn to drugs to blur the pain, but it only causes more pain. Some will use distractions – work, family, busyness, perversions – in the hope that they will be able to overcome the effects of their suffering. The truth is, though, that these things merely keep our lives too busy to think about our burdens, but “burying them in the sand” fools no one except us!
Our only hope is to follow Charlie Chapman’s example, and turn our hearts and thoughts to heaven. We need to quit thinking that we can “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps”, and look to the Lord for our rescue. Sometime He relieves our pain, and sometimes He simply gives us the courage and wisdom and peace to endure it. Either way, our only Hope is in the Lord.
If I can take an analogy from my previous life in engineering, consider Newton’s First Law of Motion – “In the absence of a net external force, a body either is at rest or moves with constant velocity.” We may know this as “A body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
To put this in the context of our reading today, “whatever is going on will continue to happen until something that is able to change it is allowed to come into the picture.”
Read James 5:10-11
Suffering abounds! Israel suffered in both captivity and in freedom. Jesus suffered in ministry and in life, on behalf of each of us. The apostles suffered in the name of Jesus. Even Paul, the great persecutor of the church, eventually had to suffer for Christ. The history of the early church seemed to see very little except suffering. And the church, even today, continues to be oppressed, and it suffers nearly as much as the first Christians did.
And who did Jesus seem to spend the most time with? Those who both needed and wanted His touch. He spent more time among the beggars than with the rulers, with the sick rather than the healthy, the women and children than the conquerors, the prostitutes and lepers and tax collectors and all of the other sinners, than the holy people
And just as Jesus was with the people of the ages - Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua & Caleb, Job, Esther, Naomi & Ruth, The 12, His Church that has been persecuted throughout the centuries - He is also with His oppressed, suffering, lonely, set upon, and demeaned people of 2009, and He is the only one who can help us with our less than satisfactory life.
Are you suffering? Do you know of someone else who is struggling with a particular torment? Assure them that their Christ loves them, and is with them, and invite them to come with you next week for a time of healing during worship.
The issue of suffering seems to permeate the scriptures.
What could God’s plan possibly be that it so much pain is involved in following Him? Interesting question! We know that the Christ was constantly under attack – from the moment that He was baptized and went into the desert to be tormented by Satan, until He breathed His last on Calvary. His message was of healing and salvation, but those who opposed His Way only wanted to get Him out of the way, even by death if necessary. And yet, through it all, He remained focused on His task, and never gave up. And that mind-set must be ours, too – we can never give up, no matter what may come our way!
If we are to believe Romans 5:3, we discover that “we also rejoice in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;” It is through our suffering for Christ that we are able to persevere, that we might never give up.
Read James 5:7-9
James uses the word “patience”, but it amounts to the same thing.
Why is patience so important when we are discussing what God will do, and what He won’t do? Don’t we have Jesus’ word on this subject - “And I will do whatever you ask in my name”? (John 14:13-14) Why not just ask Him to take away the pain and suffering, and have done with it? But it doesn’t seem to work that way, does it?
Maybe the point that many biblical writers, including James, are making is that whatever we have asked for in His Name (and that’s an important distinction – in His Name!) will come, but not on our schedule!
- Psalm 27:13-14 tells us to be confident in the LORD, and to wait for Him to act.
- Isaiah 8:17 says that we will wait for the LORD, even though it may appear that He has turned His back on us!
- The books of Job and Habakkuk are about trusting and waiting until the time for the LORD to act arrives.
- Romans 8:23-24 encourage us to wait expectantly and eagerly for the LORD’s Day of Hope to come.
- And isn’t Revelation about waiting, even in great tribulation, for the LORD’s judgment?
But it isn’t human nature to be content in waiting! We want it our way, and we want it now! Can’t you just imagine Christians taking to the street chanting:
“What do we want?” “SALVATION!”
“When do we want it?” “NOW!”
That would make for an interesting demonstration of faith, wouldn’t it?
In one of Charlie Chaplin's great silent films, he plays a prisoner being transported to jail, but his boat has been shipwrecked. At the film's beginning, Chaplin is sitting on a beach looking at the clasp around his leg attaching him to a ball and chain. The whole film shows him relating to this ball and chain and attempting to escape its weight.
First, he thinks to humor it. “When its guard is down, I will dash away.”[, he thinks] So he makes little jokes to accomplish this purpose. He then walks the length of the chain and falls into the sand.
Scratching his head, wondering what to do next, he decides that he can outsmart it. He gets up and, nonchalantly, tries to walk away -- and again falls into the sand. Now, he becomes more thoughtful. His next strategy is one of reason. I know. I will talk to it! I will reason with it! But, as I’m sure you know, the result is no different, and down he goes again into the sand.
Now at the end of his patience, he pretends the ball and chain are not there. He kicks sand over it, and for a while it looks as if his problem has vanished. Thinking he has solved his dilemma, he strides to the end of the chain. And you know what happens.
At this point, understanding finally dawns. Like a light turning on in Chaplin's head, he realizes that he cannot solve the problem alone. If he is going to gain his freedom, it has to come from the outside. In the last scene, he is seen looking upward in hope of a rescue.
Even though we may think that we can reduce, or even eliminate the burdens of our lives, the truth is that, most of the time, we can’t. Some think that psychiatrists are the answer, but they’re not. Others turn to drugs to blur the pain, but it only causes more pain. Some will use distractions – work, family, busyness, perversions – in the hope that they will be able to overcome the effects of their suffering. The truth is, though, that these things merely keep our lives too busy to think about our burdens, but “burying them in the sand” fools no one except us!
Our only hope is to follow Charlie Chapman’s example, and turn our hearts and thoughts to heaven. We need to quit thinking that we can “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps”, and look to the Lord for our rescue. Sometime He relieves our pain, and sometimes He simply gives us the courage and wisdom and peace to endure it. Either way, our only Hope is in the Lord.
If I can take an analogy from my previous life in engineering, consider Newton’s First Law of Motion – “In the absence of a net external force, a body either is at rest or moves with constant velocity.” We may know this as “A body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
To put this in the context of our reading today, “whatever is going on will continue to happen until something that is able to change it is allowed to come into the picture.”
Read James 5:10-11
Suffering abounds! Israel suffered in both captivity and in freedom. Jesus suffered in ministry and in life, on behalf of each of us. The apostles suffered in the name of Jesus. Even Paul, the great persecutor of the church, eventually had to suffer for Christ. The history of the early church seemed to see very little except suffering. And the church, even today, continues to be oppressed, and it suffers nearly as much as the first Christians did.
And who did Jesus seem to spend the most time with? Those who both needed and wanted His touch. He spent more time among the beggars than with the rulers, with the sick rather than the healthy, the women and children than the conquerors, the prostitutes and lepers and tax collectors and all of the other sinners, than the holy people
And just as Jesus was with the people of the ages - Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua & Caleb, Job, Esther, Naomi & Ruth, The 12, His Church that has been persecuted throughout the centuries - He is also with His oppressed, suffering, lonely, set upon, and demeaned people of 2009, and He is the only one who can help us with our less than satisfactory life.
Are you suffering? Do you know of someone else who is struggling with a particular torment? Assure them that their Christ loves them, and is with them, and invite them to come with you next week for a time of healing during worship.
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