Sermon for November 6th (Obey)

I’d like to read for you some lyrics from a contemporary Christian musician named Josh Wilson.

Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

Genesis 22:1-2, Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” Abraham replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

What would that have felt like for Abraham to be asked to obey such a command?

Mark 10:32-34, “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."

What would it have felt like for Jesus to go to Jerusalem knowing that it was necessary for him to die there—to die there!— for the sake of the world?

“Marxist guerrillas and the Colombian government were terrorizing the farming village Dora taught in. “Christians are dangerous,” the guerrillas repeatedly said. “Christians cannot lie. If the army asks them about us, they will tell the truth!” On Monday morning, Nov. 17th, 2008, Dora began her day like any other school day—praying with the students. During the day, a neighbor came to see the young teacher, “I’m sorry Dora,” he told her, “but the guerrillas will kill your brother tomorrow.” Later in the day, the neighbor returned. “I am so sorry,” he told her, “I have made a mistake. It is not your brother who will be killed . . . but it is you and your husband. You can take your family and run,” he said, “You can leave this village right now.” Dora reassured the guerrilla messenger, “You do not have to worry,” she said. This is better. My brother was not ready to meet the Lord. But my husband and I are.”

What would it have felt like for Dora to know that she would be killed the next day?

Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Genesis 22:3, 4-6, “Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.” “The fire and the wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.”

Abraham obeyed what could only be considered a gruesome command from God. He took his son, the son Abraham had waited for for one-hundred years. Without Isaac, how would God keep the promise God had made? He took his son, his only son, the son he loved—Isaac. The son promised to him. That’s the way the text in Hebrew reads to make it clear that this wasn’t a simple choice. Why did he say, “WE will worship and then WE will come back to you?” According to Hebrews, it was because Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead. In other words, someone was really going to have to die! We know the ending to this story, Abraham did not, but he had faith in the power of God. Faith enough to obey in the face of utter terror. How might we learn to have that same faith?

Mark 14:32-36, “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, “he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. Abba. Father. He said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Jesus obeyed. He was overwhelmed to the point of death. He prayed that he wouldn’t have to go through with it. That’s the way the text reads to make it clear that this wasn’t a simple choice either. Why? Because someone would have to die and Jesus knew it was going to be Him who was to do the dying. But he also knew the promise. He had given it to his disciples earlier, “Three days later the Son of Man will rise.” He is referring to himself here. He knows the promise; he has faith in the power of God his Father. And that faith, despite the overwhelming sorrow, is enough to obey. How might we learn to have that same faith?

The next morning they began the day like any other. Around 10 am two armed guerrillas, ushered the couple to the back of the schoolhouse to say goodbye to their family. The 12-year old, Marcella cried as the armed men walked her parents across a field to a river just 300 yards away from the school. Marcella could not see her parents, but she remembers hearing the two shots as her parents were executed. “If I met the men who did this I would forgive them,” Marcella said months are her parents had died. I know this would be hard, but I know God forgives them. So I have to as well.”


Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

When your faith is put to the test. When you see the ending set before you and it scares the stuffing out of you, how do you find the faith to obey? To believe that God has the power to bring a better ending out of the darkness? When you face your death or the death of a loved one? When you face the anger or belittlement of your friends and family? When you face conflict? Or longsuffering? How do you find the strength to follow God’s call and obey?

The faith to obey does not simply mean doing something mindlessly because you are told to do it, at least not in these two stories. It means moving forward, even in the face of terror, because you have a promise firmly in hand. Three stories. We love one story, but hate the other two. I'd always figured that the difference between them was that Jesus knew that he was going to be raised from the dead while Abraham, or even Dora, couldn’t be sure. We say, we couldn't ever be expected to obey like Jesus. But Hebrews says that Abraham could only do it because he believed that God could raise the dead. I believe that. I fact, there is no way that Jesus could have made it through the garden –there is no way that Abraham could have made it up that mountain—unless they believed that there was more to the story than simply obeying a command. There is no way for you to obey God's command unless you trust in a promise from God. That you believe God can bring a better ending.

Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see


How can you find the faith to obey? It’s a lot more than simple, “following the commandments” or “doing what you are told”. A lot of people do some pretty awful things all in the name of “obeying”. We so often read the Bible like an instruction book, but it's much more than that. You’ve got to know your promises, you’ve got to. You’ve gotta go home, get out your Bible, and start highlighting the promises God has given to you. Because if you don’t have a promise from God, if you don’t know what he has to say about it, you won’t ever find the faith to obey him.

You can’t obey without a promise. You can’t obey without being able to trust God to create a dawn out of your darkest hour. When God commands you to do anything, if you just think it’s a hoop to jump through in order to look “righteous” you will balk every time. Without a promise, obeying just seems like too much! What do you mean that I have to wait until I’m married? What do you mean that I have to stay with my husband through better or worse? You want me to give HOW MUCH to church? Do I HAVE to talk about faith with others? Without a promise, faith has nothing to hold onto. We just keep making up excuses saying: "It's too hard!" It's too hard to obey.

How can you find the faith to obey? Hold onto your promises and never let them go. When you think you just can’t wait for your marriage night, remember, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” When you marriage is struggling? “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (And here comes the promise) The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. “ You can only stay and obey if you believe there is a God who is powerful enough to heal your heart and make it better. How can you give? “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” Says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” How can you obey and speak? "For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life."

Having the faith to obey means to have the faith that God can take any commandment, any calling and any situation and, according to his promise, create something new, something good and something wonderful.

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning.

Sermon for October 24th (Promise)

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. “ What is faith? Being sure of hope. Being certain of the invisible. The writer of the book of Hebrews lays these words: sure/hope/certain/not seen right up next to each other and tells us: that’s what faith is! But it’s a description, not a command.

What do I mean? Just this, that for someone new to faith, Hebrews 11:1 sounds pretty difficult to attain. If you take this description of faith as a command, as a hoop to jump through in order to be saved, for instance, you might be very hard pressed to be sure that you are “sure” of hope. That you are certain that you are “certain” of the invisible. Every time that you look at your so called “faith”, you might notice that you are not quite sure and certain if it is real faith or not.

Let me explain this another way. When I was in junior high and high school, I was quite interested in girls. Actually, let’s back that up to elementary school. By the time I was ten, I really, really wanted a girlfriend and it only got worse as I got older. But the problem was that the more I wanted a girlfriend, the harder it became to find one! And what did my dad tell me about my dilemma? What were his great words of wisdom? “When you stop looking, you will find her.” So I tried to stop looking and that didn’t work either? If I saw a girl I wanted to date, I would tell myself, “Ok, if I just don’t care for about the next ten minutes she’ll be mine!” Didn’t work. I was told that, “The right one will come along when the time is right.” I waited all day, staring at the clock and it seemed like the time was never right no matter when I asked!”

But then, when I fell in love with Kristy, my wife, and she fell in love with me, the only way I could explain it would be by saying, “When I stopped looking, I found her.” “The right one came at the right time. “ Now I realize what those saying are: they are descriptions of something that is indescribable. Back in school, I thought they were commands or advice, but they weren’t. It’s about letting go of the control, or maybe realizing that there was nothing to control in the first place. They are not commands or directions on how to find love. They are more like a promise that real love is out there and there is nothing you can do to speed it along. Love is a lot like faith in that way.

If someone comes to you and says, “How do I get faith?” or “What is faith?” I would encourage you NOT to tell them Hebrews 11:1. Not that it’s not right, it is right, but it is horribly frustrating to hear for a new believer. How do you get faith? “WELL, faith is simply being sure of what you hope for . . . ah, certain of what you don’t see . . . get it?” Telling someone to : “just believe” doesn’t make sense. Believing something is a lot like falling in love. You can’t make it happen. But I once heard a pastor tell a story about a woman who was looking for faith. And when she asked him how to get it he said, “Just stick around. Come again.” And when she did come back. . . are you seeing it yet . . . when she came again . . . well why would she ever come again, if she wasn’t starting to hope for something, something she couldn’t quite see yet. That may not be a solid rock of faith (yet) but that’s a mustard seed if I’ve ever seen one.

Do you have faith? The kind that’s SURE of everything you hope for? Certain of things you can’t see? Today, the story we are going to study deals with two heroes of the faith that often didn’t act very faithful: Abraham and Sarah. But in order to understand this story, you need a little background information. “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. ‘I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.” God made Abram a promise: He was going to become a great man with a ton of kids—enough to make a great nation! God made Abram a promise and, according to Hebrews, “By faith he obeyed and went.”

So what was the first thing that Abram, our faith hero, did on his journey? “Now there was a great famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to live for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” Wow! What a “hero” of the faith! To make a long story short, Pharaoh was going to make Sarai his wife until God inflicted him with serious diseases until he gave her back to Abram. But why did faithful Abram worry he was going to die? God had made him a promise to be a great nation! Tough to do that when you are dead! But when God makes a promise, God keeps it. God delivered Abram from his mess.

A few chapters later, God made Abram another promise, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and your very great reward.” Abram said, “What can you give me because I remain childless?” God said, “Look towards the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them—so shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, the text says, and God credited it to him as righteousness. Wow! Abram believed. Now that IS faith. But they got tired of waiting. Ten years later, Sarai had Abram sleep with her servant girl so that she could at least have a child running around. His name was Ishmael. Abram believed for sure, but I guess he was also hedging his bets . . . just in case.

Let’s take a time out for a second. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” That’s a great description of faith, but tough to achieve, isn’t it? Are you always sure? Are you always certain? Or do you doubt? Does your faith get challenged? Do you get tired of not knowing enough? Do you get fed up with suffering and heartache? Is ten years of waiting too long? Well guess what: that’s faith too. It’s certainly the faith of Abraham and Sarah. Because our faith is based not on what we can do and on the description of what faith really is, our faith is held together by something that comes from outside of us. Faith needs a promise to hold onto and that promise comes from God.

In our reading for today, Abram is now 99 years old. I don’t know if God had been talking to Abram throughout the 14 years after Ishmeal (the son of the servant girl) was born, but you’ve gotta wonder. I wonder how Abram felt? “I screwed up. I lost my faith. God hates me. There goes my dream. Shouldn’t of done it.” How did Sarai feel? “I messed up. Should’ve waited. Shouldn’t have done it.” And then God speaks. “Abram.” “Oh, God . . . about Ishmael . . .” “Abram. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. As for your wife, I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her.” And Abram thinks. Uh-oh. God’s got a really sick sense of humor. He’s not just mad at me, he’s being sarcastic. The newly named Abraham laughs and says, “Well, how bout we just compromise and you bless Ishmael! Works for me!” God says, “Yes. I’ll do that. AND I’ll raise you another son. Sarai is going to have another child. You’ll name him Isaac. See you then!”

Abraham laughed when God told him his promise. Sarah laughed too when she heard the same thing. If that’s faith . . . well, maybe then there’s hope for you and me! Hebrews writes, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Abraham trusted God’s promise, in God’s power, in God’s ability to do the impossible! He didn’t understand how. He didn’t understand why. He was leaving it in God’s hands because, honestly, what else could he do! Maybe that’s what faith is: waiting around for the right time, letting go of the control, just sticking around and coming back to see what God’s going to do.

You’ve each been given a promise, more than one in fact. Things that sound too good to believe mostly. Things like: “Yours sins are forgiven.” You been given a promise. Things that you don’t understand, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” You’ve been given so many promises. Things that might look darn right incorrect at this juncture of your life, “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly!” We feel our guilt and wonder if God could possibly forgive us. We see death and can’t imagine anything beyond that. We look at cancer and infertility and divorce and bitterness and can’t bring ourselves to have faith in anything good. But that’s what faith looks like sometimes. It doesn’t always make sense, or feel good, or stand strong. I don’t want you to put faith in your own faith. For sinners like you and me, that can be very dangerous.

You’ve got to put your faith in the promise of someone greater that you. A God who always keeps his promises, whether to Noah, or Abraham, or you. Maybe that will make sense to you someday, but if not just keep coming, stop striving for faith and let go of your control, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see.” God promises you that he will never leave you or forsake you. That nothing can separate you from His love. If you’re not quite “sure” or “certain” of that yet—just stick around and put your trust in God’s promises—in his power. Not in your powers of faith, but in God’s promise. Amen.