For What Are We Waiting?, Isaiah 2:1-4, Rev. 21-22:7

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It's All Going in the Fire

Texts are Isaiah 1:21-31, I Corinthians 3:10-15, I Peter 1:3-9. To listen, click here.

Blameless Heart, Isaiah 1:10-20, Philippians 1:1-11

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Get Your Praise On! Psalms 42-43

You might be scratching your head after that reading and be thinking, “That didn’t sound very Thanksgiving-like’. In fact, it sounded like the writer was the opposite of thankful. He was sad and depressed.” And you would be right. Let's face it, we don't always feel like being thankful. We know we should be thankful. We know we should always have an attitude of gratitude, but sometimes we just don't. We are sad and depressed, and often with good reason. You’ve recently lost a loved one, maybe a parent, or spouse, or child. and this is your first Thanksgiving without that person. Maybe your husband is deployed and won’t be around until after the entire holiday season. Maybe you’ve recently been diagnosed with a serious ailment. Maybe you are separated from your loved ones because of distance, or worse because of a family rift, or maybe you are dreading the baggage that will be brought in your home by folks who really don’t get along that well. Maybe you just lost a job. Maybe you are in the process of divorce. Maybe you are really feeling sad and depressed, but you came here tonight anyway. Maybe you here to represent your church, or because you belong to the host church and felt obligated. Maybe you were drug here by a spouse/parent. And you just aren’t feeling thankful. But you try to count your blessings anyway. I mean, after all, doesn’t the Scripture say, “In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning You?” So You give it your best shot… “I’m thankful for the flowers. I’m thankful for the trees. I’m thankful for the air. I’m thankful I can breathe…” But you know you don’t really mean it. Or you try again, because you really are aware that things could be worse. Lord, thank you that I’m not homeless. I’m thankful I have a house, even though it’s too small, and I can’t have people over. The roof leaks, I can’t afford my mortgage, etc.” And in trying to be thankful for what you have, you find aren’t really that thankful for your house. In fact, you fall right back into thinking of all the reasons you are not thankful. What do we do when we feel this way? Should we half-heartedly give thanks? Should we pretend? God knows our hearts anyway. I think this is when we need to get our praise on! Look at our text tonight. The psalmist has a deep empty place in his soul that he longs to be filled. The psalmist is depressed. And he has good reason to lament. He actually wants to be able to participate in his national annual Thanksgiving service, but he cannot. His enemies have caused him to be in exile. He cannot make it back to Jerusalem. He is far from all he loves. He is alone and feels abandoned. He longs for the presence of God, but feels that God is distant. And so he has this repeating chorus: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” He doesn’t want to go on feeling this way. He’s tired of it. And so the chorus continues: “Put your hope in God; for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” The psalmist just cannot muster up thanks. But he musters up praise. He’s gonna praise God anyway. He can praise because hoping in God is a sure hope. God always keeps God’s promises, and to remind oneself of that is in itself an act of praise. Though praise and thanksgiving are closely linked, they are two different things. We thank God for what God has done, is doing, or will do. But we praise God for who God is. Unlike thanks, praise is never dependent on how we feel, or where we are in life. Praise is not dependent on us at all. It’s not dependent on location or time. We can praise God whether we live in NC or Texas, or Japan, or Africa. We can praise God in the morning or in the middle of the night. We can praise God if we’re happy or if we are sad. Praise is stating eternal truths about God to God. You are simply stating facts about God to God that never change. Ex. God is Creator. God is holy. You are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus is alive! My sins are forgiven. The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy. You are the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the first, the last, the Eternal One. The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress... You get the picture. These things are not dependent on us. In fact, they have nothing to with us. Our psalmist is not the only one in Scripture who takes this approach. Take for example Job. Now Job has good reason to lament. He lost his family, his property, his health. No one wanted to be around him. He was in terrible, constant pain. He laments. He wants to die. He questions God about why these things are happening, and God is silent. And even though Job has reason to lament, if you read the whole book for yourself, you get tired of hearing it too! But all the while Job complains, the Lord calls Job “blameless.” God doesn’t criticize Job because he isn’t giving thanks. God says Job is blameless. And there towards the middle of the book, Job moves from complaining to praise. There in chapter 19, Job gets his praise on. Job doesn’t start thanking God that his kids died and he lost all his money. Job doesn’t start thanking God for his oozing sores. But Job praises. He says, “I know my Redeemer lives, and that He’s going to stand again on the earth on the last day. I know that even after my skin is destroyed, in my flesh, I shall see God.” This is magnificent praise. It’s eternal truth. It isn’t dependent upon Job at all, but it applies to him. Job says, “My Redeemer.” The psalmist says, “My Savior and MY God.” Another example is Jeremiah. Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet. His book of Lamentations is simply that—lament. Jeremiah laments because his country is a mess. The people have turned away from God. People are suffering. Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Babylonians, and the people are exiled. He feels abandoned and punished by God. But there in the very middle of this book, which is a well-crafted poem, there in the middle, Jeremiah says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” Jeremiah gets his praise on. Jeremiah doesn’t thank God for the triumph of Judah’s enemies. He doesn’t give thanks for destruction and mayhem. But Jeremiah praises. And Jeremiah too, is able to personalize it. He goes on to say, “O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul. You have redeemed my life.” Getting one’s praise on in the midst of difficult circumstances doesn’t just happen in the Old Testament. Paul and Silas sing praises in the night sitting shackled in a jail cell. And we too can get our praise on. But I need to warn you. Getting your praise on has consequences. You cannot continue to have a pity party and praise God at the same time. It doesn’t work. When we praise, we take our eyes off ourselves and all our reasons not to be thankful. Praise also allows us to see God. Praise brings us nearer to God. Though God never leaves us, praise reminds us of the closeness of God as well as of God’s majesty and power. God reveals Godself to us in praise. God revealed Godself to Job in a whirwind. God revealed Godself to Paul and Silas in an earthquake. God revealed Godself to Jeremiah and the psalmist as they remembered their past relationship to God and God’s faithfulness. And praise goes even further than that. Praise will inevitably lead to repentance--we will leave ourselves behind. It happened to Job. When he finally hears from God, even though God calls Job “blameless,” Job says, “I had heard about you before with my hears, but now my eyes have seen You; therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.” It happened to Jeremiah. Jeremiah ends Lamentations with a plea for God to intercede but in that Jeremiah confesses the sin of his people, and he does not exclude himself. He says, “Woe to us, for we have sinned.” He returns again to praise and asks for mercy. It will happen to us too as we continue in praise. Because in the face of a magnificent God, who are we? Nothing! What are our petty little circumstances and hurts in the face of eternal Glory and Greatness? Like Isaiah who witnessed the angels’ praise, we will be undone. We will see ourselves in contrast to the Holy, Holy, Holy One. We will confess our sin and repent. But praise has another consequence as well. Levi Gangi wrote, “Worship is the only things that gets us out of ourselves; praise is the only thing as powerful as suffering. Praise helps to restore our joy. Once you start to get your praise on, you might find it hard to stop! Praise allows us to rebuke ourselves: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, MY Savior, and MY God.” It’s not about being happy versus being sad. It’s about the unshakable joy even in the midst of sorrow. And this is how we can be obedient to the Scripture that commands us to give thanks in everything. We thank God not for what happens to us, necessarily, but what God is doing through what is happening to us, until we eventually get to the place where we will even be able to thank God for painful things, the things we don’t think are so good. Brothers and sisters, whether or not you are feeling thankful, get your praise on! And as your joy is restored, who knows, you might even begin to have some REAL gratitude and thanks.

Faithful to the End, Acts 28:11-31

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God's Providence and Protection, Acts 27:39-28:10

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Almost Persuaded, Acts 25:13-26:32

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Don't Be a Stumbling Block, Mark 9:38-50

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When Will Judgment Come?, Acts 25:1-12

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What a Waste!, Acts 24

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Unlikely Rescuers, Acts 23:12-35

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Think First, Acts 22:22-23:11

We’ve all done it, haven’t we? We’ve all said something we wish we could’ve taken back. We’ve all made stupid choices in haste without thinking through the consequences. We’ve all wanted to take back words and actions. Much pain and confusion could be avoided if only we would think first. The same is true of our characters in today’s Scripture passage. We see folks speaking and acting rashly. First is Lysias the tribune. Lysias had already presumed Paul was another criminal. He has since learned that Paul is a Jew, not an Ethiopian. He has allowed Paul to speak, and Paul shared his testimony. But Paul has been interrupted by the crowd again calling for Paul’s death. Once again, Paul is taken away. Lysias is determined to get to the truth by having it flogged out of Paul. Lysias is acting without thinking. He doesn’t know this man at all. Paul is spared the flogging by asking his would be punisher if it is legal for him to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen. The centurion goes to Lysias and tells him Paul is a Roman citizen. It would have been illegal for Paul to be physically harmed in any way as a prisoner until proven guilty, in fact he shouldn’t even have been bound! This could have cost both men their jobs and resulted in their own beatings and imprisonments. Not only is Paul a Roman citizen, he is one by birth, whereas Lysias paid for his citizenship status--all the more reason that Paul should have been protected and given rights under due process as a Roman citizen. Lysias and his henchmen are now fearful, for Paul has the right to press charges against them. Paul does not, but Paul does demand justice. All this could have been avoided if Lysias had thought first and if Lysias had followed proper protocol. His fear of a riot led him to treat Paul as if Paul were guilty. We learn proper ways of doing things for a reason. How often have shortcuts only ended up making things worse? How many times have you had to backpedal when doing things the right way the first time, would have saved a lot of trouble? More importantly, how can we act rightly if we do not know the truth? Lysias should have asked Paul directly who he was and what was going on. He assumed before he knew. We cannot afford to assume truth. We must seek it out and act on truth, not on assumptions. The next guilty party for not thinking before acting is Paul himself! Lysias brings in the Jewish leaders so that he can hear why they are demanding Paul’s death. As Paul once again starts to defend himself, Ananias, the high priest, orders his lackeys to hit Paul on the mouth. Paul says to him, “God will strike you, you white-washed wall!” A normal reaction for sure, but not the smartest one! But those near him point out that he has slandered the high priest. Though Paul’s trial parallels the Maundy Thursday/Good Friday trials of Jesus, Paul is not Jesus. He is not silent, and he speaks foolishly. Paul is not perfect. He is a sinner just like us. Paul backpedals and says he didn’t know that Ananias was the high priest. Whether Paul really knew or not is to be debated. But Paul was wise enough to know that name calling, even though true, wasn’t going to help his case, and as Paul himself quotes, this name-calling is contrary to God’s word. In quoting the text, Paul calls himself to repentance. Just because something may be true doesn’t make it necessary if it causes harm. We too lapse easily into name calling when we are treated unjustly. We even lapse into name calling when someone does something we don’t like. How guilty are we of resorting to name calling over politics and religion or over someone’s opinions? And social media hasn’t helped us much. I think people are much nastier to each other through electronic communication then they would ever be to someone’s face. Name-calling is never helpful. A former boss of mine passed along this advice—when you have something to say, check first: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If it’s not true, it’s not worth repeating—it’s gossip. If it isn’t kind, then make sure it is necessary. Are we as quick to repent over our hasty words, hasty actions, and reactions as Paul was? Paul reminded himself, or was reminded by the Holy Spirit, what the law said about people in authority. We might remember that Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek. Or we might call to mind that we also are instructed to submit to those in authority. Paul is able to calm himself down, though he has been hit unjustly, and analyze the situation. In taking those moments, he is able to deflect the attention from himself and expose his accusers. Paul says plainly that he is on trial because he preaches the resurrection. This causes infighting between the Pharisees, who believe in resurrection, and the Sadducees, who do not, as some Pharisee scribes wanted to exonerate Paul. The tribune removes Paul from the room because once again, Paul’s accusers lapse into mob mentality. Paul truthfully states in simple terms that he is on trial for preaching THE resurrection. He is being persecuted for preaching the resurrection of Jesus. His persecution had nothing to do with breaking Jewish laws or defiling the Temple, but for proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. His Pharisee brothers concede that Paul is not guilty of any mortal crime. He is at most deluded and perhaps, even speaks by divine inspiration. Most importantly, Paul is vindicated by the Lord, who appears standing by him, telling him to be of good cheer, for Paul must also bear witness in Rome, where Paul has been longing to go. Even when we are treated unjustly, we need to think first. It is better that we are treated unjustly and find our vindication in Christ as Paul does when Jesus validates Paul’s testimony, then to give our accusers further reason to find fault with us. When we slow down and analyze the situation before we speak or act rashly, we are far less likely to end up with our foot in our mouths or lying in bed awake at night thinking of what we should have said or done instead. When we slow down, we are more likely to be led by the Spirit then by our flight or fight reaction. We can have the confidence that Scripture tells us that we don’t have to worry about what we are going to say, but the Spirit will put words in our mouth. Letting the Spirit speak through us requires that we submit our automatic responses to God and pause. When we stop being defensive, we will find that we can truly testify as Paul did.

Dangerous Assumptions, Acts 21:17-39, Matthew 10:16-22

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History and Heritage, Ephesians 1

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Is This God's Will?, Acts 21:1-16

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A Fond Farewell, Acts 20:13-38

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The Long-Winded Preacher, Acts 20:1-12

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Mob Mentality, Acts 19:21-41

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Our Great God, Romans 8, Isaiah 6:1-8

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Pentecost "Pro Ecclesia" Service

The following are my remarks from the ecumenical Pentecost "Pro Ecclesia" Service at First Pres., Morehead. I referenced article 8 of the confession, which I have reprinted below. The entire confession can be found in the archives in June 2011. VIII. Obedience of the Church "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 17:6) In the Baptismal Covenant, church members promise to: renounce and resist evil in this world, confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, be faithful to Christ's universal Church, be loyal to Christ in a particular church (denomination or communion), and participate actively in a congregation. (Most churches have baptismal vows that are similar to the above.) We believe that faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, clergy and laity, are found in joyful obedience to Christ, in the Holy Spirit's power, through the church's Baptismal Covenant. A disciple's relationship with Jesus Christ is lived out in a covenantal relationship in the Body of Christ, the church. We reject the assumption that Christian discipleship is basically disconnected from the church, practically devoid of discipline, and fundamentally shaped by individual preferences. TEXT: Heb. 10:23-26. There was an incident that occurred last year or the year before that got a lot of press and attention. A woman was denied Communion at her mother’s funeral. You may have heard about it, and hearing about it now may cause different reactions among you depending on whether or not you come from a tradition that celebrates and open or closed table. This Church that this woman’s mother belonged to has very clear Communion guidelines. And the daughter was not ignorant of these guidelines. Still, it got a lot of attention and debate. After all, no one likes being excluded. There was a time when practices such as Excommunication were a big deal. Excommunication was a horrible word, a horrific consequence. No one wanted to be excommunicated. One who was in the Church did not want to be put out of it. Paul talks in his letters about appropriate times to remove someone from the church. If someone will not heed church discipline and continues to live in rebellion that poisons the Church, then there comes a time to remove such a person from the Church so that the person might come to a point of repentance before God and restoration to the Church. Yet there is a phenomenon today whereby people who claim to be believers choose for themselves not to be part of the church. It is a phenomenon which I call “self-excommunication”. Many people who claim to be followers of Jesus are choosing to put themselves outside of the Church by not participating in the life of the Body. They choose not to participate in the Sacraments and in Christian fellowship. In fact, a few months ago there was a Newsweek cover article in which the author was one of those who proposed we not only do away with church and religion, but even most of the New Testament, picking only the words of Jesus. He claims that we can follow Jesus apart from the Church. We know the “Me and Jesus” concept has been around for many years. The author of the Newsweek article uses Thomas Jefferson as an example. We know this idea gained much popularity in the late 1960’s with the early Jesus movement. But it is wrong thinking. Discipleship of Jesus apart from the Church really isn’t an option given to us in Scripture. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer in John 17, prays that we would be one as He and the Father are one, and He goes on to ask that we would be in them (that is, united with the Father and Son, which we are through the Holy Spirit). Paul says that we are members of one body. We can’t say to the other members that we don’t need them and they don’t need us. A little toe cannot be a whole body, and a body without a leg is disabled. In our baptism, we are made part of the church, whether we like it or not! Jesus created a Body. He died to redeem His Bride, not an individual, but the Church. And nowhere else but in the US do we think of ourselves so individualistically. Furthermore, the letter of I John says this: READ I John 2:9-11, 4:20-21. Now granted, we know that there were no church buildings for the first 400 years of Christianity, but don’t think believers weren’t organized. They met together in homes and other places. They had networks and knew how to find one another. They shared common teaching through letters and teaching elders, who went from church to church. And a sign of participation in, identification with, and commitment to the Church was corporate worship. We need to worship together. Yes, we can worship Jesus alone in the woods, but it is not the same as corporate worship. And the small groups of believers in a geographical area called themselves a church not many churches, but the Church. To say, “I don’t need Church” is dangerous. Yes, we can be unhappy and dissatisfied with the corruption and impurity we see in the Church, but it isn’t okay to bail on her. If we want the Church to change, then we have to be involved. In his song “The Church” Derek Webb sings from the perspective of Jesus. He uses the sacramental images—hearing the sound of the water, tasting the flesh and blood, and in these things, “You will know that you are not alone. [For] I haven’t come for only you, but My people to pursue. You cannot care for Me with no regard for Her; if you love Me, you will love the Church.”

The True Source of Power, Acts 19:11-20

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Build on the Solid Rock, Matthew 7:24-29

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Strong Words, Matthew 7:13-23

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Golden Rule, Matt. 7:12

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God's Good Gifts, Matt. 7:7-11, James 1:5-8, 17-18

Getting Your Pearls Trampled, Matthew 7:6, I Cor. 5:9-11

It’s a funny image--pigs trampling pearls, or throwing what is sacred to dogs. The word translated “holy” is very close to the Greek word for earrings, so some scholars think it the parable reads, “Don’t give your earrings to dogs.” I don’t know how many of you ladies have ever worn earrings and had a puppy, but I know more than one woman who has had an earring chewed off by a puppy. It’s not good for either party. But what does Jesus mean by these images?
Remember that last week we were talking about Jesus’s prohibition against judging people. We aren’t to judge another based on externals, nor do we want to be judged that way. We acknowledged that we have been guilty of judging others, and I bet we have all also been judged in the same way. Being on the receiving end of such judgments is like having your pearls trampled on. Remember these aren’t judgments that hold us accountable for our sinful behaviors, but that attack who we are or what we value. It’s when that which is precious to us gets stomped on, ridiculed, and criticized. Such judgments result in our not being able to trust others.
We all have secrets. We don’t tell everyone everything. Some things we should tell, but even those things need to be to people we can trust. We share precious things with our families, our spouses, and our closest friends that we don’t share with anyone else. In Celebrate Recovery, we have 8 principles based on the beatitudes, which also read as an acrostic, spelling the word RECOVERY, which go along with the twelve steps. Principle 4 the “O” says, “Openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust.” This goes with steps four and five, the searching and fearless moral inventory, and admitting our faults to ourselves to God, and to another person. In CR we take time learning what makes a good sponsor or accountability partner and praying God will show us that right person. We need accountability, but we don’t have to share our darkest secrets with the whole world. Neither do we have to share our most precious things with the whole world.
But Jesus isn’t talking about the things we think are our pearls, He’s talking about the things that are truly sacred and holy, and I do hope some of those overlap. The things of God are precious and holy. Our Muslim friends use this concept for not translating the Koran. It is profaned if it isn’t in the original Arabic. Some Christian denominations use this concept for not having any images or instruments in worship. But these interpretations are still not what Jesus is talking about. The gospel, our calling, and our witness are holy. There are people who hate the gospel, who hate truth. They scorn it and mock it. They do not want to be corrected. They do not have ears to hear. Some people just don’t care about the things of God and mock them. Jesus will later tell His disciples as He sends them out in pairs to stay in a town and a house as long as they are welcome, but if the people of the town refuse to listen then to shake the dust off their feet against that place. We saw Paul do this in the Book of Acts. Jesus Himself remained silent during His own trials before Caiaphas and Herod.
Now Jesus had already called “blessed” at the beginning of His sermon those who were persecuted for righteousness sake. He had already told us to be salt and light in the world. He has already told us to spread the good news at the risk of even losing our lives. But there is a time to speak and time to be silent. If your conversation is leading towards an argument, you know for sure that it is time to back off. In his course on Fear Free Evangelism, Chris Walker talks about being able to discern how much of the gospel to share with a person and when it is appropriate to continue a spiritual conversation and when you need to wait. This discernment comes through prayer, which is what Jesus will talk about next.
Jesus is also talking about our correcting someone else. He has just given us the beam/speck illustration. But sometimes when we confront even a brother or sister, they do not have ears to hear. Have you ever tried to reason with someone who was drunk or on drugs? You probably didn’t get very far. But it’s not just the addict who can be hard-hearted. If someone isn’t interested in changing, you are wasting your time. This doesn’t mean you say nothing. But you don’t keep going after a person who is determined to continue living in disobedience to God. Jesus calls such people “dogs and pigs,” and although these animals can be cute, it’s an insult to be called one! Paul describes the process of leaving such people to their own devices as “giving a person over to Satan” with the hopes that they will come to a place of repentance. This needs to happen especially when the behavior of someone is harming the church. The person needs to be removed from having influence and impact on the body. As painful as this can be, many people need to hit that rock bottom place before they even want to hear about the things of God and return to God. This can be true for a believer as well as a not yet believer. There are times when we need to separate ourselves from both, but that doesn’t mean we should stop praying for them.
Another part to Jesus’s teaching is setting healthy boundaries because we are to be holy. There are unhealthy relationships that we need to end. There is company that we should not keep, and there are activities and entertainments, which profane the sacred. If you are trying to overcome an addiction, you shouldn’t be hanging out with people who are drinking and using drugs. If you are having problems in your marriage, you shouldn’t be carpooling alone with your attractive co-worker. If we are going to preserve that which is holy, we need to be holy ourselves. Scripture says that “Bad company corrupts good character.” Paul gives us a list in I Corinthians 5:9-11 of the types of people with whom we should avoid associating. READ Notice that Paul again is very clear that he is not talking about worldly people, although if you are trying to recover from a hurt, habit, or hang-up, you want positive friends, Christian or non-Christian that will support you and not drag you down, but Paul is talking about those who claim to be believers.
It’s not always hard to keep your pearls from getting trampled by your fellow believers; though we’ve probably all been mauled a time or two. It’s a little harder when it comes to our relationship with the world. In all situations we need to ask God for discernment. As someone once said, “We are not to be judgmental, but neither are we to be judgment-less.” We need to know when to speak and when to be silent. And we need to always act in love. Our goal is always to help people come closer to Christ, not to drive them away, even though it seems that some folks need to take a step backwards in order for them to move forward. Other times it means we need to step back so someone can move forward. Prayer is our best offense for keeping our pearls from being trampled and our earrings from being eaten.

The Most Quoted Scripture Verse, Matt. 7:1-5

Adulterous Idolatry, Isaiah 57:11-21

Ash Wed. sermon

Shine the Light, Follow the Light, Live the Light, Shine the Light!

Transfuration of the Lord Sunday, 2012. Scriptures: Mark 9:1-10, Acts 19:8-10, II Cor. 4:1-6

Investing in Others, II Kings 5:1-19, Acts 18:24-28

Haircuts and Promises, Numbers 6:1-21, Acts 18:18-23

Don't Be Silent, Acts 18:1-17, I Kings 19:1-18

To the Unknown God, Acts 17:16-34

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Be a Good Beroean, Acts 17:10-15

The Baptism of Jesus, Mark 1:1-11, Acts 19:1-7