The first time I went to Disney World I was 35 years old. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to go because I’m not an amusement park fan. I don’t enjoy riding roller coasters because I tend to get sick, but my sister told me Disney isn’t like that & there are lots of things to do other than ride roller coaster, besides, she said, my niece & nephew really wanted me to go. So I finally agreed, but honestly, was pretty skeptical about the whole trip. Needless to say, my attitude that first night wasn’t the best & we were standing along the street in the Magic Kingdom watching the Electric Light Parade & I was just leaning against a light pole probably looking bored & uninterested when a float came by with Chip & Dale dancing & waving on the top. Do you remember Chip & Dale? They were cartoon chipmunks who had a show that was popular back in the 1990’s called Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers. I loved the show & watched it with my nephew, anyway, I looked up at Chip (or Dale, I couldn’t tell you which one it was) & noticed that he was looking right at me. I know that he was looking right at me because he stood exactly like I was, & then he shook his head & waved his finger & then started to dance & play on the top of the float.
I was being called out by a chipmunk for having a bad attitude.
A chipmunk was telling me I need to lighten up & have some fun.
I had to laugh & you know, the entire rest of the week I did lighten up & laugh & play & I become a child again & I had a great time.
It took a chipmunk in a Disney World parade to teach me one of the important truths of God – sometimes we need to play. God created us to recreate, to play & laugh & dance & to enjoy life. Too many times we think that faith & the church always needs to be serious & somber, & while the truth is there are always serious & deep spiritual issues we deal with–we can never lose sight of the fact that part of what God created us for was to play. Recreation is part of creation, it is a part of the created order – that’s what we heard in Psalm 104. If we look at this entire psalm we see outlined here the story of creation. In verse 5 we hear that the earth was created, in verse 11 the beasts of the field, verse 12 the birds of the air, verse 14, the grass which grows for food, verse 19 the moon which marks off the seasons & the sun that knows when to rise & set. This is the story of creation & the created order. It’s the story of all those things that God created & saw & then said, yes, this is good.
Now what’s important for us to see here is that as part of the created order, one of the building blocks of creation is play. Look at Psalm 104:25-26.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number— living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
Did you hear those last few words? God created the leviathan (a sea creature) to frolic in the sea. Frolicking, which means merriment & playing, is part of creation. God made something just to frolic in the sea, so we know that play & recreation is part of God’s plan; it is part of the created order. This isn’t the only place we see this. If we look at Ecclesiastes 3 we see that there is a balance & rhythm that is needed in life & in faith. There is a time for everything & we need to keep everything in balance & it says here that there is a time to laugh & a time to dance.
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.
Just as there is a time to work so is there a time to play. Recreation is a part of the created order, in fact I think recreation or play helps us get in touch with the fullness of life that God desires for us. In 2 Cor. 5:17 the apostle Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old ha passed away; see everything has become new! I’m not sure we can become new or be recreated in Christ until we learn how to play – after all it was Jesus who said that in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven we have to become like children. It’s not that we become childish & self centered, we are to become child like & part of what it means for us to be child-like might be to learn once again the joy be being able to play.
It’s sad to think that as adults we need to learn how to play again, but somewhere along the line, our lives have gotten too full & too serious & too stressful, & so as we need to figure out how to refocus & reorient ourselves enough so that regular times of recreation are part of the rhythm & routine of our lives. For many of us, the ability to lighten up & play may require us to let go of the expectations that others place on us or that we place on ourselves. Again, if we go back to the story of Jesus & the children we see that as a religious leader, the disciples had certain expectations of what Jesus should do & how he should act. Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
The disciples’ expectation was that Jesus would not associate with children – it was beneath him & it was beneath his position as a rabbi & a teacher. As a religious leader Jesus faced many expectations & one of them was that he should only associate with certain kinds of people & that did not include children, or lepers, or prostitutes or tax collectors. But these were the people Jesus did spend time with & not only did he hang out with them, he had fun with them, he ate & drank with them, he went to dinner parties at their homes & provided the best wine at their weddings & when people looked at what Jesus was doing, they thought he was having too much fun & they criticized him for it.
In Matthew 9 Jesus is attending a party at the home of Matthew the tax collector, & the Pharisees, these men who spent their entire lives being serious & following all the rules, came to Jesus disciples & said, why does your teacher eat & drink with sinners? Why is he not fasting? Why is he having so much fun? In their minds true religious leaders didn’t have fun, but Jesus was having fun because he understood that there was a time for everything. There was a time to be serious & Jesus was serious, & there was going to be a time to sacrifice & Jesus take up a cross & there was going to be a time when Jesus would challenged people to step up in their commitment to God, but he also knew there was a time to laugh & a time to play. Jesus knew the teaching of the OT & he knew that while there was a time to mourn there was also a time to dance – so let me ask you, when was the last time you danced?
I told them I was going to share this today, last night at Jeremy & Michelle Luckovich’s wedding reception, when it came time for the couple to have their first dance, they started out with a very nice calm song – but then it transitioned into this amazing dance routine that included just about every dance & dance song from the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s. I have never seen anything like it & as they were dancing & people were laughing & cheering & clapping – I thought to myself - this is what it means to frolic & then I thought what a wonderful way to begin a marriage. Maybe marriages & families would be stronger if we had more times of dance & play & laughter & love.
When we are willing to let go of the expectations people have of us & be true to who God created us to be, then like Jesus we will be offering a hope & love & faith that will change people & bring about a deeper faith & healthier lives & marriages & families. I read this story a number of years ago about a family that was struggling with one of their teenage sons. He was rebelling against his family & the world & nothing that they had tried seemed to work so a counselor suggested that they go home try something different. Here’s what happened…
When you get home tonight, he advised, go down to your son’s room, ban on the door, and when he answers tell him to turn his music off and come upstairs because you both want to talk to him. When he finally saunters into the room with a chip on his shoulder and slumps into the kitchen chair with an attitude, look him square in the eyes and say, “Ron, your mother and I are counting to one hundred. Now go hide.”
When you love your son like these parents did, desperation combined with love will motivate you to try anything – even pay. And one night that is what they did. Can you imagine the look on Ron’s face? Can you imagine what Ron said to his friends the next day? “You guys are never going to guess what happened last night. I played hide-and-seek with my parents until three in the morning. I still can’t find them.” Ron didn’t become a Republican or start listening to country and western music, but when his parents played hide-and-seek with him, they did break through the longstanding tension and began the long process of healing. (Story is taken from Dangerous Wonder, by Mike Yaconelli, copyright 1998 by Navpress. A book I would highly recommend.)
What this story shows us is that because recreation is part of God’s created order & part of God’s will for our lives - recreation can play a key role in the re-creation of our hearts & lives. Recreation can bring healing & wholeness, so we need to be intentional in making play a part of our lives & this means we might need to actually schedule regular times of play. One of the phrases I have heard in the last 5-10 years that I think is kind of sad but a reality of life is play dates. We schedule times for our children to play with other children & the reason we do this is because the schedules of our children have become so full that we need to make sure friends are available to play. So let me ask, when was the last time we scheduled a play date with our family? Do we schedule regular times of recreation & play as a church family? We have a great opportunity to do this today at the church picnic & I hope that even if you weren’t planning on attending, that if you have time this afternoon you’ll join us for some food & some fun.
Recreation is part of God’s created order. It is part of God’s purpose & plan for his children & it is a vital part of how we experience new life in Christ. Recreation can bring healing & wholeness to our bodies, minds & spirit & as Jesus showed us, it can be a powerful witness to the love & grace of God. So can we lay aside the expectations of others & make room in our schedules for some time to play? It is, after all, a God given part of our lives.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Psalm 51 - Renewal in God's Love
When my niece Catie was about 5 or 6 years old she loved to draw… on everything. She once took a permanent marker & drew all over her bedroom walls. One night when my sister went to tuck Catie in she found her holding the covers on her bed in a strange way & so my sister pulled the covers down a little bit & saw that Catie had taken a pen & drawn all over her sheets. My sister was visibly upset but Catie kept taking her blankets & covering up the ink marks saying, look mommy – it’s all gone, it’s all gone. When my sister told me that story I thought, wow, isn’t that what we do all the time. We sin, we make mistakes, we make a mess of our lives & then we just try to cover it up thinking it will all go away. Maybe we cover up the situation with a lie. Maybe we just try to deny that there is a problem, or lay the blame on someone else. There are many ways we might try to cover up our sin & King David tried them all.
If you remember the story of King David, not long after he had been established as the king of Israel he sent all his men out to battle & he was left alone in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon David was out walking on the roof of the palace when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath & when he saw her – he wanted her. Even after David found out that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one of his soldiers, he sent for her & he committed adultery with her & then he sent her home thinking that no one would ever know. When Bathsheba became pregnant, however, David knew that pretty soon everyone would know, so he tried to cover up the situation. To make a long story short, David ends up having Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, killed in an effort to cover up his sin. So in the course of just a few months, David has committed adultery & conspired to murder & he thinks that the situation has been neatly covered up, but then one day the prophet Nathan visits David & tells him this story 2 Sam. 12:1-6.
There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
While David is getting angry, Nathan turns the entire situation around with 4 words. “You are the man!” You, David, are the man who has sinned. You are the man who has taken what belonged to some else. You are the one who has destroyed something good & you can’t cover it up any more. The pain, the broken lives, the chaos that David’s sin has caused suddenly comes crashing down upon him & in that moment David’s greatest desire is to be made new. With all that is within him, David wants to be washed clean. He wants to be forgiven & given another chance.
Psalm 51 is David’s response to God once Nathan has exposed his sin, & over & over again in the psalm we hear David crying out for mercy & forgiveness. More than anything David wants a fresh start & a new beginning. Look at 51:1-2:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Have mercy on me, blot out my sin, wash me, cleanse me. Again in 51:7-9 David says, purge me, wash me, blot out my sin, create in me a clean heart. David is looking for, he is longing for & crying out for renewal – renew a right or a steadfast spirit within me. But Psalm 51 isn’t just a cry for renewal & forgiveness, it also teaches how to experience this renewal in our own lives & it all starts when we are willing to turn to God.
In 51:10 David asks God to renew a right or steadfast spirit within him & then immediately David says, Do not cast me from your presence, do not take your spirit from me. David shows us that when things are bad, when we have made a mess of our lives & when our sin has broken us, broken our relationships & turned everything in our world upside down - we can’t run away from God, we need to run toward God. Too many times when we are confronted with the reality of our own sin our first instinct is to run away. Maybe we feel unworthy & unacceptable to God, maybe we think that if we turn to God he will turn away, or turn us away, but what we find is that because of God’s great love for us, if we turn to God he will not turn away from us, in fact he will turn toward us.
Jesus tells a powerful story about this love of God. A son asks his father for his share of the inheritance long before his father is even close to death & this is a huge insult. The son might as well be saying I wish you were dead so I could just have your money. The father gives his son the money & the son immediately goes off & spends it all on wild living & when the money is gone, the young man realizes how his sin has destroyed his life & the relationship with his father, so he decides to return home & seek forgiveness & in one of the most beautiful verses in scripture it says, Luke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Now understand that first of all men in this culture did not run & fathers who had been insulted by their sons certainly didn’t run out to greet them, embrace them & kiss them, but this father does & in this father we see a reflection of our father in heaven. What this story of Jesus tells us is that when we are willing to turn to God – God doesn’t run from us, on the contrary – God runs toward us. When we turn to God – it’s not that God is there waiting for us to arrive – God is on his way to meet us, like the father in the story, God sees us while we are still far off & when God sees us, He doesn’t take his spirit from us, God doesn’t cast us out – God runs out to greet us & then He draws us in.
It doesn’t matter who we are or what we have done. It doesn’t matter how broken our lives might be today, it doesn’t matter how chaotic our world is & it doesn’t matter that it is our sin that caused it, when we turn to God we find that God is already on his way to meet us. If God was there to forgiven & renew David’s life after all that had happened to him, then we can trust that God will be there to forgive & renew us, but the first step in experiencing this forgiveness & renewal is to turn to God. But there is more – we also have to acknowledge our sin & our problems.
Look at Psalm 51:3-5. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
David is clear that the sin & the problems of his life are of his own doing. He doesn’t blame Bathsheba for being out that day & tempting him. He doesn’t blame the officials for bringing Bathsheba to him & he doesn’t blame his officers for how they helped him have Uriah killed, David takes full responsibility for his own actions. Renewal doesn’t take place without us first taking responsibility for our own actions. Forgiveness doesn’t come unless there is first honest & sincere confession.
We see this in the story of the prodigal son as well. Go back to Luke 15:21. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Before the father can say anything the son admits that he was wrong. He confesses that not only had he sinned against his father but he sinned against God, he took full responsibility for his actions & he acknowledges his sin. Are we ready to stop ignoring our problems or laying them at the feet of others & start looking deep within to the condition of our own heart & soul? We have set up mirrors throughout the lobby & the question is are we willing to take a good hard look in the mirror & acknowledge the sin & the problems that we see? We live in a world where no one seems to want to take responsibility for their own words or actions. During the next 100 days we will be hearing politicians on both sides deny that they have ever said or done anything wrong & they will lay the blame of every problem on someone else. We live in a culture where admitting that we are wrong or that we have a problem is seen as weakness – but in our relationship with God – weakness is strength. When we are weak – God is strong. When we take responsibility & confess our sin – God forgives – God renews.
So David turns to God & David acknowledges his sin & then David steps back & realizes what he can do & what he can’t do to bring about his own renewal. Here’s what David can’t do – he can’t make his own heart clean. In other words, David can not renew himself – renewal & forgiveness has to come from God. In 51:10 David says, Create in me a pure heart, O God & the word create is the same word we find in Genesis 1:1 where it says that in the beginning God created the heavens & the earth. David is acknowledging that the renewal that needs to take place in his heart & life can only come from God. It will be from the hand of God, the heart of God & from the power of God working within that that renewal will take place. David can not bring it about himself, we can not renew our own hearts; renewal only comes from God.
Sometimes we feel like we have to wash ourselves clean or work to earn God forgiveness, but that’s not the way it works. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul says, for it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. Our work isn’t to earn forgiveness, it is not to renew ourselves, it is to trust in the God who forgives. We don’t wash ourselves clean, we allow God to wash us clean & renew us in his love. Paul says it is by grace we have been saved, thru faith, so our job is to have faith. Our job, or what we can do is have faith that God will renew us. So what is faith? The book of Hebrews says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for & the conviction of things unseen. In this case, faith is being willing to let go of what we can see (or what we can do on our own) & allow God to make us new.
We can’t create a new heart within us, we can’t wash ourselves clean, we can’t trust in our own strength, power & wisdom, we have to let go of trying to renew our lives & have the faith that God will renew us. So what we can’t do is renew ourselves, but what we can do is turn to God & confess our sin. What we can do is let go of trying to do things on our own & have faith that God will be there to forgive us. If we are holding on to sin today, or if we are trying to cover it up or if we are running from God because we think there is no way he can love us or forgive us, then we need to let go & have faith that God will be there running out to us when we turn to him & we need to trust that in his love– he will renew us & give us a new & right & steadfast spirit.
There is one more thing that David realized he could do. Once he experienced renewal – he could give thanks & praise to God, look at Psalm 51:13 & 15: 13 - Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
15 - O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
David knew that when renewal came he would give thanks & praise to God & he would encourage others to find that forgiveness & grace in God as well. I will teach transgressors your ways & sinners will turn back to you. Once we have experienced renewal, it is our job to share God’s grace & love with others, & what we can do is encourage those who are broken & hurting to turn to God themselves. So if you are rejoicing in God’s renewal today, if you have experienced it your life, then share your story of God’s grace with others so that they can be renewed as well.
If you remember the story of King David, not long after he had been established as the king of Israel he sent all his men out to battle & he was left alone in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon David was out walking on the roof of the palace when he saw Bathsheba taking a bath & when he saw her – he wanted her. Even after David found out that Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one of his soldiers, he sent for her & he committed adultery with her & then he sent her home thinking that no one would ever know. When Bathsheba became pregnant, however, David knew that pretty soon everyone would know, so he tried to cover up the situation. To make a long story short, David ends up having Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, killed in an effort to cover up his sin. So in the course of just a few months, David has committed adultery & conspired to murder & he thinks that the situation has been neatly covered up, but then one day the prophet Nathan visits David & tells him this story 2 Sam. 12:1-6.
There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
While David is getting angry, Nathan turns the entire situation around with 4 words. “You are the man!” You, David, are the man who has sinned. You are the man who has taken what belonged to some else. You are the one who has destroyed something good & you can’t cover it up any more. The pain, the broken lives, the chaos that David’s sin has caused suddenly comes crashing down upon him & in that moment David’s greatest desire is to be made new. With all that is within him, David wants to be washed clean. He wants to be forgiven & given another chance.
Psalm 51 is David’s response to God once Nathan has exposed his sin, & over & over again in the psalm we hear David crying out for mercy & forgiveness. More than anything David wants a fresh start & a new beginning. Look at 51:1-2:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Have mercy on me, blot out my sin, wash me, cleanse me. Again in 51:7-9 David says, purge me, wash me, blot out my sin, create in me a clean heart. David is looking for, he is longing for & crying out for renewal – renew a right or a steadfast spirit within me. But Psalm 51 isn’t just a cry for renewal & forgiveness, it also teaches how to experience this renewal in our own lives & it all starts when we are willing to turn to God.
In 51:10 David asks God to renew a right or steadfast spirit within him & then immediately David says, Do not cast me from your presence, do not take your spirit from me. David shows us that when things are bad, when we have made a mess of our lives & when our sin has broken us, broken our relationships & turned everything in our world upside down - we can’t run away from God, we need to run toward God. Too many times when we are confronted with the reality of our own sin our first instinct is to run away. Maybe we feel unworthy & unacceptable to God, maybe we think that if we turn to God he will turn away, or turn us away, but what we find is that because of God’s great love for us, if we turn to God he will not turn away from us, in fact he will turn toward us.
Jesus tells a powerful story about this love of God. A son asks his father for his share of the inheritance long before his father is even close to death & this is a huge insult. The son might as well be saying I wish you were dead so I could just have your money. The father gives his son the money & the son immediately goes off & spends it all on wild living & when the money is gone, the young man realizes how his sin has destroyed his life & the relationship with his father, so he decides to return home & seek forgiveness & in one of the most beautiful verses in scripture it says, Luke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Now understand that first of all men in this culture did not run & fathers who had been insulted by their sons certainly didn’t run out to greet them, embrace them & kiss them, but this father does & in this father we see a reflection of our father in heaven. What this story of Jesus tells us is that when we are willing to turn to God – God doesn’t run from us, on the contrary – God runs toward us. When we turn to God – it’s not that God is there waiting for us to arrive – God is on his way to meet us, like the father in the story, God sees us while we are still far off & when God sees us, He doesn’t take his spirit from us, God doesn’t cast us out – God runs out to greet us & then He draws us in.
It doesn’t matter who we are or what we have done. It doesn’t matter how broken our lives might be today, it doesn’t matter how chaotic our world is & it doesn’t matter that it is our sin that caused it, when we turn to God we find that God is already on his way to meet us. If God was there to forgiven & renew David’s life after all that had happened to him, then we can trust that God will be there to forgive & renew us, but the first step in experiencing this forgiveness & renewal is to turn to God. But there is more – we also have to acknowledge our sin & our problems.
Look at Psalm 51:3-5. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
David is clear that the sin & the problems of his life are of his own doing. He doesn’t blame Bathsheba for being out that day & tempting him. He doesn’t blame the officials for bringing Bathsheba to him & he doesn’t blame his officers for how they helped him have Uriah killed, David takes full responsibility for his own actions. Renewal doesn’t take place without us first taking responsibility for our own actions. Forgiveness doesn’t come unless there is first honest & sincere confession.
We see this in the story of the prodigal son as well. Go back to Luke 15:21. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Before the father can say anything the son admits that he was wrong. He confesses that not only had he sinned against his father but he sinned against God, he took full responsibility for his actions & he acknowledges his sin. Are we ready to stop ignoring our problems or laying them at the feet of others & start looking deep within to the condition of our own heart & soul? We have set up mirrors throughout the lobby & the question is are we willing to take a good hard look in the mirror & acknowledge the sin & the problems that we see? We live in a world where no one seems to want to take responsibility for their own words or actions. During the next 100 days we will be hearing politicians on both sides deny that they have ever said or done anything wrong & they will lay the blame of every problem on someone else. We live in a culture where admitting that we are wrong or that we have a problem is seen as weakness – but in our relationship with God – weakness is strength. When we are weak – God is strong. When we take responsibility & confess our sin – God forgives – God renews.
So David turns to God & David acknowledges his sin & then David steps back & realizes what he can do & what he can’t do to bring about his own renewal. Here’s what David can’t do – he can’t make his own heart clean. In other words, David can not renew himself – renewal & forgiveness has to come from God. In 51:10 David says, Create in me a pure heart, O God & the word create is the same word we find in Genesis 1:1 where it says that in the beginning God created the heavens & the earth. David is acknowledging that the renewal that needs to take place in his heart & life can only come from God. It will be from the hand of God, the heart of God & from the power of God working within that that renewal will take place. David can not bring it about himself, we can not renew our own hearts; renewal only comes from God.
Sometimes we feel like we have to wash ourselves clean or work to earn God forgiveness, but that’s not the way it works. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul says, for it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. Our work isn’t to earn forgiveness, it is not to renew ourselves, it is to trust in the God who forgives. We don’t wash ourselves clean, we allow God to wash us clean & renew us in his love. Paul says it is by grace we have been saved, thru faith, so our job is to have faith. Our job, or what we can do is have faith that God will renew us. So what is faith? The book of Hebrews says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for & the conviction of things unseen. In this case, faith is being willing to let go of what we can see (or what we can do on our own) & allow God to make us new.
We can’t create a new heart within us, we can’t wash ourselves clean, we can’t trust in our own strength, power & wisdom, we have to let go of trying to renew our lives & have the faith that God will renew us. So what we can’t do is renew ourselves, but what we can do is turn to God & confess our sin. What we can do is let go of trying to do things on our own & have faith that God will be there to forgive us. If we are holding on to sin today, or if we are trying to cover it up or if we are running from God because we think there is no way he can love us or forgive us, then we need to let go & have faith that God will be there running out to us when we turn to him & we need to trust that in his love– he will renew us & give us a new & right & steadfast spirit.
There is one more thing that David realized he could do. Once he experienced renewal – he could give thanks & praise to God, look at Psalm 51:13 & 15: 13 - Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
15 - O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
David knew that when renewal came he would give thanks & praise to God & he would encourage others to find that forgiveness & grace in God as well. I will teach transgressors your ways & sinners will turn back to you. Once we have experienced renewal, it is our job to share God’s grace & love with others, & what we can do is encourage those who are broken & hurting to turn to God themselves. So if you are rejoicing in God’s renewal today, if you have experienced it your life, then share your story of God’s grace with others so that they can be renewed as well.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Welcome
Hi,
It's with a little bit of fear & trembling that I enter into the world of blogging. I really don't know much about what I am doing, so bear with me as I learn.
I am a United Methodist pastor serving at Faith United Methodist Church in Bellefonte PA. I have been here for just one month (arrived in July of 2008). Before Bellefonte I was serving as pastor of St. Paul's UMC in Lewisburg, PA, and before that I was the pastor of Second Avenue UMC in Altoona, PA. Over the years people have asked me for copies of my sermons so I decided to just post them in a blog and allow people to read them and give me some feedback. This is a huge step of faith and vulnerability for me, but I am hoping to learn more about myself and my faith in the process.
Along the way I may learn to actually "blog" and share other parts of my life and faith, but for now look for mostly sermons.
I've always seen life and faith as a great adventure and for me this is just one more adventure along the way.
Andy
It's with a little bit of fear & trembling that I enter into the world of blogging. I really don't know much about what I am doing, so bear with me as I learn.
I am a United Methodist pastor serving at Faith United Methodist Church in Bellefonte PA. I have been here for just one month (arrived in July of 2008). Before Bellefonte I was serving as pastor of St. Paul's UMC in Lewisburg, PA, and before that I was the pastor of Second Avenue UMC in Altoona, PA. Over the years people have asked me for copies of my sermons so I decided to just post them in a blog and allow people to read them and give me some feedback. This is a huge step of faith and vulnerability for me, but I am hoping to learn more about myself and my faith in the process.
Along the way I may learn to actually "blog" and share other parts of my life and faith, but for now look for mostly sermons.
I've always seen life and faith as a great adventure and for me this is just one more adventure along the way.
Andy
He Restores My Soul - Reflections on Psalm 23
During the month of August we are going to be reflecting on a selection of psalms & there is no better place to start than Psalm 23. The 23rd psalm is probably the most well known passage of scripture...
Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
I think one of the reasons we like this passage so much is because it helps us connect with God in a personal way. No longer is God a distant being out there somewhere, God is right here with us & he is here to watch over us with love & care just as a shepherd watches over & cares for his sheep. While we may not fully understand the job of a shepherd, what we do know is that a shepherd walks along side of the sheep & he leads them to safe places where they can find food & water. We also know that a shepherd is willing to sacrifice for his sheep & he is even willing to lay down his own life for the sheep when they are in danger. So Psalm 23 lays out a relationship with God & it helps us think about God as one who loves us whether we are going thru good times – you know, walking thru green pastures, or difficult times – those valleys & shadows of death. Psalm 23 reminds us that God is here to love us.
While there is a lot for us to think about in this psalm, today I want us to look at just the first 4 words found in Verse 3 He restores my soul. Think about the word restore for a moment. Restoration is not the same as renovation. Most of us are probably more familiar with renovation because that’s what we do to our homes. When we renovate something, like a kitchen or bathroom, we tear out the old & put in something new, but when we restore something - we are putting it back into its original condition. When a mechanic restores an old car they put it back into its original condition because they know that’s when the car has the most value. It’s the same with us, we have the most value, or we are at our best, when God restores our soul or when we puts us back into our original condition. But what is the original condition of our souls?
If we go back to Genesis we see from the creation story at least 2 things God placed in us from the beginning dignity & dependence.
The word dignity means worthy of honor. Dignity means that we have intrinsic value & worth simply because of who we are. When it says that we were created in the image of God & that God breathed is own breath – his own life giving spirit into us - it means that deep within us, deep within all of us, there is ultimate value. At the very core of every single person is a soul or a life that has dignity & so part of the restoration process is God helping us see that dignity or that value that lies within us. I think God also wants us to see the dignity & value in others & I know God calls the church to see & reach out to the dignity found in all people.
The creation story also makes it clear that we were created to be dependent upon God. In Genesis it says we were created by God – in other words, we did not create ourselves, therefore we are not ultimately in charge of our lives – we are dependent upon God. Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord’s & all that is in, the world & those who live in it. So we belong to God & we are dependant upon God for all that we have & all that we are. While we may not think about it, it’s true. We depend on God for everything. We depend on God to keep the sun & moon & stars aligned so that conditions are right for us to live, if just one part of creation was altered slightly – we would not be here. We depend on God to send the rain & sun so that plants can grow & life can be sustained. Even with all our scientific ability & advancements, we are not independent from the world around us & the world around us, the earth & all that is in it, is the Lords. So we were not only created with dignity but we were created to be dependent upon God, but sin has destroyed this, sin works to destroy our souls.
Think about what happened when sin entered into the picture. When the serpent tempts Adam & Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, he is tempting them to no longer be dependant upon God. The serpent is telling them they can ignore God & if they eat from the tree of knowledge they will be like God & if they are like God then they won’t need God. The temptation is to be independent & to be in control of our own lives & when Adam & Eve do this, as soon as they seek to become independent – do you notice what happens - they lose their dignity - look at Genesis 3:7 - Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves
The reason Adam & Eve try to hide is because they are ashamed. No longer do they see value & worth in themselves & each other, they now only see something to be ashamed of & something to hide. So part of the original condition of our souls that sin seeks to destroy & God wants to restore is our dependence upon him & our dignity & this is what we see reflected in Psalm 23. As we read thru this psalm we begin a journey where God helps us understand that we can be & need to be dependent upon him: look at 23:1-3.
What we see here is that sheep are completely dependent upon the shepherd. The sheep depend upon the shepherd to lead them to green pastures & still waters- or safe places where they can be fed & nourished.. The sheep depend upon the shepherd to care for them & provide for all they need. God wants us to depend upon him - it’s how we were created. We don’t’ have to go out & try & do it all on our own, God wants us to turn to him when we are in need. God wants to be the one to lead us into green pastures & still waters. God wants to be the one to guide us into all the fullness of life. God wants us to see that it is his hand that provides for us. Whatever it is we might need today, forgiveness, grace, direction God wants to be the one to provide, the question is whether we will turn to Him & depend upon him or will keep trying to live on our own. Will we allow God to have control of our lives – will we go where he leads us & be who he calls us to be? As Adam & Eve show us, only the road of dependence upon God leads to life.
Not only does God want us to be dependent upon him, but he wants us to know that we are valued by him, he wants to restore our dignity. Look at 23:5-6. God prepares a table for us. God anoints us & fills our cup until it overflows. God’s goodness follows us & God invites us to dwell with him forever. God is blessing us & caring for us & pouring out his grace upon us & it’s all because God loves us. God values us. God sees something of worth in everyone because we were all created in His image.
More than anything I think this is the truth that Jesus tried to teach & show to the world. Jesus not only taught us that God loves us, he showed us God’s love over & over again. When Jesus broke the laws of his day & spoke with outcast women – he showed us that all people have value & worth. When Jesus welcomed children when children weren’t seen as having value – he showed us that there is dignity in every life. When Jesus reached out to heal lepers & forgave sinners he was showing the world that God values every person. Jesus understood & he taught us that there is dignity in the soul of everyone & he worked to restore that dignity & help people see that they were loved by God. We need to see the dignity within us & we need to see the dignity & value in others.
God restores our soul by helping us see that we are loved & valued by Him & that we can depend upon God to care for & provide for us, but Psalm 23 also shows us that the way for us to experience this restoration is thru a relationship with God. The restoration of our souls doesn’t come from knowing about God – it comes from knowing God. Restoration doesn’t come from learning about God – it comes from loving God & leaning upon him.
There is an interesting shift that takes place in Psalm 23 that I never noticed before. At the beginning of the psalm David talks about God. He says the Lord is my shepherd & he leads me. But then in verse 4 David is no longer talking about God –he starts talking to God. Look at 23:4-5. You are with me. Your rod & your staff comfort me, you prepare a table for me, you anoint my head with oil, you overflow my cup. The restoration of our souls goes hand in hand with our relationship with God. Restoration comes when we stop thinking about God & start trusting God, it comes when we stop learning about God & start loving him & allowing him to love us in return. God restores our souls when we are willing to walk with him so let us walk with God today. Whether we are in a deep valley or by some still waters, let us allow God to be the good shepherd & let us allow God to lead us to those places were we can find life.
Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
I think one of the reasons we like this passage so much is because it helps us connect with God in a personal way. No longer is God a distant being out there somewhere, God is right here with us & he is here to watch over us with love & care just as a shepherd watches over & cares for his sheep. While we may not fully understand the job of a shepherd, what we do know is that a shepherd walks along side of the sheep & he leads them to safe places where they can find food & water. We also know that a shepherd is willing to sacrifice for his sheep & he is even willing to lay down his own life for the sheep when they are in danger. So Psalm 23 lays out a relationship with God & it helps us think about God as one who loves us whether we are going thru good times – you know, walking thru green pastures, or difficult times – those valleys & shadows of death. Psalm 23 reminds us that God is here to love us.
While there is a lot for us to think about in this psalm, today I want us to look at just the first 4 words found in Verse 3 He restores my soul. Think about the word restore for a moment. Restoration is not the same as renovation. Most of us are probably more familiar with renovation because that’s what we do to our homes. When we renovate something, like a kitchen or bathroom, we tear out the old & put in something new, but when we restore something - we are putting it back into its original condition. When a mechanic restores an old car they put it back into its original condition because they know that’s when the car has the most value. It’s the same with us, we have the most value, or we are at our best, when God restores our soul or when we puts us back into our original condition. But what is the original condition of our souls?
If we go back to Genesis we see from the creation story at least 2 things God placed in us from the beginning dignity & dependence.
The word dignity means worthy of honor. Dignity means that we have intrinsic value & worth simply because of who we are. When it says that we were created in the image of God & that God breathed is own breath – his own life giving spirit into us - it means that deep within us, deep within all of us, there is ultimate value. At the very core of every single person is a soul or a life that has dignity & so part of the restoration process is God helping us see that dignity or that value that lies within us. I think God also wants us to see the dignity & value in others & I know God calls the church to see & reach out to the dignity found in all people.
The creation story also makes it clear that we were created to be dependent upon God. In Genesis it says we were created by God – in other words, we did not create ourselves, therefore we are not ultimately in charge of our lives – we are dependent upon God. Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord’s & all that is in, the world & those who live in it. So we belong to God & we are dependant upon God for all that we have & all that we are. While we may not think about it, it’s true. We depend on God for everything. We depend on God to keep the sun & moon & stars aligned so that conditions are right for us to live, if just one part of creation was altered slightly – we would not be here. We depend on God to send the rain & sun so that plants can grow & life can be sustained. Even with all our scientific ability & advancements, we are not independent from the world around us & the world around us, the earth & all that is in it, is the Lords. So we were not only created with dignity but we were created to be dependent upon God, but sin has destroyed this, sin works to destroy our souls.
Think about what happened when sin entered into the picture. When the serpent tempts Adam & Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, he is tempting them to no longer be dependant upon God. The serpent is telling them they can ignore God & if they eat from the tree of knowledge they will be like God & if they are like God then they won’t need God. The temptation is to be independent & to be in control of our own lives & when Adam & Eve do this, as soon as they seek to become independent – do you notice what happens - they lose their dignity - look at Genesis 3:7 - Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves
The reason Adam & Eve try to hide is because they are ashamed. No longer do they see value & worth in themselves & each other, they now only see something to be ashamed of & something to hide. So part of the original condition of our souls that sin seeks to destroy & God wants to restore is our dependence upon him & our dignity & this is what we see reflected in Psalm 23. As we read thru this psalm we begin a journey where God helps us understand that we can be & need to be dependent upon him: look at 23:1-3.
What we see here is that sheep are completely dependent upon the shepherd. The sheep depend upon the shepherd to lead them to green pastures & still waters- or safe places where they can be fed & nourished.. The sheep depend upon the shepherd to care for them & provide for all they need. God wants us to depend upon him - it’s how we were created. We don’t’ have to go out & try & do it all on our own, God wants us to turn to him when we are in need. God wants to be the one to lead us into green pastures & still waters. God wants to be the one to guide us into all the fullness of life. God wants us to see that it is his hand that provides for us. Whatever it is we might need today, forgiveness, grace, direction God wants to be the one to provide, the question is whether we will turn to Him & depend upon him or will keep trying to live on our own. Will we allow God to have control of our lives – will we go where he leads us & be who he calls us to be? As Adam & Eve show us, only the road of dependence upon God leads to life.
Not only does God want us to be dependent upon him, but he wants us to know that we are valued by him, he wants to restore our dignity. Look at 23:5-6. God prepares a table for us. God anoints us & fills our cup until it overflows. God’s goodness follows us & God invites us to dwell with him forever. God is blessing us & caring for us & pouring out his grace upon us & it’s all because God loves us. God values us. God sees something of worth in everyone because we were all created in His image.
More than anything I think this is the truth that Jesus tried to teach & show to the world. Jesus not only taught us that God loves us, he showed us God’s love over & over again. When Jesus broke the laws of his day & spoke with outcast women – he showed us that all people have value & worth. When Jesus welcomed children when children weren’t seen as having value – he showed us that there is dignity in every life. When Jesus reached out to heal lepers & forgave sinners he was showing the world that God values every person. Jesus understood & he taught us that there is dignity in the soul of everyone & he worked to restore that dignity & help people see that they were loved by God. We need to see the dignity within us & we need to see the dignity & value in others.
God restores our soul by helping us see that we are loved & valued by Him & that we can depend upon God to care for & provide for us, but Psalm 23 also shows us that the way for us to experience this restoration is thru a relationship with God. The restoration of our souls doesn’t come from knowing about God – it comes from knowing God. Restoration doesn’t come from learning about God – it comes from loving God & leaning upon him.
There is an interesting shift that takes place in Psalm 23 that I never noticed before. At the beginning of the psalm David talks about God. He says the Lord is my shepherd & he leads me. But then in verse 4 David is no longer talking about God –he starts talking to God. Look at 23:4-5. You are with me. Your rod & your staff comfort me, you prepare a table for me, you anoint my head with oil, you overflow my cup. The restoration of our souls goes hand in hand with our relationship with God. Restoration comes when we stop thinking about God & start trusting God, it comes when we stop learning about God & start loving him & allowing him to love us in return. God restores our souls when we are willing to walk with him so let us walk with God today. Whether we are in a deep valley or by some still waters, let us allow God to be the good shepherd & let us allow God to lead us to those places were we can find life.
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