SERMONS
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Exploring God’s Grace
Pastor Tembreull’s Blog.
People often quote the Bible. Sometimes different people will quote the Bible to support whatever idea they have decided needs to be bolstered, whether the Bible is really saying that or not. So we might think we don't need to consider its credentials. The Bible tells me so and that's all I want to know. Then we are flumoxed when others don't accept our word from this important book.
Even more dangerously, we might not remember the credentials ourselves. Challenges to the Word sound so reasonable. The Devil knows how to exploit any little doubt. How can you really know. All this seems a little far fetched, unscientific, foolish. Human reason gets put above the clear words, because if something doesn't make sense, or if its hard to believe, then why do I need to hold on to that Word. We pick and choose what verses have real authority. In a moment of crisis, in the midst of doubts, when you really need a firm foundation, forgetting the credentials of God's Word is a devasting mistake.
This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him. That is a strong credential. God the Father has approved of everything Jesus had ever done. He approves of everything Jesus has said and would say. Peter would recall, we are witnesses of his majesty. John would wonder, we have seen his glory. If this glory, this sign were not enough, God proved this for all to see, by raising him from the dead. Here on the mount of transfiguration, again on Calvary and the empty tomb, God gave Jesus the highest credential.
God is not blind like your average referee. God is not influenced by the situation, swayed by the moment. God does not check public opinion or get swept up with the crowd. God never has bias. He never prejudges. He sees all. He knows all. Everything he has spoken is good and true. He will never prosecute the innocent. He will never hold anyone accountable for sins they have not committed. He will never judge you on the basis of anyone else’s accusation. God’s righteous judgment is perfect.
God hears you. God knows your sorrow and pain. He himself has endured that longing. He has set the day for your relief. But God is not like Amazon. You can’t select the life you want, the thing that you think you need and have it delivered the next day. God has his own timing. God has his own purposes. God makes his how plans. Your wait will never change his love.
God does not love the sinner. God loves his creation. God loves the world. He loves humanity. God loves you. God loves every soul. Paul writes, God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Jesus died not only for those who hate him, but for those whom he hates. Jesus becomes what he hates, not by act or deed, but with his whole heart, by his Father’s declaration, God made him who did not know sin, to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) God hates the sinner, so he will put every sinner to death. Every sinner will die. Each will die, either physically and eternally when their time is over, or the sinner will die by God’s grace. All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore buried with him by his baptism into his death…consider yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-4, 11) When the Psalms speak of the “righteous” they do not mean “good people” or people who do righteous things, but those who are made righteous, that is declared righteous by faith in the promise of Christ.
David felt the pressure. Again and again he faced evil and tragedy, but he tells us he didn’t lose sleep. He wasn’t sufficient for the challenges of life. He wasn’t strong enough to bear all his burdens. Even as king, so much was outside his control. He knew he didn’t have what it took. He knew God did.
When David wrote Psalm 3, his son, Absolom, had incited his people against him. David was on the run. Enemies were everywhere. Even those to whom David had shown great compassion rushed to ridicule him.
David couldn’t see any hope. David couldn’t anticipate any end to the hostility. The king had been a bad father. The king had made terrible mistakes. Maybe he did deserve this. Maybe God wouldn’t save him. Maybe his enemies were right.
They are right! The Lord and his Anointed One are the greatest threats in the universe. He does restrain our hearts. He does rebuke our desires. He does condemn our sin. He will hold each of us responsible for our failure to use and our abuse of his creation and our failure to love and the harm we do to each other. We should say, “Anyone but him!” But we cannot escape. We cannot hide. God reacts to our rebellion as we might react to the ferocious barks from an adorable little puppy, “Isn’t that cute!” The one who is seated in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. (Psalm 2:4)
You want to be, we need to be standing with the blessed. God and his Word never change. His guidance for your life is always true. His promises never fail. He always forgives. He always listens when you pray. He always saves. He always welcomes everyone who comes to him in faith. He always sustains the blessed through all the changes of life.
Over the passed few years, I have made a concerted effort to include the Psalms in my daily meditation on God’s Word. More and more as I have faced challenges, hardships, asked bigger questions, even wrestled with doubts, the Psalms became more and more meaningful to me. Every question our hearts ask seem to be written in the Psalms. The struggles of life are described in those verses. My weakness are exposed, my doubts are spoken, my worries expressed, and they are answered in powerful truth. Then the Psalms teach my heart to respond to this life with joy.
I can’t quite get this to make sense. I have wept for loved ones. I have lost friends unexpectedly and tragically. I continue to pray often for a friends far away who have suffered losses I can’t even imagine. What right do I have to be so sad over my stupid cat, our beloved goose, my derpy hound, or my faithful Odysseus? They were just animals.