Fight for confidence in crisis (Acts 27)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 18, 2009

An article’s headline by Eric McClam from Associated Press reads, “Pilot’s life had prepared him for ‘miracle’ flight.” The article begins, “Chesley Sullenberger spent practically his whole life preparing for the five-minute crucible that was US Airway Flight 1549. He got his pilot’s license at 14, was named best aviator in his class at the Air Force Academy, flew fighter jets, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how cockpit crews behave in a crisis.” His sister would describe him as “always professional and never cut corners.” She said, “I think Burnett is a very duty-oriented person… He is always looking to get better. He would be the one person who could land a plane in the water without any engines.” [1] 

I am talking about the US Airway pilot who crash landed Flight 1549 after being crippled by the engine failure because of bird strikes. He steered the airplane over the George Washington Bridge and down the Hudson River on Thursday, Jan. 15. Just few seconds before the plane hit water, Sullenberger told the passengers, “Brace for impact.” Mark Hood flying home after a work trip remembered this moment. “He said it in a calm, cool, controlled voice. It was a testament to leadership. Had he let any tension leak into his voice… it would have been magnified in the passengers.” It is reported that Sullenberger climbed out of the jet only after all 150 passengers and his four other crew exited safely and orderly.[2] The Major Bloomberg reported how the pilot walked the plane twice after everybody was off to verify no body else was on board and to be the last to get off the airplane.[3]

How would you be if you were the pilot trying to steer the seriously crippled jet on to water? Would you have fought for confidence in the crisis, in the most stressful situation to land that airplane safely? Or, would you have panicked and become incapacitated, unable to think with clear judgment and courage? Perhaps, if you and I were as prepared as this pilot was, we could have mustered confidence and courage to deal with crisis.

When I meditated on Paul’s voyage through the storms and finally the shipwreck that nearly killed everyone and the way he responded during this life-threatening crisis, I can’t help but notice how prepared Paul was in dealing the crisis confidently. And, in turn I consider my own responses to crises or it doesn’t even have to be crises, but simply stressful situations in my life.

And, I realize how easily I loose calm confidence and give into panic; lack of confidence and panic clouds my judgment and the ability to act courageously. So, I am determined this year to fight for confidence in crises rather than giving into clouded judgment, fear and debilitation. And, I want you to join me on this.

1. Observation about the details.

After the plane crashed into the Hudson River, if you watched news coverage, you would have come across a lot of eye witness accounts from the high rise buildings nearby. And, there were actual passengers aboard this airplane who gave their eye witness accounts.

The book of Acts is eye witness accounts of what took place in the first century as the church grew. In Acts 27, you notice the pronounce changes to we, first person plural. What this tells us is that Luke the writer himself was aboard this doomed ship. When people with knowledge about sailing especially around the region read Luke’s account of what happened they are amazed by the accurate details captured by Luke. What we read is not a made up story, but a real eye witness account by Luke in this doomed sailing along with Paul.

2. Fight for confidence through people who love you.

During my study and meditation, it was pointed out to me by John MacArthur the first ingredient in fighting for confidence in crises in life. MacArthur frames his point from a leadership perspective. He said,

“A godly leader has people who not only follow him but also love him. The difference between spiritual leadership and all other kinds of leadership is the element of love.”[4]

When Paul sailed to Italy he was not traveling as a tourist who wanted to fulfill his life time dream of traveling to Rome on a luxury cruise. He was sailing as a prisoner awaiting a trial before Caesar. And, what we find in Acts 27:1-3 is that he was not traveling alone as a prisoner. Along with him were his two dearest friends, Luke the writer of the book of Acts and Aristarchus a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

They subjected themselves to association with Paul, an accused prisoner. They also subjected themselves to a long and dangerous sailing. Why did they journey with Paul? It speaks to deep affection for Paul. When you read through Paul’s letters you cannot escape how much he cared for the people to whom he ministered. He was compelled by the love of Jesus Christ to care for people. He said in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

As Paul carried out the ministry of reconciliation, to call people to God who reconcile the world to himself in Christ no counting men’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19), he was surrounded by the likeminded people who too were compelled by Jesus’ love.

Because he was loved by people he loved, he was able to fight for confidence in the midst of storms and shipwreck. By loving people Paul gained people who deeply loved him. By willing to lay down his life for the gospel, he gained believers who would lay down their lives along with him to advance the gospel. When you are fighting, you don’t ever want to be caught in the line of fire alone. To fight for the confidence in life’s crises, you need be surrounded by people who love you. Paul was surrounded by his dearest friends, brothers. Can you count two who will take on a dangerous journey with you because they love you and they love the gospel?

There is this scene in the movie called Fire Proof where Caleb Holt tells a rookie fireman the old firefighter’s saying, “Never leave your partner behind.” We are in the business of plucking the burning sticks out of fire (Amos 4:11), snatching others from the fire and save them (Jude 23). It is a dangerous business that requires confidence on people you can count on. Do you have people you can count on? Can others count on you to never leave them behind in the line of fire?

3. Fight for confidence through integrity

Another source of Paul’s confidence came from the way he was respected for his integrity by non-believers. In Acts 26:32, we see what the officials Agrippa and Festus thought of Paul, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” They knew Paul was innocent and all the accusations were false. He was a man of integrity.

Acts 27:3, we see Julius, the centurion who was assigned to bring Paul to Rome, treating Paul with kindness. The kindness was that Julius allowed Paul to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. In the Roman world, if a guard allowed his prisoner to escape, he was to serve the remaining prison term of the escapee or even face worse consequence. Julius had one of his soldiers accompanied Paul. But still, Julius wouldn’t have taken this kind act unless he was convinced that Paul was trustworthy, a man of integrity.

We see it even later how Paul a prisoner took on a role of encouraging others to eat before the shipwreck and how Julius listened to Paul to prevent sailors from abandoning the battered ship and he stopped his soldiers from killing the prisoners in order to prevent Paul from death.

He earned Julius’ respect and trust because Paul was a man of integrity and sincerity. This winsome character of trustworthiness allowed non-Christians to have confidence in Paul.

Paul isn’t alone in this regard. Joseph from Genesis also earned the respect and trust of Potiphar, Pharaoh’s cub bearer and later Pharaoh himself. Nehemiah was also a man who earned the respect as cupbearer to the king Artaxerxes. And, Daniel and his three friends also earned the respect of the king as well.

When you fight for integrity, you can fight for confidence in crises because you will have people, non-believers, showing you kindness and favor to you as Paul experienced.

4. Fight for confidence through sound judgment

2 Corinthians 11:25 speaks of Paul’s experience in shipwrecks three times and in spending a night and a day in the open sea. Speaking from his experience and common sense, Paul knew that it would be a bad idea to travel out into the opened sea into the opened sea. So, he spoke up, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also” (Acts 27:10). Apparently from mid September 14 through mid November according to Bible scholar F.F. Bruce was a treacherous season for voyage.[5] Paul knew this as well as the pilot and the owner of the ship.

As with the pilot of the crippled airplane struck by birds, his common sense and experience told him that he couldn’t steer the airplane to the nearby landing strip within six mile distance. If he ignored his own common sense and took the reckless risk, the outcome would have been disastrous.

Back in Acts 23:1, Jesus stood near Paul and told him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” But this didn’t give Paul a license to be reckless and senseless. Paul was not out to prove himself to the world that he was a man of great faith by taking reckless risks and chances.

If he did, it would have been all about Paul, the hero, not about Jesus Christ, his gospel. God never calls us to purposeless and reckless adventures to prove ourselves to the world that we are great Christians. Following hard after God requires us to be shrewd and smart rather than reckless stupid.

Myron Augsburger has a great insight into this:

There is doubtless much that God would prefer to do for us and for society, but He limits His action to function where and when its results are recognized to be of God and not by our own achievements. To say that God moves where it brings glory to Him is to recognize the integrity of His grace.[6]

Reckless and senseless actions without sound judgment seek to make much about ourselves, but what God wants us is to move with him to where it brings glory to him, where much is made about him.

5. Fight for confidence through humble response to God’s promise

Acts 27:20 captured the gloom that shadowed the people on board. There are times when things get so hard no hope seems possible. “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”

Now, this would have undoubtedly included Paul as well. Even the greatest spiritual giant like Paul experienced depression in life when confidence seemed to have evaporated. For fourteen days, they had been helpless tossed by the raging storms. I’ve had only one experience of riding a small boat on choppy water of Lake Michigan. It was no fun as you all know who’ve experienced motion sickness. Last thing you want to do while riding out storms is to have a full stomach especially you’ve given up.

In this darkest moment, when people have given up for any hope, God comes through. We may give up because things get so hard, but God never gives up on his promise because he is faithful to keep his promises.

Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” And, Isaiah 55:11-11, “my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Even the spiritual giant Paul along his faithful spiritual friends Luke and Aristarchus were subjected to dark time when gave up all hope of being saved. No doubts we will be subjected to the dark times. The dark time in this case was brought upon them because the centurion, the pilot and the owner of the ship didn’t listen to Paul’s sound judgment, his common sense. At times we will be subjected to dark times because of our own or others’ stupidity or because of the reasons that are beyond our understanding.

Yet, in the darkest moments when all hopes seemed to have evaporated, confidence came not from soul-searching quest to draw out courage from within them, but from outside of them, from God. God broke into their darkest moment and revealed his will through an angel. “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” This revived the battered Paul. God’s revelation gave him courage, confidence he didn’t have. And, from this confidence, he spoke with authority, “So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

Hopeless person would say it is no avail to eat now. We are going to die anyway. But, for Paul it was now completely different game. He was no longer a hopeless person, but a person of hope in God’s promise. So, he told everyone who had given up, “Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” And, he demonstrates his trust in the faithful God who keeps his promise; “he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.” When the people saw him eat, “They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves… 276 on board… they had eaten as much as they wanted” (Acts 27:34-38).

Don’t you love this guys? Paul was a man who was gripped by God’s promise, God’s faithfulness to his own will. When he acted on God’s promise the result was all on board was affected and encouraged. Don’t you want to be like Paul? Instead of being a person who brings others down, but a person who encourages others out of despair because you yourself are touched by God’s faithful and sovereign promise?

6. Conclusion

My heart is that today you go through rigorous training, to be schooled by Jesus Christ to trust in God’s faithfulness to carry out his good will in your life. God makes no such promise to you that you won’t be caught in storms of life, or that you will have easy life. Rather, if you sincerely love and follow God, and carry out his will faithfully, diligently and courageously, chances are you will face many harsh storms of hurricane force; some brought upon you by others’ mistakes and sins, some by your own misjudgments and sins, some simply because you live in the fallen world.

What is important is not that you avoid storms in life, but rather how you will fight for confidence!

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[1] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h7pYcNngvuSNrWnBpIicznPetcbwD95OGSR08

[2] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h7pYcNngvuSNrWnBpIicznPetcbwD95OGSR08

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vJHlrxj-RE

[4] http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg1799.htm

[5] F.F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of Acts, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975, p. 50.

[6] Wilkins, Michael J. “Bridging Contexts” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew. By Michael J. Wilkins, 522. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.

Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ (Numbers 6:24-26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon on January 4, 2009

As you start off another new year, I want you to think about this. What can you count on for the New Year? As you think about this, let me tell you a story:

Although one of the smartest people ever lived famed scientist Albert Einstein had more trouble finding his way home from work than unlocking the secret of atomic power. One evening while Einstein sat deep in thought aboard the train that brought him home each night, the porter was collecting tickets. As the porter approached Einstein, he rummaged around in his coat, through his pockets, his shirt and everywhere he could think of, but couldn’t find his ticket.

The porter told, “That’s okay, Dr. Einstein, I know you ride this train every day. I can collect tomorrow.” To this Einstein replied, “That’s fine for you, young man, but how am I supposed to know where to get off the train without my ticket?”

I am glad that I can find a similarity in being forgetful with Dr. Einstein who depended on his ticket to where to get off. As you envision this year, what can you count on?

This morning, I want you to know that you can count on God this New Year. If 2009 is anything like 2008, we can expect unexpected surprises, the good and the bad. All aspects of our lives will be touched by the prolonged recession, the global conflicts and wars around the world, the changes that will be brought by the new administration. It is uncertain time and that makes it more important to know that you can count on God.

When we talk about counting on God, it is important to have right encounter with God. We get into trouble when we start formulating our own understanding about God with our own feelings. If I start on the assumptions that God is angry, grumpy and is out to catch me when I screw up and punish me for it, that he is removed, uninvolved and uninterested about my life except advancing his own agenda, or that he is irrelevant and archaic all because the way I feel about him, I would not want to know God nor count on him.

I want you to know that you can count on God not because you feel like you can count on him, but because God says you can count on him from his own word.

Open your Bible to Numbers 6:22-26. Let’s consider together why we can count on him for the New Year.

1. Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ.

There is a very strong connection between Numbers 6:22-23 to Leviticus 9:22. In Leviticus, Aaron emerges from the Holy of Holies after sacrificing the sin offering, the burn offering and the fellowship offering. That is when he lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them (Leviticus 9:22) with the blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24-26. So, what you see here is the priestly blessing by Aaron taking place after sacrifices of offerings were made to God.

And the offerings were made in a particular order in Leviticus 9. (1) Sin offering or guilt offering: (2) burnt offering: (3) fellowship offering and grain offering (along with drink offering). The order is important. First God dealt with sin through sin offering; second, the worshipers committed to God wholeheartedly through burnt offering and grain offering; and third, fellowship/communion was established between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper.[1] God prescribed these sacrificial offerings for the Israelites in order to forgive their sin, for their devotion to him and for peaceful relationship between him and the people. When these offerings of forgiveness, devotion and fellowship were carried out, that is when Aaron pronounced the blessing upon the Israelites.

From the book of Hebrews, we see it clearly that it is Jesus Christ who came as high priest (Hebrews 9:11) and as the mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 9:15) who did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood (Hebrews 9:12).

Blessing only flows from what God purposed in his Son, and how Jesus Christ, his Son, carried out his redemptive purpose at the cross. In other words, you cannot entertain God’s blessing for you apart from Jesus Christ’s sacrificial offering of his life, his blood on the cross. It is Jesus who makes forgiveness of your sin, devotion of your life to God and fellowship with God and people possible. Only on what Jesus has accomplished for you already can you count God’s blessing!

For the Israelites to enjoy God’s blessing they needed to trust in God-ordained and prescribed offerings to deal with their sin, divided heart and broken relationship. In the same, to enjoy God’s blessing, we need to turn to Jesus who is the perfect Lamb sacrificed to deal with our sin, our divided heart and broken relationship.

2. Count on God who wills for your good and is committed to keep you.

Numbers 6:24, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

When you find yourself in Jesus Christ you can count on God’s blessing. God’s blessing speaks to his will. What’s God’s will for you who are in Christ? The priestly blessing shows God’s will for your good. So, when you hear, “The Lord bless you!” what you need to hear is that God wills for your good. Apostle Paul talks about said in Romans 6:9-10, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” In Christ, you are no longer an object of God’s wrath; in Christ, you are saved. The Lord bless you. The Lord wills for you good.

A commentator says, “Blessing is his idea, his purpose. It is not something his people must beg for, but it is the outreaching of his grace.”[2] God is not greedy with his blessing, only determined to give to those beg really hard. No, if you are in Christ, God’s stance toward you is not crossing his arms in greed, but that of posture of blessing. God wills, is determined to have you walk in his blessing and enable you to live in his abundant purpose for you.

Not only God wills for your good, he is committed to keep you, safeguards you. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The good shepherd who laid down his life is according to Paul in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus, who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” This you can count on that Jesus is fighting for you, praying for you to succeed in God’s purpose, in his blessing. He promised, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” in Matthew 28:20. The one who promises his presence forever in your life is committed to safeguard you to the end of the age. That you can count on!

3. Count on God’s presence and his favor.

Numbers 6:25, “the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

Do you remember what happened to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands? Exodus 34:29 says that although Moses wasn’t aware, his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. So, when you hear the blessing of God making his face shine on you, it is about his commitment to draw near you, be present in your life, to speak clearly to you. He won’t have to scream at you because he will be near you to speak to you. Again, it is Jesus who said in John 10:15, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Count on God’s presence in your life.

You can also count on God’s favor upon you. Some of you have worked for difficult bosses who are not easy to please, whether you do a good job or not, because they are unreasonable in their demand, unkind, rude and unsupportive. You walk away from them feeling like they aren’t interested in seeing you succeed at your work; their interest isn’t about your professional growth. Well, the blessing for God to be gracious to you promises that you won’t have that problem with God. God’s blessing to be gracious to you is a promise to show you favor. You will not have to earn his favor because his favor is given to you in Christ. You don’t say and do things hoping that God will be favorable to you. No, he is already committed to be favorable to you in Christ. You say and do things not to earn God’s favor, but as your thankful responses to God for showing you favor in Christ.

4. Count on God’s smile and peace.

Numbers 6:26, “the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

To turn his face toward is God’s promise to smile on you. It speaks to God’s pleasure and affection for you.[3] Again as it was with God’s favor, you cannot earn God’s pleasure, his affection. He gives you his pleasure, his affection, his smile on you in Christ. When you sin, you come to Jesus and received God’s forgiveness through Jesus’ blood, and God smiles on you. When you are doing what’s right before God, God smiles on you because it is through the life of Jesus Christ and power of the Holy Spirit you are growing in holiness. From being justified to being sanctified, from being delivered from darkness to walking in the light, being delivered from Satan to walk in the Spirit, God smiles on you because how the life of Christ bearing good fruits of the Holy Spirit. So, God’s promise to smile on you is his commitment to be pleased by the life of Christ within you. So, if you want to fine smiles on God’s face you need to remain in Jesus.

To give you peace is God’s commitment for the year 2009. Again, I emphasize to you that peace is not what you earn by doing the right things. God’s peace is given to you. Peace he promises is the quality of life you will enjoy when you follow Jesus as your Shepherd, as your Lord, your Savior. Sometimes, doing the right thing can cause whole lot of troubles in your life. Stephen from Acts did what was right when he accused the Jews of having betrayed and murdered Jesus (Acts 7:52). But, what he got was execution by people throwing stones at him. While being stoned to death, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and falling on his knees and crying out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59-60). What I see is man of great peace who entrusted himself to God and who interceded for those who were stoning him to death. I highlight this to make sure you know that God’s promise for peace is what he is going to give you when you follow Jesus.

5. Benediction!

Numbers 6:27, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

“They” meaning this prayer of blessing from v. 24-26 will put God’s name on the Israelites. Having God’s name on you is another way of saying God’s blessing is on you. So, NLT translates it, “Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

As such as, I would like to pronounce this prayer of blessings on you, and as I do, may God himself come now and bless you richly.

• The Lord bless you and keep you...

In Christ God wills for your good and wills to keep you.

• The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you...

In Christ God promises to be so near you that you feel the warm of his face and show you his favor.

• The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace...

In Christ God is pleased with you, he smiles on you, and grants you peace.

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[1] Barker, Kenneth L. NIV Study Bible (Fully Revised): Leviticus. 150-152. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1985, 1995, 2002.

[2] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 754. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[3] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 755. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

Longing to see God break into your life (Luke 2:22-40)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon December 28, 2008

Luke 2 begins with the birth account of our Lord Jesus in the town of Bethlehem when the time came for the baby to be born (Luke 2:6); as there was no room for Joseph and Mary, Jesus was placed in a manger (Luke 2:7). And about that time, an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds out in the fields nearby. In our family, when we do our Advent reading, our children love to emphasize the last word of Luke 2:9, “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.” It makes it dramatic! The shepherds heard angel announcing to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12). And, then there was this glorious appearance of the heavenly host, the army of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:13-14). When the angels left, you see the shepherds making their ways to see Jesus. When they saw Jesus they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.” (Luke 2:17) On returning, they were glorifying and praising God.

This probably is the all time favorite story about Christmas. Then, there is the famous Christmas carol, Angels We Have Heard On High from 1862 we all know and cherish.

Angels we have heard on high / Sweetly singing over the plains

And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains.

Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o

Shepherds, why this Jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?

What the gladsome tidings be Which inspire your heavenly song?

Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o

Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing;

Come, adore on bended knee Christ, the Lord, the newborn King

Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o

See Him in a manger laid Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth!

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, With us sing our Savior's birth.

Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o Glo-ori-a In excelsis de-o

But, rarely do we consider what took place afterward! There is more to the Christmas story after the Shepherds visited Jesus who was just born.

1. The rest of Christmas story…

The story involves Joseph and Mary at the temple after 40 days have passed from Mary giving birth to Jesus. A mother who gave birth was to take part in the rite of purification forty days after giving birth according to Leviticus 12:2-8. We see them taking part in this rite in Luke 2:22. We also see them observing the law to present their firstborn Jesus to God according to Exodus 13:2 as well as dedication of Jesus into the Lord’s service according to 1 Samuel 1 & 2.[1] Joseph and Mary were God fearing people who took God’s prescribed way of life very seriously. Luke 2:24 mentions “a pair of doves or two young pigeons,” which was the offering of the poor. This was Jesus’ family background, a poor family, but a family who took God very seriously.

2. Longing to see God breaking into your life

Luke 2:25, we are introduced to a new character named, Simeon. He is descried as righteous and devout man in old age. He was in line with the Old Testament figures like Job who were called righteous. Darrell Bock thinks that Simeon’s qualities reflect “a wise elder who has walked with God.”[2]

What stands out about Simeon is his deepest longing of his heart to see God break into history. Luke 2:25 describes him as “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” Eugene Peterson in his Message paraphrases this phrase as “a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel.” New Living Translation translates it, “… was eagerly waiting for Messiah to come and rescue Israel.” So, here waiting is not like sitting out on a porch on a clear night hoping to catch a sight of falling star. It is nothing like a person with a lottery ticket in his hand who must wait until the winning combination of numbers is revealed.

No, Simeon waited his whole life for one thing, the relief, the consolation of Israel through the coming of the Promised Messiah. When you wait for your good friend to show up at a restaurant, there is certainty about your waiting because you know your good friend is trustworthy and has track record of keeping his/her promises.

Darrell Bock describes likeness of Simeon as “Saints in touch with God’s heart often await expectantly the completion of God’s promises.”[3]

We must ask, “Do I long to see God break into my life and into those around me?” In a carpool ride down to Chicago to visit House of Prayer, a church serving homeless and served by homeless people, Adelaide asked a question something like this. What was one thing that impacted you the most in your childhood? Well, I had to think about for few minutes. It prompted me to remember a moment when I prayed to God when I was 14 years old still in Korea just few months before I immigrated to the US. I wasn’t a Christian then, but I remember asking God, “God, if you are there, I want you to show me you are there.” It was a callout to God out of desperation from a teenage boy who felt miserable because he was lost, depressed and disillusioned. It was a callout to God to break into my miserable life. And guess what, God answered my callout to him soon after I came to Chicago. Through a series of events, I ended up at a camp retreat out in the camping ground by Indianan Dunes. There I was in a tent surrounded by eight or so others who were praying for me. There, not only did God let me know that he existed and was there. He came near me. He showed me Jesus. I longed to see God and God showed himself to me through Jesus.

God always answers longings of people for God to break into their lives by revealing Jesus. When was last time you callout to God to break into your life? If you are not calling out to God to break into you life, it is because you don’t understand what Simeon understood; he understood that there was more to life in the absence of the consolation of Israel. To cultivate the longing that expresses in callout to God to come and break into our lives, there is got to be this realization that there must be more! There is a song by David Ruis called, “There must be more.” It goes like this.

Lord I groan, Lord I kneel

I am cryin’ out for something real

‘Cause I know deep in my soul

There must be more

Lord I’m tired, yes I’m weak

I need your power to work in me

But I can’t let go, I keep hanging on

There must be more

There must be more; there must be more

River flow, fire burn; river flow, fire burn

Holy Spirit breathe on me; Holy Spirit breathe on me.

Do you know there is more? If you didn’t know I tell you there is more God wants to show you. He wants you to behold Jesus. He is your salvation. He is your consolation, your rescue, comfort. Let the deep longing rise within you and callout to God. What he will give you is his Son Jesus. As Simeon did, you will behold Jesus, your light!

3. Longing fueled by the Holy Spirit

Going back to Luke 2:25, it says that the Holy Spirit was upon him. And, Luke 2:26, it was the Holy Spirit who revealed to him… that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” His longing, his waiting had already this deep element of trust in God that he was going to do what he said he would do. Now, his longing was fueled even more by certainty when the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he was to see with his eyes how God was going to unfold his rescue plan for Israel. God was going to send his Messiah and he would become the hope of Israel, the consolation, the relief of Israel.

Luke 2:27, we see Simeon going into the temple courts because the Spirit moved him. Just when Joseph and Mary were obediently following the way of God by presenting Jesus at the temple, the Spirit tucks him to go into the temple courts. And, it happened, the divinely appointed moment when Simeon got to behold the salvation, Jesus Christ. If you would consider history as in a shape of hour glass on its side, the moment Jesus was born is the narrow tube part. All the promises from the old days are now distilled into one focal point on Jesus.

What I see here is where there is desperate longing to see God break in, God sends his Holy Spirit to make sure his Son Jesus Christ gets revealed to us.  For us, in a similar way from Simeon, we long for another day when Jesus is going to break into our history once again for good.

4. Longing fueling the lifestyle of worship, fasting and praying

From Luke 2:36, we are introduced to Anna. She was known as a prophetess in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. She really is a remarkable woman. Only after seven years into her marriage, she lost her husband and became a widow for eighty four. Eighty four years of widowhood plus seven years of marriage equals to ninety one years old. It says she was very old. She was easily more than hundred years old.

Luke 2:38 describes her lifestyle. It says, “She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.” The temple of Jerusalem built by Herod was large with many little rooms for various purposes. So, she could have been allowed to live in one of these rooms at the temple. Or, she might have centered her life at the temple living nearby. We cannot be certain about her circumstance. But, what we can be certain is about her lifestyle. For her, there were no weekly holy days when she went to the temple. She centered her life around the temple so exclusively that it was like she never left the temple. What was she doing there? Three things: worship night and day, fasting and praying (Luke 2:37).

For Simeon, it was the Holy Spirit who led him into the temple because of his longing to see God break into the history of Israel. For Anna, she met Jesus because she never left the temple. Luke 2:38 says, “Coming up to them at that very moment.” It was the moment when Simeon was talking to Joseph and Mary about the child’s destiny. “The child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sigh that will be spoken against, so the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” (Luke 2:34-35). When I hear that Anna came to them at that very moment, I see God at work behind the scene. But, I also see how her lifestyle played into see this happen. She was well over one hundred years old. And, for majority of her life she centered her life on worship, fasting and praying to God.

What I see in Anna is the theme of running the race with consistency in her devotion to God. She reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow from Luke 18. It is a story about a widow who asks unjust judge to grant her justice against her adversary. Jesus asks in Luke 18:6-9, “… will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Day and night, Anna served faithfully at the temple worship; she fasted and prayed persistently for long time. What do you think motivated her to persistently center her life on worship, fasting and prayer at the temple? It says when she came up to them she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Here “looking forward to” is the same Greek word translated as “waiting for” from Luke 2:25 by Simeon. It is no different with Anna. She too like many along with Simeon had been waiting for, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, the redemption of Jerusalem. It was this longing that fueled her worship, fasting and praying.

5. Questions to reflect…

In closing here are some questions we need to reflect:

• What do you long after? As we have seen in Simeon and Anna’s life, the kind of longing you have is very important. Longing to see God break into your life, to believe that there is got to be more with God, longing to behold Jesus as your salvation… when this longing is not there, it is like loosing heart. I am sure you all have all kinds of longings, to graduate from school, to be successful, to gain back grounds you lost over the holidays tables, to be a good person, to be good to others… It’s all good, you got to have this stream of deep longing after God that can drive the rest of longings. And, you got to fuel your longing for God to break into your life and others through worship and through fasting and through prayer as Anna did. When you set your heart on seeing God break into your life, you see the Holy Spirit moving in you. Remember, there must be more!

• What gives you peace? Simeon felt peace having seen Jesus. He told God, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.” Beholding Jesus, he experienced peace, true contentment, knowing that he would soon die. Doesn’t this put things to perspective for us? We all assume that we could live longer than the number of years we’ve lived so far. And, there is no sense of impending death approaching because of aging. And, for Simeon to have experienced peace facing death, how should our encounter with Jesus affect you and me?

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[1] Bock, Darrell L. “Original Meaning” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 92. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

[2] Bock, Darrell L. “Original Meaning” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 93. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

[3] Bock, Darrell L. “Original Meaning” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Luke. By Darrell L. Bock, 93. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1996.

Count on God! (Psalm 89)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon December 21, 2008

I’ve been thinking a lot about keeping promises this past week and this led me to think about my childhood. Growing up I never really knew what my dad did for living. All I knew was that he worked for different companies and he also traveled a lot. That was good enough for me. But, there was something I felt very strongly about. Maybe it was being a youngest child thing; I thought that it would be really cool if my dad would bring home something special just for me. So, before he left for his work in the morning, or before he left for his business travels, I would stop him and ask him if he would get something for me; I can’t remember what I asked from him… perhaps toys like transformers kits, battle ships, microscope, things that boys would enjoy. But, most of the time, it didn’t have to be anything specific; I just wanted him to remember me and bring home something special for me. That’s what I really wanted, special gifts from dad.

Whenever I asked him to remember me and bring home something special, he never failed to promise to do so. But the problem was that my dad too easily forgot his promises to me. I kept asking him thinking that if I asked him enough, he would eventually remember me and get me something special. But, at some point, I stopped asking him because I stopped expecting, stopped hoping… because I stopped trusting his promises.

As I thought about my dad’s broken promises, I began thinking about my own promises to my kids. And, God highlighted a very specific promise I’ve made to Mikayla. I’ve always thought that it would be really cool if I could have daddy and daughter date, nothing special, but just a time alone with each of my girls. Few months back I took Abby out for a breakfast at Egg Factory and it was fabulous. Well, the next in line was Mikayla. But, things got busy and I keep postponing it. And, Mikayla kept on asking when I was going to taker her out for daddy and daughter date. I would say to her something like, “Soon, I will take you out soon.” But, I didn’t keep my promise. And, guess what? Just like how I stopped asking my dad for something special from him, Mikayla stopped asking me about our date. Man, the very thing that I didn’t like about my dad, here I was doing exactly the same thing. I asked her on Friday during dinner about how she used to ask about our daddy daughter date, but she stopped asking me about it. I asked her why she stopped asking me about it. Her response was, “Well, I didn’t think it was going to happen.” Man! It hurt! She gave up on me because I didn’t keep my promise to her, because I kept on forgetting.

Think of your relationship with your dads. Have you stopped asking him because you’ve stopped expecting from him, you’ve given up on him to keep his promises to you? Perhaps, you internalized it by saying to yourself that it is your fault. Or, you are really angry and bitter about it. How about your relationships with others? Have others stopped asking you because they’ve stopped expecting from you because your tendency to forget and not carry through your promises to them?

Now, when we make promises to others and others make promises to us, I would like to think that our intention is to keep our promises. But, what I realize is that all the good intention in the world does no good if it is not carried out. Intention with no action is nothing but an empty promise that does nothing but hurts people.

Now, think about your relationship with God. Have you stopped asking him earnestly? Have you stopped expecting from him? Do you think of God as a faulty bow who doesn’t deliver what he has promised? Perhaps, self-loathingly you ask yourself, “Why should he pay attention to me? Why should he care for me? Well, I am nobody.”

What is wrong with our generations? Why are we so jaded about anyone keeping their promises, not alone keep our own promises? What does our current historical economic meltdown say about our generations? It speaks to deeply cowardly, deceptive, and defective human hearts that cannot think and feel beyond themselves. It speaks to the lack of promise keepers, who take their own words very seriously because they take God seriously. Are you a promise keeper? Do you stand out as dependable, trustworthy, promise fulfilling person when everyone else falter around you? Are you a countercultural promise keeper no matter how hard it gets?

Psalm 89 speaks powerfully to the jaded generations who cannot fathom people who keep their promises. The psalm is going to show you how you can stand out as counterculturally dependable and trustworthy people when you count on God!

1. Count on God because he is loving, faithful, powerful as our King

When you read through Psalm 89 over and over again, you cannot fail to notice how deeply the psalmist known as Ethan the Ezrahite counts on God.

Right off the bat, I am blown away by the way the psalmist counts on God. Listen to his declaration from verse 1 and 2; to say, “I will,” speaks to Ethan’s determination. This is what he is going to do and nothing’s going to stop him. Verse 1, “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” Why sing of the Lord’s love? Why make his faithfulness known? Why should you count on God at all? Verse 2 tells why. It is because God’s love stands firm forever and he established his faithfulness in heaven itself.” God’s love is never fickle, but is constant and rock-solidly dependable. His faithfulness isn’t the stuff of earthly qualities, but of heavenly quality that you can always count on.

V.5 -8, he asks a question repeatedly, “Who is like the Lord? Who is like you?” The heaves praise him (v. 5), the council of the holy ones (v. 7), the who’s who of the saints fear him, for he is incomparable (v. 6), he is most awesome (v. 7), he is mighty (v. 8).

Talking about power, he peppers v. 9-13 with image of his great power. Surging sea with waves mounting up which symbolizes crazy chaos beyond control like the economic meltdown domino has nothing on God; God rules and he calms it (v. 9). Rahab, the mythical monster of the deep is crushed and slayed by God (v. 10). As the Creator, he claims the heavens, the earth and all that is in it, the north and the south as his possession, his creation; even the inanimate mountains tall and short alike sing for you at his name (v. 11-12). His arm, his hand, his right hand, powerful, strong, and exalted (v. 13)! Righteousness and justice define his authority, his throne (v. 14). But, he dispenses righteousness and justice by carrying them out in love and faithfulness. Verse 18 tells us to count on God because he is our shield and our king!

2. Count on God because of his promise to David

Verse 19 through verse 37 speaks to God’s covenant with David, his promise to David. For the psalmist this was one of the greatest sources of his confidence in God.

God calls David his warrior with God given strength (V. 19), my servant and his anointed one (v. 20). God’s going to sustain him and strengthen him. And, for this reason, the anointed David will subject his enemy (v. 22). God’s going to crush and strike down David’s foes (v. 22). God’s faithful love will be with David and God’s going to give him strength… that is what the image of exalting horn means in v. 24. God affirms his eternal love and his unfailing covenant, his promise with David (v. 28). God’s everlasting promise to David is that he is going to establish David’s throne as long as the heavens endure (v. 29).

V. 30-37, God reaffirms his commitment to ensure, to establish David’s throne firmly, his line of posterity and kingship to continue forever even in the cases of David’s sons forsaking God and all that God stood for. God promised to decisively to deal with the sins of the bad kings after David. You read Kings and Chronicles and you realize the depth of apostasy and rebellion by the sons of David. Yet, God says in v. 33, “but I will not take my love from him nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” There it is again, God’s enduring love and his everlasting faithfulness. If there was ever question about what God was going to do with the line of David, God says in v. 36-38, “his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”

To count on God meant trusting God’s intention, his promise to carry out his plan to continue the line of David.

3. Count on God through lament

To count on God’s intention to carry out his promise is all good except when things don’t look like God is doing what he said he would do. It’s like when the promises by us and by others taste like rotten fruits.

When your reality seems to betray the promises from God what do you do? V. 39 to 51 speak to the reality that doesn’t match with what God had promised in the past. The reality as the palmist perceived was dark and gloomy and destructive. Where did the confidence that Ethan count on God? How can you keep counting on God when the realty casts doubts on God’s promises?

The test of faith is in those crucible moments that shake the core of what you thought was your secure trust in God.

It is not possible to pinpoint the exact circumstance that the psalmist was in, but it was pretty bad. Perhaps, it was during the time of last two kings of Judah in the awake of Babylonian exile. Or, perhaps it was during the time of exile. Whatever was the circumstance that the psalmist was in it was bad enough to shake his faith in God.

All that was said about God’s eternal love, his faithfulness, his power, his covenant promise to continue the line of David, it all felt irrelevant to the psalmist because the current realty seemed to betray God’s promise. God promised for enduring line of David, but the kingdom of Judah collapsed and the king of Judah was no longer, but an exile among many. What was the psalmist to do?

Let me tell you what the psalmist did. Ethan chose to lament. To lament is to express grief, pain. It is about being honest. It is opposite of stuffing it in, pretending everything is fine when it is not, putting smiles on your face when your heart is stricken with disappointments and hurts. To lament is to admit your pain, your disappointment, your confusion to God. And, this is what Ethan chose to do.

God said he would establish the line of David forever but now it was as though God was rejecting, spurning, getting angry with David and his posterity (v. 38). It was as though God was renouncing his covenant with David when psalmist witnessed how David’s throne got defiled by the invasion, how the walls of Jerusalem and the strongholds crumbled to ruins in the hands of the enemies, how the kingdom of David was plundered away. No longer commanding any respect, the line of David was scorned by the neighbors. Ethan is grief; he is hurt! And, he is letting God know he is hurting! ‘God, it appears as though you are exalting the right hand of David’s foes and make them rejoice over the demise of David’s line. It is as though you render the sword of David powerless and you withdraw your support for him in battle. You promised to establish his throne forever, but now it appears as though you are putting an end to it. You set David upon his throne, now it looks like you cast it to the ground. I don’t get it! Why does it feel like you are hiding yourself forever? Why is that all I feel now is your wrath burning like fire?’

Do you know what it is like to be honest with God like this? Why is that do we put on a smile on our face when pain is deep? Is it because we think that God cannot take the heat from us, that somehow we might hurt God? Is it because somehow we got this idea that being brutally honest with God is not what Christians do?

It is so important to you know that God can take your lament, he can handle your grief, pain, anger. He says bring it on whatever is that you have in you that has been eating inside of you. Don’t play nice Christian! God isn’t impressed when you put up fake smiles when it is time to express your hurts! Don’t stuff it in, but express to God! God wants you to know that he wants to hear you.

If you don’t choose to lament, whatever is inside of you will get rotten and it is going to poison your thinking, your relationship with people, but most importantly it is going to position your relationship with God. Instead of drawing near to God, you are going to stray away from him if you don’t choose to express your feeling honestly to him.

4. Count on God through lament that acts on truth

Now, to think lament as simply dumping your bad feelings on God and nothing more is not accurate. If lament was simply unloading your toxic feelings to God and nothing more, it won’t help you to deal with the real issues that have caused such feelings in the first place.

Ethan began and carried his psalm with his heartfelt trust, his deep confidence in God’s love, faithfulness, his power, righteousness and justice. But, v. 38, the tone changes completely from joyful confidence to the tone of doubts, pain, confusion… But, the thing about this psalm is there is no relief to the miserable circumstances. Ethan’s lament created this incredible tension between God’s promises and apparent reality of God’s unfulfilled promises. And, there is no resolution. There is no easy answer to the crisis of faith! The tension continues on.

So, from circumstantial point of view, nothing has changed. The line of David appears to have ended; the throne of David no more. No more kings in Judah, no more nation of Israel. Exile continues. Jerusalem remains in ruin. Nothing changed in the course of this psalm when you look at from circumstantial point of view.

But, look how Ethan ends his psalm in v. 52, “Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.” Tension remains between God’s promises and his unfulfilled promises, problems remain. But, what Ethan chose to do is to praise God.

Again, I remind you that Ethan did not skip the lament part. He honestly expressed how he felt about the situation. And, God heard him. Nothing changed circumstantially, but radical adjustment took place in his heart when he took his heart to God and wrestle with him. God renewed his faith in him.

What I see is here how lamenting empowered Ethan to trust God again. He moved from being overwhelmed by feelings ungrounded in truth to now being centered, being grounded in the truth of who God is. It happened because he became honest with
God. It happened because he recounted God’s promises.

When you put together the truth about God and being honest before God what you get is faith that is purified through fire.

Conclusion

It has past months since I promised to Mikayla to have a daddy and daughter breakfast with her. This week God’s has convicted me about this. I don’t want to follow the footsteps of my dad who was terrible at keeping his end up. When my children grow old and when it is time for me to say goodbye, I want them to remember me as a father who loved them, who was faithful, who kept his word. It is not good enough to have mere good intention. All the good intention in the world would do no good if it is not back up by action. All my good intention to spend time with my girls as their daddy will not mean anything if I don’t follow through. I can blame it on forgetfulness. But, forgetfulness only shows that I don’t care enough. Caring enough is remembering!

So, I remembered and Saturday morning I took Mikayla to Panera. We had a fabulous time. Lyn was gracious to make it possible for me to keep my promise to Mikayla. If I as a mere human dad can remember my promise to my child and get my acts together to keep my promise to my girl, how much better would our heavenly Father be at keeping his promises?

Although Psalm 89 gives no resolution to the tension between God’s promise and delay in his fulfillment, we as a reading who lives now knows that God has fulfilled his promise to David. The throne of David, the line of David didn’t end in exile. Just in four days, we will celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a descendant of David, who carries the line of David now as the exalted King, Savior.

Sunday Sermon: Judges 1:1-2:6, Trust in the LORD and fight his battles

Time after time I am amazed by how God still speaks so relevantly to us through his timeless word. For a while, I would like us to journey together through the book of Judges from the Old Testament. I invite you to see for yourself that truly God speaks to us through his word.

The book of Judges spans from the time of Joshua’s death to the rise of monarchy, few hundred years long.

The generation who experienced Exodus under Moses’ leadership did not get to taste the Promised Land. They grumbled, complained, didn’t trust in God’s promise, didn’t remain in faithful covenant relationship with God, instead made for themselves a golden idol to worship, gave into the fear of men instead of trusting in God’s ability to fulfill his promise to them to give the Promised Land. When the spies that were sent out to scope out the Promised Land confirmed that indeed that the Promised Land was exceedingly good as the Lord promised, they didn’t hang on to God’s promise to give that land to them. Instead, they gave into the fear of reported giant dwellers in the Promised Land.

Caleb and Joshua who trusted in the Lord encouraged this generation under Moses’ leadership to trust in the Lord. Caleb and Joshua told them in Numbers 14:8-9.

“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

How did they respond to Caleb and Joshua? Well Numbers 14:10 says, “the whole assembly talked about stoning them.”

To this God responded in Numbers 14:20-23, “as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

So, this generation who witnessed the great and amazing miracles of God forfeited their calling to go out and possess the Promised Land. They wondered in the desert for forty years. They did not get to enjoy the promise of the Lord.

It was the following generation under Joshua’s leadership that got to advance into the Promised Land. This was the generation that grew up eating manna and quails God miraculously provided them. To Joshua and to this generation God promised in Joshua 1:4-5, “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates-all the Hittite country-to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The condition for God’s promise follows in verse 6-9, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Be strong and courageous says the Lord. Do not give into fear or discouragement. Why? It is because he promises his presence, his enablement to do his will! They were to find their strength, encouragement, courage, purpose in the Lord as they do the work of God.

Under Joshua’s leadership, this generation saw the great act of God. When they came to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were told to go and stand in the river in Joshua 3:8. Verse 13 says, “as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord-the Lord of all the earth-set foot in the Jordan, its water flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” So it happened in verse 17, “The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

There in the middle of the Jordan, each of the twelve men from the each tribe picked up a stone. These twelve stones were to remind them the remarkable miracle God performed in the midst of them. The twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan were then placed at Gilgal where the Israelites encamped. From this place under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites conducted the military missions. Mark F. Rooker calls it “the centralized military base of operations to which the Israelites returned after their various military missions.”[1] Whenever they returned to Gilgal, they returned to be reminded again and again by the twelve stones, the great miracle God performed at the Jordan River.

In Joshua 13, we see that in Joshua’s old age, perhaps in his eighty’s, God reminded Joshua, “You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” Then, God told Joshua in verse 6, “Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you.” There were still the areas of the Promised Land that were to be taken and occupied. Yet, God had Joshua allocate the land to each tribe, to divide it among them as their inheritance.[2] And, then on, occupying the each portion of the land became the responsibility of each tribe, of course with only God’s help. With God’s blessing and his promise, and his enablement, each tribe was to go out and take their inheritance.

That is what we see in Judges Chapter 1. After Joshua having passed away, the allotted land, divided land remained yet to be fully taken by each tribe.

The very first chapter begins with the mention of the death of Joshua. This marks the beginning of the Judges period. We see that this generation groomed under Joshua’s leadership learned something well because they asked the Lord in verse 1 as to who were to go up and fight. When they asked the Lord, in verse 2, “The Lord answered.” Up to verse 19, we see how the tribe of Judah went about taking the allotted land.

Things seemed well, but verse 19 and on inform us that the things weren’t going too well. “They took procession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.”

Verse 21 says, “The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.”

Verse 22-26 records the success the house of Joseph had in attacking Bethel. Verse 22 records that The Lord was with them.

But, from verse 27, we read the disparaging reports about the rest of the tribes. Verse 27, Manasseh did not drive out the people; Verse 29, Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites; Verse 30, Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites; Verse 31, Nor did Asher drive out; Verse 33, Neither did Naphtali among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

The chapter 1 was about the Israelites’ perspective on taking the Promised Land. From reading chapter 1, we get the sense that they failed to possess the Promised Land completely because the Canaanites were too resilient, because they couldn’t over come the chariots. This was the Israelites’ perspective on how things didn’t go well for them.

But, 2:1-5 reveals a different story. This is God’s perspective on how things didn’t go well for the Israelites. Why did the Israelites have difficult time possessing the Promised Land the Lord promised to them? Was it because God’s promise was not true? Was God to be blamed for their failure? Was God unable to deliver the promise?

God is not to be blamed for this failure. He told them in verse 1-2, “I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars” “Yet you have disobeyed me.”

Their failure to drive out the Canaanites was not because God was powerless to deliver his promise. It wasn’t because God abandoned them. It wasn’t because God wasn’t faithful to them and to his own promise. It wasn’t because the Canaanites were too strong. It wasn’t because they were better trained and equipped with the latest weapons. God can be counted. His words are trustworthy. He does what he says. God is not the reason for their failure. Nor, the strength of the Canaanites.

No, their failure to realize God’s promise was because of their own failure to remain faithful to God. God who called them out to be a people set out for him; God who acted mighty and miraculously to bring them out of the slavery under Egypt; God who provided them in the desert for forty years; God who never breaks his promise.

All that God asks is that his people remain faithful to his amazing grace, to trust him for their future, to trust him for their life, to trust him for the true meaning and purpose of life, to trust him for the victories against the enemies, to trust him for the victories against the destructive sinful behaviors, thoughts and emotions.

Instead of remaining in this God who mightily delivered them out of miseries, difficulties, bondages, they sought after the gods of other nations.

Let me make a couple of application from this narrative this morning.

1. Trust God in his term.

What is the consequence of their distrust and disobedience? God says in verse 3, “Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” God would not be our Savior, our deliverer, our power on our own terms. He says if you want to experience my saving grace, power, deliverance, purpose, joy, then you got learn to trust me and follow me in my term. His term is Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29.

2. Trust God’s faithful and trustworthy character.

Our Christian journey always begins, continues in being immersed in the amazing person of God. God is faithful in what he promises to ou and what he purposes for you.

God’s purpose and his promise to you is not that you live defeated life, but that you live successful and prosperous life in doing his battle.

Learn to reflect and mediate on who God is through the life of Jesus Christ. Ask God to let his self-revelation make deeper impact on your heart, conscience, emotion. Ask God to help you encounter him and be amazed by who he is. So, that you simply find yourself on your knees and your head bow downed to adore him, to worship him.

3. Pick the right fights and the fight the battle with God’s help.

The key to successful spiritual life is to pick the right fights. Another word, you have to have the right cause for your life. God has the battles picked out for you. He wants you to come along side of him and participate in his kingdom fights.

Instead what we do is we waste our energy, time and passion on the things that will only last temporarily. How do you know when you are fighting the wrong fights? It is when the fights are to increase your comfort, pleasure, safety without God. Another word, if the fights serve your end, then they are wrong fights. The fights that God have in mind is the fights that you wage with God’s word in your heart and with prayer in your mouth, with love of Christ in your action. We are called to fight to love God deeper and love people deeper. We are called to fight against the darkness of the age that blinds people from seeing the true God in Jesus Christ. We are called to fight for the souls!

What kind of battles are you fighting? Are they God’s kingdom fights?

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[1] NIDOTTE, Gilgal: Theology
[2] Deut. 31:7.