Antioch Covenant Church

The Song of Mary

Luke 1:39-56

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” vss. 46-47

Christmas Songs

I thought we might have some fun looking at the highlights from last Sunday night’s Christmas dinner. The dinner itself was especially tasty and we had some great dishes.  One thing I really liked was Frank Burkhardt’s smoked turkey. I had never had that before and I really liked that. We also had some fun games. The first was that we made living Christmas trees. The pics are up in the lobby but incase you missed them before you came in here are a few. (show pics) the second game we played was the “Christmas Song” game. Everyone was given a small piece of paper with the name of a Christmas song on it. Somewhere in the room was someone else with the same one and you had to find them.  The catch is that you had to sing the song as you walked around trying to find your match. But…in order to make sure you knew the songs Claudia went through the songs. She would give us the first word or two and then it was hilarious, everyone would start singing the songs! She had to stop them or we would have spent the whle night singing.. Here’s a few examples.

Angels…we have heard on high.

Silent…night, holy night.

It came…upon a midnight clear.

O.k. you get it, in fact, you’re doing it too. You now, there is something about songs, music, that we all have in common. Music is something everyone loves. There may be different styles and different ways of playing and singing music but we all have some type of music we like.  It means a lot to us and usually resonates with our life.

Today, let’s look at a song in the Bible found in Luke chapter 1. If you are able, please stand as we read Luke 1:39-56.

Read Passage – Luke 1:39-56

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” ⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful ⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

Preparing the Way

There is an important exchange that takes place just before we read this song of Mary. Listen to what happens when they see each other; verse 41

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb…” Luke 1:41

To remind you, Mary is pregnant out of wedlock.  Joseph doesn’t divorce her, but somehow it was decided between Mary’s parents and Joseph that Mary needs to get a way for a while so she goes to visit her cousin. Mary was facing a lot of hostility and ridicule. The people of her town could have taken her out and stoned her. That would have been within their law. She was a threat to their holiness. She would have upset the town and their way of doing things. Sending her away was probably something they did to protect her and help her. She must have experienced some fear as well. Always wondering if people would turn on her, She could have possible even feel threatened at times. Now she travels to see her cousin Elizabeth. This is their first encounter. It’s an incredible scene where this baby inside Elizabeth recognizes he is in the presence of Jesus.  The language here is very telling.  The baby just didn’t kick or move. No this was a bigger thing, it leaped. This is a big action. This baby in Elizabeth is John the Baptist.

Note: John’s purpose in life was to announce Christ. Here, even in the womb, he is announcing the arrival of Christ.  This baby, even in the womb, doesn’t miss the amazement of seeing Jesus. This is really an incredible scene to think about an unborn baby having the awareness to not only recognize that this baby in Mary is the Christ-child, but it is also announcing that Christ is present. It says in Luke 3:4:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” Luke 3:4

John’s purpose and mission in life was to announce Christ, prepare the way for him, and he is even doing that here in the womb.

The Blessing

But something else of great importance takes place, it happens in verse 42:

“In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” Luke 1:42

Let me put this a little different light for you. Mary has been sent away in disgrace. Even though she has done nothing wrong, it’s better for the family and for Joseph that she go away.  She might be feeling a bit down or even confused and here, when she sees Elizabeth, she greets her with a blessing. And a loud one at that.  Mary is probably used to people whispering around her. “Psst! She’s pregnant. She’s not married.”  Maybe even scowls and sneers. But here, Elizabeth isn’t quiet at all. She’s loud. She’s happy. She’s ready to affirm Mary. She wants everyone to hear that this young woman is an amazing woman who has been given a great honor.  It’s joyful, affirming, and must have been so reassuring to Mary and a welcomed voice.

Mary’s Song of…

From that encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, and the encouraging and affirming words of Elizabeth, we see this beautiful song of Mary emerge.  Many know it as Mary’s Magnificant. I believe we learn a great deal from these deeply moving words. Let’s look at a few things I picked out from it.

• Praise

First, we see that Mary song is a song of praise that embraces God’s work in her; vs 46-48:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” vss. 46-48

Mary uses some familiar words here, they are words that were spoken by Hannah of the Old Testament in 1 Samuel.  This lets us in an insight about Mary; she knew the traditions of her culture and the Scriptures too. Hannah was a woman who trusted and waited on God and is a testament to the strong character of a woman. She waited a long time and never got pregnant. She wanted a child with all her heart.  Her husband loved her in the most endearing way even though she had not children. He was man of real character. Hannah prayed to God and told God if he gave her a child, a son, she would give him back to God. God heard her prayer and she made good on her promise. She had a baby boy and we know him as the prophet Samuel.  When he had been weaned, she took him and presented him to the Lord at the Temple.  That meant that she turned him over to be raised by the priests. She would only see him on special occasions. Hannah’s song is recorded for us in 1 Samuel 2. Praise, song is so important in our lives. David reminds us of that in Psalm 47:6:

“Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.” Psalm 47:6

A follow-up to these stories. Both Mary and Hannah gave up their sons. Hannah to the priests at the Temple but Mary to death on a cross.  Both had more children. Hannah had 7 children in all (1 Samuel 2:5) and Mary had 4 more sons and daughters as well.

• Mercy

Mary’s song is also a song about mercy, verse 50:

“His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” vs. 50

Mercy is kindness or help given to people who are in a very bad or desperate situation. Mary realizes that she is not really worthy of some great respect or honor. Mercy is something that is experienced when you humble yourself and submit to God.

“Mary’s greatness consists in the fact that she wants to glorify God not herself.”

– Pope Benedict XVI

Mary’s attitude and heart are in the right place and in words like these we can see some of the virtue that God saw in her too. The key to Mary recognizing God’s mercy is that she sees it extending back to previous generations. It’s amazing to me that this young woman is aware of the history and legacy of her people. What’s even more amazing is that she looks back at God’s faithfulness, “from generation to generation” to recognize the work that God is doing in her life at this point. She not only sees how God has worked but also understands that this is the beginning of something that will change history forever. She is carrying the Christ-child. The mercy that she feels is the mercy that is extended to us as well. 1 Peter 1:3:

“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” 1 Peter 1:3

Through the child born to Mary we are extended the same mercy and the gift of new birth, forgiveness of sin and a new relationship with God.

• Living In God’s Promises

And third, Mary chooses to live in God’s promises. Listen to her words from vss. 46-48:

 ^“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” vss. 54-55

There is something amazing happening here and Mary acknowledges that. The amazing thing is that she is seeing and being a part of God’ fulfilling his promises.  She must have been thrilled in many ways just to understand that God was working and using her. Now all the promises made to the people of Israel, all the prophecies of the Old testament prophets, all the things that they had waited for were now happening right before her eyes. Her pregnancy was part of that confirmation. Paul states thins in Romans 15:8:

“The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” Psalm 145:13

Jesus was the confirmation of God’s truth, God’s promises.

A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Open it up to the congregation for them to talk about the promises of God that they feel in their life.

Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.

• God’s presence— “I will never leave thee” (Heb. 13:5)
• God’s protection—”I am thy shield” (Gen. 15:1)
• God’s power—”I will strengthen thee” (Isa. 41:10)
• God’s provision—”I will help thee” (Isa. 41:10)
• God’s leading—”And when He putteth forth His own sheep,      He goeth before them” (John 10:4)
• God’s purposes— “I know the thoughts that I think      toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer.      29:11)
• God’s rest—”Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are      heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)
• God’s cleansing— “If we confess our sins, He is      faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all      unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
• God’s goodness— “No good thing will He withhold from      them that work uprightly” (Psalm 84:11)
• God’s faithfulness—”The Lord will not forsake His      people for His great name’s sake” (1 Sam. 12:22)
• God’s guidance—”The meek will He guide” (Psalm 25:9)
• God’s wise plan—”All things work together for good to      them that love God” (Rom. 8:28)

Trust

Finally, we see that God fulfilling his promises builds a trust in our lives. Note verse 51:

“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm…” vs. 51

God is not only trustworthy but is strong enough to hold us and protect us.  This is exemplified with the image of his arm.

In Psalm 25:1 we are reminded:

“In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.” Psalm 25:1

You and I are a masterpiece; God’s masterpiece. He is working in me and you. It’s important to note that.

Psalm 75

“We praise you, God, we praise you, for your Name is near…” vs. 1

What’s In A Name

A young woman went to a job interview. Shen enters the interview area and a man begins conducting the interview.  He notices here name so he asks the young woman about it. ”Did your parents name you after the flower?” She replied, “Yes.” The boss asked if it was family name or exactly how her parents named her.  She told him this wonderful story about it. “My parents were bringing me home from the hospital but I was not yet named. As they were bringing me from the car to the house a lily literally fell on me from the sky and landed right on my blanket.” The interviewer replied that it was beautiful story.  Well, the next guy comes into the interviewer and sits down. He’s not a good looking man. The interviewer asks, “So, What’s your name?” He gave a crooked smile and said, “Piano.”

Read Passage – Psalm 75

¹ We praise you, God,
we praise you, for your Name is near;
people tell of your wonderful deeds.

² You say, “I choose the appointed time;
it is I who judge with equity.
³ When the earth and all its people quake,
it is I who hold its pillars firm.^[b]
4 To the arrogant I say, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horns.^[c]
5 Do not lift your horns against heaven;
do not speak so defiantly.’”

⁶ No one from the east or the west
or from the desert can exalt themselves.
⁷ It is God who judges:
He brings one down, he exalts another.
⁸ In the hand of the Lord is a cup
full of foaming wine mixed with spices;
he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth
drink it down to its very dregs.

⁹ As for me, I will declare this forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,
¹⁰ who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

The Misuse of God’s Name

Unfortunately, We live in a society where God’s name is not sacred and not used properly. You might be able to make a case that most time when you hear the name of God that its’s not being used in an honoring way to God. Some people use it as a filler in sentences and many use the name of God without ever really knowing what they are saying or that they are saying it. It’s even made it into our texting language and TV shows. OMG is not only a common text acronym but there is a TV show with that name as well. JC is in the texting language often. We need to be concerned about this. God takes his name seriously; look at what he said in Exodus 20:7:

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Exodus 20:7

He doesn’t want his name misused’ so yuch so that he included it as one of the 10 Commandments.

Many Names, Same God

Names are important to us.  I want people to get my name right, don’t you? Not only are they important to us, they often help identify an individual and they can actually reveal who a person is, and what their personality is like. God goes by many different names in the Bible. One commentator has counted over 63 found in Scripture. Another I read said that the total is 72. That seems like a lot but God is so awesome that the number of names we could use to describe Him is as endless as He is. In English we only have one or two names for God like God or Lord but in the Hebrew language there are multiple names for God but they are all translated “god” in our Bible. Here are a few as an example.

Ex.      God the Creator (Elohim)
God the Lord (Adonai)
God our Peace (Jehovah Shalom)
God our Provider (Jehovah Jireh)
God the Covenant Keeper (Yahweh)
God the Almighty (El Shaddai)
The God Who is There (Jehovah Shammah)
God the Healer (Jehvoah Rapha)
God of Power (Jehovah Sabaoth)
God is my Banner (Jehovah Nissi)

So you might be thinking, “Why is this so important? So what?” Let’s approach this from God’s word itself and see why this is so important in our lives.

Our Proper Use of God’s Name

I think we have the opportunity to change our world. We can show the world that using the name of God is not just an empty word, just a sentience filler, and that it really carries a lot of meaning. The Israel nation of the Old Testament was called to be the nation that preserve the name of God.  If every other nation in the world fell away, they were to stop following God, they had the charge to uphold God  and his name, to let the world know who God is.  We in the New Testament era, have that same charge. We don’t have to but we get to let the world know and hear the great name of God.  Verse 1 tells us that:

“We thank you, God, we thank you—your Name is our favorite word; your mighty works are all we talk about..” vs. 1

Notice it says people. We are God’s people.  Let me put this verse in perspective by giving you this verse in a different way; it comes from The Message. It translate this verse this way:

“We thank you God, we thank you, your name is our favorite word.”

Now that is cool. We can make God our favorite word. A quick reminder, the people of the Old Testament were not allowed to say the proper name of God. We can and get to. So here are some way you and I can use God’s name every day in a good way; and all the ways are mentioned in the Bible. Here they are.

1. Love

First, we love the name of God because it is a response to all he has done for us. Psalm 119:132:

“Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name.”

Psalm 119:132

There are many things in life that we can love; we love people, we love food, we love things like sports, music, etc. but one of the best things we can do is love His name. the older I get, the more I love the name of God.

Ex. Song we sing on Sundays At Your Name by Phil Wickham

At Your Name, the mountains shake and crumble
At Your Name, the oceans roar and tumble
At Your Name, angels will bow, the earth will rejoice
Your people cry out

Chorus:
Lord of all the earth
We shout Your Name, shout Your Name
Filling up the skies
With endless praise, endless praise
Yahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your Name, Oh Lord

2. Trust

An second important aspect is to trust in the name of God. We hear the prophet Isaiah tell us this in Isaiah 50:10:

“Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God.” Isaiah 50:10

One of the best responses you can make to God is to decide to trust Him completely with your life. Many times life doesn’t turn out the way we expect. We go through ups and downs and at times we feel confused and bewildered.  We might feel like we are walking around in the dark and need a place to turn.  Here is a great promise; we can trust in God’s name. His name has power. His name brings an inner strength. His name can light our way. That is the point that Isaiah is making.

Ex. Your struggling and feel down. You need inner strength. Call on God’s name, maybe even in the quietness of your heart.

3. Call

Third, we are to call on the name of the Lord. The name of God brings healing and salvation. Acts 2:21:

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 2:21

God wants us to use His name as we call out to Him. One of the reasons that the Hebrew language had so many names for God was that they would recognize God in every situation. Also, remember I said that names reveal our character and personality. So, the names the Israelites used to call on God were reminders of those traits and character.

Ex. God our Peace (Jehovah Shalom) When life was heard, when things were in turmoil, the Israelites would say Jehovah Shalom “God is our peace.” It’s more than just calling our “God” it’s calling out the promises of God and the traits of God.

Ill. Amy Grants song El Shaddai

4. Praise

This leads us to another way of calling out God’s name and that is through praise. Psalm 113:3:

“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.” Psalm 113:3

The number one reaction to recognizing His name is to break out into praise. It’s really amazing in many ways that the world has turned using the name of God into a way of cursing when the real use of God’s name should be praise. I used this verse because it tied into last week’s sermon.

Reminder: Last week part of our challenge was to start and end our day with God.

5. Proclaim

Finally, we can proclaim God’s name. Deut. 32:3 says:

“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!” Deut. 32:3

Deut. 32 is Moses swan song.  He is 120 years old and God has told him that he has done all he intended him to do and it was time for him to die. Moses has the opportunity to address the nation one more time. Part of his song is to make sure the people know that they are to proclaim God’s name. Moses has seen God’s faithfulness, he has experienced God’s provision, he has walked with God and knows his love, and he wants to encourage the Israelites to continue to proclaim God. Proclaiming God’s name is showing you are proud to be his follower, that you believe in Him and that he has been faithful to you. You want to share it and are proud of it. Moses is wants to make this part of what people remember about him.

Your Choice

One of the reasons I choose this psalm for today is the way it ends in verses 9 and 10:

“As for me, I will declare this forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob, who says, “I will cut off the horns of all the wicked, but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.” vss. 9-10

Notice those first three words, David says “As for me.” You have a choice. You can choose to be a proponet of God’s name and make God’s name in the world, or, you don’t have to. David says “I am making this choice, for me, it’s to declare forever God. Others are proclaiming their beliefs, we need to be the voice for God in our world. They are telling us what they believe. We are to be the bearers of God’s name and God’s praises.

I AM

I was regretting the past
And fearing the future…
Suddenly my Lord was speaking:
“MY NAME IS I AM.” He paused.

I waited. He continued,
“When you live in the past,
With its mistakes and regrets,
It is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I was.

“When you live in the future,
with its problems and fears,
it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I will be.

“When you live in this moment,
It is not hard.
I am here.
My name is I am.”

Helen Mallicoat, quoted in Holy Sweat, Tim Hansel, 1987, Word Books Publisher, p. 136

The God of Thanksgiving

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

“Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” vs. 13

Affirmations

Have the congregation find someone they did not come with and give that person an affirmation. Gather the congregation back and ask them how they felt giving the affirmation.

I bring this up today because everyone like to get an affirmation but I propose to you today that sometimes giving an affirmation is just as rewarding and just as encouraging as getting one. We often come to church hoping to get something and to put it more specifically, to get something from God. To tie this into the exercise we just did, I suggest that we can get just as much in coming to church to give to God than just looking what we can get. We can get energized, encouraged, and lifted up by giving our praise and thankfulness to God.

If you are able, please stand as we read the Word of God from 1 Chronicles 29:10-13:

Read Passage – 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord,
    the God of our father Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
¹¹ Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.
¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,
    and praise your glorious name.

Doxology

As we approach 1 Chronicles 29 King David’s life is coming to a close. He knows his days are few and he has a chance to worship God one more time with many people assembled around him. In the verses we read David speaks a wonderful poem of praise to God. A better word for this is a doxology. A Doxology is an offering of praise to God in worship. The term comes from the Greek roots “duxa” and “logia” and means “words of glory.” These “words of glory” focus on the general and larger character traits of God and builds to accumulation and climax of praise. A key theme is the eternal kingdom of God but I would emphasize that idea of the words of glory because that is such a cool idea. To gather and give to God, words that glorify him.

It’s important to note that David does this in a public and open setting with many people around him. We have that same opportunity-every week.  It is amazing to be here every week with the opportunity to lift our “words of glory to God.” Think about how unique that is. You can’t do this at school, you can’t do this at the mall, you can’t do this at the gym, you can’t do this int he post office…you get the idea. This is the place we get to come, every week, to express words of glory to God.

Now three weeks ago I challenged you to 24 days of praise and thanksgiving. I asked you to list one person or thing each day. I also challenged you to tell that person and then express that in prayer to God as well. Those are specific things you praise and thank God for. And sometimes our prayers and thanks need to be specific.  But…there are times when praise and thanks can be more general and more large. That is what David did in his doxology here. This doxology helps us understand how and why we can praise God.

Why Praise God? He Is…

This really gives us a guide for praising and worshipping God in a general and larger sense. So, why praise God?

• Forever

First, God is forever. David says in verse 10:

“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.” vs. 10

We live in a world of temporary things.  Most of what he have doesn’t last too long and some of the things that do, we usually end up getting rid of. If we are lucky things like our couches, beds, etc. last 15-20 years.  Think about things like clothes.  Would you really want to be wearing the same clothes or even style of clothes you wore 20 years ago? he is one thing we can count on lasting forever.

Ex. Retro jacket – Claudia and I met a young woman on the trail not long ago and she complimented us on our “retro jackets.” She thought they were new but we actually bought them in the 80’s.

There is one exception; God. He is forever. There is one investment you can make, one thing you can count on, trust in, and rely on and it’s the only thing we know lasts forever; God. David also says in psalm 102:12:

“But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.”

Psalm 102:12

No matter how far back you go and how far forward you look, God is there. Every generation since the beginning of this world has had God in it. He is forever.

• Greater Than Anything We Know or Can Imagine

A second reason we praise God is that God is greater than anything we know or can imagine.  David expresses that in verse 11:

“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” vs. 11

Now this is an incredible list of God’s attributes all in one verse. Take a pen or pencil or highlighter and circle them on your outline.  Listen to these again; greatness, power, glory, majesty, and splendor. Can you feel how enormous these qualities and traits are? This is almost too big and vast to grasp. I know that sometimes in the middle of our struggles and trials we might not feel these attributes of God. But I want to encourage you with these. Just naming these attributes brings hope and strength.

Challenge: Grab the verse card & encourage the congregation to memorize this verse this week.

My challenge for you is to step into your faith this week by naming and claiming these traits of God. I am not asking you to say something that is not true, we know from God’s Word that these are true.  But sometimes you might not feel them and you might need to vision these out in your life. The more you talk about them, claim them, look for them, the more you will see them and experience them as well. Look at another verse from Psalm 145:3:

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”

Psalm 145:3

Remember we started by telling one another affirmations. You see those in others and just by telling them to each other you get energize and affirmed.  The same is true with God.  His traits are amazing. His love is amazing. He truly is greater than anything we can know or imagine but that doesn’t stop us from experiencing his greatness.

• Our Provider

A third reason we praise God is that he is our provider; verse 12:a:

“Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.” vs. 12a

I like this verse a lot because it mentions wealth but it also mentions honor. We somehow have fooled ourselves into believing that all that we have we have earned ourselves.  I got this job, I worked the hours, I earned the money, I earned the promotion, etc.  But let me challenge you on this.

Questions: Did you…

-choose where you were born?

-choose your parents?

-choose your talents and traits?

-More questions

There are many things that God has provided for us and that we had nothing to do with but they are gifts from God, our provider. He also gives us a voice with others and that is where the honor comes in. God could have chosen lots of ways to spread the gospel but he choose for you and I to tell others; with our words, our actions, and our lives. We have honor with others because of who He is on our lives and that allows us to be His voice in the world. Each of us have honor in our circles of influence. You can reach people I can’t. Some people won’t give me the time of day but they love you. They will listen to you.

Now here is the thing; we need to do our part.

Ex. Matt Damon and his quest to provide toilets for everyone in the world. Did you know…more people in the world have cell phones than toilets? That is crazy but true. We need to be God’s hands in this world and we can do that by affirm others and using our influence and resources to shoe that to the world.

Ill. Operation Shoe Box – We provided over 60 boxes this year that will go all over the world to help others.

God has provided for us and we in turn can use our resources to show the world who our God is.

1 Timothy 6:17 says:

“…put (your) their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17

Circle the word “richly.” God gives us so much. Make a commitment to focus on what you have and what you can share not on what you don’t have.

• Our Strength

Finally, David reminds us the we praise God because He is our strength; verse 12b:

“In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” vs. 12b

David knew that God always had his back. God was his strength.  But you know what? Jesus hadn’t come yet and David didn’t have the experience of having the Holy Spirit live within him. We do.  We have the spirit of the living God living right here (point inside). Let me bring another verse into this that will really add to this, Exodus 15:2:

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” Exodus 15:2

The really cool thing about this verse is that it’s from the song of Moses; another doxology. Remember Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in royalty but circumstances changed. He spent the next 40 years wandering in the desert, learning humility. And learning to trust God. Then, and only then, could God use him for the next 40 years to lead his people from captivity to freedom and the promised land.

Moses had to learn, as do we, that we don’t have to do it alone. As David knew, God has our back. Remember God will never leave you. But we also have to learn, as Moses did, that when we feel weak, that is when God can shine. He is strong. As we heard in verse 11, he is powerful, great, and strong. And we can be as well when we allow him to be our strength.

The God of Joy and Thanksgiving

So, this is why I wanted to focus on this passage today. I challenged you almost three weeks ago to choose one thing or person to thank God for everyday; to tell them and to tell God as well. This week I am going to make it easy for you to complete the challenge. You can make this week a week in which you acknowledge God as the God of joy and thanksgiving. Listen to how David ends this section in verse 13:

“Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” vs. 13

When we focus on the magnitude and greatness of God is culminates in joy and thanksgiving. You can use verse 11 to finish the challenge. Focus  and name these attributes of God this week:

Sunday: God’s greatness

Monday: God’s power

Tuesday: God’s glory

Wednesday: God’s majesty

Thursday/Thanksgiving: God’s splendor

Closing Song

After closing song read 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 together aloud.

Eternal Gratitude
Luke 17:11-19
“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Vs. 19

Trick or Treaters
How did you do with the trick or treaters you had come to your door? Did you have a lot? We had probably the least we have ever had but what we noticed is how they came in large groups. It seemed that families got together and they went in large groups. I am always fascinated by the elaborate costumes. Some are so detailed and some so real looking. We had a zombie come in one group and I literally had to do a double take because the blood on this kid looked so real. The little ones get me too. Some are overwhelmed by the whole thing. Some of the little ones dress up like princesses and they look so cute but the ones that dress like animals, those kind of melt your heart. One was hilarious, he was dressed up like a businessman. Claudia said to him, “Are you suppose to be a businessman?” and the kid blurted out, “Finally someone knows what I am!”

One thing that struck me this year too was how courteous the kids were. I heard more “thank you’s” than I think I have ever heard. It was kind of refreshing in some ways. It felt good to hear that. Today we are going to look at the concept of saying thank you. If you are able, please stand as we read Luke 17:11-19.

Read passage: Luke 17:11-19
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

A New Season
You probably realize by now that it’s November. I think of this as my favorite time of year. I am a positive person by nature. I always see the glass as half full. So this time of year is encouraging to me and a time I love because I hear people being grateful, saying thank you a little more often, and expressing good things to people. It really can be an encouraging time of year.

Shut Out
In our story, there are 10 lepers. Leprosy is a terrible disease. It shows up in spots on your skin and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t make your fingers and toes and limbs fall off. That happens because of the disease but it doesn’t cause it. It’s the other things that affect your body that make those things happen. This disease allows other diseases to settle in and it makes the area where the spots are numb and usually that causes those with the disease not feel the pains, aches, and hurt that is happening in that area that one might feel to think that something might be wrong. By the time you figure out you are hurting, it’s usually too late. Now once a spot show up and you realize you have the disease, your world changes. In their day, and in our day too, you are sent to a leper colony. You see, you get shut out. Shut out from their parents, their wives, their kids, their friends, their church, your job, etc. Why, the law said it had to be that way. It was a communicable disease with no cure. The only way to somehow contain it or to stop it from spreading was to quarantine the person. People were not allowed to go near them. You might think that it wouldn’t happen to you or that you wouldn’t do that to someone you love, but you really had no choice because if you didn’t, it meant you would get it too. See it not only meant you were shut out, but you lost physical touch and contact and you were sent to a place where others had it and your were going there for life. There was no cure, no hope of getting better. This was really a death sentence. In fact, you had to announce to others you had this disease by being made to walk away from others. You also had to yell “Unclean!” around others so they would see you and stay away. Now see what is happening in verse 11:

“As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance…” vss. 11

They could not come near Jesus or any of those traveling with him. So they did what they knew to do; yell to him from a distance.

But here is the thing; when we are hurting and you call out to Jesus, your life can change. These men called out to Jesus and it changed their lives. Let’s see how.

Lessons In Learning Gratitude
What I called this is Lessons In Learning Gratitude and I would even add, from a leper.

• They approached Jesus
First, and this is a really important point to start with, they approached Jesus. Verse 12:

They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice…” vs. 12

Now they stand at a distance but they call out to Jesus. They approached him. These men were desperate. They had probably tried every remedy, every potion, everything they had heard of or could get their hands on for healing. They had most likely heard of Jesus, heard about his healings, and now see him and must be thinking that maybe he can do something. So they call out. It’s a lot like us in many ways. We try to handle things and try to take care of ourselves and sometimes we try everything that comes along hoping for help. Sometimes, in desperation, we just need to call out to God.
Ex.

Let’s look at a verse from James 4:

“Come near to God and He will come near to you.” James 4:8

I want you to understand this as a promise. God promises that when we come near to him, he will come near to us. Not may come near, not can come near, not probably will come near, no, he will come near. Many times we feel we have to have it all together, all headed in the right direction and that we can’t approach him until we have it all going the right way. That’s not God’s promise. Anytime, anytime you come near to God, he will come near to you.
Ex. What keeps you away? Sin, disease, hurt, etc. Many times people won’t come to church because they are hurting, upset, confused, etc. and don’t come near to God. STOP IT!! He doesn’t ask us to get everything right and in place and then come to him. Come to him happy, sad, frustrated, angry, blah, whatever.

• They asked for help
The second thing they did was asked for help.

“Jesus, Master, have pity on us.” vs. 13

They could not do it themselves. We get to the point of realizing that we cannot do it ourselves. At that point; ask for help. See if these men just came near Jesus but never said anything, they only did half of what the needed to do. We should follow this pattern. Draw near to God and speak to him; ask him for help. And…notice their request: Mercy. They didn’t ask for healing, they asked for mercy. What is mercy?

Mercy – compassion for an offender, compassionate treatment of those in distress.

They didn’t ask for healing. They didn’t ask for Jesus to make everything alright again. They asked for mercy. What you and I need many times is God’s mercy but what do we ask for ? We ask for God to fix everything…and to our liking. Here is what they wanted; hope. Hope that somehow this horrible predicament would change. Let me throw another verse at you from Psalm 33:20:

“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:20

What we need more than a fix is a hope. Hope is a good thing that helps us to see beyond the moment, beyond the predicament, to something more and something ahead.

Justo Gonzalez Christian Theology – “Christian hope not only helps us live today, but allows us to love as those that do not need to fear tomorrow.”

• They Did What Jesus Told Them To Do
Another thing they did was put their words into action. They asked for help and when they were told what to do, they did it. Verse 14a:

“When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” vs. 14a

This is an interesting predicament. When you thought you had a disease the OT tells you to go show the priest and have them inspect it. Not a doctor. So they have been to a priest and they have been judged as “unclean” by the priests. They were they only ones to be able to declare you “clean” as well. So Jesus follows OT teachings here.

Can you imagine what that walk must have been like? They might have questioned something like “Why are we going to the priests?” Or even just the excitement of what might happen when they get there. A key to this story is their obedience. Psalm 119:57 says:

“You are my portion, O Lord. I have promised to obey your word.” Psalm 119:57

A key to our faith is obedience. Naaman had to go wash himself to be cleansed from his leprosy. The Israelites had to step into the water before it parted. Numerous times in scripture we are told to obey, even if we don’t understand or it doesn’t make sense to us. If you are not getting an answer from God or seeing the results in your life and in your relationship with God, it might be that you need to make sure you are being obedient.

• Stepping Out In Faith
So, in stepping out in faith, they were healed. Verse 14b:

“And as they went, they were healed.” vs. 14b

This is the fun part of the story. As they went they were healed. We are not told exactly when. We are not told when they noticed. All we know is somewhere along the way this horrible disease disappears. This must have been amazing to experience. If anything, this tells us that we just need to keep going. We will feel like quitting. We will feel like giving up. We can doubt. We can question. But we must keep going becauser God will work as we go.

Being Thankful vs. Giving ThanksAnd what we see is a miracle; they are all healed. They are freed from this terrible disease and free to go back to their families, their lives, to everything. But…interestingly enough, only one man has the sense to go back to Jesus and thank him. Verse 15::

“One of them, when he was he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” vs. 15

Here is an important aspect of this story. We can be thankful, and there is nothing to tell us the others weren’t thankful. But only one guy expressed it, actually took the time to go back to Jesus. actually said thanks. Being thankful is the feeling in here (point to head and heart) but giving thanks is speaking it. This guy speaks it in a loud voice. He wasn’t holding anything back.

So, here is what I want you to take away from today; not just being thankful, but actually giving thanks. So I am challenging you to a 24 day challenge to give thanks. On the back side of your outline you have everyday listed starting today Nov. 3 until Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 28. Use this piece of paper and write down something you are thankful for. It can be a person, an item, an experience, anything really. After you write it down, tell someone. Also, tell God. Now if it is another person, go and tell them and tell them that you are thankful for about them. If is is something else, find someone to share your thankfulness with. It can be someone different every day or the same person. The point is that you are not only being thankful but you are giving thanks.

Complaining To God – Part 2

Habakkuk 1:12-2:1

“My God, my Holy One, youwill never die.” vs. 12

A Vow Of Silence

A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years his superior called him in and asked, “Do you have anything to say?”  The monk replied, “Food bad.”  After another 10 years the monk again had opportunity to voice his thoughts.  He said, “Bed hard.”  Another 10 years went by and again he was called in before his superior. When asked if he had anything to say, he responded, “I quit.”  “It doesn’t surprise me a bit. You’ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here.”

Read Passage – Habakkuk

Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, youwill never die. You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish. ¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? ¹⁴ You have made people like the fish in the sea, like the sea creatures that have no ruler. ¹⁵ The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. ¹⁶ Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. ¹⁷ Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

Let Me Repeat The Question

Last week we looked at the first complaint of Habakkuk to God. Habakkuk was questioning God about the evil in the world and why God was putting up with it. He said in ch. 1 verse 3:

“Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” Hab. 1:3

We also looked at God’s answer. The main thrust of God’s answer to Habakkuk was to trust him, to watch for God and the work that he is doing, to accept that God’s plan may be different and to trust that God is good. Somehow, Habakkuk isn’t completely satisfied with that answer. So, he repeats his question again, verse 13:

“Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?” vs. 13

You might be thinking, “That Habakkuk must have a lot of confidence to question God a second time” or you might think he is just plain crazy. But you know, I have to admire him. God answers and Habakkuk is not quite satisfied with it so instead of just being a good little prophet and keeping his thoughts to himself, he goes back to God and questions him again. This can be a big revelation to us; that when God answers, yes we trust his answer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go back and ask again or even ask for clarification. We do that in our relationships with each other and somehow I think we can do that with God too.  He is not going to zap us or get mad at us. God is patient. He will work with us and wants us to trust him so if it means repeating the answer or giving another answer, he does.

Misconceptions About God’s Silence

Here is what I see as a problem we have; when we don’t get the answer we want, when we feel that God is being silent, when it’s hard to understand God and his ways, we read a lot of things into the silence. Silence can be confusing to us one, because we are not used to listening, and two, because we put a lot of our own fears, questions, and ideas into the silence that might not necessarily be there.

Ex. You ask someone a question and they just look at you. So many things can be read into that; they might not have heard you, they might be mad, might be thinking, etc.

Two misconceptions about God’s silence are pointed out in this passage.

• Having “Things” Mean You Have Gods Approval

The first is that having “things” (material things) means you have God’s approval. Just because a person has material possessions does not mean that they are acting within God’s will and with his blessing. Habakkuk says in verse 16:

“Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food.” vs. 16

The metaphor in this scenario is wicked fisherman (i.e. the Babylonians) who use and abuse people and things for their own gain and then they live it up. We have to be sure that we are not in the business of using others only to build ourselves up and so we can enjoy a life of luxury while others are being abused and exploited. They exploited people, hurt them, killed them abused them all so they could accumulate their material things; then they had parties and celebrations to rub it in their faces. You might say we don’t do that kind of thing but be careful.

Ex. The movement to eliminate sweatshops and abuse of people only so big companies can make money and fill their own pockets.

God’s answer in Hab. 2 gives us more insight to that same thing.

“Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies! ¹⁶ You will be filled with shame instead of glory.” Hab. 2:15-16

He shows that they exploited their neighbors by getting them drunk so they could take advantage of them sexually. But God shows what his kind of an attitude does; it eventually brings shame.

• Having “Power” Means You Have God’s Approval

A second thing we read into the silence is that we somehow we feel those in power have God’s approval. Listen again to verse 15:

“The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad.” vs. 15

The “them” in this passage is people.  Remember the Babylonians were ruthless and cruel people.  They would lead prisoners away in hooks and kill and maim their prisoners and then laugh about it. They were thought this was fun. This is not the way God wants people treated. Habakkuk saw this and it was agony to know what these people were doing. How could god use them? Because God allowed them to do what they were doing does not mean they had God’s approval. It so easy for those in power to feel invincible and have a sense of empowerment. We can sometimes give them that empowerment too.  God follows that up in ch. 2 verses 9-11:

“Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, setting his nest on high to escape the clutches of ruin! ¹⁰ You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. ¹¹ The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.” Hab. 2:9-11

The picture here is that people with power set themselves above others like with their houses, in the passage the example is nests. They feel they are protected and above others. The thing is that those that abuse their power and authority will one day be held accountable for it and they bring disgrace to their own house.

Reminders God Is In Control

Even though Habakkuk is complaining again, he is still trusting God and knows that God is the source of all things good and that he can still trust him. He does this by remembering the attributes of God that bring stability to life and to our circumstances. One aspect of this that we shouldn’t overlook is that it is o.k. and maybe even good for us to verbalize our thoughts and the things we know are true about God. Naming God’s attributes can bring comfort in the midst of our distress. These attributes are found in the opening part of his complaint.

• He is eternal

The first attribute that Habakkuk speaks of is that God is eternal.  He says in verse 12a:

“Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, you will never die.” vs. 12a

Habakkuk reminds himself and us that God always has been, is, and always will be. God has seen it all and has been there every step of the way.  We have to remember that our circumstances, our struggles, our difficulties are temporary. Our lives are temporary but we are being prepared for the eternal life we will have with God himself. Think about the struggles we face and how most of those struggles last only a short time.

Ex. Our struggle with our mortgage and now two years later we are looking at paying it off, and soon! Within the next year and a half.

• He is Strong and Unchanging

A second attribute that Habakkuk speaks of is that God is Strong and Unchanging; verse 12:b:

“You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment; you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.” vs. 12b

In this verse he uses the term “The Rock” as description of his strength and steadiness. This is the same thought that David uses numerous times in the Psalms about God being our Rock (Ps. 18:2, 19:14, 61:2, 92:15), our refuge, our strength in times of distress and struggle.  He is the place to which we run.  I believe Habakkuk is comparing our weakness and changing circumstances to God’s strength and stability.

Ex. Barbara’s house in S.F. built on Nob\ Hill/Russian Hill and we aske if they were nervous being up so high and their answer was “No, this is built on bedrock, it is solid.”

First Service Song: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

Second Service song; Solid rock

• He is holy

And the third attribute is that God is holy; verse 13:

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” vs. 13

Habakkuk remembers that God is a holy God and he will not tolerate sin. God will act and God will respond. He is a patient God, a loving God and a merciful God but he will not tolerate sin for long or forever. We live in a sinful state and we get used to sin and bad things happening around us. Not so for God. In the silence, we sometimes feel God is being too tolerant. But remember this, we want others to be corrected for their wrong doings and we want God to act, and fast, but we want to be tolerant and patient with us.

Ex. Someone talking on their phone while driving.  We want them to be caught and corrected. We want the police to be lenient with us.

Not Giving Up On God

Why remember the attributes of God? Because when we remind ourselves of them, we are expressing our continued trust in God.  Listen to how Habakkuk ends this complaint, verse 2:1:

“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me…” vs. 2:1

He tells God that he is going to stand and watch. He says I will station myself.  In other words, I am planting myself right here because I know you will work, I know I can trust you God and I am not giving up.

Complaining To God

Habakkuk 1:1-11

^“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” vs. 2

It’s Just Not Fair

OAKLAND — Three days from finishing a three-month personal challenge to put others first, Jose Antonio Durante left a church event in East Oakland to help a stranger who had run out of gas.  That act of kindness would be his last. On Friday night, Durante was attending a church leaders’ appreciation event at the Eastside Arts Alliance at 22nd Avenue and International Boulevard when a church family with a baby reported that they couldn’t exit the driveway because a stranded SUV was blocking it.  Durante and his friends quickly stepped in to help the motorist, whose SUV had run out of gas, move the vehicle and ask him what else they could do to help.

As he and two friends pushed the car, a man who admitted to police he had consumed alcohol and used methamphetamine before getting behind the wheel plowed into Durante, got out of his truck and ran away, witnesses said. The 39-year-old Pittsburg man later died at the hospital.

“He wanted nothing in return. That was the most remarkable thing about him,” said Sanjev Desilva, a youth leadership director of the Mosaic Project, where Durante worked. “If you

tried to give him gas money, he’d refuse it.”

His actions in the moments before his death personify Durante, friends said. A devout Christian and church youth director, he helped people move and offered rides and meals to anyone in need.

“Jose was committed to serving others to the end,” said friend Josh Harper, a volunteer council member with New Hope Covenant Church in Oakland who knew Durante for two years. “Jose was one of the most loving, energetic, and joyful people we have known.

“Jose’s deep empathy for others drove him to build meaningful and impactful relationships with people from all backgrounds.”

The night had been far different for Oakland resident Celso Tapia Lopez.  The 37-year-old Lopez had been drinking alcohol and using methamphetamine that evening, he told investigators after his arrest later that night, yet he set out in a borrowed truck and was driving to a hardware store to buy a tool for a weekend construction job.

While Durante and the other two men were pushing the car, police said, Lopez was speeding down International Boulevard about 7:45 p.m. before he rammed Durante, pinning him between the two cars.

Durante was rushed to Highland Hospital in Oakland with major internal injuries and was later pronounced dead at 10:07 p.m. No one else was injured.

Although Lopez left the borrowed 2001 Chevrolet Silverado truck behind and ran away, police tracked him late Friday night to an East Oakland home, where he was found hiding behind a garbage can. He was arrested and was charged Tuesday with felony vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run causing death or injury, a spokeswoman from the Alameda County District Attorney’s office said.  He remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on a no bail hold. Lopez has at least three prior driving offenses in Alameda County, including a 2002 DUI conviction and a running a stop sign and driving without a valid registration or driver’s license last year, police said.

In a 2011 personal essay, Durante described how he saw firsthand the effects of social injustice, including poverty and war, during his childhood in Guatemala. He immigrated to the United States when he was 12, attended school in Colma and South San Francisco, and earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from San Francisco State University.

It didn’t take long for him to find his true calling, according to his sister, Heidi Pese, of Antioch.

“I couldn’t stay away from church and the nonprofit world,” he wrote in the essay. “When I’m not doing motivational speaking or church-related work, you can find me pondering how to have the most impact in people’s lives.”

Church colleagues and friends have set up a fund to help his family with funeral and other expenses; by Wednesday afternoon, they had raised more than $9,400. Donations to the Jose Durante Memorial Fund can be care of the New Hope Covenant Church, 2626 E. 16th St., Oakland, Calif., 94601.

“The ones he was trying to reach out to were the young ones and people just really felt comfortable around him and they knew he would be there for them,” Pese said. “He just brought a lot of joy in life to every room and every situation.”

Read Passage – Habakkuk 1:1-11

The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

 ² How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? ³ Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. ⁴ Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

The Lord’s Answer

⁵ “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. ⁶ I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. ⁷ They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. ⁸ Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like an eagle swooping to devour; ⁹they all come intent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. ¹⁰ They mock kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; by building earthen ramps they capture them. ¹¹ Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”

Back and Forth

Here’s a quick overview of the historical background of this book.

Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years when God liberated them from the Pharaoh. After wandering in the desert for 40 years God brought them into this land he promised them which we know as Israel. They begged for a king. God wanted to be their king but they wanted a man and God finally let them have one, Saul then David, then Solomon. After Solomon the kingdom split in two; 9 ½ of them, this upper part (show map) was called Israel while this area while 2 ½ of them settle in this area this lower section became known as Judah. Each had their own king. There was a few good kings but most of the kings were disobedient to God, served idols and just plain led the people away from God. There was this back and forth thing going on getting closer to God then pulling away from God. The longer it went on, the worse the kings seem to get and further from God they went. In 720 BC Israel fell as a nation and were taken over by the Assyrians and other groups who came to conquer the land. The prophets tried to warn Israel but they wouldn’t listen. Enter Habakkuk.  He begins preaching to the Southern kingdom, Judah, because they are on the same collision course that Israel was on, maybe even getting worse.

He is preaching to Judah just as the Babylonians were emerging as a world power. The Assyrians who had threatened Judah for so long were but a memory. Their disobedience had gotten so bad and they had fallen away from God so much that they were really into some bad things, atrocious things, like Baby and child sacrifice, the Temple of god had idols of Baal, Molech, and Aseroth, they had temple prostitutes (both male and female), and the list goes on. They were getting further and further away from the true God.

Getting Real With God

Habakkuk did not want to see what happened to Israel happen to Judah but…things were getting worse. Things were bad in Israel and things were bad with the Babylonians asserting control in the region. They were ruthless and evil group who stopped at nothing to terrorize and abuse others to gain control and leverage over others for their own gain. With that in mind listen again to verses 2-3:

“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?  Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?” vss. 2-3

One of the things I love about Habakkuk is that he isn’t afraid to voice his heart to God. I’m calling this Getting Real With God. It’s true that God knows our heart but when we hear some tough questions come out verbally we almost say “Can you say that to God?” Here is the thing about Habakkuk, he know that God is just, he knows that God is merciful, and he knows that God is patient and will give men every chance to repent and turn back to him. His questions may sound like he is doubting God, I believe he is questioning God about his patience and it this really it for the end of Israel.

When I ask myself why it’s so hard to be real I’ve come to the conclusion that I think we struggle with being honest with those closest to us because we have the fear of being rejected or not loved. What if people really know how we feel. What if they really get to know me and don’t like what they see, hear, etc. Believe it or not, Habakkuk knows God will keep his word. He knows Israel is on the short list to be destroyed. He saw it happen in the north with Israel and it’s on the horizon for Judah. So what do you do with this?  I believe that it’s a call to trust God.

A Call To Trust God

Habakkuk has learned to trust God enough that he is willing to open up and really tell God how he is feeling and what he struggles with and he knows God well enough know that trust he will act and he will keep his word. We learn really valuable things from Habakkuk about our call to trust God.

1. Be On The Lookout

God’s first response to Habakkuk is be on the lookout for what God is doing. Verse 5:

“Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.” vs. 5

When things are not going our way and especially in times of struggle, it’s really easy to take our eyes off God and focus on the negativity going on around us. And when we focus on the negative, the struggle, the difficult, those things get magnified and they get most of our attention. It’s interesting that God’s first response to Habakkuk is to get his eyes back on God and what he is doing around him.

If you feel yourself overwhelmed by all the negative things in your life, the evil that is taking place, the struggles of everyday life, there’s hope. There is a word for those things; distractions. Satan is masterful at causing distractions.

Ex. Eve in the garden.  She had everything and what did Satan do? Distracted her to focus on what she didn’t have.

The answer is to train yourself; train yourself to look for God and what he is doing around you. I love God’s words to Habakkuk; be utterly amazed.  That’s astonishment, amazement, marvel, wonder, awe. When God works it is amazing and leaves you staring in utter amazement. You have to shift your thoughts from the bad to what is good.

Exercise: Write down on your notes one or too good things that happened yesterday.

Let me thrown in a verse from David in Psalm 59:9-10:

“You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely.” Psalm 59:9-10

I believe David is saying that when things are bad and you feel like things around you are falling apart, you need to turn your attention to something you can believe in, something you can trust, something you can rely on; and something that will take your breath away. Underline and circle that two words; fortress and rely. You need a place to run, a place to trust and believe you’ll be safe, and a place you can trust, that is God.

2. Accept That God’s Plan May Be Different

The second part of God’s opening response it accept that God’s plan may be different. He says in verse 5b:

“For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” vs. 5b

I would like to immediately follow this up with a verse from the prophet Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

It might be a given to say that God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways and that seems to make sense to us when others are hurting and we want to give them some hope.  It’s a little harder to accept when you are going through it…and you may not like the answer and the way God is handling it.  Really the bottom line, it comes down to expectations. We put expectations on things and then feel hurt and discouraged when the result is not what we expected.  Now get this, we don’t mind when it turns out better for us. But what about when it’s not our way, when it doesn’t meet our expectations. Unfortunately many of us blame that on God instead of accept that his plan is bigger and better than we could ever imagine.

Ex. You pray for someone sick and they get better. Cool! But what about when we pray for someone to get well and it doesn’t’ happen, maybe even gets worse.  Now wait a minute, that’s not what we expected, right?

I know it’s near impossible not to go into things with expectations. I can’t tell you not to do that because it’s how we are made up. But part of learning to trust God calls us to believe that what happens will work out for his glory.

3. Trust That God Is Good

The third part of learning to trust God that Habakkuk discovered is that we need to trust that God is good. Notice what God tells him in verse 6:

“I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.” vs. 6

This can be a real challenge to for us. It stretches us and sometimes is uncomfortable. Would God really use the Babylonians? It comes down to trust, trust that God’s will will be done, that in the long run his ways will prevail. Trust is letting God work his plan, his will, his way and know that he will never let you go and that he only wants the best for you, even if you might not see it.

Ill.  A little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.  The father was kind of scared for the safety of his daughter so he asked his little girl, ‘Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don’t fall into the river.’  The little girl said, ‘No, Dad. You hold my hand.’  ‘What’s the difference?’ Asked the puzzled father.  ‘There’s a big difference,’ replied the little girl.  ‘If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go.  But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,  you will never let my hand go.’

Let me follow this up with a verse from Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

See God will work things for god in some things, I mean in most things. No, really trusting God is believing this verse is true…in all things. That’s the things we don’t understand, the things we don’t agree with, and the things that somehow work out for your good. Trust is a difficult thing and takes a lot of work. I believe, like Habakkuk did, God will keep his word.

Strength In God

And here’s the point of this whole dialogue between God and Habakkuk; whose strength do you trust the most? Notice how God ends his response to Habakkuk, verse 11:

“Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—guilty people, whose own strength is their god.” vs. 11

The Babylonians trusted in their strength. God is calling Habakkuk to trust in His strength. Our circumstances will change.  We will have good times and difficult times, sometimes very difficult times.  The good times and the struggles are not a reflection of how much God loves you. He will always love you and that will never change. What you have the choice to do is to trust in your own strength or to trust God.

Remember:

You Are Loved Through The Struggles and Questions

A Love That Goes Beyond
Titus 3:3-10

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us…” vss. 4-5a

My Hero!

This week we remembered the tragic events of 911 twelve years ago. It’s still amazing to see all the events of that day and the aftermath that followed. I was told this week about one of the heroes of that day.

This is Michael Hingson. Michael was a district sales manager for the computer company Quantum ATL.  Michael was on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center Bldg. 1 that morning when the building was struck by a plane under the control of terrorist fanatics. This is his yellow Lab guide, “Roselle,” who was sleeping peacefully under his desk. Michael had been hosting a meeting of field representatives.

He said he heard a loud noise like a bump and then a lot of shaking; was worse than any earthquake he had ever experienced; and he should know, he grew up in Palmdale, Calif., and had experienced the Northridge earthquake that struck the state in ’94, among others.  The building was swaying, and the air was filled with smoke, fire, paper and the smell of kerosene because the plane had struck just 15 floors above him. He knew something serious had happened, and his first thought was to call his wife and then make sure everyone in the office was evacuated safely.

They knew the emergency exit procedures and following them. “Roselle” led him through the disheveled office and to the stairwell to begin the long decent, sometimes guiding, sometimes following behind him when things were tight. Although they didn’t feel anything, it is estimated that the second plane had struck the other tower when they were around the 50th floor. “By the time we reached the bottom, it had become very hard to breathe,” he said. “We were both very hot and tired. ‘Roselle’ was panting and wanted to drink the water that was pooled on the floor. ”

They had made it out of the building. They were about two blocks away when Tower 2 began to collapse. “It sounded like a metal and concrete waterfall,” he said. “We started running for the subway.” “Roselle” remained focused. When they emerged and were making their way from the scene, Tower 1 toppled, showering them with ash and debris. “Roselle” guided him to the home of a friend in mid-Manhattan where they stayed until the trains were running again. He finally returned home to his worried wife at 7 p.m.

Michael said the day after the tragedy, that they were both feeling stiff and sore, but were otherwise fine. “Roselle” had been sleeping for a lot of the time, but would get up occasionally and play with Michael’s retired yellow Lab guide, “Linnie.”

He and his Guide Dog “Roselle” were some of the lucky ones, however, in that they escaped the WTC attack, I relate that story because some animals seem to have an unconditional love and care for their human friends and go to great lengths to protect us and care for us. I want to look at and discover a greater love that you and I have the opportunity to experience. If you are able, please stand as we read Titus 3:3-10.

Read Passage – Titus 3:3-10

³ At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. ⁹ But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. ¹⁰ Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. ¹¹ You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Foolish Behavior Bookends

Something jumped pout at me as I read this passage; that it starts and ends with the same theme which I am calling bookends. Bookends are like an Oreo. Two of the same things on either side with something different in the middle.  In this scenario, the two outside things are foolish behavior. Verses 3 and 4:

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” vss. 3-4

And verse 9:

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.” vs. 9

It occurred to me that none of us like to be told we are acting foolishly.  At first, you might think this is just talking about people who are not Christians but look again. Notice verses 3-4 are in past tense, “were” and “deceived and enslaved” maybe indicating life before you know Christ. Verse 9 is in the present tense with “avoid” and “are” meaning we continue to deal with these issues and that they are ever present in our lives. So we have to be aware of these on a continual basis. I would love to say that as I have grown older I have matured enough that I don’t do “foolish” things but that just isn’t true.

So foolish behavior is the bookends but the creamy good stuff, (by the way aren’t those double stuff oreo’s great?) that is God’s love. This passage is an encouragement to us as to the vast, enormous gift of God’s love to us.

How Far Does Love Go?

I believe this passage answers the question: “How far does God’s love go?” I see Paul writing to Titus to encourage him about the great love of God and it is express in three answers.

• Beyond Actions

The first answer is that God’s love is beyond actions. Paul writes in verses 4-5:

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” vss. 4-5

Most of us know that we can’t earn our salvation.  These verses remind us that it’s God’s gift to us. Yet, many of us still have checklists of things we “have” to do to prove we are truly saved. Go to church regularly, check, give money at church, check, read my bible every morning, check, and the list goes on.  Now these are all good things to do but when we put our worth and our faith into maintaining these lists, we are not trusting God but still trying to be our own savior and are in danger of not fully trusting God. These are things we do out of love for God, not to make sure we are “in” the kingdom.

Ex. Joke-A taxi driver and a pastor get to the pearly gates at the same time and there is Jesus to greet them. Jesus looks at the taxi driver , turns around, thumbs through the book finds his name, turns around and gives him a nice sil robe and ornate cane and says, “you’re in, here’s your robe and cane, put on the robe and come in and enjoy the kingdom.” He looks at the pastor, turns around, thumbs through the book, finds his name, gabs a burlap robe and stick, hands it to him and says “you’re in, here’s your robe and cane, put on the robe and come in and enjoy the kingdom.” Well the pastor is kind of upset and says to Jesus “excuse me, not to be ungrateful or anything but why does that taxi driver get that nice silk robe and I who spent my whole life serving you get this burlap robe, what gives?” Jesus answers, “well your robe is reflective of how you motivated people about me on earth. The way I see it, every time you preached people slept, every time he drove, people prayed.”

A little pastor humor. We still somehow think we have to earn our way. That reminds me of some verses from Eph. 2:8-9:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.” Eph. 2:8-9

We have a gift. That gift has nothing to do with our actions. To put it in the proper context, our actions should be a response to that gift. The only action that makes any difference in your eternal life is thje action of accepting the gift of salvation from God through Jesus. A good way to understand this is to think about our human relationships. When you love someone, you do things for them as a reflection of that love.

Ex. Holding the door open for your girlfriend/wife, buying special presents, surprising them with something special, etc.

• Beyond Reason

A second answer to the question “How far does God’s love go?” is tht God’s love goes beyond reason. Let’s read again verse 7:

“…having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” vs. 7

The concept that Paul is relaying to us here is that God’s love goes further and deeper that just forgiving us. Let me explain through a hypothetical example.

Ex. Kid’s in a playground get in a fight, one hits or says something mean to the other, they come running to mom and mom makes a decision on who was righ or wrong and tells the wrong party to apologize. So one kid says “I’m sorry.” After that, the kids go running off and resume playing.

The relationship is restored and life goes on. To us, that is reason or reasonable. But look again what God’s love does for us; it restores, it justifies, and makes us heirs. We are not just forgiven. It’s not just an “I’m sorry.” God takes us, forgives us, then elevates us and holds us up to the position of son and daughter of God. Wow! I have a verse that really drives this home; 1 John 3:1:

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1

I love that word lavish. You know what lavish is; it’s going way overboard.

Ex. On our honeymoon we had a chance to go to this restaurant in Monterey, CA that had a chocolate bar. They lavished chocolate on us. (This was my pre-diabetic days). They had m & M.s (huge bowl), chocolate fudge, brownies, hot fudge , truffles, 5 or 6 different kinds of chocolate pieces, vanilla, peanut butter, etc. This thing was amazing! They lavished chocolate on me. J

That is God’s love to you, poured out, overflowing, and it just keeps going. It’s way over the top.

• Beyond Limits

And the third answer to “How far does God’s love go?” is God’s love goes beyond limits. Verse 8a:

“And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.” vs. 8a

Now you might way, “Hey, wait, now after stressing it’s not about works he is telling us to go out and do works? Sort of. The point he is really bringing out here is that God’s love has no limits, so…in light of that love without limits, what are you going to do to show God’s love to others. God’s love is different than ours in that his love never runs out.  There is no end to his love. And, although our love is limited, when we trust Him, when we depend on Him, we can love anyone with his love which has no limit.  What this really does is gets us beyond our own selfishness and self-centeredness and gets us to look at people differently, to act differently, and to want that to come out in everything we do and with the way we treat others.  It might help to put it this way; Now that you know God’s love and have experienced God’s love, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to let that love permeate all you do and how are you going to let that love spur you on to live differently? Again, let’s look at another passage from Ephesians 2:4-5:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” Eph. 2:4-5

His love is so great for us that with Christ that we live differently. Here are some examples:

We are alive where we were once dead

We have love where we once had hate

We are giving where we were once selfish.

We forgive where we once held grudges

There is no limit to God’s love so there is no limit to what we can do when we let his love.

Living The Good Life

Paul ends this passage with a really interesting and poignant statement.

“These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” vs. 8b

The book of Titus is a focus on living the good life. Here is the message in a nutshell.

1. Love what is Good (1:8)

2. Teach what is Good (2:3)

3. Do what is Good (2:7, 14; 3:8; 3:14)

4. Live what is Good (3:8)

When you understand how much God loves you, the lengths that Jesus went to express that by dying for you, and accept God’s gift of love; God brings an inner joy and peace to your life.

The Best Predictor Of Future Behavior
Titus 2:11-14
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” vs. 11

Life Defining Moments
Think back on your life and share with us what was a life defining moment for you; a moment that when you look back you see how you prepared and anticipated that time or that you live differently now for having gone through it.
Here are a few I came up with:
Marriage
Graduation
16th or 21st birthday
Death of a loved one
Baby/Children
Divorce
A Job

Allow me to share one of mine with you. Of course has you well know it has to include the love of my life, my wife. We were married on June 25, 1983. I had spent the previous night at our new apartment and my brother stayed with me. Claudia stayed at her parent’s house. Our wedding was at 7 p.m. so it was a long wait to see her that day. The wedding was great. The reception, well, let’s just say that the one thing people remember about our reception was the cake falling and crashing. It didn’t end as well as we hoped but here is the great part. We changed clothes and had a sendoff at the car. What really stood out was about 10 minutes into the drive away. We were talking and taking a deep breath after everything was over. The sun had settled and it was beginning to get dark but there we were, driving off into the sunset. About the same time we looked at each other, grabbed each other’s hand, and just smiled and realized we were on our way to start our new life. All the dating, all the planning, all the waiting; it had led up to this and now our lives would be different, together, and we were off. I will never forget that drive. It was a defining moment because it was really the first time we recognized that we were us now. It was the first time we were man and woman and we were on our way.

Paul writing Titus talks about this very kind of thing. Today we will take a closer look at Titus 2:11-15. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Titus 2:11-14
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Two Appearings
We have been studying the book of Titus. I think the verses we read this morning are the defining moments for this book. Everything in this book is about these verses. Everything before leads up to them and everything after is in light of them. Paul speaks in this passage about two appearings. We find the first in verse 11a:

“For the grace of God has appeared (that offers salvation)…” vs. 11a

Paul is affirming that God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be the sacrifice for us. He wants to make it really clear that everything that happened from the creation of this world until the time of Mary, a virgin, conceiving Jesus, was leading up to this very event. It’s apivotal point in history that everything was building towards.

The second appearing Paul mentions is in verse 13:

“…(we wait for)the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” vs. 13

The second appearing is what we are waiting for; it’s been what everyone has been waiting for since the time of Jesus ascension to the right hand of God. Now you might ask how I can be sure, or how Paul was so sure, this would happen? Look again at the title of todays sermon:

“The best predictor of future behavior…”Can you finish it? Right…”is past behavior.” This is a quote from that famous theologian (smile) Dr. Phil. Now Dr. Phil said this about people but it is equally true about God. God is faithful. He made and makes promises and not one of those promises has failed. He has been faithful since the beginning of time and has never, never, failed. Some promises are yet to be fulfilled. But the best predictor of God’s future behavior is his past behavior which is to be completely faithful. So if he promises tht Christ will return, he will.

God’s Offer
And that leads us to the next part of this promise which finishes out verse 11:

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.” vs. 11

That the gift of salvation is for all people. This isn’t a promise for the Israelites, not for the rich, not for the elite, not for any one group but for all people. Anyone who wants it can have it. God says that his desire is that none should perish (Mt. 18:14) and There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24) and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23) So God puts the offer out for everyone and its your choice to take it or not. No one can do it for you and you cannot do it for anyone else, it’s an offer and a choice, your choice.

Looking Back To Look Ahead In…
So Paul breaks this promise down for us into two areas. I think he is trying to direct our thinking into looking back so that we can look ahead.

Grace (The Past)
The first area is that of grace. This is not a popular idea and many don’t like to admit this but we have all done something wrong at some point in our life. On order to correct that, we need forgiveness. So God provided a way of forgiveness in Jesus and that is grace.

Grace: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

This grace is representative of our past, our lives before Christ. Verse 12a:

“It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions…” vs. 12a

Notice the word Paul uses here, teach (ask congregation to underline it). A better translation of that word would be train. Training is the practice of working and practicing to finally get something right. It means you make mistakes but you keep going. Paul emphasizes the negative here. The continuing need to say ”no” to things that might seem good but that are not good for us. That takes time and practice. He continues this thought in the second half of verse 12:

“…and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…” Vs. 12b

As we say not to the things that are not good for us, we say yes to the things that build us up.
Ex. The boxwood bushes in front of It’s A Small World in Disneyland. They don’t grow that way naturally. They are cut and pruned regularly so that they form the shapes we see and have come to love. They gardener says “no” to the branches that don’t grow the right way. But they also say “yes” to the ones that are adding to and solidifying the way shapes.

Our lives are the same. There is a constant need to prune and say no to the things that aren’t making us healthy and good. A word of caution, many of us get down on ourselves when we make mistakes. The good news is you are just practicing. Try again. Say “no” next time.

Hope (The Future)
That moves us to the second area that Paul covers; hope. Hope represents our future. Hope is looking ahead with anticipation and promise. Paul says in verse 13:

“…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Vs. 13

What we have to look forward to is the promise of God that this is not all there is. There is more to come. This life is just a short period time in comparison to what is to come. Look at another verse that also talks about this in 1 Peter 1:3:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
1 Peter 1:3

Hope is to desire with anticipation, to look forward to with confidence. What do you have to look forward to? This idea puts our troubles and struggles in perspective. It allowsus to hurt and be disappointed knowing that it won’t last. Paul also said; For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.(2 Cor. 4:17) We are promised we will have trouble. We will struggle and feel disappointment and frustration. That is temporary. The real future for us is one that has no more sickness, no death, no tears, no sorrow, etc. And…we will be reunited with those we love and have an eternity to spend with them.
Ill. Let me share with you one thing I have to look forward to, seeing my great-grandmother. I loved that woman and I am sure that I am the man I am today because of her prayers and love for me. I wish my wife and daughters could have met her. You know what part of my hope is? One day I want to introduce them to her. I want them to meet this woman who meant so much to me. And I want her see the kind of woman I married and the wonderful women my daughters have grown to be. I look forward to seeing her smile an look of approval. For her to give me that smile that meant so much to me here on this earth and I have to believe will be bigger and more special when we are in heaven together. That will be some day.

Living In The Present
Well that is the past and the future. What about now? Paul doesn’t leave that out. He says in verse 15:

“These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.” vs. 15

What he is putting out to us is the idea that we can live in encouragement. We are given the responsibility of teaching other about what we believe and using it to encourage. We can use it to correct to and I think we are pretty good at that. But what about to encourage? That is the idea that this can be good news and bring peace to many people.

Lewis Smedes (1921 — December 19, 2002) was a renowned Christian author, ethicist, and theologian in the Reformed tradition) wrote, “Is there a hope when hope is taken away? Is there hope when the situation is hopeless? That question leads us to Christian hope, for in the Bible, hope is no longer a passion for the possible. It becomes a passion for the promise.”

Authentic Living

Titus 1:5-9

“Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good,

who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” vs. 8

Don’t Do What I Do, __ ____ _ ___!”

Growing up I heard this saying quite a bit and maybe you’ve heard it too; “Don’t do what I do, do what I say!” I never really liked that saying a whole lot; it just didn’t sit well with me. I guess I felt like they were telling me to be more grown-up, more adult like yet they weren’t acting that way. I have seen this coming up a lot in the news lately.

This week we saw this played out in our government. We all have seen how hard President Obama has worked to install a nationwide health care system which is affectionately called Obamacare. We saw Congress pass a bill that says they are exempt from it.  They want all of us to join the program and use it yet they have decided that they don’t have too. There are probably many reasons why and we could spend a lot of time guessing what those reason are. But if you heard about this you might have felt like me. Why should I have to join Obamacare if they won’t. Doesn’t it make you just a little concerned about what is in there if they won’t join it? That just doesn’t seem fair; it feels wrong.

Recently we also saw actor Matt Damon attending rallies to “Save the public school system.” Yet, when he recently moved from New York to Los Angeles he enrolled his kids in a private school.  One of the headlines read “The Bourne Hypocrisy” a take off on his movie “The Bourne Supremacy.”

You know Paul said in “1 Corinthians 4:16”  to imitate him. He said that because he was confident that he was living in a way that honored God and he wasn’t afraid for people to do what he did because it backed up what he said.  Let’s see what else he says about this same kind of thing in Titus 1:5-9. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Titus 1:5-12

⁵ The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. ⁶ An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. ⁷ Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. ⁸ Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. ⁹ He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Unfinished Business

In Titus, Paul saw a leader, a pastor, someone who could continue the work of spreading the gospel.  Paul was actually the one who placed Titus as a pastor in Crete as he states in verse 5:

“The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.” vs. 5

Notice that Paul talks about some unfinished business.  We saw in the opening verses of this book that Paul was addressing the lifestyle of the people of Crete.  The un-churched were known for their gluttony, laziness, and dishonesty.  We also know that many in the church were being influenced by Gnosticism, the idea that knowledge is power and that only a few had this “special enlightenment” and they were lording over others.  There was this huge gap of separation between the church in Crete and the Cretans themselves. The unfinished business is that Titus has to help fix the false doctrine of Gnosticism and to get the people in the church to be reaching out to those outside the church and sharing their faith.

Discrepancy

There is a second thing to consider her; that those in the church may be struggling with the same issues those outside of the church are; they fall into patterns of laziness, gluttony, and dishonesty. It may sound crazy but Paul wants to put people in place who can be leaders in the church and are trustworthy. Listen again to verse 6:

“An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.“ vs. 6

Paul encourages Titus to put elders in place. Now before you discount this because you might be thinking “I never want to be an elder,” consider that Paul is not just saying this to those who aspire to be leaders but to all who want to be seen in the world as a true follower of Christ. Paul knows better than anyone that people watch you.  People are always looking at your character and integrity. Paul chooses his words carefully here. He talks about faithfulness, and loyalty as in the face of a culture that is being “wild and disobedient.” This isn’t just in the Bible so that we can appoint elders in the church, it’s there to teach us what are real follower of Christ looks like. What he is calling those in the Cretan church to be is counter-culture.  Really, that is the call for those who are Christians today as well. We are being challenged to be just like the world and to think like the world; we are being challenged to live and be counter-culture.

Ex. The Light Turned Yellow -The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.  As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.  The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.  He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.  After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally….I assumed you had stolen the car.”

Living What You Preach

Paul is talking about being an authentic person and one who lives our what they say.

• Character Traits To Avoid

Paul uses a two-step approach to explaining the character traits needed to be an authentic person. He first explains the character traits we need to avoid. He does that in verse 7:

“…he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.”  vs. 7

The things that Paul describes here are traits that really don’t add anything to our character but instead put us in a bad light with others. Think about it for a moment; someone who has these traits are not the kind of people that you want to be around. No one likes to be around someone who is constantly angry, drunk, violent, and dishonest. Those kind of people we put up. When you are around people with these traits it makes you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Listen to two other verse that talk about the same things.

“A quick-tempered person does foolish things, and the one who devises evil schemes is hated.” Proverbs 14:17

“Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” 1 Timothy 6:9

These trait s do nothing to add to your character but they do everything to destroy your character. The Bible calls us to live like Jesus. These traits are not ones you found in Jesus. The only one that comes up when we discuss Jesus was anger; but remember, anger was not a trait that define him, it was a trait the came out when there was an injustice, an injustice against God or against others.

Ex.  Someone in a restaurant that wanted me to fill their cup with Coke instead of water.

•  Character Traits to Invest In

The second step Paul uses is to describe to us the traits that we can invest in. Verse 8:

“…he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” vs. 8

As you read these traits, what runs through your mind? If you think about them, it may occur to you that none of these traits are too hard to accomplish with a little discipline and focus. Probably the most difficult for most of us might be the self-controlled part. Most of us have it in us to be good, upright, and even holy but it all seems to hinge on self-control.  Again, if we look at Jesus, these traits describe him.

Here is something to remember about these traits; there is no limit to how much of them you can put into your life. You always have room for more and it will always benefit you to add more of them to your life.  In fact, there is a promise that comes with them.  It is found in Psalm 25:21:

“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.” Psalm 25:21

The promise is protection. They protect you from false accusations, they protect you from being called hypocritical, they protect from evil, they protect you from hopelessness, and they protect you from that feeling of being alone and frustrated because…God is with you and in you.  These traits are ones that build your character, deepen your walk with God and build your relationships.

Ex. Billy Graham

Living To Encourage

To wrap passage up, Paul gives us the end result of being authentic and putting good things into our lives, that we will encourage other people with our lives, and that when it comes to those who try to discredit us and put us down, we will have God’s backing. Verse 9:

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” vs. 9

You might say, “How can I do this?” It really is by going back to the basics. It’s remembering that in an of ourselves we will struggle to make these the defining traits of our lives but we can do it when on our focus is on the cross. It’s turning to God and making God our strength. It’s by trusting in his strength, his plan, his Word, and having the focus and discipline that only God can empower in you.

Know What You Stand For
Titus 1:1-4
“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…” vs. 1

Little Known Facts
Here are some little know facts that may be of interest to you.
1. Leo Fender, the inventor of Fender guitars, never knew how to play the guitar
2. Hugging for 20 seconds releases Oxytocin, which c an make someone trust you more
3. Astronauts have a patch of Velcro inside their helmet so they can scratch their nose
4. In the 1800’s,feeding lobster to prisoners was considered “cruel and unusual punishment, like making people eat rats
5. If every muscle in your body could pull in one direction, you could lift nearly 25 tons
6. Since 1945, all British tanks have come equipped with tea facilities

Okay, were those of interest to you? Notice when I started I said they may be of interest to you.
So here is another question? What do they have in common? (Wait a minute and listen to responses) Nothing that I am aware of. They are just random facts. The thing is, we all probably know a lot of things that are interesting but really that’s about it, they really are not good for much else. The question we might need to ask ourselves is, what is important for me to know. Are there are things that are vital to me and of greater importance to my life and me survival? What about when it comes to spiritual things? Today we are going to start the study of a new book, Titus. We will begin by reading Titus 1:1-4. If you are able, please stand.

Read Passage – Titus 1:1-4
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior, 4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Titus: A Man of Strength and Character
The book of Titus is a letter written to Titus, a pastor on the island Crete, by Paul. He has a special place in Paul’s heart as we see in verse 4:

“To Titus, my true son in our common faith…” vs. 4

Paul uses the term “son” affectionately showing us how much Titus means to him. Titus was a Greek who had been converted through Paul’s ministry and became his close friend. He was also one of the men Paul traveled with on his difficult journeys. Paul took Titus with him, for example, to talk with Peter about Peter’s insincerity and hypocrisy in relating to Jews and Gentiles (Gal. 2:1-16). Standing at Paul’s side, Paul confronts Peter about living like a Jew but when Gentiles were around acting like a Gentile. Titus must have learned a great deal about dealing with people, confrontation and how to deal with difficult situations from Paul and these journeys.

Titus must have been a gifted man with many talents because Paul uses him to serve at the first church in Corinth (2 Cor. 8:6) and then leaves him on the island of Crete to help a congregation that has lots of issues and Paul hopes Titus can straight out some of the issues so they become grounded in the truth of God and even to appoint leaders, elders, in the church so that it will move forward and be a light to that community.

Crete Is A Mess!
One of the main issues Titus is dealing with that there is a lot of false teaching that has invaded this island. This island was no paradise of a place. The inhabitants were known for their roughness and rowdiness. The main things they were known for were gluttony, dishonesty and laziness.
The church was being challenged not only to live out their faith and stay true to God in what is considered a chaotic environment, but to hopefully influence these people to consider a new way of life in God and Christ. One of the main false teachings that was prominent was something called Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a teaching that believed that knowledge was the most important thing and that in order to “know God” you had to have this special knowledge. Only a few people were “enlightened.” Whenever we hear something like that, that only a few people can attain something, it should probably throw up a red flag that something is wrong. They also believed you shun the material world as much as possible. This was invading the church so you can see the polar opposites of what is going on here. The “gentile” world is living it up and out of control while some in the church are going to the polar opposite of abstinence and separation from the world. Titus’ job was to bring some balance to their world and really help understand God, Christ and how to live their belief out in a way that brings honor to God.

Know…
In many ways we are in the very same kind of place today. Many people might think that they are going to heaven because they have the knowledge of who God is or because they might abstain from something that they believe isn’t right. They know of God, they know about God, but that is all it is, knowledge. Life is full of tension. One of the tensions we have is about knowing God and what it looks like to live that out daily in our lives. Paul, purposely, begins this letter to Titus with some basis for what it takes to live the Christian life. Knowledge is important. But as we will see as we work our way through this book, it is only part of who we are. The other part, which we will cover in the following weeks, is living that out in a practical and real way. So what do we need to know to get going? Today we are going to look at a few of the basics based on his opening remarks.

1. Who I Am
The first line is important. I am putting this in the first person and you can apply this to yourself. An important thing to know in life is who I am. Listen again to what Paul says:

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…” vs. 1a

Paul knows who he is. Paul calls himself a “servant of God.” When you think about it, we all wear labels. I am a pastor, a husband, a father, a son, a friend, etc. You wear labels of who you are. Here is where the difference lies; because he labels himself a servant of God, he takes his cues and his orders from God. That is what a servant does. A servant doesn’t decide where he wants to go, what he wants to do, etc. All that is done for him by his master. Paul is explaining in this label that is how he lives his life; by going and doing everything God tells him to.
Tying this into what Timothy was dealing with on Crete; the Gnostics believed that their “special knowledge” elevated their status in society. They also believed because of this special knowledge, they lived it out by doing away with the material things of their life which would in turn make them more devoted. This became their identity.
Ex. Jesus, his identity was who he was in God. “I have not come to do my will but the will of my Father who sent me.” John 6:38

2. What I Stand For
The second thing Paul stresses for us to know is What I Stand For. Paul’s words from verse 1b:

“…an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness…” vs. 1b

Paul was not a shy man. When he came around, he was not shy in letting people know what he stood for. I think there are two things in this passage that Paul emphasizes.

1. Community – He uses the words “God’s elect” to combat the Gnostic’s idea of “special knowledge.” He is saying yes there is something special but it is for everyone and it’s everyone’s job to spread that word. The Gnostics tried to keep their special knowledge a secret and that made theme special, at least in their mind. God’s idea of this knowledge is for us to share it with others.

2. Truth and Godliness – The message behind knowing the truth is that is should lead to God and to godliness. Paul wanted people to know that God was his standard of living. The people of Crete, as I mentioned, did not have standards of living that were anything to brag about. Their standards were not one that led to God but ones that led to self-fulfillment and indulgence.

3. What I Am To Do
A third consideration is Paul knows what his purpose is, what he is to do and we should always keep in mind what I/we am to do. He states in verse 3:

“…he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior…” vs. 3

Paul understands his role; he is a preacher. I have mentioned this at other times and it is worth mentioning again, that we all have a role in telling others about God, but we are not all preachers. We are all gifted. God has given each of us talents, gifts, and abilities that we can use
for His glory. I would even say that we are not called to do things that we were not given the ability to do. God never expected us all to be preachers, all to be teachers, all to be evangelists, etc. You are uniquely gifted and empowered to be you and to use the gifts and talents God has given you. In 1 Corinthians Paul uses the analogy of our body. He talks about not everyone is to be a hand, a foot, a heart, etc. Each part is to do their part, in unison with the others, to function properly. A body in full health has every part working together. We, as a church, are the same. Some of you are called to teach, lead a study, play on the praise team, help with the facility, encourage others, how about the recyclables, help with the finances, etc.

4. Who I Am Doing It For
Paul’s concluding remark of his opening statement puts it all in perspective; Paul knows who he is doing everything for. Verse 4:

“Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.” vs. 4

Paul’s reminder here is that everything he does, he does for God and his purpose is to bring God into the places and peoples lives that he touches. He knows he will not being seeing these people in this life again. This point is really what the whole book of Titus is about, knowing God and living out that knowledge through your actions and your life. Paul wants to live out the Christian life in two ways. First he wants to bring grace, God’s grace, in every situation. Grace is bringing God’s strength and courage and his divine assistance in all he does. This is contrary to the Gnostic movement that relies on knowledge as their power and strength and their prestige. He also stresses the idea of bringing God’s peace.

In a world where there is a lot of unrest, a lot of chaos, and a lot of “get all you can” for yourself, Paul wants to remind Titus and the people of Crete that when your motives are in the right place, and God is the driving force behind all you do, that people will see that and want that too.
Ex. I recently heard a pro athlete give a speech where he claimed that his sport gave him his identity, his life and his purpose. A game! I want my identity to be in God and that should come out in everything I do.

Living With Hope
All this leads to something that we all want to have; hope. Paul says in verse 2:

“…in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” vs. 2

Hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation and to expect with confidence. Dr. Henry Cloud wrote in Necessary Endings that “Hope is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.” Hope is the thing that drives you to hold on when everything looks bad. Hope keeps us focused on what is ahead and not on what we have left behind. Hope is a driving force that can helps us believe in what we know but might not have seen.

In the Vietnam war Admiral James Stockdale had his plane shot down and he had to eject. He landed in a village but was taken prisoner and was held captive for 7 ½ years. He saw hope as a requirement of survival. He was regularly beaten and tortured. Stockdale was one of about eleven prisoners known as the “Alcatraz Gang” because they were separated from the other prisoners and placed in solitary confinement in a prison that was separate from the main prison. He was kept in a cell that was 3 ft. x 9 ft. with the light left on 24 hours a day. Reflecting on his experience he said:
“I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.”

We can have that same kind of anticipation: that is that we can and one day will be with God for eternally. The key to that is that we have that hope because God has promised it to us…and God doesn’t lie.