Anxiety and Thanksgiving cannot occupy the same space

 

Read Psalm 100

 

All at once, the past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was a tense moment.

Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut? He just needed a little space!

 Have you heard this one? The safest place that you can be is in the will of God. More on that later.

Have you ever tried that thing where you pat your head and rub your belly? Maybe it’s the other way around. Most of us can do this for a few seconds and then we go into this Mambo dance sort of thing with arms flailing.

I know very few people who can do this. I can’t say all. You might have to train your whole life to do this for 5 minutes. Some try and try but still can’t get it in sync.

In practicality, most really can’t do both. I will have to say that my data on this is minimal and might not survive the law of small numbers test. C’mon, it just doesn’t come up in conversation that much.

Then why did you put us through that quasi montage of patting and rubbing?

Fair enough. Now try being anxious and thankful at the same time.

Now try being anxious and thankful at the same time.

Somebody is saying, “I can do that. I do it all the time!”  The odds makers in Vegas love people like that. That preacher is not telling me what I can and can’t do.

You are correct. I am saying that you should try this for yourself. Those self-discovered epiphanies carry more weight in your life choices anyway. Give it a try.

Some like those who are dead set to do the patting and rubbing will put this to the test. I’ll show that preacher. I’ll be anxious and thankful at the same time. I will show him.

And you can do both with an extreme amount of effort and maybe then you can juxtapose the two for a very short time—a very short time until they repel like same poled magnets.

The return on that investment of effort is sort of like paying for a 14 bedroom 9 ½ bath, 4 garage, two swimming pool with indoor and outdoor hot tubs dream home—mansion—and getting a 1966 Ford Esquire station wagon with who knows how many miles as the odometer does register anymore, it sometimes (2-3 times as year) might start with a jump, the windows are frozen down in the winter and up in the summer with no air conditioning, there’s no power steering fluid as the receptacle won’t hold it, and oh by the way, what you are paying for is a 2 hour rental of this beauty. That was also my college car for 2 years.

For those who are practiced in the art and science of thinking and can run consequences and sequels through their minds as they contemplate harboring anxiety and thanksgiving in the same place, you know how this comes out. Some of you may have to do the exercise this week.

Others have eyes to see that those two—anxiety and thanksgiving—don’t play together. It’s one or the other, or as in the ancient Spence household, it was one or tuther.

Some of you will have to try this yourselves, but I am going to proffer this without waiting for your exercise. You can’t be anxious and thankful at the same time.

You can’t be anxious and thankful at the same time!

Rick Warren—the Purpose Driven Life author and Saddleback church pastor—says if you can worry, you can pray.  You can worry and pray at the same time, but your prayers would lack trust.

It’s like telling God, “I think I got myself into something this time that’s bigger than you are.”

God told me many times in his word not to worry or be anxious.

Do you ever wonder if God uses any of our modern terms to explain things? I don’t think he does. He calls pastors and teachers to do this. Since Jeremiah took the potter and the clay, let’s try something nautical.

Have you ever been on a big ship?  Let’s get some nautical basics.  Hold up your left hand. That’s port. Now hold up your right. That’s starboard.

The rear of the ship is aft. The front is fore. That’s easy.

Where the ship comes to a point in the front, usually a few decks, that’s called the bow.  This is the “I’m the king of the world” spot on the ship. It’s the forward-most point of a ship, right?

Actually, not. OK, all I can see in front of me is the ocean and the air, not a ship.

That does not mean it’s not there. Has anyone ever heard of the bulbous bow? It’s a forward projecting, generally cylindrical part of the ship that protrudes from the ship.

I have never seen that. That’s because it’s underwater. It makes breaking waves much easier as the ship moves forward.

That’s cool, but if you think we are going to general quarters or holding a man overboard drill, you’ve got another thing coming. What’s this got to do with thanksgiving?

There is a group of people in the church universal that often serves as the bulbous bow  for the body.  He is talking about the session, right?

Yes, but they are only a small part of it. I am talking about you and every other faithful servant of God who continues to gather in the assembly. We often make it easier for the rest of the church to come home—at least we should, and if you have been sleeping through the past few decades, many of those who have received the free gift of God have rejected the counsel of Hebrews and do not continue to gather.

Why is this important for us? We know those who do not gather are missing fellowship and assurance, and so much more. They are less disposed to discipleship. They are disobedient unto the Lord. We get that. We need to invite people to come and worship the Lord.

Why is this important for us? The lost need good news, but those saved by grace who do not gather need something else. What?

A stronger argument? More facts and figures? More snacks between services? More time to think it over.  A Connex box? If it actually is a Connex box, I have been the worst stumbling block ever! But that’s not it.

How about provocation?  We are supposed to provoke the disconnected. In our modern world, we have tried to emasculate this word and consider it a bad thing. If you provoke someone, you might cause a fight.  That’s what we have been indoctrinated to think. Let’s go to the verse right before the one that tells us not to stop gathering.

We will go with the New International Version first.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Now the King James Version.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

And now we go to the Revised Standard Version.

and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

In earlier times, the word provoke meant to call forth. It could be to call forth thinking, action, confession, creativity, and, yes, anger. If you go to the original language, you get παροξυσμός, paroxusmos (par-ox-oos-mos').

We are to be people of action, not just for ourselves, but for the body of Christ as a whole. Here, specifically, the Bible talks about prompting, provoking, stirring up, or lighting a fire for those who have their salvation, but are not putting the word of the Lord into practice.

Why would they want to gather and worship God if what they see is worry and anxiety from those who are faithful in gathering? But, but, but… We have struggles too.

Yes, we do. We also have instructions. These are the same instructions other believers have, but who do not avail themselves of the iron sharpens iron establishment that we do.  Don’t worry. Be anxious for nothing. Take courage, Jesus has overcome the world.

We have challenges in the interrogative straight from Jesus. Who can add a single hour to our lives by worrying?

Let’s get to some scripture.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. That’s from the NIV

Here’s the King James Version.

Rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing.

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I looked at a bunch. I even did the Amplified Bible this time. It’s like scripture, commentary, and a message. That which is dynamic to the point of going beyond the strict translation is usually encapsulated in braces or brackets.

Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

People should see thanksgiving in us. We who faithfully attend should be the most thankful people on the planet. These three translations vary somewhat but are very close in one thing.

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

What is his will? We always rejoice. We are always praying. We give thanks to God regardless of our circumstances. I like Horatio Spafford’s words; the Lord has regarded my helpless estate and shed his own blood for my soul.

Yes, sometimes we feel helpless, but in that helplessness, we give thanks. Why?

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

It’s one of those, because God said so, sort of deals. Be thankful all the time. That’s impossible. For us alone it is, but with God it is not.

But what about when we lose a loved one? What about when a loved one or anyone dies in war? What about those that we have lost?  Really, God, you want me to be thankful for that?

I know the stages of loss—denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. They don’t always come in that order, can be repeated, and move at a different pace for each person.  Thanksgiving is not one of the stages of loss…

But it should be in every stage.

This brings me to Memorial Day and a quote from George Patton. Yes, I went with an army guy this time. I’m weaning you off of Marine Corps analogies.

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived."

We can always be thankful. But I said that we couldn’t do that on our own, only with God. That’s still correct, but who is receiving this message? To whom am I speaking?

I am most certainly talking to those who have professed Jesus as Lord and have the Spirit of God living within you. God is not only for you; he lives within you, and you can be thankful in all circumstances.

We can be thankful in all circumstances!

Much of the time, we view living the Christian life as striving for the unattainable. God said to do it this way, and we are striving to get as close as we can to the mark, knowing full well that our reach truly exceeds our grasp.

Except for rejoice always, pray all the time, and be thankful, whatever your lot in life is at the time. Be thankful in all circumstances.

This is God’s will for your life. So, for the rest of this month, I challenge you to provoke people who do not gather in the assembly of God’s people but who have professed Jesus is Lord, to come into the assembly and  love, serve, and worship their Lord.

But how? We have tried everything. Food giveaways. Trunk or Treat. Words on the wall. We haven’t done smoke coming out of the vents, yet. Please hold off a month on that one if you do try it.

How do we provoke, inspire, prompt, stir up, call forth or otherwise get those keeping company with the twin pagan gods of Apathy and Ambivalence to come into the assembly and worship with you and other believers? What will provoke them to action?

Thanksgiving!

People already see your serving the Lord. Do they see thanksgiving in you while you serve?  Do they? But, but, but, how can I be thankful when…

My boss is terrible. Be thankful. Your boss might stink, but you can be thankful you have a job.

The rent is past due. But you haven’t been evicted. The government’s laws and regulations give you some relief. Be thankful you are not on the street.

My kids are driving me crazy. Stop letting them drive. OK, they are metaphorically driving you crazy. I got it. Give thanks that you have children. They are a blessing, and as a bonus, you get to watch your grandchildren drive your own kids crazy. Be thankful that you have kids.

Maybe I can see that a little. I don’t know. None of these covers every situation and circumstance.

But this one does.

If you are not thankful, you are not living in the will of God.

You can’t say that! Who gave you that authority? You have got to retract that one!

You are right. I can’t say that on my own authority, but Paul can and he did.  If we live in the will of God, we will be thankful. Paul said:

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

Let me read that again, taking out the parts where Paul stuttered.

This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus

If you believe that the safest place you can be is in the will of God, and that thanksgiving sits well at the center of that will, then when you are not thankful, you are not living in the will of God.

For those who want to hold on to your old selves, your comfort zones, your hate, your bitterness, your preferences in which your own understanding supplants the will of God, you are not living in the will of God.

OK, I can see that. I can’t be unforgiving or walk around with hate in my heart. I get that.

Good! Now add not being thankful to that list of things that are not in the will of God for you.

OK. I get it. May we wrap this up now?

Not without an action step towards thankfulness. This will be easy. You can pick up from where it ends as you live going forward. Let’s say Psalm 100 together. My subhead says: A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

   Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

 Be thankful all of the time. Be in the will of God. Give thanks in every circumstance. This is doing things God’s way.

Amen.

In Everything

 Read Philippians 4:6-7

We begin in Rome where Paul was imprisoned. Paul wrote to the first church that he planted in Europe. That church was in Philippi.

The letter begins with a standard salutation: This letter is from Paul, except the text notes that it is from Paul and Timothy. Most scholars agree that the style of the letter suggests that Paul was the sole author.

It’s sort of like your Christmas letters that some families send out. It’s from the Smith Family or the Jones Family, but we all know that Mom wrote it.

And we note that Paul gave thanks for these believers in Philippi. He called them partners in the gospel. Paul is telling his modern-day readers that these guys got it from the beginning.

He didn’t have to reiterate time and again that salvation flows from grace, not law. He didn’t have to counsel them on leaving some believers on the outside while enjoying the benefits of fellowship with a select group.

He didn’t have to chastise them about something getting in the way of their faith. There is no, you were running a good race, who cut you off verbiage.

I think Paul enjoyed writing this letter. He enjoyed thinking about this group of believers he met by the river years earlier.

It’s in the first part of this letter that we see words we hear and use again and again: Confident that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

For the believer who struggles with life, not because life is tough, but because he or she realizes that they can’t hit the mark every time, Paul provides comfort in his counsel.

 You stay the course and do your part, knowing that God will get you where you can’t get yourself.

I will borrow Isaiah’s words for a moment and ask if you can see what is happening here in the first part of this letter.

Do you not perceive it?

Perceive what?

Fellowship. Can you not perceive it? Can you not taste it?  Do we know it?

You might be wondering, what fellowship? Paul was writing from prison.

It is a fellowship that comes in doing things greater than themselves. That’s a nondescriptive descriptor by itself. I’ll try it this way.

When we do things that are too difficult to do alone, but we do them with other believers, we know a fellowship that doesn’t visit people in their comfort zones.

Taking this gospel to a world that did not have a relationship with God was impossible. That world had a relationship with gods they had created for themselves but they did not know the one true God.

Paul was on a mission from God to take the gospel to this world. Paul noted that he became all things to all people so that some might be saved.

He planted churches and wrote most of his church plants letters of counsel and correction. Paul sent joy and rejoicing to these Philippian believers. Sure, they had much to learn, but they were partners in the gospel.

There was fellowship in doing great—even impossible things—together. It is a fellowship that I long for us to know better.

The Marines have a saying when asked about doing the impossible: We do difficult things every day; the impossible just takes a little longer.

Doing things together that are too difficult, even impossible, and then knowing the camaraderie of accomplishing those things through Christ produces a fellowship few know. Paul and the Philippians had this fellowship.

The gospel was going into the world. Paul had a big assignment, but now he had a partner. Timothy was his protégé and partner, but Philippi was a whole congregation planted in the middle of Rome (East) and they were partners.

When we consider the church at Philippi, we see that they had genuine fellowship. Let’s move on for the moment.

Philippians brings us the words: to live is Christ and to die is gain.

We note words often repeated in the Christian world: Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We stop there too often and make these verses a sword of revenge. Christians sometimes say these words, wanting to share in God’s righteous anger. Oh, yeah, one day God is going to get you!

The words that Paul penned say that this reverence and profession will be to the glory of God. Don’t get caught up in trying to share in God’s righteous anger. I know there are Christians and even Christian preachers teaching that if God’s wrath could be poured out on it, then it’s OK for us to be angry with it.

That's a good argument, unless you want to be biblical. We have two examples: Jesus and Satan. Jesus set aside his equality with God, humbled himself, and became a servant.

Lucifer, on the other hand, wanted what God had. He wanted to be God. Being an angel wasn’t enough.

Jesus lived and died for us in humility. Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy. Don’t let righteous anger have you take the yoke of Satan instead of Jesus. Our anger does not get us to righteousness.

Moving on. Paul told the Philippians and he is telling us to work out—live out our salvation with fear and trembling. Live the rest of your life for God. Bringing glory to his name in everything we do is now our daily standard.

Paul wrote elsewhere that we should live a life worthy of the calling that we have received.

Paul noted that he counted all of his worldly status and accolades as loss. He didn’t throw them away. He used them in his ministry—even his Roman citizenship—to advance the gospel. He encouraged the Philippians to press on towards the goal.

We finally come to Chapter 4. We note Paul’s familiarity with the congregation, telling two women who were very much working to spread the love of God through the gospel to sort out whatever was getting in the way. He didn’t pick a side. He said, you took yourself out of the game. Put yourself back in.

Then we come to joy and rejoicing. Paul said to rejoice, and he said it twice. That one is on the test. At last, we come to the scripture for today.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Which brings us to restraints & constraints. That’s how Paul paired these verses. Restraints are things that we must not do. Constraints are those things that we must do.

We discussed the restraints in the first service. Now, let’s examine the second part of this coupling.

It begins: In everything.

In everything!

That’s all the time and in all circumstances. That’s a lot. That’s everything. That’s always. That is governing in the whole of our lives.

What is?

Coming before God and talking it through. Paul lists three things—prayer, petition, and thanksgiving. I begin with thanksgiving. If you have been paying attention over the past couple of decades, you might note that I begin a prayer with thanksgiving about 99% of the time.

Even when someone is going through the loss of a loved one, I give thanks to God first. I am thankful that this whole loss thing doesn’t revolve around me. God’s got this, and I thank him for it even when it doesn’t seem to be a time of thanksgiving.

Paul did not prescribe an order or even a ranking. Thanksgiving just fits up front when I pray. It shows up again and again later in my prayers, but it is where I start.

Then we come to petition. These are the requests that we put before the throne of grace. We come boldly before the throne of grace. We ask for what we need and we need what we ask for to accomplish the mission given to us.

We ask our Father in heaven for what we need and do it without any anxiety. We are his servants. We desire to take whatever we are given and put it to work immediately to produce a return for our Master.

So we are thankful, and we ask for what we need.  Anything else?

How about prayer?

Isn’t that what we have been talking about?

Yes, but prayer is more than thanking and asking. It’s conversing with God almighty as if he had called you friend, son, or daughter. It’s just talking to the One who loves you more than anyone else, and we should keep the conversation going all day long.

It’s like getting to work with your best friend and talk about anything and everything all day long, and not worried about the boss telling you that you talk too much.

Prayer, petition, and thanksgiving should be our daily constraints. We should not do them only because we are instructed to, but because we recognize the value of doing them. This is a twofer: We obey and we understand. We get it.

When we couple this with being anxious for nothing, we have a balanced approach to Christian life.

This would be the perfect place to wrap up, except that I wanted to share something with you that I have shared with the session once or twice over the years, and it might have been included in a First Light sermon somewhere along the way.

It is also a topic that bores people to tears each time. What is it?

Front-end analysis, and no, that has nothing to do with your vehicle. It’s about working more on the front end of a process so that corrections are minor instead of addressing things later on when they might have grown into a larger issue.

What?

What if we started the day setting aside anything that caused us to worry, then went into prayer, petition, and thanksgiving?

Start with prayer, that’s nothing new. Most of us start our days with a prayer oif some sorts.  True, but let’s not stop there.

Let’s say you start to worry about something an hour or maybe ten minutes later. Fix it then—at once—now. Make the correction immediately. Don’t drag it out.

I’m worried—what can I do?

Pray. If you can worry, you can pray.

If you are getting angry, then stop and pray.

If your eyes are not on Jesus, stop, pray, refocus on the target.

When? Now!  Do it as soon as you detect that you are off course.

Consider the whole front end of the process business. Visualize a fifteen-degree angle. Why not a two-hundred-degree angle?

The first angle is a cute angle (acute), and using the second angle in my example would be obtuse.

Let’s look at the small angle. There is not much space between the initial side and the terminal side where the angle begins, but there is a whole lot of space between the lines the farther from the initial vertex you get.

Fixing something early—near the front end—is a smaller task than later on. I understand that we want to do things and get them going and over with and that working on the front end of things adds time when we think we should be on to something else.

But it also keeps us on course. I will use an example from Stephen Covey. It deals with leaders and managers, but it applies here as well.

Imagine a well-organized company hired to cut a path through thick Jungle vegetation. Strong men with sharp blades hack away, while others are ready to take their place when the blades get dull.

Men and women are behind them, sharpening blades. The rotation of the cutters and the work of the blade sharpeners look like a well-oiled machine.

The leader climbs a tall tree to get the overall picture. He notes the company is getting off course and shouts down, “Wrong direction!”

To which the managers reply, “Shut up. We’re making good progress.”

This front end of the process and course correction business applies to more than a couple of verses in Philippians, but today, we keep our focus there.

·       Anxious for nothing

·       Prayer

·       Petition

·       Thanksgiving

Let’s return to where we started: fellowship and doing things more significant than ourselves.

See if these apply to you in some way:

·       I want to do God’s will.

·       I want to put his words into practice.

·       I want to be known as belonging to Jesus by my love.

·       I want to fulfill the commission that Christ gave me.

·       I want to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

The list could continue, but these will likely fit most of us. I start my day wanting to do all of these, and the next thing that I know, I say something that I shouldn’t have, or my mind drifts to something that causes me to worry or get angry. I get off course. I take my eyes off Jesus.

Don’t put that course correction on hold. Fix it now. Thank God now. Ask him for help now. Let him know you want to get back on course and press on towards the goal.

Don’t procrastinate. I was going to set up a Procrastinators Anonymous group to help with this, but I haven’t gotten around to it.

Don’t wait until you get around to it!

A week or two ago, I gave everyone in the session meeting and everyone at the First Light Service a Round Tuit. It’s a coin-sized reminder to do things now. Don’t delay. Don’t wait until your get around to it.

Paul’s counsel is simple. My guidance from the full biblical witness might bore you, disrupt your comfort zone, or seem like a pain at the time, but the time invested at the front end of things—most often our days—produces dividends for us, and we produce better dividends for our Master.

Let’s begin our days with Paul’s counsel and continue to address our constraints and restraints with the same counsel as the day progresses.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

OBTW—you get a peace that is more than we can comprehend.

I want you to know this peace—one that goes beyond what we understand.  I also want you to know the fellowship for doing incredible things with other believers and the fellowship it produces.

Amen.

Give Thanks!

 Read Psalm 100

Read Psalm 136

Like it or not, November will say goodbye shortly. Thanksgiving Day seems late this year. It’s almost December, and then a New Year.

I talk about being thankful all year long, but you get an extra dose at this time of year. We should have a surge effort of thanksgiving and praise on occasion or multiple occasions.

So many people think that when my life settles down—whatever that means—I will be ready to give thanks.

When my bills are all paid, and the kids have new shoes, then I can be thankful.

When the doctor says that I am healthy again, then I will praise the Lord.

When I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I might be ready to thank God.

When I can afford an impulse buy every now and then without breaking the budget, I will be thankful and praise the Lord.

I will be thankful when I get around to it, and I have a lot to get done on my list first.

Let’s take a cue from the psalmist. We will look to Psalm 136 for the moment.

Give thanks to God. Why?

He is good.

His love endures forever.

He is the God of gods—the only true God.

He does great wonders. This whole creation thing has to be near the top of the list.

Heaven, earth, land and water, sun and moon, and other heavenly bodies all came into being by his breath. He spoke these into existence.

He delivered his people from bondage in Egypt. That was a series of mighty acts.

He parted the Red Sea and his people crossed it on dry land.  The same parted Red Sea did not treat the pursuing Egyptians so nicely.

He led his people through the wilderness until they were ready to enter the land that he promised Abraham as an inheritance. This took a while.

He struck down mighty kings that his people might prevail. He liberated his people.

God remembers us, even amidst the vastness of the universe.

He is the God of everything and remembers us even in our humble estate.

OK, the people back in the day had a lot for which they gave thanks. That was a long time ago.

I’ve got bills and medical appointments and parent-teacher conferences and have to work for some young guy with no experience and…

You can’t expect me to just give thanks because God rescued some people from slavery almost 3,500 years ago.  I have problems today.

There is a meme-related thought circulating online that goes something like this: Instead of focusing on what is happening to us and feeling helpless or wronged and feeling pitiful, focus on what God has already done for us. Focus on your blessings.

What then?  We should be better inclined to thanksgiving.

Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

He made everything in creation. It all—including us—belongs to him.

Give thanks to the God who provides for everyone and everything.

OK, those always apply, but we need a Red Sea parting somewhere in our recent history.

Give thanks to the God who blessed you to be born in this most wonderful nation. We have our problems, and more are on the way, but we are blessed beyond what most of the world knows or imagines.

Give thanks to the God who blessed you to be born in this part of this most blessed nation. We still speak openly of our God and worship freely. We might face a mean comment or two when we express our faith online, but nobody is trying to kill us for professing Jesus as Lord.

Give thanks to the God who put us in the land of plenty, the land of everything modern, the land of modern milk and honey, and who loves us with an everlasting love.

Give thanks to the God who loves us so much that he gave his one and only Son that we might know real life and eternal life in him.

Give thanks to the God of gods who chose us to take his message to the world.

Give thanks to the one true God who is love.

Give thanks to God who is the Potter and shapes us in the likeness of his Son as if we were clay.

We must give thanks for our blessings, trials, and even the Lord's discipline. If it is from God, it is good for us. We may not understand it in the moment, but we should be thankful for it.

Our story goes back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as did the psalmist’s, but our story continues today with God's mighty acts in our time.

He is working with billions now, but he still knows us by name and has called us to him for his purposes. We don’t see Red Sea crossings but we see many saved from the slavery of sin and death. We see healing. We see the body of Christ helping the least of these brothers and sisters.

So many of God’s blessings are administered through the body of Christ in our time, including our own blessings.

We are blessed beyond our problems of the day, week, year, or decade.

We are blessed, and we should be thankful.

It’s not how big our problems are. It’s how big our God is, and that’s something for which we give thanks.

Give thanks.

Amen.

Men began to call upon the name of the Lord

Read Genesis 4:26

You have to love Genesis.  It is the only book of the Torah where the Greek and Hebrew titles agree.  Bresheet means beginning as does Genesis.  The rest differ as the Greeks wanted a title and an author and based their title on a general understanding of content: however, the Hebrew people knew their books by the first few words. 

For instance, Exodus was called Shemot, meaning names.  Exodus begins with These are the names…

Viyikra, meaning and he called becomes Leviticus. Midbar, meaning in the wilderness shows up as Numbers.  Devarim which means words becomes Deuteronomy.  None  of these match the titles assigned in the Greek translation, but Genesis does.

In the beginning begins the first creation account.  At the end of which God declared all things very good.  A good start to creation, don’t you think?

This is followed by the second account of creation told with a greater focus on humankind.  So far, so good.  The creation is off to a good start.

You know what’s next.  We can’t even get three chapters into the story until it seems to go south.  The serpent makes his pitch, Eve makes her evaluation, and then she breaks the one and only commandment given to her husband, which he has surely passed on to her.  They knew his directive and Eve broke it anyway.

Afterwards Adam take a bite as well.  He was an easy sell.  So much for male leadership in the first family. 

Have you seen the pictures and meme of something totally messed up and the caption, “You had one job to do?”  I like the one where the Minnesota midfield logo is centered on the 45 yard line. “ You had one job!”

Adam and Eve had only one thing not to do.  We can look back on them and blame the fall of humanity on them, which is normally what we do.  We mitigate the blame a little bit by asking ourselves if we would have done any better.  Maybe we would have held out longer.  Maybe not.

The next thing you know, 25% of the people noted in the Bible commit murder at the same time.  The murder rate was also 25%.   Okay, Cain killed his brother, Abel.

We sometimes look at and classify Genesis as history.  Sometimes we note it as a faith statement. It is in many ways, but it is also prophetic.  We often ignore that.  The one command which brought disobedience was followed by over 600 that brought disobedience.  Disobedience continued through Noah and the flood and Moses and Joshua to the Messiah.

All were bound over to disobedience.  No one, not even the patriarchs, managed to bear the burden of obedience. 

We see that as the law increased, sin increased even more.  Disobedience increased.  Doesn’t that just mess up the whole story?

Not if the only way to be right with God was through the work of God himself. Only the Messiah could fulfill the law, live by the complete law, and only through the blood of the Messiah could we be made right with God.  Only through him could we receive the Spirit of God.

We are creatures of the flesh and if we jump forward to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus noted that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Even these words spoke short term prophecy.  As Jesus struggled to see his mission through to completion—which he did—his closest followers succumbed to their flesh.  They fell asleep once again.

He told them to continue in prayer so they would not give into temptation but the flesh was too strong for them.

Jesus lived in the flesh though his flesh did not conquer him, but he was the only person ever who could claim this victory.

So the story of the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament is one in which God stayed with us through our disobedience to his word, his directives, his loving guidance.  Some found favor with God but none could fulfill all of his commands, even when there was just the one.

This whole story could have ended shortly after it began.  This judgment that we believe is to come could have come and gone quickly and this whole humanity thing could have been put in the books.

But God stayed with us through it all because he is God.  He is love.  He loves us.  He has something incredible in store for us now and through eternity.  He has given us his Spirit as a deposit on our inheritance as his sons and daughters.

And all had not gone astray.  Keeping God’s directives was one thing, but seeking him even in this weak human flesh was another.

In what seems totally out of context considering the way this whole creation story was going, we find these words.

At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Some translations might say people began to proclaim the name of the Lord.

In this screwball story where the flesh is racking up wins, the people began to call on the name of the Lord.  But there is no revival.  There is no obedience.  There does not seem to be widespread worship of the one true God.  This, like other parts of this book and the rest of the Torah, point to future.

But people began to call on the name of the Lord.  Where does their help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We see the prophet Joel talking about the Spirit of God being poured out.  Peter talks of Joel’s words in his first big sermon.  His message leads up to these words.  Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.  

Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!  Now that’s something to be excited about.

Okay, that makes for a nice sermon but consider today’s world.  Disobedience to and even contempt for God are commonplace.  I don’t know that I see much future for our nation other than some fire and brimstone.

The creation story was on that same track but somehow men began to call upon the name of the Lord.  This did not abate the problems of humanity but some called upon the name of the Lord.

Some began to call upon the name of the Lord.  My prayer is that we will see this again in our country and in our time.  People will begin to call upon the name of the Lord .

The big catalyst here is that one day soon the Spirit of God will be poured out and those who are not anchored in rebellion will call upon the name of the Lord.

Those who are struggling in the flesh will call upon the name of the Lord.

But we have salvation.  Must we continue to call upon the name of the Lord?

Let’s consider this.  Do we obey all of God’s commands?  No, but if I live a life of love, I have fulfilled them.

Are we consistent in living our lives in love?  Not exactly.  I have good moments and bad.

Even with salvation, we wrestle with the flesh.  We get angry.  We have to be right.  We make our desires the center of our world and seeking God gets bumped down a notch or two.  Love gets some time in our hearts then gets evicted and invited back and then stuck in a corner.

We still wrestle with the flesh.  Paul would call it the old man, the old creature.  Even as redeemed men and women we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  Where does my help come from?  It comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

We likely won’t be able to fully obey God until we live continually in God’s presence.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  One day we won’t contend with sinful flesh. The Spirit wins.  God wins.  We win.

But in this day, we must continue to call upon the name of the Lord.  This is more than prayer.  This is a lifestyle.  This is in all your ways acknowledge him.  Let’s call upon the name of the Lord.

One way that we often forget to call upon the name of the Lord is in Thanksgiving.  Our requests are lined up and ready to go but sometimes we get so wrapped up in our needs that our thankfulness is consumed by our flesh.

We are a thankful and grateful people even if the world is not.  Even as we struggle with the flesh and even as we struggle with disobedience and even as we struggle getting ourselves out of the judgment seat and into the arena, out of the bleachers and on the playing field, out of philosophy and into practice—even as we struggle with our modern-day trials of the flesh—we are to be thankful.

Thank you, Lord, that you are God.

Thank you that you are love.

Thank you that you love us.

Thank you for your directions given for our own good.

Thank you for the Spirit that lives within us and who is a deposit on things to come.

Thank you for your command to love one another and that we may fully live.

Thank you that you hear us when we call out to you.

Thank you that the spirit that you placed inside us when you made us a living being can converse with the Spirit you placed inside of us when we received Jesus.

Thank you that they can talk directly and I don’t have to compose a prayer.

Thank you that you will finish the good work that you began in us.

Thank you that you did not abandon us in our disobedience.

Thank you that you have things in store for us that are beyond our imagination.

Thank you that you have called me friend.

Thank you that our present suffering is nothing compared to what you have in store for us.

Thank you that you trusted me enough to commission me to take your gospel to the world.

Thank you for the trials I experience that I might grow in your grace.

Thank you that sometimes your answer to my prayer is no.

Thank you that I may understand that your grace is sufficient for me.

Thank you for the things of this world that make me rich as compared to the rest of the world.

Thank you that those things have not become my god.

Thank you for the body of Christ so I need not navigate this life alone.

Thank you for your holy word that was preserved as it was passed down orally generation to generation, written and translated with great fidelity and available to anyone who wants it, and that sometime soon will be written on my heart.

Thank you that I proclaim Jesus is Lord and know this to be true without any doubt.

Thank you that your grace goes beyond my sin.

Thank you that you have called me to live in such a way that I will be known by my love.

Thank you that your mercy and grace have not expired even in this twisted and perverse generation.

Thank you that we know you best through your Son who died as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thank you that by knowing him we know you.

Thank you that we know you by the Spirit who lives within us.

Thank you that we may call upon your name.

Amen.