The Truth is: Jesus
This week’s sermon is about the truth of Jesus. Often our world is thrown into Chaos and is disrupted by something as simple as a phone call or as complex as a doctor. The truth is Jesus never changes and in the midst of ambiguity and chaos Jesus holds the whole world and even you. Feel free to listen to the sermon on iTunes or at the bottom of the post. Prayer: God, in the mist of all this ambiguity give us more truth.
Scripture: John 10:7-11 CEB version
In the last month I have led 3 funerals.
In the last 6 months I have led more funerals than I did in 3.5 years at my last appointment.
Since Monday our church family has experienced the loss of two more people that we love.
Last week a girl born on september 11, 2001 was shot and killed in an attempted assassination plot on a congress woman.
Every time we turn on the TV we are assailed by ads that say children are starving all over the world.
Every United Methodist communication mentions that every 45 seconds someone dies of malaria.
With all of this happening around us we must be wondering what is the point of all of this?
With our world thrown into such chaos that never seems to end we must be wondering how are are supposed to escape it all.
The truth is this all hurts us.
The truth is this stuff can make us miserable.
When we are in pain and miserable we begin to turn in on ourselves,
- Literally we begin to hunch over and hang our head low.
- We begin to think of only ourselves and our pain.
- We forget that our actions impact other people.
- We forget that there are other people out there.
- We begin to spend our money on thing frivolous things that we think will make us feel better.
- We begin to look only at ourselves and how to alleviate this pain from our body thinking that if we can just get away from this pain we will be better.
- So we begin looking for ways to stop this pain. We begin to chase after all manner of things that we think will make us feel better.
- Some go as far as drugs and alcohol
- Some turn to music and TV to avoid silence
- Some go head first into some other crisis to avoid dealing with their own crisis.
- I have even known people that in order to avoid their own life issues go headlong into church activity, thinking that God will overlook their issue if they are doing enough good works with the church.
When in reality those things do not help us, they actually take us further down the road of our miserableness and lead to all sorts of unhealthy issues.
Then we find ourselves so much further from getting the help we need and the relief we desire.
- We find ourselves so far down that we need to look up to see the bottom
- We find ourselves so miserable we cannot believe anyone would love us.
In those moments, in those times of sorrow and grief that we will all experiences, some more than others and some even right this moment.
- We cry because it hurts
- We are angry because it isn’t fair
- We question because we don’t understand
- We remember that Jesus is the good shepherd.
- The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep
- The good shepherd makes sure nothing will hurt his sheep
- Even death has lost its sting. 1 Cor. 15:55
- The good shepherd lets us rest
- Psalm 23
- The good shepherd takes care of our needs
- Matthew 6:26 – more valuable than birds
- We remember that God works all things for good for those who love Him
- Romans 8:28
- We remember that Jesus is the Lord of all
- John 14:17
- We remember that God loves us enough to look for us, run to us, wrap his arms around us and hug us.
- Luke 15
So then, the truth is, our world gets thrown into chaos. No, we don’t always know why. But we know that in that chaos Isaiah 61:3 rings true:
- That through Jesus we are given beauty in the midst of our ashes and joy in the midst of our mourning.
So then, is there anything that is turning you inward? Keeping you miserable? Name it, call it horrible, unfair and wrong. Let it be nailed to the cross. Let it die along with Jesus. Let the forgiveness of the cross free you from the pain. Then let the joy of the empty tomb remind you that while the pain has died the one who takes away your pain is alive.
Sermon Audio
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Once upon a time, before I found Christ again, my family went through a lot of suffering, I completely turned my back on my faith as I felt I was being unfairly punished, and why would God, our father, punish in a way to hurt us so badly?
I was presented, with what I believe to be my answer, and it was lying in the book of Job. It literally jumped out at me, at a time I had no interest in my faith anymore.
The book of Job teaches us that suffering may occur for reasons we don’t understand, or, until God reveals the answer to us.
Trials may come because God needs to know something about a faithful servant (Genesis 22:1-12)
It may sound cliche, I still suffer and hurt on occasion, but I have learnt not to hold onto the suffering, there will be a reason for it, so in times like that, I turn to God, lay my trust in him, in spite of what I maybe going through at that time.
God gave me the answer many years ago, he knew I would come back to him, but he needed to give me a helping hand, he showed me Job, pushed me to read it, and give me the understanding.