The promises of God 2-23-14 week 14 of THE STORY

·        Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

·        I’ll swear it on a stack of Bibles.

·        If I’m lyin I’m dyin.

·        I swear it on my mother’s grave.

People say all kinds of things to convince others that their promises are true. I suppose if we told the truth more often we would not have to work so hard to convince others that we are telling the truth now. Let me tell you about one whose word is always true.

First, some background.

We have to back up to Solomon’s chasing after other Gods. Remember, he had 1000 wives and concubines, many of whom were foreigners who brought their religion along with them. In the last paragraph of THE STORY chapter 13 God says, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenants and decrees which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.”

During the latter part of his life, Solomon engaged in a number of building projects in which Jerry (That’s Jeroboam for those of you who are not on a first name basis with him) Jerry proved to be particularly trustworthy. Trustworthy enough that Solomon put him in charge of all the forced labor. About that time, Ahijah the prophet met Jerry on the road. He tore his brand new cloak into twelve pieces and told Jerry to take 10 of them. It represented that he would become king of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jerry then rebelled against Solomon, trying to take those 10 tribes, which proved to be a mistake and he had to flee to Egypt.

When Solomon died and his son Rahoboam took over the kingdom, (we’ll call him Ray) When Ray took over the kingdom Jerry came back and requested on behalf of the people that he reduce the taxes and forced labor. Ray got both good advice and bad advice, but of course chose the bad advice telling the people that he would not reduce the taxes and labor but would in fact increase both. “You think you’ve got it bad now… just wait,” he says. Jerry took the people and seceded from the kingdom leaving Ray with only 2 tribes, just as Ahijah had prophesied.

The sad summary on page 195 of THE STORY half way down is, “Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.”

No king is going to let some yahoo walk off with 5/6ths of his kingdom so Ray naturally amassed an army and headed for the border. Then the word of the Lord came through a prophet who told him “Do not fight against your brothers, The Israelites. Go home every one of you, for this is my doing.”

“For this is my doing?” YES

In the lower story, this is a disaster. Ray is clearly the villain and Jerry a hero. There is this tragic civil war between the north and the south. The great kingdom has been divided. The great strength of the nation has been cut in half. The influence of the nation has been diminished. There is nothing good about this in the lower story.

The upper story, however has little to do with tyrannical leaders like Ray, or popular heroes like Jerry. The upper story has little to do with nations and politics. The upper story has little to say about the main characters here or the lower story events. The upper story lesson here is really pretty simple. I keep my word. No, cross my heart. No, mother’s grave or stack of Bibles because God has always kept his word.

God keeps God’s word because unlike us he is focused like a laser beam on one goal and one goal only. Seeing people live in perfect community with him and each other.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

God promised Abraham that his offspring would be a great nation. In spite of the fact that Abraham and Sari were way past childbearing age. Did God let them down? NO. God gave them Isaac who bore Essau and Jacob who became Israel. A great family indeed.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

God promised Moses that he would lead the people out of Egypt, did he keep that promise? YES. He promised Moses that if the people kept the laws they would be blessed, if they broke the laws they would be disciplined. Did they get disciplined when they broke the first two commandments? You bet they did. Did they get disciplined when they didn’t have faith in God? You bet they did that’s why they wondered for 40 years in the desert. Did they get blessed when they were faithful. Yes, with the promised land.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

He promised David that he would rule over a great nation and he did. He promised David that he could be forgiven if he came to God and confessed. He was. He promised David that his tribe and his family would rule forever. Is he keeping that promise? Yes. Even though in the lower story it doesn’t look that way.

YOU SEE GOD COULD NOT PUT UP WITH THE CONSTANT BREAKING OF THE FIRST TWO COMMANDMENTS as the people went chasing after foreign Gods. God could have justly destroyed the whole kit and caboodle of them, but promised Noah that he would never do that again. So he doesn’t.

GOD COULD HAVE GIVEN UP ON ISRAEL, but because he promised Abraham he doesn’t.

GOD COULD HAVE WALKED AWAY AND JUST FORGOTTEN RAY AND JERRY, but he had promised David. He has a promise to keep.

Why…? Why was the promise to David so important? Because out of David’s tribe- out of David’s family will eventually come the messiah. Joseph and therefore Jesus is “Of the house and lineage of David.” You see the whole story starts to make sense when you look at it from the upper story perspective. Rather than destroy, God split the kingdom into two in order to make sure that his promise would be fulfilled no matter what. Cross his heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in his eye.

In the lower story it appears that Ray, and the southern Kingdom are being punished for Solomon’s sins. One would guess at this point that it would fade away and be forgotten by history. It appears that the southern kingdom is being let go because Ray listened to the wrong advice. Except if the southern kingdom ceases to be… God is made out to be a liar. And God is no liar.

IN fact this is all about God keeping God’s word. We have to see that the southern kingdom is not being abandoned, it is paying the price for Solomon’s disobedience.  God is simply keeping God’s word.

God will see this through one way or another.

·        With Solomon or in spite of him.

·        With Rahoboam or in spite of him.

·        With Jeroboam or in spite of him.

·        With Israel or with Judah or in spite of both of them.

·        With the church or without the church.

·        With us or without us.

·        With you or in spite you… God will ultimately see his kingdom come.

Nothing stops God.

·        Not Abraham’s age,

·        or the people’s rebellion under Moses,

·        not David’s sin,

·        or Solomon’s idolatry,

·        not Rahoboam or Jeroboam.

·        Not Jonah’s escape into the whale,

·        or the invading armies of Assyria and Babylon.

Nothing can stop God.

·        Not the hard heartedness of the people toward the prophets.

·        Not the cruelty and abominations committed by the Greeks or the Romans.

·         Not the hatred in Herod’s heart,

·        or the blindness of the disciple’s eyes.

·        Not the not the betrayal by friends

·        nor the killing of God’s son can stop God from fulfilling his promise in Jesus Christ.

·        Neither the stupidity of the early church leaders,

·        nor the foolishness of today’s.

·        Neither the slowness of people to respond,

·        nor the distractions we have placed in God’s way.

·        Neither our reluctance to give our all,

·         nor our eagerness to take the credit ourselves will ever, ever, ever, keep God from fulfilling his promises.

The prayer says “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” It doesn’t say they kingdom might come or your will may be done. There is nothing in all of creation that can stop God from fulfilling his promises of a new heaven and a new earth.

·        God will do it either with us or without us.

·        Either with the church, or in spite of the church.

·        Either with our cooperation or against our will.

·        Either with us or without us, God’s promises are being fulfilled.

Nothing harms the church more than when we reflect the wrong image of the God who is.

·        When we judge others or view their pain with apathy we are working against the kingdom of God.

·        When we show unkindness to others especially the widows, children and the poor, we are working against the kingdom of God.

·        When we fail to live the life of a witness for the kingdom either in word or in deed we are working against the kingdom of God.

·         When we treat our faith and our church with lack of interest or a sense of boredom we are working against God’s promises.

v God’s promises however, are a flood that is coming whether we are ready or not. It is slowly rising, and rising, and rushing and rushing and we can be ready or not. Either way it is happening

v God’s promises are like time. The baby is coming, the assignment is due, tax season is upon us, old age is creeping up on us and there is nothing we can do about it because time rolls on.

v Like the seasons rolling from spring into summer, into fall into winter and back into spring, God’s activity is slowly but surely changing the world and we cannot stop it.

God’s promises, however, will be fulfilled and you can fight it, you can stand by and watch, or you can be part of it.

God’s kingdom, however, is coming with you or without you. Wouldn’t you prefer that he do it with you?

What a privilege it is to be part of the great kingdom of God that is coming to transform the world and make all things new.

·        Imagine, knowing that the way you live today.

·        Imagine, the way you treat others today.

·        Imagine, the way you confront pain and disappointment today.

·         Imagine, the way you speak today.

·        Imagine, the way you serve today Just might be part of God’s kingdom work right here and now.

On second thought you don’t have to imagine. Because it is. Cross my heart.

AMEN

The way of life RUMC 2-16-14

Better late than never…

A watched pot never boils…

You break it, you buy it…

Wake up and smell the coffee…

Get your ducks in a row…

It isn't whether you win or lose that counts, it's how you play the game…

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen…

There are no small parts, only small actors…

A rising tide lifts all boats…

 Then there’s my favorite. ‘Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and erase all doubt.

We are all brought up with proverbs. Maybe your parents used them, maybe your grandparents … I suspect each of us has SOMEONE who was the source of our proverbs.

I even ran across a modern proverbist-   Randy Hasper regularly prints original proverbs on his blog called modernproverbs.net.

•             Insecurity laughs in the face of safety.

•             A great skill is borne out of a determined incompetence.

•             The present is the illusion that time is standing still.

•             Love is a risk; hate is a sure thing.

•             To eat tomorrow, throw seed today.

•             Life is risky, death a sure thing.

 Most of the proverbs we learn have a grain of truth in them. They teach us about life and living. They teach us about relationships and roles. They teach us about priorities and proper living.

Then there are proverbs that are just plain wrong

•             Like In a marriage “Look out for number one” is a sure recipe for disaster.

•             “If it feels good do it” is a leads to hedonistic anarchy

Today we are going to look at the book of proverbs because we have been talking about Solomon and Solomon is the primary author of the book of proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

These three books along with the book of Job, and parts of the Psalms form what we call The Old Testament Wisdom literature. Wisdom literature is more about the lesson than the story. In fact, if you read it, you noticed that there is no story in proverbs. The lesson of wisdom literature is teaching us a way of life.

Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as “the ability to discern what is true or right. Therefore, our English word "wisdom" has both moral implications--discerning what’s right--and intellectual implications--discerning what’s true.

The Hebrew word for wisdom is a little more interesting. It is usually associated with a skill or ability. It might be skill in a craft like woodworking or stone dressing, or it might be skill in leadership or teaching.

Biblical wisdom, then, is the skill of living. Timothy Peck says, “It is the art of Living with the grain” of life. Like the grain of wood. It is much easier to work with the grain than against it. Wisdom is discerning the “grain” or the direction of life that God has created and, rather than fighting it and living against the grain, it is living in that direction. It is understanding that God is the creator of life and discerning the basic building blocks of that life. Therefore, some of the great themes in Proverbs are humility, honesty, righteousness, friendship, hard work, and wealth or lack of wealth. Understanding current of creation and swimming with the current rather than fighting against it is the essence of the wisdom message.

Now a proverb is a short memorable saying that points out this grain or current. It teaches about living with God and our neighbor. One of the most famous modern proverbs is “Life is like a box of <<__________>>,” Forest Gump. There is also, "sticks and stones<< ____________>> but words <<________________>>. “ See these proverbs get into our collective consciousness to shape who we are and the way we live. The goal of the book of proverbs is to get into our consciousness, or under our skin, or on the tip of our tongue so that we will live, not the Forest Gump way, or the world’s way, but God’s way.

There is truth in the proverbs. Is every single proverb true in every single circumstance? NO. I was telling Dian this week that you shouldn’t dissect the proverbs. You have to let them sit in your consciousness and let the meaning soak in without dissecting them. 

She was complaining about Proverbs 1:17, “How useless it is to spread a net

    while all the birds are watching!” She was saying birds aren’t that smart enough to understand what a net is. That is the kind of proverb that you might say is not true, but isn’t there a grain of truth in it. Perhaps don’t do in full public view the things that ought to be done in private?

Or someone else was commenting on proverbs 10:27 which says,” The years of the wicked will be short.” Is that true? Often it is, but not always for instance, how old is Fidel Castro now?

No, we can’t take the proverbs too literally, but we use them as sign posts to point us to the truth of how God’s world usually works, and how we should be living in it.

There are three things I want to point out this morning about proverbs. You might call them fountains of wisdom.

 The first fountain is what proverbs calls “Fear of the Lord.” Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

 Now, we hear the word “fear” and think “afraid.” I don’t usually preach that we should be afraid of God though, looking at our culture and the news, a little more afraidness might not hurt us.

 In Hebrew the sense of fear of the Lord, however,  is not being afraid of the Lord, but respecting the Lord, honoring the Lord,  showing reverence to the Lord.

It makes me think of CS Lewis the chronicles of Narnia.’

Lucy and Susan are just about to meet Aslon the lion that represents Christ. When Susan asks if it is safe to meet a lion Mr. Beaver says, “Who said anything about safe? Of course, he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you!"

That’s just like living before God. Should we be afraid of God? Probably! Except, we know that God is good. He is our savior.

It is the same kind of fear I feel every time I stand before you to preach. Do you scare me? No. Does God scare me? No, but I hold so great respect the act of preaching that I do it with fear and trembling.

That is the first fountain of wisdom, knowing enough to stand with respect and fear and trembling when we come before the Lord

 The second fountain is in the proverbs 6 passage I selected. “There are 6 things that the lord hates, 7 that bring an abomination on him.” First of all the 6 and 7 formulation are poetic instruments. There are 7 things on this list.

•             Pride

•             Lying

•             Murder

•             Planning wickedness

•             Eagerly Doing evil

•             False accusations

•             And breaking up a family.

My point, however, is not the 7 things themselves. The second fountain is to know that there are things God won’t tolerate. Knowing that there are clear boundaries in life. There are lines we are not intended to cross.

•             We are not intended to cross the line between feeling good about ourselves and pride.

•             We are not intended to cross the line between truth and lying.

•             We are not intended to cross the line that leads to murder etc.

•             We are not intended to cross the line of planning of doing evil

•             We are not intended to cross the line of false accusations

•             We are not intended to cross the line of breaking up a family.

You get the idea. The important thing is knowing that what we do matters. It not only matters to those around us, it matters to God. 

We live in a culture where many people consider everything relative. Something is only wrong for me if it feels wrong to me. The world tries to convince us that there is no absolute right or absolute wrong. It is all relative to who perceives it.

That is not God’s perspective though. God’s perspective is that there is right and wrong. There are things God hates. There is a line that God draws across which we are not supposed to go.

Wisdom is knowing that there is a right and a wrong, and always seeking to know the difference.

So the first fountain is fear of the lord. The second is knowing right from wrong. The third is from the proverbs 13 passage. It ends with the sentence “Those who despise the word bring destruction on themselves, but those who respect the commandment will be rewarded.” In other words knowing right, it is doing it.

 It is one thing to know in theory how to fix my car. However, in reality I can no more fix my car than my mechanic could write a sermon.

It is one thing to design a building, it is completely another to build it.

It is one thing to know right from wrong… it is an entirely different thing to do right and avoid wrong. That is what the proverbs are all about giving us hundreds of concrete examples of the contrast between right and wrong.

•             Those who guard their mouths preserve their lives; those who open wide their lips come to ruin.

•             The appetite of the lazy craves and gets nothing; while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.

•             Wealth hastily gained will dwindle, but those who gather it little by little will increase it.

The proverbs give us hundreds of concrete examples of the contrast between right and wrong.

•             Can they cover every situation we would ever encounter… no

•             Can they be universalized to meet every need we could ever have…no

There is, however, truth- real truth- God given truth in each one. That truth teaches us to do right, and avoid wrong.

 When you picture success in your life what do you see? 

•             A big house several cars, a boat, a dog and 2.5 kids?

•             Do you picture traveling at will?

•             Do you picture early retirement or working as long as you are able?

There’s nothing wrong with any of those pictures of success, but God has a different picture drawn in the book of proverbs.

•             God pictures people who respect and worship him

•             People who know their right hand from their left, in other words right from wrong.

•             And people who seek with all their hearts to live the way God wants them to live doing the right thing or the righteous thing

To live wisely we need to redefine success. We need to abandon the search for meaning within ourselves or within the world. We need to give up the desire for self-fulfillment. We need to give up the quest to do things our way. And start seeking the God who deserves our respect and worship. Start seeking the knowledge of right and wrong, and start choosing right over wrong, God over bad, God over all else.

AMEN

The king who had it all RUMC 2/9/14 Week 13 “a” of the story

Our culture is fascinated with wealth. It used to be “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” more recently has been the obsession with the Kardashians. I even heard an advertisement for what one former pastor calls the Biblical Money code. Supposedly, the Bible has a scheme for getting rich quick or at least gaining vast amounts of wealth. I’ll tell you straight out- it’s not there. I suspect that the former pastor is making a lot more money from subscriptions to his newsletter than most of his subscribers will ever make.

Our culture is fascinated with wealth. I’ll never forget working for a small home building company in the quad cities. Their specialty was mansions. I worked on a $20 million mansion in rural Milan Illinois for a heart surgeon. One of his 6 bathrooms was bigger than my bedroom. His great room had more square feet than our whole parsonage including the garage. Sadly enough I don’t know what happened to that house. Last I knew he had run out of money and couldn’t pay the company I worked for. That’s when I collected my check and moved onto a different company. Apparently, like many in our culture, the Dr. was obsessed with the appearance of wealth that he may or may not have actually had.

There was nothing questionable about Solomon’s wealth. It was real. Never before and never since has there been anyone as wealthy or as wise as Solomon.

In the lower story, Solomon received the throne from his father David. Of course David’s oldest son Adonijah thought he should be king, but David made sure that Solomon got the job.

Solomon took over the kingdom at a great time. David had ruled over Israel’s most prosperous time ever. There was greater peace, greater security, greater wealth, and greater faith than about any other time in Israel’s history.

Right away, however, there is a strange foreshadowing that something is going wrong. Out of the clear blue sky, the Bible tells us that Solomon married an Egyptian princess. The Bible doesn’t comment on it at that point, but remember that God commanded the Israelites not to marry foreign women?

In the next scene, Solomon is visiting one of the High places called Gibeon. The high places were where the Israelites went to worship other gods. God gives him every opportunity to be faithful.  In fact it was while he was at Gibeon worshipping another God that our God came to him in a dream to offer him anything he asked for.

Do you remember his answer? Was it wealth? Was it long life? Was it power and prestige? NO, NO, and NO. Solomon asked for wisdom.

Solomon says, you have given me such an important job and I have no idea what I am doing. Give me wisdom to rule your people. So God did, and because he asked for wisdom rather than wealth or long life, God gave him those things too.

Solomon became the wisest and wealthiest man the world has ever known.

I kings chapter 10 lists some of his assets. He received nearly 2 billion dollars in gold annually not counting tax revenue and gifts from the Arabian kings. The way I figure it, that would just about pay the credit card bill from his 1000 wives shoe shopping trips.

“the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. 20 Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. 21 All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold…22 The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.”

“Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills.”

Get the picture? Donald trump, Warren Buffett, Melinda Gates, and Mark Zukkerberg added together don’t hold a candle to Solomon’s wealth.

Unbelievably, however, that was not Solomon’s priority.

His priority was building the temple. He used his vast resources to build a beautiful temple for God. He used only the best materials: sawn stone, cedar from Lebanon, gold and more gold.

As a measure of how much work they put into it, It was just a little bit bigger than the parsonage, but took 180,000 men 7 years to build. I kings 6 and 7 tell you more about the temple if you are interested. My point is that Solomon’s priority in all of his life was that temple and he did it right.

Building a temple like that, one would rightly assume that there was a revival of faith. People were excited and devoted to God. Mostly.

The problem is that they devoted themselves to God, but they also devoted themselves to the worship of foreign Gods. Remember I told you that the Egyptian wife was a foreshadowing?  Now we come to the rest of  Solomon’s 1000 wives most of whom were apparently foreign women. They were Egyptians, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonains, and Hittites. Each, of course, brought their respective religion with them and tried to entice Solomon to worship their Gods. God had said, many years ago, don’t marry foreign wives because they will be nothing but trouble.

I kings 11 says HOWEVER Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides pharaoh’s daughter. … He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines and his wives led him ASTRAY. As Solomon grew old his wives turned his heart after other gods. And his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord, his God, so Solomon (the wise, wealthy, blessed king and temple builder) did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not follow the lord completely, as David his father had done.

Even though in the lower story Solomon was unquestionably one of the most influential kings in all of Israel’s history, in the upper story the Lord became angry with Solomon for straying to other Gods and not keeping the first commandment. The punishment was that his son would not inherit most of the kingdom. 11/12ths would be take away and given to someone else.

Why did this happen? Solomon probably thought, “I am too wise to let that happen. I am too wise to fall in that trap. I am too wise to go after other God’s.”            

I am sure it didn’t happen overnight. He probably went with one wife one time to worship her God. Thinking, “I am so wise just once won’t hurt.” And then another and then another. Like the proverbial frog in the kettle, it wasn’t long before Solomon was regularly worshipping other gods.

Do you know what I am talking about when I say the frog in the kettle? It is the idea that if you put a frog in a boiling pot of water, he will jump right out. If you put him in warm water he settles in like it is a hot tub and you can turn the heat up slowly on him and he’ll never realize he is being turned into someone’s frog leg supper.

That’s the way it was for Solomon. He didn’t decide one day that he would start worshipping other Gods. It just happened slowly little by little he strayed into that dangerous territory.

Isn’t that the way sin happens to us?

In 22 years in the ministry, I have never heard anyone say “I decided to wreck my marriage today so I went out looking for an affair.” Unfortunately, however, I have seen a lot of marriages fall apart because of infidelity. But it happened slowly… the water didn’t seem to hot at first.

I have never heard a woman say, “I think I’ll become addicted to prescription pain killers.” I have, however, seen several women slide slowly into that sad situation. The water didn’t seem to hot at first, in fact it felt pretty good.

I have never heard anyone say, “I am going to jeopardize by family and job by stealing from my boss today.” But I have seen it start with paper clips and evolve into large sums of cash that land people in prison. The water didn’t seem too hot … at first.

I’ve never known a committed Christian who said, I’m going to quit coming to church so I can do other things on the weekend. But I have seen plenty of families miss one Sunday here and there,,. then two here and there, then three, and before you know it the once active members are only in church on Christmas and Easter. The water didn’t seem too hot … at first.

I have never known anyone who decided they were going to start abusing their children. I have never known anyone who just up and started beating on their spouse and kids one day. But it starts with a spanking here, and slap there, a shove here and eventually the water is so hot that the police and DHS are standing at the front door. They didn’t even notice the water getting hotter and hotter.

Some people can have a few drinks and be just fine. For others that first drink is like settling into the warm water and each successive drink turns the heat up more and more until they are pretty well cooked.

I’ve never know a child to say, “I want to grow up to be a liar.” Yet I have seen it over and over, first one lie, then one to cover that one, then another and pretty quick the water is so hot they can’t keep track of the truth.

That is the say sin is.

Our lower story lives can seem like everyone else is having all the fun. Everyone else can do whatever they please, but I’m stuck with these rules from God that keep me from having any fun. So we start to compromise and the water doesn’t seem to hot … at first.

Solomon probably though these foreign women were so exotic and beautiful that they he deserved to enjoy their company. He probably thought he would be too wise to fall into that idol worship trap. The water didn’t seem very warm at all… to start with.

God’s upper story rules are given for a reason. They are not influenced by what we want or what we think we deserve. There is no such thing as a little sin. There is no such thing as just dipping out toes into the kettle of sin. Ultimately breaking those upper story rules in the lower story of our lives even just a little bit, will lead us away from being able to enjoy life with God. Remember God’s big picture in the upper story is building us into a community who can treat each other with respect, and love him with our whole heart. Any sin jeopardizes that plan.

What about you? Do you find yourself tempted from time to time to dive into that luke warm sin water and say “come on in the water is fine.” Do you find yourself just dipping your toes in the kettle and saying, “It doesn’t seem too hot.” We have to remember that what feels warm and comforting to us today may become the cauldron that cooks our goose tomorrow. Our prayer must be, that like Solomon, we begin with a strong faith, and  UNlike Solomon we finish with a strong faith. Free from sin and experiencing the goodness of God’s upper story vision.

Our prayer must be that we stay away from those “harmless” pots of warm water because they will ultimately boil us to the bone.

When God puts up a no swimming sign he means it.

But if you find yourself already a little wrinkly or even a little cooked, know that it is never too late to come back to God. God is a forgiving God. Always more ready to forgive than we are to be forgiven. Instead of crying, “come on in the water’s fine.” Listen for the voice of Jesus saying come on out, because the kingdom of God is better.

A king sized confession 2/2/14

A king sized confession

RUMC 2/2/14

·        There is someone here today who lied this week…is it you?

·        There is someone here today who lusted this week… is it you?

·        There is someone here this week whose conscience is bothering them because they cheated on a test or on their taxes… are you that someone?

·        There is someone here today who received the wrong change this week… you didn’t give it back did you?

·        There is someone here who drinks too much… way too much and your family is suffering… does that sound like you?

·        There is someone here harboring a deep guilt for things long past… things done, things said, people hurt… is it you?

·        There is someone here who is nurturing resentment… no hatred for someone who hurt you. It was a long time ago, but you just can’t let go... Is it you?

·        There is someone here who has said terrible things to their spouse or child. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, maybe depression, but it doesn’t matter when their heart is broken… Is it you?

·        I know there is someone here today who is an addict… they might be addicted to over the counter medication, alcohol, or internet porn, but I know you are out there… Is it you?

·        There is someone here today who is living a lie. They have to live behind a mask of lies and deceit or people would know the kind of person they really are…is that you?

David had a good thing going. He was the king who had defeated the philistines, and the Amalekites. He secured the borders. He consolidated the two nations of Israel and Judah. He consolidated the religious and political power in one capital city; Jerusalem. He had wives, and children, and servants, and a palace, and gardens, and vineyards and cattle and sheep. He had an army with faithful generals, strong horses, and brave warriors. What more could a man need? What more could a man want? He was living the good life!

David wanted more. Specifically Bathsheba. So he took her” To David this was just one of the perks of being king.

But not to God. That is not at all the way God looked at it.

·        If David were sitting here today I would say, "I know there is someone out there who lusted, stole, and committed adultery." And you think you got away with it. Is it you?

But that wasn’t the end of David’s sin. Oh no, as I said last week he had to try to cover it up. He worked so hard to cover it up that the cover up ended in Uriah’s death.

Word came back to David of many deaths among his troops including Uriah, and his reply is something along the lines of,”It’s war. You’ll have that.”

·        If David was sitting here today I would say, “I know that today we have someone in the congregation who not only lusted, stole and committed adultery; not only lied, plotted and murdered; but thinks he got away with it… is that you?

That is essentially what Nathan the prophet did. Except he tricked David into condemning himself. Nathan told David a parable about a Rich man who stole  from a poor man in order to have a party for his guest. David was outraged and sentenced the man to death. That’s when Nathan turns it around and says, “You are the man.”

We all need good friends like Nathan. We all need friends who can be completely honest with us. Who WILL be completely honest with us; even when it is hard? Even when we don’t want to hear it.

Nathan started David on the road to forgiveness by revealing his sin.

David heard it. He listened intently while Nathan delivered a scathing reminder of all the things God has done for him. He listened to the list of sins he had committed. He listened as the consequences were described and he saw himself clearly.

Did he argue back? No. Did he try to stop Nathan? No. Did he make excuses? No. he just listened.

How does God speak to us? None of us has a court prophet to point out our sins. The closest thing we have is me calling you out this morning. I don’t, however, do that every week.

·        So God speaks to us through our conscience; through the knot that sits in the pit of our stomach convicting us of sin.

My observation is at almost always comes from outside me though. I think when I am sinning I am so busy keeping up the walls that hide my sin that I can’t hear the voice inside me  It usually takes someone or something to hold up a mirror so I can see my sin. 

·        God speaks to us through scripture or sometimes a book we read. 

·        Sometimes God uses other people; through a spouse, sometimes through our children, sometimes through a sermon, or small group, or through a stranger. 

I remember a Sunday when I was preaching at Musserville. I had finished the service and was getting ready to run to the Island church for that service when I was met at the door by a dirty, disheveled man. He had obviously been on the street because he was carrying everything he owned on one of those little grocery carts that people sometimes pull behind them. I thought, “Great, just what I need when I am already running late.” I am ashamed to say I wanted to ignore him and blow on past. He would never have known who I was. But I stopped to see what he wanted. I was prepared to give him the $20 bill from my pocket. I started to pull it out and he stopped me saying, I don’t want your money.

I asked what he wanted then. He said, "I just wanted to know what time you have services?”

 Did I feel about 3” tall or what?

God spoke to me that day as I looked into the mirror at my own ugliness. He convicted me of hardheartedness and self-centeredness. How did I know? I got a knot in my stomach. A knot of guilt. A knot of shame. A knot of self-realization.

It took just a minute and one simple question; and it seemed as though my whole sin was laid open where everyone could see it. It was as though he held up a mirror and I saw the beast I had become.

So it was for me. So it was for David. And so it is for you. Sometimes the guilt comes naturally from inside of us, but often times it takes someone else to hold up a mirror to our sin. However it happens we have to face our sin. We have to feel that knot in our stomach when we have been exposed (whether anyone else realizes it or not). We have to look honestly at ourselves and our sin.

The second step on the road to forgiveness is honest confession. David wrote beautiful psalms of confession including psalm 51 which we read today, but when that knot came in his stomach as Nathan held up a mirror to his sin, David’s reply was very simple. “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD.”

Notice: no excuse,

Notice: no justification

Notice: no explanation

Notice: no rationalization

Just a simple “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD.”

We have to confess honestly to God before we receive forgiveness. And that’s hard.

Four preachers met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, “Our people come to us and pour out their hears, confess certain sins and needs. Let’s do the same. Confession is good for the soul.” In due time all agree. One of them said that he had a problem with losing his temper on occasion. The second confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking golf so much that he would fake being sick so he could play on weekends.. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn’t confess. The others pressed him saying, “Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?” Finally he answered, “It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here.”

God doesn’t have a gossiping problem, but confession is still hard isn’t it.

To confess “I HAVE SINNED” is really hard.

Frankly, we prefer to make excuses, and rationalize, and explain our behavior and justify what we have done. But that is not what God wants. God wants plain and simple confession. We can build all kinds of walls around us. We can put up all kinds of defenses, but they all have to come down before God. So we can simply be honestly ourselves before the one who knows if we are holding back.

So first, we have to look at ourselves honestly.

Then we have to confess before God.

Finally, we have to accept the forgiveness. That sounds like the easy part. We’ll see.

When we honestly confess and God forgives, that sin is gone. It is as far from us as the east is from the west. It is as though it has been cast into the ocean and sunk to the bottom forever.

I happen to know, however, that many of you spend your lives out on a boat in the middle of the ocean with your fishing poles and nets hanging on the guilt of sin. I know that for a fact because I have done it too. Sometimes it is just hard to leave it alone and believe that we are forgiven.

I think we hold on to our guilt because we have a hard time believing that God can forgive us.

Do me a favor. Grab your pew Bible and turn to Hebrews 11. While you are doing that let me tell you that Hebrews 11 is called the hall of faith. It includes stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the people of Israel in their best times. This is the “who’s who” or “top ten list” of Biblical characters. Look at verse 32. Whose name appears there? David. What is David doing in the hall of faith after this debacle with Bathsheba?

It is simple. He was forgiven. Notice also that Saul is not there because he made excuses. But David the lustful, thieving, adulterer who stooped to murder is right there in verse 32.

If David the formerly lustful, thieving adulterous murderer can make it into the hall of faith so can you. Face it; you can’t top David’s sin. Not because you sin is less, but because all sin is equally bad. You can be forgiven. Accept the forgiveness that is already yours.

Now turn in those Bibles to I John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

·        It doesn’t say if your sin is small

·        It doesn’t say if you will be good

In fact, there are no reservations. Just “He is faithful and just and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

·        It doesn’t say some unrighteousness

·        It doesn’t say most unrighteousness. It says ALL unrighteousness.

God forgives generously and completely.

So first, we have to look at ourselves honestly.

Second, we have to confess before God.

Finally, we have to accept the forgiveness. That might be harder than you think, but you can do it.

·        There is someone here today who lied this week… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here today who lusted this week…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here this week whose conscience is bothering them because they cheated on a test or on their taxes…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here today who received the wrong change this week… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here who drinks too much… way too much and your family is suffering… you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here harboring a deep guilt for things long past… things done, things said, people hurt…   you can be forgiven.

·        There is someone here who is harboring a deep resentment… no hatred for someone who hurt you. It was a long time ago, but you just can’t let go...   you can be forgiven. (BY THE SAY, SO CAN THEY)

·        There is someone here who has said terrible things to their spouse or child. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, maybe depression, but it doesn’t matter when their heart is broken…   you can be forgiven.

·        I know there is someone here today who is an addict… they might be addicted to over the counter medication, alcohol, or internet porn, but I know you are out there…   you can be forgiven..

·        There is someone here today who is living a lie. They have to live behind a mask of lies and deceit or people would know the kind of person they really are… you can be forgiven.

Come, confess before God.