All of us are walking towards something in this life of ours. Some of us have spent a lot of time thinking about what and where we wanted to end up, many of us have actually landed square in the middle of where we never even dreamed life would take us, and yet here we are. And for those of you right now, who are walking a path of the unknown, heading down a road you have never travelled before, today’s Message is for you!
You see, a person can plan and plan, thought of all the ramifications of how things might play out, and believe they have thought of every contingency for their lives, and still be completely floored when life unfolds as life usually does. All of the above mentioned, have a unique way of leaving many of us Lost, Dazed & Hurt. Hence the title out on the Church sign board this morning.
For many of us have recently been, or are now Lost, or Dazed, or Hurt, from all the stuff that life has a way of throwing our way. Despite the best of plans and preparation, and often because of our scheming, the lessons of life are visited upon us. And then there are those times that most of us go through when life is wreaking havoc upon us like a maelstrom of a storm and we can’t seem to find relief in sight. What to do then?
Trust me on this… It’s in times of heartache and pain, that somehow, I must find my way into scripture for guidance and the easing of my heart and mind. I am reminded of the instruction of Isaiah who often waded through swamps of pain and soul searching. As I recite from the Prophet, please listen to what your Lord is saying to you specifically. Reading from Isaiah 58:9-12;
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
*Interrupting Isaiah to say; that our malicious talk and gossip are so addicting in nature, that they become a yoke of oppression for many of us. How do we combat our very nature to want to gossip and speculate about other people instead of a). minding our own business, b). not feed the flames by participating, or c). going directly to the person in question. And if you are afraid of speaking to that person, maybe you don’t have a relationship worth risking the effort, which makes the whole deal worthless to begin with.
Let me throw out there in my own behalf that if anyone has a question of me, I’ll be glad to answer as honestly as I can face to face, and I hope that all of my church family always remembers that if you have not heard something straight from me, it does not reflect me. The only one who can speak for me in life is me, and the same goes for you. My commitment to you is that I will not ask about you when I can ask you directly.
Just as we are empowered to go directly to God in prayer for our faith needs and require no middle-man or a confessor, we can do the same in friendships without the need of third-parties and self-appointed spokespeople.
If we all practice that habit, we will all be closer as a family in God, and working on the things in life that are productive and not man-made foolishness. Then we will be freed up to follow our true vocations in God, and more effectively to the following ideas as illustrated by Isaiah. Resuming at verse 10;
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
When we are in the midst of our challenges, that’s when we need to find someone worse off than ourselves and find a way to lend comfort to the person having a harder time of it than you. And then your nightmare of darkness will begin to illuminate your way like the noon day sun. That’s when we are known as a people who: will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings… And if I might add, the rebuilder of the bridges burned by our darker thoughts and behavior in life.
And yet in spite of our best efforts, we will find ourselves right in the middle of life’s challenges, even when we have tried to be as good as possible, life still has the habit of showing us adversity that is scary and gut wrenching.
So what’s a person to do when we find ourselves like King David surrounded by challenges and maliciousness? For starters we can remember the second half of todays message title of: Lost, Dazed & Hurt, God Invites Us In, and then we can look to our God for refuge.
David’s greatness seems to me to come from his always returning to the Lord when he finds himself at fault for a whole host of; bad behavior, lousy decisions, and hard living. Here are words that have been attributed to David by many, where after a lifetime of living, King David still comes to his Lord for deliverance and reassurance of God’s love. Reading again today’s Call to Worship reading from Psalm 71:1-8;
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.
5 For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
my confidence since my youth.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
I will ever praise you.
7 I have become a sign to many;
you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor all day long.
Many of us have become a sign for many as we have committed ourselves to walk a road less travelled. A road higher in elevation when it comes to our goals of loving God and other people and our service to God through our service to others in need of our compassion.
This road that I’m talking about, is a path in life that looks for God as the Lord really is, what He wants for our lives, shown to us by His love. And not an illusion where we impose our thoughts on what God is or does based on our own ideas of right and wrong. Following our own feelings that are often Lost, Dazed, & Hurt, instead of what scripture is saying, and His Spirit who is guiding us. Often it is us that lead us into even more disharmony and conflict with others.
This is nothing new or even radical in the scheme of things. When we let go of all of the junk we are carrying around and just listen to our Lord and begin to walk that faithwalk with and in Him, everything begins to change. I am now ready to learn from other’s missteps and apply lessons learned as God chooses to instruct my way. No matter how scarry and alone we feel at times, we will never be alone, and always delivered by a God who loves us in spite of us.
Today’s Message Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, essentially instructs us along our way by giving examples of others who have sought God’s help, and how the Lord delivered our ancestors in spite of the peoples lack of understanding due to we people imposing our standards on God instead of letting God invite us into His salvation, hope, and grace. Reading again from Hebrews 12: 18-29;
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
*Cutting in to say; The writer of Hebrews is talking about Israel at Sini, where the people thought that God was going to pick up the mountain and throw it on the people. That’s how mighty God is and majestic his actions. Terrifying!
The children of Israel wanted God on their own terms and wanted Moses as a middle man for buffering and to hedge their bets in life. God wanted back then and in the here and now a real relationship with each and every one of us, one-on-one, no middle man, or third party. Our narrator continues at verse 22;
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
**Side Bar to say; as Abel’s blood cried out due to Cain’s sin, selfishness, and outright murder, so does all of the injustices that have ever been visited in this world. The greatest of all is our Lord’s blood shed for you and I, in spite of you and I. Continuing now at verse 25;
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
What cannot be shaken is our Lord, His redemption, and us when we are in and with our Lord in this walk of ours. We commit ourselves to listening instead of projecting, following instead of leading others into an endless circle of folly and pointless self-centered pursuits.
My hope is that we will look for God and not our own ideas of who God is, but taking Him at His word. And when He speaks, we will listen, and we will know His voice, because we will know His word, and His Spirit that resides within us. My prayer is that we will learn from the missteps of the past and try not to repeat the follies of others.
As an example, we have the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel that instruct over and again the difference of God centered and the self-centeredness of all of mankind. Reading from Luke 13:10-17;
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Form and style were more important to the religious leaders of Jerusalem back then, and to many of us today, than just accepting God as Lord in our lives. You see being lost, dazed and hurt by life is why we need our God even more. But we need the Lord as He is and not in our own image so that when we are; Lost, Dazed & Hurt, God Invites Us In. And we will be willing to enter that relationship where we will learn the difference between God and idolatry. His will, and not my own.
My hope for all of you today is that you will have the opportunity to work on your relationship in and with the Lord, learning what God has in store for your beautiful life.
Amen!
Benediction; Romans 8:12-14 & Numbers 6:24-26
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
And
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’