There is Life Beyond the Fortress Wall!

       I have to confess today’s Message is rooted in the Bible Study of Jeremiah and the fall of the fortress that was once Jerusalem. And more than a couple of times, I have imagined what the carnage and fear might have looked like back then, and began to think about siege warfare, breastworks, ramparts, and all out battles for the castle.

And, even though I thought about it, it’s not a reference to the Rock Group Styx where the song Castel Walls performed, from the album Grand Illusion, written by band leader Dennis DeYoung, and was the 7th song on the 7th album of the band. The album was released on the 7th day of the 7th month of ’77! The album peaked at 6 on Billboard’s U.S. Top 200 chart and went on to sell over 3 million copies. More importantly, it had kicking guitars from Tommy Shaw and mechanical / aerospace engineer, James Young. But I digress…

And yet today is all about the world that we make for ourselves. For some of us, life has been about building the prisons that house our very being. Sometimes those are the people that specialize in creating traditions that enclose and enforce compliance. They become so binding, that before anyone is even paying attention, there is a whole regimen that must be adhered to. Items like; where to go out to eat, kinds of music to listen to in the car, who to buy a car from, or appliances, gasoline, or auto repair.

Sometimes our self-imposed prisons of propriety dictate how we relate to other people. The roles of men, women, children, the elderly, and how our relationships are supposed to be like. Where to go for family vacations, family reunions, and in my case, the law enforcement that must be warned before the family reunion…

Or how our ideas of what God is like is often a result of the traditions we live within. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we think God wants, or is like, that our preconceived ideas can actually become so secure for us that we begin to build our thoughts about God and our perceptions about His instruction into our own form of dogma. By dogma, I mean your own version of the laws and requirements of God’s laws and requirements. After a while its easy to build God into our image to a point that we are taking His place for ourselves without even realizing it.

It’s also that way with our perceptions of safety and security. After a while we have built up such a strong fortress of beliefs that we are impregnatable from anything outside, including sometimes the truth. At that point only God’s Spirit can reach us, and that’s if we are available to listen to His Spirit, like Abraham did in the beginning.

My thought is that this is why our Lord sent out His followers with the Holy Spirit to reach all who would listen to the Good News, the Kerygma, the proclamation from God that He still lives, cares, and loves His creation. From today’s Call to Worship reading, we have the Disciples being sent out to share that very news. Reading again from, Matthew 10:16-20;

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 

*Cutting in; I would note that The Disciples are being instructed by the Lord to reach outside of themselves. To think about things in a new way, and to rely and trust in the Lord. At the same time, the Lord is teaching that you can be innocent in life, and still know about life and its pitfalls. I know of nowhere where God is outright telling us in His family, that to follow Him we must be the dupes and codependent in the sick behavior of others. In fact enabling bad behavior on our part, is also sinning. This is my thought, you are charged with doing the heavy thinking with your Lord and deciding for yourselves. Continuing now with verse 19;

¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

**Cutting in Again; God isnot only very incredibly Great and good; He is also consistent. As the Lord empowered the heroes, and Prophets of the Old Testament, God also supplied the words for the Disciples in Jesus’ day, and He equips you and I in the here and now.

       I can almost hear some say, yea but… I can’t come up with good comebacks unless I practice. I’m just not good at debating other people, and I don’t like confrontation. Well, again my thought… maybe God isn’t asking you to debate deep scripture as much as possibly growing as a person, working on really being happy, and then sharing the reason or where you have found your happiness. My thought is that you are charged with some basic things in your Ministry, and you all have one. They are by humbly:

• (Those two things lead to…)

If you work on those things, you will be on the right path to live as the prophet Micah instructed all those years ago. Reading from Micah 6:8;

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Those sentiments are also the hallmarks of anyone who loves God and their neighbor. Continuing now with today’s Call to Worship, we now pick up on where we left off last week with the Disciples reunion with Christ after His Crucifixion. Reading again from John 20:19-21;

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

Jesus is basically saying I am with you. And if the Lord is with us, who can be victorious against us in the long run?

The Lord is sending each of us out to live our lives. We do that each day we get out of bed and make the effort to really live in and with our Lord. And when we live our lives by trusting that God has our back when we expose ourselves to the world through our service to Him by serving others, our trust in the Lord is reinforced exponentially. In other words, I get stronger every time I apply myself in and with Him.

That means that I am willing to look beyond those walls, that citadel a fortress that I have been building up around myself as a shield from the world at large. Fact is, that place of refuge that we all retreat to at times, can become if we are not careful, a prison than chains us into isolation and withering on the vine.

The children of Israel of the Old Testament, are a classic example of how people often entrap themselves through delusion, group think, and apathy, or a lack of caring for anything. Case in point, we have today’s message reading from Jeramiah 21:1-2, 8-14

¹ The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: ² “Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”…

*Side Bar; Zedekiah was a piece of…work. I was just checking to see if you were paying attention. Destroying everything around him, due to his own selfishness, insincerity, idolatry, and fears. Just like most of Israel at the time, Zedekiah believed that no foreign army could take and hold Israel (Judah), because the children of Israel were God’s chosen people, and God’s house (the Temple) resided in Jerusalem.

Well, they were and it was, and God was not pleased with Israel, and had been mad for a long time. Constantly warning Israel through Prophet after Prophet to humble themselves, stop the idolatry, and treat all people justly. Now the Kingdom of Babylon is encamped all around the walls of Jerusalem and they are under siege.

Now at the eleventh hour, Zedekiah has decided to ask God for a handout, a miracle, since after all, it is Israel we are talking about. Zedekiah like many of us when we are down and out and hurting, want God to make it better without any change on our part. Here is God’s reply through Jeremiah starting at verse 8;

… ⁸ “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.

**Freeze Frame; Life or death, their choice, but God will save them, it’s still not too late for a new life in God…

 ⁹ Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. ¹⁰ I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’

***Freeze Frame Again; to say Are you kidding God? Look at all of those in Nebuchadnezzar’s army just waiting to run each and every one of us through… We are doomed unless you make them go away and we remain within these walls where we have always been safe.

       Kind of like you and me when we are deep into our addictions. You name the burden, we all have one, and over time we have been building up the walls of our entrapment and isolation to reinforce the siege on our souls. I don’t care what the addiction is, one is as bad as the other, we just use the language of; “well, at least I don’t”…bla, bla, bla… All of us must come to grips with whatever has been having our lunch and getting in the way of a better real life in God’s family, and it begins with trusting God to go outside those walls that many of us are hiding behind.

       You don’t have to be able to debate scripture, doctrine, or dogma, to live a real life in God’s family. Others tell you have to be such and such, because making you weaker in faith they think makes them look stronger. Go outside those Castle Walls and by humbly learning:

“To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God”.

This will ensure that we could live up to what God teaches next in Jeremiah, picking up at verse 11;

¹¹ “Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. ¹² This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:

“‘Administer justice every morning;
    rescue from the hand of the oppressor
    the one who has been robbed,

***Breaking in one last time to say; Those oppressed out there are oppressed due to a whole lot of things. When we qualify why some are suffering over others, the enemy is getting its way. Satan wants us to be in complete debate as to whose fault any of it is, and while we wrestle with fault, more and more loose hope, and fall further away from the family of God… Finally, here is what God plans for those who do not want to help the oppressed;

or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
    because of the evil you have done—
    burn with no one to quench it.
¹³ I am against you, Jerusalem,
    you who live above this valley
    on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
    Who can enter our refuge?”
¹⁴ I will punish you as your deeds deserve,
    declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire in your forests
    that will consume everything around you.’”

And it don’t matter if we live in Jerusalem back then, or Ogden Utah, right now, we are all called to love Him, and love the people, He places in our lives… Period!

My hope and prayer for all of you this week, is that you will take the Lord’s invitation to travel outside yourself, and trust Him to walk with you as you open yourself to a new world. A world that is manageable, and doable when you have Him and His family in your life. And possibly you will find; There is Life Beyond, The Fortress Wall! Amen!

Benediction; Based on Psalm 72:17-19

¹⁷ May [The Lord’s] name endure forever;
    may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,
    and they will call him blessed.

¹⁸ Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
    who alone does marvelous deeds.
¹⁹ Praise be to his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.

Message: God Made Gospel, Cuz Believing is Living!

       Today, our Call to Worship and our Message readings are written to document God reaching out to people like you and me who were struggling with the challenges of this life. Unlike you and I though, the people in the first century of our church were really in danger. Unlike us in this room, there are people in the world today that struggle just to worship our God, and fear for their very lives because of who they are, and who their faith is anchored in. Today we will talk about how God reaches out to all of us in this greater family in God, and that is Good News.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Today we started Holy Week by celebrating Palm Sunday, and next Sunday is Easter! Welcome to join us for a “sunrise” service on the church front steps at 9:30 am, followed by a special Easter Breakfast starting at 10 am, and worship service at 11 am.

Nothing’s New Until God Does it each Day!

       I was thinking this last week about these days leading up to our Passover which is Easter, and as the days are getting longer, so it seems are my thoughts drawn more and more to the splendors of just living. Now, I know for many that just seems like Pollyanna, and rose-colored glasses talk. So, today I wanted to share with you my family (who I can confide in “most of the time”), why I’m led to talk this way, and how I am led to believe in the majesty that is in this life. Especially when in and with our Lord.

Father of Heaven and all the Universe beyond, today we humbly come to you to thank you for your many blessings, and ask you to forgive us our manifold sin, as we learn to forgive others and ask for their forgiveness. Father, we ask you to grow us in you to be more like your Son, our Savior. In His name, Amen!

Father of Heaven, and universe beyond. Lord today we humble come to you to ask that you forgive our missing the mark of following your ways, as we learn to forgive others. Please teach us your ways and grow us closer to you in this life Father. Thank you for our very being! Amen

Father of Heaven, Universe, and beyond. Lord we humbly come before you flawed and missing the mark of your plans. Lord, please forgive our many sins, as we learn to forgive others in life. Thank you for all of your gifts of life! Please teach us to use them in your service. Amen!