February 23, 2020 - When Life Is Tough, God Is Still Good

A friend of mine once told me about a very powerful moment in his life (interestingly, I had more than one person tell me similar stories, which testifies, I think, to the universality of the experience).  Some months after losing a parent, he was driving one day, alone in his car, listening to the radio, when a song came on that reminded him of his parent.  Music becomes a marker in our lives, and when we hear certain songs we are taken back in time to a special event or to a memory of someone important to us.  Listening to the song, the sense of loss suddenly became overwhelming to him.  He stopped his car in the middle of the road (fortunately, he was driving along a country road where there was no traffic) got out of the car, and started yelling at God, banging his fist on the car while doing so.  My friend was angry with God, wondering why his loved one had to experience so much suffering and eventually, death. 

      

Some people would be troubled at such a showing of emotion, especially emotion directed so pointedly at God.  When we read through the Bible, however, we find such emotional displays to be rather common, especially in the psalms.  It is to the psalms that we turn this morning, to the 42^ndpsalm, as we consider the topic When Life Is Tough, God Is Still Good.

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

³ My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

⁴ These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty Onewith shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

⁷ Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me?  Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Let me say this at the outset – life is not always easy.  I doubt you are surprised at that statement.  I’m sure no one is sitting there right now thinking, Wait, what?  I had no idea!  My life is completely wonderful!  Is it really true that life is not always easy?  Yes, it is true that life is not always easy; in fact, life is very often not easy, but let me add this – When Life Is Tough, God Is Still Good.  As I read through this psalm, I wrote down a list of four dynamics expressed by the psalmist, and I want to speak about each of them this morning – 

1.  Discouragement.

One of the most amazing passages of Scripture, to me, is John 11:21.  Jesus and his disciples are traveling to Bethany, to the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.  As Jesus and his disciples are traveling, they receive word that Lazarus has died.  John says that when Martha heard that Jesus was coming to visit them, she went out to meet him.  It may be unwise to try and read between the lines of Scripture, but I get the impression that Martha had a few things on her mind to tell Jesus.  I picture her coming to Jesus with that lookabout her.  Do you know what I mean when I mention the look?  Martha was hurt, and she very plainly expressed her hurt to Jesus.  She approached Jesus and tells him, very pointedly, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  There’s a lot of emotion in that statement, and one of them is discouragement.  Martha is hurt.  Martha is grieving.  And Martha knew Jesus could have done something, but he didn’t.  Now, it is important to note that Jesus was about to do something, and do something pretty amazing, but Martha did not realize this at the time.  

      

Even Jesus faced discouragement.  Have you ever thought about the reality that Jesus sometimes became discouraged?  In John 6:53-69 we read of a time when many of the followers of Jesus turned away from him.  ⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. ⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”  ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spiritand life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

      

The feeding of the 5,000 had taken place a short time before this moment, but now were gone.  Jesus was alone with the twelve.  The big, adoring crowds had dissipated.  It would be easy for the disciples to think, what just happened?  Everything was going great and now everyone is gone.  Jesus, what has happened?  What went wrong?  And it has to be tough for Jesus, to see the crowds turn away.  At that moment, alone with just the twelve, Jesus turns to them and asks, ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

      

God bless Peter.  In that moment, Peter had one of his shining moments. Peter is not always perfectly there, but neither are we.  In that moment, however, Peter was a great encourager.  Let us be encouragers also, because discouragement is really tough.  Discouragement is like a vortex or a black hole that draws us further and further in, and the further it draws us in, the more difficult it is to pull ourselves out.  This is where Martha found herself, and where the psalmist was as well.  Neither of them, unfortunately, could see at the moment what God was going to do for them.  God was not about to leave them in the hole or the valley or the vortex or the black hole of discouragement.  God doesn’t leave us in the hole or the valley or the vortex or the black hole of discouragement either.  I’m can’t say that we can avoid discouragement, but I can say that God does not leave us there.  While we wonder where God is and while we wonder when God will lift us out of that discouragement, God is already at work to bring us back into the light of encouragement. We don’t stay forever, thankfully, in discouragement. 

2.  Depression.

      

In this psalm we find not only discouragement, but I think depression as well.  Depression is very real, and very common.  Depression is not something that is the fault of the person, it’s not something a person can snap out of, and it is not something you are imagining. There are millions of people in this country struggling with major depression, and millions more who struggle with other levels.

      

There is, also, unfortunately, a stigma that remains about depression.  When we have a physical problem, we do not hesitate to go quickly to the doctor.  I have a problem with my right knee.  A few years ago I tore the meniscus in that knee and ended up at the doctor.  The doctor told me I would eventually have to have surgery to take care of it but that cortisone shots would help me put the surgery off for a while.  Now, I don’t like shots, but I like surgery even less, so I opted for a cortisone shot. To help you understand how much I dislike shots, I’ll tell you about getting a shot over at the hospital a few years ago.  I was at the hospital for a meeting, and at the end of the meeting a representative of the hospital told us, while we have you all here, we’ll go ahead and give you your flu shot.  When it came time for me to receive my shot, I did what I normally do when I am nervous – I made a joke (or attempted to make a joke).  I told the nurse, you need to be careful.  The last time I got a flu shot the needle went all the way through my arm, into my side, and punctured one of my lungs.  She stopped, looked up at me, and then walked away, saying as she went that someone else can give him a shot.  I’m not dealing with him.  So, when I was at the doctor’s office to receive a cortisone shot, I was as bit nervous.  A nurse put some numbing medication on my knee and said, we’ll let that sit for about 15 or 20 minutes, so it will get good and numb.  I had never before had to receive numbing medication before a shot, so I knew this one would not be pleasant.  When she left the room and closed the door, I was certain I heard the door lock – from the outside.  As much as I dislike shots, I was happy to receive one in order to take away the pain in my knee, and I think we are all this way.  We might not like some of the unpleasantness involved in the medical treatment we receive, but we go to the doctor without hesitation when we are in need of treatment.

      

When it comes to our emotional and psychological health, however, we react differently.  Unfortunately, there is a stigma that remains attached to other kinds of treatments we need, such as emotional and psychological treatments. Even in conversation, we struggle with this.  We will speak freely of our medical issues, but of our emotional and psychological struggles.  For all of our emphasis on honesty and transparency, these days, we are not always honest and transparent about what we are dealing with, are we?  We quickly answer, when someone asks how we are doing, with a resounding great!  But that’s not always true, is it?  Someone asked me recently how I was doing and I said I was doing well.  They stood and looked at me a moment, with a very serious look, and asked are you really?  I appreciated that they pushed me for a truthful answer.

      

Maybe the difficulty is that we often feel as though we must put on the appearance that everything is in perfect order in our lives and that we are doing well, even when we are not. Isn’t that what a good church-going person is supposed to do?  Aren’t we supposed to have it all together?  Aren’t we supposed to be people who are the epitome of togetherness?  Don’t we tell ourselves we should be the perfect role model of what others can be?  That kind of thinking can do a lot of damage, because no one can live up to all that perfection.  But what might people think if we revealed what is really going on?  What might people think if we opened up and said, you know, my life is not as together as it looks, or as I have led others to believe.

      

The psalmist sure does put it out there, saying in verse three that my tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Being open like that is scary because it means we are vulnerable, and it is really tough to be vulnerable.  It is tough to be vulnerable and it is tough to see when someone else is vulnerable.  We feel uncomfortable, and don’t always know what to say or what to do. Here is an important point – when you are in that moment, do not allow the opinions of others or the fear of those opinions keep you from getting help.  Depression is very real, and it is very difficult, and pervasive to the point that I would say every one of us here today knows someone with depression.

3.  Doubt.

      

This psalm is interesting because this is not a skeptic charging that God is absent; this is a person of belief and faith expressing the concern that God is absent.  This is a psalm that combines doubt and faith at the same time, which seems contradictory.  In verse 9 the psalmist saysI say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me?”  How does one feel forgotten by God but in the same sentence refer to God as my Rock?  It’s similar to the father who brings his son to Jesus to be healed, in Mark chapter 9.  Jesus says to the father, in response to the father’s plea for help, “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”(Mark 9:24).  Isn’t that an odd response?  It seems contradictory to say I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief, but that is what struggle does to us – it allows doubt to creep into our hearts and minds.  We are not alone when it comes to asking where God is.  On the cross Jesus quoted the 22^ndpsalm, which opens with the difficult words my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  It’s hard to hear those words coming from Jesus, isn’t it?

      

Let me say something important here – doubt about God and God’s presence with us is not a sign of losing your faith; it is a sign of being human.  I want to emphasize that point – doubt about God and God’s presence with us is not a sign of losing faith; it is a sign of being human. We find this mixture of doubt and belief all through the Scriptures, and especially in the psalms.  People have too often been told, and too many have believed, that doubt is wrong.  I think many people believe it is wrong to ask difficult questions of God.  Doubt is not an expression of uncertain or a shaky faith, but an example of healthy faith, because healthy faith is not afraid to entertain difficult questions, it is not afraid to ask difficult questions, and it is not afraid of uncertainty.  On the contrary, it is a less secure faith that is afraid to ask questions, afraid of challenging points of view, and insists on absolute certainty.

      

This psalm, psalm 42, demonstrates that it is legitimate to ask questions of God.  All through Scripture we find people asking questions of God. We find people expressing doubt that God is present.  This is part of the beauty of the psalms, and all of Scripture, as we find the expression of the full range of human emotion.  We are emotional creatures, and there is nothing inherently wrong with expressing those emotions.  But our feelings are not an adequate measure of truth about God.  Just because we feel that God is absent does not mean that he is absent.  Just because doubt at times creeps into our lives, it doesn’t mean that God is not present in our lives.

4.  Faith.

      

There are three negative dynamics I have mentioned so far, and one positive.  What is important to remember is this – not all are equal. There are three negatives, but they are outdone by the one positive offaith.  I struggled a bit to find the right word for this final point.  I thought about triumph, determination, and some others, but most of the words I came up with just didn’t seem right. The word that finally came to me was faith.  Faithis the right word because all the other words that came to mind fit within the framework of faith.

      

The psalmist came to what we often call a crossroadsmoment in life; those moments when we know we have come to a moment of great decision.  It’s a moment of which way am I going to go?  Am I going to give up?  Or am I going to keep going, even though I feel as though I don’t have the faith?  What will we do?  The situation for the psalmist came down to a choice – was he going to hold on to his faith or was he going to abandon faith?  He made his choice for faith, but also recognized there was still a tough road ahead.  Faith is not a guarantee that things will always be easy.  In fact, those who claim that faith means we will be forever immune from the difficulties and challenges of life do us no favors and they also present an erroneous vision of faith.  So, the psalmist ends the psalm on a note of optimism, but one that is also tempered with some realism – why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (verse 11). Life is not always easy.  Life can be very, very difficult, and the difficulties that visit us in life can wear us down and can even bring us to the point where we consider abandoning faith.

      

Going back to my friend, whom I told you about at the beginning of this message; in spite of the fact that he argued with God and pounded on his car in anger, his outburst was not about losing faith, but expressing faith, although in a way that is much different from how we generally do so.  I think what he did that day was actually saving his faith.  

      

God never abandons us. In spite of how difficult life may be and in spite of our doubts and questions, we can affirm that God is ever with us.  The psalmist, in the midst of life’s terrible difficulties, says put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  After all of his questions, after all of his doubts, after all of his suffering he is able to make a great affirmation of faith, to remind us that When Life Is Tough, God Is Still Good.

February 9, 2020 - Living Between the Mountaintop and the Valley

      

One of the most common questions I get, when it comes to questions about sermons, is this – do you ever repeat sermons?  The short answer is, yes, on occasion I do (although I could add that if someone asks that question it either means I do not repeat them or they are not memorable enough to notice when I do).  Generally speaking, however, it is not often that I repeat my old sermons.  This is, basically, for two reasons.  First, I just don’t like to reuse sermons. Reusing a sermon is, to me, a bit like eating leftovers (and I don’t like leftovers). When I’m done with a sermon, I’m ready to move on to the next one, and I don’t like to look back.  Second, when I do reuse a sermon, I find that by the time I do the inevitable rewriting it becomes an almost brand-new message, so why not just write a new one?  When I do repeat a message, the primary reason is because of the theme, as there are some themes worth repeating, especially when the theme is encouragement. 

     

On Sunday I will return to a message I preached five years ago, called Living Between the Mountaintop and the Valley, although not much of that version is left.  The message comes from the story of the Transfiguration, as found in the gospel of Mark.  Follow along with me as I read the Scripture text for this morning, which comes from Mark 9:2-19 –

² After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.

³ His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 

⁴ And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 

⁶ (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

⁷ Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 

¹⁰ They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹ And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹² Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 

¹³ But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.”

¹⁴ When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 

¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 

¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

1.  If you’re on the mountaintop, look up and give thanks.

      

I grew up in mountains, and I found them to be rather claustrophobic, to be quite honest.  I will say, however, that when you are on a mountaintop and can look into the valley below, it is really breathtaking, and being in such a spot can make the problems of life seem far away.  It can be a literal mountaintop experience.

      

How many of you have a special place that takes you to a mountaintop experience?  I have had several over the years.  One was a literal mountain near the campus where I attended college.  Like others, the beach is a place for me that can also bring a mountaintop experience, especially as I watch the grandeur of God’s creation in the waves and the beauty of the endless horizon.  Church, certainly, has provided me with many mountaintop experiences.  I have always been drawn to church, to worship, and to the sense of God’s presence I have felt there.  Sometimes that presence has been greater and sometimes it has felt less so, but it has always been there.  Church has given me a place to belong.  Church has been a place where I learned there was something greater than just my life. Church is where I learned about love and grace and the attributes of God that were held up as an example to me.  Church camp was another place of mountaintop experiences for me.  I spent a good deal of my summers, beginning in elementary school through my early college years, going to church camp.  My church camp experiences were some of the most profound in my life.  At the time, I appreciated how those experiences served as a source of strength and encouragement for me between summers, helping me to get through each school year, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to understand how they continue to be life-changing and life-shaping experiences for me.  For many years, long after attending camp as a student, I worked as a counselor and director at church camps, which continued to provide me with mountaintop experiences.

      

On the mountain, Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”  Yes, it was good to be there!  I hope one of the things Peter did while in that moment was to say thank you Lord!  Thank you for the beauty of this moment, though it is fleeting!  Thank you, for some moments of respite from the difficulties of daily life!  Thank you for a glimpse, just a glimpse – but a glorious glimpse – of what we will one day experience forever!

      

When you are on the mountaintop, look up and give thanks!  Even if it doesn’t last long, give thanks!  A little bit of mountaintop can go a long way.  A long way.  Sometimes we need a special encounter with God.  Sometimes we need those moments that lift us above the daily grind of life.  Sometimes we need those moments where heaven meets earth and the divine comes right into our lives.  Those moments don’t come every day in my life.  Sometimes, those really moving encounters come few and far between. Sometimes those encounters come totally out of the blue and other times they come because we place ourselves in a position where they can happen.  But one of those encounters is enough to provide spiritual fuel for a long time.

      

Peter, James, and John would certainly have their share of powerful and profound experiences with Jesus, but this one was special, and as difficult as it was for them to understand the experience, it was one that touched them in a very deep and profound way. 

2.  If you’re on the mountaintop, come down and offer a hand to others.

      

One of the moments that comes in any mountaintop experience is when you think to yourself, I could stay here forever.  That’s when you know you are in the middle of a mountaintop experience.  But we also know that is not to be.  We cannot stay on the mountaintop forever.  There comes a time when we must go back down the mountain, and one of the reasons we must go back down the mountain is because there are those in the valley who need us.

      

I like this passage for several reasons, one of which is the juxtaposition of a literal mountaintop experience followed immediately by an “in the valley” moment.  As Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down the mountain they were greeted by a large crowd and a group of the teachers of the law who were arguing with the other disciples.  How discouraging it must have been to come down from a literal mountaintop experience and run smack into the difficult realities of life!  They were probably ready to turn around and run back up the mountain!

     

Like Peter, I wish we could spend more time on the mountaintop. On those occasions when I’ve had a mountaintop experience, I always wished it could continue on and on.  But they never do.  Before we know it, it’s time to go back down the mountain and back to the realities of life. And it’s not just the basic realities of life; sometimes the realities that confront us are very harsh and very difficult.  Who wouldn’t want to run back up the mountain and hide away from those realities?  But here is an important truth – any encounter with God that does not lead us down from our mountains, out of our buildings, and into the needs of the world around us is probably not a real encounter with God.  Though Jesus often led his disciples away for moments of quiet, moments when they could pray together and when he could teach them, those moments were always followed with walking right back into life’s harsh realities.

     

Unfortunately, life is not one long, continuous mountaintop experience. Thankfully, neither is it one long, continuous slog through the valley.  The truth is, much of our lives are lived somewhere between the mountaintop and the valley.  Sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down, but much of life is lived somewhere in the middle; not quite a mountaintop experience but not the darkest of valleys. But there are always those who are in the harshness of the valley, where dysfunction and disease and conflict and loss and fear and violence and so many other problems overwhelm their lives. As wonderful as it would be to stay on the mountaintop, we have to enter the valleys because that is where many people happen to be.  

      

There is someone, right now, who needs us to offer them a hand.  That’s why we have to really work to keep our hearts and minds open, so we can sense when others are giving those little hints, those little glimpses, those slightly opened windows, those barely opened doors into their lives; to see if we will open that window further, to see if we will push that door gently open and walk into their valley.

      

The scene at the bottom of the mountain was not easy.  There was a crowd and an argument.  The father was frustrated.  The other disciples were frustrated.  You can even sense the frustration in Jesus’ voice, as he says, “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you?  How long shall I put up with you?  Bring the boy to me.”

      

It’s tough in the valley.  It’s dark in the valley.  It’s frustrating in the valley.  People feel helpless and hopeless in the valley.  And those are but a few of the reasons why we should be in the valley.  Mountaintop experiences don’t last long because we were never meant to stay there for long, because we’re needed too much in the valley. Jesus gave Peter, James, and John a glimpse because they were going to need it for what was ahead of them.  They had some tough times ahead of them.  They had some really deep and dark valleys ahead of them.  I wonder how much that glimpse on the mountain helped them in those moments.  I wonder, when Peter was in prison, how often he thought about their time on the mountain.  I wonder, when he was about to be crucified himself, if he thought, I know what’s ahead for me, because I’ve seen a glimpse.  It was just a glimpse, but that’s all I needed.

      

Aren’t you grateful we do not walk through this life alone?  Aren’t you grateful for the people that God has brought into your life? Can you imagine life without those people who celebrate with us in the difficult times but also walk with us through the valley, the people who will sit and weep with us, mourn with us, and love us when we feel as though we cannot continue?

      

Jesus surrounded himself with close friends because that is what we need in life.  We need, in particular, people who will be encouragers for us.  Think of Barnabas, in the book of Acts, whose name meant encourager.  Imagine being known for all of history as an encourager – now there is a legacy!  I could give you so many examples of people who have served as encouragers to me, but I’ll share just one this morning.  In a previous congregation where I served, as the conclusion of the service, one of the members shook my hand and said, Dave, that was a really good message today.  I really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it. Thank you for sharing it today. My first impression, honestly, was to be disappointed, because we had a music program that day and I didn’t preach. I thought she must have slept through the service and didn’t notice there was no sermon that day!  Upon reflection, however, I realized it was because her habit was to say something encouraging to me every week after worship. It wasn’t that she didn’t notice I hadn’t preached; she just did what she always did, which was to offer an encouraging word to me. 

3.  If you’re in the valley, look up; there is hope!

      

The last time I preached this sermon was not here; it was actually a while back at the Diersen Center in Louisville, a women’s correctional facility where we go several times a year to lead worship.  When you preach in an incarceration facility, in that environment, some themes work much better than others.  In that facility, most of the women there have spent far more time in the valley than on the mountaintop, although it is possible, through faith certainly, to have mountaintop experiences in a place of incarceration. When we go there, we do our best to bring all the hope we can bring.  They need hope there, and they need hope when they are released.

      

Sadly, the mountaintop is not where most people live on most days.  As wonderful as it would be to stay on the mountaintop, none of us get to spend as much time there as we would like.  On a fortunate few occasions we get to visit the mountaintop and have that beautiful mountaintop experience, but that is not where we get to stay long. Some people never make it to the mountaintop.  Some people spend all of their lives struggling to be free from the valley of poverty, of disease, of violence, of loneliness, of depression and despair, of fear and so many other struggles that fill that valley.

      

And that is why hope is central to the message of the gospel.  I remember a really difficult time in my life when I read certain passages of Scripture every day.  They were a lifeline to me, because they were words of hope.  One of those passages was Isaiah 40:28-31 – 

²⁸ Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

      

I love that passage.  And I read the 23^rdpsalm day after day, and that immortal verse, yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for thou art with my, thy rod and thy staff they comfort mewas especially powerful.  Even in the darkest and the deepest of valleys, there is hope!  There is always hope, because if we do not have hope, we do not have anything!  Hope is what so many people need.  Jesus offered hope to people, and we are to be his messengers of hope.

      

When I was in college, my friends and I would sometimes travel to nearby Roane Mountain, where people would hang glide.  I’m not sure who first had the idea to attach some very thin cloth to a very spindly aluminum frame and then jump off the side of a mountain, but it is a beautiful sight.  It is also, however, a bit unnerving to watch hang gliders go off the edge of the mountain. It is a rather precipitous drop over the edge, and after leaping it was frightening as they took the plunge over the side. They would leap, and then drop. It takes your breath away to see them plunge down the side of the mountain, until the updraft catches them and suddenly, they shoot up past you.  As much as it made my heart almost stop as I watched, I can’t imagine what it was like to take that leap.  Sometimes, our drop from a spiritual mountaintop experience comes as quickly. Some days, it feels as though we are plunging over the side to the valley below, with nothing to stop the fall except for the valley below.  But take heart!  There is no valley too deep for God.  There is no valley out of God’s reach.  There is no valley where God is not present.  The Spirit of God will catch us and lift us out of the valley, and we will find the promise of Isaiah to be true as wesoar on wings like eagles!  There is hope!  There is always hope!  

February 2, 2020 - Living An Abundant Life

 What does it mean to live an abundant life?  

      

It’s easy to misunderstand what it means to have an abundant life.  In the 80s and 90s, Robin Leach became famous with his TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Each episode took us into the lives of the fabulously wealthy.  Admittedly, it was hard not to be a bit envious, watching Leach stroll the sprawling grounds of mansions and riding in luxury cars.  His signature line at sign-off, champagne wishes and caviar dreams, was a final reminder of what constituted an abundant life.  Looking back on it now, it seems rather ridiculous, with all the conspicuous consumption and flaunting of wealth in the face of a world with such need.  But, at that time if one wanted an example of abundance, that was it.

      

What does it mean to live an abundant life?  Well, even in the arena of faith the idea of what constitutes an abundant life can be misleading.  There are the prosperity preachers who present the gospel as some kind of celestial ATM, full of money for the taking if you only use the correct formula to unlock those material riches that God has for you and wants to provide to you.

      

Our Scripture reading today is John 10:7-18.  In that passage Jesus says I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly. What does it mean that Jesus has come to give us an abundant life?  Well, there is much we can say about that verse, but I will narrow my thoughts down to only two points this morning.  The verse about the abundant life is in a larger context that is important, so we must talk about it as well.  Follow along with me, as I read today’s Scripture text, from John 10:7-18.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 

8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 

9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 

13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 

17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Listen to verse 10 again – 

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.

The desire of Jesus, as we find in this week’s Scripture reading, is that his followers live an abundant life.  But to Jesus, abundance has a far different meaning from that presented by Robin Leach.  What does it mean to live an abundant life?

#1.  There are two kinds of life, and both need care and tending. 

      

The Greek language has two words for life.  One is bios, which is the root of our word biology.  This definition of life is obvious.  The bioslife is our physical lives and its attendant need for things such as food, water, and shelter – the biological requirements of life.  This word, bios, is used only sparingly in the New Testament. As much as the New Testament speaks of life, it rarely is speaking about the biological life.  The other Greek word, and the one that is most often used in the New Testament, is zoe, which is the kind of life that relates to our spiritual selves; it is life that relates to the heart and soul, not just the physical aspects of life. It is the life of meaning, purpose, faith, and love.

      

When Jesus speaks of life, and having an abundant life, he is speaking primarily of zoe life.  This is a life that is not about quantity and accumulation of possessions.  It is a life that has to do with fulfillment, but not the kind of fulfillment that comes from large houses and big bank accounts. C. S. Lewis, described the difference between these two types of life in a very interesting way.  He described it as being similar to the difference between a statue and a man.  A man who changed from having bios to zoe would have gone through as big a change as a statue which changed from being a carved statue to being a real man. That’s a very dramatic difference.

      
The danger is this – the bios life, the physical life – so very often threatens to overtake the Zoe life, the spiritual life.  The demands of the physical life – work, commerce, schedules, etc. – threaten to turn us back into the statues of which C. S. Lewis spoke.  Now, I will make an admission here.  I know what it is possible to think right now.  It is possible to think, Dave, your naivete is so quaint.  You live in a bubble.  You live in your church world and that world removes you from many of the realities of life. You don’t really know what it is like out there in the real world, trying to make a living, trying to deal with the realities of the workplace, trying to deal with the realities of balancing it all.  And it is correct that I have been out of that world for a long time.  And it might be correct that I am a bit naïve, although I would prefer to think of myself as idealistic rather than naïve.  The realities of the bios world do quite often crash into my bubble of a world.  I have spent a lot of time over the years dealing with the ways in which the harsh realities of that real world intrude into people’s lives, and into my own life.  I know how harsh it can be, and I know how hard it is to find some semblance of balance. Balance isn’t easy in anyone’s world, including mine.  I do know this – I know that the bios life is one that pushes very hard into life.  I know it is a life that forces many demands upon us. And I also know there are times when we have to push back against that part of life.  

      

When I read the story of the calling of the first disciples – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – I find it remarkable the way in which they responded in such an immediate way to the call of Jesus.  It was as if they were acknowledging hey, there is more to this life than the 9 to 5 and we want to be part of something that is greater than everyday life. Yeah, we need to make a living but there’s got to be something more than just earning that living; there’s got to be a sense of life as well.  For Peter, Andrew, James, and John, life was not easy.  They lived in a time when most people worked hard to earn a living, and it was not much of a living.  Even though they had to work hard to eke out a living, they knew there had to be more than just a bios approach to living.

      

The message of Jesus is one that runs counter to the intrusion of the biological life, the bios life that seeks to say that only the comforts of life, the possessions of life, the attainments of life matter.  The message of Jesus is one that pulls us to the spiritual life. It is in Luke 12:15 that Jesus reminds us so powerfully of this truth when he said that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.  An abundant life, to Jesus, means more than what we can accumulate as we move through life.

      

The zoe life, the spiritual life, can be a very fragile and tender life. It can be easily squashed as the bios life pushes in upon us.  If we think of those two kinds of life as human personalities, zoe possesses a personality that is not vocal or pushy.  It would be a personality that would be considered shy and quiet.  The bios life, however, is loud and boisterous, and is never content to be anywhere but in the middle of the spotlight.  The zoe life, then, can grow dormant and inactive under the weight of the insistence of the bios life, but what happens when that bios life is not enough, when we suddenly hit that wall that says there has to be more.  I am in this crisis and no possession, no job, no title, and no entertainment pursuit can or will give me what I need.  Sit at the hospital bedside of a loved one in the midst of a terminal health crisis and it is quickly apparent which life suddenly becomes important.  Sit in the midst of the brokenness of life and shattered dreams and it is quickly apparent which life suddenly becomes important. Sit in the heartbreak of a broken relationship and it is quickly apparent which life suddenly becomes important. 

      

We cannot allow the zoe life to be sacrificed for that of the bios.  If, for instance, we work only for the attainments in life, what does that do to our relationships?  How many marriages have suffered because so much time has gone into work and so little into the relationship?  How many parent/child relationships have suffered because of neglect born from too much time spent on things that do not nurture the relationship? And what does all that striving do to our souls?  Jesus is trying to bring to us a perspective that will make us think about this contrast of two different ways of living.  It is not withdrawing from life but embracing life at its most important.  It is not a rejection of earning a living and caring for our families and ourselves but is, rather, a reminder of the very real danger of losing our souls in the search for attainment and accumulation.  Indeed, as Jesus asked, what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37).

      

Sometimes, we need a readjustment of our perspectives, a reminder that there is more to life than just biological life.  Over the course of ministry I’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals, nursing homes, and funeral homes.  I’ve spent time with individuals and families and I have seen the face of suffering and it is always a reminder that there is more to life than what we can accumulate and accomplish.  If you want an adjustment to life go visit in a nursing home or a funeral home.  But I’ve also learned how quickly we can forget those lessons.  I’ve stood in those places and thought to myself I cannot forget what matters most in life, and not long after I get in my car and start down the road those stark reminders are already slipping away from me and the zoe life begins to become overwhelmed by the insistence of the bios life.

      

We have enough of the bios kind of abundance; we have, very often, a superabundance.  We have all the stuff we need.  Drive around a neighborhood in the spring, when people have their garage doors open and look at the amount of stuff that’s piled up.  But in spite of all of the abundance what is it that is so often missing? It is a sense of security, a sense of purpose, a sense of hope – things that are intangible and spiritual.  Those are the elements of the zoe kind of life, the abundant life of which Jesus speaks.

      

What I am saying is not a rejection of the bios life, but the importance of balance and perspective.  We have two lives – the bios and the zoe– and both must be cared for and tended, but both must remain in their proper places as well.

#2.  If you have an abundance in life, give abundantly to others.

      

I heard a news report the other day that said 40% of Americans would go into a financial tailspin if they received a parking citation of several hundred dollars. And, yes, some parking citations can end up costing that amount.  40% of Americans is a lot of people.  Tens of millions of people, obviously, are not living an abundant life when it comes to material prosperity.

      

The audience to whom Jesus spoke of an abundant life could not comprehend of an abundant life, at least not in a material way.  His audience was filled with people who struggled to eke out their daily existence.  They certainly saw a few people who had great wealth, but they had no hope of attaining such a lifestyle for themselves of their families.  Jesus was not, as he spoke of an abundant life, providing a vision for how they could attain a better standard of living or their best life now.  Jesus was not selling a first-century version of the American Dream.  He was not promising a life that would be rich in money and wealth, and those who present the gospel as a formula for attaining wealth are perverting its true meaning.  Jesus’ listeners did not hear him as offering a scheme for how to achieve wealth or a home full of possessions.  They knew instinctively that Jesus was speaking of something far deeper.  Jesus was offering a life that provided fulfillment, meaning, purpose, and love regardless of one’s economic or social standing.  It was a message that reminded his listeners, who were under the iron-fisted rule of Rome, that they could live in freedom regardless of their political circumstances.  It was a message that promised that regardless of how tenuous and fragile life might be, life could be full and meaningful, and life would continue after one drew their last breath of bios life.

      

It is for this reason that we can never forget that we are called to share in the abundant live that we have received, because there are those who need to be given a portion of that abundance.  When we have achieved a financial abundance, we are called to share of that abundance, but it’s not just the financial abundance; it is also the sharing of the abundance of meaning and purpose.  It is also the sharing of our voices to speak out about the realities of a world that takes advantage of people and allows policies to be put into place that harms those who have less – less money, less power, and less influence.  Let’s be honest and acknowledge that in the world in which we live you get more justice and more fairness if you have more money, more influence, and more power.  Life ought not to be that way, but it is.  But just because that is the way it is does not mean it must stay that way.  Jesus spoke out against the injustices of the day, reminding us that we must as well.

      

In my work as a minister I am called to fill several roles.  One is pastoral care, and I am comfortable in that role, as it suits my personality.  Another role to which I am called is that of prophet, which has never been very easy for me. The role of a prophet does not come natural to my personality, and I regret that there have been too many times over the course of my ministry that I have not used my voice for others to the extent that I should have done so.  I often think of the famous lines by Martin Neimoller, a Lutheran pastor in Germany during World War II.  He wrote these lines about the failure to speak on behalf of others – 

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

      

There is a danger in every age of not speaking for those who need our voices to speak for them, but the difficulty is that we don’t always see – or perhaps acknowledge – the need to speak out and speak up for others.  It is easy to think, I’ve got what I need, so if someone else doesn’t have what they need, perhaps it’s their fault.  Why would it be mine?  But there are times when we must speak out, and we must remember that it’s not just fear that will quiet our voices; it is also indifference.  

      

I used to wonder what Jesus meant in some of the other verses of this morning’s Scripture text, especially when he says that I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd(verse 16).  I have come to understand that verse as a reminder that we cannot think only about ourselves, or only about the people in our congregation, or our community.  No, when Jesus speaks of other sheep that are not of this pen it is a reminder that all people are his sheep and he gave his life for all people.  This means that those other sheep are people to whom I am called – called to love and called to minister to in whatever ways I am able.

      
It is for this reason that I wrote my own version of Neimoller’s words, not that they needed to be rewritten, certainly, but I did so as a reminder of the call on my life to speak on behalf of others, to love others, and to share of my abundant life with others, and the tragedy that comes if I do not do so – 

      I did not speak up for those in other towns who were suffering, because it was not my neighborhood, so why should I worry and why should I speak?

      I did not speak up for those of other ethnicities, because I am not of those groups, so their suffering did not apply to me.

      I did not speak up for those who are poor, because I am not poor.  I have all I need and I would like to protect what I have.

      I did not speak up for my female coworker when she was passed over for a position or promotion because I am not a female and I told myself “maybe she just wasn’t as qualified.”

      I did not speak up for those who lost their jobs or were denied housing because of their sexual orientation because I already have my rights and protections.

      I did not speak up and I did not speak out.  Why?  Because, frankly, these things did not affect me, so why would I speak?  Why should I worry if I am not affected?

      But one day I might awake to find myself in the crosshairs of injustice and unfairness. I might look around in vain for someone to speak on my behalf, but there will be no one.  I might hope for the voice of another to rise above the din and the clamor of a world that suddenly will not notice me, and will not care about me or my sufferings.  I might look around in vain for someone to stand with me and I might search in vain for an ally, for one who would stand shoulder to shoulder with me.  

      And I will find myself alone, and why would I not be, because I did not stand with anyone. I will be frightened at what might become of me.  I will be alone and without the aid or the voice of another because I did not raise my voice when it was needed, but instead remained silent.  Instead of turning my feet toward those who needed my voice and my influence and hurrying to them, my feet too often turned towards myself and my own indifference.  

      Because I chose the safety of indifference rather than the call to love my neighbor, because I chose to look after myself rather than offering my life in service to others, and because I did not stand with others in their time of need, the question comes to me, why then, would anyone stand with me in my time of need?

      I will not, then, be a person of indifference or silence.  I will use my voice.  I will allow my feet to take me where there is hurt and will allow my hands to reach out to those in need and to those who suffer.

      I will feed the hungry and I will visit the sick and imprisoned.  I will give mercy and grace to all and I will love my enemy, because that is what Jesus did, and that is what he asks of me, and above all else, I want to be like him.

      

We live in a difficult world, of that there is no doubt. Sometimes, tragically, it is made more difficult by others who will create policies to make life more difficult, or they will prey upon others because they have the opportunity and the power to do so.  When Jesus talks about an abundant life, he is well aware that not everyone has an abundant life – either bios or zoe life.  He is calling us then to reach out a hand from out of our abundance and offer something to others.  Sometimes what we offer is a tangible item, such as food or other needs of the bios life, and sometimes it is our voices; voices that will speak to what Paul calls the principalities and powers of this world that keep people from achieving an abundant life (Ephesians 6:12 – for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms).  We will allow our hands and our feet to take us where we do not want to go because that is where Jesus is leading us and compelling us to go. 

      

That is an abundant life.  An abundant life is not always a secure life.  Sometimes it is a scary and insecure life.  Jesus faced difficulties because he was willing to bring an abundance to others, and as he did, he challenged those who prevented that abundance from being received by all people.  He was willing to challenge those who stood in opposition to an abundant life for all.

      

It’s not just me who should have an abundant life, or you.  An abundant life is meant for all people, for all the sheep in the next pasture, and the next, and every pasture, until it comes to all the sheep in all the pastures.  This is what is offered by the Good Shepherd, Jesus, and it is an abundant life.