This morning, we conclude the series of messages titled A New Heart for A New Year. The series comes from a Celtic prayer, titledLord of My Heart. As I have not been sharing the prayer the past few weeks, I will share it with you one final time –
Lord of my heart, give me vision to inspire me,that working or resting, I may always think of you.
Lord of my heart, give me light to guide me,
that at home or abroad I may always walk in your way.
Lord of my heart, give me wisdom to direct me, that thinking or acting, I may always discern right from wrong.
Lord of my heart, give me courage to strengthen me, that amongst friends or enemies, I may always proclaim your justice.
Lord of my heart, give me trust to console me,
that hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy.
Lord of my heart, save me from empty praise,
that I may always boast of you.
Lord of my heart, save me from worldly wealth,that I may always look to the riches of heaven.
Lord of my heart, save me from military prowess,
that I may always seek your protection.
Lord of my heart, save me from vain knowledge,
that I may always studyyour word.
Lord of my heart, save me from unnatural pleasures,
that I may always find joy in your wonderful creation.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall me,
rule over my thoughts and feelings, my words and actions.
I love that prayer, and I keep it nearby to read on a regular basis. In this series, we have studied five themes from the prayer – vision, light,wisdom, courage, and trust. Today’s message is on the theme of trust. The line from the prayer is, Lord of my heart, give me trust to console me, that hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy.
This morning’s Scripture text comes from Jeremiah 17:5-8. Follow along with me as I read –
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see
prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
As I began thinking about this message, it was hard for me to narrow the theme of trust. Trust is a really big theme. The difficulty in beginning a message is narrowing it down to a manageable amount of information, so you don’t bury everyone. But then I started to think more about the line from the prayer, which is very specific when speaking about trust – Lord of my heart, give me trust to console me, that hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy. I think that is a great line. I love that line, so let’s dig into it this morning.
I want to focus especially on one word in that line – consolation. Consolation is an interesting word to pair with the word trust. The prayer asks that God would give us trust in order that we would receive consolation. Consolation is a word that means to comfort in a time of sadness or grief, especially a time of great sadness or great grief. Do you think that the past year qualifies as such a time? I think we can all agree that the past year has been a time of great sadness and grief for a combination of reasons. Everyone has lost someone or something during the pandemic, and in such a time of sadness and grief, we need, specifically, to trust in order to find the comfort we need. So how is it that trust can serve as a consolation, or comfort, to us?
Well, let’s look to Jeremiah to see how trustbrought him a sense of consolation.
Jeremiah was one of the major prophets of the Old Testament and he began his ministry in the 7thcentury BC. Jeremiah was a prophet in the southern kingdom of Judah (the nation of Israel had split into two kingdoms many years before – Israel in the north, and Judah in the south). Jeremiah is sometimes called the weeping prophet because of the calamities he pronounced that were to come upon the southern kingdom. The kingdom had turned far away from the law of God and had devolved to the point of offering child sacrifices to the god Moloch. Because Jeremiah opposed such practices, and because he preached of the judgment that would come upon the kingdom because of their idolatry, he was not a very popular figure. In fact, Jeremiah found his life in danger because of his message. When Jeremiah complained to God about the persecution he faced, Jeremiah is not given much encouragement; in fact, instead of telling him that things will get better, God tells Jeremiah he will face even worse circumstances. Because of the difficulties he faces, Jeremiah decides he might be better off if he were to remain silent, but he finds that God’s word burns within him and he cannot remain silent. As he says in 20:9, But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
So how does trust bring consolation to Jeremiah, or to anyone?
Well, let’s take a look at that question.
1. Trusting God will not take away our difficulties, but it will bring us consolation because of the guarantee that we are doing what is right.
Jeremiah did not receive a life of ease; in fact, he didn’t even get a break from God when he complained to God about the threats that were made against him. What did he receive? God said, things are about to get worse. I imagine Jeremiah said, or at least wondered, is that supposed to make me feel better? But it is important to understand that God was not trying to discourage Jeremiah; just the opposite, actually. God was telling Jeremiah that his circumstances were difficult not because he had done anything wrong; no, his circumstances were difficult because he was doing what was right.
That is a message that also came to other Biblical characters, and it reminds us that what we sometimes need is not the promise that life will get better, or our circumstances are going to get better. What we need is the promise – the reminder – that we are doing the right thing, even when our lives suffer for doing what is right. Anyone has ever been involved in athletics, for example, knows that conditioning for a sport is not easy. I was never a skilled athlete, but I did participate in a few scholastic sports. I was on my high school crew team my junior and senior years. Each season, we spent six weeks in physical conditioning. Each day, our workout consisted of an hour of calisthenics, an hour of lifting weights, and a run of between three and five miles. It was difficult, to say the least, and I couldn’t wait to finally get on the river, thinking it would be a breeze compared to the conditioning. I was certainly wrong about that! After our first time on the river, I felt like I had never exercised a day in my life! One of the ways our coach helped us was not just in the way he pushed us, but how he encouraged us. He never said it was going to get better, or easier, but said we were doing what we needed to do in order to excel at the sport. It was difficult, but it was what was needed.
God never makes the promise that our circumstances are going to get better, just as he didn’t promise the prophets. What God did, and does, is offer the reminder that we are to do what is right, and in the process of doing what is right, sometimes life gets difficult. Jeremiah was a lone voice as a prophet, which was difficult. He was up against many false prophets who were encouraging the wrong direction in the life of the nation. It would have been easy for him to think, am I wrong? I’m the one dissenting voice. Who am I to say that I am right against all others? Jeremiah needed the consolation that he was indeed right, and that he was doing the right thing, just as we need that reminder.
On more than one occasion, I have asked God why I can’t do something other than ministry. I hope it doesn’t bother you to hear me say that I have, more than once, asked God if it was okay for me to do something else with my life. Ministry has its moments, and I’ve asked God if there weren’t something else that I could do. Surely there is a teaching position, or another vocation out there for me. There were plenty of Biblical characters who had the same desire, a desire to do something else with their lives, and a desire to live a simpler life (and I’m not comparing myself with any of the Biblical characters, except for this one area of life). They simply wanted to live their life unencumbered from the worry and stress of their calling. Now, here’s the crazy, ridiculous, kind of pitiful part of my desire to do something other than ministry – how in any way can I compare my circumstances to those characters? When I get to feeling sorry for myself, wishing I could do something else, the Spirit will prompt me to ask, Dave is it really so bad? Think aboutJeremiah, who had people who wanted to take his life. Well, I’vereceived some harsh mail over the years, and I’ve had people get mad at me, and I’ve had people in other locations who wanted to get rid of me, but Moses had to flee for his life. David fled for his life. Peter lost his life – he was crucified! Paul lost his life – he was executed by the Roman government! What do I have to worry about? I have health insurance and a pension plan! What’s the worst that could happen to me, that I might have to find another place of employment because some people might not like me?
Life is not always easy, and sometimes it is not easy because it is not easy to do the right thing. That’s how it was for Jeremiah. The message that Jeremiah received from God was basically this – Jeremiah, you’re not suffering because you’re wrong, or because you are doing what is wrong; you are suffering because you are doing what is right! You’re dealing with people who are sacrificing children! What do you think they would do to you? Of course it is going to be difficult, especially when you speak against their actions! Jeremiah needed a reminder and the encouragement – the consolation – that he was doing what was right, because when you are facing that level of opposition, it is almost impossible to avoid questioning whether or not you are right.
It has never been easy to do what is right. What has been interesting about this past year is not just that we have faced the pandemic, but there has been a great deal of social unrest as well. As difficult and painful as the social unrest has been, it has also been a positive experience, because it has brought about much needed change. And it’s not a recent movement. There have always been movements for equality and justice, and there certainly have been in our country. I think about the people who have marched for important and needed causes over the years – people who have marched for equality, people who have marched for peace, and people who, in their marching, often faced violent opposition and so many other difficulties. But they had the courage to stand up and do what was right. I think about those who marched on Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965. A group of people, marching for civil rights, walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where they were met with a violent response from those in power. The powerful did not want to grant equality, they did not want to grant equal rights, and they did not want justice to prevail. I imagine the marchers needed to hear the reminder that were in the right, they needed to hear someone tell them, don’t give up, and they needed to hear keep going, don’t stop! Don’t stop!
Doing what is right is never easy; Jeremiah certainly discovered that reality. But trust brings the consolation of knowing you are doing what is right and that you are doing what is necessary.
2. Trust will console us by giving us peace in our circumstances.
Lord of my heart, give me trust to console me, that hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy. That hungry or well-fed, I may always rely on your mercy.
Now, these two points that I have so far offered sound similar, but they are different. The first is a reminder that our circumstances can be difficult because we are doing what is right, while the other encourages us to find peace in the difficult circumstances that come our way, especially when those difficult circumstances come about because of doing what is right. One says to not be surprised that we will experience difficulties; the other reminds us that trust in God gives us the power to overcome those difficulties.
The passage that Jordan read from the Sermon On the Mount is one of my favorites, and for many, many years I really struggled with that passage, and I imagine you have as well. I struggled with it because I thought I was doing something wrong by worrying and by failing to overcome a sense of anxiety. Jesus does say, after all, do not worry about your life (Matthew 6:25) and do not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). For many years, I thought Jesus was asking and expecting that we would never worry or have anxiety. I believed I should not worry about what was going to happen tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or that I should not worry about what was happening in my life, or the lives of friends or loved ones, but that’s not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is not talking about doing away with the emotion or the feeling of worry or anxiety; instead, he is encouraging us to have confidence in those circumstances because God is with us. We often define trust as something that will solve our problems and make life better, but trust doesn’t guarantee that. Trust does not promise to make our lives better or promise to change our circumstances; what trust promises to change is how we react to our circumstances. Let me say that again – trust does not promise to change our circumstances, but promises to change how we react to our circumstances. That’s why Paul’s words in Philippians 4:11 – 13 have such power (11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength), because even though his trust does not change his circumstances, his trust changes him. That was the real key for Paul. It wasn’t that trust changed his circumstances, but that his trust changed him and enabled him to overcome his circumstances. The person that can do that – the person that can overcome their circumstances – is the person who has really learned how to trust God. I have a strong sense that when Paul was led out of prison for the final time, on the day he was executed, it was one of those moments where, in spite of all the power of Rome that surrounded him, in spite of the authority of the emperor, in spite of Paul being in chains, everyone there knew that Paul was actually the most powerful person present. Paul demonstrated a greater degree of power than all the assembled powers of Rome, because of his trust in God. Paul was not changed by his circumstances, but overcame them, and that is a power that is greater than any we see in any of the powers of this earth. What is the greater power – the one who can change our earthly circumstances or the one who gives us the power to overcome our circumstances, no matter what they might be? The people who have been held down by the powers of the world, the people who have been punished by the powers of the world because they dared to speak out, and dared to stand up for equality, and dared to stand up for justice, and dared to stand up for freedom prove the greater power. It is not in those who can force one into prison or control our outer circumstances, but it is in those who did what was right in spite of what happened to them. That is real power! Jeremiah was able to prove that power. He was in very difficult circumstances, but he did not give in to those circumstances and he did not allow those circumstances to triumph over him. He knew so many were against him and he knew his life as in danger. Jeremiah did consider remaining quiet – for a moment. Again, however, as he said in 20:9, But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
What can be more consoling – more comforting – than being at peace regardless of our circumstances?
3. Take consolation that your trust is rewarded.
I don’t know how many times I have said, over the past year, that it has been a tough stretch of time, hasn’t it? I’ve said that a lot of times, and you’ve thought about it a lot of times. It’s been tough. Really tough. But we have to acknowledge how tough it has been, and to face the reality that we still have some time yet to go.
And yet, let us remember that our trust is rewarded. I have read, so many times over the years, Romans chapter 8. I have used that passage countless times in funerals and memorial services, and it always speaks powerfully to me. In verses 38 and 39 of that chapter, Paul reminds us of this – 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing. Not even death can separate us from God’s love. What I love so much about this passage is that Paul reminds us that our trust is rewarded. We have placed our confidence and our hope in something that is real and in something that we can trust. Because when it comes right down to it, what is there that we can really trust in this world? What is harder – to trust God or trust what is in this world that will not, in the end, console us? How many people have trusted in power over the ages? The greatest of powers have eventually passed. Power can be gone in a moment’s notice. A person can command the greatest army, but it can be taken away. A person can have all the riches the world has to offer and believe that whatever comes along they have what they need to take care of them. But riches, like power, can be gone in a moment. Whatever it is that one may cling to – even other people – can be gone in a moment. Yes, even people can let us down. What is it that we can trust without fail? God. We can trust absolutely in God’s goodness, God’s mercy, and God’s love.
Yes, life may be tough, and our circumstances might be difficult, but God promises to change us in those circumstances and we can overcome whatever difficulty might come to us. I find that very comforting, and very consoling. Amen
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing!!!
IV Infusion Cabazon CA
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