For many athletes, Olympic and others as well, discouragement can become a big obstacle in their path to finishing their race. There are many stories of athletes who have been faced with a medical issue while they are training, or even during competition. Many times it is a physical ailment or a diagnosis of a medical condition that threatens to halt their training. At other times, and because of the time and energy they have placed into their training and sport, mental health can become a factor as well. But I would imaging, and judging by comments you’ll hear from many of them, discouragement is perhaps the greatest obstacle of them all.
Discouragement is something that you and I know about very well. We may not be training for the Olympics, but we are faced with the struggle of discouragement at many times in our life. When we hear the diagnosis from the doctor, when a relationship is on the rocks, when we’re struggling in school – discouragement can become a big obstacle that is difficult to overcome.
In our second lesson this morning, the apostle Paul was discouraged. But as we’ll hear, he had something to overcome discouragement – something that you and I have, too – God’s grace. In fact, we want to be encouraged by God’s Word this morning to “Celebrate God’s Grace In Times Of Trouble.”
"I'll Wait...For The Salvation Of The Lord" How good are you at waiting? When it comes
to the good things in life, we can’t wait to get to it – like the day of our
retirement or the birth of a child or grandchild and we’re like a kid on the 4th
of July waiting for the fireworks. But then there are the things in life that
we do not look forward to – like our gospel lesson, where there is a sickness
in the family. We’re like Jairus and pleading with Jesus, “Please, don’t let my
little daughter die.”
We all face difficulty, trouble and sorrow in
life. What are we to do about it? At times we find ourselves complaining –
about the taxes we have to pay, the economy, our health, in a relationship or
in a marriage. Whatever the case is, may we all say with the prophet Jeremiah
in Lamentations 3 – “I’ll Wait…For
The Salvation of the Lord.”
Curiosity is a very powerful thing. Curiosity is arguably one of the strongest traits that the Lord created and placed inside the mind of the human race. Curiosity has caused discoveries of many kinds. Columbus was driven by curiosity. Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawkings were driven by curiosity. We want to know the reasons. We want to know the answers.
How many of us, especially parents, have heard the question "Why?" How many of us wish we had the answer when someone asked us "Why?" How many of us have asked the very same question when bad things come into our lives? Perhaps all of us.
This morning we meet a man called Job, a man who also asked the question "Why?" Why did things, bad things, happen to him? "WHY?" Job found out that man can only ask, and only God can answer.
This past week I happened to be watching
the NBA Finals. During the course of game 6, there was a moment when the
announcers began talking about the graphic laid out across the screen - “Time
since their last Championship.” What it amounted to is that it has been a
really long time since the Cavaliers, or Indians or Browns have won a
championship. It would certainly be fair to say, Cleveland sports fans have
learned a great deal of patience over the years – as they wait for their team
to return to the World Series.
But let’s say you are a New York Yankees
fan, you also think about the last time your team went to the World Series and
won. But you know that your team, with 27 championships, has won more than any
other team in MLB. When you look back in history, you only have to go back a
few years to 2009 to the last time your team won it all. You wonder not about
if your team is going to the Series, but how sweet it will be to win
championship #28. And if you don’t reach the World Series and win it all, or if
there is a drought of any kind, maybe you’re thinking that something must be
wrong and want to proceed in firing the entire team, manager and all.
Regardless of what team you’re a fan of,
or if you simply look on in amazement at the fans of any team, all of us have
been given various amounts of patience through the circumstances of life.
If patience is a virtue – on a scale of 1
to 10 – how much patience do you have? A little; a lot; or not nearly enough?
Our patience is often easily tested when things don’t go according to plan –
when the economy bottoms out and you lose your job, when you’re waiting in the
doctor’s office for the test results, or your patience of a father or mother is
tested raising children. The thing that we’ll always want to remember is that
the Lord is in control of everything in life, including the Cleveland sports
teams and the Yankees.
Before we look at our gospel lesson, let’s
think of a few biblical examples of patience or lack thereof. Jonah was so
adamant that he did not want to accept the Lord’s call to preach to the wicked
people of Nineveh that he ran away to the opposite end of the earth. But God
had patience with Jonah and with the people of Nineveh. In the end all the
people of that great city put on sackcloth and fasted and repented of their
sins.
When talking about patience as we wait for
the end of the world, the apostle Peter was inspired to write – 2 Peter 3:8-9 –
8 …with the Lord a day is
like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord
is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient
with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
The apostle Paul understood God’s
patience. The man formerly known as Saul – the great persecutor of the early
Christian Church. He was a zealous Jew who persecuted Christianity b/c he
thought he was doing God a favor. God struck him down and worked in his heart
through the Word. And after his conversion, he became one of the greatest
missionaries Christianity has ever seen. How much patience did the Lord have
with Paul? How much patience does he have with your and me?
In our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus used
two parables to teach about patience as God goes about his work. God tells us
in His Word that the Holy Spirit is actively working by creating and
strengthening faith in human hearts through the power of His Word. He asks us
to have patience in trusting that God’s Word works in a miraculous way – and that
we have patience while we wait for growth.
My guess is you’ve been there before.
You’ve been in that situation when there comes a moment of truth. It was a
beautiful day outside. The kids were outside playing and having a blast. In
fact, they were having so much fun mom was inside and could hear all the
giggling and laughing that was taking place. But then that giggling and
laughing stopped. You see, the kids were outside playing and enjoying each
other’s company and doing exactly as mom asked them to do – staying out of
mom’s hair so she could get some things done around the house. But as they were
outside, they noticed there were a few things enticing to them. A few things
mom and dad told them – “Don’t play with it b/c you will get hurt.”
You’ve been there before. You’ve done the
thing mom and dad told you not to do – the thing you’re not supposed to do. How
did it end up for those children who were playing outside? Not very well. B/c
what happened is they were having all sorts of fun, but it all came down with a
loud crash. Maybe it was a broken window as they were throwing a baseball up
against the house or the roof – and they probably shouldn’t have done that. Or
they were outside playing with the bb gun and they thought it would be cool to
shoot the windows on the barn 35 ft up in the air. Not a good idea. And then,
the fun came to an end.
Mom handled the situation. But she gave
the kids a reminder – “Wait until your dad comes home.” And those were the
words any kid did not want to hear. B/c when dad came home you knew you really
were in trouble.
How do you think Adam and Eve faired in
our lesson this morning when they heard the words from the Lord, “Where are you?” They knew they were in
a great deal of trouble. In the verses that precede our text this morning, Adam
and Eve and the fall into sin. They were created into a perfect world without
sin. God gave Adam and Eve a simple command, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you
must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat
of it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17) God gave them a simple command
and asked them to follow it.
Then along came the devil. The devil
tempted Adam and Eve – “You will not
surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.” (Gen 3:4-5)
“Where are you?” My guess is that Adam had all of these things on his mind as he was
hiding from God. That’s not a good situation to be in, is it?
There are things that we do because we want to. There are things we do because we have to. Some of us go to work because we want to. We almost feel guilty being paid for what we do because we enjoy it so much. Others of us go to work because we have to. We don’t enjoy what we’re doing, but we need the cash to pay for the groceries, the mortgage and the car. No matter what we do, there are basically only two attitudes that we carry. Because I want to, or because I have to.
If you have a family, you know this attitude also translates to church. This morning, perhaps your son or daughter asked you the same question. "DO I HAVE TO?" Do I have to go to church? Do I have to sing those songs? Do I have to sit and be still while that guy in a black dress stands up and talks and talks and talks? Maybe you have the same feeling. Do I have to? Well, let’s take a look at "church", at worship this morning and see what worship is and how it benefits us. I pray that by the end of today’s short talk your attitude will not be "do I have to" but "I want to."
What do you think goes through a
pastor's mind as he's about to receive his first call into the full-time
pastoral ministry? It isn't his first call, as he's already received his vicar
call. But this is different. This is a permanent assignment. You don't know
where you're going, what the church or people are like. There are so many
thoughts running through your mind. But one thing is for sure. The candidate is
certainly excited to carry out the Great Commission of our Lord which is verse
19 of our lesson where and "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..."
These are the words of Jesus to his
disciples, but imagine you're sitting there in that auditorium. Instead of it
being the president of the WELS, it is the Lord Jesus himself. He calls out
your name and he simply says to you, "Go!"
There may be a little fear and trepidation. You don't know where you are going
to go, to Texas, or half-way around the world. You don't know who you're going
to share that word of God with.
That can be pretty scary? To think that spreading
God's word and extending his kingdom, shepherding a flock and caring for souls
is going to be done by someone like me? Yet, that's your assignment - "Go!" God knows your fears
and worries when it comes to sharing the good news. That's why Jesus didn't
leave the command to "Go and make disciples by Baptizing and
Teaching" all by itself. It's the verses before and after that command
that we want to focus on this morning. "Go!"
Knowing that Jesus' power gives you
strength, and Jesus' presence gives
you peace.
