Failure (Part 1)

 Failure: A New Perspective

Intro.: I thought that Failure would be easy to talk about.

1. But as soon as I began to gather material, I found myself overwhelmed. You see there are plenty of examples of failure in the scriptures.
2. Our first example of failure is found in the opening chapters of Genesis – Adam and Eve disobeying God and eating from “the tree of knowledge of good and evil”.
3. In fact there is hardly a character in scripture – both Godly men and otherwise – who failed. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Moses, the prophets, the apostles and early disciples.
4. If we look at the central figure of OT history, David, we see a failure. And if we walked with the disciples in the first century, they might be tempted to remind you that Jesus' life was a failure as well.
5. But in the end they would remind you of Proverbs 24:16

 

Read: “for the righteous fall seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.”

Pray

T.S. In the next few minutes, I want to look at the lives of three failures that we find in scripture.

 

1. The first failure I want to look at is David
1. Most of us would look at David and say how he was a failure.
2. Here was a poor shepherd's son – destined to be a shepherd himself. But God sought him out, not to be a preacher, not to be a godly father, not to merely an ambassador to his broken world. God sought him out to be Israel's king.
3. Saul had truly failed as a King – he had abused is privilege. God had appointed him the political leader of Israel – but he took a step too fare and acted as their spiritual leader as well. He had offered a sacrifice that only Priests were allowed to offer. He had over stepped his authority – and he was to be replaced. By a shepherd.
4. David was to be God's man. He would rule Israel – and why would anyone saw he was a failure.
5. But, though no one knew, David knew. David knew that Bathsheba was married. David knew that it was wrong to look at this woman – she was not available.
6. But that did not stop him

(Appl.) Temptation comes in at least two forms. Sometimes it is there, right in front of our face. We givn in without thinking – driving too fast, anger that seems to comes from nowhere. But there are also temptations that seem to just hang there in front of us. “Take me, take me.” And sometimes we do. That is what David did.

7. David saw Bathsheba. He knew that he should not – but he did. And he suffered for it. When he was confronted with his son by Nathan all he could say was “I am the man”
8. David had failed. But he was willing to confess his failings.

(Ill.)  Every so often I pick up the readings from the Moravian Church. It is the same readings that John Wesley used when the leader of the Moravian Church in the 1700's first show him the way to Christ. Yesterday's reading (Saturday, July 11, 2009) very quickly hit home when I read it. Yesterday's  (July 11, 2009) reading began with a quote from Deuteronomy 5:21:

‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

    It was followed by words from the hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

     Next came Jesus' words from Matthew 5:28:

              But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

     This was followed by the third verse of “What A Friend We Have In Jesus”

Are we weak and heavy laden,

cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he'll take and shield thee;

thou wilt find a solace there.

      The reading ended with a prayer:

Precious Savior: forgive us when we yield to the temptations that surround us. You are our comfort, refuge, and source of strength because you have defeated death, which comes with our sin. We thank you for hearing us as we cry out to you from our weakness. We praise you Lord, our crucified, risen, an ascended redeemer. Amen.

 

9. The songs may have changed, the prayers may have changed, but these were the same words that Jesus read as he used the Moravian Daily Texts.
10. Why are they there – because temptation is common to all eras. It was not unique to David, it is not unique to us. But temptation must be addressed by each generation. The Moravians knew it, God knew it, and David knew it.
11. And we, too, must learn to avoid temptation as we live our lives.
12. Temptation leads to failure – but David was not a failure. Why? Because he confessed his sin and rebuilt the faith he had in God.

(Appl.) Failing does not make us a failure. It means we failed – but we, like David, will need to rebuild our lives so we can serve God.

2. The second failure that I want to look at is Jesus.
1. On that Friday as Jesus hung on the cross, I expect most of Jesus' followers thought he was a failure. They had just wasted three years of their lives following a has been, a no body.
2. These friends hid, they denied Jesus, some stood around the cross but in no way claimed that they were connected with Jesus. As some have termed it, it was a Black Friday.
3. Saturday would have been no better – they had lost their friend, their leader, the one who had showed them a whole new way to live. He was gone.
4. But on Sunday, word began to arrive. First from the women, then from a few of the other disciples. The tomb was empty, some had spoken to an angel, others had met Jesus along side the road.
5. Forty days later, they were there when Jesus did go home to be with the Father. Ten days later they experience the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit.
6. What was different? What had changed? Let me suggest one answer – On Friday and Saturday they looked at the crucifixion as men. Beginning that first Easter Sunday they began to see what happened on the cross as God saw it.

(Appl.) Failure is too often seen from our human perspective – not from God's perspective. When we use a human perspective, we get caught up in our feelings, in our doubts, in our hopes.  As we seek to see our failings from God's perspective, we find that we can set those things aside for the moment and focus on God's larger perspective.

7. As the disciples spent time with Jesus after the resurrection, they were able to see the cross from God's perspective, rather than their own. It left an unexpected transformation in their lives. As it will in ours.

Conclusion: We began our discussion a short while ago looking at Proverbs 24:16, “for the righteous fall seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.”

Failure is not the end of our lives – rather it can be the beginning of God's grace in our lives and for those around us. We like David, we like Jesus and His disciples, will see failure as an opportunity for God to work anew in our lives.

Pray

Love - God's Standard

LOVE – God's Standard¹

Intro.: Having had a mother for nearly 45 years, I can understand that mothers can be loved and frustrating at the same time.

1. I think I remember telling you about the night that I Sandra and I and another couple had gone for a drive in the gold country of Northern California. During the trip, we stopped at a fresh fruit stand along side the road where I purchased some fresh strawberries and blueberries. Late that night when I finally got home, my mom was still waiting up for her 21 year old son. “Where have you been? You can't keep her up so late! She needs her sleep.” But then she saw the bag on the living room table. “What's that?” I explained and after a few moments of silence, she said “Go to bed – we'll talk about it in the morning!” All I have got to say, I hope this nights gets over fairly quickly.

2. I expect that Knoxville, TN, Police Chief Phil Keith felt the same way the night he was in the middle of a city council meeting when his pager beeped. Startled to see that the call was from, you guessed it, his mother, he rushed to the press table and phoned her. “Phil Keith, are you chewing gum?” demanded his mom, who had been watching on cable TV. “Yes, ma’am.” “Well, it looks awful. Spit it out.” Keith dutifully removed the gum and went back to his meeting.

3. There’s no one like mothers! The words “mother” and “love” go together like left and right hands, and on this Mother’s Day of 2003, there’s no better passage to study than the “Love Chapter” of the Bible which describes the agape love of God which is necessary for mothers, fathers, sons, daughters—and for all the rest of us.

4. Turn with me to I Corinthians 13.

Read: I Corinthians 13:1-13 Pray T.S. I would like to spend the next few moments looking at what this thing called “love” is all about.

1. The Place of Love (1-3)

   1. Love is superior to eloquent words (v. 1).

   2. Love is the vital principle, and without it all other endowments, including excellence in communication, is vain.

   3. Love is superior to wisdom (v. 2). If a person could unlock the mysteries of the entire universe and call forth faith to remove mountains, he would be zero without love.

   4. Love is superior to work (v. 3).

(Ill.) Albert Barnes, a Presbyterian pastor and theologian, notes, “If there is not true piety, there can be no benefit in this to my soul. It will not save me. If I have not true love to God, I must perish, after all. Love therefore, is more valuable and precious than all these endowments. Nothing can supply its place; naught can be connected with salvation without it.”

2. The Portrait of Love (4-7)

   1. In verses 4-7 we have a catalog of love – and how it will change our lives.

   2. Love is patient (v. 4).

   3. It bears injustice without anger or despair. Love must be practiced (v. 4). It is mild under all provocations and ill usage. Love produces good manners and courtesy at all times.

   4. Love is pure (v. 4), not jealous or displeased when others are successful.

   5. Love never embarrasses the owner or recipient.

   6. Love is peaceful (v. 4). It is not rash.

   7. Love takes a back seat and is willing to work behind the scenes. Love does not brag or boast or sing its own praises.

   8. Love is polite (v. 5), doing nothing to cause shame.

   9. Love prefers others (v. 5). There is no selfishness in the true love. It seeks the good of others.

   10. Love is not easily provoked (v. 5). When love holds the reins of the soul, there is little danger of provocation to anger and spiteful action that leads to sin.

   11. Love is assume guilt (v. 5). It does not condemn on suspicion or without evidence, nor is it malicious nor disposed to find fault.

   12. Love is well-behaved (v. 6). It does not sympathize with evil, nor does it delight in anything that does not conform to the standard of right.

   13. Love takes pleasure in truth (v. 6).

   14. Love rejoices in the virtues of others, not their vices.

   15. Love is pleasant (v. 7). Love maintains a disposition that refuses to make public or to avenge the faults of others.

   16. Love is not suspicious. It trusts others.

   17. Love brightens all things, bears all things and braves all things.

   18. As believers – we cannot put love into second place. It will be the forefront of who and what we are as we live out our Christian life.

(Ill.) While in seminary, we were told that we should have one illustration to support each main point – but it seems to me that no illustration can completely define God's love.

3. The Permanence of Love (8-13)

   1. Love’s permanency is suggested by the phrase “love never fails” (v. 8). Love will always abide, may always be exercised, and can be adapted to all circumstances in which we may be placed.

   2. Love’s pre-eminence is suggested by the phrase “but the greatest of these is love” (v. 13). Love is the greatest of all gifts, for love makes the rest of the gifts graceful.

      (Ill.) Over the years I have been impressed with a number of natural wonders. I think of half dome in Yosemite – a huge dome of granite standing perpendicular to the Yosemite Valley floor. It has stood that way for as long as man has been aware of the beauty found in that valley. Or think of Old Faithful, the geyser in Yellowstone National Park. For years it has blasted its mud, steam, and water out of a hole in the ground – though not quite clockwork, it hourly spews forth its contents. What a view. Or, more closely, Niagara Falls. And love is more permanent than any of these.

3. Love is the one needful thing—our priority.

4. We may lose our goods or even our good names, but if we truly retain love, we have exchanged the temporary for the eternal.

5. For when the Bible has said all it will say about God, it is contained in the one statement: “God is love.”

Conclusion: F. E. Marsh tells of meeting of a group of pastors that had the potential to be controversial and possibly devisive. As he prepared to attend he was reminded of the passage that we have looked at today - the 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians and praying that its teaching might guide his conduct and that of his colleagues. The aged minister felt the need of the restraining hand of divine grace and the calming power of love, lest they should be rash in their speech.

1. This is the kind of love that lasts.

2. May God give us loving moms, loving dads.

3. May He give all of us loving hearts like that.

Pray

1Based on a sermon by Melvin Worthington entitled “Lasting Love on Mother's Day” found in Morgan, R. J. (2002). Nelson's annual preacher's sourcebook : 2003 edition (electronic ed.) (136). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Shaken

Shaken

Intro.: I think we have all heard the reports of earthquakes in Italy this past week.

1. As believers, we must begin by praying. But we are also called upon to help those in distress. Have you considered finding a relief agency involved with helping those who lost family members or homes this week.

2. Having said that, we should note that earthquakes can happen in any part of the world. I have been involved in two quakes that I know of.

3. The first while in high school – I was sitting in a high school chemistry lab. We just sat and stared at each other.

4. The second was about 26 years ago while serving the church in Gloversville, NY. I was in the basement in my home office. At first, I thought it was my an upset stomach or just a brief loss of equilibrium. But the longer it lasted, the more I wondered. When I listened to the news, later that evening, I discovered the cause of my discomfort was an earthquake that was felt over five state area.

Read: Matthew 27:45-54; Matthew 28:1-10

Pray

Trans:

1. As I reread the events which took place during those last days of Christ's life and following His resurrection, I saw something that had never caught my attention before. During those three days, between Christ arrest and His resurrection, there were actually two earthquakes.

2. I knew that there was an earthquake after Christ's death on the cross. And I knew that an earthquake occurred shortly after His followers found His empty tomb.

3. But you know, I never bothered to add one to one to get two. So, though I knew there were two different earthquakes associated with Jesus death and resurrection, I never realized that there were two earthquakes that week.

T.S. Let's look at the events surrounding these two earthquakes.

1. Earthquake #1: The death of Christ

   1. Contrasts seem to follow Jesus where ever he goes. Here we have the “Light of the World”, the one who was born with a star that show the way for wise men to his cradle. Yet at His death, we are told that there is darkness for three hours.

   2. It is during that three hours that we finally hear Jesus' words, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” or in English “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

   3. It probably would not surprise us, but those who hear Him do not understand. They think he talking to the famous Old Testament prophet Elijah – not realizing that He is talking to the very Father that has rejected Him.

(Appl.) Those that stood around the cross that day were not much different than us. We tend to see Jesus the way we want to see Him, rather than as He is. We take our experiences and interpret what Jesus says and what Jesus does using those experiences as being the norm. But we cannot do that – as we look at Jesus life, we need to accept what He does and what He says at face value – and rather than using our experiences to understand Him, we must use His life and words to understand our own.

(Ill.) One of the first, if not the first, earthquakes mentioned in scripture occurred when Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Exodus 19:18 says “Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.” Here we have the Lord meeting with the man that will deliver the Law to His people and the earth shakes. God's way of dealing with man is forever changed.

4. Can we be surprised that the earth might also shake when the Son of God is dying on the cross? After all, God's way of dealing with man is forever changed.

2. Earthquake #2: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

   1. The two women did not quite get it right. They really expected to find Jesus in the tomb. They had not understood that Jesus would rise, they did not understand what Jesus had told them about that first Easter. They had gotten their doctrine wrong.

   2. On the other hand, their hearts were in the right place. They had come to worship their Lord. They had come to finish what had been done hurriedly a few days earlier. Jesus had come to be the focus of their lives, and that had not changed.

   3. The earthquake for the women was not the end of something, as it had been at the crucifixion. Rather, it was to get their attention.

(Ill.) If I asked a seismologist about this second quake, I suspect he would be less surprised than I was. You see, he knows about the aftershocks that accompany any large arthquake. Rescuers are well aware of the dangers of aftershocks that follow an earth quake. “Aftershocks are able to do serious damage, so don’t look them over lightly! They have the power to crumble buildings, roads, and bridges already weakened by the initial earth movement.”¹

(Ill.) Have you ever noticed how when someone seems out of it or is totally distraught in the movies, the person is slapped. The purpose is to bring them back to reality. In some ways, that is what God was doing with this earthquake. God wanted to bring the women's focus away from the grief, away from the discouragement they were feeling. They needed to focus on Jesus. They had work to do.

(Appl.) In some ways, the women, in fact all of Jesus followers, were experiencing two earthquakes. The first was the very real earthquake that Matthew wrote about. The second brought as much pain, but it could not be recorded by and seismograph. It was the earthquake that they were experiencing in their lives. Jesus, the Son of God, had died. The man they had been following for three years was dead. The man who had taught and demonstrated what it meant to live for God had died. Their lives were shaken up – shaken to the very core. And when we find our lives shaken up that much, we need something that is steady, something that is constant, something they can cling to. Jesus is that something.²

Just like those first believers found their lives in an uproar, so will we. There will be times when a potentially crippling chronic illness (be it ours, a family member's, or a friend's) may shake up our lives. Or it may be some event in our lives. Maybe the day we realize that we need to depend on someone else more than we did in the past. You can think of the earthquakes in your life – and when those earthquakes come, we need a quiet point. A place that is rock solid and unchanging – that place is at the feet of Jesus. “If we’re going to be stabilized in an ever-quaking, shifting world, we must fix our eyes upon the fixed One, Jesus Christ—the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8)”. Decide today, that when the next earthquake hits, you will turn and face the unchanging one, the one who loves you more than you love yourself.

Conclusion: I don't usually think about earthquakes when I think about Easter.

1. I think about chocolate, Jelly Beans, and Peeps. I think about stuffed animals and Easter Dinner.

2. But earthquakes were there for that first Easter. As Christ died and rose again, there were Earthquakes.

3. And we still have earthquakes today – both real kinds and those that can tear our lives apart in unexpected ways.

4. But we, like the early church, must remember to focus on Jesus when we are hit by life's earthquakes.

5. You can begin by focusing on Jesus today.

Pray

1http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/earthquakes/aftershocks.shtml

2Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson's Application Commentary (213). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Tough Times

Tough Times

Intro.: This has been a tough week.

1. I spent most of the week preparing for Saturday's meditation

2. But in the middle of it, I also had dinner with the DS and his wife at their home.

3. I finished my official work at cardiac rehab, but signed up for more of the same as part of a maintenance program.

4. I started taking classes at RIT – no tests, no grades, but going into a group of people I do not know is difficult just the same – at least for me.

5. A busy week. And a trying week.

6. But I expect that it was not as busy and trying for me as it was for Jesus in the hours following His arrest and trials.

Read: Matthew 27:1-26

Pray

T.S. Jesus' final interaction with the priests and Jewish leaders and with Pilot teach us a number of things about sin and how we can handle it.

1. Jesus' meets with the Chief priests one more time

   1. The trial that took place accomplished nothing. It was an illegal trial – and thought they had hoped to force a verdict, it would not happen.

   2. Now morning has come and something has to happen. But, because they can do nothing, they decide to send Jesus to Pilot the governor.

   3. It is complete. Jesus, who knew no sin, has taken our sin. He is being tried as a sinner.

(Appl.) Think of the worse thing you have ever done. It may have been a child, a teen, or as an adult. You may have told someone about it – or maybe you have kept it to yourself all these years. But it has left you drained. As Jesus makes that trip from Caiaphas' home to Pilot's court, he carries with Him your sin. Regardless of how bad that sin may have been, Jesus carries it with Him.

(Ill.) Someone has suggested that sin is like something thrown into an ocean. If it is too light, it floats. It is obvious to all who see it. Unforgiven sin is sort of like that – we may be able to hide it from those around us, but you know what, we will see it. But a sin that we have confessed to Jesus and allowed him to deal with is hidden. It is like that thing we threw into the ocean. What if it were a weight from the weight room. It would not float, it would sink. And it would be covered so that nobody, not even you, would see it. When Jesus takes our sin, he covers it. He hides it. He deals with it.¹

4. Now being taken to the governer – for what, they think, will be a fair trial.

2. Jesus comes before Pilot

   1. Matthew includes a brief parenthesis about Judas' regrets for betraying Jesus. It's not where I want to spend my time this morning, but I also do not want to neglect noting that sins is never as simple as it looks.

   2. Pilot takes the straight forward approach.

   3. “Are you the King of the Jews?”

   4. Jesus is as straight forward in his answer. “You have said so.”

(Ill.) Of course this only half true – you see he is the King of the Jews. But he is also the King of Kings. He is the Lord. He is my Lord – I trust He is your Lord.

5. But Pilot was weak – he gave in to the crowd rather than follow his conscience. The biggest evidence that Pilot knew that Jesus was innocent was his choice of Barabbas. Barabbas was a notorious prisoner. Just as Pilot knew his reputation, so did the entire community. The contrast between Jesus and Barabbas was obvious. Pilot thought he was safe – surely they would choose to set Jesus free.

6. But they didn't – and Pilot would not do what is right. He followed the crowd.

(Appl.) It is easy to follow Pilot's example – to follow the crowd rather than do what was right. I like to think that we as adults have out grown the peer pressure crowd; but, as Pilot illustrates, we may never out grow it. Decide what is right – choose to do it, before you ask what others are doing.

7. Pilot delivered Jesus to be crucified.

Conclusion

Pray

1AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

UMW Communion Meditation

Meeting At The Table

Intro.: The table has become a central point of our lives.

1. The family gathered at the table has become a symbol of the communities we all belong to. Whether it be families gathered at the table, or CEOs meeting with their board, or diplomats ironing out the details of an important treaty – the table serves to bring communities together.

2. The table played a significant role in Jesus' life as well. Luke mentions the role of the table in Jesus' life 16 times. He eats meals at the homes of friends, He overturned the tables in the temple; today, we remember the last meal Jesus had with His disciples before his crucifixion – as they sat around a table.

3. We talk about celebrating the Lord's supper – but at the same time it brings with it certain sadness as remember the suffering that was to follow Jesus over the next few hours. It's true in our lives as well. At the table of some there is a feast – but for others there is a famine. Though treaties are made and signed at tables, it is also at tables that treaties are broken. As members of the family of God we bring both hope and doubt.

4. The table can also be a place of division – as we decide who we will include or exclude from our tables. God calls us to a higher calling – a calling that invites all who are broken, hurting, or lost. We are called to work for peace and justice for all of creation.

Pray

T.S. In the next few minutes I want to look at three words most often translated as table in our English Bible. It is my hope that by studying these three words we may better understand the importance of the table in the life of the Christian.

1. The first word is the Greek word trapedza

   1. Literally, the word means “four feet”. In practice, it is the table where we sit down to eat our meals.

   2. Every time we sit down to say grace before we eat, we are sitting at he trapedza. This is the Lord's Table – it is a reminder where he sat and had His last meal with His disciples. God meets us as a family as we come together at the table. We come as a family to our Father's table.

   3. But the trapedza is also the table of the money changers – the tables that Jesus turned over when he came to the temple.

(Appl.) Like those money changers, we come to today's table broken, in need of a savior in our lives. What distinguishes us from the money changers is that they did not know they needed a savior. We come, knowing we are broken, unable except by the grace of God, to approach God's table.

4. The remarkable thing is that the service itself recognizes this fact – as it begins with words of confession.

2. The second word is the Hebrew word sulhān

   1. The most common location for the sulhan was in the tabernacle or temple. It held what was known as the “showbread”. Moses was given the instructions for making the bread that would become part of worship at the temple. It consisted of twelve baked cakes made from a fine flour. Each week, on the sabbath, the priest would replace the previous weeks offering with a new set of loaves.

   2. The bread was placed on the sulhans, These tables were an integral part of the worship. Their presence in the temple meant that they were considered holy.

(Ill.) Andrew Blackwood, a well-known preacher of early 1900's, once said, “The Lord’s Supper should be the crowning service in the church, and thus be earth’s nearest approach to heaven”

(Appl.) The table, the sulhan, was a place where the people of God me their Lord. It is where we, too, can meet our Lord and savior.

3. The third word is the Hebrew word paniym

   1. Though occasionally translated “table”, the root meeting is “PRESENCE”.

   2. Not only do we meet God here, He also meets us. He takes us as we are and allows us to approach.

Conclusion: Communion is family time.

1. We gather at the table this morning as the family of God.

2. Here we remember the Father's gift and His son's sacrifice.

3. Come to the table, because you are a member of the family.

Pray