I’m preaching in a few weeks on the sick.  The Series is called, “Mercy for our Community”, taken from Matthew 25 and I am preaching on Mercy to the sick.

Years ago I preached in the Defeater Belief regarding Suffering.  Since then I have been very sick with cancer.  I wonder how this sermon will sound in light of more life experience.

My intro worked; the point of it was how seriously God takes our suffering.  So seriously, that he would enter it and suffer Himself.  Then, I did a good job of framing the question and how good of a question it is – that when we are suffering we doubt God’s goodness or his in-control-ness.

It would be easier to blog about this sermon if it was bad.  Its pretty good.  🙂  Its probably a big part of the reason I love preaching – not this sermon, but the fact that I learned so much preaching this series 6 years ago.  Thanks Phil for giving me a big topic and a big series.  My take on suffering is the same now as it was then.  Our sin contributes to our suffering, and to the suffering of our community and the world.  This suffering isn’t punishment, but it can serve as discipline.  I spent about 5 minutes strictly on the philosophical aspect and the role of free will.  Interesting to hear that, I hope the 2-3 people who wonder on that level appreciated it.  I remember how much it strained my brain to get there and engage the philosophical equation of suffering and free will.

Conclusion: watch out that your theology is too conservative (too quick to say “praise God” in the face of our suffering) or too liberal (don’t think Jesus has any power, he’s a nice guy who will sit with you and nothing else).  Pray like a Psalmist.  I think that in the midst of my sickness a few years ago I would’ve appreciated it even.

In the Summer of 2005 I preached the sermon, ‘A Lot Like Jephthah’.  My goal was to help men and women identify themselves with the Bible and see themselves in it.

What did I cringe at: I referenced things in the Bible vaguely.  In and of itself that isn’t a big deal at all.  But, I kept saying what I was doing as I did it.  Silly, if you’re going to reference something reference it.

What I loved about this one: It was big.  I preached about 5 minutes on Ehud (seen above, stabbing fat king Eglon), Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and Jephthah.  It was a fun sermon, I brought my sword, and I think I reminded people of the Grace of Jesus.

This is an interesting example for me because I was doing a lot of thing implicitly that I still do (I had 5 recurring bridge-type statements about how the culture is different, but the need for the Gospel is the same).  Everyone had a ‘strike’, that is different now but still exists: Ehud was left handed (I interpreted this simply as ‘different in appearance’), Deborah was a woman in leadership 4000 years ago, Gideon struggled with anxiety, Samson had the idol of romantic love, and everyone knew Jephthah had a dysfunctional family.  The lord pursued through and used anyway.

So, I am thankful – to the LORD for helping me be clear, to Scott Sauls for letting me preach, and to my wife for not cringing too much while I preached.

In 2005 I preached a sermon about what John Eldredge would call “The Religious Fog”, and what Tim Keller (via Dick Lucas I think) calls the default of the human heart: religion.  Now, by that they both mean ‘religion gone bad’.

At the time I was unfamiliar with Keller.  In fact, part of this blog came from Rob Bell.  I went to a seminar he gave on preaching in 2004, and thought he had some good encouragement.

So, in 2005 I preached a sermon called “Boxes and Arrows”.

I am going to listen to all of my old sermons and then blog about them – hoping to grow.  If you heard them, or remember them and want to offer any encouragements I would love it (Famous last words right?)

What I did well: it was clear that I was passionate about the Gospel of Jesus, where we can miss it, and the people in front of me.

What I did poorly: I actually snapped my fingers when I wanted the power point operator to move slides.  I was relieved that it was an old friend (thanks Ritchey, for putting up with me), and I cringed.  Mannerisms are like clothes – they are fine as long as they don’t distract.

What made me truly cringe: I said things like “The Bible doesn’t mean just one thing in any verse”.  Now, my point was that after having a son our eyes might be more open to John 3:16 (allowing for seasons of life, allowing for growth, alluding to the grand drama of the Gospel of God…).  But, I still said it.  🙂

What was hard to hear: I referenced a lot of friends who have now left the church.  It reminded me of who I was then, who we were then.  I’m glad for growth, but still sad.

What is really fun: I wasn’t terrible.  And, I remember some other friends sitting in the front row taking furious notes (Halley Watson Kim and Patty Hake Deising).  I felt like I cared.  And, since I work for the same church, in the same wonderf

ul municipality in Saint Louis, I agree.

A good friend recently said (in a sermon), “If you have a problem with your past then you have a problem with God.”  I have a problem with God then.  🙂

So, I should deal with him about it.  This goes for enemies, neighbors, loved ones, past events, future events we fear.  God is involved in all of them, and we do well by ourselves and by him to answer him in regards to them.

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
You have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
You have set up a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
That your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
God has spoken in his holiness:
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
Have you not rejected us, O God?
You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
Psalm 60

What a terrific promise.

Another great round of metaphors for our prayers about our enemies – with the hope that God will take care, and praying this will help us love our enemies and neighbors.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”
But you, O LORD, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
My God in his steadfast love will meet me;
God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.
Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield!
For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
Psalm 59

Rather than get into all of this Psalm.  Let me say this (because I almost immediately memorized it in 1999 the first time I read it), “It is an act of profound faith to entrust one’s most precious hatreds to God, knowing they will be taken seriously.”  (Brueggemann)  There’s a lot there.  A lot about answering God, a lot about why we do it, a lot about how to do it, a lot about what God ‘does’ with it.  That’s why I keep quoting it 🙂

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!
Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!
The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalm 58

Honest about how their words and actions feel, then a deep plea for God to act.  For God to display, in ways the writer can understand, his Glory and how it matters in the midst of this.  Religious folks – don’t miss the visceral, authentic beauty of these metaphors that explain the painful words of David’s enemy.  Non-Religious Folks – don’t miss that the end point – imagined, hoped for – is God’s Glory.  It’s not about us.

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
My soul is in the midst of lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Psalm 57

Every emotion you experience is represented in the Psalms.  Psalm 55 displays a number of them.  Have you ever wondered how to pray when you can’t pray, but can only groan?  Paul has some good answers for that in Romans, but 1000ish years before he wrote that letter Psalm 55 gives a good model (which is often more helpful than an answer, especially as it relates to Answering God).  Are you ever restless?  Same thing.  I love the Psalms.  Peter liked this one too; quoted it, with even stronger wording thanks to his friendship with the Man.

Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked in the throng.
Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol alive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
But I call to God,
and the LORD will save me.
Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
His speech was smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
But you, O God, will cast them down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
(Psalm 55 ESV)

Its hard to not like David.  He prays how he actually is, and then expects God to rescue him – for God’s own glory.  And, he is right to expect it.  He knew God’s character well.  (There’s another good story behind this one)

O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
(Psalm 54 ESV)

Hopeless, to a deep and abiding hope.  Nothing good, into fortune and joy.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
Have those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
(Psalm 53 ESV)