Been There... Done That.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Life often is confusing... we are hit from different sides at once and we lose our bearings. This can be from death, disease, bankruptcy, rejection, divorce, or other situation.
It reminds me of one of my favorite stories... the Insurance Claim Letter
Dear Sirs,
I was recently moving 500 pounds of bricks from the top of a 5 story building. It would take to long to carry them down so I put them in a bucket, and lowered them by a pulley which I fastened to the top of the building. After tying the rope securely at the ground level I returned to the top of the building, tied the other end to the barrel, loaded it with bricks and swung it over the side of the building for the descent. Then I returned to the sidewalk and untied the rope: holding it securely to guide the barrel down slowly. Since the bucket weighed 500 pounds and I weigh only 150 pounds (before the accident}, the force of the descending bricks jerked me into the air so quickly that I did not have time to think about letting go. As I passed between the second and third floors I met the barrel coming down. This accounts for the bruises and lacerations on my upper body. Still, I held tightly to the rope until I reached the top where my hand became jammed into the pulley, this accounts for the broken fingers. At the same time, however, the barrel crashed into the sidewalk and the bottom broke out. With the weight of the bricks now gone, the barrel weighed only forty pounds. Thus, my 150 pound body began a swift decent. My decent was slowed only slightly as I met the bucket coming up...this accounts for my broken ankles. My decent continued until I crashed onto the pile of bricks... this accounts for my sprained back and broken collar bone. At that time, I guess I lost my presence of mind completely, and let go of the rope. The empty 40 pound bucket then came crashing down from 5 floors on top of me... this accounts for the head injuries.
Have you ever felt like that? I have. What is a guy to do then?
I think the first thing we should do is to open our bibles to and read Hebrews 4:14-16.
How will that help you?
Let’s say you are going through a divorce, or cancer, or a lay-off, or alcoholism, or your first car wreck.
If you needed to talk to someone... would you rather talk to someone who is there or has been there.... or someone who has no idea?
The title of my sermon today is.... "Been There... Done That."
It is more than a trendy phrase.... it is a comfort It is Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, The Savior, God in the flesh... saying to you...."I UNDERSTAND."
Think for a minute about this.... "Why did Jesus come in the flesh?"
Did he get bored in Heaven?
Did He want to try something new?
Did He go for a walk and take a wrong turn at the big dipper?
Was it a mistake?
NO.... He came for several reasons....
1. To reveal God to us (((Elaborate)))
2. To pay for our sins (((Elaborate)))
3. TO IDENTIFY WITH US (((Elaborate)))
In the Old Testament God chose the tribe of Levi to be the tribe of the priests. All of the males would become priests. ONE of them... one at a time... would serve as C.E.O. among the priests... Chief Priest.
What were the priests to do?
1. Represent the people before God
2. Represent God to the people
3. Offer sacrifices
Why did they come from the tribe of Levi? So they would be ONE OF THE PEOPLE.
So they could identify with their struggles, their hopes, their past, their future.
When we get to the New Testament, when we encounter the priests, were they doing the job?
NO!!!!! They did not identify with the people. They spent all of their time trying to distinguish themselves from the people and be better than the people.
They dressed differently,
they talked differently,
they ate differently,
they prayed differently.
They were TOTALLY OTHER.... totally unrelated.
They felt superior and the people knew it. The people partly respected them and partly abhorred them.
They could not identify with the people in their weakness, in their doubts, in their questions.
They were pious, separate, better, holier than thou.
And when the people came to confess their sins and offer sacrifices... the priests were judgmental, unmerciful, harsh, and aloof.
The people sensed it and hated to come to offer sacrifices.
The people felt alone, abandoned, like no one understood them.
So... God sent Jesus, in the flesh, to be their priest.
The earthly priests had driven a wedge between God and man and made man feel far away from God, rejected by God, and like God did not care for them or even understand them.
Jesus came to make man feel like God understood, God cared, and God understood.
How? By coming IN THE FLESH.
By becoming one of them, sharing in their struggles, their weakness, their temptations, their walk.
Jesus came as a baby to grow up and experience, first hand, the struggle to be faithful.
He came in the flesh so he could experience the weaknesses and the temptations that come with the flesh.
He came as a Jew to identify with the oppression and the rejection.
He experienced hunger, pain, rejection, hatred, injustice, thirst, need, desire, temptation, betrayal, ridicule, love, hate, warmth, cold, exhaustion, elation, and sadness.
WHY?
So He could say,
when you are tempted and think you can’t holdout
when you are angry and feel you deserve to be so
when you are hurting in your deepest parts
when you are rejected by others and treated unfairly
when you are caught in the teeth of doubt
Been there.... done that....
I UNDERSTAND.... I CAN HELP!!!!!!!
SO WHAT????
So there are two things that you can do when your rope has broken and you are laying bleeding on the pile of bricks...
1. HOLD ON
A ship was in a tremendous storm at sea. The waves were crashing over the sides, men had been washed over the side to a watery death. Grown men are crying and shouting in fear. The sky is dark. Then you hear the captain’s voice... "Tie yourselves to the mast. Hold on tight."
Hold on is what you want to do. But, sometimes you don’t know what to hold onto. What can we hold onto in the storms of life?
Paul says, "Tie yourself to Jesus because He has been through this before, He knows what to do."
You may say,
God does not understand what it is like to be young Jesus does
God does not understand how unreasonable he is Jesus does
God does not understand how strong the temptation is Jesus does
God does not understand the peer pressure Jesus does
You have not now, and never before, nor ever in the future gone through anything.... any temptation, any attack, any mistreatment, any thing that He does not understand FIRST HAND!!!
When you think the church is outdated, that the bible does not have any application to your life today.... Remember this, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are..."
When the wheels come off in my life... when all heck breaks loose .... I can find strength and hope in this.... JESUS HAS BEEN THERE AND HE UNDERSTANDS.
And there is more that we can do.
2. APPROACH BOLDLY
A few years ago a terrible thing happened in Richmond... the control tower at Richmond lost all voice contact with the planes trying to land and take off. Nothing worked... not the radio, not the telephones. The pilots tried in vain to contact the tower. They flew in terror, not knowing where to go, when to land, where other planes were. The tower watched in horror as the planes on the screen came dangerously close to each other and the flight controllers were powerless to warn them or to help them. It was a few minutes that felt like hours.
Imagine being a pilot of one of those jumbo jets that was in the pattern around Richmond. What would you do? do you think that you would try to land?
Could you approach boldly?
Why not? Because you don’t know if it is safe!!!!!! You don’t know how you will be received.... maybe a mid air collision.
Often our confusion is brought on by our own sin. And as we stand there in the sin and the confusion it created, we are like the pilots... we would like to approach but we are afraid... not sure what will happen.
Many of those pilots did what they thought was best.... they left Richmond, got out of the pattern... went in the opposite direction as fast as possible.
Often, when we have sinned, we do the same thing. We RUN FROM GOD... we run away from the one who can help us, we flee from the one who understands.
And we continue to run.... afraid to approach, too ashamed to approach.
Or we do like other pilots... HOLDING PATTERN... afraid to change our direction, altitude, or speed. Figure if we just hold steady, we will be OK.
May work for pilots in that case... NOT FOR US.
If we just hold our heading... we will get farther and farther away, more and more confused.
God wants us to do something that none of those pilots did or should have done...
APPROACH BOLDLY!!!!!!
Believe He is in control, believe He loves you, believe He has paid the price, believe He will receive you, believe He will help you, believe He will answer you.
Are your afraid of your circumstances? Go BOLDLY to the Throne
Are you sorry for your sins Go BOLDLY to the Throne
Are you hurting? Go BOLDLY to the Throne
Are you in need? Go BOLDLY to the Throne
Don’t worry about being rejected, or ridiculed, or mocked, or punished.
Did your hear what the Throne is called? THE THRONE OF GRACE Did you hear what you will receive? GRACE AND MERCY God’s court is the opposite of man’s.
Man’s court hopes to give you what you deserve...
In God’s court you don’t get what you deserve Mercy
you get what you don’t deserve.... grace
God will receive you and will wrap his arms around you, and will bestow gifts on you {grace and mercy}.
He understands what you have been through and offers you gifts.
He knows exactly where you are and offers you gifts.
He knows where you are going and will offer you gifts.
In man’s court you are afraid to offer any information, don’t volunteer anything. afraid you will get an unfair verdict.
In God’s court you can spill it all because you know you will get a fair verdict
In man’s court you fear you may not get jury of your peers.
Those like you
Those who can understand you
In God’s court you have a peer who understands totally
Perhaps there is someone here today who is carrying a tremendous burden..
you haven’t told anyone, even God, out of fear the weight of the guilt has crushed your joy you would love to put it down, throw it away BUT YOU ARE AFRAID
Perhaps someone is here today and you are facing the storm of life
the sky is black,
the waves of worry are in danger of sinking your spirit
the rudder is broken and you are out of control
Perhaps someone is here today who is a slave to some temptation
you have tried but failed to overcome you feel it no use, you are bound to give in
I DON’T KNOW your situation today your hurt your need your burden your temptation
BUT I DO KNOW The one who does know your situation
The one who has stood where you stand
The one who was victorious in your situation
The one who can get you through
AND I DO KNOW
YOU CAN APPROACH HIM BOLDLY HE WILL RECEIVE YOU
