7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalms 139:7-14 (NIV)
Introduction
As I was growing up – I enjoyed reading… And my favorite reading was a good western. I believe I have read every book ever published by Louis L’Amour – most of them 2 or 3 times. Another of my favorite authors was Max Brand, and I read a lot of Zane Grey as well.
In nearly every western there is the story of a pursuit. There is a suspected crime, usually a robbery or a shootout, the posse is organized, and the chase is on. And in some of the most respectable westerns, it is the pursuit of a lifetime. Some of my favorite stories were about the Sherriff, or Texas Ranger, or Pinkerton detective that had been on the trail of a criminal for years. And we breathe a final sigh of relief when we hear the good guy say “Come out with your hands up”, and the bad guy surrenders.
In many of the stories, we end up with begrudging respect for the crook. Sometimes we even begin to hope they escape their pursuer…
One such story is “Catch Me if You Can” – the story of Frank Abagnale. Frank ran away at 16, and spent the next 10 years as a professional con artist. He made millions of dollars writing bad checks all over the world. He passed himself off as a Pan Am pilot, he served as the chief of residency at a Georgia hospital, he passed the Louisiana bar exam and got a job as District Attorney, and even taught at Brigham Young University. All of these done by a man that didn’t even finish high school, never flew a plane in his life, and was running just a few steps ahead of the law.
I heard Frank Abagnale tell his own story once. And while we might think the story is glamorous – he shares the dark side of the chase. The loneliness... Never getting a chance to rest… Getting so caught up in false identities that you begin to forget what is real. And Mr Abagnale begins to reveal what may be true for most of those that spend a lifetime running – there is a part of you that simply longs to be caught.
The “Catch Me if You Can” story is actually one of the most gratifying of all pursuit stories… The good guy gets his man, and the bad guy learns his lesson and actually becomes a good guy. Frank Abagnale did his time, repaid all the money he stole by writing bad checks, and has a successful security consulting business – teaching governments and corporations how protect themselves against someone like himself.
It’s Your Story…
Really – we’re all obsessed with stories of the chase. Some of you women are saying, “Oh, no, that’s a guy thing” But it’s not. It’s the substance of every great romance. Boy meets girl. Girl plays hard to get. There are two things that don’t work in a romance novel:
- The guy just gives up
- The girl just gives in
If either of those things happen, we certainly don’t have the makings of a Lifetime movie, do we?
Of course – you can tell I’m a guy, though… Because I titled my message, “Come out with your hands up”, and not “Wait! Don’t get on that plane! I just realized that I can’t live another moment without you!” What kind of a sermon title would that be???
But regardless of the context, we all love stories of the pursuit. Because it’s our story. And all too often we identify closely with the one being chased. Because that’s our role in our story. We have trouble deciding whether to root for the guy or the girl, the good guy or the bad guy. We have sympathies for both, and we’re hoping against all hope that somehow this story will turn out good for all.
Some of you in this room have spent a lifetime running and hiding. It is revealed in many ways. We often throw ourselves into our work. We lose ourselves in recreation. We masquerade behind fancy clothes. Some try to escape into drugs, sex, or other pursuits. We attempt to lose ourselves within crowds of friends.
Perhaps you don’t even realize it – but you are being pursued. There is a voice calling you. It is the voice of your Father. Your Creator. God.
This message began to take shape in my mind when I considered the scripture in Romans, which states “the gifts and the callings of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29).
I was raised in the church. I always wanted to be a preacher – nothing else. One might think that I never “ran from God” – but I did. I never quit going to church. But you can hide behind an altar as easily as you can hide behind a bar. Some of you may have been raised in church, but would confess that you have done anything but fully surrendered your life to God. You’re still throwing yourself into family, into work, into recreation – and perhaps even into church work!
Here’s what I came to tell you today… Whether you’ve been hiding behind a bar, in a stadium, or under a pew – God is calling. God is pursuing you. He knows exactly where you are, and just how to reach you. He has a plan for your life.
You don’t know what it is? That’s because you’re still running. You’re still hiding. He isn’t holding his plan back from you. He is simply waiting for you to surrender to him. To finally quit running.
He’s waiting for you to “Come out, with your hands up”.
The Hound of Heaven
I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat -- and a voice beat
More instant than the Feet --
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."
That is the opening verse of a poem, written around 1904 by a man named Francis Thompson. As a young man Francis went to seminary, but could not seem to find the disciplines required for priesthood. He left seminary in 1877, and spent the next six years trying to follow in his father’s footsteps by studying medicine. During this time he was introduced to opium – easily available in his father’s clinic and in his medical college.
Over the next thirty years, Francis was in out of monasteries, trying to overcome his addiction to opium. Sometime before he died of tuberculosis in 1907, he wrote this 187-line poem called The Hound of Heaven. In it he recounts the intensity with which he fled from God, but also the constancy with which God pursued him. And the poem ends with the dawning realization that what he wanted most was to be caught, and loved, and used – by the God that pursued him.
Each verse of the poem ends similarly - with voice that accompanied the pursuing feet. In these verses that voice says”
- All things betray thee, who betrayest me
- Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter me
- Naught contents thee, who content’st not me
Why is that true? Because God created us in his image. And he knows our purpose, and that which will truly fulfill us. And nothing in life that we pursue can complete us like He can complete us.
David’s Song (Text)
David’s song, found in Psa 139, sounds very much like Francis Thompson’s poem.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
What David is saying is “You may as well stop running!”
Let me tell you why I wanted to preach this message today… We were talking about Israel this past Wednesday night, and read Paul’s prophecy about Israel in Romans 11. He mentions that Israels disobedience is only temporary, and that they will fulfill the plan and purpose of God. In verse 29, he says, “For the gifts and callings of God are without repentance”
I began to think about the tenacity of God’s call on our lives. Our story is a great story – why? Because of the chase. God dispatched his call into your life. There has been a lot happen since you first sensed his call. Perhaps you even thought that your chance of fulfilling that call was lost, because you have disobeyed him so many times.
But I came to tell you today – he never “called off the dogs”. He sent those gifts out – he sent that calling out – and they are still chasing you down. His love is tenacious. His calling is tenacious.
I’m hoping that today you will simply surrender to him. Quit fighting his will. Quit hiding behind your job, behind your family. Come out – with your hands up!
You know what makes a beautiful story? When it ends like David’s. He finally realized that fleeing was to no avail, and surrender was so much better. As a matter of fact – it resulted in him praising his pursuer!
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
This is what I came to tell you today… There are different meanings to raising your hands… One meaning is to demonstrate your surrender to God. The lifting of your hands says, “OK, I give up. I give myself up”. My hands are empty, Lord – but I am yours.
Here is the paradox in your story. It does not take long at all for those hands lifted in surrender to become hands lifted in victory!
Let me ask you today… What are you running from? What is keeping you from surrendering your life completely to God? You are here today, and he gave me this message to remind you – he hasn’t forgotten about His promise. He has not forgotten about His calling. And he loves you so much that he is not about to leave you alone.
In invite you this morning to stop running. To come out, with your hands up. Say, “OK, God – I’m through fighting. I’m through doing it my own way. Take me…” Let’s pray…
