Real Social Security
Psalm 37:3-5
Intro: I’m not sure if you’ve seen the news lately, but we are in an election year.
Yeah, I know, seems like just 4 years ago we went through all of this.
Let’s see, it’s the last week of July and the election is the first week of November, so we have…(count months on hand) still enough time for us all get a new roll of duct tape and wrap it around our heads to keep them from exploding.
This election, like all of the others before will no doubt take on a personality of its own.
Looks like it might be a replay of 1992 when the economy was the big deal.
Just 4 years ago when a majority of the debate centered on the war in Iraq.
And in 2000 who could forget the Social Security debate.
We really haven’t heard much about that this time around though.
Remember: We had George W. Bush on one side looking for a “strategery” that involved personal investing…
And Algore encouraged the “Social Security Lock Box”…yeah, good times; or not so much.
Anyone know the actual name of the Social Security Program?
Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
As we know it is a federal program funded through a payroll tax we know as “FICA”…the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.
The Social Security Act was signed into law at approx. 3:30PM EST on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The Act was created to “provide benefits to retirees and the unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit payable at death. Payments to current retirees were (and continue to be) financed by a payroll tax on current workers’ wages, half directly as a payroll tax and half paid by the employer.”
Yeah…that is what it is supposed to do at least.
I’m sure we all have our opinion of Social Security, and that really is for another time and another place…but I do want to talk about Social Security this morning none the less.
Not the government based program we all know and love so well…but real social security.
A real social security that thankfully is not in the hands of the federal government…but is in much better hands.
Let’s read about it this morning.
Read Psalm 37:3-5 and pray.
One afternoon a few weeks back I came across this passage while doing my Bible study and thought, “Wow…a 3 point sermon, right there for me, thanks God!”
And quickly jotted down the points God showed me in the margin and then looked up at the chapter title so that I could hopefully remember where it was and saw this description…read chapter description.
And then I said, “Thanks God, a sermon and a title!”
The truth is God does give us security that is beyond our imagination.
And it is this social security I want us to consider this morning.
But why do I call it “real Social Security”?
Let’s look at definitions of those two words (in your bulletin)
Social: of or relating to human society…or the welfare of human beings as members of society
Security: the quality or state of being secure
Social Security is not a government mandated financial program…it is protection God offers to His people.
Real social security what God offers to you today.
No paper work, no 9-digit numbers you need to memorize, and no taxes included.
There are 3 keys to this security:
First of all, you must have…
1. Trust…
One of the things I love about these verses is how they read like Proverbs…and admonition followed by a promise.
Read vs. 3
If you trust in the Lord you dwelling place will be established.
For us as born again believers this is not a promise related to a physical land, but is a promise about our eternal inheritance.
If we trust in the Lord then our eternity can and will be sealed.
But to not trust in the Lord also seals our eternity.
God created us for a reason…the pinnacle of His creation so that we might relate to Him; but changed about 6000 years ago in a Garden called Eden.
It was there that the first sin took place…God said don’t do it, the man and woman did it anyway.
Since that day a sin nature has been passed on from generation to generation, even to today and you and I have perfected it in our own ways.
Scripture says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God according to Romans 3:23, and the 3 chapters later we are told “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
There is a debt that must be paid because of our sin, but God showed His love for us in sending His Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
The sinless one became sin on your behalf so that you might live.
And if you by faith call upon Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then Scripture says you will be saved…you can dwell in the land of eternal life.
The question now becomes assurance of that…can we be sure?
Let’s look back at vs. 3…when we trust in the Lord we then are called to do good and cultivate faithfulness.
The evidence of the inheritance is not in baptism, it is not in church attendance, and it is not in praying a prayer…it is in a life change.
Wait…did he say what I thought he said?
Yes, I did.
Proof of my salvation isn’t in a prayer I prayed on August 6, 1989…proof of my salvation comes in the fact that I once was lost and now I’m found, was blind but now I see; a change in my life.
Proof of my salvation is in the fact that I have passed from death into life…and that is a very significant life change.
Our faith should result in life change.
It should result in our lives being different that what they once were into something new with a purpose of building God’s kingdom.
Our lives should also be different from the world we are in.
Read John 17:14-17
“In but not of”…
“Sanctify” in vs. 17…meaning purified and consecrated or holy.
Is your life different?
Do you have security from your faith?
Is it evident by your life?
You want real social security you need to trust, and then 2nd you need to…
2. Delight
What does it mean to “delight”?
To take delight in something is to get great pleasure, be happy about, make merry over, and derive enjoyment.
• Many men seem to delight in sports. For others it’s camping, fishing, or hunting.
• Some women delight in shopping…my daughter is a budding shoe shopper
How about this in describing “delight”:
It is what happens when there is excitement inside, a tingle, a spark.
When we are doing what we really love to do, or when we are with someone we really love.
Like what one young lover said to his beloved, “When I held you in my arms, I felt a cold chill run down my spine. I thought it was true love until I realized your pop sickle was dripping.”
Delight means happiness, or someone or something that brings such a state.
The problem is, people are always looking for delight and only finding a temporary fix.
Food can be one of those temporary fixes.
They may make you feel better, but if you get too much it could make you sick.
And once you are done, in a few hours you will need more.
Friends and families can bring us delight.
My children can be my delight by day and…and then we have to fight over bed time.
The problem is when we look for our delight in people or things, we will still be wanting in the end or find a void when its gone. Sometimes it can even turn sour on us.
Like the saying goes. To much of a good thing…
So. What is your Delight?
Psalm 37:4 tells us that we need to delight ourselves in the Lord, and He will give us the Desires of our heart.
So, if we Delight, or make ourselves happy in the Lord, He will provide us with the desires of our heart as he changes our heart.
Our wanter will be different…remember, life change.
How many folks out there are trying to find happiness in all the wrong places.
This verse tells us, where we can find the desires of our heart…what really makes us happy.
Other people can let us down…but God will never do that.
He will never leave nor forsake you, the Bible says in HEBREWS 13:5
See Isa. 61:10…I will rejoice b/c He is my delight.
Are you delighting in the Lord today?
Do you have the security knowing that you can have the desires of your heart when they line up with God’s desire for you?
You can have real social security today if you trust, if you delight and then 3rd…
3. Commit
I love what John Wesley said in his commentary of this verse, he simply said, “Commit - All thy cares and business, and necessities, commend to God”
We have a commitment problem today, and we find it in every avenue of our culture.
The average tenure of employment for Americans in 2006 according to one survey: 4 years
Between the 1950’s and 2000 job tenure in the US dropped 82%.
Average length of marriage in the US…8-11 years.
Percentage of population that is divorced in 2002: 10% (up from 8% in 1990, 6% in 1980)
This lack of commitment has also had a traumatic effect on the church.
In the past the theme was “When the going gets tough…the tough get going.”
Today, if the going gets tough…just go, leave, get as far away from it as possible and try to “start over.”
And in some cases the tough doesn’t have to come…it is way to easy to say, “Well things are going ok, I must not be needed.”
Church hopping and sheep shuffling are all too common terms for good reasons…because people do it.
Some reasons for church hopping:
• Didn’t like the music chosen
• Preacher didn’t shake my hand
• I didn’t care for the Sunday School discussion
• They didn’t serve what I liked at the dinner
B/c we have lost what it means to be committed.
It’s like we bought fire insurance from God and we are doing Him a favor by giving Him an hour here and there…and to give Him 2 hours means He owes us.
God doesn’t owe you, God doesn’t owe me…but we are the ones who are indebted to Him.
He made His commitment and we give Him…what exactly do you give Him?
Our passage tells us to trust God in vs. 3 and then again in vs. 5 we are told commit our way to the Lord and trust Him.
Why? Because God is faithful.
Even when we are faithless and lack commitment, God remains faithful.
Read 2. Tim. 2:11-13.
Transition:
What of your commitment this morning?
Have you committed all of your ways unto the Lord?
Have you found your delight in Him?
Have you put your trust in Him alone?
If not, can you really say you have security this morning?
Conclusion: I want to offer you real social security this morning.
It begins with faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
Acknowledge
Believe
Confess
If you have already place your faith in Christ…what of your delight and your commitment?
