(Slide 1) I begin this morning with gratitude because I am grateful for the Bible and how it has helps us find faith and life and the power to do what is right even in the face of overwhelming opposition. The truth and power of which it teaches is sometimes, though, expressed in some unusual ways.
(Slide 2) The story is told of a street preacher who was preaching to anyone who would listen. As he did so one day, a man approached him who looked like he had lived on the street forever.
"Can I help you?" asked the preacher asked the man. "I think you can," said the unkempt and street smart person.
"Would you like me to tell you about Jesus?" ask the preacher. "No."
"Would you like me to pray for you?" he queried. "No."
"If you don’t want me to tell you about Jesus, and you don’t want me to pray with you, how can I help you?" "You can give me your Bible," replied the growingly impatient man.
"Why would you want my Bible if you have no interest in knowing more about Jesus?" asked the bewildered preacher. "I noticed that the pages of your Bible are very thin and I can use the pages to wrap a joint."
Wisdom came suddenly to the shocked preacher, who said, "I’ll give you the Bible, if you will agree to read a page before you smoke it." The man agreed, took his new Bible, and left.
The story goes on to say that the preacher thought that he would never see the man (or Bible) again. But,… one day about three months later a man in a business suit approached the preacher who was out preaching on the street and asked the preacher if he knew who he was.
"No. I’ve never seen you in my life,” replied the preacher. "Yes, you have,” said the well dressed man. I’m the man you gave a Bible to (about four months ago)."
The preacher couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. "What happened? Tell me what happened." "Well, I smoked Matthew, and then I smoked Mark, and then I smoked Luke--and then John smoked me."
The power and truth of scripture finally got to this man as he got to the fourth gospel.
For centuries, many people have tried to squelch the Bible and its wonderful message of forgiveness and new life through Jesus Christ. And while they thought they had succeeded in doing so, they had not.
(Slide 3) Pastor Jeff Simms tells the story of a man who found out that the power of God will eventually triumph over the power of political oppression no matter how long it goes on. It seems, according the Pastor Jeff, that “in the 1920’s Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and believers. [In the city of] Stavropol, this order was carried out completely.
Thousands of Bibles were taken and believers were sent to the gulags, where so many died for being enemies of the state. [Then in 1994, a group of Christians] went to Stavropol. They didn’t know about the history of the city at that time. But when the team had difficulty getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned that they knew a warehouse existed outside of the city, where these Bibles had been stored since Stalin’s time.
“The team prayed together and one member had the courage to go to the warehouse and ask the officials if the Bibles could be removed and distributed again to the people in Stavropol. The answer was “yes”.
The next day the [group] returned with a truck and several Russians to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man- a skeptical, hostile, agnostic university student who came only for the day’s wages. As they loaded the Bibles, one man noticed that the student had disappeared. [They] found him in a corner of the warehouse weeping. He had slipped away, hoping to take quietly a Bible for himself.
What he found pierced him deeply. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It was her personal Bible. Out of the thousands of Bibles still left in that warehouse, he stole the one that belonged to his grandmother- a woman persecuted for her faith all her life.
(Slide 4) The Bible is essential for us as we seek to follow the Lord throughout our lives. In preparation for communion, I want to share some thoughts that have come as I have reflected on a simple phrase that I found as I read Psalm 37 last week. It was a phrase that I needed to read and, in a sense, ‘hear,’ from the Lord but I want to read the entire Psalm as I believe that they are words that we all need to hear today and I think that some of us (and I believe this quite strongly) need to hear today. Let us hear the word of God as I read Psalm 37.
Don’t worry about the wicked.
Don’t envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
Like springtime flowers, they soon wither.
Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence as clear as the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.
Stop your anger!
Turn from your rage!
Do not envy others—
it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.
In a little while, the wicked will disappear.
Though you look for them, they will be gone.
Those who are gentle and lowly will possess the land;
they will live in prosperous security.
The wicked plot against the godly;
they snarl at them in defiance.
But the Lord just laughs,
for he sees their day of judgment coming.
The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
to slaughter those who do right.
But they will be stabbed through the heart with their own swords,
and their bows will be broken.
It is better to be godly and have little
than to be evil and possess much.
For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
but the Lord takes care of the godly.
Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive a reward that lasts forever.
They will survive through hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.
But the wicked will perish.
The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
they will disappear like smoke.
The wicked borrow and never repay,
but the godly are generous givers.
Those blessed by the Lord will inherit the land,
but those cursed by him will die.
The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will not fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
Once I was young, and now I am old.
Yet I have never seen the godly forsaken,
nor seen their children begging for bread.
The godly always give generous loans to others,
and their children are a blessing.
Turn from evil and do good,
and you will live in the land forever.
For the Lord loves justice,
and he will never abandon the godly.
He will keep them safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will perish.
The godly will inherit the land
and will live there forever.
The godly offer good counsel;
they know what is right from wrong.
They fill their hearts with God’s law,
so they will never slip from his path.
Those who are evil spy on the godly,
waiting for an excuse to kill them.
But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
or let the godly be condemned when they are brought before the judge.
Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act!
Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you, giving you the land.
You will see the wicked destroyed.
I myself have seen it happen—
proud and evil people thriving like mighty trees.
But when I looked again, they were gone!
Though I searched for them, I could not find them!
Look at those who are honest and good,
for a wonderful future lies before those who love peace.
But the wicked will be destroyed;
they have no future.
The Lord saves the godly;
he is their fortress in times of trouble.
The Lord helps them,
rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
and they find shelter in him.
The main point of the Psalm is found in the opening verses: ‘Don’t worry about the wicked. Don’t envy those who do wrong… Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord , and he will give you your heart’s desires.’
The phrase that stood out to me is the second sentence of verse 34, ‘travel steadily along his path.’
It is tied into the first sentence of verse 34, ‘Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act’ and I think that it is very providential that it is. Patience is one of the ‘Fruits’ (or results) of the Holy Spirit working in our lives as stated in Galatians 5:22 and 23. It is an action statement that means, ‘by faith, keep putting one foot in front of the other as God directs.’
(Slide 5) I like what Pastor Michael McCartney says about patience. He describes it as the ability to:
1. sit back and wait for an expected outcome without experiencing anxiety, tension, or frustration.
(Slide 6) 2. let go of your need for immediate gratification and be willing to wait.
(Slide 7) 3. [to display] tolerance, compassion, understanding, and acceptance toward those who are slower than you in developing maturity, emotional freedom, and coping abilities.
(Slide 8) 4. remain calm in the midst of turmoil because you know God is in control.
This is a great description of how we travel steadily along God’s path in life. The most important word in this phrase is ‘steadily.’ For some of us steadiness comes naturally to us. We are wired for steadiness before we are born.
Others of us find steadiness to be a foreign concept. In our thinking to be steady is to be s-l-o-w and being s-l-o-w is to be behind the times and getting farther and father back. In fact, we don’t have a single ‘wire’ or element of steadiness in us at all!
But, in the context of Psalm 37, to travel steadily along the path God has for us, is to simply keep believing the truth of this Psalm, God’s truth, that those who seem to have it all (or get away with it all) will one day have nothing and find swift judgment.
It means ‘by faith, to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward with the assurance that we are on the right path for us’ and when we have that assurance, it gives us a wonderful and deep inner peace that will keep helping us putting one foot in front of the other.
This steadiness is an image that comes to mind as I think of Jesus’ path on this earth from the manger to the cross. He was steady. Yes, He got impatient at times but for the right reasons. He wrestled with fear and uncertainty in the Garden of Gethsemane but He submitted to the Father’s will and moved forward through death to the Resurrection!
His steadiness is an example to us and a challenge to us as well.
As we prepare for communion, I simply want to say that no matter what you are facing right now, the Lord knows all about it! Maybe you are in a pressure cooker situation and at your wit’s end. Ask the Lord to help you keep putting one foot in front of the other on His path for you.
Maybe you feel the social pressure to be this or to do that and it is challenging your faith and commitments to God and the church. Ask the Lord to help you keep putting one foot in front of the other with the assurance that you are on the right track.
(Slide 10) As we move into Communion, I share a marvelous definition of patience by Edward Bulwer. ‘Patience is not passive; on the contrary it is active; it is concentrated strength.’
(Slide 11) As I think about this definition, I cannot help but think of our Savior, Jesus Christ who certainly was not passive and who clearly demonstrated a concentrated strength that has never been equaled in history before or since.
‘Lord Jesus, help us steadily walk in path you have for us!’ Amen.
Sources for stories and quotes: sermoncentral.com
