Memorial Day Sunday
Dr. Wiley Hughes
Text: Isaiah 33:5-6
SUMMARY: God is the ONE constant in a world of conflict, confusion, and chaos and we should turn to Him in worship and prayer when there is trouble around us.
In elementary school a tornado warning was issued, and I remember getting really scared. Our teacher had taken the whole class outside so that we could either get on the bus to go home or be picked up by our parents. There wasn’t a bus that went by my house so my mom would pick me up and drop me off at school each day. This day, however, there was no sign of my mom. I was so scared, and the orange sky made me think the world was coming to an end. Just when I was about to get really upset, I saw my grandmother. My mom had to work so she sent my grandmother to get me from school when she got the call about the tornado warning. I remember how relieved I felt when I saw my grandmother. She gave me stability in that uncertain moment….oh and Ice Cream!
On this Sunday before Memorial Day we are reminded of the many brave men and women who chose to run to the conflict, confusion, and chaos of this world to help others and ultimately lost their life in the process. We honor them for their sacrifice. “War is not pretty,” to borrow the title of Episode 9 of Survivor, and facing it is a brave decision…but the fact is, God gives the stability we need as human beings to face everything, even the very difficult things.
Isaiah 33: 5-6 says; The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.
These were encouraging words for God’s people in the Old Testament. They had been attacked by the Assyrians and the negotiations with the Assyrian Monarch, Sennacherib, had proven futile and he was threatening to attack again but here a prophecy against Assyria foretold their deliverance. These words by Isaiah were not a threat against Assyria and Sennacherib but a reminder to the people of God about how dependable God is when His people are in trouble.
I hear some people criticizing about all that is wrong in our nation whenever there is a tragedy like the ones in Texas and New York recently. There is much room for improvement, this is true, but the Christian’s response to loss is not reaction, retaliation, or reprimand. It is our responsibility to remind and remember. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me,” a statement we use during communion, but it also applies to our daily life. Matthew 28: 19-20 (The Message) states, “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
Let’s look at 3 things to remember about God. Let’s Remember WHERE He is, WHAT He does, and WHY He does it.
1). Let’s remember WHERE He is.
Isaiah 33: 5 says; “The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high…” The original word translated “exalted” in this verse specifically points to the Lord’s loftiness and inability to be attacked. God has strategically positioned himself out of the reach of all your enemies. Whenever you experience loss, whenever you suffer, whenever you are attacked just remember…God is above it all. He holds the high ground over your enemies, and over your suffering, and over death.
In the Marvel Movie “Avengers Endgame” (spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it) Thanos, the narcissistic adversary who seeks to destroy the universe attacks the avengers and rains down gunfire on the avengers from his spaceship. Just in the nick of time, Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, comes down from above the enemy’s spaceship and destroys it. If you can imagine that picture you can get an idea of WHERE God is. He is always ABOVE your enemy.
In Ephesians 1:22 the Bible says God placed Jesus at His right hand, in the heavenly places “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet,”
Haven’t you noticed that we often worry less about things we can step on. A bear is scarier to me than a bug. Whenever you are worried just think of the problem as something God is able to step on. No matter what it is…it is “under his feet!”
2). Let’s remember WHAT He does
“He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the stability of your times”
God is our justifier, and our rectifier, and our equalizer. He is our justifier in that He brings balance when the scales of justice have been tipped in our enemy’s favor.
“Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, invaded the coastal areas of Israel, marching toward Egypt on Israel’s southern flank. In the process he overran many Judean towns, looting and carrying many people back to Assyria. With Isaiah’s encouragement, Hezekiah refused to surrender, and when Sennacherib’s army fell prey to a sudden disaster, he returned to Nineveh and never threatened Judah again.” (blueletterbible.com)
Those who have given their lives serving our country in the Armed Forces have sacrificed everything, but we are confident that not a single life was lost in vain. Why? Because we know that God is our justifier and that he will balance the scales of justice, if not in this life, then surely in the life to come.
He will do the same for you. There will never loss for the Christian that God doesn’t bring justice for. We often hear cries for justice in our world but never doubt that even if you never see justice serves, God will eventually justify because He has “filled Zion with Justice and Righteousness.”
God is our rectifier too. To rectify simply means to change direction. Did you know that there is an electrical device called a rectifier that converts alternating current, which periodically reverses direction, to direct current, which flows in only one direction? The process is known as rectification since it “straightens” the direction of current. That is WHAT God does for us sometimes and we need to remember that He rectifies things in our life when they are going in the wrong direction. Do you remember in the movie Trains, Planes, and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy, they are driving in the lane going the wrong way, everyone is telling him, “You’re going the wrong way,” and he thinks they are waving at him? There will be things that happen in your life as a Christian that will God’s way of trying to get you to change direction but it’s up to you whether you listen and take Him to heart or just wave at him and say “No thank you, God. I’ve got this myself.”
God is also an equalizer. There are many times when we feel we are no match for the enemy. He seems much stronger and more capable than we are and impossible to defeat. That is when you must be courageous and remember the words of Isaiah when he wrote, And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge”
Whenever there is loss, whether it is the loss of life in combat like the many brave men and women we remember today, or the loss of life in senseless school shootings and racially motivated terrorist attacks like we have witnessed the past couple of weeks, we must not allow ourselves as Christians to believe that evil is winning. Evil is not willing, and evil will NOT win because God will be the stability we need to stand even during the worst of times.
3). Let’s remember WHY He does It
I love the last line in this passage in Isaiah 33: 5-6. Isaiah writes, “The fear of the LORD is his treasure.” Even before I knew what it means I thought it sounded profound. The fear of the LORD is his treasure. It is simple, the fear that came from the trouble God delivered us from helps us remember Him better. Growing up, we would go to visit one of my family members out in the country. They had farm animals and they used an electric fence to keep them from running away. Who has ever seen an electric fence? (Raise your hand) Who has ever touched an electric fence? Shocking, wasn’t it? It only took me getting shocked one time to learn to respect that electric fence. From that moment on, I could play football, baseball, kickball, anything at their house and, even without looking, I could avoid running into that electric wire because the fear of the pain caused me to remember exactly where it was. Electronic dog collars work the same way.
Whenever you face injustice, this week let that injustice remind you that God is your justifier. Whenever you get off track and God allows something in your life to change your direction, scary as it may be, let it remind you that God is your rectifier. When you feel that the enemy is just too big and strong remember that God is your equalizer. That is why He does what He does.
God is the ONE constant in a world of conflict, confusion, and chaos and we should turn to Him in worship and prayer when there is trouble around us.
