GOD IS OUR REFUGE
Text: Psalm 46:1-11
In his book HOW CAN IT BE ALRIGHT, WHEN EVERYTHING IS ALL WRONG? Lewis B. Smedes describes hope and how we view it: "... three things are going on when we hope for something. The first is desire: we want what we hope for. The second is belief; we believe that what we hope for is possible. The third is doubt; we fear that what we hope for may not happen. ... Christian hoping is not believing in the possible; it is a conviction about what is sure" (New York: Pocket Books, 1982, pp. 169, 170-171). When we seek refuge we are hopeful, but not always certain about how things will turn out. That is why "Christian hope" is so important. We cannot always know what the future holds, but our Christian faith in God can sustain us even in times of adversity because of the fact that we know that it is God who holds the future. God is our refuge and strength and our strength is equal to our faith in God.
GOD IS OUR REFUGE
A refuge is a place of protection. Those who seek refuge are called refugees. Refugees usually seek protection from war or persecution. Psalm 46 alludes to the Biblical imagery of a rock. Psalm 91:1-3 says: "he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust." For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence" (RSV).
Refugees have to take responsibility for themselves.
In his book 52 DEVOTIONS ON SHORT NOTICE, Robert A. Wallace makes a wonderful point about how we have to take responsibility for ourselves (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992). He also mentions that two ways in which we can interpret this understanding of God as a "Rock". He mentions that we can translate from the original Hebrew where it might be translated as "safe to the rock that is higher than I" (p. 112). Another way in which we can interpret it is "safe to the rock that is too high for me" (112).
"Naturalists tell us that when the wind comes up and a honeybee is unable to maintain its flight it will cling to a rock until the wind subsides. In the swaying, sweep of change, there are times when each of us must simply hold on" (112). Perhaps, you have even seen a bug clinging to your windshield for dear life as your car began to move. I have seen them hang on until the acceleration of the wind was too much for them too handle as they got blown off by the wind.
The apostle Paul told us that God would not let us be tempted beyond our strength. He also told us that God would give us a way to stand up to that temptation (First Corinthians 10:13 paraphrased). One temptation that we face during times of adversity is that of losing faith and hope.
God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness (Second Corinthians 12:9 paraphrased). Robert Wallace points out that "Though religion can become a retreat from responsibility, there are times when a retreat is essential" (p. 112). However, "We are expected to reach beyond the boundaries of familiar competence. We are expected to stretch, so the rock becomes, rather than a refuge, a challenge. So God is to be found in both the calm and the climb" (p. 112).
Our forebears who helped to make America’s independence possible did so by accepting the "challenge of the climb." Though they gained our Independence as a result of the Revolutionary War, we are not independent of God. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5 paraphrased).
GOD IS OUR STRENGTH
Skeptics look at what has gone wrong and dwell on it. Skeptics are negative in that they look for the worst in almost every situation. They seem to live by Murphy’s Law.
MURPHY’S LAW
Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
If there is a possibility of things going wrong,
the one thing that goes wrong first will do the
most damage.
Left to themselves all things go from bad to
worse.
If you look on a thing long enough to improve it,
it will break.
If you think everything will be okay, you have
surely overlooked something.
Mother nature always sides with the hidden
flaw.
When you find yourself thinking in the frame of mind as that of Murphy’s Law, then ask yourself this question: "What might Jesus say to me on this matter?" One thing He might say is "O ye of little faith" (Matthew 8:29 KJV) as He did when disciples were fearful of a storm that they encountered in the sea of Galilee. But, Jesus is our Immanuel (Matthew 1:23) which means "God with us." Jesus is with us in our storms just as He was when He was with the disciples when they were on the boat in the sea of Galilee.
Another thing that Jesus might say to us is "...if you have the faith of a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you" (Matthew 17:20 KJV). We might find that we are a lot like the man n Mark 9 whose son Jesus healed of being possessed. He said to Jesus, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24 NIV).
Optimists look for the best even in spite of the worst of things. Robert Schuller in his book IT’S POSSIBLE, talked about a ship that was going through a tough storm. There was about to be a mob of panic. The captain of the ship came to the dining room where almost everyone was seated and explained the situation. He said that this ship had gone through far worse storms than this one. He went on to describe the ship’s strong structure and thick steel. And the people began to feel at peace (Old Tappan: Spire Books, 1978, p. 51).
There is what is called a self-fulfilling prophecy wherein one determines the outcome even before the outcome has arrived. A self-fulfilling prophecy is "the finding that without being aware of doing so people behave as they believe others expect them to behave. More generally, any expectation that serves to bring about its own fulfillment" (J. P. Chaplin. Dictionary Of Psychology. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1979, p. 477). People who uphold self-fulfilling prophecies believe that both people and circumstances turn out just as they had suspected. Self- fulfilling prophecies almost always are composed of a cynical or pessimistic spirit.
OUR STRENGTH IS EQUAL TO OUR FAITH
Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that God is God. There are two kinds of faith. One is active and the other is passive. Active faith is exercised with the understanding that Christians "walk by faith and not by sight" (Second Corinthians 5:7). Passive faith is or appears to intellectual by nature in that those who possess it tend to think about faith as a hypothetical possibility rather than a spiritual reality.
We can see and feel the effects of the wind but we cannot see the wind. By the same token we can see God’s intervention on our behalf, but we cannot see His presence. St. Augustine described faith like this: "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward for faith is to see what you believe" (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 60).
There was a group of people whose strength of grip was measured. they were told that as a group they were weak. As a result, their measure of strength dropped 29 percent. At the time they were under hypnosis. Still under hypnosis, the subjects were told that their grip was very strong and their strength improved by 40 percent. At first, the measure was 101 pounds. It was after the results that they were told they were weak which brought on the 29 percent decrease to 79 pounds. When they were told that they were strong, they went up by 40 percent to 142 pounds of grip strength. "Negative thinking is junk food for the brain" (Miller p. 53).
We need to exercise our faith in God and make it stronger. In his book, KEEPING PACE: INSPIRATIONS IN THE AIR, Dr. Earnest Fitzgerald seems to give us three motivating steps that, beneficially, could help us to exercise our faith in God in order to strengthen it. "First, attitude is an attitude of the heart and not a function of circumstance. Second, the ability to cope with life depends upon the philosophy we have about it. Finally, happiness comes to those who learn to learn to work and wait" (Greensboro: Pace Communications Inc., 1988, p. 241).
"There is an old Norwegian tale about a fisherman who, with his two sons, went out on a daily fishing run. The catch was good; but by mid-afternoon a sudden storm blotted out the shoreline, leaving the men groping for the direction home. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in the kitchen of their rustic cottage. Before it could be extinguished, the fire had destroyed the family’s earthly possessions. Finally, the father and sons were able to row their boat ashore. The man’s wife was waiting to tell him the tragic news of the fire. "Karl, fire has destroyed everything," she said tearfully. "We have nothing left." But Karl was unmoved by the news. Didn’t you hear me?" she asked. "The house is gone!" "Yes, I hear you," replied Karl. "But a few hours ago were lost at sea. For hours I thought we would perish. Then something happened: I saw a yellow dim glow in the distance. It grew larger and larger. We turned our boat toward the light. The same blaze which destroyed our home was the light that saved our lives" (Fitzgerald p. 9).
We need to be still and know that God is God. And when we find ourselves walking through the "valley of the shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4) we need to trust God. Wherever there is a shadow, there has to be a light. In the spiritual sense, Christ is our light in those seemingly dimly lit valleys of the shadow of death: Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12 NIV). We might not have our houses burn down to be that light. But, if we will trust God, He will show us the way even in the midst of the valleys of the shadow of death, during our times of adversity. "If God is for us, then who can be against us?"(Romans 8:31). Amen.
VETERAN’S DAY
Psalm 46:1-11
We should never make light of our freedom. After all, thousands lost their lives to preserve our freedom. This country was founded upon the idea of independence. Our ancestors went to war with England in the Revolutionary War that we might obtain our freedom.
The Jews are taught to remember the Exodus from Egyptian captivity. Christians are taught to remember that both they and their freedom were bought with a price (I Corinthians 7: ). The cross is a reminder of where, how and why Jesus bought our freedom.
When we think of our veterans, we tend to think about what might have been had their efforts not been successful. It is unfortunate that the veterans of the Vietnam war were not given the same welcome upon their return as veterans of previous wars.
Psalm 46 gives us some wonderful insights. God is our refuge, protector and God is sovereign.
GOD IS OUR REFUGE
It is one thing to have false hope. I have seen people whose hope is not founded upon God. Their hope may endure temporarily, but not for long. Their hope is usually shallow. There is what is known as the diest’s view. The diests believed that God made the world and turned it lose to function independent of Him. But, without God we can do nothing (John 15:5).
Those who believe that their hope is sustaining apart from God’s assistance often wind up being pessimistic. Prior to their pessimism, it seems that these kinds of persons go to the extremes in self-reliance. These are the kind of people who are what we might call in clinical terms "narcissistic". Narcissism is when one becomes infatuated with one’s self-love, importance, appearance, skills and abilities. The truth of the matter is that our abilities apart from God’s power are limited. When one limitations have reached their end in effectiveness, it is then that pessimism has the potential to make it’s entrance.
God gives us reason to hope, because He sustains us even when times get tough. Years ago, Robert Schuller went to make a speech before farmers who had had a terrible season. One thing that they did not want from him was for him to make a speech that was one that would give them false hope. As he began his speech, he opened with these words, "Tough Times never last, but tough people do." That opening sentence later became a title for one of his books.
What these farmers wanted was refuge from the financial hardships that they had to endure. The Bible tells us that God is our refuge. A very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). A refuge shelters and protects, protects. We speak in terms of "shelter" when things are going well. We speak in terms of "refuge" when the going gets tough. When a hurricane is on its way it is not shelter that people seek, but rather refuge meaning shelter away from home to protect one from the elements. We normally think of refugees as people who flee from home seeking refuge due to war, political unrest or religious persecution. That is why the understanding of refuge means shelter away from home. God is our refuge because He is our creator and He knows what we need at home during times of ease or away from home during times of distress. Psalm 90:1 puts it this way: "Lord you have been my dwelling place throughout all generations" (NIV). Psalm 91:1-2 says it well also: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, " He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust" (NIV).
GOD IS OUR PROTECTOR
One of the connotations of protect is that of a shield. We like to be shielded from danger. A shield forms a barrier between the object in danger and the element of danger. The shield takes the blow, while the object remains safe. In a sense, when Jesus was on the cross, He was our shield of both salvation and eternal life.
Psalm 46:4-7 describes God as the protector of Zion (George A. Buttrick ed. The Interpreter’s Bible. Volume 4. William Taylor. "The Book of Psalms: Exegesis 1-71, 93, 95-96,100, 120-138,140-150." Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988, 242). Zion is known as God’s city. "Truly the name of the city is "The Lord is there" (Ezekiel 48:35)" (p. 242). The attack is directed at both God and His city, but since God is in her midst (Taylor, p. 242). He will help her at the break of day when it is believed that most enemies will make their strike (William S. Plumer. Studies In The Book Of Psalms. Philadelphia: J. P. Lippincot & Co. 1866, p. 524). God is therefore not only our creator, but also our defender.
Another connotation of protection is that of defending from loss. ILLUSTRATION: "There is an old Norwegian tale about a fisherman who, with his two sons went out on a daily fishing run. The catch was good; but by midafternoon a sudden storm blotted out the shoreline, leaving the men groping for the direction of home. Meanwhile, a fire broke out in the kitchen of their rustic cottage. Before it could be extinguished, the fire had destroyed the family’s earthly possessions. Finally, the father and sons were able to row their boat ashore. The man’s wife was waiting to tell him the tragic news of the fire. "Karl, fire has destroyed everything," she said tearfully. "We have nothing left." But Karl was unmoved by the news. "Didn’t you hear me?" she asked. "The house is gone!" "Yes, I hear," replied Karl. "But a few hours ago we were lost at sea. For hours I thought we would perish. The something happened: I saw a yellow dim glow in the distance. It grew larger and larger. We turned our boat toward the light. The same blaze which destroyed our homes was the light that saved our lives" (Ernest A. Fitzgearld. Keeping Pace: Inspirations In The Air. Greensboro: Pace Communications Inc., 1988, p. 9).
The point is that we cannot control what happens to us any more than we can control the weather. But, however, we can control our response to what happens. Wilson Weldon once said that "what happens to us brings out what is in us." ILLUSTRATION: A chaplain once visited a wounded soldier in the hospital. Noticing the young man was missing an arm, he said, "I am sorry that you lost your arm." The young soldier corrected him saying, "I did not lose my arm, I gave it up in service of my country." Many of our young men gave up their lives for our country’s fight for freedom. Today we honor our veterans with the sacrifices that they made for our freedom in mind.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
God can make order out of chaos (Romans 8:28). When things are chaotic, people search for a way to make sense of things. But, there are some areas where understanding is beyond our grasp. I Corinthians 13:12 says, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (NIV). Corinth was the mirror capitol of the world in the days of the apostle Paul. Yet, their mirrors were much like the steel in a can of beans compared to the mirrors of modern day where the reflection is clear. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (NIV). Where war has made ruins and chaos, God makes the wars to cease, breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire (Psalm 46:9 paraphrased). The point of this to bring in the understanding of God’s sovereignty is that if we trust in God, our struggles after the war or conflict will not leave us where our troubles before and during the war found us.
God is sovereign. Enemies, war, persecution and conflict will not have the last word, because God is sovereign. That is not to say that bad things will not happen. The cross of Christ is a testimony of the fact that bad things happen as even the one and only begotten Son of God was crucified on a cross. But, the story does not end there. As it has been said, no one knows what the future holds but those who know God know who holds the future.
ILLUSTRATION: "MURPHY’S LAW"
Nothing is as easy as it looks.
Everything takes longer than you expect.
If there is a possibility of things going wrong, the one that goes wrong first will do the most damage.
Left to themselves, all things go from bad to worse.
If you look on a thing long enough to improve it, it will break.
If you think everything will be okay, you have surely overlooked something.
Mother nature always sides with the hidden flaw" (Fitzgerald p. 241).
This is the kind of thinking that causes people to lose hope and heart. " ... happiness is an attitude of the heart and not a function of circumstance" (Fitzgerald p. 241). "... the ability to cope with life depends upon the philosophy we have about it" (p. 241). There is the story about two men in prison who looked down from the bar-enclosed window of one of the prison cells; and both of these men saw different things. One of them saw mud while the other one saw stars (Fitzgerald p. 241). With that story in mind, it is possible to see ourselves as prisoners of circumstances at times. The attitude that we have and the philosophy of life that we live by will then determine what we will see, the mud or the stars. Those who see the stars have hope. And those who see mud are beginning to lose or have already lost hope.
God is our refuge. God is our fortress and without Him we will surely lose the battle.
BEWARE OF THE BEGUILING DESTROYER
Text: First Peter 5:6-9
When I played High School football, I had some fellow teammates who wanted me to join their alleged clique. They were pretenders in search of a sucker. It was P. T. Barnum who once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. All four of them had pledged that they would that they would get a mohawk to be trendy. They asked me if I wanted to join in their trend- setting clique. Their message between the lines was, “Hey, we’ll be cool because we’ll be different”. They said that the next day we would all go to the barber shop and get our mohawk hair cuts. They implied that I would be the first one in the chair if I agreed to join them in being a trend-setter. The truth of the matter was that the first one in the barber’s chair would not be cool, but a fool. The first would also have been the last in their little scam. Fortunately, they never found the sucker that they were looking for. They were pretending to be innocent when it was obvious that they were not as innocent as they pretended to be. That is very similar to how Satan does his little crafty and clever schemes.
Wolves often come in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). Their purpose is to appear friendly and then to turn on those who befriended them. If false prophets, like wolves, come in sheep’s clothing, then it should not surprise us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light (second Corinthians 11:14).
Oftentimes, Satan uses false prophets to be agents of his dirty work in his masquerades. The reason that Satan masquerades is to earn our friendship or trust so that we will let our defenses down. Satan’s purpose is to “deceive, discourage, … and destroy”. (T. T. Crabtree. ed. The Zondervan 2002 Pastor’s Annual. T. T. Crabtree. “Be On Your Guard Against Your Enemy”. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001, p. 405).
DECEPTION
In the Garden of Eden, Satan came in disguise. The disguise was designed to deceive (Genesis 3:1-5). Satan could not and cannot risk being exposed or his purpose to deceive will be and would be lost (First Peter 5:8). Without victims Satan remains a loser which is why he tries so hard to deceive (Second Corinthians 11:14). Satan tries to tempt us by lying to us (John 8:44). He tries to find something that he can tempt us with. The temptation is like a carpet over a hole in the floor. Satan tries his best to deceive us so that we might try to walk on the carpet of temptation and fall in the hole of sin. The temptation is the bait and sin is the trap.
When we use the old fashioned mouse trap to catch a mouse, we usually put some bait on the trigger. Once the hidden trigger has been touched, the spring is unleashed and snaps. If you have ever set a mouse trap and heard a mouse set it off, then you know what I am talking about. In much the same way, the devil sets up his traps for us (First Peter 5:8). The difference is that he disguises his traps to look harmless. His purpose is to destroy (or at least weaken) the relationship bond that exists between us and God. Until he makes us feel guilty and low because we took the bait of the trap, he remains a jealous loser. Until he accuses us and attempts to magnify our guilt, he cannot attack our faith---our trust in God. Satan wants snatch this [our faith] more than anything else, for he knows the rigtheous will live by faith (Romans 1:17)”. (Jim Cymbala and Dean Merrill. Fresh Faith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999, p. 21). Our faith in God is our strongest asset or its lack is our weakest link. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that “…without faith is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (NIV).
DISCOURAGEMENT
Satan tries to raise objections to our good standing with God by making accusations. We have to remember that one of the things that is associated with Satan is his accusing nature (Zechariah 3:1). The name Satan means “accuser”. It is his desire to attack us at our strongest point which is our faith. Even though Christ has paid the price for our sins and has justified all of those who are both repentant and receptive to God’s grace, Satan looks for opportunities to accuse, judge and, condemn us in order to declare that we are disqualified. He wants us to believe that we are a disgrace. To be successful, Satan has to succeed at making us feel like we are a disgrace and are disqualified. He strives to do so because he wants us to be discouraged and defeated (Zechariah 3:1, John 8:44).
Satan is always striving to remind us of our past in order to discourage us. He must discourage us to be able to defeat us. I am reminded of an illustration that I once read. It was like a parable. It was about a yard sale. “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”, they always say. That philosophy was no different for this particular yard sale. Satan was having a yard sale one day. He had apparently cleaned out his attic and his junk drawers. Perhaps, he was making room for more stuff that was newer and not so worn. He set all of his items for sale on a table. His prices were remarkably cheap. In fact, he was almost giving these things away. However, there was one tool, which had been his prized possession. It was his wedge. It was rather worn and dull compared to a new one. It was obvious that it had been used a lot. One passerby was interested in the wedge. He looked at the price of it and wanted to know why it was so unusually high. Satan declared that the old wedge had been his most prized possession because he had used it to separate man from God. He said, “The wedge always helped me to discourage people”. (Note: this story has more than likely been embellished a little by my rendition of it).
THE OBJECTIVE TO DESTROY FAITH
Our faith in God is our shield (Ephesians 6:16). A shield deflects objects that would otherwise do harm. A shield of faith deflects Satan’s fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16, First John 5:4-5).
When I used to be a volunteer chaplain with law enforcement, I was encouraged to get a bullet-proof vest. I argued, “Why do I need a bullet-proof vest? I am supposed to be a peacemaker and a bullet-proof vest seems to contradict that perception”. At that meeting the chief chaplain made his point clear, “Let me put it to you this way, two chaplains got shot out west”. He did not say whether or not they got killed. He did not have to. His point was well made. Not using our shield of faith is like a police officer going on duty without a bullet-proof vest. The consequences could be deadly.
It is our faith that Satan wants to destroy. As mentioned earlier, our faith in God is our strongest asset or its lack our weakest link. Faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20-21). Faith can enable healing (Matthew 9:29). Faith sustains us in the present, and it gives us hope for the future as it also helps us to realize both where and how far we have come by God’s help. Faith therefore makes us strong where we would otherwise be weak and helpless. God’s strength is made perfect in weaknesses because of our faith in His grace (Second Corinthians 12:9-10, Philipians 4:13). Faith is the anchor that helps us to hold our position with God. That is the very reason that Satan is out to destroy our faith in God.
Consider John 3:16: God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not die but have everlasting life. Our faith in God is what anchors us in this promise. That is the very reason that Satan wants to destroy our faith. His objective is to destroy our faith so that we will eventually give way to his tactics as well as his objective for us to be deceived, discouraged and then destroyed. In order for Satan to be able to sink our ship of salvation and eternal life, he has to succeed in taking away the ship’s anchor which is faith in God.
MY HOPE IS BUILT
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name … chorus
When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.[emphasis mine]. .… chorus
His oath, his covenant his blood support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay …… chorus
When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found! Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
CHORUS: On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand. (The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989, p. 368).
Jesus Christ destroyed Satan’s power. In Mark 5:11-13, we read about how Jesus has absolute authority over demons. Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death but that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIV). The reason that the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus is because Christ conquered sin on the cross (Second Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took the sting out of death so that the grave no longer has a victory (First Corinthians 15:54-56) because death was the last enemy conquered (First Corinthians 15:26). Jesus conquered Satan and his power when he conquered sin, death and the fear of death! Satan throws the past in our face because he wants to defeat us by wearing us down. It is through Jesus Christ that we have victory over sin by “living by faith” (Second Corinthians 5:7 NIV). Jesus gives us the peace of abundant life and salvation for the present as well as the promise of the future in heaven! AMEN.
TWO DIVIDED BY WAR, UNITED THROUGH CHRIST
Text Isaiah 2:1-4
Isaiah 2:1-4 gives us a wonderful picture of God’s peace. Verse 4 poetically states that the weapons of war will be transformed into items that are constructive. Swords will beaten into plowshares. Spears will be beaten into pruning hooks. At that time, nations will no longer train their militaries for war any more. The transformation of these weapons as instruments designed to kill are transformed into tools that are used in farming. They become instruments that support the ways of life.
It is God who gives us the fruits of the field . It is also God who makes peace possible. Therefore, as the Bible tells us "man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Physical food nourishes our bodies, but the word of God nourishes our souls. For that reason we cannot have the peace that God offers unless we endorse the path of peace that comes from God’s word.
This morning I want to share with you a true story of two men who were divided by war, but later united through Jesus Christ. They did not cease to be enemies until they met the PRINCE OF PEACE (Isaiah 9:6). It was not until their conversions that they surrendered their swords and spears so that they could emotionally and spiritually be transformed into plowshares and pruning hooks.
There is an expression that is phrased having an axe to grind, that means having an agenda in a negative way. The agenda of enemies at war with one another is to destroy or defeat one’s enemy and thereby gain superiority. Today I am going to tell you about two enemies who were different sides of the war, during World War II. The Gospel of Jesus Christ destroyed the barriers that existed between the two military aviators in this story.
I. THE BATTLE CRY
A: The United States did not enter the war until after WORLD
WAR II until after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Both civilians and service men alike remember that event. That event marked a time in the history of our country when no one living at that time would forget where they were or what they doing when they heard the news of that day on December 7. 1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt described that day as a day that would live in infamy. Those who were not living at that time have learned about the events of that historic day from the history books. From the moment that Pearl Harbor was bombed onward, the name of the place known as Pearl Harbor became known as a battle cry.
An old battle of the 19th century like Pearl Harbor was a place whose name became a battle cry. The name of that place was the Alamo. The Alamo was a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, that was the scene of a massacre that was carried out by Mexican troops in 1836. Remember the Alamo became the battle cry of revenge in that day just as remember Pearl Harbor was the battle for the U. S, in the last days of 1941. In fact, the next day the U. S. entered World War II.
B : The Japanese at that time were obviously eager for battle
when they made their unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese provoked the situation when they made their attack. Before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U. S. was not even involved in World War II except for one exception. The only involvement that the U. S. did have prior to their entry into World War II was a small group known as the Flying Tigers (they were also known as the American Volunteer Group or AVG for short). They were a group of American pilots who fought for the Chinese against the Japanese.
For the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was a victory.
Years before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, there was a young Japanese boy by the name of Mitsuo Fuchida who at the age of three aspired to become a national hero like the Japanese national hero Admiral Togo who had at one time destroyed the Russian fleet in a surprise attack. Years later, Mitsuo Fuchida became the equivalent of the modern day American TOP GUN in Japan. It was Mitsuo Fuchida who lead 360 Japanese planes in the attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. Listen to the results of their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor ...
· Updated reports in 1991 suggested that there may have been as many as 5 Japanese submarines that were involved in addition to their 360 planes
· 2,403 Americans were killed
· 1,178 Americans were wounded
· Of the 18 American ships that were present, 11 were sunk, (8 battleships, 3 cruisers)
· 347 American planes were destroyed
II. BETHLEHEM
A: Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ was born in
a town called Bethlehem.
Far too many times we make light of the significance of this fact.
· Jesus is the PRINCE OF PEACE (Isaiah 9:6)
· The name "Jesus" means Savior (Matthew 1:21)
· Jesus is our Immanuel which means God with us (Matthew 1:23)
· He died in our place as the sacrificial lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29)
· His blood is the blood of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31: 33-34, Hebrews 8:10-13)
B: German theologian Karl Barth once said In Christ both
creation and humanity are reconciled.
Forgiveness and reconciliation are one in the same. They reason that they are related is that if two or more parties are at odds with one another, then reconciliation cannot take place without the element of forgiveness. We are not supposed to have a double standard on forgiveness where we might forgive one and not another. For God forgives us of our sins through Jesus Christ. If then we are Christians, we, too, are obligated to forgive as God has forgiven us. Matthew 5:48 says, "Be as perfect as your father in heaven is perfect" . If we intend to be like our heavenly Father, then we must forgive as He has forgiven us. We might argue that those that we refuse to forgive do not deserve forgiveness for reasons X and Y. But, the truth of the matter is that we ourselves do not deserve the forgiveness that God gives us through Jesus Christ. It is a unmerited gift called grace. It was given to us through the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at a place called Bethlehem. It is through that gift that the ability to have peace on earth and good will toward men is possible (Luke 2:14). Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross. In doing so, He gave us His righteousness in exchange for our sins that He took to the cross (Second Corinthinas 5:21).
III. BORN AGAIN
A: It was only through Jesus Christ that Jacob Deshazer,
U. S. soldier and ex-POW, that he (Jacob) was able to
get rid of his hatred for the Japanese.
Jacob Deshazer had just finished flight school when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As a result, Jacob began to hate the Japanese with a Passion. He had an axe to grind, a score to settle. In fact he was so hot with passion that he even volunteerd for a bombing mission in Japan. While he was on tha mission, he ran out of fuel. Shortly thereafter, he was captured by the Japanese. The next 40 months of his life were spent as a POW. 34 of those 40 months he spent in solitary confinement. One day, he saw a fellow POW die of starvation that enraged him all the more in his passionate hate for the Japanese. However, instead of building on that hate any more, he reflected on the idea of how he once heard that Jesus Christ could turn hate into love.
He spent the next few months begging for a Bible. Finally, his captors got him one. After his conversion, he would pray for his captors even when they beat him. Obviously, through Jesus Christ, God had changed Jacob’s axe to grind and his score to settle into a cross to carry as a disciple of Jesus Christ. God had emotionally and spiritually turned his sword and spear into a plowshare and a pruning hook.
B: One day Jacob Deshazer and Mitsuo Fuchida ran into
each other.
This meeting was one that changed Mitsuo’s life forever. He had been called as a character witness for war crimes at a court house. He had been sent as an investigator to Hiroshima and back to Tokyo along with twelve others after the atomic bomb had been dropped in Hiroshima. Of those thirteen who went to investigate what had happened to Hiroshima, Mitsuo was the only one who did not die from radiation. Mitsuo stepped outside the court house as he saw a crowd around Jacob Deshazer. He noticed that Deshazer was handing out pamphlets of his testimony from hateful U.S. soldier and POW to a new creation in Christ (Second Corinthians 5:17). Paper was scarce. Therefore, while others were lining the soles of their worn out shoes with these pamphlets, Mitsuo took one and read its contents. As a result, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He, too, had allowed God to emotionally and spiritually turn his sword and spear into a plowshare and a pruning hook.
The spiritual battle had already been won. But, the victory that comes from Jesus Christ cannot be our victory until surrender takes place. Sometimes we have been guilty of having an axe to grind long after the initial conflict between us and the other parties or party had lost it’s fire. We do not have to bear bear arms to find ourselves fighting with God and each other. All we have to do is refuse to be the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) that Christ has called us to be as His disciples and we will discover that we have allowed the devil to get a toe hold for his bidding as trouble makers who will in the end only keep biting and devouring one another until we have destroyed each other (Galatians 5:15 paraphrased). If these two men who were enemies as a result of the war that they fought in can become brothers in Christ, then why is it so hard for some of us to do the same? The reason it is hard might be because we have not been willing to surrender those swords and spears so that Christ can reconcile us to each other and God. We cannot proclaim God’s peace unless we have proclaimed it in our own lives.
Is there anyone here this morning who has had an axe to grind fighting unnecessary battles with friends, family members, God or even one’s own self, when it is peace that you want? Turn it over to God and ask Him to help you bury the hatchet and make peace. God wants to make you at peace and have you reconciled to Him and others that you may have been at odds with which is why He gave us the most wonderful gift in Jesus Christ. Let God have your swords and spears so that He can turn them into plow shares and pruning hooks so that you may find at last that peace and goodwill that He wants all of us to have. AMEN.
