Trust - Sep 2, 2007

LUKE 14:1, 7-14


What follows are notes I compiled and refined during the week. The message was delivered with these notes in mind but mostly extemporaneously. May these notes trigger reflection and resolve, drawing you closer to the enabling power of Jesus and His Holy Spirit.


Most important words in Christian vocabulary: I can … experiment, say, “I can’t!” … now say, “I can!” How did that feel?

I can be a disciple of Christ … I can turn my life over more fully to Christ … I can defeat the evil one, because the one who is within me is greater than he that is in the world – 1 John 4:4

I can change …
I can grow …
I can go where I didn’t want to go five years ago …
I can let go of my anger …
I can forgive the one who wounded me …
I can let go of my past …
I can live more constructively …
I can be more positive …
I can trust God …

I can!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13 … say it.

A huband and wife are sound asleep – when there’s a knock on the door. He rolls over and looks at the clock -- it's half-past three in the morning.

"I'm not getting out of bed at this time", he thinks, and rolls over. Then, a louder knock. "Aren't you going to answer that?" asks his wife. So, he drags himself out of bed and goes downstairs.

He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. The man was clearly drunk. "Hey, mister, can you give me a push?"

"No. Get lost, it's half-past three. I was sound alseep," says the man and slams the door.

He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says "Dave, that wasn't very nice of you.

Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby-sitter and you had to knock on someone’s door to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost?"

"But the guy was drunk," says the husband.

"It doesn't matter," says the wife. "He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to do."

So, the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed and goes downstairs. He opens the door and, not being able to see the stranger anywhere he shouts: "Hey, do you still want a push?" and he hears a voice cry out "Yeah please."

Still being unable to see the stranger, he shouts: "Where are you?"

And the stranger replies: "I'm over here, on your swing set."

We all need a push now and then … trust is a dynamic process … spoke with Mary Ann Leatherman today – she’s in the hospital … she asked what I’m preaching today. I said, “Trust.” She replied. “I’ll work on that today.” I said, “I’ll work on it with you!”

What can we do to intensify our trust?

Rehearse the story of our faith …
Remember past events and how things worked out … e.g. our move to CA. How Eric helped with wireless.
Release our cares … “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

Christ is in front of me … Christ is behind me … Christ is below me … Christ is behind me … Christ is within me … all the time, everywhere, and forever!

We have a roll to play … For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me. Col 1:29

Do our best … even when it’s not our best – good things are worth doing poorly … and then trust God for the rest … for God to make up the difference … for all of us … even Mother Teresa … recently revelations – no one’s a saint in the silly sense of being perfected … no, we all struggle, we all walk

Little children, you are from God, and have conquered …; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

God asks of us only what God knows we can do … Josh on a bike … I knew he could ride it; he didn’t.

Primal story: the snake in the grass – something is missing, God did an okay job, but could have done better … and it’s up to you to go for it … they plucked the fruit and we’ve been on their journey ever since: lamenting what we don’t have … “if only we were doing thus-and-so. If only we had this-or-that.” To live in the spirit of scarcity is to live edgily, with a sense of impending doom and defeat, forever anxious and uneasy, spiritually, emotionally, off balance. There is but one antidote – to trust God. To surrender our lives to God, to believe that God is at work in ALL things for our wellbeing … that good comes out of and through evil, that crucifixions become the means for redemption, that our losses are more than compensated by the goodness and love of God. A God who knows what it is to lose His life, and by faith, hope and love, via the cross, find it. Jesus said it well: “The one who hangs on to life loses it; the one who loses it for my sake gains it.”

Primal story: David in the cave … worldly wisdom: “Now’s your chance David. Everyone would understand; no one would accuse you.” But David refused; he put his life into the hands of God.

What does Scripture say about David: A man after God’s own heart. 1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22

Prayer of Surrender: “LORD Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, I give myself to you, in faith and obedience.”

1 Corinthians 6 – a church where everything that could go wrong with a church went wrong – apparently they were quick-triggered folks taking one another to court … Paul puts a radical twist on it: “to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?”

Observations:
It may be distressing, but not dangerous.
A triviality compared to my mental health.

Proverbs 25:27 – “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor.” (NIV) … “or to seek honor on top of honor” (NRSV).

Majoring in the minors; minoring in the majors … what’s really important? One of Satan’s ploys: obsession with the trivial!

Manage your fears, manage your anger.

Insecurity triggers old behaviors.

Romans 12:14ff – leave vengeance to God … it’s something we can’t handle, but God can. “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. …. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” In other words, love governs all … esp. love for “enemies,” both real and imagined.

Because love is the test of our commitment to Christ … love is the ultimate witness to the world that we’re followers of Christ … love is what the world seeks – not our beliefs, as valuable as they are, not our programs, as good as they may be, not our worship, as solemn or vigorous it may be … but to see something in those who name the name of Christ that cannot be found anywhere else – a great and generous love, a love that responds to hurt and pain with kindness and mercy, long-suffering … Paul’s list in Galatians: love, joy, peace, patience, etc.. This is what the world longs for, this what the world seeks, and this is what the Holy Spirit offers through the people of God when we’re fully devoted, fully obedient, fully humble and completely enthralled with Jesus Christ our LORD. Yes, it’s possible!

Calvin’s motto: To you, O LORD, promptly and sincerely, I give my heart.” Symbolized, a flaming heart held in the hands.

Surrender of the heart to Christ – the ultimate moment in our journey, the beginning and the end – the ever-constant challenge and the ever-constant delight of surrender.

To trust God, more and more, is the joy of our life …


To be a congregation of those who deeply trust God … so that God will trust us … and entrust to us those whom God is calling! (message for another day …)