The Human Conditions:

Purpose of Sermon: To Uplift

Theme of Sermon: To cause the people of LFC to turn to God amidst the deepest struggles AND the highest of times.

Introduction/Opening Reading.

Psalm 73:1–18 NRSV

Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth. Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning. If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children. But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

Illustration:

Socrates said, “Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live.”2

How a Young Man ought to hear Poems. 4.

Plutarch

God is not a deceiver, that he should offer to support us, and then, when we lean upon Him, should slip away from us.

Saint Augustine of Hippo

Other Pertinent/Background Information:\

Today, one of the songs we heard is a rendition of what is perhaps one of the most prolific hymns of the church. The words of which were written by a man named Horatio Spafford.

The fire is said to have started at about 8:30 p.m. on October 8, in or around a small barn belonging to the O'Leary family that bordered the alley behind 137 W. DeKoven Street.[4] The shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire. City officials never determined the cause of the blaze,[5] but the rapid spread of the fire due to a long drought in that year's summer, strong winds from the southwest, and the rapid destruction of the water pumping system, explain the extensive damage of the mainly wooden city structures. There has been much speculation over the years on a single start to the fire. The most popular tale blames Mrs. O'Leary's cow, who allegedly knocked over a lantern; others state that a group of men were gambling inside the barn and knocked over a lantern.[6] Still other speculation suggests that the blaze was related to other fires in the Midwest that day.[1]

The fire's spread was aided by the city's use of wood as the predominant building material in a style called balloon frame. More than two-thirds of the structures in Chicago at the time of the fire were made entirely of wood, with most of the houses and buildings being topped with highly combustible tar or shingle roofs. All of the city's sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood.[6] Compounding this problem, Chicago received only 1 inch (25 mm) of rain from July 4 to October 9, causing severe drought conditions before the fire, while strong southwest winds helped to carry flying embers toward the heart of the city.[1]: 144

In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam pumpersto protect the entire city.[1]: 146  The initial response by the fire department was timely, but due to an error by the watchman, Matthias Schaffer, the firefighters were initially sent to the wrong place, allowing the fire to grow unchecked.[1]: 146  An alarm sent from the area near the fire also failed to register at the courthouse where the fire watchmen were, while the firefighters were tired from having fought numerous small fires and one large fire in the week before.[7] These factors combined to turn a small barn fire into a conflagration.

"The Spafford family—Horatio, his wife, and four daughters—were scheduled to travel to Europe in November 1873. Delayed by business, Mr. Spafford stayed in Chicago while the rest of the family sailed aboard the Ville du Havre. The ship collided with an English sailing vessel and sank in the Atlantic Ocean. All four daughters drowned. Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband two words—“Saved alone.” Mr. Spafford sailed immediately, asking the captain of the ship to show him the area where his daughters had drowned. There, at the scene of the tragedy, he wrote the hymn we know and love so well.

We can’t imagine these words being sung to any other tune, but three years passed between the writing of the text and the composition of the tune by Philip P. Bliss. Spafford’s wonderful lyrics call us to display the reality of Christ’s peace in our lives, in spite of the struggles and tragedies we face.

God is NOT punishing you by denying you blessings or grace

Asaph, Paul, The Pharisees and nearly every person who has graced the earth with their presence has at some point wrestled with the big “why” questions.

Psalm 73:1–3 NRSV

Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Paul said in his writing Romans, Romans 3:5-18

Romans 3:5–18 NRSV

But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved! What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one.” “Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of vipers is under their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The Human Condition Cause us to ask “Why” quite often.

Psalm 73:5–15 NRSV

They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth. Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them. And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning. If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

YOU ARE NOT ALONG IN THIS QUESTION. It has spanned generations and cultures throughout history.

Luke 13:1–5 NRSV

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

Faith is a struggle worth having

Psalm 73:13–15 NRSV

All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning. If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

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Psalm 73:16–24 NRSV

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms. When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you. Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.

BUT IN NO CIRCUMSTANCE IS FAITH OPTION

If you desire to experience true life and rebirth. In these experiences we either tear down the barriers of our hearts, or we build new ones.

Bridge to Conditions and Awareness:

Call to Action.

The “VEILS” we sew up in our hearts often look like following.

Envy

Doubt

Dispair

“Seek ye first the rule of God,” the Master says. And after that? The key that one needs for one’s peace is in the heart. There can be no personal freedom where there is not an initial personal surrender.

Howard Thurman

OR… We can say, no matter our lot “IT IS WELL”