June 4, 2017

I am beginning a new short sermon series this morning this Sunday. And next Sunday. We're going to look at Psalm 46, which is kind of a classic song that maybe we're all familiar with but I'm hoping it can we can look at it and see something that we can kind of carry a way with us.

Let's begin by reading this song Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore. We will not fear though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its Waters Roar and foam and the mountains Quake with their surging There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy place where the most high dwells God is within her. She will not fail. God will help her at break of day nations are in uproar kingdoms fall. He lifts his voice the Earth mouth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The god of Jacob is our Fortress come and see what the Lord has done the desolations. He has brought on Earth. He makes Wars cease to the ends of the Earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear he burns the shields with fire. He says be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the Nations. I will be exalted in the Earth. The Lord Almighty is with us. The god of Jacob is our Fortress. Now what I want to focus on this Sunday is just the first 5 verses. Of this song God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore. We will not fear though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea though its Waters Roar and foam and the mountains Quake with their surging there's a river whose streams make glad the city of God the holy place where the most high tide Wells God is within her. She will not fail. God will help her at break of day. Now we're hitting the summer series for movies and and I want to remind us of the formula for a blockbuster right I even saw a Blockbuster movie this weekend already. The formula is that you introduced possible world ending chaos, and then you work out the tension in multiple action sequences. And then the finale is always a a person always saves the day. Does that sound like a fair representation of the average action movie whether it be James Bond in the first few minutes some sort of world ending chaos is introduced and then all these amazing things happened, but we all know by the end of the film James Bond is going to save the day. He's going to save the world regardless of whether it's a superhero or whether it's a spy. That's the sort of formula and we kind of we think about the world ending in a way that really wasn't on mass Consciousness until the past 50 years. because of World War II And then Hollywood's fascination with that sort of world Ending Story whether it be war or climate. We are kind of fascinated with putting the the camera on this sort of catastrophe or tragedy that is overwhelming yet in the movie before the credits roll. It's always resolved a person always Saves the Day. I think we enjoy that and it's popular because what do we consider entertainment often? It is an escape from reality. We we going to the darkened theater. We watch the movie because we don't want to think about everything else and it's nice to have this nice little bow tied on the end of anxiety and they looked it all got resolved James Bond save the day the bad guys were defeated the good guys won. The dilemma with that is it's just what I said a moment ago. It's an escape from reality. Maybe this question would be a different question to pose. What would you say is behind our obsession with avoiding vulnerability? Now we're talkin reality. Does this anyone in here right now? Should I say this? I suspect that every one of us in this room have some sort of insurance. Is that a face of a safe assumption homeowners insurance health insurance auto insurance. Do you know that you can ensure every little thing you buy nowadays? Do you know that when you go to BestBuy and you buy something would you like a protection plan with that? They asked us they ask you that at Sam's Club to ask you that everyone you can buy auto insurance now, that's just for repairs. Did you know that you can buy a policy so that when there was a repair needed that policy kicks in? Anybody have insurance in here? I think in some ways or obsessed with kind of resisting feeling vulnerable.

Would you agree with that at all? Don't we like to anybody ever hear you use hand sanitizer? Do we now live in a society where those things are hung on the walls about everywhere you go so you can run over and get a little squirt in and I'm the worst at that might if I was here she'd be saying a man. She makes fun of me because I'm always doing that because I'm in and out of hospitals or because we've got small kids. I'm always doing that sort of thing. But we live in a culture where we're kind of obsessed with preventing our vulnerability whether it's making sure we always put some hand sanitizer on our way. We make sure we have enough Insurance anybody here a sucker for those extended coverage policies when you buy a product and I got one on there TV, you know, just for 995 anything at all goes wrong with this television in the next 5 years will replace it free your personality might be such that you say oh that's what I like that idea. It's all an attempt. You don't movies might be an escape from reality the sort of obsession we have with insurance and avoiding vulnerability is our way of trying to deal with reality. Because we all know that sometimes you get sick and have to go to the hospital. Sometimes your car breaks down. Sometimes your TV blows up right after you buy it. And so that's our way of kind of deal with the challenges of reality Psalm 46 was written to a world that was looking at potential world ending catastrophe. It was written to a nation that could look around and say you know what there is the potential for us to be attacked and for everything to be over there is enough war in our world. There's enough power in terms of armies and soldiers. There's there's enough disagreement and conflict and Division in our world that it's not Beyond imagination to be able to imagine that something could happen that would end us. That's not too far from Modern Life. Is it? I mean the truth is you watch the news and One Maniac or another has access to nuclear weapons. Are there testing nuclear weapons? Are there trying to figure out how could I? If you're honestly if we if we quit escaping reality for a little while, we can identify with Israel and the hearers of this song that they lived in a world in which they could imagine this sort of challenge or trauma this sort of drama and like us they're tempted to try to find alternatives to try to find a way either to escape that reality or a way to deal with it in such a way that you know, I've got an insurance policy. I've got this policy paid UPS because I've got this awesome entrance coffee. Then I'm going to fool myself into thinking I don't really have to worry about that. Even Israel did that sometimes they would say it's because where is real? God would never let anything happen to us because we're Israel. It's our ethnic identity that makes us sure and secure it with God or because we're faithful we go to the Temple Suite we make the sacrifices but again and again God since Prophet after Prophet to say that Israel, you don't understand that's not the way it works. It's not based on your righteousness for your obedience or your ethnicity. And so the song that writes this song where he says God is our refuge. I think about what he's saying in this song God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble. Do you realize the song does not say that God provides Refuge or that he strengthens our refuge. Do you see the distinction sometimes? I think if we're not careful, we just read that quickly and what we imagine is that God will always provide refuge for us. He will always make sure that nothing bad ever happens to me you always make sure that that tragedy doesn't occur or that I don't get that horrible event. He will kind of provide this Refuge where I get to live life Without Tragedy or hardship or disease or heartbreak. That's not what the song that says is it? Or that maybe he will bless all of my efforts. He will reward all of my efforts and strengthen my refuge to the point where I've got it covered me and God, we've got it covered. I bought enough insurance policies and with God at my back. I've got everything covered but that's not what the song that says. He does not say that God's going to provide this refuge for us somehow separate from him or that he simply going to strengthen our refuge. He says that God is our refuge. God himself is our refuge. Think about how that is fundamentally different than saying. I'm trusting God or God has my back. He's always going to provide a refuge for me. Do you see the difference? God himself is our refuge.

So we might be someone who ends up walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

God doesn't promise that if you trust me if you follow me, you're never going to go through hardship. You're never going to have trial. I'm going to save you from all that. No, he says I will be your Refuge so that even as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you. If you have a spouse or parent or brother or sister or a loved one in your life whom you know loves you completely and absolutely in deerleaf, you can get a little sense of what this means. Have you ever gone through a hard time and nothing changed about that hard time. You lost your job or you lost a family member. You lost a loved once you got a bad report for the doctor you went to an incredibly difficult up. There was no relief there was no rescue you didn't get pulled out of that time, but was there someone there with you? That was your Refuge during that time? Someone who let you cry on their shoulder someone in whom presents you can shake your fist at the heavens and they understood you and loved you still. We understand. I think if we pondered a little bit what it means that God says I am your Refuge. Is God himself? I'm not going to miss out on God being our refuge cuz we misunderstand we keep waiting for him to provide a refuge. I'm praying I'm praying and I'm just praying that God's going to I'm not going to lose my job or I'm not going to have this tragedy are not going to have this hard. He's going to swoop in and rescue me like Superman and then go on his way and we keep waiting for that sort of relief that sort of saving from the tragedy or the suffering or the event itself. And that's not always the way it works. It's not that sort of simple formula feel that Christ himself could say in the garden. Is there any way for this suffering to pass for me, Let's father not my will but yours be done. I could walk through that hard time. ISO God is our refuge God himself is our refuge. This sheds light. I think on Paul's treasuring of the Believers position in Christ all throughout the New Testament 90 times in his letter. He uses the phrase in Christ. It's the think he Treasures most about the gospel about our new identity in the New Testament under the New Covenant that we are in Christ. And so as we trust price as we place our faith in him as we come people who walk in Christ who live in Christ who trust Christ we have this brand security that God is our refuge. That we are in Christ Christ is God In the Flesh God Among Us Emmanuel God With Us and as we are in Christ, we experience that Refuge that God talks about in this song ever present help in this verse is interesting. It refers to access and not simply timing. It's contrasted with the word aloof in Psalm 22:19. So it's not simply that God is always available is that God is very willing to help us. He is not distant. He is this ever-present help in the sense that he's always with us. He's never if you'll get your act together. If you'll clean up your act if you'll be a little less embarrassing for me to hang out with no instead. He is this ever-present help always willing always wanting always Desiring To be our refuge to be with us against have you ever had a loved one who walked with you through a difficult time?

Did you ever maybe at certain times making unwise decision of pushing that person a way of not letting them help you of keeping them at arm's distance were they could not be that refuge for you? And do we sometimes make that same mistake with God we misunderstand what it means that he's our refuge. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking. Well, I know I know God is going to help me but first I've got to handle things myself first. I've got to get things in order first. I've got to clean up my own at first. I've got to do this. I've got to do that and then you realize how from the moment of your challenge. You're just putting a arm out and holding God. At arm's length and saying let me solve things myself first and said of immediately letting him be your Refuge. He desires to be with us immediately the river in this verse the streams likely refer to God's presence and you can see that same image and pattern and all those other passages if you want, it's a beautiful imagery throughout scripture that God's presence with us is often pictured as this River the streams you can imagine a nomadic people who live in the desert. What a wonderful image it is to say you know what God is like this flowing Brook this beautiful stream of pool life-giving refreshing water. And so it's that sort of image about God's presence when you look at scripture God's presence is often equated with his will being done and his name being exalted. It's All The Way live be our refuge we have to allow that relationship to exist to flourish if I push my wife away during a time, which I need her and she could be a refuge for me. Then I'm not allowing her to be that represent. I'm not experiencing that and we can do the same thing with God we can push him away because the way in which he is our refuge is against not that he comes in and saves us from all struggle and provides a refuge for the he just shows up our own efforts the way he is our refuge is he himself is our refuge and so the Samus knows that the Simon Says looked in the midst of everything falling apart the world falling apart mountains falling down in to see everything going on. God is our refuge. It's like the streams. And in his audience his listeners would have understood that imagery. They would have understood Ezekiel in the image that there's this stream that represents God's presence in the center of the temple itself the holy city often. Holy city in the Hebrew really refers to the place where God is worshipped. And so it has to do with his presence in his presence has to do with this will being done. We pray that in the Lord's Prayer right that his will be done on Earth as it is in heaven because in heaven God's will is done and why is his well done in heaven because his presence is so full there until his presence has to do with his will being done and with him being exalted his name being praised his character being revealed activity of those.

Well, it's not working now.

For some reason Erin the remote is no longer in control. Can you skip ahead one for me?

That's the activity of those who are in Christ who are servants doing God's Will and exalting him. That's what it means to be in Christ. That's what it means to be his servants. If you're if you're a servant of someone then your task is to do their bidding in it. at your job if we are Servants of God, if we are Servants of Christ if Jesus said the greatest among you will be a servant if all the Parables almost in the in the gospels are Jesus talk about a master in the service of that represents asking him if we're his servants than the activity where about is to do his will And to sing his praises to make his goodness known and that's the activity of those who are in Christ now. This dawned on me and it's incredibly simple. So you guys may say well, yeah, duh, you're slow of wit there. Mr. Sometimes I think as soon as we think about life doing God's Will and exalting him. We immediately think of the ways in which we fall short of that cuz he might have that come in your mind immediately. If I say look if you're Christian if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, if you're seeking God is your Refuge than your identity in Christ is to be somebody who does the will of God who obeys Christ and exhaust him in your character and your behavior when you hear that sort of thing. I don't know about you, but I'm really think yeah, but I don't I don't always obey It can you buy here? Relate to that that I don't always awake, but then here's the simple part that occurred to me that my little own inner thought here. Well, duh. No one does and you certainly don't and isn't that the nature of the Gospel itself that Christ died on the cross so that our sins to be forgiven not to those they're simply forgiven and we simply move on but so that they're forgiven so that we can be the imperfect people. We are and still serve as Servants of the most high God we can serve him and exalt him and some days we did it. Right and guess what some days we get it wrong. And what are we doing it wrong, but we remind ourselves of every week of the communion table we go to God and we pray to him Lord because of Jesus because of his sacrifice on the cross because of his Bloods forgive me for John talks about if we confess our sins to him. He is faithful and just and will forgive us in amazing that uses the word just in there. I talked about that because it would be unjust for God not to forgive us because he's already received payment for our sins. Now, I don't know about you, but you think about that then it makes it a lot easier to exalt the name of Christ and it because he's paid for our sins. And so if we confess our sins, it would be unjust for God to say no not going to forgive you because he's already received payment for our sins through the death of Christ on the cross. So if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just scripture says in 1st John and forgives us our iniquities are sounds and so because of the Gospel we you and I can be Servants of the most high holy God. We can do his bidding we can do his will we can exalt his name and like I said some days we get it right someday. We get it wrong and we get it wrong. We go to him we confess and we receive forgiveness. You realize this means that you can walk with God.

There's nothing else to wait on. Do not let the adversary convince you that somehow you have to take matters into your own hands and you got to make yourself right with God or you got to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You got to walk with God through your own efforts Through Your Own Strength through your own character before somehow you can be someone who's Walking with God anyone and everyone who trust in Christ can walk with God a man you realize you're walking with God if you're seeking to follow Christ, if you're seeking to follow your walking with him, you're not waiting for it to start Sunday. It's not a someday maybe thing. It's a lot like marriage in it when you get married your married. Are you And if you've been married one week, right? And are you as wise and knowledgeable at one week of marriage as you are at 10 years or you just as married at 1 week as you are in 10 years? Yes. If you've given your life to Christ, you're his son or daughter and you're walking with him and following him. He probably expects more failure from us than we expect from ourselves. Thomas also says he knows what we're made of he knows that we are dust is compassion's our present for us. And so that's the activity of being a servant we seek to do the will of God and we exalt his name in our character and our Behavior. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God Martin Luther wrote that him he wrote it at a time when the plague was facing Europe it wrote it a Time much like we could think of today if we sit and watch the news long enough or a time during Israel's life when this song was written a day when it was easy to say, I'm overwhelmed. I mean every other day there's a tragedy or a terrorist attack or there's instability or I don't know what to think about this political leader or that political leader what this person said or what that person did and you just kind of say it's overwhelming and it's tempting to Simply Escape. I think I'll just have a second piece of pie, you know an extra 10 minutes and not thinking about everything in life. That's overwhelming. Or maybe I'll go see a matinee or there's this new person fishing boat or you name it and I've been wanting that I think that would just alleviate. some of my anxiety it's easy to say I'm just going to escape or maybe we decide to handle it on her own. Take matters into our own hands. I'll buy enough Insurance. I'll make enough planned. I'll be faithful enough to church every Sunday so that God could dare not say that. I'm righteous. I'll even teach Junior High Sunday school Lord, you know, I mean, what else do you want for me? Sometimes we can strive to kind of orchestrate dealing with it ourselves. But the truth is the only Refuge that is eternal. The only refuse that is unfailing is God himself. Martin Luther wrote the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God at a time when he was facing everything when the continent was facing everything and it's on the Statue of him in Germany because they said that him represented who he was he was this bold confident Fowler who faced down the known church at that time forth Corruptions. And said, you know what you can you can kill me here. I stand on these truce here. I stand and his confidence was present because of his confidence in God, but God isn't on failing Refuge. In that him. He said the enemy the adversary would still seeks to put all these lies in our ear seeks to draw us into dealing with anxiety to escapism or through confidence in our self instead of God's the enemy that attacks us that way. He said this enemy can be failed. He can be defeated with one little word. That's one of the stanzas in that him when he talks about God being our refuge and never failing but it ain't talked about the enemy full of cruel hate trying to lead us away from God. He says there's one little word that can fail the devil. Interesting because you don't find the answer to the question. What little word is that in the him itself, but elsewhere in his writings. He was riding to someone and riding in defense of some of his theology. He mentions the Sam and he says, oh, yeah, here's what that long one little word is The one little word that you say to the adversary to push him away. to defeat him when he's trying to lead you astray is you look at him and you say liar

You call him what he is a liar. When the adversary Whispers In Your Ear all Robbie, you're on your own you better make sure that you have bought enough insurance for this life. The more kids. You have the older you get the more teenagers you got driving on the road. The more you get older in the doctor can tell you things. You don't want to hear off. You're on your own. You better figure. You better be full of anxiety and you better let that anxiety cause you to run to your insurance agent that that anxiety cause you to run to the botoxed or whatever it is you and your on your own when they have a Siri tries to whisper that kind of

He says you live with liar. You label him liar. This is pretty serious. Jesus. Did this sort of thing in John chapter 8? In a conflict with the Pharisees. He said you belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him when he lies. He speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of Lies. And then amazing. Jesus understood this concept right? If someone's your father what you do is you do their desire you do their will you do their bidding? If God is our father, then then the activity of of Christ followers activity of Servants of God is to do the will of God. The Pharisees were accusing him of being from the adversary. And so Jesus says, okay you guys obsessed with the truth. Here's the truth. Your father is the devil. And you're doing his bidding and he's a murderer and a liar has been from the beginning. That's his native language. He likes.

So when the adversary says to you all you don't have a refuge, you've got to construct your own Refuge with your own two hands or your Refuge is your own faithfulness. You've got to be a good enough person before God will accept you remember this song and remember the song we're going to sing in just a few moments for Martin Luther. Remember this truth? It's not a magic formula. The reason is powerful is because it's true because we're aligning herself up with reality. If someone tells me hey this board that goes across this pit. That is dangerous. If you fall in this board is absolutely solid. It's been tested and tried and sure there is no chance. It will not hold you when you cross over it the miracle, isn't that I put my foot on it. The strength is in the board itself. That's why Jesus could say to us. It's not the amount of Faith you have it's the object of your face. If you have just a mustard seed of Faith. All it takes is for me to have enough Faith to say okay. Okay. Okay. I'm going to try it and guess what? It holds me. It supports me. And God is saying just that much. Look. I am your Refuge with the mountains the mountains could break apart and Tumble into the ocean and the waves confirm everything that you think is solid or sure could fall apart and yet I am your Refuge until the invitation is for us to trade our anxiety for trust. All the things that we worry about all the things that we think we've got the song Be My worry about their kids. What kind of adults are going to be what kind of decisions I going to make you worry about that and I haven't been there but I worry about their health. What's going to happen next time I go to the Rock if I worried about their finances, what if I lose my job, what is it about the world terrorism politics Nations? If I worried about you know, how they look in a swimsuit coming up in the summer. we got a million things to worry about. We we are experts at worry about all those kind of things and this song invites us to trade all those many anxieties for trust. to trust God to trust that reality. You realize the cross and I'll and I'll invite the worship team to come forward will end on this. The cross is yet, one more testimony to the trustworthiness of God of our ability to trust in him of his presence in our life as our refuge. Paul says those who are in Christ in Jesus says the same thing and John 11, if we're in Christ, then we will be resurrected one day.

You realize the most awful thing that could ever happen to you. death itself has already been taken care of by the work of Christ on the cross.

Now what Paul says in Corinthians, where's your where's your sting O Death. Where is your victory? It's gone. It's gone because of the completed work of Christ on the cross and if he can take away that grand thing. Do you think you can handle the other worries that we have the other anxieties that we have?

Modded to say not only is Psalm 46:1 a beautiful verse God is our refuge and ever-present help. We're invited to live that out by by taking just a mustard seed step of faith in and starting to two hand those anxieties over to God to this is this is what it means to nurture your relationship with God. Okay, you don't nurture your relationship with God because somehow you got to earn the relationship with them. It's already provided through Christ. Okay, so you're not praying and reading your Bible on a regular basis in order to get the reward of all well, Robbie. You've done pretty well you made it for days out of seven, or maybe you made it six days out of seven whole you're just a special disciple and somehow he's going to throw me this bone of being in a relationship because I've got more self-discipline then my neighbor. He's provided that relationship. The reason we nurture that relationship, it's our way of stepping into reality. The reality is that God is our refuge. He's as ever present help. He's not aloof. He's not just as he wants to help us. And so when he invites us to pray he's inviting us to come to him daily and say Here's all the things that I'm worried about. These are the I want you to be my refuge on this is what's overwhelming me and he Longs for us to do that. You're not praying because somehow you got to do that to be a good Christian or to be a good person you're praying because the reality is you've got a heavenly father who loves you and weights with open arms and wants to hear what worries you wants to hear. What concerns you wants to be there for you. You read your Bible not because if I don't read it and I'll get in trouble. I won't be a good Christian. I'll get one of those Stars taking off my Sunday school sheet. You read your Bible because God invites you to know him to know more about him to learn about his ever-present help to learn about his love and his graciousness so that you can build your life on that truth that true that is reality itself so that instead of living with fear and worry and anxiety as bosses and Timothy. We've not been given a spirit of fear instead. We've been given a spirit of Truth and of power. To invite us to live that kind of Life to Live a boulder life to live a life. That's not crippled by escapism or feeble attempts to say, I've got it all under control but instead that can say like the song is God. Is our refuge and ever-present help. It's like streams of water in a dry desert to be in the presence of God and to trust him and to do his bidding and to do his will. Invite us to that.

This morning. I invite you to take that to heart to take that verse to memorize at this week. We're going to go right back into this song next week and we'll get to the verse a lot of us are familiar with where God says be still and know that I am God, then we'll talk about what the song that says talking about. Their what God is talking about there. But this week take that first verse God is my refuge and ever-present help treasure it in your heart and memorize it keep swapping out the anxiety you feel the Emissary will bring them somebody's car will break down today. Somebody will get bad news. If you start trying to trust God more the address of adversary will say I'll fix that right now and he will try to get you something to put your mind on that will fill you with an anxiety anxiety instead of feeling you with trust in God and in Experiencing God in such a way that suddenly you're exhausting is named you're revealing his goodness. You're praising him cuz the atmosphere does not want the glory of God to be shown throughout the Earth through those who know a man discovers goodness. But I bought you to pay that verse the heart treasure at this week. If you got a decision to make this morning, I'll be available in the back of you folks in the front and the back dude got prayers or needs on your heart or decision. Come to me. We love to talk to you about that for all of us. Let's make not only this song but this song kind of our r word.