No Where To Turn
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Intro
Intro
Have you ever seen, “The Long Island Medium”? She allegedly delivers messages from the dead to the people that have been left behind. She has a TV show and she does live appearances in theaters. It has been speculated that she uses the information from the ticket purchase, to research the guests prior to seeing them in person. There is a story circulating on the internet about one of her live shows. The supposed medium told the audience that she is seeing a pile of baby clothes. at that moment a woman in the crowd, in one of the first few rows, places her head in hands and starts to weep. The supposed psychic, said you lost a child didn’t you? Your child wants to tell you that that they love you, but they have passed to the other world now and they are going to be alright. The grieving mother was comforted, and so thankful for that message because now she could have peace, and hope that one day she would see her child again.
People pay
It was reported that if you look up that poor grieving mom on Facebook, you would see that she posted a picture of piles of baby clothes. You could read all her messages about losing her child, and you could read how lost she was without her child. It is speculated that the medium used the name on the credit card used to purchase a ticket to research the audience prior to the show.
That poor grieving mother was desperate, All she wanted was hope.Hope that there was something beyond. Hope that her child was ok. The only place she get that assurance was to attend this event and hope that psychic would pick her out, and give her a message, an message that her child was ok. She just needed hope.
Our world today needs hope like never before. There are statistics, and psychological studies, that back this up. But all you really have to do is look around. Get to know people around town, right here in Faribault, look outside and it is easy to see that more and more people lack hope. Read the paper, watch the news, Depression, sadness, suicide drug abuse, alcoholism are all products of this hopelessness, as people look for things to dull the pain of living without any concrete hope.
Psychologists and Sociologists that study such things tell us, that in order to combat this feeling of hopelessness, people need a good education, a good job, and a good relationship. If you have a good education, you have hope that you can move up in your job. If you have a good job, you have hope that you will someday retire, and hope that you will be able to make more money. And if you have a good relationship, you can have hope that you will not be lonely in the future. If people do not have those things statistically, they are more likely to experience feelings of hopelessness.
The message from the world is place your hope in something like a job, or money or a relationship, and keep it up. Place your hope in those things, and you get through life. The problem occurs when one or more of those things go away. It is when the plant shuts down and your spouse leaves, that hopelessness sets in. Many people experience difficulty with those things. Many people struggle with having a good career, and find themselves in a dead end job. Not everyone has had the opportunity, or has the ability for a good education. And many people, find themselves alone, or haven’t met the right person. So they search after these things trying to find hope. And meanwhile, they try to push down their hopeless feelings with alcohol, drugs or pornography. There hope for a netter life comes in the form of the lottery, and they even pray that a god that they don’t know will deliver them from their hopelessness through the lottery.
This phenomenon is nothing new. 2000 years ago Jesus pointed out this problem, In Matthew chapter 6 verse 19, Jesus said,
Jesus, predicted this
This phenomenon is nothing new. 2000 years ago Jesus pointed out this problem, In Matthew chapter 6 verse 19, Jesus said,
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
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If your hope is in the things of the earth, when they go away you find you don’t have anywhere to turn. When you place your hope in a person or a job or money, if they go away you have nowhere to turn. King Saul, had nowhere to turn.
Let’s take a look at what might be King Saul’s state of mind here in chapter 28. So far, he has not killed the threat to his throne, David. In fact, the mighty warrior David is in Philistine territory, and may be aligning forces with the Philistines.
In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”
David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.”
Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.”
David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.”
Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
The Philistine army is pressing in on King Saul.
The Philistines assembled and came and set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and set up camp at Gilboa. When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart.
As the pressure mounts, Saul decides to utter a foxhole prayer. He decides to ask the Lord what to do. Now Saul, shouldn’t expect the Lord to answer him. Saul does not follow the Lord, he does not have a relationship with the Lord, and the Lord said specifically that he would not answer.
When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
But nonetheless, Saul tries.
When my cell phone rings, the phone number 1 samuel 8.18
He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
! sam And there were at least two other instances where King Saul sought to inquire of the Lord in , and 16: 14, and the Lord refused to answer Him. Maybe, if King Saul could have have asked someone what to do, maybe that could have helped, but he can’t even do that.
The Urim, and the Thumimmin were kept in the breast piece of the priestly garments. There is not a lot of information on what they were exactly but most likely they were similar to casting dice. The priest would use the Urim and Thummimin to determine the will of the Lord, but today, for Saul the Lord is not answering.
And there were at least two other instances where King Saul sought to inquire of the Lord in , and 16: 14, and the Lord refused to answer Him. Maybe, if King Saul could have have asked someone what to do, maybe that could have helped, but he can’t even do that.
King Saul, had an advisor named Samuel. King Saul last encountered Samuel back in 1 Samuel chapter 15. It was there that Samuel had brought the dark news to King Saul, that because Saul did not follow the word of the Lord, the Lord had torn the kingdom away from him and was going to give it to his successor, David.
The end of that chapter leaves us with a scene that shows a desperate King Saul clinging to Samuel, in an attempt to hold on to the kingdom. As Samuel left, Saul was clinging so tightly that Samuel’s robe tore away, symbolizing the kingdom being torn away.
Saul hoped in himself, and the kingdom. When that was torn away,
When the things of the world are torn away from us, we do this thing, we hold out hope. Maybe, just maybe Saul is thinking, something will happen and Samuel will come back and give me some good advice. But sadly, in 1 Samuel chapter 25, verse 1 we learn that Samuel has died.
Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him; and they buried him at his home in Ramah. Then David moved down into the Desert of Paran.
1 Samuel today, when we turn to chapter 28, what little flicker of Samuel being his advisor is snuffed out.
And today, when we turn to chapter 28, the author of Samuel, reminds us that Samuel is indeed dead, just to emphasize the importance of that.
Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled the mediums and spiritists from the land.
1 Sam 28
So there sits King Saul the Philistines army is pressing in, God is silent, and his advisor is dead. Saul has no where to turn. When people are desperate they look for hope any place they can find it, sometimes that is a psychic, or a medium. So Saul is thinking, I have no where to get advice, my life is collapsing maybe I can find a flicker of hope from other magic person, but even that is a problem for Saul, because he expelled them from Israel. Now according to
“Do not allow a sorceress to live.
Saul should have killed the mediums, but as we learned earlier, one of Saul’s leadership characteristics is to only partially follow God’s word. SO instead of killing the mediums he expelled them from the land. But he did let them live.
Maybe, just maybe Saul can find a flicker of Hope there.
Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.”
“There is one in Endor,” they said.
This a problem because the King will have to leave the land, and travel through enemy territory. To do that he will need a disguise, so he will have to remove the royal robes, and humiliate himself in order to travel a long distance to find a little hope.
So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he and two men went to the woman. “Consult a spirit for me,” he said, “and bring up for me the one I name.”
This a problem because the King will have to leave the land, and travel through enemy territory, if he is to that he will need a disguise, so he will have to remove the royal robes, and humiliate himself in order to travel a long distance to find a little hope.
Desperate people do desperate things, and it so ironic isn’t it? Here is the King of Israel, with no where to turn, his kingdom is being threatened, and he sees it slipping away. So out of desperation, he is going to degrade himself by stripping off the royal garments, and travel through enemy territory to find a little hope from a medium that he expelled in the first place.
Unfortunately In todays terms, stories like this are played out a million ways. Picture an alcoholic. Can you picture it, You have a man who was drinking heavily and it ruined his career so he purged his home of alcohol. Not because he found hope in Jesus Christ, but because he now had hope in his career, and family. In his new life he even speaks bad about bars and alcohol to everyone in town, and as long as he is chasing after money he is fine. But when the economy goes south, or something tragic happens to his business, he needs to kill the pain. But he can’y buy liquor in town, so he drives at night to the next town to get what he needs.
So Saul searches for hope from the medium. Living in this state without hope is very frightening. Fear that Philistines will take your kingdom, fear that you will be discovered doing what you should not be doing, fear of being discovered as a hypocrit. Saul is consumed with fear. And that fear is contageous. It spreads among all of the people dealing in this evil business of providning false hope.
But the woman said to him, “Surely you know what Saul has done. He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land. Why have you set a trap for my life to bring about my death?”
Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this.”
Again the irony is striking isn’t it. Saul is swearing to her by Lord. The same Lord Saul doesn’t follow in the first place. Trust me says the thief to the drug dealer, I’m honest.
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Needing that fix of hope he asks for her to talk to Samuel.
When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, “Why have you deceived me? You are Saul!”
1 Sam
Why have you deceived me you are Saul? Would you expect anything else lady. He deceived you because he is Saul. And that’s what Saul does. That is who is not a follower of God. He is not a sinner because he sins. He sins because he is a sinner-It is his nature.
We often find ourselves surprised don’t we? and we shouldn’t be. Here is what happens, we sit in the pews, all dressed up, and we shake our head and wag our finger at all the people streaming into Grandpa Al’s on a Saturday night. Or the preacher stands up with a statistic about how many people are frequenting pornographic websites, and we laugh at grieving people who turn to people like the Long Island medium, and we say how can they do that, and be so gullible?
Brothers and Sisters, they do that because they don’t have hope. They are desperate. If your only hope is in this fleeting and crumbling world, then when it crumbles you have no hope. WIthout hope you have fear you have no where to turn, and you end up seeking for your courage or your comfort anywhere because you are desperate. Brothers and sisters we should not be surprised at all when people turn to those things. Where else do they have to turn? If this is all there is, then you will be desperate. You will need to turn to those things to dull the pain of having no hope at all. No we should not be surprised or judgemental at all.
Saul placed his hope that somehow, this medium will be able to give him some direction, that somehow Samuel would be able to give him a way to defeat the Philistines. That somehow what Samuel said won’t be true. For a deceiver like Saul the truth is fluid. But the answer Samuel has for King Saul is really quite predictable.
The Lord has done what he predicted through me. The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors—to David.
When all is crumbling around Saul. When he is losing the kingdom, and his legacy and his life, there is one thing, one thing that never fails, - God’s word. Saul placed his hope everywhere except God’s word. And now when Saul is about to lose it all including his life. There is God’s word that remains true.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”
God’s word that stands forever, and Saul spent his whole life, avoiding, twisting, ignoring, changing, while placing his hope in the things of this world. In the next few chapters, as God’s word had said, Saul ends up taking his own life, and his sons, the heirs to the throne perish with him.
Brothers and Sisters we look around at our community and at our world, and we are surprised. We are shocked at the corruption we see, the sin, the foolish spending of money, and we are surpirsed, but we shouldn’t be. We say I can’t believe how many [people waste their money on that, or I can’t believe how corrupt people are.
we shouldn’t be. Here is what happens, we sit in the pews, all dressed up, and we shake our head and wag our finger at all the people streaming into Grandpa Al’s on a Saturday night. Or the preacher stands up with a statistic about how many people are frequenting pornographic websites, and we laugh at grieving people who turn to people like the Long Island medium, and we say how can they do that, and be so gullible?
Here is what happens, we sit in the pews, all dressed up, and we shake our head and wag our finger at all the people streaming into Grandpa Al’s on a Saturday night. Or the preacher stands up with a statistic about how many people are frequenting pornographic websites, and we complain about it and say stop doing that. We ask how reasonable people will waste their money on psychics or mediums, and we say how can they be so gullible?
Brothers and Sisters, the world is like that because people don’t have hope. People are desperate. We really shouldn’t be surprised at all. Maybe we should be surprised that anyone without hope can hold their life together at all. If your only hope is in this fleeting and crumbling world, then when it crumbles you have no hope. Without hope in anything besides this world you are driven by fear. A fear that you could lose it at any minute.
ANd when you start to lose it, at the first hint of it slipping away, you have no where to turn, except to the things of the world. You end up seeking your courage or your comfort anywhere because you are desperate. Brothers and sisters we should not be surprised at all when people turn to those things. Where else do they have to turn?
instead we should be grieved for them. Grieved they do not have the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We should be grieved that the church universal has not done more to communicate the hope that is available in Jesus Christ.
Instead we should be grieved for them. Grieved because they do not have the hope is available in Jesus Christ. We should be grieved that the church universal has not done more to communicate the hope that is available in Jesus Christ.
Instead we should be grieved for them. Grieved because they do not have the hope is available in Jesus Christ. We should be grieved that the church universal has not done more to communicate the hope that is available in Jesus Christ. Grieved that they have not heard the word of God that stands forever.
But we cannot just remain in that grief. God did not move us from a place without hope to place with hope so that we can sit in our pews and grieve. Instead he saved us so that we could bring that good news of hope to the hopeless.
We were once there
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
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But now
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Because you have hope. Jesus Christ is our Hope. When we repent of our sins, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we trust in the Lord for our whole life. We trust in him for everything. We trust in Jesus in our careers, in our finances, in our relationships. And we know that when the things of this world start to fade, when things start to look dark, we still have hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, The light of the world, the bright and morning star. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. SO we have that unshakeable hope that nothing of this world, nor of the spiritual world can destroy or separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord.
ANd becasue we have this hope we can share this hope. We can point people to the hope that is available for them in Jesus Christ.
ANd becasue we have this hope we can share this hope. We can point people to the hope that is available for them in Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
Brothers and Sisters out there in our very community , living next door to you, working side by side with you, attending football games, shopping at the grocery store are people that are without any real sense of hope. People that are desperate. People with a lost look in their eyes as the numbly walk as dead people through life. Brothers and Sisters we know that there is hope in Jesus Christ, and we must tell them about it.
Brothers and Sisters out there in our very community , living next door to you, working side by side with you, attending football games, shopping at the grocery store are people that are without any real sense of hope. People that are desperate. People with a lost look in their eyes as the numbly walk as dead people through life. Brothers and Sisters we know that there is hope in Jesus Christ, and we must tell them about it.
I know this can be challenging. How do you talk to people about Jesus, what if they reject me, what if they ask me something I don’t know. There are all sorts of obstacles and I get that I do. But start with what you can do.
Can you pray? You can do that. Pick someone to pray for. Keep praying for them. Pray for the Lord to open opportunities, and to start conversations. Just pray. You can do that.
Here at St. Luke’s we have an opportunity for you invite someone here. Our Thanksgiving service is in a couple of weeks, just give someone a postcard, and ask them to join you for this dinner.
Invite a neighbor over for Thanksgiving. When people talk to you about their problems listen, say gently without judging, you know, I found hope in Jesus, have you ever thought about religion?
Brothers and Sisters, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (, NIV)
In Jesus name.
