Grace in the Wilderness
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning. Welcome. We’re going to start things off a little different today. If you’ve been with us for the Summer, you know we’ve been working our way through the book of Revelation. This morning, will you turn your Bible/app to .
Before we start, I want to ask for your permission to be completely honest. Can I be real with you?
I’m not doing good. I’m going through a tough time. That’s hard for me to say. I know, it’s not MANLY to say that. In the hardworking-independent -New England culture, it’s not NORMAL to say that. And in the realm of leadership - especially pastoral leadership (where God has called me to lead people spiritually) - it’s assumed that it’s NOT OKAY to say that.
And sure, the church is talking about mental health more openly, but again.... let’s be real… it doesn’t seem smart for the leader of the church to show weakness. I mean, If the pastor is messed up, what the heck is the church going to be like?
People come to church to get answers from spiritual leaders about how to fix their lives. Can we really trust a broken leader to help us with our brokenness? I think that’s a fair question.
Now, I’ve got to clarify. I’m not depressed. I’m not burned-out. I haven’t had any moral failure. But I’m just not doing well. I’m tired. I feel stuck. I feel a little spiritually dry. I’m a little lost. I feel like I’m in the wilderness.
The wilderness:
The wilderness:
Many times, the Bible describes God’s people going through the wilderness. Now, it was an actual wilderness (or desert), but it represented so much more. It spiritually described the hearts of men or the trials of life. Nevertheless, the wilderness of the Bible was a brutal and scary place.
We really have to step out of our world and into theirs to get this. Because today, we don’t fear the wilderness. If we have our smart phones and reception, those no need to fear the wilderness!
But think about when the settlers of New England decided to head West. They headed into the wild - the wilderness! That’s a scary trip. Like...
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know, let’s just go that way and see where we end up.”
They couldn’t click on the map app and then use two fingers to zoom out. They didn’t know about the mountain ranges ahead, the deserts, the flat plains filled with tornados! And that’s a long trip!!!! I’ve made the coast to coast. It was scary and I had GPS and a car!
Now, think about ancient Israel traveling through the wilderness. That’s scary!
The wilderness is this scary place. It’s where you asked three questions, “Where am I? And how did I get here? And how do I get out of here?”
And God’s people ended up spending a lot of time in the wilderness. It was a part of their lives.
The wilderness is part of life:
The wilderness is part of life:
And I believe the wilderness is still part of life!
And we can end up there for multiple reasons. Sometimes we’re in the wilderness because it’s our fault. We end up in a scary place because we make bad decisions.
The prophet Elijah was a powerful man of God. He did miraculous things. But he also made some poor decisions with real consequences.
One time, Elijah let his fear overcome his faith, and ran from his calling. It actually says that Elijah ran into the wilderness...
Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
Well, that’s dumb (say: that’s dumb). Why would you take yourself there? Bad decision. Even God thought so. God said...
There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.
But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Through bad decisions, Elijah ended up in the wilderness. That happens to us too!
Or, sometimes we’re in the wilderness because it’s God’s fault. I’m not saying that irreverently. Sometimes, God puts us in the wilderness...
Jesus, God’s Son, was even sent to the wilderness...
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.
Jesus didn’t do anything wrong, but God had a purpose for sending Him to the wilderness (more on that later).
And SOMETIMES… God sends us the wilderness because He’s disciplining us. It’s a consequence of our sinful living. This is different than Elijah. Elijah made a bad decision and took himself into the wilderness. But in this situation, the people don’t want to go to the wilderness, but God says, “That’s where you’re going because of your sin!”
And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.
I share these examples simply to say, there are multiple ways to end up wilderness. Sometimes it’s our fault; sometimes it’s God’s. The point being, the wilderness is part of life. Everybody spends time in the wilderness! And like I said before, it can also be a spiritual wilderness. And that’s where I am.
I honestly don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why I’m in this spiritual wilderness. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe God led me here. What I do know is I’m like, “How do I get out of here!?!”
Though I’m stuck in the wilderness, I have learned a few things during previous wilderness experiences. One lesson I’ve learned is the answers for getting out of the wilderness - my next right steps - are found in the Bible.
This week I was reading my Bible and I came across this verse:
Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
Part of my daily devotions (or my quiet time with God) involves systematically reading through the Bible. What that means is either reading through the an entire book of the Bible, or attempting to read through the entire Bible in a year.
I like doing this for a couple reasons:
I believe the entire Bible is God’s perfect word and all of it can help me live my life in a way that honors God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
2. I believe that God’s word is alive. What I mean is God can actively speak to me through His word, no matter where I’m reading in the Bible.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Therefore, when I’m consistently reading God’s word, He can speak through whatever I’m reading, and it’s exactly what I need to hear.
And that’s what happened this week. As I’m in this spiritual wilderness, I’m reading through Jeremiah and this verse pops up (). And I’m sure some of you can relate… sometimes when you’re reading the Bible, a verse will jump out at you like God’s telling you, “Pay attention!”
The phrase, “found grace in the wilderness” was flashing with neon lights.
And so I stopped and really began to meditate on this verse...
One reason I read through the Bible is I believe all Scripture is inspired and all of it can help me. It’s living, meaning God actively and presently uses it to speak into my life.
There’s purpose (grace) in the wilderness:
There’s purpose (grace) in the wilderness:
Here in Jeremiah, the prophet is warning God’s people of judgment to come. For years they’ve lived in sin, lived in rebellion to God, and worshiped other gods. And even after God gave them a million chances, they still didn’t repent. So, God was like, “I’m going to send you into the wilderness to discipline you for your sin!”
And for the people in Jeremiah’s day, the wilderness referred to the exiles of God’s people by Assyria and Babylon. God used other nations to kick Israel out of their land and send them into the wilderness to face the consequences of their sin.
But here’s the amazing part: God says there are going to find grace in the wilderness!
Again, the wilderness was not the place you wanted to be. You didn’t expect to find anything in the wilderness. The wilderness is where you die! But God promises, “You will find GRACE in the wilderness.”
Grace is God’s favor that we don’t deserve. It’s God doing amazingly good things in our life, even though we didn’t earn it. In fact, we deserve just the opposite! And so it’s really weird for me to think that God promises grace to be found in the wilderness. Seems like a paradox.
But I’m reminded of , where God tells us directly, “My ways are not your ways.” And I then I realize, for God’s people, there’s divine favor that can’t be found anywhere else but the wilderness. In His perfect wisdom, God has a purpose for the wilderness.
And yes, sometimes we are in the wilderness and God’s like, “What are you doing here?” We sent ourselves to the wilderness by our poor decisions, but God still uses it for His purpose.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
God’s like, “I didn’t send you out here, but I can fix this. In fact, I’m going to use it to show you grace that can’t be found anywhere else.”
But finding grace in the wilderness is especially true when it’s God who sends us there. God’s like, “I know this is hard. I know you don’t understand. But I have this perfect grace for you that is going to enrich your life, but it can only be found in the wilderness! You just have to trust Me!”
And it’s hard to trust being sent into the wilderness. But, here’s why we can trust Him. Look at the rest of ...
Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
Two things here:
When God says, “the LORD appeared to him from far away,” you know what I hear? I hear, “God can do the impossible!” God’s omnipresent (He’s everywhere), which means He’s never far away. So, when I read this, I read it being an impossible situation, and then God shows up and does a miracle. He makes the impossible, possible.
And then He says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” I love this part of the verse and it’s self-explanatory.
Why can we trust God when we’re sent into the wilderness? Not only because He has perfect grace for us there, but also because He can do the impossible, AND because He loves us.
When I’m in the wilderness, I can trust God has a purpose for it that will lead to me finding amazing grace.
And that’s what God’s been teaching me in the wilderness, so far.
Response:
Response:
As we close, you might be asking why am I sharing this with you?
I’m sharing this with you because it’s true. I’m currently in the middle of a spiritual wilderness. I’m not sure why I’m here or how long I’ll be here or how I get out. But I also know that God promises me there is “grace to be found in the wilderness.” I know there is a purpose for this. I just need to trust Him during this season.
Additionally, I believe the church is supposed to be a relational community. We are supposed to live life together. That’s part of our mission, vision, and values. In fact, one of our core values says, “We embrace our vulnerability in light of God’s perfect strength.” I’m not exempt or above living by these values. And so I believe it’s healthy for our church to see the pastor is broken, doesn’t have it all figured out, and in need of grace… just like everyone else. I believe it’s healthy for me to model - as the leader of the church - the dependency I have on God and on you guys! I need you guys to pray for me. I need you guys to encourage me. I need you guys to give me grace. I need to be in community with you!
Finally (and this is connected to what I just said), I believe Jesus when He says, “The truth will set you free.” I believe being real (truthful about my life) is going to bring spiritual freedom. Hiding my weakness, brokenness, failures is really just a form of deception. It’s a type of lie and lying leads to bondage (not freedom). It’s also a form of pride - it’s like saying, “I don’t need anyone’s help!”
But God reminds us...
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
God sends away the proud! Where? Sometimes to the wilderness! But I’m trying to get out of the wilderness! That means I got to be humble, because God gives grace to the humble! And being humble involves being real and vulnerable before you.
Call the worship team up...
So, I hope this somehow encourages you.
Maybe you’re going through a wilderness like me. If you are, trust God - He has this amazing grace for you to find there that can’t be found anywhere else.
Or maybe you’ve isolated yourself - maybe even to hide your brokenness. Be careful. That’s not God’s way and it might turn into pride. Instead of finding grace, you may end up in a perpetual loop of wilderness experiences until you are willing to be humble.
Or maybe you know someone who is stuck in the wilderness. Go encourage them. Maybe you’re the grace God is sending to them.
Because here’s another thing I’ve learned this week: We are all broken people in need of God’s grace. Instead of judging one another’s brokenness, let’s give grace out instead. Let’s be like Jesus, whom the Scriptures said “out of His fullness came grace upon grace.”
And this morning, maybe you’ve never received the ultimate grace God has for you. You’ve been stuck in the wilderness for a long time. And you realize, it’s finally time to surrender to God and let Him save you. If you need Jesus to save you this morning, simply ask God to do so. Humble yourself. Tell Him you’re sorry for your sins and you need His grace. That you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and because of that, God will forgive you and give you a brand new life in Jesus. And you can trust He will do this because He is the God who loves you with an everlasting love.
Let’s pray...