080518-Faith Based On Hope

Read Psalm 8

Picture with me, if you will, a man who has done great things all throughout his life. Imagine a person who started out as, lets say, a humble farmer. This person then became a warrior and eventually grew in popularity. However, he also had enemies which resulted in his exile from his homeland.

However, after his enemies died, this man returned as King to his homeland and under his leadership, the country flourished. When he ascended the throne, he would continue his campaigns against the country’s enemies. He would set up a capitol and a palace and would rule well.

In fact, centuries later, this man’s kinsmen would look back to this man’s reign as the golden years of the people’s existence. They would look back and say that this King was the guy who had it all together. They would look back and say that under this person’s reign, the people of Israel had it good!

Some of you may have figured out already that the king I’m talking about is David. David was the second king of Israel. He united the people and helped them conquer their enemies. Under his reign, the kingdom expanded more than it ever had. David was a great military leader, but also a great ruler. Under his reign the Israelites conquered Jerusalem and he made it his capitol.

Ever since David’s time, the Israelites have looked up to him as the greatest ruler the country has ever known. It is probably not much of an exaggeration, if any, to say that David, is one of the most exalted people is Jewish history.

David was a man who basically had everything he wanted. He grew up poor, and became the ruler of a great nation.

Something else you might know about him is that he like music, played the harp, and wrote songs. The Psalm I just read is attributed to David.

Lets look at what this great man had to say:

The first thing he says is the chorus of the song: Oh LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. David, who had every reason to believe that he was all that, begins by affirming the greatness and glory of God. This is the central theme of the psalm. This is repeated word for word at the end. God’s majesty is the beginning and ending thought of the psalm’s author.

David continues to talk about God’s greatness by saying that even in spite of the enemies of God, God inspires even babies to know about him and praise him. David is saying that God is so great and exalted, that everyone knows him even if God’s enemies refuse to acknowledge him.

In verse 3, the great King David’s mind shifts off of God and onto himself.

He basically says, when I see the vastness of the heavens, when I look at the moon and starts which God brought into being, I must wonder why would such a great God care about little O’le me me?

In other words, as David looks at the greatness of God as portrayed in creation, he wonders, why would this great being, creator of the universe, have anything to do with humans. David, as great and exalted as he was, was shocked and dumbfounded by the greatness of God. He felt belittled and knew that he was not deserving of knowing God.

However, he moves on to talk about how God has given humans a place of authority. He says that God has made humans a little less than angels, or God himself. God has given humans a royal place in humanity as we rule over creation.

In other words, even though we are weak, God chooses to use us. Even though humans rebel against God and even though we constantly mess up, God chooses to use us despite ourselves.

It is interesting to look at how this psalm is used within the Bible. First, it follows four psalms which talk about suffering and troubles in this life. Then we get Psalm 8 talking about how God has placed us over everything. The placement within the book seems to be saying that God’s people will know suffering, but even in spite of that, God has a plan.

Next, when we look at how the Psalm I used in the NT, we see it interpreted in light of Christ, especially in Hebrews.

Now, lets think about this. This psalm, which talks about the littleness of humans and the insignificance of humans, is used as an example of Christ. While the psalm does talk about how humans are rulers over creation, that is only within the context of God making humans like that. Humans, in and of themselves, are really insignificant, in the mind of the psalmist.

So, that is what the NT chooses to explain who Christ is? This psalm which talks about people who are so little? Is that strange to anyone that Christ, who was God, is understood as being this humble human?

So, what does this have to say to us? At the time the psalm was written, David would have never known that there was going to be a need for Christ. David did not know where Israel was going to go and he lived before anyone ever thought of a messiah.

So, when David wrote the psalm, he was obviously talking about average humans who are not born to save the world. He was talking about you and me. David basically says that we have a role to play in history. God has a plan for us. God has something for us to do. There is a mission for us and that mission is to rule as stewards over creation.

Now, enter Christ a few centuries later. Christ comes and quotes this hymn and also applies it to himself. As he does this, he shows us how to live. He also gives us a mission of his own. Christ, who lived out the meekness of humanity in this psalm, shows us what it means to live up to the role God has assigned us in history. Christ then tells us to go, as we fulfill God’s purposes for creation. Christ tells us to go and lead people to God.

After the resurrection, Jesus appears to his disciples and says that all authority has been given to him.

Therefore, he says, as you go and make disciples of all nations, as you baptize them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and as you teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Now, grammatically, the main thing that the Great Commission emphasizes about making disciples is the going aspect of it. Christ says, “as you go, make disciples.” In other words, God is calling us into the unknown.

Part of the mission God has for us, is to journey beyond where we are currently. His mission is for us to go out and minister. The Church has never been a place where people are supposed to just sit around and have fun. The Church is all about going and it is all about serving and it is all about leading people to intimate relationships with God.

Think about this commandment from the perspective of the disciples. They had their own comfort zones. They were comfortable following Jesus. They were comfortable in their former lives as ordinary fishermen. They were comfortable before Jesus comes and turns the boat upside down.

But when Jesus comes, there is no more staying inside the comfort zone. It is time to go and make disciples. It is time to get up and go out into the uncertain future and you follow him.

I think that the disciples probably felt a lot like Esther. Think about the story of Esther. Basically in that book you have the Jewish nation about to be wiped out and God is nowhere to be found. I dare you to read the book of Esther and find God mentioned in there. The point of the book of Esther is that sometimes we are uncertain of what God is doing and we are uncertain of where God is.

However, he still has a plan for us and a mission. God has something for us to do even when we are saying, “God, where are you?” Even when we are asking, “God what are you thinking?” Even in the midst of uncertainty, the book of Esther tells us that we must act on faith. Even if that faith is just a miniscule hope that God will see us through.

You know, I think that a lot of the time, God calls us to act upon a faith based more on hope than based on conviction. Now what does that mean? I think that a lot of the time God calls us to go out and act in times when we are uncertain. He calls us to action outside of our comfort zones. He often calls us to act in times when we are not so much saying “I know that this is the right thing to do, so I’ll do it.” Rather, he often times, maybe even usually, beckons us to follow him when the motivation is more of a hope than a conviction. In other words, when we are not saying “I know” but rather, “I am going to do this, and I hope that God will carry me even in a time when I cannot see what he is doing.”

This is the nature of the Great Commission. It is going into uncertainty and making disciples. Just like the apostles did when they left their comfort zones to follow Jesus even when they knew that people who try to kill them for it. The Great Commission is going into the undiscovered country of the future as we hope in God’s unending providence.

Many of you know that I’m really speaking from my heart here as Lynsey and I are about to move across the country in order to go to seminary in KC. I’ve got to be honest with you, there is a lot of uncertainty in my heart right now. I don’t know everything which will happen. I am at a place in my life where my actions and faith are based not so much on conviction, but on the hope that I have that God will sustain my wife and I. God is calling us out of our comfort zones and it is not very much fun. All we can do is step out on faith and pray for God’s providence.

So, how did I get from Psalm 8 to the Great Commission to comfort zones to Esther to Kansas City?

I guess I have to say that fulfilling the mission which God has in my life means stepping out into the vastness of uncertainty. Fulfilling the great commission is fulfilling God call in our lives. As we do this, as we are faithful to God’s calling in our lives, it is not uncommon to fell like we are worthless. I can tell you from personal experience that oftentimes you will feel like you don’t matter and that you are utterly insignificant as you feel like you do not make any difference whatsoever.

In other words, as we follow God’s calling on our lives, we will often times feel like David did when he looked into the vast void of space and asked, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, the son of man that thou carest for him?” When we follow God we will sometimes be uncertain about our own significance.

But, as we step out in faith, we will discover that God, in his plan, puts us as his co-workers as we fulfill his purposes for creation. As we work for God, we are bringing his kingdom to earth. As we fulfill the will of the King in our lives, we bring a little piece of the Kingdom to earth and as we live in that kingdom we find abundant life as we are fully dependent on the God who meets all our needs.

Then, we can say again with David at the end of Psalm 8, Oh LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. As we recognized our role in God’s plan and as we act out his will, we see how great he is as he sustains us in the most unknown ways.

So, I think that scripture has something to say to us today. Whether you are about to move across the country, or whether you are about to continue with your normal life as you go to school tomorrow, God has a plan for you. It is a plan which, if you follow it, you will go through times of uncertainty where you don’t see what God is doing.

However, the abundant life of living in the kingdom of God is only to be found we act in faith and step out in hope. So whatever God may be calling you to do, I hope and pray that you will find the courage to step out in faith and trust in God and in so doing find a deep relationship of trust and love with the one who created all things and then may you truly understand the greatness of God and his love for us.

Lets pray.