Strangers With God

Strangers With God Psalm 39:12 3 best friends were planning on visiting America, but they didn't know any English. They asked another friend, who only knew 3 phrases in English, to teach them, and he agreed. He taught his first friend to say "Us." Then he instructed his second friend to say, "Because we don't have money." And his third friend he taught how to say, "Of Course! It's so much better." With their short English lesson over, the 3 friends took off for America. Upon arriving, they began wondering the streets, not really knowing where to go or how to get to their hotel. So they stopped in a convenience store, hoping someone could help them. While inside the store, the store was robbed at gunpoint! With all the commotion, the three friends tried to run out of the store right behind the thief. The thief slipped away, and the three friends found themselves surrounded by cops and were being questioned. "Who did this?!" the police asked. Not knowing any English, the first friend spoke up, "Us!" "Why did you do this?!" the police questioned. "Because we don't have money!" the second friend responded not knowing what he was saying. "Alright! Get in the car," the police officer said while placing them in handcuffs. "Of course! It's so much better!" the third friend remarked. Like these three friends, I know that there have been times when you feel like them. When you're misunderstood, not heard, shocked, speechless, or simply can't put your feelings into words. In today's Scripture, David felt the same way. He cried out to God in prayer, hoping that God would hear him. Oh, how we can cry out to God that He would "listen to my cry for help." If only God listened to our prayers and heard our cries for help. In the depth of our sadness, in our utter and complete brokenness, is where we weep painful tears which speak louder than words. Today's Scripture uses the word "weeping," which is not shedding a tear or the typical crying that we think of like when a child cries. Weeping is uncontrollable sobbing. It's on your knees with your head in your hands crying that expresses your innermost being. It is a speechless yet visible emotion. Let's face it; we've all been there. And if you haven't wept yet, if you travel around the sun enough times, sooner or later you will. I remember weeping at my grandpa's funeral. Then again at my grandma's. I can still weep for the hurt I've caused others, and for my actions before Christ entered my life. "Hear my prayer, LORD, listen to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping." The good news is that God does hear our prayers and our pleas for help. God notices every tear. Today's verse begins, "Hear my prayer, LORD," meaning there is action on your part. Call out to God, and then sit quietly and listen for His response. Don't harden your heart because you'll either not be able to hear God, or you'll miss what God is saying completely. Sometimes we can miss what God is saying because we talk too much. Our prayers are filled with words instead of filled with stillness. Someone once said that a wise prayer was, "LORD, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I've said enough." That's great, but the problem is, like the 3 friends visiting America, sometimes we just don't know when we've said enough or if we've even said the right things. When you feel like crying, when you've been weeping and crying out to God in the midst of whatever it is that you're struggling with, it's easy to feel alone. Like strangers on foreign soil, you can be surrounded yet feel alone. For many people, this is never as true as it is during the holidays. This is my last sermon before Advent. We're approaching the end of another year, a harsh year that was filled with tribulations. And before we begin this Advent season, I want to remind everyone who cries out for help that God is not "deaf to your weeping." If you have invited Christ to be your LORD and Savior, then He hears your prayers and listens to your cries, because as the second half of today's Scripture says, "I dwell with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all my ancestors were." You never have to wonder if God hears your prayers because today's verse says that we dwell with God. Not near God but with God. Before you became a follower of Christ, you were a foreigner, your sin separating you from God. But by God's grace, you are not a stranger anymore. Once you have fellowship with God, you walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign land. God knows everything that has ever made you cry and weep. He has heard every prayer and knows your every thought. It's not only when we're hurting that we can feel like foreigners, but as Christians, we walk Earth's soil as strangers every day. Sometimes this can be scary. It's like a story I heard a long time ago about a family's first night in America. They were from China and moved into their new house on October 31st, more commonly known as Halloween. They had never heard of this American holiday. That entire evening there were people dressed up in crazy costumes coming to their door, ringing the doorbell, and the family had no idea why. They spent most of the night huddled together underneath a table with all the lights off in the house, completely terrified. Living as members of God's kingdom can lead to terrifying moments here on Earth's kingdom. Believers encounter persecution of all kinds, and some even face death. But with prayer and knowing that God Himself is with you, there is nothing to fear. As 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Remember, Jesus Christ was also a stranger in His own world. John 1:11 says, "His own did not recognize Him." They forgot Jesus, dishonored Him, and even still try to re-write His Word and establish new laws without Christ. "Jesus was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him" (John 1:10). That's why it's no wonder that those who live as followers of Christ are unknown and considered strangers on Earth. But as for me, and I hope and pray for you as well, that you would never want to be a citizen in any land where Jesus is considered to be a foreigner. Christ's pierced hands have broken that chains that once tied your soul to Earth, and now, even set free in Christ, you'll find yourself a stranger in this land. Our speech and actions can seem foreign to those we inhabit the world with. But here is the greatest part of your position: You are a Stranger With God. You are Strangers With God; A fellow sufferer - a fellow pilgrim. Isn't it a joy to travel this world in such company! You will never be fully at home in this temporary world, so stop trying! We all long for something more, something complete, and that is dwelling in the eternal home of God's Kingdom. God is not near you as you journey through life; He dwells with you! "God dwells with you as a foreigner, a stranger, as all your ancestors were." Dwelling with Christ means that you are more blessed than anyone who sits on earthly thrones and far more at home than even those who sit in their mansions. If you've ever seen the movie Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, you're familiar with the squirrel who, throughout the entire movie, is on a never-ending quest for an acorn. He repeatedly tries to get that acorn and has various misadventures along the way, never succeeding in getting his acorn. Towards the end of the movie, the squirrel has a "near-death" experience and finds himself at the gates of Squirrel Heaven. It's a place where the streets are paved with acorns. The squirrel smiles, dances, and gathers up acorns. He feels more at home than he has ever felt back in the ice age. And then he sees it-the mother of all acorns - a gigantic acorn that puts every other acorn to shame. Just as the squirrel is about to grasp the acorn, someone back in the ice age gives him mouth-to-mouth and brings him back to life. He was one very unhappy squirrel who would never again feel at home in the ice age. Folks, we're born into this world, and we feel right at home in this world until we are given something different - until we are given a taste of the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. When you experience His love, you'll discover a citizenship in a world completely separate from this land of trouble. And once you have discovered that you are Strangers With God because He dwells with you, you will never again feel at home in this world. AMEN 2