Sermon Tone Analysis

Our sermon this morning is entitled “Resilient Worship Through the Dark of Night.”

We all go through seasons in our lives.

We may all come from different places, with different back grounds, maybe different cultures, and certainly different circumstances but there is one thing that is sadly universal to the human experience- (pause) that is pain.

We may encounter it to different degrees of intensity but each and every one of us has experienced pain.

I am talking about that season of life when it is dark all around you.

Two weeks ago, Kristin and I attended the ABCVNH Annual Gathering and one of the speakers shared about his family’s season of suffering.

It began with a terrible diagnosis.

A tumor the size of a melon engulfed his little girl’s kidney.

Perhaps you know what it is like to sit and watch as someone you love endures devastating illness.

I know that our family does.

There just are no words to describe how difficult the long hospital hours are, the waiting on tests results and doctor’s assessments.

This father did what so many of us do, he tried to negotiate with God, “If you will just take this away than I will do anything you ask.”….

“Heal her, God, and make me sick instead.”

The thing is, this father was also a pastor who was working with his wife to plant a church.

So he added that to the negotiation table, “God, haven’t I served you well?

We are doing what you asked of us.

So please heal our daughter.”

They waited in expectation but the night grew darker instead.

Their other, younger daughter also got sick.

Scans showed a tumor in her brain.

So after church planting meetings this father would walk into the hospital with a daughter holding each one of his hands as he guided the first to one oncology department and then the other to another.

(long pause)

It is hard to put into words what it feels like to be in the middle of that kind of hardship.

John Wesley tried when he said,

“It seems that all these torments of body and soul are without intermission.

Be their suffering ever so extreme, be their pain ever so intense, there is no possibility of their fainting away- no, not for one moment ... They are all eye, all ear, all sense.

Every instant of their duration it may be said of their whole frame that they are 'Trembling alive all o'er, and smart and agonize at every pore.'

And of this duration there seems to be no end”

As poetic as that sounds, I still feel as though words fail.

I know that there are people in our church who are struggling through a dark season right now.

So perhaps I don’t have to describe it for you because maybe you already know how it feels.

Friends, I want you to know this morning that there is a way to navigate through the darkness.

Therefore my first point this morning is borrowed from Louie Giglio who urges us to:

1. “Let worship be a weapon in your midnight hour.”

If you have your Bibles with you this morning or a Bible app on your phone then turn to

2 Chronicles 20.

In this passage we learn about a time in Israel’s history where they too faced a time of turmoil and suffering.

Israel’s king at the time, Jehoshaphat learns in verse 2 that the Moabites are coming to invade their land.

The people are undoubtedly afraid… Ah, but that is not all, the Moabites are joined by the Ammonites who are also set on waging war against them.

The people are assuredly frightened.

But wait, there’s more… the Meunites also join the Moabites.

The people are terrified.

Not 1, not 2, but 3 armies have amassed together to form one vast army set on destroying Israel and her people.

Ever feel like that.

Have you ever been hit by something devastating only to have the hits keep coming?

You get bad news from the doctor only to have your car break down and then hear that a close family friend died.

Or a relationship falls apart on the same week you lose your job.

Some-times it feels like all the bad things in life just pile up like snow on a mountain waiting for you to walk by so they can come crashing down to bury you under their load.

The thing is, the enemy of our soul does indeed use hardship against us.

He likes to use suffering as a weapon against our faith.

Thus, circumstances can be like armies gathering around you all intent on causing you fear and pain.

Take a look at the adjective in 2 Chronicles 20 verse 3 that is used to describe how Jehoshaphat feels when he hears the news about the gathered armies.

It says that he was alarmed.

The original Hebrew word “yare” implies an overwhelming fear, a fear that escalates, a fear that causes trembling, it is an awesome kind of fear.

Yes, indeed, upon hearing that a vast army is on the way intent on slaughtering his people, burning his lands, rapping mothers and daughters, and enslaving the rest.

Yes Jehoshaphat is truly alarmed.

So how does he respond?

One would think that he would gather his generals, discuss battle tactics, and prepare for a possible siege.

That is how I often respond to perceived threats- I try to plan my way out- come up with some course of action that will see me through-

But, no, that is not how Jehoshaphat responds.

Church, we can learn a lot about how to navigate through the dark seasons in our lives by following Jehoshaphat’s example.

So my second point this morning is this:

2. When faced with hardship and pain remind yourself of what God has already done for you.

After hearing about the vast army amassed against his people, the first thing Jehoshaphat does is inquire of the Lord.

Faced with a very real and physical threat- he chooses to face it with spiritual truths.

He has everyone fast and pray and gathers the people into the temple of the Lord.

Once there, Jehoshaphat cries out to God.

He praises God for what He has already done for His people starting in

(NIV),

“Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven?

You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.

Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?”

The questions in that prayer are not questions, but reminders for the people.

When we are faced with pain and loss we need to remind ourselves of all that God has already done for us.

Has God not loved you with an everlasting love?

Has He not sent His son to die for you?

Has He not forgiven you and redeemed you?

Has He not already promised you an eternity with Him in heaven?

Yes He has and for these things He is worthy of our praise- even if He does nothing else for us- even if we face incredible loss here on Earth- He is still worthy of our praise.

He is worthy of praise for what He has already done for us.

(long pause)

Next Jehoshaphat teaches us:

3. Instead of looking at the problem keep your eyes on God.

Take a look at what Jehoshaphat confesses in verse 12 (NIV),

2 Chronicles 20:12 (NIV)

“’we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us.

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.’”

Friends, you may not know what to do.

You may feel completely powerless.

But put your eyes on your creator who loves you.

Then it says, starting in verse 13,

2 Chronicles 20:13-18 (NIV)

“All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

He said: ‘Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem!

This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.

For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Tomorrow march down against them.

They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.