The Path Out
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever heard of Donall and Conall?
They are two cartoon characters on a website called “Lutheran Satire.”
I know - a Baptist minister hanging out on a Lutheran website - what’s the world coming to?
But in one video, an atheist is arguing with them and this is their rebuttal.
"So you are saying, there’s no evidence for God’s existence if you don’t count all the evidence for God’s existence.”
I’m telling you this on this Easter morning for this purpose.
I believe in one creator God who shows Himself to us in three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I believe Jesus - the Son - was born to a virgin, was the only person ever to live a perfect life.
Jesus was crucified.
He was buried in a borrowed tomb.
He lay dead in that tomb on Friday, Saturday and early Sunday.
Until God the Father reached out of eternity and into time and raised Jesus back to life.
Not as a spirit - but as a glorified human.
We will spend no time today trying to convince you of any of that.
You either believe it or you don’t.
I am with Donall and Conall - “There’s no evidence for God’s existence if you don’t count all the evidence for God’s existence.”
I’m pretty down with a verse of the Bible in Romans that says that, if you open your eyes, you’ll see God because God made Himself plain.
That’s where I am - just wanted to level set with you.
So, here’s what we are up to this Easter, 2022.
If you are a Christ follower, we’re going to spend the next little while reminding each other of what God has done for us - collectively and individually.
If you aren’t a Christ follower, if you want to consider the truth of what we’re talking about, that would be great.
And kids, Ms. Hannah has put together a number of things for you to color to help you follow along with the message this morning.
I’ll tell you which coloring sheets to use when, and mom’s and dad’s, if you’d help them get to the right sheets, that would be perfect.
So let’s get started.
Our text today is one of the most annoying texts in the Bible, I think.
It comes from the book of Romans 8:28-29.
If you have your Bible with you or if you are joining us by live stream or video, grab your Bible and open it to Romans.
If you don’t have your Bible with you, no worries, you can use one from the pew rack in front of you.
And if you don’t have a Bible, please take one of our’s home with you.
Every home needs a Bible and we’d be blessed if you’d accept one of ours as a gift to you.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
This is the word of the Lord, Thanks be to God.
This is a most annoying text.
Tell me this hasn’t happened to you.
Something horrible happens - someone we loves dies, they have a heart attack, they have a stroke.
Our child turns up pregnant, we find out someone is addicted, bankrupt, a criminal.
We are suffering, hurting, broken.
Our hearts are breaking - it’s all we can do to hold it together in front of people.
And some well meaning Christ follower invariably says, “Well honey, you’ve got to remember, all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.”
Like somehow that’s a magic band aid.
Like somehow, we are supposed to hear that and go, “Well now, yeah, you know you’re right.”
“Man I feel all better now.”
“Let’s go down to Shark’s and get some wings.”
Sometimes well meaning Christ followers are the worst.
But their hearts are in the right place, because what they are saying is true:
In all things, God.
In all things, God.
Alright kiddos, here is your first assignment.
One of the sheets Ms. Hannah gave you is a picture of a throne.
We are going to pretend that is God’s throne so that sheet and color ite just a beautifully as you can.
So that’s where we start - with God.
In the beginning, God, right?
But here’s what I want us to see - look at verse Romans 8:29 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Those whom he foreknew.
That God knew before hand.
But in the case of the Bible, know means something a bit deeper than to just say you know someone exists.
We all know George Washington, but if you were Mrs. Washington, well, you’d know George better than us, right?
And in the Bible, knowing someone also implies loving someone.
Adam “knew” Eve and they next thing you know, they had Cain and Abel.
In God’s case, when this verse says he foreknew - listen - that means that He not only knew you before time began, it means He loved you before time began.
And dig this - He loved you knowing every single there there is to know about you.
All of those thoughts, all of those things you’ve done and maybe you are doing that no one knows about..
He knows - the Lord knew them a long time ago.
That’s why when you think about God logically, you have to realize:
In all things, God is for us.
In all things, God is for us.
I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the story of Joseph and his 11 brothers - if you haven’t it starts in chapter 30 of Genesis - the first book of the Bible.
Essentially, the story goes that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt.
Time passes and lots of bad things happen to Joseph.
But eventually, Joseph becomes pretty much the second in command in Egypt and saves the country from disaster.
And the brothers who sold him had to come and get their food from him.
It’s a great story and it’s proof that God is for us in all things, just like Romans 8:28 says.
But I want us to consider something.
For those of you who know the story, have you ever considered that Joseph was a twit?
Twit - in case you don’t know what that means, it means he was silly and foolish.
I’ll go so far as to say he was miserably annoying.
Think about it - he was his dad’s favorite because he was the baby.
Anyone have a baby brother or sister, you know what I mean, right?
He got a special gift from his dad that he made sure he wore in front of everyone - just to say - see, I’m his favorite.
And he had these dreams that one day all of his older brothers would bow down to him - but he didn’t have enough sense to keep that to himself.
“Hey guys, last night I dreamed that we were working in the field and my work rose up and all of your work bowed down before it.”
“Isn’t that cool?”
“What do you think that means?” he’d say - knowing all along what it meant.
He even told his mom and dad - “Last night I dreamed that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down before me.”
That even annoyed his dad.
We always look at this story and go, “Poor Joseph, he was treated so badly by his brothers.”
And yeah, selling your brother into slavery and lying to your dad is pretty bad.
But you’ve got to admit, Joseph didn’t help things.
In fact, the reason the brothers did what they did was because Joseph was so incredibly annoying.
But here’s the point - God foreknew Joseph - before time began, He knew all about Joseph.
And he still loved Joseph.
Even though Joseph was a twit and was totally arrogant and totally aggravating.
God still loved Joseph.
God was still for Joseph.
Which goes to show:
In all things, God is for us and has a plan for us
In all things, God is for us and has a plan for us
Alright, children, hold your throne pictures up so I can see them - and parents as you leave today, put your child’s name on their pictures and leave them on the table in the vestibule.
We’ll hang them up next week so you can see everyone’s incredible artwork.
Now, take out the picture that has the road on it.
You’ll notice the road isn’t straight - it twists and turns and goes all over the place.
As you color that picture, think about all of the places you and your family have gone and all of the things you’ve done.
And how your mom and dad and your grandparents, cousins, foster parents - how everyone keeps you on the path and keeps you safe.
And you know they do that because they love you.
Now adults, Joseph’s story ends.
He gets old.
He dies.
Everyone that knew Joseph as the Big Man on Campus died.
Now, Joseph came from a big family and big families have kids that make the families even bigger.
And over the course of 400 years, Joseph’s family of 12 brothers expanded to at least half a million.
Some say as many as 1.2 million descendants.
And that caused some friction in Egypt because the home folk weren’t to excited about the folks who really weren’t from around here.
So over time, the Egyptians turned all of Joseph’s descendants into slaves, and guess what happened?
When bad things happen, we cry out to God, and they cried out to God.
And because God foreknew them - and us - and because He is for us - He hears us when we cry.
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Now, follow me here - being a slave would be bad, right?
That’s undeniable - slavery is bad.
The slaves cried out, God heard them and what did he tell Moses he would do?
He’s going to bring them out of slavery.
Sounds like a plan right?
Now, think of your life and how many times - and I can almost guarantee it’s been more than once - how many times have you found yourself in a mess.
Maybe it wasn’t your fault - or maybe it was - everybody has a little twit in them - you know.
We get a little big for our britches - we make decisions without considering all of the consequences.
And the next thing you know, it’s gloom, despair and agony on me.
So we cry out to God.
And God says He’ll deliver us.
But watch this: God has worked it out so His people can escape from Egypt.
They start heading towards the land we call Israel.
Only, one problem, when you look at the map - you can’t get there from here.
The road twists and turns and ends up at the Red Sea.
Pharoah had time to get angry.
He’s sent his army after them.
And they are trapped.
So you know the story - God parted the sea right?
He did - but not right away - and that’s the part we miss.
I want us to see something.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.
For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’
Follow me here - the Lord brought them to the Red Sea, then He told Moses to get them to move into the face of Pharaoh's army.
The Lord took them from a bad place and apparently took them to a worse place.
Have you ever been there?
You’ve said to yourself, how in the world can it get worse than this - and then it does?
Listen to how the people reacted to this.
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.
They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?
Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
Have you ever thought that God has forgotten you?
Or that He doesn’t care about you?
Or, you’ve done something so - whatever - that God won’t have anything to do with you?
They did too.
But you see, you know how the story ended.
God delivered them and God crushed Pharaoh's army.
Because...
In all things, God is for us and has a plan for us to make us like Jesus
In all things, God is for us and has a plan for us to make us like Jesus
Ok kids, let me see your pictures of the road.
Excellent, don’t forget to leave those for me on the table as you go - but we have one more picture.
Parents, help your child find the picture of the Lion and the Lamb.
Children, Jesus is described as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
But He’s also called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
So make both of those pictures as beautiful as you can.
I don’t know how life gets worse than being falsely accused of something and be sentenced to death for it.
It is an infinitely sinful thing that people have been railroaded over the years by evil people.
They have been put in jail for years on end - some never to be released.
Some were executed for crimes they didn’t commit.
I pray it’s not often, but Christians, we must stand for truth in every situation and we must.
We must absolutely stand against injustice every where we see it.
And that describes Jesus’ predicament.
He lived a perfect life and powerful people hated Him for it.
The unpowerful people were drawn to Him.
He was gentle with them - with people who were regularly treated harshly.
He touched them - lepers who were condemned never to feel human touch again because of their disease - Jesus touched them and never thought a second thing about it.
He heard their pain - a woman He meets at a well has to confess she’s had five husbands and she’s living with another man now.
We hear that and react with shock - five husbands and living with someone - what kind of woman is she?
Jesus knows - she’s a hurt woman.
She’s a broken woman.
She’s a woman accustomed to being talked about and looked down on.
She’s a lonely woman.
But the Lamb of God walks up to her and offers her freedom.
Jesus’ reputation grew far and wide.
One Sunday He came into town riding on a donkey and people cheered for Him like a king.
And there as a reason.
Back in the day, when kings were anointed, they entered the city riding on a donkey.
A long time before Jesus was born, a prophet wrote this:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The rulers knew what had been written; They were threatened by it.
Jesus was unfairly accused.
People made up stories about Him.
They turned His own words back on Him.
Until they got what they wanted - they killed him.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind on the face of this planet that a man named Jesus existed during this time period in this place.
None.
Jews believe it.
Muslims believe it.
Even the encyclopedia Britannica gives evidence for a historical Jesus.
The existence of an historical person named Jesus is not disputable.
But this is where the Christ follower diverges from someone who doesn’t follow Jesus.
The Jesus follower believes the stone did get rolled away.
We believe Jesus was “born to new life” is how we put it sometimes.
Born out of death.
Born out of the grave, born a second time.
For a reason - for a purpose.
Jesus was perfectly innocent when he was crucified.
His entire life was lived exactly as God had intended for life to be lived.
And think about that life - Jesus worked - He was a carpenter like His dad.
He fished with His friends.
He went to weddings and He danced - the dancing part is implied because that’s what Jewish men did at weddings.
He laughed.
And He cried.
He got tired, and hungry and thirsty.
And He got tired of being around people sometimes - He had to get away for a minute.
All of those things were part of His perfect, sinless life - He wasn’t so odd, was He?
He died - and He died because it was a part of the plan.
And what was the plan?
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Jesus had to go first, so we could come later.
Here’s what we need to understand.
Everyone asks, if God is good, why does He let bad things happen to good people?
Why does He allow evil in the world?
I’ve got a bunch of theological answers that are so true but would leave you cold and unconvinced.
But what we really need to see is this:
In this world of hardship.
Of death, disease, wackadoodle politicians.
Of betraying husbands and unfaithful wives.
Of drunks and drugs and hallucinogenics.
Of philosophy and theology and cosmology and insanity.
God made a plan to give you a way out.
Jesus the Lamb became Jesus the Lion.
He roared out of death into life to be the first.
So you could be one of the next.
He made His way out to give you a way out.
If you are a Christ follower, remember that this morning.
God made a path out of the hell of your existence, that He knew you were going to endure before you were born.
He loved you regardless.
He’s been for you forever.
He made a path out of hell into the light of His everlasting, unending, forever-and-always love.
That path is Jesus.
He thought you ought to know. Amen.
Let us pray.
(Valley of Vision - Year’s End p. 111)
O Love beyond compare.
You are good when you give,
You are good when you take away.
You are good when the sun shines upon me.
You are good when night gathers over me.
You loved me before the foundation of the world,
And in that love, you redeemed my soul.
You love me still.
In spite of my hard heart, my ingratitude, my distrust
My being a twit
Your goodness has been with me from last Easter to this,
leading me through a twisted wilderness,
When I retreated, you helped me advance.
When I was beaten back, you made sure I got ahead.
Your goodness will be with me in the year ahead.
I will hoist sail and draw up the anchor.
With you as the pilot of my future as of my past.
I really do thank you for not letting me see the future.
If you’ve appointed storms of tribulation, you will be with me in them.
If I have to pass through the tempests of persecution and temptation, I will not drown.
If I am to die, I will see your face all the sooner.
If a painful end is my lot, please grant me the grace that my faith not fail.
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love, I can make no stipulation.
Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or in trial,
As a chosen vessel ready always for your use.
I plead Jesus - my Savior and Lord.
Amen
At the end of every service we have a time of reflection.
It’s time for us to stop a minute and consider our relationship with Jesus.
Matthew and the team are going to sing.
Don’t stand up yet and don’t try to sing.
Listen to the music - hear the words.
Let the Spirit speak to your soul.
After the final prayer, if you’d like to talk to me about Jesus, I’ll be right here.