OUT of the STORM: WE RETURN TO GOD
Isaiah 55: 6-12
LUKE 12: 13-21 & 32-34
January 17, 2021
Have you ever been to the top of the mountains? Looking over the horizons on a clear day when you can see valleys, and highways and villages far below. Have you ever climbed as high as you could to discover that there is more above that you can’t get to because you have reached the top of your climb?
And, this morning did you listen to the words that Jake’s beautiful young voice produced? Full of passion sharing the words Josh Groban put to music, “We were dreamers … not so long ago but one by one … we all had to grow up.”
Friends, on this third Sunday in the year of hope and possibilities there are choices we need to be making as to who we are … the kind of people we are going to journey through life as from this very moment forward … who we will follow … who we will bow down to … who we will embrace and most importantly out of the storm the real question … the question that the song Jake sang provides an answer to but one that the cynics cast aside … OUT OF THE STORMS of our lives … will we return to God? Will we embrace Jesus Christ? Will we follow and truly believe in Him as proven by our thoughts, our words, our deeds and yes our endorsements out in the human theater of life? “When it seems that we have lost our way … are we finding ourselves again on Christmas Day?” In Jesus Christ?
The prophet offers us direction, “SEEK THE LORD … when He can still be found; call Him while He is yet near.” Now, Isaiah continues by addressing the wicked telling them to abandon their ways and their sinful schemes but I would argue that even in his prophetic wisdom that is where most church going folks stop reading because after all … we aren’t wicked are we? Many who attend church will even deny that their thoughts and their actions or their failure to engage in actions for justice are reflections of being sinful. They will deny not following Jesus. Because after all … we are better than they are, right? Our ways are the right ways … the right point of view … we have plans; we have allegiances and we have alliances that give us strength, pride or perhaps even a sense of power over … over … well you know over those people.
And, Isaiah is not limiting nor diminishing God in his statement about God’s presence because in hearing God speak to him, Isaiah was stating the obvious that when humanity walks deeper and deeper into the storms of human sinfulness and evil … when the voices humanity surrounds itself with become overwhelming … loud … charismatic … hero focused … comfortable in rewarding one group over another that is when the clouds and the storms swallow up good people and soon all they can see … all they want to adhere to … are false gods with their own worship platforms and symbols people raise high. And, yes … amidst those crowds even when Jesus name is placed on a banner of false allegiance it’s not about Jesus because the words and actions are not His … in those times and places it becomes very difficult to find God because God’s directives offer hope, peace, love and do not thrive on fear and division.
There was a random sampling of people who were interviewed this past week … they were asked if they held prejudice against any others in their hearts … if they felt that those who were different than they are were not their equals. Of course they said no to both questions but then they were read statements made by others and asked if they agreed with the statements. Friends, these were statements filled with racism … these were statements dismissing justice for all … these were statements of diminishing humans so that one side would have power and 80 percent of those who had said they held no prejudice in their hearts and that those different from them were their equals agreed totally with the statements read to them as being statements they fully supported. Their actions revealed their hearts …
When the storm becomes strong … we need to focus on the light, the Light of Jesus Christ, even if by being in the Light it means that elements of the storm will try to bear down and target us … it is so easy to be consumed by the storm and that makes it very difficult to find Jesus once the storm is all around us.
SEEK THE LORD … when He can still be found; call Him while He is yet near.”
Isaiah states it but we also have heard Jeremiah proclaim it … even in this morning’s Gospel Jesus provides this truth of God; a truth that can be embraced only once we choose to leave the storm. God is not abandoning us …. Isaiah tell us, “God is generous with forgiveness. The Lord says, “My plans aren’t your plans, nor are your ways my ways. My ways are higher than your ways and my plans are higher than your plans.” Jeremiah, we all know this reflection of God but I will state it again in case you forgot … or were not in class when it was taught, The Lord God .. Creator of the heavens and the earth and that mountain top when you can climb no further without God’s intervention … God declares, “I know the plans I have for you! They are plans for peace not disaster, to give you a future with hope.” But, friends … oh dear friends … some stop there saying they are secure in God’s hands and can just live life their way but the prophet allows God to finish God’s statement … “When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me, yes search for me with all your heart, you will find me, I will be present for you declares the Lord.”
Is it any wonder that Isaiah says to seek the Lord when he can still be found? Because God declares we need to search for God with all of our hearts … sort of reminds you of Jesus telling us we must love God above all things doesn’t it church? With all your heart, soul, and Mind. You remember that Son of God … Jesus the Christ … your Savior, my Savior, the Savior for the world whom the world continues to reject … that Jesus who is easy to be found but hidden in the storms of human disaster and human lust for hate and division and love for other gods both human and created … this morning friends … if you want to return to God from the storms of life … if you want to escape the torrents of divisive hate … if you know you need peace and want to escape from the stress of fear then you need to do so with all of your heart because I hope that for you the clouds have not overtaken your eyes and your mind and your soul … that you are still ready to find and love God daily with your entire heart, which means changing who you are … and then those plans of God can start to happen. And, Jesus teaches in this morning’s parable, “Don’t be afraid, little flock, because Your Father in heaven delights in giving you the kingdom. Sell your possessions … give to those in need!” DO JUSTICE; LOVE ALL YOUR NEIGHBORS; and LOVE and WALK HUMBLY with GOD!
Oh the challenges and stresses of fitting in … are you as amazed as I am by the seductive power of the storm? As someone who has lots of trinkets from throughout my life, which I justify by saying I am a historian who wants to leave those treasures of mine to my grandson or any other future grandchildren … are you amazed how so many people don’t want to care for the poor … who gladly want to invest tax dollars in the best aircraft carrier money can buy, which gives my son-in-law his job by the way, while saying government don’t you dare spend a penny on the poor? Doesn’t it amaze you that it becomes my money if taxes are used to feed the hungry or provide medical care for those who have none … but when corporate giants producing billions in profits are threatened with an increase in their contribution to the overall good the voices chant no, no, no. Jesus teaches us, “Where your treasure is … there your heart will be also.”
So, this is the Sunday of the weekend that we have set aside to honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. One Sunday morning in August of 1967, Dr. King preached a sermon using the same Gospel lesson we are using today. He called it, “Why Jesus called a Man a fool?”
If I was to list the humans who have provided me a clarity in my journey of life especially my faith life then Dr. King would be near the top. While still in Junior High School I had read most of his published sermons and his books. His love of God and Jesus Christ and of his neighbors lifted me up revealing to me what we could do and when an evil hate-filled assassin shot him down in Memphis I cried and cried. When I travelled to Memphis a few years ago and stood beneath the motel balcony where Martin died I cried some more. But this morning I want to add some of Martin’s words to my sermon so these are his words as preached to the gathering at the Mount Pisgah Baptist Church:
“Why did Jesus call this man a fool? This man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on others. (Yes) Now if you read that parable in the book of Luke, you will discover that this man utters about sixty words. And do you know in sixty words he said “I” and “my” more than fifteen times? (My Lord) This man was a fool because he said “I” and “my” so much until he lost the capacity to say “we” and “our.” (Yes) He failed to realize that he couldn’t do anything by himself. This man talked like he could build the barns by himself, like he could till the soil by himself. And he failed to realize that wealth is always a result of the commonwealth.
Maybe you haven’t ever thought about it, but you can’t leave home in the morning without being dependent on most of the world. You get up in the morning, and you go to the bathroom and you reach over for a sponge, and that’s even given to you by a Pacific Islander. You reach over for a towel, and that’s given to you by a turk. You reach down to pick up your soap, and that’s given to you by a Frenchman. Then after dressing, you rush to the kitchen and you decide this morning that you want to drink a little coffee; that’s poured in your cup by a South American. Or maybe this morning you prefer tea; that’s poured in your cup by a Chinese. Or maybe you want cocoa this morning; that’s poured in your cup by a West African. Then you reach over to get your toast, and that’s given to you at the hands of an English-speaking farmer, not to mention the baker. Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning you are dependent on more than half of the world.
And oh my friends, I don’t want you to forget it. No matter where you are today, somebody helped you to get there. (Yes) It may have been an ordinary person, doing an ordinary job in an extraordinary way. Some few are able to get some education; you didn’t get it by yourself. Don’t forget those who helped you come over.
Finally, this man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on God. (Yeah) Do you know that man talked like he regulated the seasons? That man talked like he gave the rain to grapple with the fertility of the soil. (Yes) That man talked like he provided the dew. He was a fool because he ended up acting like he was the Creator, (Yes) instead of a creature. (Amen)
And this man-centered foolishness is still alive today. In fact, it has gotten to the point today that some are even saying that God is dead. The thing that bothers me about it is that they didn’t give me full information, because at least I would have wanted to attend God’s funeral. And today I want to ask, who was the coroner that pronounced him dead? I want to raise a question, how long had he been sick? I want to know whether he had a heart attack or died of chronic cancer. These questions haven’t been answered for me, and I’m going on believing and knowing that God is alive. You see, as long as love is around, God is alive. As long as justice is around, God is alive. There are certain conceptions of God that needed to die, but not God. You see, God is the supreme noun of life; he’s not an adjective. He is the supreme subject of life; he’s not a verb. He’s the supreme independent clause; he’s not a dependent clause. Everything else is dependent on him, but he is dependent on nothing.
Those my friends are the words from Dr. King and that brings us back to St. Paul’s this morning for the consideration of our dependence … who are we? When we reach the mountain top of life are we bowing in prayer to God looking up to the skies? Are you so focused on fitting in and saving your earthly gifts and treasures that you have become the 21 st century fool of the Gospel parable? Are you afraid? Afraid of not succumbing to the world … do you like their chants and power … do you dislike the poor and hungry?
I am here once again with GOOD NEWS …. God does love all of us and wants all of us to be aligned with God. God has plans for us … but we first have to change the focus from ourselves and how we are fitting into the world’s storm and focus on God; accept Jesus as more than a name by finding out way in and through Him! When you have Christ then yes, you will want to go into the world with celebration as you are brought forth in peace … even the hills will burst out in song before you and the trees of the field will clap their hands. Returning to God is our call … let us use this year as they year we actually make that journey and when we reach the mountain top of our lives looking over the world below us we will have the wisdom to know we need to look up to God and once again declare our love for the Holy.
AMEN