Sermon
8-2-15 Proverbs- trust Proverbs 3:1-8
My son, do not forget my teaching, but
keep my commands in your heart, 2 for
they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and
faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then
you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in
all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will
bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
New series – proverbs
Today.. trust in the lord
Story/Joke
A
man named Jack was walking along a steep cliff one day, when he accidentally
got too close to the edge and fell. On the way down he grabbed a branch, which
temporarily stopped his fall. He looked down and to his horror saw that the
canyon fell straight down for more than a thousand feet.
He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.
HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP!"
He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but who are you, and where are you?
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?" "That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk."
"Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch.""What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."
There was a long silence.
Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?"
He couldn't hang onto the branch forever, and there was no way for him to climb up the steep wall of the cliff. So Jack began yelling for help, hoping that someone passing by would hear him and lower a rope or something.
HELP! HELP! Is anyone up there? "HELP!"
He yelled for a long time, but no one heard him. He was about to give up when he heard a voice. Jack, Jack. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, yes! I can hear you. I'm down here!"
"I can see you, Jack. Are you all right?"
"Yes, but who are you, and where are you?
"I am the Lord, Jack. I'm everywhere."
"The Lord? You mean, GOD?" "That's Me."
"God, please help me! I promise if, you'll get me down from here, I'll stop sinning. I'll be a really good person. I'll serve You for the rest of my life."
"Easy on the promises, Jack. Let's get you off from there; then we can talk."
"Now, here's what I want you to do. Listen carefully."
"I'll do anything, Lord. Just tell me what to do."
"Okay. Let go of the branch.""What?" "I said, let go of the branch. Just trust Me. Let go."
There was a long silence.
Finally Jack yelled, "HELP! HELP! IS ANYONE ELSE UP THERE?"
Proverbs- what are they
A
collection of the wisdom of a culture
Written
by many – codified over time
Context
of this certain proverb= little to none
Ambiguity
of some of them - Conflicting ideas in some of them
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.
or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.
The
ancients were ok with that….
Wisdom
does not always line up in western ways
Trusting god means that u understand that difficulty will
accompany u
If
you didn’t have difficulty you wouldn’t be looking to trust god….
We
would be living the default life of joy. Skipping along the way…….
The
jews had problems…….probelms followed them.
We have problems
I
deleted the entire sermon
Trust
god
Jenny
moving to florida……… lots of adult decisions
Me
backing off, allowing her to dance with the pressures along the way.
Trusting
does not mean that we will face no difficulty
It
implies the presence of difficulty
You
can suffer and be in pain, or you can suffer and not be in pain
You
can have problems and let them eat your lunch or
You can have the same problems and still see the good.
Still see that god is with us
Trusting
is a promise that we are never alone.
Trusting
is believing that someone bigger than our problems is here
Exodus story- trusting is a
choice
Trusting
is a choice- you are not a kite blown by the winds of emotions
You
have choices
If
you will get to the promised land
1.
You must be willing to leave Egypt
2.
You must learn to be comfortable in the wilderness
3.
There r lessons in the wilderness – it is not to be
fought, but taken in
4.
Life is not a destination, it is a journey
Acting and reacting
On the stage of life, are we actors or reactors.
Most react and become upset – later embarrassed.
Others see what is going on, take a step back, take a deep breath,
and act out of the best of who they are
Trusting isn’t trusting god
to give me what I want
Trusting god is in spite of
circumstances…
Trusting is Giving up on
the outcome……’
It is centered in God, not the outcome
There's a story of a disciple who told his guru that he was going
to a
far place to meditate and hopefully attain enlightenment. So he
sent
the guru a note every six months to report the progress he was
making. The first report said, "Now I understand what it
means to
lose the self". The guru tore up the note and threw it in the
wastepaper basket. After six months he got another report, which
said, "Now I have attained sensitivity to all beings".
He tore it up.
Then a third report said, "Now I understand the secrets
life". It too was torn up.
And so it went on for years, until finally no reports came in.
After a
time the guru became curious and one day there was a traveler
going
to that far place. The guru said, "Why don't you find what
happened
to that fellow". Finally, he got a note from his disciple. It
said, "Im not going to figure it out, I just have to trust God" And
when the guru read that, he said, "He made it!
He made it! He finally got it! He got it
Giving up on the outcome
St john of the cross
In
1577, when St. John of the Cross was thirty-five years old, he
was abducted by his own monastic brothers [who were opposed to his efforts to
reform the Carmelite order] and incarcerated for nine months in a monastery in
Toledo, Spain. It was there, as he languished, that the caterpillar of his old
self dissolved and the butterfly of his authentic being grew its wings. . . .
"His prison cell, a stone room barely large enough for his
body, had formerly been a latrine. His single robe rotted from his body in the
fetid heat of summer, and in winter he shivered in the rag that remained.
Several times a week, the brothers brought him out to be flogged while they
enjoyed their midday meal. Otherwise, he sat in the darkness, tracking the stars
through the single small window, high up in the wall of his cell. . . .
"Doubt began to infiltrate his psyche and, though he clung
to the life-raft of faith, it began to disintegrate in his hands and he drifted
into despair. Like Jonah in the belly of the fierce fish, the imprisoned friar
found himself suspended in the void. He was unable to move toward any kind of
hopeful future, or backward to the innocent idealism that had led to his being
swallowed up in this terrible emptiness.
"It was painful enough for him to wonder if God had given
up on him, but the true agony descended when he began to find himself giving up
on God. At last, he simply ran out of energy and let himself down into the arms
of radical unknowingness—a god that was beyond his control…
Do you worry or do you trust?
So many Christians are Christians on the
outside only
They go on a mission trip and attend bible study, but are still
filled with worry and fear……..
Good on the outside, bad on the inside…..
The Kansas city royals…………
You can teach a seal to blow a horn but that does not make it a
musician.
What is happening inside of you??
A few weeks ago I talked about being saved…. And saved from our
fears.
Are you the kind of Christian who on the outside is doing the
kingdom work
But inside you are still full of worry and fear
Trust asks us to change on the inside…..
He will direct your paths……….
When
I was young I expected to see the light
Handwriting
on the wall
Somewhere
along the way I realized that I cant expect god to solve every problem.
that sometimes, most times, he expects me to make informed, spiritual
choices…..
I
am responsible for my life…… god is not going to fix everything….
The
directing comes from inside, not from above. He expects us to take
responsibility for what we already know to do
How
do we make good choices?
How
do we find the way?
Wesleyan
scholars have developed what they call the
Wesleyan
quadrilateral
Scripture
Tradition-
what my mom and grandma taught….
Reason
– is it frought with self?
Experience
– relevant and normal in every day life
Conclusion
Who is holding who?
Little
girl and her father were crossing a bridge. Father was kind of scared so he
asked his little daughter,
‘Sweetheart,
please hold my hand so that you don’t fall into the river.’
The
little girl said, ‘No, Dad. You hold my hand.’
‘What’s
the difference?’ Asked the puzzled father.
‘There’s
a big difference,’ replied the little girl.
‘If
I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your
hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens,
you will never let my hand go.’
you will never let my hand go.’
clifhanger,
sylvester stalone………
we
have all let someone else down
trusting
isnt holding to gods hand
it
is trusting that god is holding on to yours.
Consider the migration of birds
Though very small
They take off 2x per year. Off into the
unknown.
Passing over land and sea, often with no
landmarks to guide them
Yet without hesitation, every spring and fall they
take off
The birds commit themselves to the elements by
way of blind trust in their instinct.
Such is the spiritual
journey
Such is the journey of faith, of trust
We have no idea of where we are going.
There are all kinds of difficulties we cannot
foresee.
The spiritual journey is basically a surrender in
blind trust to our conviction that what we hope to find on the journey we
either already have or will certainly find.
But there is no guarantee that we will arrive
safely on the basis of the evidence or our circumstances.
We must let go and let the wind (the Holy Spirit)
take us where we hope to go ... There is no turning back once we have started
because the sky is a big place, and we had better stay with the flock.
Our consolation and hope
lies in this……..
The sky is big, the way is unsure
But God is bigger and god is certain
My son, do not forget my teaching, but
keep my commands in your heart, 2 for
they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and
faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then
you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust
in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in
all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a]
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will
bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
Pray, bless the elements
