Quite a week really, ”first real taste of winter,” everybody said.
Now, I gotta be honest – if that’s a taste – I don’t need another bite.
I talked to a couple old guys this week, guys who had seen 75 or 80 winters and they were chilled to the bone, but smiling. Those old guys said, “Dean . . . you can take this kinda cold in February . . . cause we already broke the back of winter.” And I was thinking, even after 75 years of ice-cold winter spells, do you ever get used to -35 ° below (with a stiff wind blowing). I don’t think so, but then those 2 old guys said something that made me think. They said, “just a few weeks now and the leaves will be coming, in just a few weeks the grass will be green and we’ll forget all about this old winter.” And it’s true isn’t it? Six weeks from now we’ll be well into April and we’ll all be talking about golf and camping, instead of hockey and Mexico, but when those old guys said that about spring I realized something, I realized that I take the changing of the seasons for granted. And yet God just takes care of that doesn’t he?
Season after season after season – from green leaves and flowers and wonderful warmth – to cool autumn mornings with those same leaves changing color to that 1 st snow that leads to the long barren winter. But in just a few weeks the trees will bud and the grass will turn green. God just does it season after season – year after year, generation after generation and He does it faithfully. And perhaps of all the many sins I’ve committed in my life this would rank among the worst. I have rarely thanked God for the changing of the seasons, I have rarely thanked God for his faithfulness even in something so obvious as spring being just around the corner. And think about it, whether it will happen or not isn’t the issue, spring will happen it’s a fore-gone conclusion and until this week when I really looked at it I might have missed an opportunity to see God’s faithfulness. But isn’t that the problem with God’s faithfulness, we hardly notice it.
Faithfulness is, by definition, the predictable – the sturdy – the routine. “It is the evidence of things seen . . . (says Mark Buchanan), but seen so often we’ve grown blind to them” . . . “Faithfulness is the substance of things expected, expected so unthinkingly – that we now take them for granted.”
God’s faithfulness is all around us everyday. It’s in the air we breath, it’s in the ground we walk on, and the heart that beats within us and it’s in the 100’s of other things we fail to notice that are spectacular works of His faithfulness to us.
Things like toes and eyes and green grass and thunderstorms and the shade of a tree on a hot day and stars and moon and sun. Things that are there everyday and make our lives so much greater, but by the very fact that they’re there everyday by the very fact that they are constant and durable they have become familiar and even somewhat invisible. And even one step further – these amazing things that sustain our lives so faithfully have become mundane, ordinary, kind of run-of-the-mill.
People, we dwell among endless miracles that because they are repeated, day after day, those miracles have become tedious and so we are lavished with gifts that we now ignore or at best they become gifts we expect.
Faithfulness, has become common to us.
Think about your first thought when you woke up this morning. Who among us leapt up this morning as the sun rose and said, “look it’s the sun.” Here it comes; it’s here again awesome! Thanks God! Or who ran through the house shouting, “ wow breath in that air, clean, fresh air. Air to fill my lungs and air to clean my blood and air to shape my words and air to move the clouds and lift the birds.”
Not me – I woke up with a sigh and a big groan. The prophet Jeremiah puts it like this, “my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:20-23 (NIV)
Great is your faithfulness . . .
Who here has been to Yellowstone National Park? Who has seen Old Faithful? Well, I gotta tell you the first time we went it was summer holidays and I was excited, really excited so I was telling the kids about it. This steam and water that shoots out of a hole in the ground and it happens every 24 minutes or whatever. And I’m getting them excited and so we get into the park and we get directions from Ranger Rick on how to get there and he tells us exactly how long we’ve got before old faithful does it’s thing again. “Yep,” he says, “you can set you watch by it.”
And so we park and run to where this crowd of like 400 people are standing with video camera’s in hand and then you hear this noise and boom – there it comes. And I gotta tell you it just wasn’t that great at all 20 seconds and its all over and I don’t know if I was expecting fireworks explosions or what, but when it was done Kaden looked at me – He had been on my shoulders – and so he looks around into my eyes and says, “that’s it?” “Woopy!” And I went, “yeah that’s it.” But it does that very consistently like 20 times a day and I tried to salvage the moment, but he had already moved on and so had everyone else.
People, faithfulness especially Gods everyday life sustaining faithfulness is the most amazing thing about God. It’s just the most amazing thing yet the least captivating.
“God’s faithfulness is the one divine characteristic that we rest in so completely . . . that our rest had become apathy.” Buchanan
So what’s my point. I’m getting to it. Let me give you one more thought and then I’ll give you some stuff to take home. Let me answer this one question first.
How do we rest in God’s faithfulness, but never take it for granted?
The answer is in practicing thankfulness.
Something that has become a habit for me is that when I meet with
God in the mornings I have a journal and that journal almost always begins with the word, yesterday. And as I begin my day I reflect on my life and actions and words from the day before. And part of that 24-hour reflection is just writing down things I’m thankful for and then reflecting that thanks back to God for His faithfulness in my life. And I usually start with getting my head and heart around - some pretty simple things really. Like saying thanks for His providing my food and clothes and home and money. And then for his faithfulness in health and the air I breathe and that my vehicle started and that I have a truck. And then I thank Him for allowing me to have a family and enjoy them so much and then I thank Him for the ability to work and for this great church.
Here’s where this is going, I think we need to remind ourselves of God’s faithfulness on a very regular basis so we don’t forget because when we make thankfulness a habit and when we cultivate an attitude of gratitude every day when we do that something great happens. Ready? When we take time to thank God for His faithfulness we take this most amazing attribute of God, His faithfulness and we move it from mundane and ordinary – to captivating and life changing.
And what happens is that as we practice looking for God’s faithfulness well then His faithfulness becomes more and more obvious to us. The more we look for his faithfulness the more we see it around us everyday and the more we see it around us every day the more we see God and the more we see God the more confident we are in our faith walk and the more clearly defined our faith journey becomes. People, the more we focus on Gods’ faithfulness – the more full our faith becomes.
So, as I continue on here would you try and practice this? Just make a list of all the things in your life that you probably take for granted. Make a list of the things you rest in that are all about God’s faithfulness and as I continue to talk just reflect those back to God - in thanks.
Now, let me tell you about 3 things God is faithful to; 3 things that as we follow Him – He promises to supply in our lives. And folks, these 3 promises are incredibly solid they are as airtight a contract as you will ever find. God says, “if you follow me with your life then I will make a contract with you, I will guarantee these 3 things.” God says, ‘when you give your life to me I will promise to be faithful because faithfulness is who I am.” And folks, to my knowledge there are only 3 things God promises with a guarantee.
I God is Faithful to forgive our sins if we confess them.
I grew up in a little Lutheran Church in Archerwill, SK and it was pretty formal how we did church. We had part of the service every week that was exactly the same - liturgy – some prayers and readings and phrases that were the same every week.
Now, at the time, I thought this was a little repetitive and pretty meaningless and it made me want to stay home. However, there was one line of this liturgy, along this forgiveness and confession theme, one line that we said every week that stayed with me. And it could be just where my life was at – it seemed like I was always in need of some confession, but the line was actually from the bible and it said this,
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
(I John 1:8&9)
And we repeated that every week my entire pre-adult life and do you know why 1000’s of churches around the world repeat that line every week in their liturgy? Because that line is true and its in the contract it’s a promise with a guarantee from God himself.
If we come to God with our lives surrendered understanding that we are prone to sin - prone to wander away from God’s design for our lives, but if we humbly confess He is faithful to forgive us every time.
When we confess whatever the sin might be whether it’s as small as a little white lie or as big as pre-meditated murder. When we confess, He will forgive us and wash us clean inside every time – it’s a guarantee.
And folks, I won’t stay on this point too long – 2 quick things:
You can’t get that anywhere else. Where else are you gonna go to have your sins forgiven. Where else are you gonna go to have your soul washed clean, can’t do it yourself. Nowhere else – only God is faithful to get soul cleansing done in our lives. And there’s nothing like the feeling of being clean inside.
You can’t get that feeling anywhere else. There is no self-help book that can give you that inner sense that God has forgiven you. Dr. Phil or Oprah cannot give you that sense. Only God is faithful to forgive us and there’s only one sense that overcomes us when we’re clean there’s nothing else that can match it!
So people, try confession – no matter what the sin, try confession because it’s in the contract. God is faithful and God is just and He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wrong doing and you can’t get that anywhere else.
Here’s the second part of the contact – a promise with a guarantee.
II God is faithful to transform our character (either now or later as we follow Him)
Let me explain I’ll cut right to the chase.
All of us, every one of us has part of our character that is flawed. We are all prone to an area or two of weakness in our lives that if left unchecked could destroy us. And for some of us it’s easy to find, it’s an addiction to alcohol or gambling or pornography or it’s workaholism or it’s greed. For others, it’s anger that lashes out and hurts loved ones or just that hurtful mouth of ours.
For others of us it’s a little more hidden maybe it’s adultery or envy that we’re prone to or maybe we’re just incredibly selfish and we keep hurting everyone around us because of it.
Folks, all of us have character issues that need to be checked and addressed or they’ll mess us up and they’ll mess up everyone around us for our whole lives.
And God says – check the contract when it comes to character flaws as well it’s covered God says, “when you follow me – I promise it’s air tight I guarantee my faithfulness in this.” “I will take what is bent in your character and I’ll straighten it out over time.” Listen to the clear terms the Apostle Paul puts it in,
“Now there is no condemnation for those who follow Jesus Christ, for the power of God has freed you from sin and you are no longer controlled by sin, since Christ lives within you – you are now alive to God” Romans 8:1 & 2
Folks, God makes a promise that has great freedom attached to it. He promises that as He lives in us by faith He will begin to slowly transform our character away from our weakness, away from that sinful bent and He’ll make us more like Him. God promises to break us free:
- Free from our addictions
- Free from our mouths getting us into trouble
- Free from our angry out bursts or hurtful words
- Free from the continual hold that money or sex or power has on us
People we can be free, when we engage the faithfulness of God to deal with those dark parts of our lives.
Folks, I’ve said this many times from this stage and I believe it with all my heart through faith, Jesus Christ has the power to change your character and to release you from that dark part of you that leads to self destruction. And then He brings you to light and life. It’s really amazing the faithfulness of God. Faithfulness that continues to change us as we walk with Him.
Remarkable really, listen to this - catch this – still with me?
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (The Message)
May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together--spirit, soul, and body--and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it! Did you catch the timing of that bit of truth? It said, “May God continue to transform you as you walk with Jesus.” Paul says, “I hope every aspect of your life is changed to be more like Him.” And by the way – just in case all that transforming doesn’t get done during this life, the contract is still good. He still guarantees our character transformation past this life. That verse promises that as we follow Christ with our lives on this earth He will transform our character, but what doesn’t get done here on earth will get done when we meet God face to face.
God says, “You can trust me to be faithful forever.” I guarantee that when you follow Jesus Christ He will continue to change you until the change is finished completely – 100% done - I promise.
Now, you may need to think about that a bit, but folks after it sinks in for a minutes or two you’ll get it.
That kinda life change isn’t available anywhere else and that kind a guarantee doesn’t come easy or cheap. It cost Jesus his life to promise us that our lives would be transformed if we follow Him. But folks it’s a promise and all we can do is say thanks because God is faithful to His promises. Here’s His 3 rd promise . . .
III God is faithful to get us to heaven
Now, here is a subject that I don’t talk about to much and I don’t
know why because it’s pretty big news. I guess I’m just focused on the practical aspects of our faith as we live day to day, but folks heaven is a really big deal. And it’s a big deal that very few of us think about.
Most of us are so caught up in our moment by moment – today lives that thinking about – after – this – life or thinking about eternity just isn’t in our head space every day.
But here’s where I do find people really think about it. Let me rephrase that I think we’re forced to think about it at funerals. When we face death our minds and hearts are pushed to think about eternity and pushed to think about heaven and pushed to think about our souls. And I say the same thing at nearly every funeral I speak at - not often do we slow ourselves down long enough to ponder life – let alone death. And people, its always a good thing to ponder a bit about how fragile this gift of life really is and how brief our time really is on this earth versus how long eternity is. It’s a good thing to think about how fast 50 or 70 or 90 years goes by.
Because life is short – compared to eternity – there is no questions about that. So, I just don’t think it would be right for me to not take this time and this opportunity to remind you that heaven is much closer than you think and eternity is a way bigger issue in our lies than we give if credit for being. And you know what? It’s really good to ponder that every once in a while.
Folks, here’s what I know to be true. I know God is faithful to get us to heaven because it’s a promise with a guarantee it’s in the contract.
The bible says it very clearly in I John 5:11-13
“God has given us eternal life and this life is in His son, (Jesus Christ). He who has the son, has life; He who does not have the son of God does not have life.
Then He does on to say this, “I write these things to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.”
There’s the confidence with that promise.
People, those verses are the very biggest thing to get sorted out in you life - every other life decision you make comes in a distant second to whether you have Jesus - 1 st place in your life or not. Every thing else is secondary. Trust me on that and take time to ponder a bit today because heaven is a very real place and only God is faithful to get us there.
And you know what? Heaven is a good thing to think about for a whole lot of reasons.
I don’t know where you’re at in your life today, but my bet is in a crowd of several 100 this weekend for many of you there’s a lot of brokenness and hurt in your past. For some there’s a lot of fear about the future. We’ve got people in this church facing cancer and facing heart disease and facing depression. There’s families facing financial breakdown and addiction issues and there’s families facing divorce. There are people who are grieving the loss of a loved one and there’s families facing death just this week.
Well folks, once in a while it’s not a bad think to think about something other than the here and now. In fact, some times its’ a really good thing to think about heaven.
Let me describe it for you. The bible says that heaven is a place where God wipes away every tear from our eyes and it’s a place of no more pain and no more hospitals and no more bad diagnosis. Heaven is a place where joy abounds and where darkness is replaced with light. Heaven is a place where relationships are real and whole and where evil does not exist.
The bible says, heaven is only about peace and goodness and hope and joy and love and grace.
Sounds good doesn’t it?
Folks, our music team is gonna sing another song about heaven and I want to use these moments for us to ponder eternity. Maybe you want to do some sorting out in your heart or maybe you want to practice some thankfulness. Do whatever you need to do, but listen to this song and picture it because heaven is a real as this stage I’m standing on or the seat your sitting in. So, let you mind go a bit, ponder and think and picture it and then I’ll pray. |
