God is Bigger

2-7-09

Albertville

Epiph 5

Isaiah 40:21-31

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Well, it seems as if the world’s current economic woes are beyond the understanding of everyone. We certainly don’t understand them. We used to think that if one worked hard and did a good job and managed his money smartly he’s would succeed and be able to feed and cloth and house his family. But this truth that we’ve held onto for so long does not seem to be as true as it once was. For good people are now getting released from their jobs. Can someone fix this?

All eyes turn to the government: with a new administration and a new congress, maybe they can do something. They can be very smart, those guys in Washington, when they’re not conflicted. But are they be smart enough to steer us through this mess?

The news people don’t seem to be helping much either. In fact they seem to be relishing the opportunity to kindle even more fear. How many times have you heard them say with various levels of alarm, “This is the worst blah blah blah(fill in the blank) since the early 1980s.” They’re all saying it over and over again because they have nothing else to say. Their repetition of this same phrase is like a loud klaxon ringing in our ears.

It appears as if nobody really knows what’s going on and nobody seems to know what to do. Those who have lost their jobs throw their hands up in despair and those who still have jobs wring their hands in fear. The problem is big; too big, it would seem.

But God is bigger! God is bigger! That’s the Message that the Prophet Isaiah would have us know today. He says that the Lord “Sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” in other words, he is above it all! While we are mired in the news and the politics and the fear of the moment he is not. There is no mire for him. No problem so big that he cannot understand it or help us out of it.

The original hearers of this message were also in the midst of a national crises. Judah was a small kingdom surrounded by larger and more powerful kingdoms. One was Babylon which had a fearsome army and the reputation of destroying every nation in it’s path. Babylon was expanding it’s borders and Judah was next in line. But even though God had told them again and again to trust in him. They didn’t. They put their trust and their hope in their ability to form alliances with other nations. In the midst of their crisis, they turned away from God and looked for other forms of help. Meanwhile God keeps calling to them through his prophets. Saying, “I’m here!” “I’m your ever present help in trouble!” “I’m the almighty God!” “I want to help you.” But they would not have it.

Crisis times are often critical times; critical because the most important questions of life are asked and answered in crisis time. Of course, the most critical question for Israel during it’s crises and us during this crises is: Who are you going to trust? Who are you going to trust? Have you taken the Lord into consideration? Have you begun to depend on him? Or are you assuming that he’s not really going to do anything anyway? That’s the assumption that Israel was running on during the days of Isaiah. But God responded “Why do you complain O Israel ‘my way is hidden from the Lord’ (God doesn’t know about my problem); my cause is disregarded by my God’ (God doesn’t care about my problem) Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God. The creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary.” He also says: He’s saying “folks, look what I’ve done. I’m the one who made the stars. I’m the one who brings them out for you to see every night! I’m the one that made and understands these massive and amazing things. Don’t you think that I could also understand you and your problems as well.

So God has power, we get that. God has knowledge. We get that too. But what we often don’t get is that he will use that power and knowledge in a benevolent way for us. We are not always so convinced that he will do right by us. After all, there have been a few bad things that have happened during our lives. There was that time you got sick. Then there was that time when someone close to you died. He seems to have allowed those bad things to happen to you. Who’s to say that he won’t let you go completely down the tubes! How can you know he has your ultimate good in mind?

You can know because he openly stated his intentions towards you and his out and out love for all people by the giving of his Son. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” You know. He could have achieved our forgiveness with a snap of his divine fingers. He could have simply said “hey, your forgiven” and it would have been so. But instead he decided to send his son to be one of us. And furthermore chose to send that Son to the cross to suffer and die an excruciatingly painful death for us. Why would he do that? Why would he choose to save us in this way? So that we could know just how serious he is when he said he loves us! Jesus is his divine love letter to us signed and sealed in blood. God is blood-serious about loving us!

And The Apostle Paul brings it full circle for us with a wonderful word from his letter to the Romans “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him for us all..how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32) Isn’t that wonderful? But let me give you my own personal paraphrase of it. “If God went through all that...the giving of his Son to die, to preserve your life, don’t you think he’d preserve your life now?” Of course! Of course! And in that same chapter, Romans 8, Pauls says “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who are called according to his purpose.” Sure, there may be some changes afoot. There may be some adjustments; both large and small. There may be some painful periods and even some times you are utterly befuddled what you see happening around you, but in spite of what you see, you have God’s promise to always do right by you.

In the epic 1959 movie, Ben Hur, one of the most griping scenes in the whole movie was the very realistic chariot race. I read someplace, that to add to the authenticity, Charlton Heston actually learned to drive the chariot he’d be using in the race. But after weeks of practice, he was worried about how the shoot would work. To the stunt coordinator, he confided “I can drive the chariot, but I’m not sure I can win.” The stunt man smiled and replied “Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot, and I’ll make sure you win the race.”

Apparently, Heston got so caught up in the preparation that he started to thinking he had to win the race on his own. He had forgotten that the outcome had already been decided! It was in the script! That’s what the Lord would have us know. With God on our side, we can’t lose. We have already been declared winners by the cross of Christ! We might be disgusted, disappointed, disheartened; disheveled; even dyspeptic over what has happened in the past few months and what may happen in the coming months, but we have God who never stops loving and caring for us. We can trust him. And those who do trust in him, as the text says “Will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary....” AMEN