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Sermon Transcript: Promise of the Holy Spirit (Christianity 101)

101.5: PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – Christianity 101 SeriesLuke 24:44-49; Acts 1:1-5
May 13th, 2012
Pastor Sun Hee Kim

44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

WEIRD CHRISTIANITY

We’re continuing this morning in our series on Christianity 101, and I will be sharing with you today part one of a two-part message on the Holy Spirit. But before I get too deep in this message about this third person of the Trinity, I want to begin today by talking a little about the nature of our faith. I don’t know how often you actually sit and just think about what our faith really is and what it’s called to be and how we are called to live it out in this world. And I don’t know if you have ever considered the sheer complexity of our faith and how difficult it is sometimes to really grasp it all. And I wonder if you have ever paused to consider what our faith – this thing called Christianity – must look like to a world that has never stepped foot inside a church or opened up the Bible or heard of Jesus.

There’s this story that’s told in Mark chapter 9 – about a man who comes to Jesus and asks him to heal his son who had been possessed by a demon since childhood. Apparently, this son often went into fits of seizures and violent convulsions, putting his very life at risk. Not surprisingly, this man was desperate, and asks Jesus, “If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” To which Jesus replies, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” Then follows a line of Scripture that contains a confession that I think resonates with so many of us here today: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

This is my confession. When I look at our faith – Christianity and what it means to follow Jesus – there is so much that I want to believe. And, guess what, there is so much I have a hard time believing. That’s right. Even for a pastor, this thing called faith is not an easy deal. I wrestle with its complexity, because I know that there are so many wonderful and amazing and powerful things about faith on the one hand, but also that there are a lot of very difficult to understand things about faith on the other hand. And this is the case for both people outside the church as well as inside the church.

So, let me just name what I think is the obvious here: Christianity at its best is profound and practical, but for most people most of the time, it’s just simply weird.

There, I said it. Christianity is weird. I mean, have you ever considered how really, really weird our faith is? Consider some of these tenets and statements of our faith:

Let’s start with something real basic: The Bible says God created everything by just speaking things into existence. And the Bible says that took place in just six days. Weird, right? Seventh day, God just rested. Apparently all that speaking was tiring work. I know, I’m tired just after giving one sermon.

Or how about, that story in the Book of Numbers that talks about this guy by the name of Balaam who gets upset because his donkey refuses to do what he wants it to and starts beating it. And somehow, God gives the donkey the ability to speak, and it says to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” A talking donkey! Weird, right? But not apparently to Balaam. Without skipping a beat, he talks back to the donkey, “Well, now that you bring it up… it’s because you made a fool of me.” Anyone here who has a pet knows that an animal making a fool out of you is not a weird thing. Happens all the time. Your pet actually start speaking human words to you, on the other hand? Weird.

Or how about this. “We are saved by the blood of the Lamb.” If you have been in a Christian church for some time now, that might not seem so out of the ordinary. But if faith is new to you, you may be thinking – “Blood transfusion?” That’s just weird.

Let’s face it. There are many things in the Christian faith that seems pretty weird. But let me make an observation, or more like an assessment here:

Weirdness is caused by lack of depth and lack of understanding.

Ultimately, all of these things that I have mentioned and more seem weird because we just don’t know what they are really about – we simply don’t understand. And this is why our current series on Christianity 101 is so important. Kind of going back to the basics to make sure that we have not missed anything, that we have not taken anything for granted. Whether we are talking about the nature of God, or the identity of Jesus, or the inspiration of Scripture, or what it means to be saved, without proper study and deeper speculation, all these aspects of faith (though they may seem common) will ultimately remain just simply weird.

And the idea of the Holy Spirit is no different; very few people have a right and full grasp of it. It’s just something that we have come to accept over time. If not in its full understanding and entirety, at least in its vocabulary. In other words, we talk about the Holy Spirit, but we really don’t know fully what its about and perhaps even what we’re really saying when we do talk about it. And what has happened is that we have fallen into some misunderstandings/myths about the Holy Spirit. Let me just mention three myths that seem pretty prevalent (in my opinion):

One myth that many of us hold to about the Holy Spirit is that it’s only for Charismatics. We have this image of the Holy Spirit manifesting itself in Pentecostal worships where people are raising their hands and shouting, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”, and praying in tongue, and falling down all over the place, engaging in spiritual warfare, and we say, they have been filled with the Spirit. That’s for charismatics. Not for United Methodists. It’s kind of like the light bulb jokes I’ve heard. How many Methodists does it take to change a light bulb? At least fifteen. One to change the light bulb and three committees to approve the change and decide who brings the potato salad. How many Pentecostals does it take to change the light bulb? Ten. One to change the light bulb and nine to pray against the spirit of darkness. Hallelujah! They’re filled with the Spirit.

Actually, the Holy Spirit is not just a charismatic thing. It’s not just for Pentecostals. It’s every bit Methodist and Wesleyan as it is for any other church or denomination. No single group of Christians have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit needs to be present and recognized in all churches.

Here’s the second myth that many of us hold to about the Holy Spirit. Kind of like the first myth: It’s only for some people. I think there is this grave misunderstanding that the Holy Spirit plays favorites. That the Holy Spirit rests on, or fills up, or works through those that are spiritually more mature or more elite. That the Holy Spirit is like a symbol of rank in the church or the Body of Christ. And so, many people feel that they are not as strong as or good as other Christians because they feel they have not experienced the Holy Spirit. Actually, it’s this very type of thinking that got the Corinthian church in trouble. They started using the Holy Spirit as a status symbol dividing those of the “in” spiritual crowd from those of the “out”. The Apostle Paul tells them, the Holy Spirit is not about that. It’s actually about unity and binding the members of the Body of Christ together. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is available for all.

The third and last myth that I want to address about the Holy Spirit is this understanding or belief that it is only a New Testament thing. A lot of times, when people think about the Holy Spirit, they equate it to the day of Pentecost. That not only was that the birth of the Christian church, but that it was also the birth of the Holy Spirit. That on this day, the Holy Spirit made its grand debut world premiere appearance for the very first time.

Those that accept this myth also believe that there are three eras in spiritual history. The era of “God the Father” where God is present in creation and in the history of Israel. The era of “Jesus the Son” where God is incarnate in this man from Nazareth and these miracles are performed and these teachings take place. And finally, the era of the “Holy Spirit” which begins on Pentecost and remains in the existence of the Christian church.

But the truth is that the Holy Spirit is not something that’s just found in the New Testament. It’s not something that just appears on the day of Pentecost.

IN THE BEGINNING…

In fact, upon a deeper look and a fuller study of the Holy Spirit, we will see that the Holy Spirit has always been around. The Bible proclaims the presence and the work of the Holy Spirit from Genesis to Revelation. Flip through the pages of Scripture, both Old and New Testament – whatever version or translation you want to use – and you will see the Holy Spirit just all over the place.

And it is important to note this so we understand that the Holy Spirit was not an afterthought. It wasn’t like God suddenly coming to the realization that, “Uh oh, my son has been crucified, and I can’t leave the disciples to simply fend for themselves. I better do something. I better give something. Hmmm, what could I do? Oh, how about I create the Holy Spirit and provide that as something that would help them?” Obviously, this was not the case. The Holy Spirit is not an afterthought or something offered reactively in light of the void left by Jesus’ death. The Holy Spirit was present and was the plan from the beginning of creation.

Specifically, when we look deeper into Scripture, we see that the Holy Spirit was/is (first of all) part of the creative work of God. In Genesis 1:1-2, we read: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” That word we see as “wind” in this passage is the word, ruach, in the original Hebrew, and it can mean, wind or breath, but also Spirit. In other words, the Bible says right off the bat that the Holy Spirit was present in the work of creation. Later on in chapter one of Genesis, there is this interesting verse where it reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image…” Did you hear that? The plurality of the pronouns, “us” and “our”. Another piece of evidence that the Holy Spirit was present since the beginning and certainly that the Holy Spirit is present in the pages of the Old Testament.

We also see in Scripture, that the Holy Spirit was/is (secondly) part of the saving work of Jesus. It’s actually amazing how much the Holy Spirit is connected to the person and ministry of Jesus. Consider these verses: Luke 1:35 – Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Him. Matthew 4:1 – Jesus was led by the Spirit. Matthew 3:13-17 – Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism. Hebrews 9:14 – Jesus offered himself up as a sacrifice through the Spirit. Romans 1:4 – Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit. And this list of passages could go on and on. It’s almost as if there was nothing that Jesus did that was apart from the Holy Spirit. Clearly, the Holy Spirit was part of the saving work of Jesus.

Which leads us to our final understanding of what we see the Holy Spirit was or is about as we discover in Scripture. The Holy Spirit was and is part of the living work of believers. Jesus demonstrated it in his life and ministry, and when he was getting ready to leave the disciples physically, he offered them the promise of the very Spirit that was present and active in his life and ministry. This is what we read earlier in that passage in Luke:

48 You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

And here are the words from the passage in Acts:

4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’

Jesus promises this very presence of the Holy Spirit to his followers. And it’s really interesting how this Holy Spirit is spoken of by Jesus. In the original Greek, the word that we translate Holy Spirit is the word “paraclete”. The word paraclete, literally means “one who is called alongside of”. And the word paraclete is also referred to in the English translation as Comforter, Counselor, Advocate. It’s this person that walks with us, encourages us, strengthens us, guides us, and intercedes for us. Jesus tells the disciples, this Holy Spirit – this paraclete – I’m going to make available to you, so that you will never ever be alone. The presence of the Holy Spirit will forever be the evidence of how much God loves you, Jesus says. How much I love you. And it will be available to you. You just need to know that, recognize that, and claim that. And there’s nothing weird about that.

WIRED CHRISTIANITY

So, how do we experience more of this Holy Spirit in our lives? How do we go from approaching the Holy Spirit as this weird thing to something that we can really tap into? Kind of get hardwired and connected to?

Well, in order to tap into the power of the Holy Spirit or experience what I call “wired Christianity” (rather than weird Christianity), we need to:

One, simply be aware of the promise. Understand that the Holy Spirit is not an afterthought nor something accidental. It’s very intentional and very available to us. And in fact, it’s promised to us. So we need to be aware of that.

Two, learn more about the presence. With anything in faith, we can only use what we know. And so next week, we learn more about the Holy Spirit, and in particular, how we can experience its power in our lives. But the key here is learning and knowing. Make this your commitment, especially in this series as we go through Christianity 101, not just to take faith for granted but to learn, really learn.

And last, keep your eye open to the prompting. Just look around, and begin to see things with ready eyes. Look for God working around you, and when you see something that is extraordinary, praise God for that, and tell yourself that it’s the Holy Spirit at work. And let that work remind you that God loves you, and that God is wanting to clothe you with power from on high. More on that next week. For now, let’s just experience this gift of the Spirit together, as we continue to worship and as we pray right now. Amen?

Articles, Sermons

Sermon transcript – Why & How Should I Read The Bible?

TranscriptChristianity 101.4 Why & how should I read the bible?
Psalm 1:1-3, 2Timothy 3: 12-17
May 6, 2012
Pastor Anne Choy

Since Easter, we have been preaching Christianity 101. Christian basics that are always good to review and go deeper in. After Easter we looked at, “Who is Jesus?”, “Why Did Jesus die?” and last week, “How can I be sure of my faith?” or my relationship with God. Today we are looking at “Why and How should I read the bible?”
In Matthew 4:1-4, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ “
Life is not just from bread or the food we eat. Life is more than a physical existence. We can probably all think of people who are physically alive but their life has no has no meaning or joy.
In the Message interpretation that verse is “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.” Words are still coming from the mouth of God! Amazing. The verb used here is in the present and ongoing!

Why should we read the bible? Some would say the bible is popular. It is the top selling book of all time. But just because a book is popular doesn’t mean I want to read it.
The bible is precious. Many here have been in countries or know missionaries who have gone to countries where the bible was banned such as parts of the Middle East, China and Russia before. People would sneak in parts of bibles to share secretly with others at risk of being arrested.
In 2 Timothy we heard today, the apostle Paul writes his last letter to encourage Timothy, a timid and gifted pastor. If we go back earlier in the letter, Paul tells him do not be like those who love themselves, or money, or boast, or are arrogant, abusive or disobedient. Paul says look to my life as evidence of how to live. All believers will be persecuted.
How is Timothy to stay faithful and be instructed in this way if Paul is not there? In verse 14, Paul says continue in what you have learned, believed and been taught.

The bible teaches you:

• The way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
• For showing mistakes, correction and training character.
• So that you may be equipped to do everything that is good

Paul talks about the scripture being God breathed. We tend to think of this in regards to the writing of scripture. And it was. But God is still breathing life.

*Scripture is inspired by God and inspires others.

God breathed life into the world in Genesis, into dry bones in Ezekiel, and continues to breath life into us now!

Why read the bible? We read the bible because it is Powerful. So many people are seeking spiritual life and supernatural. Through scripture we meet with supernatural powers of good.
When we read the bible, we see how God spoke in the past.

God reveals God’s character and Jesus, the incarnation.

We know God in relation to people and the world. Read stories of God and God’s people and creation.

God speaks today, through the bible God is:

• inviting us to follow and be in relationship with Jesus. The bible is a love letter to us.
• Establishing identity. Last few weeks we talked about Jesus and the I am’s. I am the bread of life, I am the way, the truth and the life. Last week we talked about Who I am in Christ because of who Jesus is. In Christ I am secure, loved, significant. Maybe some of those verses are becoming your favorites.
• Giving guidelines for life. Many of us don’t like a lot of rules but what would it be if we were out driving and there were no rules? There would be a lot of accidents as each person did what they wanted. Or many of you have children and grandchildren, what would happen if a sporting event had no rules? It would be really chaotic and not fun. Rules guide us.
• Teaches kingdom values and ways, showing us how to relate to others.
• Offering presence, God’s joy, peace and power in everyday challenges. You may have heard Bellen Castillo share how Ps 139:16 helped prepare and sustain her as she dealt with her son’s unexpected death. Last week Bella Marcelo spoke of Joshua 1:9 that gave her strength and courage as she became a widow. God’s presence in our lives today.
• Giving purpose direction for our lives beyond this material existence, food for souls.

The other week I told you how I like to watch the show “Clean House”. One thing I have learned from that is how people can end up collecting and holding onto cherished belongings that remind us of people and memories. But it becomes so cluttered that we do not even enjoy it anymore and the thing becomes a barrier. The thing points to much more and instead becomes a barrier. One man had a massive collection of shirts and Hawaiian shirts from his father but never saw them or enjoyed them.
What is a favorite bible verse? I encourage you to write it down. You might know the chapter and verse. You may just remember part of the words. We can look that up. Maybe one of “In Christ I am… from last week.

Many of you know that after college I was laid of a bunch of times. I felt awful, hopeless and terrible about myself. Everything I had been working toward seemed to be falling apart and the future seemed very scary. My favorite verse for that was Jeremiah 29:11. I held onto that verse to remind me who I am and it gave me power, hope, guided me. I met the holy in that verse. If I focus on what happened to me then, I can still feel overwhelmed. Instead I focus on how God met me in that verse.
Psalm 1:1-3 is the first prayer in the book of prayer in the bible. It sets the pace. It tells us not to follow others but delight in the law of Lord, meditating on it. That word is like cows chewing on their cud over and over. When you do this you will be like trees that are well watered, fruitful, not withering away in dry times but prospering.

So how should I read the bible?

• Make a ¬¬¬¬time and place to read that fits your life. Maybe you are a morning person with a cup of coffee and in your favorite chair. Or if you dash out of the house in the mornings, maybe at night before you go to bed. Or maybe a little time over lunch. Find the time for you.
• Ask God’s Spirit to speak to you. Such as: Speak Lord, your servant is listening. From 1Samuel 3. Or God, would you speak to me through your scripture? God is breathing life. Be open to him.
• What does it say?
• What does it mean in its setting and context? I know many of you have study bibles with notes, study guides or commentaries are available online. See me if you need help finding one.
• How does this relate to my current situation? The bible is not just for the past but it connects to our lives today.
• What is God calling me to do, be or change? How will you respond to God’s leading?

I heard a quote the other day that says many of us own a Bible, but do we let the bible own us? Do we allow the bible to shape our character, identity, and how we see the world and respond to it with God’s heart and mind?

I listed some favorite scriptures in the sermon notes to hold on to and be held by. I invited people to post on our Facebook page their favorite verses. So far we have Galatians 6:9 do not weary in doing good, Romans 12:17 do not repay evil for evil and Jeremiah 29:11.

Why read the bible? To be open to God, be shaped, molded, for life that streams from the word of God.

Let me close with this prayer from Ephesians 3 : I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

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Sermon transcript – “Why God’s Love Prevails, Part 5”

TranscriptWHY GOD’S LOVE PREVAILS – Why Series pt 5
Pastor Sun Hee
Romans 8:28, 31-39

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
 we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOD MAKES BEAUTIFUL THINGS

We just read today from a very familiar passage, Romans chapter 8, where we heard these words: We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? It’s one of those standard Christian verses that make it to many top ten lists. The top ten most quoted verses. The top ten pastoral responses when there’s nothing else to say. The top ten scripture passages to make it into decorative Christian wall art or a Hallmark card. All things work together for good…

Well, according to the Apostle Paul, these words are more than just mere Christian-ese or some spiritual cliché. They are really at the heart of answering a lot of our “why” questions. For the past few weeks, Pastor Ann has been leading us in a discussion of some of the hard and tough questions that we face in life. Why do good people suffer? Why do my prayers seem to go unanswered? Why is God’s will so difficult to find? Now, if you have been with us through this series, you will have come to learn to your dismay, that there are really no easy clear-cut answers to these questions. In fact, if anything, often times we find ourselves left with more questions than answers. And frankly, the reality and presence of these questions are really hard to deal with.

Well, some of you will know that I was on a retreat this past weekend down in Santa Cruz with a bunch of our young adults – a retreat called, Deeper Calling. And actually I was wrestling with some questions of my own. Like why did it have to rain on the one weekend we plan to have this retreat? It was wet. It was messy. And it poured off and on throughout the retreat, until of course, the retreat ended. Then the sun came out. Why? Or why were the bathroom stalls so small? No kidding, the bathroom stalls at the retreat center made airplane lavatories look like luxurious restrooms. They were really, really small. I think some of us were actually afraid to go in, thinking that maybe we would not be able to come out. Why? And why was there only one shower for a cabin that holds twenty-five people? I know we are supposed to be about community, but this was kind of pushing it. Why?

Okay, I admit my questions may be a bit superficial, but I raise them to show you something I learned at this retreat – something that addresses the very questions that we have been wrestling with in this series. And what I learned is really what the Apostle Paul is proclaiming in his letter to the Romans. All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Or put another way:
God makes beautiful things, God makes beautiful things out of the dust.
God makes beautiful things, God makes beautiful things out of us.

These were the words that we sang over and over again at this retreat in Santa Cruz. It kind of became our theme song, if you will. And I totally saw these words unfold over the course of the weekend and become reality. And it blew me away. What we started with was certainly not what we ended with. I mean, can you imagine what it felt like for us to fight through the rain and traffic to get to the retreat only to find that we had to cram into cabins sharing one shower with a bunch of strangers and feeling a little tentative about using what one of the pastors called “the toilet of no return”? Not great. Not great at all. But again, this is what we started with. Not much more than what seemed like a pile of dust. More on this a little later.

What does God do with a situation like this? How does God work in the midst of despair and hopelessness? And more importantly, where is God when people suffer, when prayers aren’t answered and the will of God is so hard to find?

ADAM’S ANSWERS
In the fourth and final chapter of his book entitled, Why?, Rev. Adam Hamilton summarizes and drives home the ideas that he had been hinting at throughout the first three chapters of his book – ideas that help us to answer these questions at hand. This is what he says:
“I will suggest that God walks with us, that God works through us, that God takes the evil and suffering that occur in life and forces them to serve us, and that God ultimately will deliver us.”

In other words, what Adam Hamilton seems to be saying is this: life may be full of unexplainable suffering, and there may be times when God even seems silent, and we may find ourselves wrestling with doubt and racking our brains to figure out the will of God, but the truth remains, we are not alone in this struggle. We are not alone in these questions. And there may be situations we find ourselves in where it seems like we’re caught between a rock and a hard place, or where we feel like all hope is lost and we have exhausted all of our resources, but the truth is that God is still at work. He’s not finished with us yet. God is making beautiful things, God is making beautiful things out of the dust.

This is what I witnessed first hand at this retreat that I attended in Santa Cruz. And in particular, I observed three things that helped me to put a lot of our “why” questions into perspective. The first is this: Everyone is broken in some way. Everyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are, what kind of job you have or don’t have, whether you’re single or married or divorced or on Match.com, whether you’re a man or a woman, or longtime church member or atheist. Everyone’s broken.

This is so important to acknowledge, I think, because so often when we are in the midst of some sort of suffering or pain, we think we are the only one. And when we ask the questions of why, it becomes a very lonely experience. You all know what I am talking about. Well, at the retreat, we talked about our Deeper Calling and the need to go deeper with ourselves. We talked about what it means to go deep below the waterline to see and get in touch with the things that often times remain hidden and largely submerged, not unlike an iceberg. And it was noted that we hide these parts of ourselves because we fear rejection, or judgment, or simply because we think we are “the only one”.

But by the grace of God and with the Spirit’s moving in our midst, one by one, each of us started to share what was deep below. Pains, hurts, doubts. And it was truly moving to listen to the various stories that demonstrated that we are all broken. And I want to note that it wasn’t one of those types of sharing where we were like competing against each other to see who’s more broken. It wasn’t what I like to refer to as the “Olympics of Pain”… you know just one massive pity party. No, it was truly an authentic and deep type of sharing, and it showed us that we are all struggling and that we are all broken.

Which brings me to the second thing I observed at this retreat: brokenness doesn’t mean uselessness. You see, what I clearly saw at the retreat was that God uses one person’s story to heal another person’s pain. It was amazing to witness that as people started to open up and share from the deepest parts of their lives and deepest parts of their brokenness, other people started to resonate and connect with what was shared. And I don’t think that any person had any idea of how deeply impactful their sharing would be to another person’s heart. No one set out to share thinking that somehow God would take their words and use them to mend the brokenness of someone else. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. One young adult had shared about his five years of being an atheist and how now God had brought him back. That testimony touched another young adult’s heart that confirmed his own call back to the church after being away for a while, and actually you are going to hear from him in a few minutes. And believe it or not, this person’s testimony that you’re going to hear very soon deeply touched and inspired one of the pastors at the retreat. That pastor, of course, was me.

And there are many more testimonies like this. Testimonies from people who attended a retreat for the first time. Testimonies from people who have attended many retreats before but went deeper for the first time. Testimony after testimony, I witnessed God using people’s stories to heal other people’s pains.

A lot of times when we are going through our pain and suffering we don’t think that the pain or suffering will ever be something useful in our lives or something that will be useful for anything for that matter. But as Adam Hamilton says, God takes the evil and suffering that occur in life and forces them to serve us. I love this thought. When we suffer, that is not the end. When we experience pain, that is not the end. God is going to use it and redeem it. And as we heard Paul saying today in Romans 8:28, God will work all things together for the good. This is so true.

And this brings me to the last observation that I want to share. Ultimately, we find God in the journey and not only in the destination. When we experience suffering and pain, we need to know that God is right there with us. When we are lifting up and sometimes even crying out our “why” questions, we need to be reminded that God is not absent from our lives. And certainly, our real life testimonies will speak of not feeling God at all times and in all places. And certainly, in the midst of our pain and brokenness, many times we feel as God does not hear our prayers. And we find ourselves waiting for a different time, a new day, an alternate scenario or a destination, if you will, where “there you will find God” and “there you will experience God.” But the truth is that God is available in the here and now. It’s not something we have to move towards and travel great distances to experience. All we need to do is open our heart and invite God into the journey. Our journeys may not change. Our pain might not go away, but God will become real and we will experience the one truth that always remains: God’s love will prevail.

I’m always amazed when I think of those words that were found carved into the wall of Nazi concentration camp cell:
“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when God is silent.”

In many ways, this is our proclamation. This is our testimony. In the midst of all of our pain, all of our suffering, all of our brokenness, all of our feeling like dust, God is still here with us in the journey, and that God is making beautiful things out of dust. This is real, friends, and to show us how real this is, I want to invite the person that I mentioned a couple minutes ago. Some of you will know him, and after today, many of you will want to know him. So, Arvin, would you come up and share your testimony with us now? Let’s welcome Arvin with a warm applause.

[Arvin speaks]

DEEPER CALLING, DEEPER CONVICTION, DEEPER COUNTING

Thank you so much, Arvin. Our God is great, amen?! What Arvin shared is indeed a testimony of the way that God works in our lives. If we are willing to go deep and keep our hearts open, God’s love will prevail.

I love what Adam Hamilton writes at the close of his book, Why? This is what he says:
I have come to appreciate how Frederick Buechner captures this when he said, “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.” The words of theologian Jurgen Moltmann have also resonated with me as he described the meaning of the resurrection of Christ in this way: “Since earliest times Easter hymns have celebrated victory of life by laughing at death, by mocking at hell, and by making the lords of this world absurd.” (Adam Hamilton goes on to say) Every year I end my Easter sermon at Church of the Resurrection in the same way. After twenty years the people anticipate it. I note that people ask me, “Do you really believe this story about the resurrection? Do you really believe that Easter means the worst thing is never the last thing? Do you really believe that good will triumph over evil and God’s plan will ultimately prevail?” And my answer is always the same, “I not only believe it, I am counting on it.”

Friends, this is exactly what we need to do. In hearing the deeper calling of our God, we need to experience a deeper conviction, and in experiencing a deeper conviction, we need to practice deeper counting. We need to count on God and the truth that God’s love will prevail.

And so, I am going to invite you to do simply two things today to apply this whole series to your life and to your faith. One, if you are in the midst of some sort of struggle or pain or brokenness, don’t ever give up hope. God makes beautiful things. God makes beautiful things out of the dust. The worst thing is never the last thing, amen? We can count on that.

Two, shift your focus from “why” to “who”. I know that those “why” questions are important, and I know that we need to be honest in raising them. But don’t dwell on them, because what is more important is not “why” is this happening, but “who” is with you as its happening. And today, Paul says, God is with you. God is always with you.

35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
 we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ 
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the light of this amazing love of God, let’s continue to open to God’s leading to share and bless one another. God is indeed making beautiful things out of us. Amen? Let’s pray.