Sun Stand Still

First,  sorry that I have been absent for a few days.  Life and ministry and responsibilities meant that there just wasn't time for a post.  But this week we are back in the groove.  And, as has become a habit, below you will find the message I shared yesterday at Good Shepherd.  Before we get to that, an important note that, as I will mention this message was based on and inspired by the book 'Sun Stand Still' by Steven Furtick.  It is a great book with a challenging message for all of us that would claim to be followers of Christ.  Much, in fact most, of what is below is taken from the book and I would strongly encourage you to pick it up.  Thanks for journeying with me!  And see you tomorrow.

Josh.10.1-15 (NIV)

1Now Adoni-Zedek a king of Jerusalem b heard that Joshua had taken Ai c and totally destroyed [1] d it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon e had made a treaty of peace f with Israel and had become their allies. 2He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters. 3So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, g Piram king of Jarmuth, hJaphia king of Lachish i and Debir j king of Eglon. k 4“Come up and help me attack Gibeon,” he said, “because it has made peace l with Joshua and the Israelites.”

5Then the five kings m of the Amorites n —the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

6The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: o “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

7So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, p including all the best fighting men. 8The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid q of them; I have given them into your hand. r Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” s

9After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. 10The Lord threw them into confusion tbefore Israel, u so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. v Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon w and cut them down all the way to Azekah x and Makkedah. y 11As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones z down on them, aaand more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

12On the day the Lord gave the Amorites ab over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon. ac ”

13So the sun stood still, adand the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on [2] its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar. ae

The sun stopped af in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting ag for Israel!

15Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

Matt.17.14-20 (NIV)

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy a

14When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures b and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

17“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith c as small as a mustard seed, dyou can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. e Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Impossible.  It’s a word we use a lot.  Impossible is a situation we run into in our personal lives at school or work, on athletic fields or in our lives together.  And while I think the word is probably overused – sometimes when something is simply unlikely, amazing or impressive – we all know how to define impossible.  If it’s impossible it simply can’t be done.

But since you are sitting here, in church this Sunday morning – instead of sleeping in, eating brunch or something else – then I am going to assume that you have experienced or at least are aware that being in relationship with Jesus Christ sometimes allows you to brush up against the implausible and the unlikely, if not the impossible. 

The Bible – both Old and New Testaments are littered with stories of the miraculous.  Unlikely and even impossible things that happened through the power of God.  Sometimes these miracles are just examples of God choosing to act on our behalf.  Often these miraculous and impossible things happen when people trust in God, listen to the call God has placed on their lives and respond by acting out in faith.

We have looked at several of these stories this fall.  Stories of resurrection, healing, walking on water – and even stopping the sun from setting.  One of the things that all of the miraculous and impossible acts that we know of and read about seem to have in common is that they happened a long, long time ago. 

Why don’t we hear about God doing the impossible today?  Why don’t we see examples of God doing the impossible around us?  And maybe most pointedly why don’t we experience God doing the impossible in us, through us or for us? 

The answer, in short, is that we have stopped asking for God to do the impossible in our lives. 

But what if God doing the impossible wasn’t just meant for Bible times and people like Moses and Joshua – but was actually meant for people like you and I and for the people of God, just like Good Shepherd. 

This idea is the focus behind a book I read recently, written by a pastor in Charlotte, NC named Steven Furtick, and the book is titled ‘Sun Stand Still’, taken directly from the story of Joshua that we heard just a few minutes ago.  To be honest there is a lot more from the book and behind this idea than can even fit into two messages.  But I am going to try and give you an overview and a sense of the main ideas – and encourage you to borrow the book from me or pick up your own copy if you are interested in learning more. 

The book begins about where we pick up the story in Joshua: Joshua is leading the Israelite army against the forces that have aligned against them to try and keep them from settling in the promised land.  The odds are steep, and the Israelites are definitely outnumbered.  But God has promised Joshua (in verse 8) that ‘I have given them into your hand.  Not one of them will be able to withstand you’

So after an all night march (scholars say at least 20 miles and mostly uphill) Joshua and the Israelites rout the Amorites and give chace after them.  And almost without knowing it, we are at a crossroads.  Today has been a good day, a very good day, for the Israelites.  They have a won a great victory.  This is where most of us, likely where you and I would thank God for victory and blessing and call it a day.

But the victory isn’t complete – there are still many Amorite soldiers fleeing from them. 

Once night falls any hope of tracking the Amorites down and capturing them will be lost and this great victory will be turned around, because the surviving Amorites will be able to regroup and eventually mount an attack against the Israelites.   

So the crossroads for Joshua is this: believe and act according to the reality he was faced with: that it was a great victory, but there simply is no way to completely conquer and capture all of the Amorites.   Or to believe in the promise God had made in verse 8 – that not one of the enemies would escape or withstand his hand.

Joshua chose to believe in the promise of God and asked for the impossible.  An impossible thing that would allow he and the Israelites to fulfill and receive the promises that God had made to them.  Joshua asked God to make the Sun to stand still and, well you know the rest.

Now of course we can’t just gloss over the ‘Sun standing still’ part of all of this – because understanding that God really can and does the impossible is essential to seeing how this matters for our lives.

There are all sorts of questions: Did God actually stop the earth spinning on its axis?  Was there some sort of artificial daylight (is it artificial if God created it)?  What really happened?  There are entire books written about those subject, but I choose to believe that the same God that entered into history to bring his Son back to life, is able to intervene for his people then and now.

But the better, and deeper question we should be asking is this: Could it be that God intends for us to have the same kind of audacious faith – the kind that dares to believe God for the impossible – as a normal way of life?

What does it mean to have audacious faith?

Audacity is the opposite of complacency.  It is an approach or a mind-set that approaches God with confidence and believes him for the impossible.  Audacious faith isn’t some new idea, but rather a return to the simplest core of what it means to be a Christian: trusting Jesus completely in every area of your life. – That is audacious!

Before we can begin to truly pray a ‘Sun stand still’ prayer in our lives we have to have the audacious faith to believe that God is able to answer our prayers by doing the impossible and that – if they are in line with God’s will that God wants to answer those prayers with a resounding and even impossible yes – remembering if we have the audacity to ask, God always has the ability to act

Audacious faith takes God at his word and seeks to find how we can form our lives around the promises God has already made and prepared for us.

Before we can really ‘activate’ or begin to live out this kind of faith in our lives we have to align ourselves with the mind of God.   In the book, Steven Furtick talks about getting a glimpse of what God had in mind for him on ‘page 23’ of a Jim Cymbala called ‘Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire’.  The quote was ‘I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show himself mightily on our behalf’

In reading that Furtick realized that God has amazing things in store – available for us – if we would but ask God to work in us and through us and then be available and open to the Holy Spirit. 

The ‘mighty work or showing’ of God on our behalf is different for everyone.  But it is for everyone, it isn’t just for superstar Christians or pastors or just the session members, but for every one. 

So how does this work?  Unfortunately there aren’t 5 steps or 7 habits or anything like that – but there are three phases or ways of relating to God that help us get to where we are trying to go.

First we have to Seize – if you want to see God do something impossible in your life your heart and mind to God’s vision for your life:

And this is key – God’s vision for your life is bigger than yours. 

Ephesians 3:20: him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

Essentially our vision is a kids cup and God’s vision is the crazy 144 oz insulated thermos that you see people carrying around everyone in a while

Activate our faith - Audacious faith doesn’t really begin until we make the decision to step out (or take a leap of faith) with a strength that is outside of yourself.  Seeking after God’s outsized vision for your life, will, in the normal course of things, cause you to pray ‘Sun stand still’ prayers filled with an audacious faith.

Make your move – When we respond to God’s supernatural answers by acting boldly in faith we will find ourselves right in the middle of a move of God, the impossible coming to pass or maybe even a miracle.  Audacious faith in God and ‘Sun Stand still’ prayers are not passive activities, but rather they are the combination of an active belief in God joined with participation in the purposes of God.

I hope this all sounds great and exciting to you – because as I read our Bible passages this morning and as I read and studied this book and our scriptures I got excited about the change living with an audacious faith and praying ‘Sun Stand Still’ prayers might bring  ( so I really hope I conveyed that excitement)

But if you are anything like me when you listen to a message like this, it all sounds good . . . but.   But how am I ready or qualified or capable of being part of incredible, and impossible things? 

The good news is that if we are feeling unimpressive or unqualified for whatever it is we think God is calling us to – we are in good company. 

Jesus didn’t pick the ‘best and the brightest’ for his disciples, but common, ordinary and often uneducated men as his disciples

In a story we heard just a few weeks ago, God had Gideon dismiss thousands of his soldiers so that God’s glory would shine more clear

Etc., etc., etc. 

The bottom line – for this week anyway – is that God isn’t interested in what we think is possible or within our skill-set or comfort zone.  God is interested in our active faith in his Goodness and greatness. 

God call not to match our skills, gifts and abilities against some heavenly ‘chore chart’.  God makes the impossible possible through you and I when we are willing to step out in audacious faith beyond what we can do on our own . 

This is what Furtick says: ‘The impossible becomes possible for you only as you carefully observe and faithfully obey the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Yes, God wants to increase your influence and multiply your impact in more ways than you could ever imagine. But he doesn’t always do that by calling you to make drastic changes in your life overnight.  God probably won’t call your family to relocate to a remote jungle before the end of the month.  Most likely, some ordinary opportunity or responsibility in your everyday life will seem to catch fire.  Faith opens your eyes to see the potential to serve a God who is already at work on your behalf.’

More next week on how to pray a ‘Sun Stand still prayer’ and live a Sun stand still life and what impossible thing God might be calling us to do as Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church.  Amen.

Never too early, but sometimes too late

We will, at some point, get back to the daily lectionary, but not today.  I have spent a good part of the day getting to hear stories that tell the story of the man from our church that died suddenly last week.
They were wonderful, even beautiful  stories about a man that loved his family and took advantage of the time he had to spend with them.  For obvious reasons, I won't get into any specifics of the stories here.  But as I was listening to them I was convicted by the example his life was.
So often we get focused on 'what's next' or what some people have called the 'tyranny of the 'urgent'.  Meaning that if you let it the thing that has to happen next, will take time, energy and focus away from the things that are important in the long term, not just for the next 5 minutes, the next 5 days or even the next 5 months.  If we don't intentionally carve out time for the things that are important (really important, eternally important) in your life, other things (less important things) will quickly fill up all of the spaces on your calendar and take up all of your energy and focus.  
I don't have much time but I feel like this is something important to share.  If you are reading this, your 'real life' has already begun.  The question is, are you living it like it is your real life?  Are you living it like it is your one chance at this thing?  
Every moment we have is an opportunity to live - and really live a full and whole life.  And the  harsh reality is that once passed, you can never get those moments back.  It is true too that none of us is sure how much time we have, which is why Jesus called us to be ready, on watch and prepared.  
So tonight I am going to figure out a way to spend some time where my wife and my children are my focus.  I am going to try going forward to not let the urgent - but fleeting - concerns monopolize my time and energy and live each day to the fullest.  This is what we are called to do as Christians, but living this way is not some sort of sacrifice - it is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus gives us of a whole and full life, living into the Kingdom of God even here and now.  
Stop reading and go do something important or at least be with someone important.  

How can it be well?

Today I thought I would share the message that I gave at church yesterday at the strange confluence of Reformation Sunday and a tragic loss in our community, the thoughts were my best attempt at making sense of things we don't understand.  The scriptures to go along with it are included as well.

Romans 3:19-28 (TNIV)

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. ²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in ^[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, ^[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. ²⁷ Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the "law" that requires faith. ²⁸ For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

John 8:31-36 (TNIV)

 ³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."      ³³ They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"    ³⁴ Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther--described as "a poor, emaciated monk"--nailed to the door of the castle church at Wittenberg, Germany ninety-five Latin theses.  The theses condemned "indulgences" (the selling of pardons by the Catholic Church); made a plea for repentance; and invited sinners to salvation by grace.

Luther's theses were copied, translated, and spread throughout Europe--and the Protestant Reformation was born, lighting the way for John Calvin, John Knox, Karl Barth and us.  At one point this week, I thought the paragraph I just read was going to be the focus of the entire message this morning.  But, as we all know, this week didn’t go according to the plan and we are here this morning with a heavy heart and the Sutro family on our minds and in our prayers.

Earlier this week I shared on my blog some thoughts about how we respond to tragedy and difficult circumstances in our lives, and I want to share them again here.  I highlighted a scripture passage from 2Kings, which I always find myself turning back to whenever these difficult times in life come up.  The passage highlights what happens when we turn to God and trust in God in times of grief and sorrow. 

2 Kings 4:8-36 (New International Version)

 ⁸ One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. ⁹ She said to her husband, "I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. ¹⁰ Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us."   ¹¹ One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. ¹² He said to his servant Gehazi, "Call the Shunammite." So he called her, and she stood before him. ¹³ Elisha said to him, "Tell her, 'You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?' "  She replied, "I have a home among my own people."   ¹⁴ "What can be done for her?" Elisha asked.
      Gehazi said, "Well, she has no son and her husband is old." ¹⁵ Then Elisha said, "Call her." So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶ "About this time next year," Elisha said, "you will hold a son in your arms."  "No, my lord," she objected. "Don't mislead your servant, O man of God!"   ¹⁷ But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.   ¹⁸ The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. ¹⁹ "My head! My head!" he said to his father.  His father told a servant, "Carry him to his mother." ²⁰ After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. ²¹ She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.   ²² She called her husband and said, "Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return."   ²³ "Why go to him today?" he asked. "It's not the New Moon or the Sabbath."   "It's all right," she said.   ²⁴ She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, "Lead on; don't slow down for me unless I tell you." ²⁵ So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.   When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, "Look! There's the Shunammite! ²⁶ Run to meet her and ask her, 'Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?' "   "Everything is all right," she said.   ²⁷ When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me why."²⁸ "Did I ask you for a son, my lord?" she said. "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my hopes'?"   ²⁹ Elisha said to Gehazi, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy's face."   ³⁰ But the child's mother said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So he got up and followed her.   ³¹ Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy's face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, "The boy has not awakened."   ³² When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. ³³ He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴ Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. ³⁵ Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.   ³⁶ Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, "Call the Shunammite." And he did. When she came, he said, "Take your son." ³⁷ She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

Apart from the miracles in the story, which are amazing, I want us to focus on the words – and the understanding, the faith of the mother.  She repeats this phrase that summarizes her understanding of God’s providence and her example of truly, fully trusting in and on God: It is all right – or in earlier translations (and in the famous hymn): It is well.

After her son has died, as she is leaving to find Elisha – she tells her husband – it is alright – (her son is dead and her only words to her husband is ‘it is well’.  When Elisha sees her and sends his servant to see if there is something wrong – if the boy is okay – her response ‘everything is alright’ – it is well

What happens after she finally tells Elisha about her son’s death is what we all recognize as the miracle – and it is miraculous how Elisha brings the child back to life.  But there is a miracle to be found in the words and faith of the Shunammite woman as well.

For according to her – it was well and everything was alright before Elisha had brought her son back to life.  The miracle is the perspective we can have; the peace we can feel when we are truly, really trusting in and on God.   It is well – these are not the words of satisfaction after our wish has been granted, but they are words of faith, trust and hope meant to be spoken in the midst of pain, sorrow and grief.  It is well. 

Simply put, when we are able to let go of our fear and anxiety, when we are able to stop trying to ‘make it right’ on our own – and fully trust in God.  It is well and everything is alright

Not after God has ‘fixed’ things – but right here, right now in the midst of our fear, our pain, our sickness, our grief – in the middle of this fallen and broken world.  It is well because God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is present here with us in the midst of it – and God can do that which we cannot. 

Everything is alright, because we can lean into and on the power, wisdom and peace of the Holy Spirit – power, wisdom and peace that is beyond our understanding.  And that power, wisdom and peace is certainly beyond our ability to obtain it for ourselves.

And this is exactly what we are remembering today with Reformation Sunday.  This was the heart of the reformation  - and continues to be the heart of what it means to be ‘reformed’:  Full reliance on and trust in God – with the knowledge and understanding that we are incapable of ‘getting it right’

There are times in this life where we simply can’t make it on our own.  We weren’t designed to and we aren’t capable of it.  In fact, our inability to make it through life and our inability to earn a place in God’s family on our own is the reason Jesus came to earth and choose to die on the cross. 

The understanding that we can’t get to God by ourselves and we can’t make it through life on our own – that piece of knowledge, is a fundamental starting point of our faith. 

And it is why Luther and others found the ‘indulgences’ that the church was selling as the tipping point at which they could no longer stay silent – the church is not the body of Christ is it is selling tickets to heaven.  Our inability to ‘earn’ or gain salvation by ourselves, apart from the grace of God, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, is in fact The Truth that sets us free.

The truth that Jesus proclaimed over and over again (and in our Gospel passage today): None of us can be justified by the law – that is on our own merit or by our own means.  But all of us can claim justification and salvation in relationship with Jesus Christ, which is freely offered to all of us.

Once we accept and believe in that truth, we are free of the burdens that come with trying to earn or – as was the case in the reformation, literally trying to buy your way into eternal life with God. 

The acceptance of that truth opens the door to freedom.   We are now Free to allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.  Free, through the Spirit, to be who God created us to be and who we are called to be.

Free to fully experience and appreciate the love God has for us –demonstrated in Jesus Christ. 

The grace God has for us – given freely to us by Christ on the cross.

And the peace God has for us – present and active in our lives through the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

It is by accepting the truth that we are hopeless and powerless to help ourselves and experiencing the freedom that comes with accepting the saving help of Jesus Christ that we can begin to say – it is well – because our wellness isn’t dependant on what we can do or handle – but on Jesus Christ. 

It is this idea that Paul is speaking of in 2Corinthians 4:6-8

⁶For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness,"^[a]made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. . . .

⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

The freedom that we have in Christ does not promise us a life without despair, persecution or difficulty – those are unavoidable realities of this life.  But what the freedom and salvation of Jesus Christ does promise is that when we trust in God, when we lean on God and lean into God’s will for our lives that we may be hard pressed on every side but we will not be crushed. 

We may be perplexed, but not in despair. 

We may be persecuted but we will never be abandoned. 

And we may be struck down, but because we are in Christ we will not ever be destroyed. 

And it is because of that truth and that assurance – that our fate does not lie in our own hands – is not up to our own skills or abilities, but instead rests on the saving love and grace of Jesus Christ that we are able to say, it is well.

Amen.