Sermon -- The Righteous Must Stand; with Daily Devotionals

The Righteous Must Stand

By Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Jeremiah 2:4-13 and Psalm 112

Jeremiah 2:4-13

2:4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
2:5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?
2:6 They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?"
2:7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
2:8 The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.
2:9 Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children.
2:10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.
2:11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.
2:12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord,
2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Psalm 112
112:1 Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in his commandments.
112:2 Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
112:3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
112:4 They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
112:5 It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
112:6 For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
112:7 They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord.
112:8 Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
112:9 They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
112:10 The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

We share two different text this morning, both from the Old Testament. We will get to them, but I would say at the outset that the first one, from Jeremiah, speaks to the world we live in today, and the other, from the Psalms, speaks to the remnant of God's own enduring what we know now, and what is coming.

The state of California is known for its many fires during the summertime. Small armies of forest rangers are sometimes pulled in from neighboring states to help fire the great walls of flames, and sometimes the state must ask for federal help, and soldiers, sailors, Marines and airman are mobilized to assist as the fires rage in the very resemblance of hell on earth. Each year numbers of livestock, wild animals, and even homes are destroyed in the out-of-control blazes.

There is a well-known story told from several years ago when, after they had knocked down a very serious fire which had burned acres of landscape and destroyed many homes, firefighters were going over the still smoldering forest ground to ensure the fire would not start up again. One firefighter came up the scorched body of a grouse hen, spread-eagled on the ground. He thought perhaps the heat had killed it as it spread its wings to escape. But as he moved it aside to ensure there were not hot spots beneath its body, a brood of grouse chicks suddenly fled in every direction. He was amazed and called others over to see. It is was obvious now that the grouse mother hen had spread her wings over her chicks and refused to save herself from the killing heat in order to spare her chicks. They survived. She didn't.
I think sometimes we tend to brush aside the real impact of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for you and I. After all, Jesus was the God-Man, perhaps His sacrifice on the cross was no big deal, perhaps as the Son of Almighty God He didn't feel pain the way we do. Oh, but he did. He set aside His own glory to be born as a flesh-and-blood baby, feeling and knowing all the pains and agonies and uncomfortableness of living in the flesh in the world of that time. He knew hunger, he knew fatigue, he knew even the pain of shared sorrow, for He wept at the death of his friend, Lazarus, even though He knew God could restore this man.

No, it was every bit as great a pain and a sacrifice as if you and I had gone through it in our own flesh. That was part of the gift.

There is a relevant story here, told by a friend of mine, an old Marine named John Boring. John tells of a young man who walks five miles to deliver a gift to a friend. When he has delivered the gift, the friend offered to drive the young man back to his house, but the young man declined and said, "The walk is part of the gift."

For God to have come down, let Himself be nailed to a cross, then returned to Heaven would not have satisfied the debt we owed through sin. No, it required that the righteousness of someone of flesh and feeling lose their life as a sacrifice, with all the attendant pain and suffering that goes with the horror of a crucifixion.

We are reminded then, that when we give the gift of ourselves to our God and His son, Jesus Christ, the walk may only be in our mind, but it's all part of the gift. We need to make the walk mean something by continuing to take steps along the path to His grace.

Jesus Christ came in the flesh, was whipped, scourged, beat, and He bled. Then they nailed His hands and feet to the cross, with all the agony that rips loose in the human body. God so loved His creation, you and I, that He would ask His own son to do that. And Jesus, who was even before time, loved us, and loved the Father, so much, that knowing ahead of time what it would mean, did it anyway, for you and for me, and all those who will accept that unbelievable gift of life.

Now, if you can understand that, you begin to understand the unfathomable depth of love the Father has for us, down through the ages, and now you should go back and read Jeremiah 2:4-13. And I challenge you to read through it, feeling the great love God has for us, and do it without tears. I cannot. What love. What heart-aching love.

How can we say we love him, and so quickly turn our back on Him? How can we love Him and do those things which please us, but cause His great heart such pain? Can we not see the tears in His eyes? How can we love Him and not do the things He says?

Love is almost never without pain. For you want the very best and sweetest for that one you love. So if you fail them, or if they fail you, there is that stabbing pain in the heart, wanting better from them, and for them. How much pain there must be in the greatest heart in the universe.....because of us.

And yet, He has promised never to leave us if we will call on His precious name. In spite of all the pain, all the deception, the lying, the turning away from Him, all the way back into the New Testament, we find this priceless promise in 2nd Chronicles 7:14 -- a promise I am seeing spoken of more and more today almost as if we are testing to see, is it still true, and it is -- "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

No one keeps promises like God keeps promises.

And so we come to the second text in today's message, Psalm 112.

The first two verses start that chapter out with, "Praise the Lord! Happy are those who fear the Lord, who greatly delight in His commandments. Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed."

Sometimes you must wonder, beneath the weight of such national deceitfulness and lying in high places, shoved and pushed on every side by unethical and immoral behavior and the demands that it be approved by God's people, how does America continue to stand? What has withheld God's hand? Will He soon be apologizing to Sodom and Gomorrah?

In Isaiah the first through the fifth chapters, God's word speaks of what happens to a nation under judgment. And as you read through that, if you have any concern for America at all, the hairs will rise on the back of your neck, because you realize what Isaiah is describing there of Israel is exactly what is happening in this nation right now. Across our borders from the south, the east and somewhat from the north, America is under invasion from the anti-God, anti-Semitic, woman-degrading forces, and they are not being stopped. Natural catastrophes are pummeling not just America, but the whole world. The quality of everything is declining, the value of our paper money is declining, there are fewer and fewer jobs for people, and many people would rather live off the government's offerings than look for a job, our leaders mock the Living God, and leadership gives way from bad to worse.

So what is it that is holding this nation's tent pole up against such an onslaught of the forces of Satan? That praying remnant; that God-fearing remnant; those Christians who have not bought into the "easy gospel", the "get-rich-quick" gospel, the gospel that says God is just another magical genie and he'll give me whatever I want. Such belief is in danger of hell-fire. God sees, God knows, and God will reward.

In Psalm 112, verses 6 through 8 tell us, "For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the Lord. Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes."

Be not afraid, my beloved in Christ, but stand firm in the sureness, in the truth, of scripture. Numbers 21:19 reminds us, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor the son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

Those believers in Jesus Christ who yet stand firm in their faith, may yet save the nation, not because of anything they can do of themselves, but because the Living God keeps His word, keeps His promises, and continues to love His creation.

Even as ungodly men take advantage of the gifts of freedom and liberty in His name, and press in on us on every side, yet we have the words of Jesus to His disciples in His farewell address to them: ""I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

And then we have this reminder from the inspired word of God in Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Over and over again in scripture we hear the Lord saying, "Fear not," as He says in Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with you." Pray, dear ones, stand firm in His love, and pray. It will be well with your soul.

Amen.

Daily Scripture Readings for August 30-September 5, 2010
Monday -- Acts 10:34-43
Tuesday -- 1st John 2:1-17
Wednesday -- 2nd Corinthians 2:3
Thursday -- Luke 6:27-36
Friday -- Luke 6:37-42

Saturday -- Luke 17:1-6
Sunday -- Ezekiel 33:1-11; Psalm 94:12-22; ; Philemon 1-20; Luke 14:25-33

Imam: U.S. Constitution Compliant with Sharia Law

The assertion that the U.S. Constitution that outlines our God-given rights is compliant with Sharia Law of Islam and its false god of Allah is something that must be knocked down immediately. It is so far from the truth as to be an absolute lie, and yet there are some "tools of Islam" who will agree with Imam Rauf, who is working to build the Islamic mosque near Ground Zero. Rauf is another example that a Muslim may say anything, true or not, to advance the cause of Islam; so says their Qu'ran.

http://frontpagemag.com/2010/08/27/sharia-for-dummies/

Obama Most Religious President? Huh?

All because President Obama gets Bible verses on his email, MSNBC thinks he's the most religious President ever? That doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Besides, it isn't about being religious MSNBC. Wake up. Read your Bible. Rev. 2:6 says Jesus hates religion. Oops! Fact check editor!

MSNBC calls Barack Obama the most religious president of recent times | Liberal Media Bias Exposed b

www.ihatethemedia.com

According to Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s increasingly shrill White House correspondent, Barack Obama – who has rarely attended church services since his election – is the most religious president of recent times.

http://www.ihatethemedia.com/msnbc-calls-barack-obama-the-most-religious-president-of-recent-times

It's Not a Marshmallow World

by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Psalm 14

14:1 Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.
14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.
14:3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one.
14:4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?
14:5 There they shall be in great terror, for God is with the company of the righteous.
14:6 You would confound the plans of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge.
14:7 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Dean Martin used to sing about it being a marshmallow world; "It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day ... It's a sugar date, what if spring is late." Nothing can go wrong in a marshmallow world. If only the world was like that, all sweetness and light. But instead there are bad people, ugly surprises, things we don't like with trends for good and evil going every which way. But at least watching trends can warn you.

I love trends, and as I read more news and information blogs, newspapers, magazines and watch more TV news than any human being probably has a right to, I'm always delighted when I see a trend developing that supports the Christin principles that were once so in evidence in the common good of American society. It's almost as if the angels all got together and said, "Father, this week we're going to be righting wrongs wholesale and watch the demons squeal!"

This past week was one of those weeks, and I could almost hear the squealing! Here are eight examples:

Judgment Vindicates Calif. Student Punished for Pro-Life T-Shirt

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081305.html

Pro-Condom Bishop Corrected by Southern African Bishops’ Conference

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081308.html

Canadian Gvmt Lets Off Pro-Lifer for Refusing to File Abortion-Funding Taxes

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081307.html

D.C. Admits Planned Parenthood 'Private Property' Sign was False

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081313.html

Majority of US Hispanics Oppose Abortion and Gay 'Marriage': Poll

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081317.html

Urban Oufitters Pulls Planned Parenthood Condoms

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081306.html

Russian Would Fire Abortion-Compliant Employees, Seeks 'Orthodox Transfiguration of Russia'

http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/aug/10081309.html

Atheists Answer Christians with Blow Dryer "De-baptisms"
http://indyposted.com/33511/atheists-answer-christians-with-blow-dryer-debaptisms/

These eight examples run the gamut from "Praise the Lord!" to the truly silly. No one seems to be without an opinion about Christianity, any more, although that is what you hear most, opinions. Few have bothered to "go to the Book" to see what God's take on these matters is, where He stands concerning our both licentious and legalistic society.

This has become especially true on the subject of Islam and the building of mosques. Far too few of us have bothered to educate ourselves about a religion that is followed by about 7 million of the people in America. We listen to "ghost stories" and colorful gossip, but we don't really know, so when confronted, we fall back on "Jesus loves everybody" and "everyone has a right to their religion." After all, this is America.

Before I go further, I want you to know that within our own U.S. Armed Forces there are 6,000 Muslims in uniform, serving our nation. They fight the terrorists just like the guy or gal beside them. They are also appalled with what Nidal Hassan did at Fort Hood; those were their fellow soldiers. And many of them are U.S. Marines who are my friends on the social network, Facebook. You can learn more about them at http://www.apaam.org/.

There are many "kinds" of Muslim Americans, just as Christianity has Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Episcopalians, and so forth, not all of whom believe in speaking in tongues, immersion baptism, tithing or even supporting large church buildings. It is the Islamic extremists, the political terrorists against whom we must guard. So i say to those who paint everyone with the same brush, don't lump my Marines in with terrorists; it's easy to stuff everyone into the same box, but it's not smart. That's how you make enemies of friends.

But Islam in America has become a recent issue for three reasons. The first is that the 2,810 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack -- including citizens of 115 different countries -- were murdered by Islamic terrorists. These extremists used the religion of Islam for their political terror.

Secondly, an Islamic Imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, is working to build an Islamic Center, which some say will include the worship center of a mosque, just a few blocks from what has become known as Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers stood, where so many died that terrible day.

Third, the President of the United States, at a Muslim dinner celebrating the beginning of the Islamic Ramadan, at the White House, interjected himself into the issue by announcing the Muslims had a right to build what is being called the Cordoba Building near the Ground Zero site. That has elevated the discussion to the national news level and caused many more people to choose sides than wanted to. Based upon elements of President Barack Hussein Obama's previous conduct with the Muslim world, this latest event has led many to question his claim of Christian faith, declaring he is Muslim by his actions.

President Obama may be the victim of the kinds of trends we were discussing. On the one hand he may be following the admonition from Jesus Christ to love our neighbor and is attempting to find common ground with them. If that's the case, his assistants are doing a terrible job of helping us to understand, and he is making no attempt to do so.

On the other hand, we have a young boy named Barry Soetoro, trained as a Muslim, of whom we know precious little before he became a politician from Illinois and then President, all under the name of Barack Hussein Obama. We know precious little because the President has gone to expensive lengths to hide from public view his school records, travel records, and even his birth certificate. Such actions do not inspire confidence in that person's fidelity. What is he hiding?

Criticism of the President and his office have even reached the point that what was at first circulated as a joke, took on such a sinister meaning among some people that a merchandiser with that punch line, a quote from Psalm 109:8 was taken off the market at the beginning of a holiday season. Psalm 109:8 reads, "May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership." Many people seemed to think it was some kind of code for violence against the President.

So we need to address the question, should Christians respect President Brack Hussein Obama?

First, yes, we need to respect the Office of President of the United States, as good citizens of this nation we love, honor, and respect. But when the person in that office abrogates his responsibility to We the People, we have a right and a responsibility to call that person to account and move to limit the amount of damage being done to this nation.

Now, some will immediately leap to Matthew 7:1 that tells us not to judge lest we be similarly judged. But the real answer is in the context. Jesus is telling us not to judge hypocritically, to make self-righteous judgments about people. Holy scripture cannot be read piecemeal, picking a line from here, a line from there, cafeteria style. We must study scripture in context.
Christians are often accused of judging by those under the microscope, those who know no more scripture than they found in a fortune cookie, no more than Matthew 7:1. But how are we then to discern and beware of those who practice evil, those who are false prophets, if we cannot make judgments about them? We can.

If we see someone caught up in sin, we have a Christian duty to lovingly confront them with their sin, and offer them the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. That requires a judgment on our part, so we can restore them to fellowship.

2nd Chronicles 19 and Ezekiel 3 both buttress Ezekiel 33:8, which tells us, "If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand." Before God Almighty, the action is ours, to correct, rebuke, and encourage, as 2nd Timothy 4:2 says, with great patience and careful instruction. We are to judge sin, always with the intent of presenting the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as the solution for sin and its consequences, according to John 14:6.

Would this apply to President Obama? It does in this pastor's eyes. I do not know Barack Hussein Obama personally, and I can only look at the fruit of his actions and how that affects the citizens of this historic experiment called America.

And I cannot share his stated value system for this nation, for example, his views on abortion, the murder of children; his radical Marxist views on re-distribution of wealth from those who have worked hard for it, to those who will not work.

I cannot agree with his plans to raise taxes for everyone who makes more than $250,000 a year, a figure that has changed three times since last August.

I absolutely cannot agree that the United States of America is arrogant and is not a Christian nation. This nation has shared trillions of dollars in aid to devastated nations, still provides clothing, food, water and volunteer manpower to countries around the world who are in need. The arrogance is in the person of the President, with an approach to people and problems that is almost regal in content, dictatorial, "my way or the highway." I feel certain people are taken aback by that. But it is his implementation of that arrogance as it concerns Muslim issues that truly frighten people. They are concerned about his fumbling approach to the economy, jobs, and the lot, but having his face set toward Islam is frightening for most of us.

To claim that America is not a Christian nation flies in the face of history and current facts. Speaking at a press conference in Turkey in May 2009, President Obama told the world, "One of the great strengths of the United States is ... we have a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values."

That would have been a surprise to the 76.5% of Americans, 159 million, who consider themselves part of an historic and de facto Christian nation.

No one should have been surprised, however, for on the campaign trail in 2007 he told CBN's David Brody the same thing. He added, "When you have pastors and television pundits who appear to explicitly coordinate with one political party; when you're implying that your fellow Americans are traitors, terrorist sympathizers or akin to the devil himself; then I think you're attempting to hijack the faith of those who follow you for your own personal or political ends." From the campaign trail that was seen as a shot at those who were not aligning with his political party, apparently all those Christians no longer part of a Christian nation he said didn't exist.
But that's not all. Neither can I share his view on reducing our military by 25% while we are still under attack, throwing even more men and women out on a failing job market. Nor can I agree with his decision to give amnesty to all those in America illegally with no means to pay for their own healthcare, to make their own contributions to the Social Security system they are to draw from, who will play havoc with the job market by taking jobs at lower wages than those who are not on immigrant support can live on.

Also, I join those who see his healthcare system as a tragic mistake, the life and death impacting implications of which we are only now beginning to see.

I believe he is wrong on homosexuality, wrong on the definition of marriage, wrong about Radical Islam being our friend and Israel being our enemy, and that he is acting from a completely skewed strategic view of the problems in the Middle East. Neither I nor history agree with his intentions to appear submissive, obsequious, or servile towards those in the regimes of Iran, Korea , China or anyone else.

Perhaps most of all, I do not share his spiritual views, either those he claims as a Christian from 25 years of black theology rants against America, or his demonstrated support for Islam.

G. K. Chesterton was an English writer of whom it was said provided "common sense for the world's uncommon nonsense." Known as the "prince of paradox," in what has been called his "reasoned apologetics," Chesterton wrote, "It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong." Islam is a religion which refuses to allow examination of itself. As such, it takes itself off the table of consideration by reason, and makes itself an enemy of every other religion.

The current Islamic issue holding America's attention, a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, was neither a religious nor political issue, until Pres. Obama moved it up to such with his pontification about it at the dinner in the White House celebrating Ramadan, with other Muslims. But it still is not about one more mosque.

There are already Islamic mosques all over America, 100 just in New York City, so it is not that Americans are Islamophobic. Islam has been practiced privately and publicly in the United States for many years, and you can see where the mosques are all over America by going online to http://halalmaps.com/. But Islam does not allow for the existence of other religions, and this is a nation which allows exactly that. Americans are not Islamophobic. Islam is Christophobic. It cannot allow the existence of Christianity in order that Islam may flourish. Islam even forbids the building of a Christian church within the entire nation of Saudi Arabia. That is religious bigotry.

The Imam behind this Islamic building says it is not just a mosque, but it will be a cultural center. However, if the effort is to share the Islamic culture with others, then the question is do we need exposure to the Sharia Law culture of wife beating, jihadist activities, and religious extremists integrated into our society? Okay, maybe that is unfair. Then let's tone down the rhetoric and just ask if we really need the cultural influence of burka wearing, uneducated women held down and demeaned by their men, women unable to see a doctor unless the doctor is a woman, or who must look at her problem through a hole in the sheet separating them; women punished if they are in the presence of a man to whom they are not married, women who can be cast adrift in society at a man's whim; violent punishment for daughters, to the point of death, for a father's disapproval; temporary wives for men; and a societal approval of lying and deception to those not of your own religion. This all detailed, and allowed, in the Islamic Koran. If this is not to be the case, Muslims such as my military friends must speak up, and we must support them.

America is a nation that says all people are created equal, with the right to work to better themselves, with the right to worship as they wish. The relevant question is does the Islamic culture square with that?

The reason 70% of Americans do not want a mosque built near the 911 Ground Zero site in New York City has nothing to do with Islam as a culture or as a religion. It is because those extremists who kidnapped the people in those aircraft and destroyed their lives, and murdered all those people in the Twin Towers in a most horrendous way, it is because they were Islamic and creating that horrible tragedy for religious reasons. If those murderous thugs had been Christian, or Mormon or Hindu or whatever, the reaction would be the same accordingly; do not rub our nose in the religion of those who did this. To do otherwise is to show an incredible insensitivity to the victims' families and to their memories. To a reasonable person, that is easy to understand. Those who fly in the face of that reasoning will do so only for ulterior purposes, for their own unspoken agendas. That conclusion is so obvious it deeply offends the American sense of respect and justice.

This is not an issue of religion, not an issue of legality or rights. It is an issue of old-fashioned, deeply held American sense of justice and fair play. Jesus says to love our enemies, and we can do that if we can be assured the extremists will be made to put away their swords and play nice.

Here's a suggestion. Build the Cordoba Initiative next to the Kaaba, the Dome of the Rock, in Mecca, in memory of all those who died in the Twin Towers because of Islamic extremism. And let America know when that is to be accomplished. Then we can all celebrate, lest it be true, "They have all gone astray, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who does good, no, not one."

Amen.

Daily Scripture Readings for August 23-29, 2010
Monday -- Matthew 23:1-36
Tuesday -- Matthew 20:28
Wednesday -- Matthew 6:1-24
Thursday -- Matthew 6:25-34
Friday -- Matthew 5:1-11

Saturday -- Matthew 5:13-20
Sunday -- Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29; Psalm 15; Hebrews 13:1-8; Luke 14:1, 7-14

Lord Lord? I Never Knew You - Paul Washer

Anger Won't Save the Vinyard

Anger Won't Save the Vineyard

Sermon by Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Isaiah 5:1-7
5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
5:2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
5:3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
5:4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5:5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
5:6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
5:7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!

The book of Isaiah is rich with wisdom and information not only for those of its own time, but for this day and this age in which we live and move. In these passages, God is comparing the house of Israel to a vineyard. In the same way, these words can be applied to America. Is this national vineyard producing the fruit it was intended, full, succulent grapes from which will come a life-giving wine? Or is its purpose being lost in poor management, destroyed through bitterness, in-fighting and anger?

This past week I commented on Facebook about the growing sense of anger and frustration we see being fed by a sense of helplessness and hopelessness as our elected and appointed officials seem to go off the deep end in ways counter to the welfare of We the People. They are caring more for themselves than for the vineyard we know as our nation. There seems to be an anger growing more intense, and so widespread that it could eventually grow into violence that will kill the very rich purpose of the vineyard.

My initial comment about anger and helplessness came about when I learned that our own State Department is paying for Imam Feisal Abdul Rouf, who intends to build a Muslim mosque a couple of blocks away from the 9/11 Ground Zero in New York City, to travel to the Middle East to drum up more funding for this mosque most of America thinks is a travesty so close to the killing fields created by Muslim terrorists. There is so much anger evident about this across America that I felt led to urge people to turn it into fervent prayer to the Living God whose wisdom and strong hand can make a difference.

An angry shopkeeper in New York City was quoted as saying, "I feel like there is a ruling class in America who think they know better than I do, and they don't give a *blank* what I think."

Another person commented, "It sure is easy to become engrossed in the hatred that is breeding in this Country. Even amongst Christians. I began to act in a way that was unfamiliar to me and I had to really seek God on it. I do feel anger is appropriate to some degree but it must never interfere with our work for the Kingdom. I said just yesterday we need to storm Heaven with prayers for this country and for those deceived by Islam."

Truthfully, we are awash in anger in America today. Fear is most often the genesis of anger; fear of what know but can't control, fear of what we don't know or don't understand.

The news media is replete each week with new examples of fear and anger. Just this past week the Associated Press released a story about increasing fear of more violent patients in hospital emergency rooms, with recommendations for "24-hour security guards, coded ID badges, bulletproof glass and panic buttons." Many hospitals are now installing metal detectors, with one hospital in Ohio "confiscating 33 handguns, 1,324 knives, and 97 Mace sprays in the first six months of the program."

Fear and anger cause some people to go armed, even if it's only with Mace spray and an attitude.

The news media, of course, is not an innocent party in all this anger. For the sake of controversy that draws readership, which hikes ad rates and pays everyone's salary, their entire approach to the world is, "Let's you and him fight." Then they have a story. Their very greed and self-interest works against a healthy vineyard.

Sometimes we pole-vault into anger out pure and continuing discouragement. We seem to see no way out of our dilemma and this lack of power makes us angry. Pastor Charles Stanley recently wrote about the External Causes of Discouragement, based on Colossians 3:21.

" Discouragement can hit us from many angles," Stanley wrote, "depleting our energy and productivity. Wise believers will learn to detect its sources in order to avoid this paralyzing effect." He listed six common external causes:

1. Unresolved disappointments. This applies to letdowns caused by our own failed expectations or someone else's.

2. Constant criticism. When we are criticized frequently, it is natural to think, "What's wrong with me?" Yet, unless God reveals a truth in the comments, we must learn to let them go.

3. The feeling that no one's listening. The natural response to this is rejection.

4. The sense that we aren't appreciated after doing our best. We can get so tied to our work that someone's failure to acknowledge our efforts feels like a personal rebuff.

5. Bad working conditions. Many believers enjoy what they do but pick up on coworkers' cruelty, bitterness, or refusal to recognize their efforts. This can make it extremely difficult to get motivated about going to work each day.

6. Lacking opportunities to shine. A job that doesn't make the best use of one's gifts and abilities can wear a person down. So can tight-fisted management that limits freedom to make innovations.

Stanley points out that oftentimes, it's the people we see every day who seem to have the most power for causing emotional impacts in our lives. So if any of the above scenarios sound disturbingly familiar, we need to pray for the strength to face these external discouragers with renewed confidence, so we respond from a point of peace, and not anger.

Far too often anger is that out-of-control emotion that leads a person to take action they otherwise would not have. In New York City this past Monday, a flight attendant reportedly had taken enough cursing and battering abuse from an angry passenger while the plane was still on the ground, so he grabbed a beer from the galley, deployed the slide-for-life and left the plane in style, and in anger. Although he was arrested, arraigned on several charges, and put in jail under $2,500 bond, by the next date a Facebook page set up in his name had 20,000 supporters, with membership growing by the thousands each hour. One member had established a legal defense fund for the flight attendant. The angry passenger was not arrested. But at least 20,000-plus people felt a kinship with the flight attendant's anger.

Where does this anger come from? Are we not better off than the disease-plagued ages of yore? Is the very vineyard not much improved from olden times? Are not miracle medicines, instant communication, faster cars and boats and planes, world-wide entertainment, central air and heating, are they not enough to please our hunger for "the good life?" Enough so we feel we are being treated fairly?

And yet we see anger searing nearly every episode of life; both winning and losing sports fans destroying post-game stadiums and neighborhoods; petty arguments escalating instantly into gunplay and death, road rage on the highways that kills, maims and destroys whole families. Both losing and winning political opponents spew their agenda-driven rage while campaigning and even after the election. Anger in the supermarket lines, anger in bank meetings, anger in the boardrooms, in the kitchen, in the living room, and in the bedrooms. Even anger in the church as one faction takes another to court to exact their pound of flesh.

Where does such anger come from? It certainly doesn't come from worship, from praising God, from being filled with the Spirit of Almighty God.

II Timothy 1:7 reminds us that "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and sound judgment." In most cases, when you have the power, you have the solid footing for sound judgment. There is no reason to be making snap judgments and bad decisions that come from not giving the facts and the context due consideration. God wants us to make decisions that honor Him. He wants our every word and action to be such that it honors His holiness.

It's when we act out of fear, out of feelings of powerlessness, embarrassment, humiliation, or out of anger and frustration that we step away from His guiding spirit, that we do things "our way," and we do not honor God, we do not act within His will. After 27 years as a U.S. Marine and 18 years as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there really isn't much I'm afraid of, except being one second outside the will of Almighty God. We are forever one second, one heartbeat away from eternity. The kind of anger we've been talking about will take us outside that second.

Pastor Dale Williams, Jr., has said there is another anger we should all be concerned about. He indicates the Bible says, "For we are consumed by your anger, and by your wrath are we troubled. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance (Psalm 90:7-8)." Adds Williams, "The world isn't 'troubled' by God's wrath. They are offended by the thought that He is angry at them."

Nevertheless, the Bible says that they are 'consumed' by His anger. It abides on them and envelopes them as a raging fire. This is because He has set their iniquities in front of Him, like a judge who places all the evidence of a heinous crime on the bench before him before he passes sentence. But more than that, their secret sins are in the light of His countenance. They are not at His feet. They are in front of His face. He sees every wicked thought and deed. No wonder Paul said, 'Wherefore knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. (2nd Corinthians 5:11)'"

Anger among men and women often has its roots in pride, in a lack of humility before God and before men. "I didn't get what I deserved." "I was not treated fairly." "I deserve better than this." Our self-pride pushes us to levels of what we tell ourselves is righteous anger."

Facebook friend Jeremy Kurth shared with me and others this verse from Obadiah 1:3, "The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'"

Added Jeremy, "We live our lives a lot of the time with the attitude that we are better than other people, but the fact of the matter is the more we puff ourselves up the more we push others away. How can we effectively minister to people when we are always thinking of ourselves?"

In our moments of pride, self-righteousness, moments when our anger lashes out, that's the question we will have to each answer for ourselves. Let us ask and answer that question prayerfully for ourselves. God has no need to ask. He already knows.

We would do well to remember John Donne's admonition that no man is an island, that our emotional responses, whether out of love or anger, have an impact on the world around us, on the entire vineyard.

For in light of recent events it seems apparent we stand today where Israel stood in the time of Isaiah, and the Lord God has some specific pronouncements in Isaiah 5:5-7 about this vineyard, of His, in which we live and raise our families: "And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; He expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!"

Like Israel of old, the same remedy that would have saved Israel is the only one left to the Christians of America: "If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." -- 2nd Chronicles 7:14.

Amen.

Daily Scripture Readings for August 16-22, 2010
Monday -- John 14:1-14
Tuesday -- Matthew 11:1-5
Wednesday -- Hebrews 10:19-25
Thursday -- Matthew 8:18-27
Friday -- Luke 5:27-39

Saturday -- John 12:20-36

Sunday -- Jeremiah 28:1-9; Psalm 84; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:22-30