Sunday Sermon

Humble People

Isaiah 57:15

And this is the reason: God lives forever and is holy. He is high and lifted up. He says, “I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are sad and humble. I give new life to those who are humble and to those whose hearts are broken.

In two thousand and twenty-four the state of Louisiana passed a law requiring all schools to post the Ten Commandments in each school class room. For some reason this caused a fire storm of criticism and condemnation. It confuses me why anyone would object to a poster of something that is objectively true. If schools are there to teach children, the fundamental truths about the world like math, reading and science it makes since that teaching the basic moral underpinnings of the universe should be there too. No one is forcing anyone to accept the truth that is found in those words but just like rejecting the truth that math gives us all that can happen are negative results. Learning to be moral people is as critical to the development of young people as reading is because the more fluent we become in both we will be better at understanding the world around us. The idea that we would reject basic moral education is such a strange concept. A powerful part of why I worship and serve God is that God understands the human need for moral education and so God freely gives us what we need most. If we don’t grasp the value of moral instruction then we are doomed to struggles and battles that will consume us instead of letting us as humans become what we were meant to be. God knows how important this information is and so He gives it to us for free. Imagine if each generation had to figure out the basic moral laws of the universe, humans would get nowhere. Even atheists in recent years have turned back to the Bible not because it tells of the living God but because they see that the wisdom that is found in scripture is profoundly transformative. We need to go one step further and translate the word wisdom into what they really are saying and that is moral understanding. We as believers in the living God should be so hopeful and filled with joy that we have a God who explains the world to us in very clear and unrestrained fashion. God does not speak to us about sin because He loves making us feel guilty but God tells us the effect of sin on our lives because it is in fact a life or death matter. Adopting the moral concepts and ideas that God speaks about are there to make us healthy as humans and to add to the quality of our lives. Learning to trust in God and live by what God teaches will make people virtuous and that is not a bad thing. People that can be trusted and who tell the truth are just better people and that is part of what God is doing when He is working in our lives. Because we have a God who wants to explain morality to us and who tells us how to be good people should be something that draws us to God and makes us want to know God more. Let us have God teach us and train us in how to be the people God longs for us to be.

One of the reasons we trust and serve God is because God loves us and the magnitude of that love is almost overwhelming. God knows the human condition and He knows what we need most so God does not hold back. As believers we should fall on our faces and bow before God because the proof that God knows the human condition and loves us enough to give us what we need is the idea that God speaks to us about our moral problems. It is so wonderful that God cuts through all the stupid stuff that we as people do to avoid dealing with our issues and He speaks right to us. This is a love that some people might find disconcerting but when we really grasp how wonderful what God is doing is it is so beautiful. And here is the thing, if God loves us enough to teach us the wisdom of moral development than what else will God hold back from us? Moral education just is the starting point of the freedom and strength God longs to give us. We should be overcome with emotion when we see that God wants to save us from the death sin brings by trading the life of Jesus for us. All of this is aimed at the same thing and that is to learn to trust in and love the God who does all of this stuff. Our faith in reality is not in what God does but who God is. It is just we see who God is by what He does. God longs for us to look to Him and to find in Him life itself. This is the God who wants to teach us how to be moral people and God does not hide that the moral part is just the starting point of learning to love God Himself. Come and seek to learn from God and as we learn from Him we will see that He is our hope and our peace.

There is a new growing trend that is happening to homes around our area. A problem that almost everyone once faced in modern America is quietly becoming obsolete. During my life time I cannot count how many times I have had to deal with a power outage but my grand kids don’t understand that concept because of the development of the whole house back up generator. When the power fails this machine quickly, steps up and starts filling in until the power is restored. I have been thinking about that for a while now and I see a spiritual connection to a generator that fills in when things go wrong. We have a God who knows the human condition and understands what is needed and so we have a God who steps in and fills the void when we fail and I like that. The verse we are looking at speaks plainly about how God sees the state of humans and how God longs to deal with our issues. What is really interesting is how the verse starts. From this verse we see that God is not some small thing but He is described as living forever and holy. Those are not simple words and they mean that God is the powerful creator of the universe. But it does not stop there because we need to know the state of our God and so he tells us He does not live as we do. It is so important that we understand how great and powerful God is because it leads us into to places in the rest of the verse. First is we find that we have a very powerful God and that means He is able to deal with our problems. Our God is not too small to know what is going on and what to do about things. A central point about God is that God knows what is going on and God then acts to deal with things. In short we have a God who is powerful enough and who is righteous enough to intervene in human events. To make things clear all we have to do is go to the cross and then to the empty tomb if we have any questions about how God works. The other part of God is that He is also humble enough to see that His creation is suffering so He gets involved. So often we call out to God and ask where He is but that is so arrogant because we as humans are nothing compared to God. There is no obligation for God to work in our lives. If God wanted to He could just leave us alone but that is not how God works. The creator of the universe cares about us so deeply that He offers to help us and to give us the answers we need to the problems of our lives. When we know this about God we start on a path that leads us to a deep and wonderful faith in the living God.

The second half of this verse is what really brings our faith in a supernatural God into a picture of what God is all about. We do not have a God who is far away or who does not know how human lives work. Our faith is based on a God who steps into our daily lives and knows our pain and wants to help us. The two words that stand out here are sadness and brokenness. Think about this God knows how broken we are and how sad we are and God wants to know He is there to deal with those things. God is not confused by our pain and God does not want people who are all put together. Because of sin we are broken people which instead of driving God off God comes and offers His power to bring healing and hope to us. It also needs to be recognized that God is not wrong by speaking plainly about what humans face. Part of being human is being sad and broken which means we need help so we have this God who wants to help and better yet can help. God wants to hand out joy instead of sadness and healing instead of being broken and I cannot figure out why we would not take that and run with it. It does need to be made clear there is one factor that has to be part of this offer and that is the word humble. There is no demanding that God come and fix ourselves without first knowing that it is God who rules things and not us. Asking God to help us is such a different thing then demanding that God deal with our pain. We have no right to demand of God but we do have a God who invites us to come and seek Him and in doing so find the healing we need in our lives. Humbling ourselves means we admit we are not in control and we have no power but we are willing to accept the power of God. Being willing to humble ourselves and come under the loving authority of God is not something that is easy for people to do but the offer that God gives is not just some basic fix but God offers a whole new life to us. How can we not be willing to come to God and bow before Him when He offers such amazing thing.

When ever I write on the subject of God dealing with our pain and sadness I always feel I have to add some addendums so we don’t get things confused. This is not a big deal because it speaks to who God is and I want us to understand the God who calls to us and invites us to know life instead of death. First is that God never tells us we will not suffer. Next is yes, God does sometimes relieve our pain but most of the time the pain we have is because we are broken and as God brings healing to us most of the pain will fade but not all of it. Even the most faithful people struggled with the pain that comes from living in a broken world. Now, the good news is that as God works in us and as we learn to trust God we will find joy and that will over come our sadness. It needs to be clear that we as believers will not avoid pain but because we have a God who sits with us in that pain we will find comfort, strength and hope. Our God is faithful and will not leave us but will be with us and that is what our faith is all about.