Looking Toward Tomorrow
A Sermon On:
Psalm 130
PREPARED BY
KEN GEHRELS
PASTOR
CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
NEPEAN, ONTARIO
ROADBLOCKS TO THE FUTURE
Well, friends -- it's over. Old Man '97 has finally gone.
1998 in all its infancy, wet behind the ears, has arrived.
A clean slate. A clear calendar.
How's that feel? Relief? Any regrets, perhaps?
On this New Year's Day I want to read with you the lyrics of a song. It's written by someone who wanted to move ahead in life. And yet, much though he wanted this, he couldn't reach the future he was sure God had in store for him. Something kept getting in the way; a roadblock to the future.
The song we'll read tells how the writer dealt with it.
It's something worth reading, I think, as we stand on the threshold of a new year. 12 months, 365 days of opportunities and challenges.
And I believe --- I know --- that the particular roadblock which stood in the way of the songwriter also stands in the way of some of us. it could hold some of us back from living a free, fruit-bearing, hope-filled, worthwhile 1998.
Follow along. I think you'll see what I mean.
Psalm 130
FACING ROADBLOCKS
David's roadblock to the future -- what was it?
It was unfinished business, dirty laundry that he had tried to stuff somewhere in a back closet; that he had never bothered to clean up. It was haunting him.
In plain english, David was struggling with Guilt.
Hear me right - what I mean is not a misplaced sense of blame or responsibility for something that wasn't his fault,
you know: the sort of guilt feelings that survivors of abuse wrestle with; or that of parents dealing with children who make some painfully wrong choices in life, and end up guilt-ridden, asking "Where did I go wrong?" when maybe they didn't go wrong at all. That's NOT what we are speaking of here.
What we are talking about is a nagging, weighty sense of responsibility for something out of joint, messed up, broken and wrong which IS our fault;
where we ARE to blame;
where we SHOULD have known better or done otherwise.
where, in biblical language, we have sinned.
David found himself unable to move forward in life while these broken chapters out of his past kept haunting him. And, boy, did he have enough of them. The bible is very upfront about some of them:
- false sense of pride and one-upmanship as king
- adultery
- murder
- misplaced priorities as a parent
You see? We're talking about REAL guilt.
But enough of David the song-writer. What of you and I? What's trailing us as we head into a new year? Any pangs of guilt in the pit of your soul; unfinished business from 1997; dirty laundry hiding in the closet?
I dare say few if any of us don't have something.
OPTIONS TO DEALING WITH ROADBLOCKS
So..... what to do with these things?
There are, as I see it, three options available to us, options as we move away from a year with some bright spots, but also some rather dismal blotches:
A/ We can ignore them
B/ We can be paralyzed by them
C/ We can be driven down by them
Let's consider each in turn.
Option A/ - ignoring past screw-ups; letting bygones be bygones; sweeping them under last year's rug.
We could try that......
but........
have you ever noticed that when you try to stuff a bag of garbage in the closet, somehow it always begins to stink and make its presence known?
Ignoring a problem, trying to overlook something that is wrong, simply won't make it go away.
We still know it's there.
Even more than that -- GOD still knows it's there.
As we enter 1998, we don't enter it alone. We enter it under the ever-watchful gaze of the Eternal, Almighty Creator of the Cosmos;
the Creator from whom nothing and no one remains hidden.
Of Him David says: "If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?" The implicit answer being, "None."Whatever else you say about God, He is one who cannot and will not tolerate sin and impurity in His perfect, holy, and pure presence. He will not ignore it or sweep it under the carpet. He can't.
This blunt reality shoots apart option A, ignoring our sins and garbage of '97. It leaves us with either
B/ - becoming paralyzed by them OR
C/ - being driven down by them.
Neither are very pretty options. Here's what I mean.
B/ I could try like crazy.... again.... to keep my nose really clean. Work hard to really impress God with what's good about my life. If there IS a flaw somewhere, step real carefully in order to avoid it -- or -- try to make up for every flawed action with 10 good ones.
I've seen lots of folks follow this track. And you know what happens? They often end up as workaholics; or living double lives, wearing very thick masks to try and cover the flaws; or very uncomfortable people - jumpy, tense.
They end up paralyzed by the inevitable flaws of life.
C/ Then there's the last option -- letting the sins of the past overwhelm the present. People who follow this track subscribe to what I refer to as "worm" theology. It's a theology that's far too prevalent in Reformed circles. For such folk the dark actions of life, the stains of sin weigh very heavy. They dominate. Life becomes a very sombre experience -- joyless. We are small. Nothing.
Sinful junk. Worms.
Neither B/ or C/ provide options which are appropriate ways to live.
They don't make existence very fruitful or joyful.
And yet -- What other option is there?
Which is why David's song says,
"Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord..."
The depths -- stuck -- big time!
"Lord, I know there's this problem with sin in my life. I've seen it in '97. I don't want it haunting me in '98. But I've examined the options. I'm cornered........... HELP!!"
"Hear my voice. Let your ear be attentive to my cry for mercy."
MOVING FORWARD TO A NEW DAY
Enter v.4: the way out from under our predicament, and the way into a year of hope and joy and freedom; the only way to travel to this new day dawning; the only way out of worm theology or a paralyzing defeatedness.
"But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared."
Forgiveness -- not a "let's sweep it under the rug and forget it" type;
Solid forgiveness.
The forgiveness that is rooted in the events of Christmas just past;
Forgiveness given to us because another has stood in our place and shouldered our burden; carried our load; assumed our responsibility.
The forgiveness described in Romans 3.23-24:"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Christ of Christmas: God's son, our Saviour.
All who accept his offer of forgiveness; who are willing to surrender their lives to Him as Lord can find themselves walking into 1998 without guilt -- free,
no qualifying statements
no strings attached
absolutely free!!
And when the inevitable screwups happen -- forgiveness for them too!
continued freedom!
Forgiveness......
and coming from that, says v.4, a fear of God.
Fear -- may that be our attitude towards the Lord in 1998.
Not a quivering, cowering "Yes sir, no sir" type fear, like that of a slave to a tyrannical master.
Rather - an attitude of honour, respect, and reverence.
Reverence. Reverence arising out of the fantastic, undeserved, freedom-giving gift of forgiveness. Let 1998 be a year of reverence.
Please hear me right when I use the word reverence. I don't know how often I run into folks who have a misconception of what "reverence" means.
They understand it to mean an attitude that is sombre, serious, heavy, and formal. Reverence to them doesn't laugh, isn't light-hearted, affords little spontaneity. Reverence doesn't run in church. Which is not what the bible says.
At it's Biblical root reverence means "taking God seriously."
Honouring Him as our Rescuer, our Saviour, our Life-Giver.
An attitude of Reverence surrenders tradition, sacrifices personal desires, deposits agendas and hopes and dreams at the foot of the cross. Reverence means letting go of life the way I want to live it, and marching into 1998 the way GOD wants me to live it.
LIVING WITHOUT ROADBLOCKS
Reverence, fearing God, is -- quite frankly -- a very freeing way to live.
Compared to the other three options, it's the ONLY way to live in 1998. Wouldn't you say?
Reverence -- living out of the attitude expressed in vv.5-6 of Ps130.
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits
and in His word I put my hope."
Waiting for the Lord because, finally, He alone can provide what we need to make 1998 a year worth living:
He alone can provide true release from the sins of '97;
He alone can provide friendship and closeness every moment of '98;
He alone will stand by us through dark moments and light;
He alone can give us direction that is straight and true;He alone can provide those of us who will leave this life in 1998 the certainty of eternal rest and peace.
And so, let each of us take up the challenge laid before us by the Word of God as we face the dawning of a new day and a new year, 1998:
The challenge to wait on God in fear and reverence:
to take seriously His claim of Lordship over our lives
our homes, our jobs, our play..... our church
His homes, His jobs, His play..... HIS church!
Wait for the Lord.
Lord -- what doors will you open or close for me this year?
Help me see them and walk through them.
Lord -- what would you have me say?
Help me hear your words and speak them.
Lord -- what vision would you have me follow?
Make it clear, and keep me honest to it.
Lord -- when temptation knocks
Keep me strong, and keep me upright.
Lord -- when I do fall let me not ignore those moments, or be paralyzed by them, or be driven to despair by them. Instead - send your forgiveness. Set me free.
---- for this I wait!
Wait for the Lord.....
We will be spending time as a church community in dialogue and deliberation about priorities and principles that will drive the direction of ministry over the next few years. It would be real easy, real easy, for us to come to these meetings and conversations with shopping carts full of our own peculiar wish lists, hobby horses and pet peeves.
Can we wait for the Lord?
Lord - what does your Holy Word say about church values and direction?
Lord - what is your Spirit whispering in my heart?
Lord - what could you be telling me through the mouth of that fellow believer?
Lord - how are you speaking through the circumstances of the day?
Waiting for the Lord's direction.
I hope you will join me in a year of waiting.
Waiting in freedom, with all the blotches of '97 out of the way once and for all, cast - as someone once said - into the great sea of forgiveness by Jesus Christ, where he posts a sign that says, "No fishing." [Corrie Ten Boom]
For if we wait, and if we fear God,
- in other words, take Him at His Word
- looking for Him to answer and to guide
then one thing is for sure.
In 1998 our waiting will not be in vain.