Who are you in this story? It is important to know this. Who are you in this story?
Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a religious leader and the other a tax collector. A scoundrel nobody trusted. The religious leader stood over by himself and prayed, "God I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like the tax collector over there. I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn for offering."
The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, "God have pity on me! I am such a sinner."
Then Jesus said, "When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the religious leader who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored."
If you are the Pharisee in this story I have news from Jesus. He loves you with all the love in his heart. But this love has nothing to do with what you are doing. It is who you are that he loves. His precious child. He wants you to know something important. Your attitude that everything is right with you is wrong. You have become God and you aren’t. You are comparing yourself to others, judging others, and you can’t.. You are living in your head, not your heart. Your head is saying, "I am an active Christian who gives generously and I live a moral life. Not like those other Christians at the church. Certainly not like those other people in the world." Jesus wants so much to work in your life, but he can’t.
There is a story of a Buddhist master who was famous for wisdom around the world. One day a student comes to visit him and said, "Master, it is so good to be here. I have studied under all the great teachers of the world and now I have finally come to you. Finish my education so I can be truly the most enlightened. Fill me with your wisdom."
The Master smiled and replied, "First, let’s have a cup of tea." So the Master began pouring the tea. And pouring, and pouring, and pouring. The tea reached the brim of the cup, but he kept pouring!" Tea running all over the table.
"Stop! Master! The cup is too full!" "Just so, my son," the Master answered. "You are so full of yourself, there is no room for my wisdom."
Just so, if you are the Pharisee. You are so full of yourself, there is no room for Jesus. He wants to empty you and break you of thinking you are in charge. He wants you to live out of your heart in love, not comparing and certainly not judging. As Jesus said, "The measure you use for others, God will use for you." You don’t want that. The only one who can stand up to God’s measure is Jesus, and he is not you. But he loves you, and he wants nothing more than to fill you with his love, so you can love those around you. You have loved. You have forgotten yourself at times. When you loved others instead of judging, you were at your best, true self. "Come home to my heart, Jesus says, "It is the right place for me to work." If you are the Pharisee.
And if you are the tax collector in this story, I have news from Jesus. He loves you with all of his heart because of who you are. His precious child. There is nothing you can do to stop him from loving you. But unfortunately, you can stop thinking you are worthy of his love. You see if you are the tax collector you feel inadequate. You can’t believe Jesus would use someone as sinful as you. Or someone who doesn’t have their act together, as you don’t. But if you are the tax collector you do the right thing. You cry out to God for forgiveness. Then, you do the wrong thing. You don’t believe it. By not believing in yourself, you aren’t believing in Jesus.
There is the story told of standing before Jesus at the end of time and the worst thing that can happen is this. Jesus shows you all of the things he had prepared for you to do in his name. All of the lives you would have influenced under his power. But it didn’t happen. Jesus shows you it didn’t happen because you did not believe he believed in you.
If you are the tax collector of scripture, beating up on yourself, Jesus says, "Good, you know where forgiveness comes from. Now know forgiveness. I don’t have time for this attitude. I can’t wait around. We have a world to love. Accept my forgiveness and let’s get going." If you are another type of tax collector who feels totally unworthy and inadequate, but puts on a false front of bravado, Jesus says, "Don’t play games. I do love you. I do forgive you. We will make the world different. Let’s get going."
Who are you in this story? Pharisee? Tax Collector? Perhaps a bit of both. Jesus loves you so much he wants you to come home. A home made right by him.
You think June starts the wedding season, but I am here to tell you the fall wedding is here. I just came from a wedding this afternoon, I had a wedding last weekend, I have another in three weeks and then Chris and Candy here are getting married on November 6. I love weddings, but you know there are some issues we need to discuss. I am speaking in generalities here so do not, I repeat do not, assume I am talking about you. But, man, weddings can be complicated. Especially whom you invite.
Sometimes it hurts when you are not invited to a wedding, doesn’t it. I mean, what’s up with that? "Are we not good enough?" And sometimes it hurts when you are making out your guest list and you realize people are going to be excluded. It can’t be helped. Only so many at the reception. You know the story.
Like, you can’t invite all of your friends from work, so who do you invite? No matter what, you have to see the uninvited when you go back to work. And then you can never talk about the wedding with them. It’s too painful. And the people who were at the wedding are hiding in their cubicles. "Don’t mention the event." And you know your friends whom you couldn’t invite are a lot more fun than your goofy relatives you had to invite. Come on, let’s be honest, how many of you who are married had some of those "Wedding Singer" Table 9 types?
So, what can you do? Well, there is the old, "We would love you to come to the wedding, we just can’t have you at the reception." That’s just the wedding I want to go to. And by the way, parent’s always feel terrorized if they are your relative or close friends, and you don’t invite the kids. They won’t tell you this, but it’s like, "What, are they going to start a food fight? Are my kids a pack of pit bulls?"
I wonder what would happen if we just spent less on the reception and then we could invite everybody? Just a thought.
But, wait a minute I know a wedding where everybody is invited. Jesus makes out the list. And everyone is on that list. "Take it to the streets and invite everyone you find, I don’t care who they are or what they’ve done. Get this place full." I like the way Jesus puts it. "They went out and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad." Good and bad. "So the wedding hall was filled with guests."
Good and Bad? Everyone at the table. Well, good and bad is me and you and the person next to you. Depends on what day it is. Good and bad, everyone is there.
That doesn’t sound like the Jesus I have heard of. I thought Jesus is trying to keep people out. Isn’t he? That seems to be the message most people are hearing. A Gallup poll asked non-Christians in the United States, "What is a Christian?" The top two answers were, #1 "A Christian is someone who goes to a lot of meetings." #2 "A Christian is someone who is against something." Wonderful, you can tell a person is a Christian by whom they are against.
We used to sing song when I was a kid, "They’ll know we are Christians by our love." Well, today right here in LA, if you aren’t a Christian, the song you hear, "They’ll know we are Christians by our hate, by our hate, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our hate."
Hate might be too strong of a word. How about "They’ll know we are Christians by our closemindedness, closemindedness…"Anyway that’s ridiculous.
"So the wedding hall was filled with guests." The table is open for everyone. You don’t need an invitation. Your RSVP is right here (point to the cross). This is all the invitation you need. Good, bad, whatever. Look at this cross. This is love. This is your wedding invitation. Jesus wants to love you so much, he can’t stand it. So, he doesn’t stand it. He lays on it. Jesus stretches out it and he says with his dying breath, "I love you." This cross is the greatest sign of love there is. Period. Not a heart with an arrow through it. Not gramma and grampa walking holding hands after all these years. Not even a picture of your newborn baby. No. The cross wins out over all of those.
The love that died on that cross came back again. That’s why you can come to the table. Because that love is the greatest love of all time. That love is yours.
That love is yours if:
Full of yourself
Close to the Kingdom
Addict
Abused
Not Good enough
Now I invite all of you to the table. Come on up to the cross. Jesus wants nothing more than to be your friend. He died to love you. Jesus wants to heal you. Come up to the cross. Jesus wants you to just let it go. Whatever is holding you back. Give it to him.
(after they gather, pray)
"What Jesus Didn’t Do?" Matthew 23:13-25
What is the image we think of when we think of Jesus? Most of us remember Jesus from the flannelgraph patterns from Sunday School. Or that one picture that hangs in most churches. You know, Jesus with the beard and blue eyes and long hair perfectly parted down the middle.... the one where he looks like Nicholas Cage from Con Air.
But if there is anything we associate with Jesus, it’s that he was nice. I mean Jesus had to be a nice guy. But when you read the gospels you realize that Jesus wasn’t necessarily nice. Compassionate yes...but not necessarily nice.
Tonight we are going to focus on what Jesus didn’t do. Last week we talked about what Jesus did do? Does any one remember? Jesus taught people how to live rightly in relationships, he brought a word of grace to those who needed it the most, and finally he healed those with every type of disease. "You have heard it said, but I say", Jesus said as he re-taught the law so as to capture the essence of it. "Neither do I, I don’t condemn you, so go and sin no more" he said as a word of grace to the woman caught in adultery. And finally "I choose to heal you", to the leper who came for his healing touch. And surely our community will be about those 3 central tasks of Jesus’ ministry.
But what can we learn from what he didn’t do?
Jesus didn’t please people. He didn’t give in to the applause of men and women around him. Are there any people pleasers out there?
I have to admit this is one of my biggest struggles being a pastor. I just want everyone to be happy. Growing up, when my sister and parents got into fights I internalized a lot of that pain and now I avoid conflict so as to keep the peace.
But as I study Jesus, I realize that he didn’t always travel the road to people pleasing. He journeyed on the "road less traveled". Jesus had an "audience of one". The mission was His boss.
This started early on in his ministry when He was in the wilderness. The tempter said, "Turn these stones into bread", "Jump off this temple", "Bow down to me and I will give you the kingdom." Jesus could have used his powers in any way. But instead he turned to another source deep within him. It is written. "Man does not live on bread alone", it is written, "Don’t put the Lord to the test", it is written, "Worship the Lord your God only."
What was Jesus doing here? He was defining himself. Psychologists call this self differentiation. He was defining who he was and who he wasn’t. He was individuating, that as the Son of God he wouldn’t go around using his powers to people please. And do miracles on demand to satisfy the whims of those around him. Why because He knew intrinsically that he could never satisfy the masses. And to even try to would be a waste of time.
Jesus wasn’t a people pleaser but had an audience of one. This enabled him to be his truest self.
How about you? How much time do you spend defining yourself by those who are around you? Maybe its your parents or your boss, or a good friend. Jesus knew who he was and who he wasn’t. He had good boundaries. He didn’t become enmeshed with people and become like a chameleon.
How else do you think he could have looked the religious leaders in the eyes and said,. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites? For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them."
Do you realize that the only people Jesus got mad were the people he was supposed to be nice to? You’d think if he really wanted to make an impact he’d kiss up to those in power so he could work his way up the ladder. But I don’t think this speech would make in very high in the how to win friends and influence people category.
Jesus didn’t promise to make people happy? So often we hear the words that if we become Christians that all of sudden everything is going to get better in our lives. Some extreme versions of Christianity say, "If you have enough faith you’ll get the big house up in the West Hills, or drive that fancy car."
But no instead Jesus said, "I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves", "Do not think I have come to bring peace but a sword". "If any of you want to become followers let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their live will lose it, and those who lose their live will save it."
Now, I know this doesn’t exactly fit in with our culture which says, "if it feels good do it". Cheryl Crow’s song, "If it makes you happy it can’t be that bad." That pretty much is the attitude of western society.
Now the flipside of this doesn’t mean...that we all go around with mopey faces looking like we just lost our dog all time. But we realize that true joy comes out of living out your calling in life. By realizing who you really are in Christ, by facing the truth and then being willing to speak truth into the lives of others.
Plus don’t you realize that just living life to be happy can often be very superficial. What does mean to be happy? If it makes you happy....welll happiness is fleeting. But joy is lasting and deeper and more meaningful.
Jesus may not make you happy all the time....but he might bring something deeper joy.
3.) Jesus didn’t condemn sinners. As we’ve already seen Jesus slammed the supposed saints, and stuck up for sinners. Jesus leveled out the playing field. With Jesus around there was no room for haves and have nots.
But he said, "the first shall be last". The greatest among you will be your servants. Jesus told a story of a banquet. The king sent out invitations to all those who were in the know...You know those who you might expect to be invited. But whatever reason these people lived their life for the better option. So the king said go out to the highways and byways and compel anyone all those who would come to my wedding banquet. The text says, the slaves gathered all whom they found both, good and bad.
Well I just have one question...if Jesus didn’t condemn sinners why do we? And specifically we pick out certain sins and say...this person is particularly unclean. Meanwhile the banquet hall remains unfilled and maybe that’s why Jesus hasn’t returned.
Story of the homeless man: "It was a cold winter’s day that Sunday. The parking lot to the church was filling up quickly. I noticed as I got out of my car fellow church members were whispering among themselves as they walked in the church. As iI got closer I saw a man leaned up against the wall outside the church. He was almost laying down as if he was asleep. He had on a long trench coat that was almost in shreds and a hat topped his head, pulled down so you could not see his face. He wore shoes that looked 30 years old, too small for his feet, with holes all over them, his toes stuck out. I assumed this man was homeless, and asleep, so I walked on by through the doors of the church. We all fellowshipped for a few minutes, and someone brought up the man laying outside. People snickered and gossiped but no one bothered to ask him to come in, including me. A few moments later church began. We all waited for the Preacher to take his place and to give us the Word, when the doors to the church opened. In came the homeless man walking down the aisle with his head down. People gasped and whispered and made faces. He made his way down the aisle and up onto the pulpit where he took off his hat and coat. My heart sank. There stood our preacher....he was the "homeless man." No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible and laid it on his stand. "Folks, I don’t think I have to tell you what I am preaching about today."
With Jesus there are no insiders and outsiders. We’re all in. What a message! Do you think the world needs to see that.
No, Jesus didn’t condemn sinners, but embraced them with his arms of love. If Jesus didn’t condemn anyone, I’m not sure if I picked up the verse which says that we as his followers should.
Well what do you think? Do you suppose we can learn as much about Jesus by what he didn’t do?
Jesus was unpredictable. Following Jesus is a risky thing! Your life might get pretty messy. In fact Jesus may ruin your life as you know it. Jesus may call you to become someone unlike what you’d been conditioned to be all your life. Jesus was his own person. Jesus taught, preached, and healed. Jesus didn’t try to please people, didn’t try to make people happy and didn’t condemn anyone. Next week we’ll find out what they did to him for it!
Christian faith is not a religion, it is a relationship. A personal relationship with the living Christ, and a community relationship as we share Jesus together. Like any relationship, it is essential we get to know the other person. And so we will. Who is Jesus? We will look at his teachings and his miracles to find out. As we move toward 2000 we will know him better. For the next few weeks we will focus on his parables.
Jesus uses parables to teach. A parable is a story that uses everyday life situations from the time of Jesus. All the parables are simple, understandable stories, except for one thing. The parable has an unexpected twist. For the next several weeks we will look at the teachings of Jesus as they help us to understand- Who is Jesus?
Listen to this story.
Read Luke 15:1-7
I’m going to substitute names to get to a meaning for today. Instead of tax collectors and sinners lets use the word, "unbeliever." Instead of Pharisees and the scribes let’s use believers. These aren’t duplicate words, but they are close enough and they really help us get to the heart of Jesus’ teaching.
Now all the unbelievers, those who were not Christian, were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the believers, the Church members, were grumbling and saying, "This guy welcomes unbelievers in the church."
Then Jesus tells his story.
Which of you, is like God, who plans on 100 believers to care for, but one of them is not a believer, yet. In fact he’s lost. So, God leaves the believers to themselves and goes out and reaches the unbeliever. Sure enough, the guy comes to faith. Then God is so happy that he throws a big party to celebrate the move from lost to found. From unbelief to the joy of coming to the Lord. Just so, God, and everyone else in heaven for that matter, are filled with more joy when an unbeliever is saved, than when the rest of the church continues in faith.
This story tells us a lot about Jesus. Certainly Jesus loves us and is our Savior, but he doesn’t get thrilled when we do what we are supposed to do in the first place. God gets all the glory. When we serve Jesus in the world, it is Jesus working through us, after all. So, if Jesus were thrilled when we live out our faith, then it would be like this. Jesus would be excited about himself. "I’m so pleased I’m me," in other words. And Jesus is not that way.
(example: Parents don’t do cartwheels when their children do their chores or are polite/ We don’t say "My, what great parents we are!")
No, Jesus isn’t thrilled that Christians stay in relationship with him. He gives us the ability to do just that. Jesus expects us to stay in the flock, in the Church and do what Christians are called to do. Serve him through serving others. Jesus encourages us, and Jesus is very pleased when we do his will, just don’t expect him to fall all over you for doing what he causes you to do.
And this parable isn’t about a believer who loses his faith and then has his faith restored. Too often we miss the point and think the lost sheep is a Christian who has left the fellowship and then returned. But that has nothing to do with the story. The lost sheep is an unbeliever who comes to faith for the first time. That’s why Jesus told the story in the first place.
In fact, Jesus has nothing to do with a person losing their faith. He doesn’t cause that to happen. He’s glad their faith is restored. We can be glad when someone who has turned away from Jesus comes back again. We can celebrate. It’s just not the biggest party.
(example: excitement level difference/ family reunion where feuding relative comes back or the birth of a new child? Both joyous, but different)
But we are invited to the party. To the celebration that even heaven can’t contain. We are invited to the greatest joy of all when a person comes to faith.
Jesus says, "Rejoice with me." You might be jealous of the unbeliever who comes into relationship with Jesus. After all, heaven is throwing a party for them and not you. But remember, heaven had your party already. When you came to faith. Now you keep getting to celebrate other people coming to faith. The party is the same, it’s just for someone else. So, relax and enjoy. Go out and join Jesus in finding unbelievers to save. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to do that before that final party when we will all be together.
Compassion begins with humility. We no longer focus on ourselves.
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Why did they pass the traveler by? It could be they are focused on themselves. You see, a priest and a Levite, like an assistant priest, could not do their religious duties if they touch a dead body. Or if they touch an open wound. We don’t know where they are going but wherever it is, it is too important for their appearances and so they ignore the unconscious man. They both decide this separately. Forget the fact there is a man in need. Our needs are more important.
Another more sinister reason they may have passed him by is their view of life. They may have looked at the traveler as getting what he deserves. God punishes sinners; he must be a sinner. Now they are doing God’s thinking for him. Either way by passing by they are showing their basic problem is lovelessness. Love your neighbor above everything else. Above your regulations. Above your views of the worthiness of that neighbor.
This sounds pretty familiar when you think of some of the reactions to the AID’s epidemic, especially when it first struck here in America. Or the homeless in our land. Somehow a person might get contaminated if they get too close.. The afflicted probably are getting what they deserve. They are being punished for sin. But compassion begins with humility.
Not trying to be God’s judge but God’s love. If you have a big-hearted God, you can have compassion. If you try to be your own God, you will have bitterness and difficulty. Humility helps us share compassion.
Fortunately a compassionate person does come along.
But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’
A Samaritan helps. The last person you would expect. We assume the beaten traveler is a Jew because of Jesus’ story. A Samaritan and a Jew would have nothing to do with each other. Their separation was permanent. Jews and Samaritans used to be brothers and sisters in the faith, but they had a permanent falling out. Each considered the other wrong. They had washed their hands of one another and were enemies forever. But not this Samaritan. He was moved with pity. In other words, "compassion welled up in the pit of his stomach."
Compassion means sharing and being with people. The Samaritan doesn’t ignore the man. He comes to him. The only way we can have compassion is by sharing with others. So often, in quiet, gentle ways. There is no big announcement over how big of a deal it is that the Samaritan helps. The Samaritan just does what it takes.
And compassion is a deep love for people. Humility, looking beyond yourself, sharing and having a deep love for people are all compassion ingredients. You love people for who they are, not who you hope they could be. The Samaritan doesn’t say to the Jew, "First you must accept I’m right about my faith, then I will help you." No he doesn’t try to remake the Jew. He just loves him. No legalism, no laws, no condition, just love. Compassion loves deeply.
Think of two people in your life who have loved you this way. People who were tender, binding your wounds; close with their care. Most likely they loved you this way. Freely, with no strings attached. No expectations. A gift of love. Well follow your heart and not your head and be that person to someone else. Don’t try to figure out why a person is worthy of your love. Just love them. Have compassion. When you do, you discover God’s compassion. This is one way God designs us to experience his compassion. By being compassionate.
And the only way this can happen is if we forgive, generously. The Samaritan has tons of baggage against the Jews. Samaritans are treated like garbage by the Jews. Worth nothing. But he is able to let go. Look at his actions. He stays with the man overnight. "The next day." It is not "I’ll quickly help you, but I have to move on." He spends his own money, "When I come back I will repay you." Not, "Innkeeper you’ll need to find his next of kin, they will repay you."
How can the Samaritan let go of everything and be there for the Jew? Forgiveness. Forgiveness of the Jew for the isolation Jews and Samaritans have for each other. Forgiveness from God. Knowing he is a sinner in need of God. You can’t forgive unless you realize you are forgiven. Without that realization, there is only bitterness and resentment. The Samaritan healed and is healed.
"Which of these three, do you think was a neighbor? The one with compassion."
These next words aren’t in the scripture. But I can hear Jesus saying them anyway. "And the Samaritan left in peace."
One of my teachers prays this way. Let us pray.
God of all that is here and all that is beyond,
Stir our passion. Deepen our compassion.
May your grace be to us a drenching rain of new life.
May your compassion be with us like the rising sun.
May we sense the living, moving, stirring presence
Of your forgiveness with us now.
Help us receive your forgiveness.
Help us forgive.
Help us live lives rich with compassion.
In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. (Kennon Callahan)
When I think of rocks, I think of The Baths in the British Virgin Islands. This is an amazing series of rock formations that you can swim or snorkel through. We visited there years ago and I still remember thinking, "How did these rocks get there in the first place?" It looks like God just plopped them down. These are the rocks I think about most often because I have a picture of them in my office. (Show picture)
There is something about a rock that is timeless. Obviously rocks do not last forever, as they erode over the centuries, but because we don’t live for centuries, rocks seem timeless. Pretty logical, huh? A rock has always been a symbol of strength. The Bible’s hymnbook sings the praises of God in many ways. No less than 21 times does the book of Psalms call God a rock. Listen to these phrases:
The Lord is my rock
You are indeed my rock and my fortress
He alone is my rock and my salvation
Why do these believers keep calling God a rock? First I’m sure it has something to do with where they lived. The Holy Land is filled with rocks and rock outcroppings. If they lived in the Redwoods the writers of the Psalms might be singing, "The Lord is my tree, my strong Redwood in whom I trust."
Second, rocks are obviously symbols of strength and protection. Rocks give a firm foundation. Soldiers would hide behind them in times of war. Fortresses are built with them. Consider this. We know that when they traveled to Jerusalem, the people of God would sing Psalms on their way. We can just imagine them singing of God the Rock as they are following paths with rocks on either side. God the protector. God the one who gives them the base for their lives.
What our ancient ancestors knew and what we can discover today is that God is still our rock to build our life on because there is no other place to build our lives that will last. Listen to what God tells us again.
Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
God doesn’t know any other place we can go. O, we humans have gone other places, but they have never given us the firm foundation. They are not the rock. Think of science and how much we placed our trust in the scientific age in our world. Wars are still fought. Even though there is enough food to feed everyone in the world with great advances in agricultural technology, and yet a large percentage of the world is malnourished. Our latest Savior Science, isn’t all that.
Which brings us back to the rock. God says, I am the first and I am the last. Jesus says the same thing in Revelation 1; I am the Alpha and the Omega. These are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is the first and the last. So what does this mean?
Jesus has been there from the beginning and will be there in the end. Everything starts and ends with Jesus. Without him you begin and you will end in the wrong place. But how do I get him?
You don’t. He gets you. God says, Do not fear, or be afraid. Why? God answers, Have I not told you from of old and declared it? God has been in charge from creation. Seeking us and drawing us to him. The people of God have known him since the time of Abraham. Even before that, God called out through his creation. God never made it clearer than by coming to earth as Jesus. Today we can know right from the source how much we are loved and why we are not to be afraid.
You see our greatest fear is the unknown. What happens after the surgery? What will my life be like in 5 years? At today’s pace, in five months? What will happen to my children? Will I ever get married? What school should I go to? Is dad coming back again? The unknown is what we lie awake at night thinking about. It’s what makes it slower to get out of bed.
But God speaks in exclamation, Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? YOU ARE MY WITNESSES! You are his witness. You have seen the evidence. Has he let you down yet? For good? Obviously not, you are still here. Will he let you down for good some day? How can he? We are talking about God and God will not fail you.
Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock: I know not one. I know not one. Pray with me:
My Rock, you are so strong, will you keep holding on to me? Don’t let me go. Don’t let me let go. Amen