Sermon 19.1.2020
Focus Scripture: Psalm 40. 1-11.
It struck me that this is my first sermon of our new year. It is the year of our Lord 2020 and we are a year closer to entering eternity than we were a year ago.
2020 struck me as a goodly number and potentially a prophetic pointer…for 2020 speaks of vision… vision in hindsight …and vision in foresight.
2020 suggests clarity, insight, intuitive reckoning and clear sightedness.
But as we begin the year of our Lord 2020 our vision this morning focuses on sharpening our spiritual sight….the eternal vision, gifted to us, through faith in Christ. A vision underpinned by Christ our living Hope ….and Christ our unconditional Love.
2020 Hindsight
We were/are created in the image and likeness of God. Though separated from Him and damaged through our disobedience in Adam… …in the fullness of time God’s rescue plan for us became operational with the incarnation of Jesus who on the cross, took upon Himself the judgement due to our sin.
Christ secured for believers, through faith, the free gift of eternal salvation.
For in Christ Jesus in Whom‘… all fullness of God dwells”
we are; ”complete in Him,” ”we are a new creation ” ”Of His fullness… we (have)received.” …’
Knowing the Spiritual Rock from whence we are hewn is very important. We humans are no evolutionary accident. Our linage is of God.
We were created in the image and likeness of God. This is our pedigree, our seed and breed. We were designed to image, in this world, our Creator God.
Our unilateral declaration of independence, however irreparably damaged our original design and purpose…. intimacy with God.
But in the merciful compassion and love our God, at awe-ful personal cost He set in motion His plan for our restoration and reconciliation. Jesus the Messiah , in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt became our Saviour through His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection…..
As John Henry Newman wrote;
O loving wisdom of our God,
When all was sin and shame.
A second Adam to the fight
and to the rescue came.
And so, here we are, this morning, His people gathering together, around His name and sacrament. A folk once lost now found. Once blind and now we see……..
We are believers, through the gift of faith in Christ,
faith in His hope and
faith in His love,
daily step out, cross and all, into the Way of His Salvation.
Always looking to Him … the Author and Finisher of our faith, our sanctification, glorification and ultimately our eternal salvation.
Here we are confronted by our major 2020 Foresight Challenge eloquently penned in Hebrews:
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him;
God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost…?
Like Isaiah and the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, we were marked, even in our mother’s womb, by the stamp and call of God’s Love.
This is a great truth. Our lives have been no random accident. Neither is our being humbly gathered here an accident, a virtually penniless congregation, in a rented church building.
As with Isaiah, when God calls us to serve,we may with hindsight, like Isaiah, lament: (God)
‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
(I’ve wasted so much time and made a mess of so much, I’m useless/washed up.)
There were/are + will be times when we believers fall short of the mark +risk making defeat and depressions our companions. Then we urgently need forgiveness. To forgive and be forgiven.
At such times, search the psalms which give witness to God’s faithfulness, love and mighty forgiveness:
I waited patiently upon the Lord; he stooped to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay;
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many shall see and stand in awe and put their trust in the Lord. Happy are they who trust in the Lord! They do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
These ancient hymns and poems have spanned the millennia and are still central to Jewish and Christian liturgies They cover a wealth of human and Divine interaction . Untold numbers of believers turn to the psalms for comfort, encouragement in moments of crisis or despair.
For 2020 foresight make sure to download at least the Psalms and New Testament to your ”mobile devices”, making them a constant companion especially during quiet moments during the day.
At times of doubts,trials or difficulties it is important to have a clear head of how our Father-God sees us.
We know that the Father ”sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
He has promised us; ‘I will never leave you or forsake you”
In Jeremiah He tells us: ”… I know the plans I have for you… plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
In Phillipians we learn: ”I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Ephesians says: … we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”
Through Isaiah : Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
These words are no mere pious aspirations. These are words possessing authority and power…. sharper than any 2 edged sword when wielded in faith, with faith and by the faith of the indwelling Lord Jesus Christ.
In developing 2020 Foresight we must take time to cultivate a personal history with God, especially while the going in life is relatively calm … so that… when the churning of various troubles arise, our hope and faith will have mature roots to keep us steady when weathering a testing storm.
For us to be victorious over the enemy of our soul, it is crucial that we build up our faith by drawing down, through the Holy Spirit, the strength and faith of Christ into our spirit through prayer, the reading of scripture and faithfully gathering together for worship.
To conclude, I draw our attention to the closing verses of our gospel. There is a most telling picture of Jesus there.
Two disciples ( ‘us’ seeking/searching) followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them/us… and said, ‘What are you looking for?’
They answered. He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and remained with Him… and their lives were never the same. So too for us.
Like Andrew, Peter and John , Jesus invites us to come to Him. To share life and work with Him.
When we accept His invitation, then like myriad of believers before us .. will contentedly settle with Him.
Then, as in the psalm, He puts a new song in our hearts to the praise…the thanks and the glory of God. Then, and only then, will we be wrapped in the Beatific Vision of God’s Divine Love.
”Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.”
Amen.