Help is In God Psalm 146 Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a, 51-60 1 Peter 2:2-10 John 14:1-14 Easter 5 From Psalm 146: Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN, INDEED! ALLELUIA! Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Bridge History tells us that civilizations have (over and over) siphoned-through eight stages from a rise to a fall. A spiritual revival and growth renews and becomes the catalyst to great courage, which wins liberty and, then, abundance made lazy by a complacency that turns into a fullfledged apathy, giving-in to dependence upon others that gets allowed to control and, finally, enslave. Empires throughout the ages have gone through these same cycles and you can see where America has cycled: through revolution to freedom and plenty to an almost yawn, then, of selfsatisfaction that s allowed a greater and greater dependence upon (for instance) technologies, entertainment and the media personalities. There s a real fear I ve heard expressed that where we seem to be in that cycle has us extremely vulnerable to totalitarianism (or the reign of an almost dictator or regime) because bondage has followed dependence in all the civilizations that have gone before us as they have
all (at that stage) adopted a savior. President Trump ran on a promise that he (personally) could save us. So, there is that fear. Not, so much, from his side, maybe, but from the vulnerability of our side there is: that we could be susceptible-to (or have an almost sub-conscious desire-for) such a thing. He is, though, but a mere man, so his influence and, even, impact are, earthly, and quite mortal. On Mother s Day we can t forget our dependence upon mothers. Rightly-so, of course, but maybe in ways beyond-rightly, some depend upon the concept as much (or more) than they love the person. I was listening to Christian counselors on the radio talking to a man who had a very unhealthy expectation of his mother, and himself because of that. And there were generations before us where people s relationship with the person of their mother was much more personal by force they lived closer. Proximity has drawn a separation from a more daily interaction so mothers are that by title but less personal than before and long-term care facilities have removed, often, mothers from the homes of their children so, again, less personal interaction but the fact of a mother is, still, craved. In-person or not, our dependence upon the idea of being connected in a fractured society gets demonstrated by the success of, for instance, Ancestors dot com. Even if we don t have or seek mom s company or conversation, our connection to her is a life-line that tells us ever-more of our need for life-lines. Moms, too though, are mortal (vital, but mortal), and our demands about the concept of having her available to us might be the stress we impose upon ourselves because of a growing need to depend upon someone or something.
But, of course, mothers are human, and with all the same limitations that we all have and they, too, desire to be secure and safe (saved) in something or someone but, again, humans are so very mortal (why crave it from them?). The quest for safety under the care of humanity or systems or earthly relationships or heroes kills civilizations, only to re-start a new one when that quest for a savior from earth is discovered to fail and, so, He s sought from Heaven. Text Psalm 146 and John 14 speaks especially to that situation. Whereas the earliest stage of a civilization begins, actually, in the knowledge of our need for help from Heaven, all later stages begin to intensely look for that on earth. The Psalm says Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. They eventually die, being mortal themselves (unsuccessful in saving him- or her-self as it turns out) so ill-equipped to save you or me from that fate and so much more. When his breath departs he returns to the earth verse 4 says. On that very day his plans perish. And no one ever wants to bury their mother, but we still do. For those blessed to have ours still here, use the time that you have to enjoy their company and love the person. When the futility of earthly searches for a savior sinks in, HEAVEN IS AVAILABLE. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. And, Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me, but if you know Me, you will know My Father also.
JESUS is the Savior who makes Heaven available (and delivers it) which He did through His own divine sacrifice. He (who is the God-in-whom-is-our-trust, through whom heaven and earth were created along with the sea and all that is in them) sets prisoners free and lifts up those who are bowed down (as in, repentant and being made forgiven), loving the righteous, and those whose desire is to be that. And how He saved (as only He can) was last week s Epistle lesson, so I want to reach back into it to hear how it got explained: having committed no sin, neither having deceit found in His mouth, He was reviled, yet did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting even Himself to [His Father] who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; by His wounds we have healing so our help is in the God of Jacob our hope is in the Lord our God, and that s the HELP and HOPE that a man, Stephen (from our reading in the Book of Acts), was willing to die for. Application If civilizations (if America) would get the message early on its potential downfall if we would (as a people) see, from history, where our complacency, apathy, dependence and impending bondage leads then we might repent early and renew an abundant and more successful existence rather than what could be very bad because President Donald Trump will not, ultimately, save us. He might (possibly) make life more pleasant while we re on this earth and in this country (postpone a fall, maybe), but eternity He does not control (nor can he). And our mothers need the Savior Jesus (who is the only access-point to the Father, but is that access-point) every bit as much as we do, so (loving
her), encourage her in the faith and strongly-maintain that faith yourself so that we will together have forever to enjoy-each-other, rather than, just, some earthly time-frame. Through baptism and faith into Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen, God IS our help. That is fact. And, so, for that, thanks be to Him in Christ. In +Jesus name. Amen.