Rev. Terry Breum St. Mark Lutheran Church, Lindenhurst, Illinois The 7th Sunday After Pentecost July 15, 2012 "Right Thinking About God" Isaiah 43:1-4a; 19-21 (ESV) [1] But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. [2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. [3] For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. [4a] Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, [19] Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. [20] The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, [21] the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen. The people of God were exactly where they did not want to be. They had been taken captive out of Judah into Babylon finding themselves prisoners of war, POW s. They were living in enemy territory against their wills. God s people had refused to obey God and live by His Word. God gave them over to their sin. This is a sure sign of God s judgment when God lets you continue on in your sin and does not hinder you from making choices that are directly against the Lord God Almighty. The Bible says there is a way that seems right to a man but the end thereof is death. God let his people do just what they wanted to do and in that they became a slave to themselves to fulfill their own desires with no thought of God or God s Word. They never thought they would experience God s judgment this way. After all they were God s people. God s judgment was for those people far worse than they or so they thought. And now they found themselves in Babylon, in the pit of discouragement, and in dire need of reformation. 1
Friends this is very serious stuff. What you think of God is most serious. A wrong view of God and your life goes off in the wrong direction. What you think of God and knowing God is the most important aspect of life. And when our view of God is skewed or off base or just plainly wrong God will orchestrate events in our lives to get our attention. God has his ways of correcting us so we can gain a proper view, a proper perspective, a proper vision of the Lord God Almighty. And this is what reformation is all about. Seeing God for who he really is and properly understanding His Word. When God reforms our way of thinking we then discover our very purpose for living. And that purpose is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. All of us are in need of reformation and being a Lutheran church we are a reformation based congregation. I know of a person who is living in Babylon. He is in a place that he desperately does not want to be. The stress and anxiety that he is under has never been greater. He absolutely hates where he is at. I also know that there is no way out of his Babylon unless the Lord God Almighty delivers him by God s grace. He told me that believing in God is rather difficult for him these days with all that is happening not only to him but how dark the world situation is today. Friends, I know that God s people were in Babylon due to their own sin. But there were those taken into Babylon who did not sin against the Lord like everyone else. Some of God s most faithful people were in Babylon with the rest. Please do your best to understand what I am about to say. Isaiah was given a spectacular view of God. In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, the Bible says. Isaiah was given a vision of God that sustained him his entire life. And when you read the book of Isaiah you gain the vision of God that sustained Isaiah. You run into the Lord God Almighty in every chapter. When God s people were in Babylon what they needed the most was to rediscover the Lord God Almighty for who he really is. The only way out of Babylon was through the grace of God and God s grace was on the way. 2
The greatest sign of God s grace that Isaiah promises is the promise of the perfect Savior. Isaiah sees a Savior coming who will save God s people from their sins. God s people were under judgment and Isaiah sees God s grace coming in the form of the Great Deliverer. These were the words found in Isaiah 42 that Pastor Shield s preached on last week. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; and he will bring forth justice to the nations. The prophecy continues. I read between the lines and hear Isaiah crying out, The Messiah is coming. The Messiah is coming. And He will deliver you out of bondage into the Promised Land. Friend no matter where you are today in Babylon or not, it is absolutely crucial what you think of God. For when you see God, as described in the Bible, you will find everything you need in this life and you will find it in God. What did God s people need the most in Babylon? A proper view of God. And when you see God rightly, your mind will be reformed and God will deliver you from your bondage into freedom. You will be released from being a prisoner into God s Promised Land that he has created for you. Friends, it is possible for your circumstances to remain the same but when you have a proper view of God, your will rise above your circumstances, and live with great peace and joy, knowing an inner contentment that only God can give when you think rightly of God. Please quit ignoring God and God s ways. To ignore God and God s ways is to invite disaster. I have known of Christian people who loved Jesus and then fell away from the Lord, quit coming to church, and entered into sinful lifestyles that deeply grieved God. But God never gives up on His people. Our God is a God of grace and God has his ways of bringing His people back to him. God gives to Isaiah the words that will put God s people back onto the road of recovery. Fear not. Do not be so afraid. For I have redeemed you. I have purchased you. I have named you and you belong to me. 3
The closer we grow to God the less fear we have because we know that we belong to God and no matter what happens to us God will see us through. God has committed himself to us even when our commitment to God is lax. God will always do whatever it takes to bring us back into right relationship with Him. He will never let go of you. He named you and you belong to Him. He purchased you with the price of His son dying for you on the cross. You are God s very own possession. That is who you are and that is whose you are. So quit being so afraid. God will provide and he is with you always. God promises them and us that when you pass through the waters God is right there with you. The rivers will not overwhelm you and the fires will not burn you and the flame will not consume you. All things are possible with God. He parted the Red Sea so God s people could walk safely on dry land. God will part your Red Sea and get you safely to where God is taking you. There is more than one Exodus. God is always delivering us from bondage into His safe place, His chosen place, His Promised Land for us. God is promising His people that God will lead them back home again, back to Judah and God will get them there safely. And there is only one reason why God will do this and it is found in verse 4a, Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you. Friends, it is all about God and not us. God s grace is so great we are quiet before him in absolute wonder. And Isaiah knows that one day the great deliverer will go to the cross and die so that one day we will find ourselves in the Promised Land of heaven eternally. Further in Isaiah 43 (10,11)God is letting his people know that there is no other God. The God of Isaiah is the only God. God is letting his people know that the gods of the Babylonians are false gods. There were other false religions at the time Isaiah wrote just as there are false religions today. The God of the Bible is the only God. All other religions are worshipping demons and are really no gods at all. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only one who grants life eternal. Salvation is found in no one else. Isaiah puts it this way, You are my 4
witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. There is only one God my friends and His name if Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I am going to finish this sermon with a few words from one of my favorite New Testament authors, Peter. Peter tells us what to do when we find ourselves in the school of suffering in 1 Peter 5:6-11. Some of you are in deep waters these days and you are tired of it. You need relief but relief seems a long ways away. Peter speaks in a way that reminds me of Isaiah. This is one way God will bring much needed reformation into your life so you can see God more clearly and with great clarity. 1. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and at the proper time God will pick you up. To humble yourself is to get on your knees in front of our Holy God and admit your need of him and to acknowledge that God has everything that you need. To humble yourself is to confess to God that you have sinned against the Lord and you ask for his forgiveness. To humble yourself before God is to admit that apart from God you can do nothing. To humble yourself before God is to admit your need of God for everything. God cannot reform your way of thinking when you are proud before God thinking you have something to teach God and that God should do things your way. Thinking like that will only keep you in Babylon. To humble yourself is to fall into the arms of the one who loves you the most, made you, named you, and will never leave you. God rejects the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourself before God and He will pick you up. 2. Cast all your anxieties upon Him for he cares for you. I was told onetime that I have an addiction to anxiety. Anxiety can be so debilitating if not paralyzing. I have made my worst decisions and spoken most wrongly when I am highly anxious. One of the reasons I drink mainly decaf these days is to lower my anxiety level. Exercise helps ease anxiety. I take 5
specific vitamins that help ease anxiety. What helps me the most and what eases my anxiety the most is knowing God s deep deep care. God s perfect love casts out our fears. I often experience this in two ways. When I share my anxieties with a trusted Christian friend, I sense God s care for me through my Christian friend. And then when we pray those anxieties are handed over to the Lord. Before we met for prayer I was in Babylon and after the experience of fellowship with God and my friend I am delivered out of Babylon back into God s peace. 3. Peter writes, Be sober- minded. Be watchful. In other words, don t lose your head. Don t panic. God is working all around you. Look for it. 4. Be aware for the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking to devour you. Satan s purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. The enemy wants to tear you apart. But remember what keeps your life together and what keeps the devil from doing what he wants in your life is your closeness to God. Keep your eyes on Jesus and the devil can t touch you. You will be able to resist the devil because your heart is steadfast on God. 5. Know that in God s perfect timing he will pick you up, exalt you, after you have passed his class in the school of suffering. I close with this verse, And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen and Amen. 6