“God Still Leads”
July 17, 2022
Dear brothers and sisters, grace and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Amen.
The very first parish I served,
nineteen years ago, was in southwestern Minnesota, and was a two point parish.
In the basement fellowship hall at one of the churches, there was this painting.
It’s a picture of an old couple praying
over a meal of bread and soup, and the woman has her Bible open. At one point,
my dad came to visit me, and we toured both the churches, including the one
this painting was in. He explained that this painting was a perfect example of
the kind of faith that the people who had founded the church over a hundred
years ago had had: a simple trust in God to help provide for them, following
Him and His Word, and thanking Him for what He had given them. And really,
that’s all being a Christian is: it’s trusting and following God.
We
can trust God, first of all, because He is the one who is supreme and is in
control of everything. That’s not always easy, though, especially when
everything seems to be going wrong. In today’s First Reading, it’s looking like
things are out of control. Elijah complains to God that nothing seems to be
going right: people are turning away from God and worshipping idols; prophets
like him are being hunted down and killed; and even Elijah himself has been
forced into hiding. Like Elijah, it’s easy for us to look around and think
everything is doomed. The world isn’t the same as it once was. We’ve become frustrated
because so much has changed. Things we once thought we could rely on are no
longer there. Restaurants don’t always have enough staff to provide service for
regular hours. The prices of gas, groceries, and even simple things we’ve
always bought out of necessity have gone up, which has meant we’re short on
funds. Stores don’t always have what we want to buy in stock. Meanwhile, war
continues to rage between Ukraine and Russia. Divisions in our own society
still run rampant – even despite repeated pleas for unity and peace. Violence
continues to erupt, sometimes in unexpected places. Bullying continues to be a
problem in schools, work places, everywhere. Even criticism on social media has
become harsher and more unloving. Things seem out of control.
But
nothing could be farther from the truth: God is still in charge. He commands
Elijah to anoint Hazael as King of Aram and Jehu as King of Israel, showing
that He, God, still has the power to raise up and depose world leaders, and so
be in charge of the course of history. He also tells Elijah to anoint Elisha as
his successor as prophet, which means God will not let His message be silenced,
nor will He allow His power, which He works through His prophets and others
whom He chooses to act on His behalf, to be stopped in the world. God then
encourages Elijah by letting him know that He has reserved seven thousand
people in Israel who have not worshipped idols – encouraging because this lets
Elijah know that what he is doing is not in vain, that he is going to get
results, and he has people who are on his side. Sometimes we may feel alone and
unsupported, especially as we try to follow God. We may feel isolated,
especially when we do stand up or speak out against anything God doesn’t want
for us or others – but we’re actually not alone. God sends people to support us
and be on our side. God makes sure we don’t feel like we’re having to fight our
battles on our own. So no matter what happens, God still rules everything– us,
the world, and everything that’s going on.
And
sometimes this means, as we hear in today’s Gospel reading, simply trusting God
and following even when we’re unsure or uncomfortable with doing so. When a
Samaritan village rejects Jesus and His disciples, the disciples want revenge
by having God burn the village down. But Jesus rebukes them, probably by
reminding them that not only is that not showing God’s love, but it means
trusting that God has another plan for them – if He doesn’t want them to preach
in that village, they’ll go on to another one, and leave the insults and hurts
they’ve just had to suffer behind, moving forward to where God leads. Jesus
then reminds a couple of men who want to follow Him that it probably isn’t as
easy as it sounds: sometimes following Jesus means going in directions we may
not expect, or we may not be comfortable with. Sometimes there are changes that
need to be made in order to go the direction Jesus is leading us, especially to
be able to reach other people. And this happens by having Jesus change us by
His Holy Spirit: by transforming us to become more like Him, and, in doing so,
to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are the very characteristics and
attitude of God Himself, and which we can live by.
Now, it would be easy to go on a
long and brow-beating lecture about all the ways the world and society is
engaging in the sinful nature, and going against the fruits of the Spirit. But
many years ago, in Northern California, I had a chance to meet another pastor
who had previously done prison ministry. He told a story about how, at one
particular prison, he and one other preacher would be leading two worship
services running at the same time. He noticed that maybe three or four people
would be going to the other preacher’s worship service, and he himself would
get a large crowd coming to his service. So one day he asked one of the guys
who attended his worship service why this was the case, why there were more
people coming to his service. This was the answer he got: “The other guy tells
us about how much we’ve sinned, we’ve done wrong, and we’re going to hell if we
don’t shape up. We know that already. But you tell us about how much God loves
us. That’s what we need to hear. We need to hear some good things, and you tell
us that.” That story is one I’ve taken to heart ever since.
That’s not to say, though, that
there aren’t still consequences for following the sinful nature. There are still
things that go wrong in today’s world because people follow sinful instead of
the fruits of the spirit, ways that we can’t ignore, simply because we’re
bombarded with them on the news, and in everyday life. Women and children
especially are abused and exploited: human trafficking continues to be a
particular issue. Jealousy leads to broken relationships and friendships,
especially if it is jealousy based on misunderstanding, suspicion, or paranoia.
Dissensions and factions lead to disunity and a lack of love and trust,
especially within groups and families. Uncontrolled rage leads to violence,
especially physical and mental abuse, and even outright murder. It also hurts
us physically and emotionally, as we lash out in anger, which affects our
mental health and blood pressure, among other things. Selfish ambition causes
us to want to fight against each other, causes competition, and is the primary
cause of war. Envy causes people to slander and gossip about each other, which
also leads to mistrust, dysfunctional relationships, and broken groups.
And all of these are to be called
for what they are: contrary to how God wants us to live and treat each other.
However, there is hope: in the death of Jesus on the cross, all of these things
which are part of our sinful nature have been put to death. So, for everyone
who repents and asks God to change heart and mind, there is forgiveness for all
these things we have done, and we are free from them to live in a new way.
This means we are to be
encouraged to live the way the Holy Spirit causes us to live, by the fruits of
the spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And, all these are not only ways
that make us better people, they are, more importantly, ways that we can make
things better for other people. By showing love and acceptance, we can help
people know God loves and accepts them unconditionally. Living in peace with
each other can help make our homes, schools, neighborhoods, churches, and everywhere
else we are, inviting, welcoming, and supportive places for ourselves and
everyone else. Being patient with ourselves and others helps ourselves and
others become better versions of who we are. Showing kindness and goodness also
helps us and others become better versions of ourselves – and it’s important
for us to show kindness and goodness to ourselves first, so we can better show
it to other people. Faithfulness means not only being faithful to God, but also
being faithful to each other: standing by each other and continuing to remain
friends and supporters for each other. Being gentle helps us to be able to
relate to other people as equals, recognizing that we are no better or worse
than anyone else, and that we are all the same, with the same struggles and
needs. Being gentle with ourselves also causes us to feel good mentally and
emotionally, which causes our physical health to be in good shape. This means
we can also exercise self-control, especially in how we think or act towards
other people.
If we really want to have some
sort of guideline for how God wants us to live, that’s really the best way to
think about it: how are we treating each other? We can be asking: is what I’m
thinking about someone treating them the best way, or the way I would want to
be thought of or treated? Is what I’m saying about them building them up in the
sight of everyone else? Am I helping others feel the best about themselves –
which is how I would want to feel? Is my attitude helping to encourage others?
All these are ways in which we can follow God’s leading, and live how He lives.
If we continue simply to trust God, we will be changed to become more like Him
– and help Him make this world a better place. God remains in charge of
everything – so let’s have Him be in charge of us.
Now may the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.
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