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Our guest preacher at St. Peter and Bethel this morning was the Reverend Raymond Holman. He brought the Word, including a great deal of comfort to me and the congregations who mourn with me and my family. Thank you, Pastor Holman!
CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.
CLICK HERE for the sermon video.
God Hears
In
the midst of a sin-stricken world, God listens to the painful cries. /
God hears weeping words. / And God speaks the promises in His Word of
Truth. / This is God’s pattern: He listens. He hears. He speaks. He
promises. //
The
prophet Elijah had just begun his ministry. Called by God, Elijah
preached in an evil and faithless generation. God’s anger for such
sinfulness caused a drought. / No water. / No food. / Sinners helplessly
crying out. “Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper” (Psalm 30:10)!
Then
the word of the LORD came to Elijah. “Go to Zarephath, a region of
heathens and idol worshipers. Speak to a widow. A helpless woman. A
hopeless woman. A woman questioning the point of life. In her distress,
bring her good news.”
And
Elijah did. Right before our Old Testament Lesson, Elijah promised that
a small jar of flour and little jug of oil would never be empty for the
length of the drought. And it was so. That’s God’s goodness. That’s his
loving nature. Hopelessness turned to faith for that widow.
——
But
then disaster struck. / The widow’s hope quickly shattered. The
consequences of sin were no longer just an “out there” issue. It was no
longer just a drought. The consequences of sin now struck her own life.
Now her son is dead.
You can imagine what that widow felt:
“What am I living for,” would become, “Why am I even alive? /
“Why did I even have hope in the first place?” /
“Why do I have to face calamity after calamity?” /
“What good is this so-called all-loving God??” //
But
we don’t have to put words into her mouth. We heard it firsthand. She
blamed the prophet Elijah for all her problems. Lashing out, the widow
cried, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son” (1 Kings 17:18).
——
Personally,
I can imagine the hurt that Elijah must have felt. That great and
faithful prophet didn’t just have a simple knowledge that God existed.
He trusted in God. He believed in God’s promises. The words, “The
LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love to
the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7a), were a reality to Him.
In
that moment Elijah was confronted with a harsh reality. The
consequences of sin weren’t just “out there.” Now sin’s effects were
hitting close to home for him specifically. They literally attacked the
person closest to him at that moment. Now Elijah had to face a woman’s
questions about the validity of Elijah’s words, about the efficacy of
Elijah’s ministry, about the reality of God’s existence.
In
the midst of his hurt, didn’t try to explain away God. He didn’t try to
put the best construction on a bad situation. Instead Elijah cried out
to the Lord, “O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon
the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son? …O Lord my God, let
this child’s life come into him again” (1 Kings 17:20, 21b).
——
In the midst of such a sin-stricken world, God listened. God heard. God spoke. God promised. //
God listened to the painful cries of the widow and Elijah. He heard their weeping words. And at that moment, when all hope seemed to be lost, God spoke the word of Truth. God promised new life in the midst of death. //
——
This
pattern we saw in our Old Testament Lesson is still a reality today.
This is just what God does. / We too live in a sin-stricken world. Yes,
sin is an
“out there” problem. There are hurricanes and heatwaves. There are
droughts and wildfires. There are wars and the threats of war. There is
poverty and extortion. And God calls the church to go forth like Elijah
into the midst of a sinful world proclaiming the good news (just like
Jesus said in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose”).
And
that’s what the church does. We are like Elijah to the widow in
Zarephath. The church bring the Good News of God to those around us. The
church shares God’s love to those who feel unloveable. The church
proclaim forgiveness to those who believe they are unforgivable. The
church helps other’s know of God’s sanctifying works. Simply put, the
church’s mission is to bring hope to the hopeless and and help to the
hurting. //
——
But
then, sometimes sin’s effects hit closer to home. Just when things
start to look up, that’s when everything crashes in around us. The
person you shared the Gospel with loses their job. The family you shared
immeasurable forgiveness with experiences failed crop. That family
member who has just learned of the joy of eternity finds out that their
spouse has cheated on them. Or even the sudden and unexpected death of a
loved one. // That’s a moment of disaster. You’re confronted with the
reality of sins effects. It’s not just “out there.” It’s right in front
of you.
Like
the widow at Zarephath, we can lash out at the church who preaches the
Gospel. But Elijah points to a better way. Remember what Elijah did when
the widow cried out at the death of her son? Elijah didn’t explain it
away. Elijah didn’t try and put the best construction on a bad
situation. He went to the one who listens. To the one who hears. To the
one who speaks. To the one who promises. He went to God.
——
And
this is what our call is as well. When faced with inexplicable
situations and circumstances we go to the one who listens, who hears,
who speaks, and who promises. We go to Jesus.
Why
do we go to Jesus? Because Jesus is the greater Elijah. We can be
confident that when he speaks to God on our behalf that God will listen
to him him. God will hear him. God will speak through Him. And God will
provide us promises through Him. In fact, that’s exactly what Hebrews
5:7 states, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers
and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to
save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”
Jesus comes to this sin-stricken world, bringing hope to hopeless sinners like you and me.
On the cross He takes our sorrows and in its place speaks us His salvation.
On the cross He takes our hurts and in its place promises us healing in His body and blood.
This is why the record of Scripture is so clear:
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
“I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down my life for the
sheep…. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. I
give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will
snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:14, 28).
“What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how
will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).
“For I am sure that [even] death…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38a, 39b).
In Jesus God listens. God hears. God speaks. God promises.
——
Look,
I am not going to beat around the bush here. In this church you have
experienced the inexplicable. Unexpected loss. Death without warning.
This is a hard day for me to preach. And this has to be a hard day to
come here and actually listen to me. But here I want to leave you with
one single exhortation, along with its corresponding promise:
Cry out to God.
Plead to God.
Entreat God’s mercy.
But
more than simply doing that, remember this even more. When we cry out,
God continues listen today. God continues to hear. God continues to
speak. And God continues to promise salvation in Jesus Christ.
In the name of the father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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