Psalm # 11
Preached: Mar 28 2010 Des Arc Nursing Home UMC
SCRIPTURE READINGS Psalm 11: 4, 5 & 7
Your life
can change in an instant—you get a bad doctors report or you are the
victim of a crime; You lose a job or, worse a loved one. In that
horrible moment, you experience something that leaves you reeling in
pain and confusion. Perhaps your sense of stability is seriously
damaged, or nothing provides any security or peace. When your world
is shaken, turn to the One who is completely unwavering. No matter
what has happened to you. God is still on the throne, and he is able
to help and comfort you. So do not look any further — embrace the
only security that will never fail. God will surely keep you stable
and strong trust him. So writes the author of Moments of Peace from
the Psalms. — Don’t you wish it was as cut and dry as that.
When I lost
my Son to drugs Debby and I were at a loss. We had not seen him for
over two years and he had sent away his family, and became a lost
soul to us. We did not
know where he was or what he was doing.We figured that drugs were involved but could do nothing
about it. We felt helpless.We had offered to help him clean himself up, but we refused
to enable him to live a downward spiraling life that he was in. I
refused to give him any more money and offered him only love.This was not enough and eventually the drugs caught up to
him. When we brought him to Fort Smith to be buried Debby and I
looked at each other and we both said at least now we know where he
is at.
How many of
us are like that spinning out of control, having lost something in
our lives be it health, a spouse, our ability to take care of
ourselves, you name it.
I know that is the way I feel every year about this time when my
Bishop and his cabinet start moving preachers around to fill the
vacancies within the United Methodist church.I am unsure of where the stable ground is and start to feel
unsettled.
Last week I
went out and swung some new golf clubs I got for Christmas.I stopped playing 25 years ago when I had a heat stroke on
the Golf course in Wichita as I tried to play in 105 degree
temperatures in a tournament. I had never been very good at golf. I
took it up when I was 16 on a small chip and put golf course in
Kansas. Back then I was very poor and I could not afford to lose my
golf balls so I picked up several bad habits including moving my
head to see where the ball went to quickly.I never took lessons so that did not help either. I thought
about getting some clubs often over the last few years but having
had the radial crown taken off my right arm, and just plain working
so hard trying to keep my life together, I never got around to it.
As I was out swinging those new clubs, several things came to me.One I had just preached two week before about how we need to
learn humbly. Well I was certainly humbled that day. It was not so
bad because there was another fellow out there swinging Ping clubs
who was hitting just a little better than myself and he stated he
lost his ability in just a few months, he did not even think what
his would be like after 25 years. I thanked him every time he
shanked a ball, I do not think he appreciated that. However, it made
me feel better to know I was not alone.I also learned that I was out of shape, because I could feel
muscles I have not used in twenty some odd years also. My arms ached
and so did my lower back. What this all showed me was that I need to
get out and hit quite a few more buckets of balls before I tried to
play a round of Golf. That I needed to once again learn the basics
of the swing, and that I needed to get into condition to do this.
In
addition, most of all to do it humbly. That is the way of life also.
God is there and will help us to accomplish great things if we let
him but we have some things we need to do also. We need to get back
to the basics, forget about all the high fangled systematic,
liberation, correct orthodox theology stuff. In addition, read what
God and Jesus said we need to take care of in this life. You know
Love your God with all your heart mind and soul and love your
neighbor as yourself. To spread the Gospel of Jesus that the Kingdom
of God is near at hand To forgive others as we wish to be forgiven
ourselves.
Next, we
need to practice, practice, practice our religion.It is about more than just coming to church on Sundays when
we feel like it, but about living and practicing it every day of our
lives. We need to get down to the basics of our life; we all don’t
need the latest and greatest to be happy. I wish my daughter’s
mother-in-law had not sold my golf clubs when she was storing them
for her. I could top and shank balls just as good with those clubs
as I could with my new ones. I also don’t need a thousand dollar set
of matched Pings or Callaway clubs for the type of Golf I play. Just
like we don’t need fancy clothing, fancy churches and entertaining
worship services to find God. He is satisfied with our being
ourselves, and showing our love for each other.
Finally, we
need to learn to humble ourselves and be able to call upon him for
our help. God is there for us all we need to do is call upon him for
our help and assistance.
He does not mind and he will not fail us, because even though we do
not always get what we want, we get what we deserve in the end.
As the
psalmist ends the 11th Psalm — “those who do what is right will see
his face.” What more can
we ask?