“Who Does God Say I Am?” Part 5 – You Are Rescued by God’s Presence!
/Today’s Peace Quotes
The fundamental story arc of the Bible is God is passionate about rescuing this world, restoring it, renewing it. ~ Rob Bell
Just because you’re down to your last strike, you’re not out yet.
You can always do more. You’ll always have more at-bats to take.
That’s true in baseball, in rescuing animals, and in life, generally.
~ Tony La Russa
Taking these two quotes together, every day we wake up, we have a chance to be part of God’s rescuing, restoring, renewing work – in ourselves and in the world around us.
OK, folks, I’m not messing around this morning. Make no mistake, life is throwing us some serious punches these days – physically, mentally, emotionally, materially, and spiritually – and I for one am tired of playing rope-a-dope to see if I can just survive the blows. I need rescuing as much as someone floating at sea. That’s how I feel, and based on what folks are sharing with me, I’m not alone. I’m hanging in there, surviving, but I can’t do this indefinitely by myself. And that is today’s Good News – we were never designed to do this by ourselves; we have God and each other.
By now y’all know that I love analogies and metaphors. When I think about this image [of a Coast Guard helicopter rescuing someone floating in the ocean], sometimes I’m the guy who needs rescuing. God is the helicopter. The rescue swimmer could be any of us. Someone who, like the speaker in Isaiah 6:8, says, “Lord if someone needs help, send me! I’m willing to go into whatever situation, because I know you have my back.”
And Lord knows, there are countless dark places that need the light of God’s love, peace, and forgiveness these days.
I’ve been avoiding the news for the past two months – only reading enough headlines to keep me in the loop. Those are depressing and irritating enough. But this week’s conversations – not headlines – this week’s conversations I’ve had in person and online about race relations and the plights of tens of millions of struggling people across America – of ALL colors, genders, religions, and economic backgrounds – has my heart, mind, and soul swamped in a sea of sadness, disappointment, frustration, and anger. None of those feelings are what God wants for us, but, working with God, we can use those feelings to better understand ourselves, the world around us, and how we can contribute to that world.
To prevent these feelings from taking over, we must know who we are and whose we are.
Each one of us is a precious child of the living God, uniquely created in God’s loving image to be in relationship with Him and the people around us.
Let that soak in. Every single day, let that soak in. We all need that foundational belief in our heads and hearts more than we need our morning coffee. We need that belief as much as we need air.
Knowing who you are – the very topic of this six-week series – is the best way I know of to stay sane and grounded with all that’s happening.
Remember, we are not alone. God created us to be in relationship with Him. This is an every day, every moment relationship – we don’t have weekend visitation rights, nobody’s visiting here. We have 24/7 live-in, I’m not going anywhere, kind of rights.
That is what it means to be the precious child of an ever-present God.
Looking at this week’s verses, we see in Psalms 147:3 that God knows our brokenness and cares for us by bandaging our wounds. Last week’s Bible Study group talked a lot about that imagery. God doesn’t wave a magic wand to make all our sorrows and pains instantly disappear. Healing is a process, and God is with us through that sometimes painful process, protecting our wounds while they heal. We could do an entire service around that one verse and concept.
Isaiah 43:25 is interesting in that God says, “I will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Our relationship with God is always forward-looking. Our sins, our mistakes, are forgiven so that we can learn from the past while we focus on how we can be healed and offer healing as we go forward.
John 3:16 may be the world’s most famous Bible verse, but John 3:17 is just as powerful. What better news than to learn that the whole point of God becoming flesh was and is to save us, not condemn us? And God offers us this saving every single day. Sometimes multiple times a day.
If you have a critical voice in your head telling you that you’re a failure, you’re incompetent, you’re unworthy… that is NOT God’s voice. Shut that voice down, and make room for God’s words of love, acceptance, and encouragement. If you need help with that, call me, and we’ll get to work.
Ezekiel 36:25-26 takes us into a surgical operating room where we learn that God cleanses us – sterilizes us – so that God can give us a heart-lung transplant, a new spirit and a tender heart. Again, we could do an entire service around that one!
No matter what is happening in or around us, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 tells us that God is always ready to comfort us. Why? So that we can comfort others. The beauty of this is that God offers an endless supply of comfort. No matter how much we give away, we’ll never run out. We can give others comfort with wild abandon! Our world needs a lot of comforting these days; we have so many opportunities. I urge you to look for and step into those opportunities, allowing God to provide comfort through you.
Luke 4:18 and Matthew 17:20 work hand-in-hand. In Luke, Jesus offers healing to those who need it: the imprisoned, the blind, the oppressed. This begs the question, what imprisons us today? In what ways are we blind? How do we feel oppressed?
And in Matthew, Jesus tells us that once we are freed of those burdens, those constraints, we have, through our relationship with God, we have more power to impact the world around us than we can begin to comprehend.
When we understand that we are rescued from feeling hopeless… That we are rescued from being helpless… And that we are rescued into God’s waiting, comforting, and healing arms so that we can go on to express and extend the Kingdom of God…
Regardless of the situation, when we understand all of that, we can confidently step into each day and each moment knowing we do so in partnership with a God who wants the best for us and those around us. A God who walks with us through the sunny, happy days as well as the dark, scary shadows.
When we understand all of that… we can grieve the injustices around us and celebrate the moments when we, with God’s help, are able to overcome injustices with faith, hope, and love. That folks, is how we, individually and collectively, can change our communities one day at a time.
Amen? Amen!
Today’s readings all focus on our belief that we are rescued by God’s presence.
NRSV = New Revised Standard Version
NLT = New Living Translation
We Are Healed Psalms 147:3
NRSV
The Lord heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
NLT
The Lord heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
We Are Forgiven Isaiah 43:25
NRSV
I the Lord, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
NLT
I the Lord – yes, I alone – will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.
We Are Saved John 3:17 Jesus speaking
NRSV
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
NLT
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
We Are Cleaned & Repaired Ezekiel 36:25-26
NRSV
I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
NLT
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
We Are Comforted 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
NRSV
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.
NLT
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
We Are Set Free Luke 4:18-19 Jesus quoting Isaiah 61:1–2; 58:6
NRSV
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
NLT
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.
We Are Empowered Matthew 17:20
NRSV
Jesus said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
NLT
Jesus told them, “You don’t have enough faith. I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
We Are Redeemed Isaiah 44:22
NRSV
I the Lord have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
NLT
I the Lord have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.