Bazaar United Methodist Church

Bazaar, Kansas

Sermon Text
Isaiah 40:27-31
John 14:19-21

Don't Sell Yourself Short

Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:27-31

"Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Anyone who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." John 14:19-21

Isaiah speaks to the people in exile in Babylon. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God?" Now it seems to me that being in exile from your homeland might be a good reason for a little whining and complaining but Isaiah reminds them that they are complaining against God. They no longer trust in God and Isaiah is there to draw them up short and remind them of the truth. God is not asleep on the job. The One who created the ends of the earth, who knows the heavenly bodies and calls them by name has not forgotten their plight. He is not weary and off taking a nap somewhere, but rather he is so great, so far beyond us that no one can fathom his understanding. Even so, he is the One who deeply cares for his creation and for his people. In fact he strengthens the weary and gives power to the weak. Isn't that an amazing thing? The transcendent God of all creation is also the immanent God who cares for and about his people. Isaiah knew it long before Christ Jesus was born on the earth.

In recent weeks we have been talking about some very difficult subjects-radical forgiveness and justice ministries with the poor. The problem with hearing and thinking and talking about these things is that sometimes we begin to think that they are just too hard. We can't possibly do them. I can't do that. I just can't. And so we don't even try. And as soon as we think that, we are lost.

Don't sell yourself short on this stuff. It is hard. It is difficult. But what we have to remember is the same thing that Isaiah was trying to tell the people, we are not alone. We are not alone in this. We have help. We don't have to do it under our own power. God is with us. In Romans 8, Paul says, If God is for us who can be against us? (Romans 8:31 NIV) Trust in God. Trust the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit within you.

Yes, it is true that we have to work at these things. Radical forgiveness does not come to us naturally. It takes practice. It takes reiteration. I may have to forgive a person a hundred times the first day and a hundred times the second and third and fourth days. But by the fifth day it is less and with each succeeding day it is fewer and fewer times. Until the day comes when we realize we have well and truly forgiven because something happens that would normally bring that problem to mind and we realize that it doesn't disturb us any more.

Likewise working in justice ministries, serving the least of God's children, in ministry to the poor is not an easy thing to do. Changing our life-style so that we do not add to the problem of a world where people are starving while others have too much is not the way of the world but it is the way of Christ Jesus. That is something that is very hard for Americans to wrap their minds around. Living a life that is different from the culture around us, isn't that really going a little too far, pastor? Isn't that just for those crazy cults and stuff? Maybe the Amish. Only you and God can know for sure but more and more as I study the scripture, I am convinced that that is why the early church thrived. It is because their witness stood separate from the culture in which they lived. They were different. Again it was Paul, writing to the early church in Rome telling them to go against the flow. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. . . (Romans 12:2 NRSV) Do not be conformed to this world. That seems pretty clear to me.

But while it is clear, it is certainly not easy. This, too, requires our desires to be transformed and our willingness to work toward God's goals. But, again, we are not alone.
A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured blind skiers being trained for slalom skiing, impossible as that sounds. Paired with sighted skiers, the blind skiers were taught on the flats how to make right and left turns. When that was mastered, they were taken to the slalom slope, where their sighted partners skied beside them shouting, "Left!" and "Right!" As they obeyed the commands, they were able to negotiate the course and cross the finish line, depending solely on the sighted skiers' word. It was either complete trust or catastrophe.
[It is] a vivid picture of the Christian life! In this world, we are in reality blind about what course to take. We must rely solely on the Word of the only One who is truly sighted--God Himself. [God] gives us the direction we need to finish the course.
Sometimes when we are working at something as difficult as forgiveness, we feel like we are blind and God's voice is too far away for us too hear. If that is where you are right now, it means you need to stop and take a few minutes and just breathe. Breathe in God and breathe out frustration. Breathe in God and breathe out anger. Breathe in God and breathe out resentment. Breathe in God and breathe out bitterness. Breathe in God and breathe out tension. Breathe in God and breathe out fatigue. Breathe in God and breathe out fear. If you have done that with me you should be feeling a lot better already. When we take just a few moments to receive what God has for us and we give up those things that hold us back, remarkable results begin to occur in our lives. And the more time we spend with God, the greater the results. We learn to trust God completely. We stop selling both God and ourselves short.
James Brown, pastor of Evangeline Baptist Church in Wildsville, LA relates this story: Some years ago when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen. After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.
Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, "There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again." At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, "Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right.
Like Pastor Brown as his plane stalled, most of us sell ourselves short. We think we don't have it in us to get through these things, we think we can never be all that God calls us to do and be. But we sell ourselves and God short when we think that way. We forget that God implanted within us his very image when we were first created. We forget that we have received the Holy Spirit, God closer to us than the air we breathe. Now if you remember anything about human biology and remember how oxygen passes from the lungs to the blood supply clear down to the tiny little capillaries in the farthest reaches of your body; supplying every tissue, every organ in your body with oxygen, and God is closer than that. If we trust God and desire for ourselves what God desires for us; if we practice compassion and love, forgiveness and grace; God will help us in every possible way.

The problem with most of us is that we write ourselves off, we write the task off as impossible and we never attempt it. Without the attempt, of course we will not accomplish anything. We could do far greater things than we have ever imagined we could. But because we are afraid of failure we never try.

Thomas Edison was not so faint of heart. It is said that Edison performed 50,000 experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We might assume the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long without results, Edison replied, "Results? Why, I know 50,000 things that won't work."

Failure is only a problem if we don't learn from it or if we allow it to defeat us so that we stop trying. You and I may have a long way to go before anyone will see the image of Christ reflected in our lives. But the more we seek Christ's face, the more we practice love, compassion, forgiveness and grace, the more likely it will be that someone somewhere will catch a glimpse, a glimmer of Christ in us.

It's like the little boy who was sitting dejectedly on the sidewalk outside the florists shop. He had been through the door several times but had come back out as he had heard the price of the flowers that other people bought. He wanted something really nice for his mother but he had only been able to save $1.25 and what could that buy? Finally a man from the store who had watched him, came out to sit beside him on the curb. "You look rather dejected young man," he said.

The boy looked at him. "I came to buy my mother some nice flowers for her birthday. My daddy always bought her flowers. But he died." His voice shook a little as he said it. "And I only have $1.25 and I don't think it's enough to get her anything nice."

"You know, I think I have just the right thing." The man stood and led the boy into the store. He asked the boy about his mother's favorite color and if he knew her favorite flowers. He made a fabulous bouquet. The boy was not so young as to not realize that it would cost far more than his measly $1.25. But the man said, "That will be $1.25 please. What is your address and I'll deliver it. It's a little too large for you to carry."

The boy handed over his money then looked at the florist quizzically, "Mister, are you Jesus?"

The florist just smiled and winked at the boy and said, "No, sometimes Jesus uses plain old people like you and me to do his work."

On that day Jesus says, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. When we realize and trust in Jesus' promise that we are in him and he is in us maybe someone will mistake us for Jesus because of the way we are and act. Amen.