When Things Get Worse, Watch God Go to Work

Blyth Community Outdoor Service
June 30, 2019 - Ex.5:15-6:5 (Mt.6:25-34 / Nahum 1:7)
VBS theme Day 1 “When Life is Unfair, God is Good”

MORE BRICKS, LESS STRAW: WHAT’S YOUR BIND?

The Israelites were in a bind. Ex 5:6-8 Pharaoh “gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: ‘You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’”
    Many bricks: no straw. What a recipe for stress! Now in addition to the work of actually manufacturing the bricks and laying them out in the sun to bake, they would have to go foraging for raw materials, the straw that served as binding for the mud bricks. The slaves would soon be spreading out all over the countryside hunting for straw, all the while being expected to make just as many bricks as before. They could tell they were in a pinch!
    What binds do you find yourself in? Thankfully you’re probably not at a job that involves backbreaking labour forming bricks from dawn to dusk – with whips on your back to spur you on if you slowed up. But modern folks still find life stressful. Maybe your paycheque won’t quite cover the bills and each month you find yourself slipping farther and farther behind. Maybe there’s a bully on the schoolbus that keeps making themself annoying and not letting you sit where you like or be with who you’d prefer. Maybe you have a boss who just doesn’t seem to understand the amount of time required to complete your projects to the level of quality you feel is warranted. Or perhaps the doctor has just informed you of an area of concern in your physical health that’s taken you totally by surprise.
    Those are more serious challenges...Some binds are not so tough as others. One parent had a particular problem: her little five-year-old boy had locked himself in the bathroom and wouldn't come out, so his mother called the fire department. Within minutes, a firefighter was running up the stairs with an ax. He asked the mother, "What is the child's name, and how old is he?" She said, "Tommy, and he is five." The fireman then approached the bathroom door, and yelled authoritatively, "Come out of there, little girl!" Immediately, out marched Tommy, arms folded and looking pretty angry, ready to confront the fireman, who looked to the mother with a smile, and said, "Works every time!"
    We find ourselves in all sorts of binds. When we’re in tough spots, the natural reaction is to start getting worried and fret. But the Bible promises, Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble.He cares for those who trust in him.” Or as the Day 1 VBS theme puts it: “When life is unfair, God is good.”
    What an assertion! Isn’t that one of the most common questions posed about religion, “How can God let bad things happen to good people?” Yet faith asserts, sometimes contrary to appearances: “When life is unfair, God is good.”
    The Israelites were being treated unfairly both in actions and in words. Ex 5:15f “Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."” When they came short on their quota because they had to find their own straw, they were physically punished, abused, for no fault of their own.
    Pharaoh responded with verbal abuse. 5:17-18 “Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that’s what you are— lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Now get to work.You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."” He called these slaves who were toiling long hours, working their fingers to the bone, “Lazy”! How unfair is that! Pharaoh didn’t even appreciate the cheap labour pool his country depended upon for its prosperity.
    What about you? When have people demanded from you more than you can give? Have you been abused more in actions, or words? Have you been the butt of rude jokes, caustic criticism, ridicule, harassment, put-downs? When have people treated you disrespectfully or failed to appreciate you as you deserved?
    So we find ourselves in BINDS of all kinds.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TROUBLE: A CLASH OF DOMAINS

It was a situation that couldn’t go on very long: it was headed for a showdown, coming to a climax. Their troubles were multiplying faster than the Hebrew babies. You would think it would be a good thing that their kind were proving fertile, but this made the Egyptians increasingly nervous, so they made it hard for the Israelites. Ex 1:14 “They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.”
    Pharaoh had been trying to exploit the exploding population by ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill the boy babies when they were born and letting the girl babies live (Ex 1:16) - sly genocide. But the midwives feared God and refused to carry out Pharaoh’s order; God rewarded their bravery by treating the midwives kindly (1:20f).
    Yet Moses’ message to Pharaoh that God was ordering him to let the Hebrews take 3 days off for worship in the wilderness was met with stiff resistance, showing the stubborn lack of reverence of Pharaoh’s heart. It was a straightforward enough request: Ex 5:1 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’” But Pharaoh wouldn’t let-go: it was a no-go. Instead he ordered the work cranked up because he reasoned they weren’t working hard enough if they had time to consider going away for a holy holiday.
    The increased workload spelled TROUBLE. V19 “The Israelite foremen realized they were in TROUBLE when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day."” The Israelite foremen complained to Moses and Aaron, and Moses in turn complained to God. Ex 5:22f “Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought TROUBLE upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought TROUBLE upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."”
    What troubles have you had to endure this past week? What troubles are you anticipating in this week coming up?
    I was in trouble a few days ago when I was using a small loader tractor with mower deck to put some rocks around a culvert. When, up on the edge of the bank, I lowered the bucket full of stones, the tractor didn’t stop at the brink even though I madly tried to step on the pedal to make it reverse – the weight of the load drew me further, beached me on the mower deck, and left the wheels spinning uselessly in the air! What a fix! There was nothing for it but to call for a tow-truck, which got me unstuck in about 10 seconds. Oh well, we all have our hang-ups! Lesson learned (I think).
    It’s good to keep our troubles in perspective. A female college student wrote the following letter to her parents: “Dear Mom and Dad: I am writing this letter on school paper because my stationery got burned in the fire. I got out of the hospital, and have moved in with my new boyfriend, Bill. He got me a job where he works – I'm a waitress at the Red Dog Saloon. Your new grandbaby is due next fall. [When they turned it over, the next page continued...] Mom, Dad, none of the above really happened. However, I made a C in French and I'm failing History. Love, Your Daughter.”
    The Bible promises that when we call to God in times of trouble, He will help us. Psalm 91:15 “He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him.” Nahum 1:7a “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble...”
    Troubles sometimes arise because there’s a clash of domains, two competing powers. In Moses’ case, God was asserting His right to call the Israelites “MY people”, but Pharaoh did not recognize God and chose to claim the Hebrew slaves as his own private work force. God’s greater purpose in all this was to make His excellence known, to glorify Himself by showing His ability to save His covenant people from tyranny.
    There is a spiritual realm overlapping our regular physical realm, and there can be clashes that are invisible to us. One time Daniel mourned and prayed for 3 whole weeks. When an angelic messenger finally arrived in answer to Daniel’s prayer, the angel explained: Daniel 10:12-13 “...Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”
    We live in a fallen world, where evil forces fight against what’s good and right. Sometimes trouble comes because we’re on a particular side of that conflict. We still need to keep trusting God even in the midst of trouble.
    A few chapters earlier, Daniel found himself cast into a den of lions because he refused to obey the king’s prohibition against prayer. Who wants to be a lion’s lunch??! He was in big trouble! But Daniel didn’t stop trusting God. Daniel 6:23 tells us the outcome, “And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”
    When there’s TROUBLE: TRUST. Jeremiah 17:7 says, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” See there that ‘confidence’ is a synonym for ‘trust’: keep your confidence in God. 2Chronicles 16:9a “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” Keep committed to Him, trust in Him, and He will strengthen you.

GOD’S GOODNESS ANCHORED IN HIS NAME AND NATURE

We’ve been contending that “When life is unfair, God is good.” Or the title of this message is: “When Life is Unfair, Watch God Go to Work”. Nahum the prophet called God a “strong refuge” when trouble comes: even then, when difficulties assail us, we can assert that God is good. That’s pretty amazing! The Bible has lots of stories of people of faith who experienced God delivering them when they were in a tough spot, situations that were beyond their own solving.
    After hearing how rough things are getting for the Hebrew foremen and slaves, Moses turns to God with the complaint that they’re in so much trouble. At the beginning of Exodus 6, we see God begin to outline how He has everything under control: the situation isn’t as desperate as it seems on a purely human level.
    First, because of God’s mighty POWER. 6:1 “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of MY MIGHTY HAND he will let them go; because of MY MIGHTY HAND he will drive them out of his country."” And so it eventually came about: ten horrendous plagues, culminating in the death of the Egyptian firstborn, would ultimately convince Pharaoh to relent and release the oppressed Israelites.
    God has AWESOME power. Jesus’ disciples saw Him calm the storm, walk on water, feed the 5,000, heal the blind and lepers, raise the dead: there was no question their Saviour had miracle-working POWER. Too often we restrict ourselves to thinking about just what we can manage on our own steam: we forget God’s might. After all, He created EVERYTHING! Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, Php 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Such optimism compared to some religions that are fatalistic!
    But God’s POWER is harnessed to His PURPOSE. We see this emphasized more in verses 2-5, where God unpacks a bit the startling significance of His particular name, “YHWH”, translated LORD (in caps). Ex 6:2-3 “God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” God’s getting very up-close and personal, revealing His name ‘YHWH’ from Heb.hayah to be / become: He is the-God-Who-is-becoming – in relationship to His people. He is the God who brings things into being, who makes things happen – to deliver those He loves. He becomes known by His loving interaction with us, on our behalf, FOR us.
    Notice the verbs in 6:6-8, all God promises to do that’s coming up for the Israelites: I will bring you out from under the yoke; I will free you from being slaves; I will redeem you...; I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God; “then you will know that I am YHWH your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.” We come to know God THROUGH our troubles as we trust Him and see Him show His glory and goodness in the process of our deliverance.
    God pledges or promises His support to us, expressed in terms of COVENANT. Vv4-5 “I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan...I have remembered my covenant.” God delights to carry through on His solemn promises to His people.
    God’s name, YHWH, suggests that we come to know Him dynamically, through His interaction with us, as we experience His saving acts in relationship with us. And a key part of that is His CARING for us. Ex 6:5 “Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving...” God is about to show He’s concerned for them, He’s heard their cries.
    When Moses returns from shepherding in the wilderness and explains to the Hebrew leaders how God has commissioned him to speak to Pharaoh for their rescue, we read in Ex 4:31: “...And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” Do you believe God is CONCERNED about you? If you know He cares – worship Him!
    We read earlier in the responsive reading from Psalm 118:1 (in your bulletin), “Thanks be to the Lord because the Lord is good, because the Lord’s love never quits.” Never runs out on me. Nahum 1:7, the full verse, says - “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble.HE CARES FOR those who trust in him...” God CARES FOR YOU when you trust in Him. 1Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
    Even in the worst situations, the toughest problems, the biggest binds, we can be assured God hears our groaning and still cares for us. In the movie The Hiding Place, there’s a scene set in the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsy are there along with 10,000 other women, in horrible, degrading, hideous conditions. They’re gathered with some of the women in the barracks in the midst of the beds, cold and hungry and lice-ridden, and Betsy is leading a Bible class. One of the other women calls out derisively from her bunk and mocks their worship of God. They begin talking, and this woman says what so frequently is flung at Christians: “If your God is such a good God, why does He allow this kind of suffering?” Dramatically she tears off the bandages and old rags that bind her hands, displaying her broken, mangled fingers and says, “I’m the first violinist of the symphony orchestra.Did your God will this?” For a moment no one answers. Then Corrie Ten Boom steps to the side of her sister and says, “We can’t answer that question.All we know is that our God came to this earth, and became one of us, and He suffered with us and was crucified and died. And that He did it for love.”
    We’re worshipping outdoors today in a park. The reading earlier from Matthew 6 reminds us Jesus looked around at birds and flowers as plain evidences of our Creator’s care for us: birds don’t store up in barns, flowers don’t toil or spin, and yet God provides their needs; how much more He’ll do for us! We’re not to worry about what we’re to eat or drink or wear because, Jesus says, Mt 6:32 “For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” He cares about us, He knows what we need. And if we will trust Him and put His concerns first, make His business our priority instead of just heaping up earthly possessions, He’ll help us take care of the rest. Mt 6:33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
    So, in conclusion – when we’re in trouble, when we’re in a bind – keep trusting in the Lord: His goodness is anchored deep in His name (who He expresses Himself to be in relationship to us) and His nature, His character, His covenant purposes. As Lamentations 3:25 puts it, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him...” - no matter what your particular hang-up may be! Let’s pray.

Four Gardens: Potential, Pressure, Presence, Preservation

17th Annual Blyth Memory Garden Dedication Service
Sun. June 16, 2019
Gen 2:8-9,15-17; Mt.26:36-39; Jn 19:40-42; 20:14-17; Rev 22:1-5

GRIEF, GARDENS, AND GROWTH
Why are we here today? Hopefully it’s not just because, “So-and-so made me come.” (!) No, really, why are we here? Is it because we didn’t have anything else to do with our time? I doubt it. Is it because the Memory Garden is such a beautiful spot? The volunteers have worked long and hard to make it beautiful, but there are plenty other pretty spots to be on a nice spring day. No, I suspect the real reason we’re here is on account of PEOPLE: the names on the memorial leaves and stones point to real flesh-and-blood persons who have passed on but whose lives have impacted ours in very positive and loving ways.
    By our interactions we affect other people’s lives. And they impact us. It’s all part of growing and maturing in life, what we’re built for. God designed us with the ability and means to be IN RELATIONSHIP, to love and serve our family and friends and neighbourhood. Jesus talked about ‘bearing fruit’. He told His followers in John 15(5,8), “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing...This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
    The old Westminster Shorter Catechism my father used to delight in quoting began by asserting that our chief “end” as humans is “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Jesus says it glorifies His Father when we bear much fruit – so a big part of life must revolve around growing and maturing to the point we can sow God’s love and goodness and truth and blessing into the lives of those around us. Life is about so much more than just being born and eating and drinking and working and dying.
    Scripture suggests there are at least 4 gardens that come to bear on our existence. These are: the Garden of Potential in Eden; the Garden of Pressure at Gethsemane; the Garden of Presence at Easter; and the Garden of final Preservation at Resurrection, after the Day of Judgment. Let’s look at each of these in turn, and the response each elicits from us.

GARDEN OF POTENTIAL: COMMANDMENT
The Bible tells us that life began in a garden – in Eden, in fact. God Himself planted this garden, and put Adam and Eve there, and planted all kinds of trees that were good to eat. “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Let’s call this ‘the garden of POTENTIAL’. When we’re young and just starting out, life has so many possibilities. There’s lots of choices to make: to marry or not to marry, what trade we’ll learn / what to work at, where we’ll go to school and where we’ll live. Things are very open-ended and there are rewards and consequences for the choices we make, the course we take. We are thankful for the people remembered in this Memory Garden, that they chose to let their lives intersect with ours.
    We read, “And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." In the freedom of this potential, Scripture cautions us to respond in the light of God’s COMMANDMENT. Adam and Eve COULD have chosen not to eat of the forbidden fruit – instead they could have eaten of the tree of life: but they decided to thumb their nose at God and ‘do their own thing’ instead. Unfortunately the consequences of their free choice brought death and decay to the very creation we were placed here to take care of.
    Death claims our loved ones, too early it seems. So pausing to remember them on days like this helps us appreciate how fleeting life is and how precious were the years we had together.

GARDEN OF PRESSURE: COMMIT
Just before the end of Jesus’ life, He took a time out to visit a garden – one called “Gethsemane”, which literally means “oil press” – amongst the trees of this olive grove there was apparently an apparatus for squeezing the oil from the trees’ fruit. This was the place just before Jesus’ arrest where He endured much torment of mind. We’re told He “began to be sorrowful and troubled.” Pressure was mounting: if He didn’t escape now, He would have to die a tortured cruel death for a capital crime He did not commit. Jesus admitted to His companions, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”
    Life has its pressures. It squeezes us at times until it feels like we’re going to burst. There are financial pressures – too much month and not enough money; medical pressures, our bodies wear out and break down; relationship pressures – people disappoint us, let us down, move away, lose contact, leave us alone. Many of us had to stand by and watch our loved ones struggle through various of these trials. It wasn’t easy. We would have traded places with them at points if we could have.
    Jesus understands the pressures we face in life. He got beaten up at the end. His own disciples ran off and deserted Him when the chips were down. But He chose to bear the suffering for our sakes, on our behalf, so our sins could be forgiven and divine justice satisfied.
    When we’re facing times of pressure, we need to COMMIT our lives afresh to God. Hear how Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.Yet not as I will, but as you will.” He committed His life into God’s hands. At the very end, drawing His final breaths on the cross, He said: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Lk 23:46) When the worst happens, and you don’t feel you can go on – entrust your life to God. He can strengthen to bear up under the pressure. Isaiah 41:10 - “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

GARDEN OF PRESENCE: CLAIM
Not long after, the scene shifts to another garden. We’re told after Jesus’ crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus laid him in a new tomb nearby in another garden. On Easter morning, when Mary Magdalene can’t find Jesus’ body, she is distraught. Jesus appears to her in His risen form, but she doesn’t recognize Him; when He asks, “Why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” She actually mistakes Him for the gardener. (Yes He is, actually, but not those kind of plants! He’s cultivating the two-legged variety.)
    One of the most precious parts of this story is the fact that Jesus is actually appearing in person to His mourning disciple Mary Magdalene. When she finally realizes Who He is, she has a hard time letting go, she wants to keep holding on. His PRESENCE is very special to the person who loves Him.
    We are drawn to this garden partly because the presence of our loved ones is reflected to a small degree by emblems of remembrance – memorial leaves, stones, benches, other artifacts. We miss them, and we can’t bring them back. The fact that they loved us, and we them, made their presence very special.
    The Garden of Presence draws us to CLAIM God’s promises. When Jesus called Mary by name, John tells us, “She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher)” – literally, MY teacher. When God shows up, we do well to bow down and acknowledge His sovereignty and Lordship, over our lives and our future. There is so much in this life that is beyond our control: circumstances take inexplicable turns, things happen we never would have expected, life is so fragile... We need Him, we acclaim Him to be Who He says He is.

GARDEN OF PRESERVATION: COMPLETION
So to review, there’s the garden of POTENTIAL, with its COMMANDMENT; the garden of PRESSURE, where we COMMIT; the garden of PRESENCE, where we do well to CLAIM; and finally, the Bible has a prophecy about yet one more garden at the end of time, the Garden of PRESERVATION.
    John writes in the final chapter of Scripture, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.”
    This is a garden or orchard of sorts of fruit trees, yielding fruit not annually but monthly; and the leaves of the trees are “for the healing of the nations”. For our PRESERVATION, our recovery, our being-set-right. We long for that for our dear departed loved ones. It was tough in many cases to stand by and watch their mortal husks deteriorate. Here the Bible gives us hope, describing Jesus in His risen glorified spiritual body as a sort of ‘firstfruits’ of those who believe in Him and belong to Him. The Apostle Paul writes in 1Cor 15:20-23, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep...For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”
    If the other gardens evoke our response by COMMANDMENT, COMMITMENT, and CLAIM, this garden – with its leaves of healing and restoration, garden of preservation – points to our COMPLETION. God’s revelation in Scripture assures us that this life is not all there is: there IS life beyond death, where justice and mercy and righteousness prevail instead of death and disease and dashed hopes. A place of completion that will be like being ‘at home’ with God. Paul could even speak of it this way: “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2Cor 5:8)
    And if you think THIS garden is a nice spot – just wait til you see THAT! Let’s pray.