a topical sermon
May 2, 1999
Please take your Bible and turn to Psalm 86:8-10 and follow along as I read. The psalmist says of Israel’s God,
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.
The psalmist knew. The psalmist knew what we sometimes forget. The psalmist knew that God is the sovereign Lord, and God’s sovereignty means that eventually every nation will bow before God. Eventually every nation will glorify and praise God.
Now please turn to Psalm 57 and follow along again as I read. This time I will be reading the entire psalm.
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by. I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. Selah. God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
I lie down among lions that greedily devour human prey; their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my path, but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
This psalm is very similar to Psalm 86. Both of these psalms expressed faith in God’s power in the world at a time when the psalm-writers themselves were struggling with persecution. As they suffered, they expressed faith that God would be victorious in every situation and they believed that God would grant them victory in their immediate problems. Psalm 57’s confidence is such that the psalmist prepares to "sing praises to [God] among the nations," apparently the same nations that had been causing the psalmist so much suffering.
Often we feel impotent in our world. We think the forces we face are too great. We think it is better just to resign ourselves to minimal influence.
People of biblical faith must not be characterized by such resignation. We serve a God who made all that is and whose love and power are dynamically influential. We face the world not as mere individuals against impossible odds. No, we are the ones with the odds all in our favor because of who our God is.
God has called us through Christ Jesus to be a people who take on and fulfill the purpose that God had for Israel. That purpose is powerfully stated by the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 60:1-3 we read,
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
God’s people are to be a people upon whom and through whom God’s light shines. We are not to withdraw; we are to advance because of our faith in God’s power, because of our faith in the brightness of God’s light. Nations will come to the light of God if we will allow it to shine through us. Let’s commit ourselves to shining forth God’s grace to the nations.
We look at events like those taking place in Yugoslavia and Kosovo, and we see how intractable the problems appear. We look at other troubled regions around the world and a sense of powerlessness can settle in. Sisters and brothers, there must be no sense of defeatism or powerlessness in the hearts of a people who trust in the living God. God made this world and God will one day reign uncontestedly over all that is.
We pray that God’s will might "be done on earth as it is in heaven" because that is the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, but sometimes we act as if God is incapable of answering the very prayer that Jesus explicitly taught.
God’s will has enormous influence in this world. God’s will can influence this world transformingly. We show we believe that when we do all we can to spread God’s grace to the nations. We show we believe that when we refuse to be defeated by the evils that sweep across our world. We show we believe that when we take the gospel to many lands and long to take it to even more.
Margaret and I spent most of this past week in Malibu, CA at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. On Wednesday, as a special part of the lectureship, a dinner was held to honor Helen Young. Most of us here know that Helen was an extremely effective partner with her husband Norvel when he served as Broadway’s minister in the forties and fifties. Helen was also an extremely capable first lady at Pepperdine where Norvel served as president and chancellor for many years. Norvel died in February of last year.
As a part of the dinner to honor Helen, all three of her sons-in-law gave tributes to her. Each one of them gave excellent testimonies that enriched my appreciation of this great woman of God; but my favorite, the one that stood out for me, was the one given by Dr. Steve Lemley. Steve is a former Broadway member and a former president of Lubbock Christian University.
Steve told of a trip that several in the family made together to China and Hong Kong. He remembered especially a ride in a ferry across a body of water. When they neared their destination, the ferry slowed and then stopped. They were still some distance from the dock, so they did not know why they had stopped out in the water. Then the ferry captain’s voice came over the intercom. He clearly was annoyed. He reported that the delay was due to the fact that a woman had tried to kill herself by jumping off of the dock and now everything was held up as people worked to fish the woman out of the water. Eventually, the woman was rescued and the ferry was able to dock and unload its passengers. Steve revealed that the incident felt weird, troubling. He remembers unloading with other family members and walking toward their destination. They had gone some distance when they realized that Helen was not with them. They backtracked to find her. And there she was. She had gone to the woman who had tried to
kill herself. Helen was patting her and loving her. The woman could not understand English, and Helen could not understand Chinese, but Helen had to let her know that someone cared and hurt with her in her despair.
Broadway’s missions ministry is focused upon loving the hurting throughout the world. Broadway’s missions ministry is focused upon taking the love of God to everyone. There is much to do. There are many who are lost. But we cannot pass by and just head onwards toward our destination. We must reach out to those who need the love of God. We must take the gospel to those in despair. We must love as Christ has loved us. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. We must be like Him. We must take hold of His mission. We must put our trust in the power of God to shine brightly among the nations. The effort will bear fruit because of the power of our God. Let’s say confidently with the psalmist that "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations."
Let’s reach out in love. Let’s give generously to the missions ministry this morning. Let’s surpass our $95,000 goal. Let’s do it to the glory of our God.
