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Cry out “What Amazing Things!” A Sermon on Psalm 126 from the Concordia Lutheran Church
Cry out “What Amazing Things”
Psalm 126
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
† I.H.S. †
May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ cause joy to flood your life!
- What is your “dream”?
A week or two back at a Dallas Cowboy game my childhood hero, Roger Staubach was honored. Despite playing for the Cowboys, he was a hero, I had three books about his life, and all of them mentioned his strong faith.
It was partially that, and partially his unconventional nature that made me want to emulate him – I wanted to be a pro-quarterback! It was a dream…
We all have dreams—and some of them change over the years! I mean, I really don’t think I want to start this afternoon at quarterback for a NFL team! Some days my dream is having a day where I don’t feel like I played qb in the nfl yesterday, and was sacked 8 or 9 times.
Well – think about your best dream – the perfect life you could imagine, and think what might be better than that…
(pause) – no—think about what would make life perfect….
Now hear these words again, “When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
And if that was what it was like for them in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, when they brought exiles back to Jerusalem…how much more when God brings those who chose exile today, or when the exiles are brought into God the Father’s presence when Jesus returns.
- We need restoration…!
In the psalmist’s day, the people of God had become exiles. They had set aside God once again, and done what they thought was good.
The Apostle Paul describes them clearly
“28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.” Romans 1:28-32 (NLT2)
That doesn’t just describe the people of God then, it describes the society in which we live today. Perhaps, we are even talking about some in the church, or some in this church.
After all—we can sin in our thoughts, word and deed- and we do. And even if we aren’t sinning in our thoughts, words and actions, we passively sin, or we actively or passively sin by encouraging others to live in sin.
- Here is what is guaranteed to happen in our lives
That is why there is such joy when Christ Jesus brings anyone of us back home! Or when revival hits our community and people are breaking down the door to come in and hear about Jesus, because one of us invited them to come and see Jesus.
That is all that revival is, the bringing of a group of prodigals home! What an amazing thing it is, to help us understand the love of God.
This is what is so amazing, this love—this glorious love that God pours out on us.
It changes everything…
That’s the challenge for us who’ve trusted in God for a decade or eight. We know we’re going to heaven, we know God is with us, but do we realize how much He has delivered us from!
Think about Jesus words:
“A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Luke 7:41b-43 (NLT2)
He goes on
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Luke 7:47 (NLT2)
You should notice that Jesus never tells Simon the Pharisee that he’s been forgiven a little. For Simon should know – as well as anyone, that he has will be forgiven just as much as she has!
As have we!
That is what is so amazing – God has completely cleansed us up – He has brought us home to His throne, to His altar, to a place where His promises are pouted out through the gospel!
To realize is like what happens to a field full of dead, dry weeds when the rain hits it, and life become new in that desert field.
Or when the Psalmist says, “Restore our Fortunes”
The word picture there is more than a monetary figure. Think of Job, after God reveals himself and has more children, more animals, more feasts celebrating the love of God than he did before.
The word for fortune is “way of life”, or what just Jesus promised in giving us an abundant life, one where we are sure of God’s presence and love. This is the reason for great joy, this hope we have of life that is more than we can imagine, so much so that it Is like a dream.
For we are home, with our Lord, and we have an eternity with Him! – As the old hymn said, “How great our joy!” AMEN!
A Dream for the Church I pastor…
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day:
2 People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob’s God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For the LORD’s teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. Micah 4:2 (NLT)
“A few places in the world are held to be holy, because of the love which consecrates them, and of the faith that enshrines them. One such is….” Celtic Prayer Book, Reading for 8/11)
For the last couple of months, I have been praying about my congregations, the church that gathers here in Cerritos.
As a entity, there are necessary complications to ministry. How do we deal with an aging facility, how do we accomplish evangelistic outreach and meet the needs of people in our community. How do we make disciples of all peoples – of those young and old, of the stranger, of our own people. How do we effectively use all the talents God gives us. Big questions for sure, and we are working through them as a people.
But the biggest answer for my dream for our church is seen, not in our future plans, but in the green words above.
It doesn’t matter if we have a sanctuary that sits 500. Or if we have a school. Or even if there are 50000 people that attend our services and watch them on television, hear them on radio or live-feed them from the internet.
What matters to me is that where Concordia meets, becomes known as a place of holiness, a place where the love of God is known, a place where people’s trust in God’s faithfulness sees them through their lives. Where people are devoted to God, where His vision compels them to act in others lives, bringing that holiness there. What disciples become crafted, not just through intellectual stimuli, but by worship, by adoring God, by the thoughts about His love.
I think that was what the prophet Micah is referring to, the ways we are taught by God, to walk His way, That is the change that God’s word makes in our lives, it opens up a relationship defined by words like cHesed, agape, phileo, charis… love, mercy, grace.
If the people of Concordia (or your church, or any church) grow in these things, then we have succeeded as a church. We are a place where disciples are made, where God’s ways are treasured, where people live the life of those cleansed by God, and are immersed in His life. Where they are sure He will be with them, even until the end of the earth!
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A Little Boy’s Dream fulfilled…what is yours?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
It was about two years ago, as his mom did the Old Testament and Epistle readings of the day. As she returned to her seat, he asked, since he was reading already, if he could read God’s word to the God’s people. “Someday you will do it, when you are older,” replied his father, who happened to be the pastor. To be honest I was thinking during confirmation a decade away…. I would have never expected two years. Even for William that would be something incredible. Yet, yesterday, with more seriousness than I have ever seen, he got up, walked over, bowed, stepped up onto a step, and read a passage from Isaiah clearly, and with incredible skill – especially for a 5 year old.
I was proud of him on many levels, especially as I heard the reaction of our church, and heard how he ministered to them. He was nervous, and did it anyway. Although he originally wanted his mom to stand by him, he decided he wanted to do this, for God, all by himself. When I realized my wife video’d it, sending it to a few family members seemed like a nice idea, as we figured they would be proud of him. His dream was fulfilled and he did it well and seriously.
As I look over the comments this morning that people have made about it. I wonder how often we give up on that which God has called us to do. Maybe it’s reading His word in public, ( I have a number of eloquent people who are very afraid of doing that! ) Or maybe it is talking to people about why you have hope? Maybe it is studying to become a deacon, or a pastor, or going on a mission field to some remote land, or the inner city a few miles down the road. Or maybe it is the most challenging thing (in my opinion), going to someone you’ve hurt, or been hurt by, and with great love, attempting to restore the relationship that was broken. Perhaps it is simply living, where you are at, working among the same people, in the same vocation, but striving to do so in a way that glorifies God.
It may be titled a dream, or a calling, it may scare the heck out of you, it may seem impossible.
Ever see a five year old read 4 syllable words to a church filled with people?
Yeah – if God can help William achieve something he talked about for weeks a few years back, and still brought up – even two weeks ago… He’ll be with you…..
BTW – here is William’s video:
