Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Unfairly Treated

Psalm 35.1-10 (11-18)

Life can often be unfair.

Have people ever gossiped about you?

Have people ever spread lies about you?

Have you ever been unjustly attacked and blamed for the problems that someone else was experiencing?

Have you ever felt like a person or group of people was trying to destroy your life and reputation?

And, in those moments, did you feel like no one cared about you?

Have you felt forgotten and alone in moments of suffering?

In this morning’s text, as we return to the Biblical book of Psalms, we once again meet up with the author, King David, who would easily and quickly answer, “YES!,” to all of the above questions.

Let’s listen in on Psalm 35.1-10, a piece of poetry that King David wrote—something that we can consider one of his personal journal entries.

Psalm 35:1–10 says this:

[1] Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

[2] Take hold of shield and buckler

and rise for my help!

[3] Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

[4] Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

[5] Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the LORD driving them away!

[6] Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!

[7] For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life.

[8] Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

[9] Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,

exulting in his salvation.

[10] All my bones shall say,

“O LORD, who is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?” (ESV)

In this Biblical text, King David makes it clear that he is facing persecution.

David was treated unfairly.

David was gossiped about.

David had lies spread about him.

David was unjustly attacked and blamed for the problems other people were experiencing.

David had people try to destroy his life and reputation.

David felt alone and uncared about.

David felt forgotten by God.

David mentions that the attacks he is experiencing are physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. 

However, those upset with David’s rule—his words and actions as God’s appointed King of Israel—are labeled by David with language that implies they are false witnesses in a court of law.

People who disagree with David’s God-given authority are attempting to destroy him and his ability to live and lead effectively.

And, it is in these moments that we can relate to King David as he mentions that he feels forgotten by God and alone in his suffering.

But, through faith in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, David is able to rally and cry out to God to help him to stand firm and be victorious over his godless enemies.

Now, here the weird and uncomfortable thing about David’s prayers to God in Psalm 35—they are prayers for God to destroy and kill those that fight against him.

For those of us living in a New Testament, post cross/resurrection world, where we have been told the greatest two commands are to love God and love our neighbor, I don’t think we can comprehend praying that God would destroy and kill those that treat us unfairly.

We even have Jesus teaching us this, in Luke 6.27-34:

[27] “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, [28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. [29] To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. [30] Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. [31] And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

[32] “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. [33] And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. [34] And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. [35] But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. [36] Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (ESV)

So, what is going on here in Psalm 35.

Well, Psalm 35 is what we, in the theological world, would call an imprecatory Psalm.

An imprecatory Psalm is a psalm in which the person writing, singing, or praying, asks God to curse and destroy his enemies.

For David, this type of request at this moment of his life is appropriate because he knows that the people who are abusing him physically, verbally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, are doing so because he is God’s current representative on earth.

The attacks aren’t personal.  The attacks are against God, God’s people (whom David is responsible for), and against God’s representative (David).   

So, David cries out to God for His help and aid.

In America, at this point in time, we don’t have this type of intense life-threatening persecution that would drive us to fully understand the need for imprecatory prayers.  So, let’s take a quick trip around the world.

Imagine you are in North Korea and your neighbor finds out you are a Christian. He then tells another neighbor, who tells another neighbor, until finally the police are alerted. You hear a knock on your door, and police are standing there asking if the rumor is true. Upon confessing your belief in Jesus, you and your spouse are taken to a labor camp while your children are taken and sold as slaves. 

Imagine you are a believer in Somalia where the violent Islamic group al-Shabab is trying to eradicate Christianity from the entire nation. You have watched as friends and family members have been executed on the spot for professing Christ. You have watched as radical Muslims have systematically destroyed churches, homes, and hospitals, all to remove any hint of Christianity. 

Imagine being a believer in Nigeria where groups like Boko Haram are violently threatening Christians. One morning, you send your young daughter to her Christian school and find out that afternoon that she and more than three hundred of her female friends have been captured. Imagine knowing that most of them are being physically, spiritually, and sexually abused at the hands of Muslim men. Many of them are being sold as brides and sent away to Muslim villages. 

All of these represent real-life scenarios, and one out of every nine Christians in the world is facing this kind of persecution. If you watched a loved one executed, saw a family displaced and possessions burned, or had a nine-year-old daughter captured and sold into slavery, you would understand what David was feeling in Psalm 35. Every verse of this psalm would be the cry of your heart. This psalm not only brings much-needed perspective to American Christians, but it also gives a voice to our brothers and sisters around the world who are facing this kind of persecution. Psalm 35 is a cry for justice.

David knows God. He knows God deeply and intimately. There may be no single figure in the Old Testament who knows God more intimately than David does. He knows the love, kindness, grace, and goodness of the Lord. David also knows that God is a just warrior, a deliverer, and a vindicator. David does not have a wrong view of God; he has a wholistic and accurate view of God, and he is asking God to bring his righteous justice.

The way David ends this section of this psalm helps us see the point of the whole psalm. His desire to praise the Lord shows us that David was more concerned with God’s name than his own. He watched as God’s king was threatened, God’s people were oppressed, and God’s name mocked, and David longed for God to act for the sake of his name. David longed for God’s justice because he loved God’s glory.

Life will often be unfair.

People will gossip about you.

People will spread lies about you.

People will unjustly attack you and blame you for the problems they are experiencing.

People will try to destroy your life and reputation.

You will feel alone and like no one cares about you.

You will feel forgotten in moments of suffering.

But, be assured that Jesus Christ, the One who died on the cross to forgive your sin, the One who rose from the grave to defeat the power of death for you, and the One who gives you His righteousness, knows your thoughts and feelings in every one of those experiences.

Hebrews 4:14–16 tells us this good news about Jesus and his purpose in our lives:

[14] Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (ESV)

In John 15.18-25, Jesus quotes Psalm 35 and says that it is about Him.

Jesus was the One who was ultimately hated without cause, falsely accused, mocked, ridiculed, and killed.

And, Jesus chose this life of suffering and death for you and your good.  You receive the eternal benefits of Jesus’ suffering and death.

Jesus was treated unfairly for you.

Jesus was gossiped about for you.

Jesus had lies spread about him for you.

Jesus was unjustly attacked and blamed for the problems other people were experiencing for you.

Jesus had people try to destroy his life and reputation for you.

Jesus felt alone and uncared about for you.

Jesus felt forgotten by God for you.

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection give you the assurance of God’s love, grace, and mercy that you need to strengthen you and encourage you for the ups and downs of daily life.

Because Jesus lived and experienced everything you live and experience, you can confidently cry out to him and know that he hears and understands and will once again answer you from the throne of grace and help you in your time of need.

This morning, submit to Jesus who was treated unfairly for you.

This morning, seek God’s justice against evil but also seek the good of you enemies as Jesus sought your good when you were an enemy of His because of sin (see Psalm 35.11-18 — David seeks the good of those who are persecuting him even while seeking God’s justice again their evil).

This morning, pray for God’s Kingdom to come.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

October 20, 2024.

Prayer:

God of justice and mercy, 

We come before you as those who cannot endure your justice. If you were to keep a record of our sins, which of us could stand before you? Yet that has not stopped us from keeping a record of the sins of others, both real and imagined, and dredging it up against them repeatedly in the court of public opinion. We have dug a pit for others with our mouths, condemning them and justifying ourselves, often with scant regard to the truth of what really happened. 

Moreover, when we ourselves are falsely condemned, we do not flee to your justice and plead with you to vindicate us. Instead, where we have been able to do so, we have fought back in our own power, repaying reviling with reviling, instead of returning good for evil. When we have no power to defend ourselves, we have sunk into depression and despair, bitterly angry with you for not protecting us in our time of need. Father, forgive us for our mistrust of your goodness. 

Jesus, you could have righteously condemned people all around you. As the only one without sin, you could justly have cast the first stone. But instead, you deliberately chose to forgive those who assaulted you, whether with words or with blows. You spoke kind and gracious words to those who were sinking in their own sin, as well as just words of condemnation for the self-righteous. You committed your own cause into the hands of your Father, even as his face was turned away from you on the cross. On the third day, your trust in God’s faithfulness was fully vindicated in your resurrection from the dead. 

Holy Spirit, enable us to rest our case in your safe hands. Help us to trust you to take care of the earthly verdicts that others pass on us, in the light of the eternal verdict of “Not guilty!” that is ours in Christ. Help us not to malign others with our tongues, but instead to speak kind and uplifting words that combine truth and grace. Lift our eyes up to the heavenly tribunal, whose verdict on us has already been delivered, and so give us grateful, thankful, forgiven hearts. We pray in Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

Benediction:
You can always run to Jesus who knows what it is like to be treated unfairly and who chose to be treated unfairly, receiving God’s justice on sin for you, so you could be forgiven of sin and given eternal life; Go in peace today.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5 · 1 Comment

God’s Story For You

Psalm 36

In a recent issue of CT (Christianity Today) magazine, Carrie Sheffield tells us her story as she shares how politics had become an idol to her and how she discovered a deeper source of purpose and meaning in Christ.

Carrie Sheffield was raised in extreme religious trauma in an offshoot Mormon cult. Her father believed that he was a Mormon prophet and was eventually excommunicated by the LDS church for heresy. She grew up with seven siblings in various motor homes, tents, houses, and sheds. Carrie attended 17 different public schools and when she took the ACT test, the family lived in a shed with no running water in the Ozarks.

All the children inherited trauma from their tumultuous family life. Two of her siblings have schizophrenia, including one brother who tried to rape her. Carrie has been hospitalized nine times for depression, fibromyalgia, suicidal ideation, and PTSD.

When she left home to attend Brigham Young University, her dad declared that she was satanic and therefore disowned her. As a student, she felt disillusioned by a growing list of unanswered questions about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the prospect of polygamy in the afterlife. After receiving her journalism degree, she stopped practicing Mormonism, formally renouncing it in 2010. For years she assumed she would never return to belief in God or organized religion. She writes:

To fill the void, I threw myself into work, schooling, dating, friends, and travel as ultimate sources of meaning. I worked as an analyst for major Wall Street firms, earning unthinkable sums for a girl from a motor home. I launched a career in political journalism at outlets like Politico, The Hill, and The Washington Times.

But ultimately her career goals left her unfilled. It was during the 2016 election that she felt an existential crisis. She realized that when she’d lost faith in God, she had allowed politics to become a substitute religion. She had built her career toward working on a [political] campaign or in the White House. She had appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business, and other networks, even sparring on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher. She says:

During this crisis of meaning, I felt distraught and adrift. So, I turned to church, first to Redeemer Presbyterian, founded by the late Tim Keller, and later to Saint Thomas Episcopal. It was during a service that I encountered Scripture’s answer to career and political idolatry in passages like Mark 8:36–37, which asks, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Studying Christianity felt like uncovering buried treasure discarded by intellectuals who had discounted its scientific and philosophical heft.

I joined the [Christian] [C]hurch.  My baptism day—December 3, 2017—was the happiest of my life. A group of about 30 family and friends watched me vow to “serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself” and “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.”

More than six years since my baptism, I enjoy a healthier relationship to politics. I still have strong convictions, which I don’t hesitate to share in columns, speeches, or TV appearances, but I know God is far bigger than any puny manmade system. As I returned to a walk with God, I felt enveloped with a sense of peace that surpassed understanding.

Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end (whether you like it or not).

Carrie Sheffield’s story began with spiritual abuse and political idolatry.

In the middle, Carrie Sheffield’s story had her meeting the loving Creator and Redeeming God revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Now, Carrie Sheffield’s story will end with her loving God and loving others all the way into the glory of eternity.

This morning, tell me your story.

Whether you have 10 or 20 years under your belt, or 50, 60, or 70 years of life on this earth, tell me you story.

What were you like in the past?

What happened to you along the way to influence and/or change the way you think, speak, and act?

And, what are you like today?

We all have a personal story that contains many subtitles, chapters, footnotes, and appendices.

In the AA, or Alcoholics Anonymous, program, we have a three strep process for speaking and giving our testimony of how we recovered and are staying sober 1 day at a time. And, as we also say, this is how we share our strength and hope.

Those three steps of testimony telling are:

  1. Where I was.
  2. What happened.
  3. What I am like now.

This is one of many things in the AA program that I believe relate to and can help us in our daily life as we walk as Christians with faith in Jesus Christ.  This overlap is no surprise as the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous were personally familiar with the Christian faith and quote the Bible directly and indirectly throughout the entire Big Book that is used as the guide for the actions that lead one to becoming and staying sober.

In this Biblical text for this morning, from Psalm 36, King David shares the beginning, the middle, and the end, the “Where I was,” the “What happened,” and the, “Where I am now,” of every person who has the blessed assurance of God’s forgiveness as found and received only in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Let’s hear from Psalm 36 now.

In Psalm 36, King David says this:

[1] Transgression speaks to the wicked

deep in his heart;

there is no fear of God

before his eyes.

[2] For he flatters himself in his own eyes

that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

[3] The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;

he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

[4] He plots trouble while on his bed;

he sets himself in a way that is not good;

he does not reject evil.

[5] Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

[6] Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

your judgments are like the great deep;

man and beast you save, O LORD.

[7] How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

[8] They feast on the abundance of your house,

and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

[9] For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light do we see light.

[10] Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

[11] Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

[12] There the evildoers lie fallen;

they are thrust down, unable to rise. (ESV)

It is in these 12 verses that King David describes the 3 phases or our life.

Verses 1-4 tell the story of what we were like without God.

Before we had faith in the Creating and Redeeming God, revealed to us only in the Bible, we did not fear (or stand in awe) of God; we thought better of ourselves than we should have—thinking we could do no wrong and were never guilty; we used our words to lie and deceive; we acted in selfishness and did unGodly things; and we created trouble for ourselves and others.

Verses 5-9 tell the story of what happened to us.

God was loving and faithful to us.  He came to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ, living a perfectly righteous and innocent life when measured against God’s commands for life and love, dying on the cross to forgive us by using his life to pay the debt that our sin created, and rising from the dead to defeat the power of sin and death which separated us from God.

In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God saves us, God loves us, God protects us, God provides for us, God makes us joyful, and God brings us out of the darkness and into the light.

And, verses 10-12 tell the story of what we are like now.

We live everyday with God’s love leading us and guiding us.

God continues to forgive us and make us righteous—we are always ready for His Kingdom of Heaven.

God daily empowers us to choose right over wrong and love over hate.

And, God daily lifts us up from the low places we often find ourselves. 

We have many examples in the Bible of people telling the story of how they moved from wickedness to righteousness and from condemnation to salvation.

The author of our Psalm for this morning, King David, has his story told throughout the book of 1 Samuel but he tells us his story personally, over and over again, in the songs and poetry that he wrote and are now contained in the book of Psalms for us.

David was the youngest and least impressive of many siblings.  However, God chose him at a young age to be the next king of Israel.

Although David had an impressive start—being the only one in the entire nation of Israel brave enough to defend God’s name and honor by fighting and killing the giant Philistine solider, Goliath, his journey was not all up hill.  David spent many years in the dark valleys of life, so dark that he, in Psalm 23 called them the valleys of the shadow of death.  

David’s initial success at a young age caused the sitting King of Israel, Saul, to become jealous to the point of misusing all of his power and resources to attempt to have David killed.

David spent many years on the run and in hiding from the King and his armies.

Once David because King, he too misused his power and resources to steal another man’s wife, Bathsheba, and ended up getting her pregnant.  To cover his tracks and guilt, David sent her husband to the front lines of battle to ensure he would die.

But, God in his grace and mercy, sent a friend to show David his Sin against God and the people he was supposed to protect, so that David could repent and be forgiven.

In this meeting, after recognizing his Sin and disobedience to God the Father in Heaven, David cries out:

[13] … “I have sinned against the LORD.” (2 Samuel 12:13, ESV)

And Nathan [whom God sent to David to show him his sin] said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. (2 Samuel 12:13, ESV)

Where did David start?

David started out living his life not fully devoted to God.  When the rubber met the road of daily life, David chose to follow his own passions and desires for worldly unGodly pleasure.

What happened?  

God lovingly visited and spoke to David so that he could repent from his sin, receive God’s forgiveness, and have a new life devoted to loving God and loving others.

Where did David end up?

After encountering God’s grace and mercy and love, despite his record of wrong doing, David lived his life devoted to God and in service to others to the point that we hear this about King David:

[22] [God] raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ (Acts 13:22, ESV)

God wants you to have the same story as King David.

God comes to you in the person and work of Jesus Christ, to meet you where you are at, even in the midst of Sin against him, so that you can repent, believe, and be called “one after God’s own heart who will do His will.”

We hear this desire of God laid out in 1 Timothy 2:1–6.

1 Timothy 2.1-6 says this:

[1] … I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [2] for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. [3] This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [5] For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (ESV)

In 1980, the year I was born, Eugene Peterson, an American Presbyterian minister, scholar, theologian, author, and poet, said, 

“There is a general assumption prevalent in the world that it is extremely difficult to be a Christian. But this is as far from the truth as the east is from the west. The easiest thing in the world is to be a Christian. What is hard is to be a sinner. Being a Christian is what we were created for. . . . In the course of Christian discipleship we discover that without Christ we were doing it the hard way and that with Christ we are doing it the easy way. It is not Christians who have it hard, but non-Christians.”

Without Jesus, you do not have the strength or hope you need to face life 1 day at a time.

But, with Jesus, you are given the strength and hope you to need to make it to the end of each 24 hour period that God blesses you with on this earth.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross for you to keep you story of his grace,  mercy, and love to yourself.

Your story of Jesus’ sacrifice for you, Jesus’ forgiveness of your sins, and Jesus’ giving you his righteousness, is meant to help others find hope in God’s love for them.

If you don’t know where to start in telling your story, just begin by sharing the lyrics from the song we sang a few minutes ago, Blessed Assurance.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.   

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,

I in my Savior am happy and blest;

Watching and waiting, looking above,

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 29, 2024.

Prayer:

Almighty God, 

You never change. From age to age you are faithful to your promises, and you love to pour out generous blessings on your children. Like a good earthly father, you enjoy giving good gifts to those you love, and we have so much to be thankful for. We know that we are safe in your love, because your kindness to us does not depend on our faithfulness to you. We praise you, Lord, because you raise up the poor and needy; and, as spiritually poor and needy people, we need your constant care and attention. 

Father, we should be filled with gratitude to you every minute of every day. We owe you everything, so our lives should be devoted to acts of generosity to you, to your church, and your family. We ought to give the very best that we have of our gifts, time, and material possessions to you, with glad and joyful hearts. Yet we confess that we don’t even come close to honoring you in this way, Lord. We are often stingy in our giving to you and resentful of the demands that church and people place on our time. We are generous to ourselves and to those whom we love or wish to impress, but we rob you frequently by not giving to you in proportion to our great debt. Father, forgive us. 

Jesus, thank you for giving your life and yourself so generously for us. You lived each day in perfect gratitude to your Father, giving thanks for your daily bread and giving your mind, heart, soul, and strength to serving us. In the end, you even gave your body as a sacrificial offering on the cross. How can we repay such amazing love? 

Holy Spirit, teach us to excel in the grace of giving. Help our hearts to overflow with generosity to others in response to the outpouring of grace that we have received. Make us quick to identify and meet the needs around us, whether they are the needs of our church or the needs of one another. And, when we have done all that we can do, help us not to take pride in our giving, but to recognize that it is only a small return for your great generosity to us in Christ. In Jesus’ precious name, amen.

Go in peace and share your strength and hope.

Benediction:

Go, tell it on the mountain

Over the hills and everywhere

Go, tell it on the mountain

That Jesus Christ is born

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Wake Me Up Inside

Psalm 34.15-22

In their 2003 hit song, Bring Me to Life, rock band Evanescence sang:

(Wake me up)

Wake me up inside

(I can’t wake up)

Wake me up inside

(Save me)

Call my name and save me from the dark

(Wake me up)

Before I come undone

(Save me)

Save me from the nothing I’ve become

And, more recently, in 2018, metal band Underoath sang:

Open up my eyes and show me salvation

Wake this body up ’cause I’m tired of sleepin’

Our Biblical text this morning from Psalm 34 makes it clear that we need to be woken up to the truth of our relationship with God the Father in Heaven if we are going to live every day with hope for better tomorrow.

Psalm 34:15–22 says this:

[15] The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

and his ears toward their cry.

[16] The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

[17] When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

[18] The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

[19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

[20] He keeps all his bones;

not one of them is broken.

[21] Affliction will slay the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

[22] The LORD redeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (ESV)

Our piece of Scripture from Psalm 34 lets us know that there are two categories of people that God sees when he looks at humanity.

When God looks at you, God either sees you as righteous or evil.

As King David, the writer of Psalm 34 tells us, those that God calls righteous have the grace, mercy, love, and goodness of God poured out on them every day of their life and eternally.

King David, who is writing Psalm 34 after being rescued by God from the hands of the king who wants to kill him, and the people of Goliath’s hometown—Goliath being their champion, the giant solider that David killed with a slingshot and a stone, names some of the benefits of being labeled righteous by God.

According to our final verses from Psalm 34,

the righteous have God’s attention as God’s eyes are always on them, watching them to provide for their needs and protect them from ultimate harm.

The righteous are heard by God when they cry to Him for help in prayer.

The righteous have their cries and prayers for help answered by God.

The righteous are delivered from their troubles by God who hears and answers them.

The righteous always have God near them, especially when they are brokenhearted.

The righteous are saved by God when they feel crushed by their sin and the sin of the world around them.

The righteous find comfort in a God who cares for them.

The righteous are redeemed by God from their sin.

So, what does it mean to be righteous?

To be righteous means to be morally perfect when measured against God’s standards for life and love which are laid out for us in the 10 Commandments as well as the other 600+ commandments found it Scripture.

To be righteous means to have lived every second of every day with a record of 100% compliance to every single thing that God tells us to do and not to do.

If you are like me and think about your past and your present when you hear this, you are hopefully realizing that you are in trouble because their is absolutely no way you can claim to have a 100% record of compliance to every single thing that God, as only revealed in the Bible, has told us to do and not do.

When measuring ourselves against God’s standards for right and wrong we have to agree with the Scriptures that say:

[10] …“None is righteous, no, not one;

[11] no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

[12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12,ESV)

[23] …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

(Romans 3:23, ESV)

And, Isaiah 64:6, which tell us that,

[6] We have all become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

We all fade like a leaf,

and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (ESV)

So, if we are living in an evil state, constantly failing to measure up to God’s standards for life and love because of the Sin that corrupts us, what is our position before God’s throne?  

Well, it would be the opposite of righteous according to our text for his morning and that puts us in God’s category of “evil.”

So, what is the life of an evil person like?

King David addresses that as well in this morning’s text.

He says that God looks away from the evil person.

He says that God does not remember the evil person.

He says that God will allow affliction to define the life of the evil person.

He says that God will condemn the evil person to an eternity separated from Him and separated from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Again, hopefully, we recognize our problem.

Our problem is that everything that King David says here about the evil person is our natural state of being because of Sin that is inborn and overflows from us.

But, because of God’s love for us, even in our evil state, He is gracious and merciful towards us giving us the ability to be transferred into the category of “righteous” where we receive all of the benefits of a reconciled relationship with Him that we heard King David mention a few minutes ago.

And, here’s the thing, to become righteous in God’s eyes isn’t something you can earn by doing good deeds or attempting to be the best person you can be.

To become righteous, all you need is faith in Jesus Christ, God-in-the-flesh, who is God’s freely given gift to you so that you can be delivered from slavery to sin, saved from death and separation from God, and redeemed for Kingdom life that is begun to be lived here and now and that will be lived eternally in Heaven.

Simply put, the righteous are saved by faith in Jesus.

In what may be familiar verses to you, John 3:16–17 lays out God’s deliverance, salvation, and redemption plan.

John 3.16-17 says this:

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

There are a bunch of verses in the Biblical book of Romans, which is the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians in the city of Rome during the 1st Century AD, that put our problems and and God’s solution for us together in a wonderful way that has become an easy way to sum up the good news of Christianity.

This collection of Bible verses has become known as Romans Road.

Let’s hear the good news of God’s love making us righteous for in the person and work of Jesus Christ through Romans Road together.

Romans 6:23

[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

Romans 5:8

[8] …God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (ESV)

Romans 10:9

[9] …if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (ESV)

Romans 10:13

[13] For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (ESV)

Romans 5:1

[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Romans 8:1

[1] There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

And, Romans 8:38–39

[38] For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39] nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

Have you ever heard the saying, “All roads lead to Heaven,” or, “All roads lead to God”?

Well, that is one of, if not the greatest, lies that exists.

Our Scripture from the Bible for this morning, along with every other Scripture that exists in the Bible, makes it explicitly clear that ALL ROADS DO NOT LEAD TO GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN.

And, to make sure we know this, Jesus Christ, God in the Flesh, makes it unquestionably clear when he tell us,

[6] …“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV)

Without Jesus, God calls you evil and your end is punishment and destruction because of sin.

However, with Jesus, God calls you righteous and you are delivered, saved, and redeemed from the hell of being separated from God today, tomorrow, and forever.  And, your new life is led by God, protected by God, and all of your needs are provided for by God.

May your daily prayer this week be:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, wake me up inside; call my name and save me from the dark; save me from the nothing I’ve become; open my eyes and show me salvation.

I leave you with this promise from Psalm 91:14–16:

[14] “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

[15] When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

[16] With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.” (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 22, 2024.

Prayer:

Holy Lord, 

We are not fit to come before you. We have no righteousness of our own to offer, and we possess nothing to sacrifice that is worthy of the great debt that we owe you. We have not done what is just and right, but instead have frequently sinned in our words and our actions. We have not loved kindness and delighted our souls in doing others good. Instead, we have delighted in harming those whom we deem our enemies, and even when we have done good to others, we have resented them in our hearts. We have not walked humbly and wisely before you, but rather we have walked in our own wisdom and followed the counsel of the world around us. Father, forgive us. 

Jesus, you are our righteousness, and you have made the perfect offering to atone for our sin. You walked humbly with God every day of your life, you loved faithfulness and mercy, and you burned for justice. These glorious attributes are our only hope of entering God’s presence, yet we wanted you dead because of them, and so we crucified you. What great arrogance, hatred of kindness, and injustice belongs to our race—and to us as well! Thank you for your great mercy in which you come to sinners like us, cleanse us with your precious blood, and clothe us in your perfect righteousness. Hallelujah! What a Savior you are! 

Holy Spirit, work in us true righteousness. Take away our hard and stony hearts and create in us true goodness and beauty. Give us a new desire to walk in your statutes and to live by your rules, out of the thankfulness of our hearts for our rich salvation. Give us deep and abiding joy in the gospel—a joy that neither our circumstances nor our sin can take away. Fix our eyes increasingly on the everlasting inheritance of righteousness that is ours in Christ—on the new heavens and the new earth where we shall finally be able to enter your presence, by your grace alone, standing on the righteousness of Christ alone. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, amen.

Benediction:

Go in peace this morning.  Jesus has transferred you from the domain of evil and darkness to the domain of light and righteousness.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Inspired By Awe

Psalm 34.11-14

In 2022 Chapman University surveyed adults on 95 fears. It turns out that the majority of Americans suffer from tremendous fear. Many–perhaps as high as 85 percent of the population–live with a sense of impending doom. (This is) a classic sign of clinical anxiety.

The survey follows trends over time and identifies new fears as they emerge. The survey is a nationally representative sample that gives us insight into what terrifies America. Fears are ranked by the percent of Americans who reported being afraid or very afraid.

Top 10 Fears of 2022 by % of Very Afraid or Afraid were:

  1. Corrupt government officials 62.1

2. People I love becoming seriously ill 60.2

3. Russia using nuclear weapons 59.6

4. People I love dying 58.1

5. The U.S. involved in another world war 56.0

6. Pollution of drinking water 54.5

7. Not having enough money for the future 53.7

8. Economic/financial collapse 53.7

9. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes 52.5

10. Biological warfare 51.5

A general overview of America’s top 10 fears in the 2022 survey suggests that Americans’ fears center on five main topics: corrupt government officials, harm to a loved one, war, environmental concerns, and economic concerns numbers.

Do you fear anything on this list?

Do you have a fear that you would add to this list?

What are you afraid of, right now, as you sit there in the pew on this beautiful September Sunday morning?

In this morning’s Biblical text, once again from Psalm 34, we are going to hear King David talk about fear.  But, the fear he is going to talk about is not a fear that makes you run away, cover your eyes, and cower in a corner.

Instead, King David is going to talk about a fear that gives you hope and confidence for today and tomorrow.

Let’s return to Psalm 34 together now.

Psalm 34:11–14 says:

[11] Come, O children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

[12] What man is there who desires life

and loves many days, that he may see good?

[13] Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from speaking deceit.

[14] Turn away from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.  (ESV)

The first thing that King David does in these verses is to ask us to listen to him.

Now, in my arrogance, whenever someone says, “Listen to me,” I angrily and internally ask, “Who are you? Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?”

So, let’s ask that question, “Why should we listen to King David?”

Well, as we read through King David’s life story in the Bible, we come to learn that he has had many experiences with God providing for his needs, protecting him from harm, and most importantly forgiving his sin. (See the past two messages on Psalm 34)

King David isn’t just talking talk.  

King David is walking the walk about which he talks.

So, in listening to King David, and being obedient to what he says when he instructs us to repent of sin, believe in a good and gracious God, and rejoice in the forgiveness of sin and enteral life that God freely gives us, we can trust the source.

When I teach leadership courses, I always teach that a leader can only lead someone as far as they have personally gone in their life. 

David has gone all the way into the hell of sin and has been brought all the way back to joy of Heaven by God’s grace alone. 

Therefore, since King David has been there, he is able to help us know and understand that the only way from the hell of sin to the joy of Heaven is through the help of a gracious and merciful and loving God who is found in the person and work of Jesus for us.

Ok, now we are trusting and listening to King David (hopefully).

The first thing King David tells us to do is to fear the Lord.

What does it mean to fear the Lord?

Does it mean to be scarred of him?

In one sense, yes.  We should have a healthy fear of God because in His holiness and power, he could choose to crush us and destroy us for our sin which is disobedience to him and his commandments for life and love.

However, to fear the Lord also means to stand in awe of him.  

Awe is a feeling of reverential respect and/or healthy fear mixed with wonder.

We stand in awe of God because even though he has every right to punish us at ever turn because of our sin, he instead chooses to love us and lead us to repentance and forgiveness of sin through faith in the work that he has done for us and completed for us in Jesus’ perfectly lived life, Jesus’ death on the cross, and Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.

In one simple statement, we stand in awe of God because he is nothing but gracious to us.

Now that we understand what a healthy fear of God is, let us see what the Bible tells us about this healthy fear of God.

Job 28:28 says:

[28] …‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (ESV)

Psalm 111:10 says:

[10] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever! (ESV)

Proverbs 1:7 says:

[7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)

Proverbs 8:13 says:

[13] The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate. (ESV)

Proverbs 10:27 says:

[27] The fear of the LORD prolongs life,

but the years of the wicked will be short. (ESV)

Proverbs 14:26 says:

[26] In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,

and his children will have a refuge. (ESV)

And, Proverbs 14:27 says:

[27] The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,

that one may turn away from the snares of death. (ESV)

The Bible says many more things about the benefits of living with faith in awe of God.

But, in these few examples, we hear that for you who trust is God’s power, grace, and mercy, and stand in awe of God, you will be wise.

When you stand in awe of God, you will turn away from evil.

When you stand in awe of God, you will will have a Godly understanding and knowledge to help you make decisions day after day.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have a strong distaste in your mouth for evil and wrongdoing.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have a prolonged life.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have confidence and hope for the day because you know that regardless of what happens to you, you have a God who loves you and will bring you home to His Kingdom in the end.

When you stand in awe of God, you will have life eternal in Heaven and not death eternal in Hell.

The March/April 2016 issue of Psychology Today attempted to give readers several reasons to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder with their article “It’s Not All About You!” The article mentioned the following non-biblical sources about our need for awe and wonder:

  • University of Pennsylvania researchers defined awe as the “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.”
  • A popular theoretical physicist wrote: “Awe gives you an existential shock. You realize that you are hardwired to be a little selfish, but you are also dependent on something bigger than yourself.” Being enraptured is a way “to remove the tyranny of the ego.”
  • Therapist Robert Leahy, PhD writes: “Awe is the opposite of rumination. It clears away inner turmoil with a wave of outer immensity.”
  • Social scientists have found that when people experience a sense of awe, they feel more empathetic and more connected with others. One scientist concluded, “Wonder pulls us together—a counterforce to all that seems to be tearing us apart.”
  • The Wharton School of Business evaluated the New York Times’ most emailed articles and found that the ones that evoked awe were the most shared.

In his book, Desiring God, pastor and theologian, John Piper, wrote the following:

Suppose you were exploring an unknown glacier in the north of Greenland in the dead of winter. Just as you reach a sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles and miles of jagged ice and snow covered mountains, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear arises that it might blow you and your party right over the cliff. But in the midst of it you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure, but the awesome might of the storm rages on and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers.

At first, there was the fear that this terrible storm and awesome terrain might claim your life. But then you found a refuge and gained the hope that you would be safe. But not everything in the feeling called fear vanished. Only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never want to tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power.

God’s power is behind the unendurable cold of Arctic storms. Yet he cups his hand around us and says, “Take refuge in my love and let the terrors of my power become the awesome fireworks of your happy night sky.”

Where do we learn to stand in awe of God?

In His Word, the Holy Bible.

Why do we learn to stand in awe of God?  

We learn to stand in awe of God because He, the Creator and Redeemer of all that exists in time and space, has the power to punish us because of our sin against Him but, instead, has chosen to continue to love us to the point of dying for us.

In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God, our Father in Heaven, stepped into the flesh of Jesus Christ and lived a perfect and innocent life when measured against God’s standards for life and love, died a sacrificial death to pay the price of the debt incurred because of our sin, and rose from the grave three days later completely defeating the power of sin and death that had a hold on us.

And, simply through faith in Jesus alone, we are given credit for that perfect and innocent life when measured against God’s standards for life and love, that death to sin, and that defeating of sin today, tomorrow, and forever.

David next moves on in this Psalm to encourage us to properly respond to God’s goodness that leaves us standing in awestruck fear of a grace that is unlike anything else we have ever known or experienced.

In response to God’s unconditional and unending goodness toward us, David tells us that our response should be both faith and action.

King David mentions two faith empowered changes in our life that affect our actions.

King David encourages us to live our faith in Jesus through honoring God with the words that come out of our mouth and always choosing to seek peace in relationships instead of conflict.

These life changes that come through faith have benefits for us and the world around us just like fearing God did.

Let’s hear a bit about words and seeking peace from other places in Scripture.

Proverbs 18:21 says:

[21] Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruits. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:29 says:

[29] Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (ESV)

Psalm 37:37 says:

[37] Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace. (ESV)

And, Matthew 5:9 says:

[9] “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (ESV)

In Jesus, we don’t just have forgiveness and a place in Heaven.  We also have a new life on this earth where we are empowered everyday by the Holy Spirit to be more like Jesus on this earth.  We are strengthened and given the ability (although still often tainted by sin) to love God and love our neighbor.

As you walk in faith this week, living in awe of God’s goodness and grace toward you, make Psalm 19.14 your morning prayer.

Psalm 19:14 says:

[14] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 15, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

I Lack No Good Thing

Psalm 34.8-10

For those of us that grew up in or around the church, and maybe even if we didn’t, Psalm 23 is probably familiar.

The beginning of Psalm 23 is usually read or memorized as “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

However, when I was studying Hebrew and began to read the Old Testament part of the Bible in the original language, I noticed something very different if Psalm 23.

The word that is often translated into English as want, is actually the word need in the original Hebrew.

So, it would actual state that, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not lack [any good thing].”

This brings a whole new level of confidence to our relationship with God when we realize that, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not lack [any good thing].”

To lack means to not have or to be in need.  

To lack means that something is missing from your life.

In our Biblical text for this morning, continuing in Psalm 34 where we left off last week, King David, the writer of this song, as well as Psalm 23, returns to the theme of having everything we need for life and love when our trust in God, the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth and the Redeemer of humanity.

Let’s hear King David’s words now from Psalm 34.8-10.

[8] Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

[9] Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him have no lack!

[10] The young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.(ESV)

Here in this morning’s Biblical text, King David is confidently stating that when you walk this world with faith in God, the God who stepped into the flesh of Jesus Christ to deliver you, save you, and redeem you from the death and destruction that comes because of you Sin, you will never have an unmet need.

King David assures you that God, as revealed only in the Holy Bible, gives you every last thing you need to make it through this day, this week, this month, this year, this life, and into His eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

This means that everything you need physically, you will have!

This means that everything you need mentally, you will have!

This means that everything you need emotionally, you will have!

This means that everything you need spiritually, you will have!

Now, here’s the thing.  You may be sitting here and saying, “But, Pastor Fred, I am in need.”  

And, my first question to you would be, “Do you have actually have a need? Or, do you just want something that you don’t have and are mislabeling it a need?”

Do you have food for today?

Do you have clothes for your body?

Do you have a roof over your head?

Do you have faith in Jesus as both Lord and Savior—as the only one who is able to provide forgiveness for your sin and reconnect you back into a relationship with God?

If you answered, “Yes,” to all of those questions, then you have everything you need!

However, let me tell you, we are REALLY good at mislabeling our wants as needs.

For example:

If you have food in your home, then a meal at a restaurant is not a need. It is a want.

If you have clothes on your body, then a new addition to your wardrobe is not a need.  It is a want.

If you a have a consistent way to get from point A to point B, then the newest model of a car or a classic model of a car is not a need.  It is a want.

A lavish vacation is not a need.  It is a want.  

An glass of wine or a gummy laced with cannabis is not a need.  It is want. 

A new video game system is not a need. It is a want.

What are you saying you “need” today, but is actually just something you want?

I am confident you have a long list of wants that you labeled needs because I have a long list too!

In order to understand God’s goodness in always giving us what we need, let’s remember that King David is writing this song, found in Psalm 34, while living in the sufferings of the present age.

As we started to see last week, king David has a one track mind in Psalm 34. God has just rescued king David from the hands of the Philistine people shortly after he killed one of their heroes, Goliath, the giant soldier.

It is important to note that even while experiencing hardships, David is still able to say God has given him everything he needs for the day.

It is because of this great deliverance and salvation, or delivering and saving from fear and trouble, that king David is ecstatically excited, and wants to tell you about how good, and great, and merciful, and loving, and kind, God the father in heaven is.

I was reading something written by one of my mentors this week in which he addressed the topic of God providing for all of our needs even while we suffer from the brokenness and fallenness of our world.

He said:

Living in the “sufferings of the present age” means living with the lot of wanting more. In this agony where Christ hung, he calls out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” John’s Gospel puts it only slightly differently: “It is finished.” This is what we have, the basis of our faith, that holds on, as David Ford says, during our overwhelming. “This overwhelming,” writes Stanley Hauerwas, “[allows] us to live not because we have answers to all the world’s troubles, but because God has given us a way to live without answers” (88). 

But before we grow our beards out, throw up our hands and retreat into the mystery of [the monastic cave life], let us be clear about what we can say, because too often the “sufferings of this present age” force pastors and theologians—and I am as culpable as anyone—to unanswered, unfinished speculation about the cross that subverts Jesus’ very cry.  

What’s worse, today’s moral teachers, across the political and theological spectrum, have turned this end into a beginning. “See,” it is argued, “Jesus did it all, now get going and do (or stop) x-y-z, because that can’t really be all there is to it.” 

This is a tragic irony: the very words signifying an actual end to something are parlayed into motivational grist for the mill of the suffering soul.  

In direct and steadfast opposition to this, we never tire of insisting that “it is finished” means just that. Everything that ever needed to be done or ever will need to be done by us to be reconciled to God has been done. 

God is in control. 

He is redeeming the world. 

We cannot mess up His plan because, well, “it is finished.” 

We are free to live as people in the “sufferings of this present age,” living squarely in the shadow of the crucifix, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks a reason for the hope” (1 Peter 3:15). In this hope we wait, because although our end has not yet come, the only “it” that matters is already finished.

Because God provides for our every need, even our most pressing need—the forgiveness of sin which reconnects us back into a relationship with God today and eternally and the daily empowerment of the Holy Spirit to love God and love our neighbor, let’s ask God to make the words of Jesus from His Sermon on the Mount a reality in our lives today and this week.

In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus says this to you:

[25] “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

[34] “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

When I was in seminary, we had to listen to sermons on cassette tapes. 

(I know, some of you are asking, “What the heck is a cassette tape?” — it is just a sign that I am an old man).

Anyway, one preacher on one cassette tape told this story about a little boy:

He was just a little fellow. His mother died when he was just a child. His father, in trying to be both mommy and daddy, had planned a picnic. The little boy had never been on a picnic, so they made their plans, fixed the lunch, and packed the car. 

Then it was time to go to bed, for the picnic was the next day. He just couldn’t sleep. He tossed and he turned, but the excitement got to him. Finally, he got out of bed, ran into the room where his father had already fallen asleep, and shook him. His father woke up and saw his son. 

He said to him, “What are you doing up? What’s the matter?”

The boy said, “I can’t sleep.”

The father asked, “Why can’t you sleep?”

In answering, the boy said, “Daddy, I’m excited about tomorrow.”

His father replied, “Well, Son, I’m sure you are, and it’s going to be a great day, but it won’t be great if we don’t get some sleep. So why don’t you just run down the hall, get back in bed, and get a good night’s rest.”

So the boy trudged off down the hall to his room and got in bed. 

Before long, sleep came–to the father, that is. It wasn’t long thereafter that back was the little boy. He was pushing and shoving his father, and his father opened his eyes. Harsh words almost blurted out until he saw the expression on the boy’s face. 

The father asked, “What’s the matter now?”

The boy said, “Daddy, I just want to thank you for tomorrow.”

The preacher followed that story with this comment:

When I think of my past and the fact that a loving Father would not let me go, reached down in his divine providence, and lifted me off of the streets…, when I think of what he has done for me and then think that he is planning a new thing for me that will surpass the past, let the record show this night in this place that [I] testified, Father, I want to thank you for tomorrow!

This little boy was excited about doing something that he had never done before — a family picnic.

The preacher was excited about two things.  First, he was excited about what God the Father had already done for him — saved him from the problems of the inner city streets.  And, second, the preacher was excited about what God was doing and would do for him — prepare a place in Heaven for him and call him home to that place that is better than we could ever imagine.

When giving encouragement and instructions to the church, the Apostle Paul spoke these words:

[17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17, ESV)

And,

[12] We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, [13] and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. [14] And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. [15] See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. [16] Rejoice always, [17] pray without ceasing, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:12–18, ESV)

This morning and this coming week,

Taste and see that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are good!

You are blessed if you have faith in Him and take refuge in Him!

Trust and fear the Lord you who have been made holy through Jesus Christ you already have everything you need for today and for eternity.

Seek the Lord and you will lack no good thing.

With Jesus, nothing is missing from your life.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 8, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Overflowing With Excitement

Psalm 34.1-7

What gets you excited?

What fills you with enthusiasm and passion to the point you want to tell everyone you come into contact with about what is happening in your life?

Do you get excited when you buy tickets to see one of your favorite musicians perform in concert?

Do you get excited when a new book is released by one of your favorite authors?

Do you get excited when you and your spouse get a much needed date night out and away from the kids?

Do you get excited when you hear that you are receiving a tax refund?

Do you get excited when the next season of a TV show begins?

As a student, do you get excited when the last day of school arrives?

As a parent, do you get excited when the first day of school arrives?

This morning, we are going to hear about what makes King David excited.  We are going to hear about what fills King David with enthusiasm and passion to the point he wants to tell everyone he comes into contact with about what is happening in his life.

Now, you may be asking, who is this King David and why does what he thinks or experiences matter?

Well, if you have spent time in church, or maybe even if you haven’t, you may know a piece of King David’s story that has become legendary both inside and outside the church.  In King David’s younger years, he was the one who killed the giant Philistine soldier Goliath with nothing more than a slingshot and one stone. But, more on that in a bit.

This morning, to hear about why King David is filled with excitement, we are going to return to the songs of King David found in the book of Psalms. 

Let’s turn our attention to the first 7 verses of Psalm 34 now.

Psalm 34:1–7 has King David saying this:

[1] I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

[2] My soul makes its boast in the LORD;

let the humble hear and be glad.

[3] Oh, magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

[4] I sought the LORD, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

[5] Those who look to him are radiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

[6] This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him

and saved him out of all his troubles.

[7] The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them. (ESV)

Right out of the gate in this song of King David, we learn that he is excited about telling the world how great God in Heaven is.

In the first seven verses of this Psalm, King David tells us that:

  • He will bless the Lord at all times (to bless is to praise)
  • And, then, he doubles down on that commitment to praise God by saying that the words of his mouth will always and forever tell the world about who God is, what God has done, and what God is always doing for him and us.  
  • David also says that his soul — his inner most being, the part of him that is spiritual and eternal— will make no claims to personal greatness or personal worthiness (David knows his many sins against God, and has confessed and repented many times for walking out of step with God’s standards for life and love), but will only make claims about God’s greatness and worthiness to be praised and listened to and obeyed because of his love, mercy, and grace, that lead him to forgive us and welcome us home with eternal life in His Kingdom of Heaven.
  • Along those lines, David also says that He will magnify the name of the Lord and exalt the name of the Lord so that by making God a bigger and bigger part of his conversation, more and more people will have a chance to hear about God’s love, God’s protection, and God’s provision for them, and by believing in the God revealed in the Scripture of the Holy Bible, be delivered from eternal separation from God, death, and destruction due to the effects of sin in their life.

David is so excited about the real presence of God in his day-to-day life, that overflows with joy to the point where wants the people around him, including you here this morning, to see, hear, believe, and experience the goodness of God in your day-to-day life as well.  

So, where did King David’s confidence in God and excitement about God’s real presence with us in this world come from?

All of this confidence and excitement had to come from somewhere. Right?  

Well, here is a bit of history behind Psalm 34:

Psalm 34 is one of only 14 Psalms that give us the direct historical context in which it is written.

The superscription to Psalm 34 says, “Concerning David, when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech, who drove him out, and he departed.” 

The specifics of this story, if you are interested, are recorded in 1 Samuel 21, and it is one of the most interesting moments in David’s life. 

While Saul was still king, David was rising in prominence. When David was seen, people would chant, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands” (1 Sam 18:7). As a result, Saul became jealous and angry, and he was consumed with trying to kill David. 

As David was running for his life, he fled to Gath. This was an interesting place for David to hide because it was the hometown of Goliath, whom he had killed a few years prior. Everyone in Gath knew who David was. 

David was recognized, and news got to the king that he was there. 

David, while trying to save his life, ran into a town filled with people who wanted to end his life. He was trapped, but he had an idea. He decided to act like he had lost his mind. He let his saliva run down his beard and he began to scratch at a doorpost. When the king saw him, he said, “Look! You can see the man is crazy!” And David left Gath unharmed. 

From that situation David wrote Psalm 34. 

Now, as you read this psalm with this situation in mind, you sense how overwhelmed David was by the goodness of God in sparing his life. 

Much of Psalm 34 is personal testimony (vv. 1-7,15-22). David sought the Lord, and God heard him and delivered him from all his fears (v. 4). When David looked to the Lord, his face was radiant, and he was not put to shame (v. 5). He cried to the Lord, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles (v. 6). In a moment in which his life was in danger, the angel of the Lord protected him and rescued him (v. 7). As David walks out of Gath alive, he cannot help but be overwhelmed by God’s goodness. You feel his utter joy in the first two verses as he exclaims, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad.” In other words, you could not stop him from praising the Lord if you tried.

When David prayed to God in this specific troubled and fear inducing part of his life, he uses the words delivered and saved as God’s response to him.

David is ecstatically excited because God delivered him from all of his fears and saved him from all of his troubles.

Because of that, David’s excitement causes him to want to tell the world about God’s goodness and He wants the world to join him in knowing and experiencing God’s goodness.  That is why Psalm 34 offers several invitations for you to join him in praising God and worshiping God and sharing the good things that God has done for you in delivering you from fear and sin and saving you from trouble and death through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In a Biblical devotion that I sent out to the church on Thursday, the author said this:

Many years ago, a TV comedian wearing judicial robes would walk on stage while another person shouted, “Here comes the judge! Hear comes the judge!” Laughter ensued. I remember hearing [one Christian theologian] respond to that skit, preaching, “One day, nobody is going to laugh at that line anymore.”

Surely the judge of all mankind is coming. The Bible repeatedly warns us to be ready. When that Last Day comes, how shall we face Him? In complacency? In fear? No, with faith and joy, for this is the One who has granted to all believers the right to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 22:14). We enter at His invitation and because of His work on the tree of the cross. We enter because He has washed us in His blood and cleansed us from our sin. He died with forgiveness on His lips, promising cleansing to all who believe in Him. Cleansing? Yes! Although our sins “are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

The Spirit calls to us to accept Jesus’ invitation without any merit or worthiness in us. It’s all by grace and love, which are in Christ Jesus. This is the gate of the Lord. As we come into His presence, let us enter and face Jesus with joy!

Being released from an impossible-to-complete to-do list—one that would earn us favor with God—should hav no less a reaction than to us us overflow with joy, excitement, and thanksgiving, and to desire to share that Jesus’ blood-bought freedom with others.

But, let’s be honest, we are more likely to get excited over Taylor Swift concert tickets than the goodness of Jesus’ forgiveness.

So, what do we do when we find ourselves in this place — more excited about the things of the world than the things of God?

We repent and pray!

Several times throughout each day, I have to pray these two prayers directly from Scripture.

Psalm 51:12:

[12] Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit. (ESV)

And,

Psalm 19:14:

[14] Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (ESV)

David extends many invitations to you at the beginning of this Psalm for you and me to join him in his excitement about God and praise of God.

King David invites you and me this morning to believe in God as Lord and Savior—the Deliverer from sin and death—and be glad.

King David invites you and me this morning to magnify God’s name with him.

King David invites you and me this morning to exalt God together in song and testimony of personal experience.

David’s life is aligned with a focus on God who made Him and God who continually delivered him and saved him.

David is excited about God’s love and goodness because of the things he personally experienced.

David is overflowing with excitement because God answered David’s prayers.

David is overflowing with excitement because God delivered David from all of his fears.

David is overflowing with excitement because God made David’s face radiant meaning that David’s face wasn’t red with shame and embarrassment, no, David’s face was at peace and resting in God’s grace and mercy toward him.

David is overflowing with excitement because God would not let David’s fears consume him.

And, David is overflowing with excitement because God sets The Angel of the Lord around him to protect him and provide for him every day.

This morning be excited and align your life with a focus on God who made you and God who continually delivers you and saves you.

This morning, be excited about God’s love and goodness because of the things you have personally experienced.

Be excited because God answers your prayers.

Be excited because God delivers you from all of your fears.

Be excited because God makes your face radiant meaning that your face isn’t red with shame and embarrassment, no, your face wis at peace and resting in God’s grace and mercy toward you.

Be excited because God will not let your fears consume you.

And, be excited because God sets The Angel of the Lord around you to protect you and provide for you every day.

This morning, Jesus promises you that He will be with you always until the very end of ages— you who have faith in His life, death, and resurrection for you as the only way to deliverance and saving from your fears and your troubles in this life and the next.

Be excited and shout it from the rooftops that your sin is forgiven, your mind has been transformed to think and see as God thinks and sees, and that you already have a place prepared for you in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like King David, sing your song of excitement and invitation, maybe in similar words of post-rockers Close Your Eyes, who leave us with this chorus:


“This is my worship, this is my life

To bring hope into this broken world.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

September 1, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Jesus Cancels Meaningless Living

Psalm 8

I have a question for you. (As I usually do.)

What is the meaning of life?

I know. I know. I couldn’t have asked a harder question this morning.

This is a hard question to answer because people have been struggling to answer this question from the beginning of time and will continue to ponder, debate, and give their own opinions as to what the answer to this question is until the end of time.

Some of the answers that people give and some of these may be your answer or answers are:

The meaning of life is….

  • Entering a romantic relationship — having a boyfriend or girlfriend, getting married, and staying married until death do you part
  • Procreation — having children and raising them to be good and decent people who are kind, generous, and a help to others
  • Finding a career — picking a major in college, studying hard to learn all of the ins and outs of that major, graduating, and entering the job field where you can make a lasting difference in your area of expertise

Pop culture has even offered their opinions to the what the meaning of life is through literature and film.

In one of my favorite science fiction book series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, after 7.5 million years of calculation by a supercomputer named Deep Thought, the answer to the meaning of life is given as being the number “42.”

In Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, there are several allusions to the meaning of life. At the end of the film, a character is handed an envelope containing “the meaning of life”, which she opens and reads out to the audience: “Well, it’s nothing very special. Uh, try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

And, in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the characters, after finishing a report on the history of the world, her major leaders, and their philosophies,  are asked how what the meaning of life is.  They respond to their classmates with the answer, ‘be excellent to each other’ followed by ‘party on, dudes!’.

Even though we may spend time trying to find meaning and purpose for each day we walk this earth, the hard truth is that many of us often end up with the hopeless thought and feeling that there is no meaning or purpose to life.

Regardless of what we say or do, we live as practical nihilists. 

In our text for this morning, from the book of Psalms, when we hear King David speak, the one that God himself called “a man after his own heart,” we get the sense that when King David looks at himself and the rest of the human population he can’t help but think about the meaning of life and the thought that maybe there isn’t any real point or purpose to our lives.

However, as we will hear, when King David once again focuses his attention on God, the creator of the Universe, and the redeemer of humanity through the gift of His Son Jesus, he finds himself standing in awe of the fact that God, regardless of humanity’s brokenness, has instilled in each of us meaning and purpose for this life.

Let’s hear what King David has to say.

In Psalm 8, King David says this:

[1] O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

[2] Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

[3] When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

[4] what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

[5] Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

[6] You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

[7] all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

[8] the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

[9] O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth! (ESV)

As King David looks at God and then looks a his own brokenness and selfishness, he can’t believe that God thinks about him all of the time.

In verse 3 and 4, King David says,

[3] When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

[4] what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

What King David is pointing too is the fact that God, yes, the One who created the Heavens and the Earth and sustains them day to day, thinks about him every second of his life.  

God didn’t turn his face away or shut David out after his ungodly thoughts, words, and behavior, NO!, God’s love for David, regardless of his sin, puts David at the forefront of God’s mind all of the time.  

Through faith in Jesus, God is a friend that is real, a friend that loves you, a friend that you can trust, and a friend that is forever.

One of my favorite verses, that I have shared with you several times before, comes from Isaiah 49.16, where God says this to me and you:

[16] Behold, I have engraved you [and your name] on the palms of my hands;

your [life] is continually before me. (ESV)

Because God’s grace leads him to love you, regardless of the brokenness and selfishness that you bring into this world, God has also created you with meaning and purpose.

In verses 6-8, King David says this about himself, me, and you:

[5] Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

[6] You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

[7] all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

[8] the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

God cancels meaningless and purposeless living for King David and for you!

In this life, God has given you authority and responsibility to take care of all that he has created.

That means, as you walk the earth today, tomorrow, this week, next month, and even years from now, your life has eternal meaning and purpose as you take care of the things and people that God has made.

Marvel Comics fans the world over were shaken when they learned about the death of Chadwick Boseman, the star of Black Panther. Death is always shocking, but Boseman’s passing was all the more gripping because nobody knew what the star had been facing.

While filming for blockbusters like 21 Bridges, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Marshall, Boseman was undergoing treatments for stage 3 colon cancer. He knew something about trials, and shared this wisdom in a 2018 commencement address at his alma mater, Howard University:

Sometimes you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose that God predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.

Later, he continued:

… you would rather find purpose than a job or career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason you are on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember, the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.

Then he concludes:

When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it. God will move someone that’s holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory then you will not regret it.

In the on-going attempt to trap Jesus, God’s Messiah, the Savior, in words of blasphemy against God and/or the state, a nah-sayer, who also happened to be a lawyer approached Jesus with this question:

Matthew 22:34–40

[36] “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 

[37] And [in response Jesus] said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [38] This is the great and first commandment. [39] And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. [40] On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (ESV)

What Jesus is saying to all of those that are listening, including you this morning is that life has meaning and purpose.

Through faith in Jesus’ perfectly lived life for you, death on the cross for you, and resurrection from the grave for you, your brokenness, your selfishness, your sin, is forgiven and you are restored back into a relationship with God the Father in Heaven.

In that relationship, meaningless and purposeless living in canceled because your eyes are opened once again to the responsibility that God has built into your very nature from the moment of conception.

In these simple words, with a hat tip to pop culture, Jesus cancels meaningless and purposeless living by letting you know that the meaning of your life is to:

“Love God and be excellent to one another!”

With this simple definition of the meaning of life, straight from the mouth of Jesus, who is God in the flesh, you are strengthened everyday to make the world a better place one thought, one word, and/or one deed at a time.

So, go this week and live your life with meaning and purpose by

“Loving God and being excellent to one another!”

This is the Word of God for you today. 

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

August 11, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

You’ve Got a Friend in Me!

John 15.12-17

When you choose friends, what qualities do you look for?

Do you choose friends based on similar interests and hobbies?

Do you choose friends based on a similar place in life — for example: married with same aged kids; retired with free time; or, young and single?

Do you choose friends based on character traits such as loyalty, honesty, dependability, kindness, gentleness, and respectfulness?

Do you choose friends based on a common faith that allows you to love, support, prayer for and encourage one another on a daily basis?

Do you choose friends based on who is going to let you drink and drug without accountability?  

Do you choose friends based on their wealth and the extravagant lifestyle they can provide for you?

Or, do you choose friends based on their position and power in your community and/or world?

Cultural commentators speak about the fact that we are more connected to other people and events than at any other time in history because of the globalization that technology allows.

However, at the same time, those same cultural commentators, with the statistics from medical professionals, speak about the fact that despair, depression, and loneliness are more prevalent than any other time in history as well.

The irony is that we have the ability to be connected to more people than ever before but we feel more alone than ever before.

A California startup claims it has a solution to loneliness. 

Groundfloor, which began in the San Francisco Bay Area and will soon open a location in Los Angeles, is a social club with a focus on friendship.

Groundfloor co-founder Jermaine Ijieh says the club provides space for work (meeting rooms and phone booths), wellness (classes, gym space, and meditation circles), and socializing. There are karaoke nights, member-led special interest groups and craft workshops. It’s not aiming to compete with WeWork or elite social clubs, Ijieh says. Instead, he likens it to “an after-school club for kids,” but designed primarily for adults over 30.

“There’s always been an issue once you start to hit this age range,” he says. “We start to lose institutions where we used to build communities, such as places of worship, colleges, offices, schools … Once you leave your 20s, it sort of feels like a social purgatory.”

The pitch is working: Groundfloor’s new location in Los Angeles already has 2,000 would-be members on its waitlist. Perhaps that speaks to the isolation of a city of endless traffic, few pedestrians, and its own scientific scale for loneliness. But the club also has three locations in the San Francisco Bay Area that almost 1,000 people have joined. Those numbers underline the reality of the loneliness crisis, especially when you factor in the club’s price tag: $200 a month.

I ask you again, when you try to lessen the loneliness in your life and choose friends, what qualities do you look for?

The Bible tells us this:

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV)

Sometimes we choose friends to our benefit and health.  

But, sometimes we choose friends to our detriment and destruction.

Someone once said that “Jesus most impressive miracle was being 30 years old and having 12 close friends.”

When Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, chose his friends, he didn’t pick the most popular kids or the most wealthy kids or the most educated kids.  Instead, when choosing friends, Jesus used the measuring sticks of faithfulness, availability, and willingness to learn.  

The theme this week at VBS is “Diving Deep Into Friendship With God.”

Every day at Vacation Bible School we are going to be teaching the kids that they have the greatest and truest friend in Jesus. 

So, for this morning’s text, this VBS Kickoff Sunday, I chose a Biblical text from the disciple John’s biography of Jesus, or John’s Good News about Jesus (as we can also call it), in which we are told what Jesus is the greatest and truest friend we could ever have.

Let’s hear from John 15.12-17 now.

John 15:12–17 has Jesus speaking these words to us:

[12] “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. [17] These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (ESV)

To begin, let’s look at the four (4) qualities that make Jesus the greatest and truest friend we could every have.

First, Jesus obeys God.

The two greatest commandments are love God and love your neighbor.

That means that Jesus loves God always and perfectly and therefore Jesus love you always and perfectly. 

You can’t say that about your human friends.

Second, Jesus loves unconditionally.

The Bible makes it clear that there is nothing we have done, nothing we are doing now, and nothing we will possibly do in the future that will cause God, in Jesus Christ, to stop loving us and chasing after us.

You can’t say that about your human friends.

Third, Jesus sacrifices himself for the needs of others.

The Bible says to put the needs of others above the your own needs.

And, since Jesus always and perfectly obeys God’s commands, that means that He has, is now, and will always put your well being first on his list of priorities.

The ultimate demonstration of this is when Jesus gave His life over to death on the cross for you.  This personal sacrifice of Jesus ensured that through repenting of your Sin—which includes being a selfish and self-centered, unloving, using and abusing friend to others—and placing your trust in Him as the only Lord and Savior who is able to open up the gates of God’s Kingdom wide for you, ensures you that you have the forgiveness you need and the righteousness you need to be accepted and welcomed by God the Father in Heaven.

You can’t say that about your human friends.

And, fourth, Jesus never leaves you or forsakes his friends.

When Jesus ascended back to Heaven after He was crucified and resurrected for your forgiveness and eternal life, he promised you that he will never leave you or forsake you and that he would be with you and living in you every second of every day under the end of time.

You can’t say that about you human friends.  

Friendships in this world come and go as we have all experienced.

But through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, friendship with God will come to you but will never be taken away from you.

Songs often have a way of clearly and succinctly putting truths out into the world.  I want to share with you several songs this morning that describe great and true friendship.

In 1971, Carol King, wrote “You’ve Got a Friend,” in which she said:

Now, ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend

When people can be so cold?

They’ll hurt you, yes, and desert you

And take your soul if you let them

Oh, but don’t you let them

You just call out my name

And you know, wherever I am

I’ll come runnin’, runnin’, yeah, yeah

To see you again

Winter, spring, summer or fall

All you have to do is call

And I’ll be there, yes, I will

You’ve got a friend

In 1995, Randy Newman wrote “You’ve Got a Friend In Me,” for Disney’s blockbuster Toy Story.  In this iconic piece of music from 20th Century America, we hear this:

You’ve got a friend in me

When the road looks rough ahead

And you’re miles and miles

From your nice warm bed

You just remember what your old pal said

Boy, you’ve got a friend in me

Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me

You’ve got a friend in me

You’ve got a friend in me

If you’ve got troubles, I’ve got ’em too

There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you

We stick together and can see it through

Cause you’ve got a friend in me

You’ve got a friend in me

As the years go by 

Our friendship will never die

You’ve got a friend in me

Now, after describing what a true friend is like, using the four above qualities of (1) obeys God, (2) loves unconditionally, (3) sacrifices their own wants for the needs of others, (4) and sticks around in good and bad times, Jesus commands us to love others the way that He loved us.

Let’s be honest.  That’s impossible!

We are naturally selfish.

We are naturally self-centered.

We don’t want to waste our time bending over backwards to help someone else. 

“Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

After all, people are annoying; People are needy; People are difficult. 

Getting involved in the lives of other people is messy and uncomfortable and requires the hard work of compromise, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice.

Like I said,

“Ain’t nobody got time for that!”

So, if we have a natural aversion to doing everything we possibly can to make sure the people in our lives feel loved and valuable, what hope is there for us?

After all, to disobey Jesus’ command is to disobey God’s command since Jesus is God-in-the-flesh with us.  And, the punishment for disobedience to God’s command, even one single time, is rejection from Heaven and eternal separation from God, your Father in Heaven, the Creator of all things.  

Well, this morning’s Biblical text tells us the good news about the hope we have.

Through simple faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as the only way to God in Heaven, we have the promise and presence of Jesus living in us doing the work of love for us.

The only hope we have for a never-ending friendship with God, the Father in Heaven, the Creator and Maker of all things, is through faith in Jesus which transforms and renews our hearts and minds to be just like His.

In 1855, Joseph Medlicott Scriven wrote the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” where we are reminded day after day that:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

take it to the Lord in prayer!

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer!

This morning dive deep into your friendship with Jesus who lovingly sacrificed himself by obeyed God’s command to die on the cross to forgive you of your Sin and who promises to never leave you or forsake you, but instead walk with you through every trial and temptation until the very end of time when you will be welcomed into God, the Father’s, Kingdom of Heaven.

This week, go into the world and love others as you have first been loved by God—obey God’s commands, love without expecting something in return, make sacrifices for the good of those around you, and stand strongly next to those that are celebrating and those that are suffering.

I want to insert a Biblical note of caution and warning when we are taking about being loving friends to others.

At some level, we all have a Savior complex. But, You are not a Savior.  You are not someone else’s Savior.  You will never be someone else’s Savior.

The only person that can save someone from their self-destructive thinking, speaking, and behavior is God through Jesus. Jesus is and will always be the only Savior and life-changer.

It is always easier for someone to bring you down than it is for you to lift them up.  Without exception.  

As we heard in the beginning, we need to be wise in choosing friends because,

“Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV)

Choosing the wrong friends that reject the help that true love provides will destroy you, your reputation, your family, your health, and everything and anything else that you hold dearly.

Sometimes, the most loving thing, from a Biblical perspective, that you can do for a friend is walk away.  Some people don’t want the help that true love provides and just want someone to commiserate and join in their self-destruction.

The hope is that the time left alone and separated from the presence of real and true love will be the wake up call that is needed to bring the person to their senses that they are losing everything that means anything.

With that Biblical warning and caution in mind, I leave you with two pieces of good news and some encouragement for your life this week from the disciple John’s 1st letter to the churches around the world.

1 John 3:16–18 tells us this:

[16] By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (ESV)

And, a little further on in his letter, 1 John 4:7–12 tells us this:

[7] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. [9] In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. [10] In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. [12] No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (ESV)

You’ve got a friend in Jesus! 

Bring all of your friendships to him prayer. 

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

August 4, 2024.

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Jesus Cancels Tiredness

Psalm 6

An elementary school photographer was snapping pictures of first graders, making small talk to put his subjects at ease.

“What are you going to be when you grow up?” he asked one little girl.

She looked at him, shaking her head back and forth, and said, “I am going to be just like my parents when I grow up.  I am going to be tired all the time!”

As a full time parent with a full time job, let me tell you, that little girl is right.  I am tired ALLLLLL the time!

Let me ask you, “Are you tired this morning?”

And, I don’t mean, are you tired from not getting enough sleep last night.

What I mean is, are you tired from the relentless demands of life?

Listen to this list of words and ideas:

  • Troubled
  • Fading strength 
  • Failing strength
  • Weary
  • Whimpering
  • Sobbing
  • Tears welling up
  • Weeping
  • Grief
  • Burdened
  • Weak
  • Desperate
  • Desperately wanting help
  • Desperately needing help
  • Wanting to scream
  • Worn out
  • Burned out

What were you thinking as I read off that list?

I tell you what I was thinking.

I was thinking…

  • “Yes.”
  • “Check”
  • “That’s me!”
  • “That’s how I feel”
  • “Amen”
  • “Preach it”
  • “Was somebody listening to me share my feelings with my wife this week?”

Maybe you are in the same boat now, or have been in this boat before.

So, I ask you again, “Are you tired?”

Well, if you are tired from the relentless demands of life that seem like crushing weights on your back, you are not alone.  Not only am I here with you feeling that way, King David, the writer of this morning’s Biblical text is here with you as well.

Let’s hear about the tiredness that Kind David experienced as he brings his life to God in prayer.

King David’s prayer is Psalm 6 says this:

[1] O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

[2] Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

[3] My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O LORD—how long?

[4] Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

[5] For in death there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol who will give you praise?

[6] I am weary with my moaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

[7] My eye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

[8] Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

[9] The LORD has heard my plea;

the LORD accepts my prayer.

[10] All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Listen to the words that King David uses to describe his mental and physical state.

He says:

  • His bones are troubled
  • He is languishing (which is a fancy way of saying weak)
  • His soul is greatly troubled
  • He is thinking about death
  • He is weary
  • He is moaning in pain and agony (both mental and physical)
  • His tears are flooding his bed
  • His couch is drenched with weeping
  • He is filled with grief
  • He is weak
  • He is screaming at God asking “How long do I have to suffer? When are you going to rescue me? Don’t you love me?”
  • And, he is tired of the people around him.  He wants to yell at the top of his lungs, “Leave me alone!”

The list of words and ideas that I shared with you a few minutes ago—the list that described what it feels like to be tired from the relentless burdens of life—is actually a list of words and ideas about how King David felt—straight from the Bible.

Let me ask you another question.

Have you ever been worried to the point that it made you physically sick?

Our mental burdens often have the ability to affect us physically.

When we are overwhelmed and burdened with worry, we experience headaches, anxiety attacks, nausea, sometimes to the point of throwing up, we have trouble focusing on one task, and we can’t shake tiredness.

King David’s mental tiredness, that led him to be physically sick and tired, stemmed from his worry over two separate issues.

The first issue that made King David tired of life was his worries about other people. 

He was mentally and physically tired because he was worrying about what other were saying, or could possibly say about him.

And, he was mentally and physically tired because he was worrying about what other people were trying to do, or could possibly try to do to harm him.

The second issue that made King David tired of life was his worries about God.

He was mentally and physically tired because he was worrying about what God would and could do to him because of his sin.

In 2005, A store called MinneNAPolis opened in Minnesota’s Mall of America. It rents comfy spots where weary shoppers can take naps for 70 cents a minute. Founded by PowerNap Sleep Centers of Boca Raton, Florida, the new store includes themed rooms such as Asian Mist, Tropical Isle, and Deep Space, and the walls are thick enough to drown out the sounds of squealing children outside.

The company’s website says, “Escape the pressures of the real world into the pleasures of an ideal one.” “It’s not just napping,” reads the press release. “Some guests will want to listen to music, put their feet up, watch the water trickling in the beautiful stone waterfall, breathe in the positive-ionization-filtered air, enjoy the full-body massager, and just take an enjoyable escape from the fast-paced lifestyle.”

David wanted rest more than anything else.

He wanted rest from his manic state of worry and panic.

In his words and thoughts in Psalm 5, which we heard from 3 weeks ago, King David knew that his disobedience to God’s laws for life and love put him in a position where God have every right to punish him or destroy him.

But, his prayer showed that he knew the truth about God, the Father in Heaven, the Creator of all that exists.

King David knew the truth that God offers forgiveness for disobedience, forgiveness for ungodly thoughts, forgiveness for unGodly words, forgiveness for unGodly deeds, forgiveness for wrongdoing, and the forgiveness for sin, whatever you call it—the stuff that goes completely against God’s holiness.

King David’s prayer, here in Psalm 6 shows King David’s confidence in God to heal, deliver, punish sin, rescue him, guide him, protect him, and provide for ALL his needs—physical, mental, emotional, and relational.

David’s prayer starts with the plea, “Help me! Save me from myself!”

And, David’s prayer ends with the confidence that because of God’s grace, God will save him and allow him to rest.

King David could rest because the most important thing in his life was fixed and could never be broken again—his relationship with God.

The bottom line in this morning’s text is this:

King David was tired from the relentless burdens of life but God and his grace allowed David to rest.

King David’s words in Psalm 4 say:

[7] You have put joy in my heart…

[8] In peace I will both lie down and sleep;

for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:7–8, ESV)

God took David to his own MinneNAPolis.

God’s promises and God’s active work in David’s life canceled David’s ultimate tiredness.

The bottom line for you this morning is this:

You are tired from the relentless burdens of life but, God and his grace allow you to rest.

For you, Jesus cancels tiredness—the tiredness that comes from worrying about what other people think about you and what other can can and will do to you.

For you, Jesus cancels tiredness—the tiredness that comes from worrying about what God thinks of you and what God can do to you because of your sin.

The first question that is proposed and answered in Luther’s Small Catechism, one of the books we use to teach our Confirmation class is:

What are God’s thoughts about me?

And, the answer given and the Bible verse quoted are:

“God’s thoughts about me are thoughts of love and blessing.”

John 3:16—For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus calls his followers to obey God and rest.

Mark 6.31 has Jesus commanding his disciples with these words:

[31] … “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

The idea of resting in and with God was not new to Jesus’ ministry.

God built rest into Creation. So, rest is natural — regardless of what your anxiety, workaholism and worry tell you.

[1] Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. [2] And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. [3] So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:1–3, ESV)

And, God made rest one of the Ten Commandments.  Rest is good for you.

[8] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. [11] For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8–11, ESV)

In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus tells you how that Godly rest comes about for you.  Jesus says:

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (ESV)

With faith in Jesus, you can rest, because all of the work that needs to be done to restore your relationship with God is done. It is completed 100%. It is finished.

Those are Jesus’ exact words to you as he looks at you from the cross.  As he breaths his last breath on the cross, bearing all of the guilt for all of King David’s sin, for all of my sin, and for all of your sin, Jesus says to you,

“Rest because the ultimate work of pleasing God is finished for you!”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

July 28, 2024

Posted on by Fred Scragg 5

Who Is This Jesus?

Mark 6.1-6

The Apostle Paul, who is responsible for writing most of the New Testament part of our Bible, once said that he had many personal accomplishments to boast about.

To boast is to brag, or to talk with excessive pride about personal achievements, possessions, and abilities.

In the words and likes of the Apostle Paul, I, Frederick Reid Scragg V, also have many reasons to be confident and to boast.

I am the Pastor of Bethel Lutheran Brethren Church, baptizing, confirming, counseling, discipling, and ushering God’s saints into glory for almost 18 years.

I am a Board of Education Trustee in South Huntington, running the entire public school system with 6 of my peers.

I am a Trustee on The Town of Huntington’s Public Art Advisory Committee, securing artists and artwork to beautify our public spaces.

I am a Trustee on South Huntington Educational Foundation’s Executive Board, raising money to build art galleries, recording studios, and outdoor performing venues in our school district.

I received a full academic scholarship to college.

I am a recording and touring musician.

I am a cancer survivor.

I am a grateful recovered alcoholic.

I am a published author.

And, the list goes on.

But, when I go away from all of those places and positions, when I walk through the doors of my home, I am husband and father.  

And, in my home, all that is cared about is what I will be cooking for dinner, and where I obviously “maliciously” hid the newest super tiny video game cartridge.

To the people outside my home, I am often told how amazing I am for all I do for them and our community.

To the people closest to me, those in my home, I am amazing at being annoying.

There is often a huge difference in how the people close to us think about us and how people who don’t know us as well think about us. 

In this morning’s text, chosen for us, once again, by the lectionary, we return to the Good News according to Mark.  

In this morning’s Biblical text, we are told about the time when Jesus returns to his hometown, after teaching amazing things and doing amazing miracles, to share about the grace and mercy of God.

However, Jesus, in his hometown, is met with rejection from those who knew him closely.

Mark 6:1–6 tells us this:

[1] He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. [2] And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? [3] Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. [4] And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” [5] And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. [6] And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching. (ESV)

At this point in Jesus’ life, Jesus had been traveling around the Mediterranean region preaching about the need to repent of one’s Sin and the need to believe and receive the good news of God’s forgiveness, righteousness, and life, through faith in His life, coming death, and coming resurrection.  

Jesus was also teaching what God’s Law, revealed throughout history (in what we  now call the Old Testament), truly meant for life and love on a daily basis.

And, in addition to that teaching and preaching with Heavenly authority, Jesus was also healing the sick and raising the dead to demonstrate that He truly is God in the flesh, 100 percent fully God and 100 percent fully man at the same exact time.

We are told over and over again that people followed Jesus from town to town to hear him speak and to experience His healing touch.  Up to this point, the crowds outside of his hometown experienced God’s grace when they came into contract with Jesus.  And, the news about the things that Jesus said and did outside of his hometown certainly made their way back to his relatives and friends at home.

However, when Jesus returned to His hometown, the place where He grew up, those that were overly familiar with Him before His ministry days, laughed at him, mocked him, questioned him, and rejected the fact that He was God in flesh who came to help them, teach them, heal them, and save them.

After all, how could this rambunctious toddler, moody teenager, and unmarried and childless adult from their small and nowhere town, that grew up before their eyes, be someone great or do something great?

The people outside of His hometown often told Jesus how amazing He was for all that He did and was doing for them.

To the people closest to Jesus, those in his hometown, He was amazing at being arrogant, annoying, and overstepping His humanity.

Their initial amazement at Jesus’ words and actions, that Mark tells us about, quickly turns to skepticism.

They would immediately ask:

Where did Jesus get this teaching?

What is this wisdom given to him?

How are these miracles performed by his hands?

Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?

Are not his sisters here with us now?

Two weeks ago, at the beginning of my piano lesson, my teacher asked me, “How close are you with Jesus?”

To his question, I replied, “So close that we are united.  Everything that He has is completely mine.”

He sat back in his chair after I answered and thought quietly.  He then spoke up and said, “I have never heard an answer like that before.”

He asked me that question because he has a Catholic and Franciscan background and is no longer connected to a church or religious institution.  I think he is trying to figure out how a guy like me, his age, with a love for music and black heavy metal t-shirts, operates in daily life as a pastor.

If we asked the people in front of Jesus in this morning’s Biblical text the same question, “How close are you with Jesus?,” we would get a bunch of different answers.

Some would say, “We are so close that I babysat for him and changed his diapers when he was a toddler.”

Some would say, “We are so close that he built the table in my house with his father, Joseph, during his carpentry apprenticeship days.”

Some would say, “We are so close that our kids played games with him out in the field when they were teenagers.”

So, when Jesus attempted to teach them about the promise fulfillments from God’s Word in his presence with them that day, they had a hard time believing that this Jesus that they knew so closely was something other than the guy they could see at face value. 

This visit to his hometown was actually his second and final visit.  On his first visit, those that were relationally close with Jesus accused him of overstepping his bounds and attempted to kill him.

But, Jesus, having a heart of compassion for everyone and a desire and will that all men and women be saved from their sin, returns to those who tried to kill him, to once again give them the opportunity to repent, believe, and receive forgiveness for sin and  eternal life.

What we see and hear in this text should lead us to consider and answer three questions.


The first question is, “When Jesus is before you, are you only amazed?”

What we learn from Jesus’ hometown acquaintances is that being astonished by Jesus’ teaching is not enough, being captivated by Jesus’ miracles is not enough and Jesus’ unimpressive background is no big deal.

Like Jesus’ hometown acquaintances, do you find yourself only amazed at Jesus this morning?  Or, do you have faith in Him as God’s Savior sent to you?

The second question is, “When Jesus is before you, are you offended?”

What we learn from Jesus’ hometown acquaintances is that in spite of clear evidence, we may reject him, and in spite of being in close proximity to Jesus, we may dishonor him.

Like Jesus’ hometown acquaintances, are you offended by Jesus this morning?  Or, do you have faith in Him as God’s Savior sent to you?

And, the third question is, “When Jesus is before you, are you guilty of unbelief?”

What we learn from Jesus’ hometown acquaintances is that unbelief limits Jesus’ work in your life, and unbelief is one thing that amazes Jesus.

Like Jesus’ hometown acquaintances, are you guilty of not believing in Jesus this morning?  Or, do you have faith in Him as God’s Savior sent to you?

I can guarantee that those that rejected Jesus on this day in his hometown would no doubt attempt to use their physical closeness to Jesus when they stood before God’s throne.

Caught by God apart from faith in Jesus, they would say:

“God you have to love me, I changed Jesus’ diapers.”

“God you have to love me, I hired Jesus and his poor father to make furniture for my house.”

“God you have to love me, I fed Jesus dinner when he came in tired after playing games with my boys.”

And, I can guarantee that those who reject Jesus today, will do the same.

“God, you have to love me, I went to church most Sundays.”

“God, you have to love me, I gave money into the collection every time I went to church.”

“God, you have to love me, I sat through the boring Confirmation class for 2 whole years!”

“God, you have to love me, I took sermon notes and reviewed them when I got home.”

“God, you have to love me, I helped with VBS every single summer.”

Although those things are all good things, they are not things that make you lovable and acceptable to God.

The apostle Paul, who I mentioned at the outset of this message, knew that the things of this life, regardless of how good they seem, do not matter and do not earn you anything when standing before God’s throne in Heaven.

The apostle Paul said this in his letter to the church in the city of Philippi during the 1st Century:

[4] …I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; [6] as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. [7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:4–11, ESV)

Oseola McCarty, 87, did one thing all her life: laundry.

Now she’s famous for it–or at least for what she did with $150,000 of the $250,000 she saved by washing the dirty clothes of wealthy bankers and merchants in her hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. For decades she earned 50 cents per load (a week’s worth of one family’s laundry). But when she finally laid down her old-fashioned washboard–which she always preferred over new-fangled electric washing machines–McCarty decided to ask her banker how much money she had stowed away.

The figure astounded her. Then it set her to thinking. “I had more than what I could use in the bank,” she explained to Christian Reader, “and I can’t carry anything away from here with me, so I thought it was best to give it to some child to get an education.”

To the astonishment of school officials, the soft-spoken, never-married laundry woman from a not-so-posh part of town gave $150,000 to the nearby University of Southern Mississippi to help African-American young people attend college. 

The first recipient is 18-year-old Stephanie Bullock, a freshman at USM, who has already immediately invited Miss McCarty to her college graduation ceremony which was 4 years away.

To date, McCarty has been interviewed by Barbara Walters, each of the major network news programs, CNN, People magazine … and the list goes on. Though she had never traveled out of the South before, McCarty visited the White House, where President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Citizenship Award.

McCarty attends Friendship Baptist Church and reads her Bible every morning and prays on her knees every evening. 

Discounting the publicity, she says she is simply grateful for the chance to help others gain what she lost: in the sixth grade she was pulled out of school to care for an ailing family member and to help her mother with the laundry.

“It’s more blessed to give than to receive,” she tells reporters when they ask why she didn’t use the money on herself. “I’ve tried it.”1

Jesus returned to his hometown to help people gain what they lost—a connection to God, their Father in Heaven, because of the Sin that so easily entangles.

Jesus returns to you time and time again in your baptism, in the Word, and in the Sacrament of Communion, to help you gain what you lost— connection to God, your Father in Heaven, because of the Sin that so easily entangles.

In all instances, Jesus knows God’s promise that He is more blessed to give—to give His life over to death on the cross to provide you and me with forgiveness for our sin—than to receive the temporal rewards and fading glory that this world would give him.

The people of Jesus hometown were hard hearted and rejected Jesus because of their past experiences with Him and His people.

This morning, do not be like those that were physically close to Jesus but spiritually separated from him.  

Repent of your sin of being hard hearted when it comes to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection of you.

Repent and confess that you have been amazed by what you heard about Jesus and from Jesus, but never believed in what you heard about Him or from Him.

Repent and confess that you have dishonored and rejected  Jesus because you were offended by the evidence of your Sin and need for a Savior.

And, repent of your sin of unbelief.  

When I stand before God, He will not care that I spent my time in this life a pastor, or a Trustee on the Board of Education, Huntington’s Public Art Advisory Committee, and South Huntington’s Education Foundation.

When I stand before God, He will not care that I received a full scholarship to college, that I am a cancer survivor, a published author, and that I had been a recording and touring musician.

The only question God will have for me and you is, “How close are you to Jesus?”  

And, the only answer that matters comes from having in faith in Jesus and Lord and Savior.  

The answer that God wants to hear is, “I am so close with Jesus that we are united.  All that He has is mine today, tomorrow, and forever.  His perfect and righteous life is mine, His atoning and sin forgiving death is mine, and His resurrection life is mine.”

Go into the villages of your world this week—your home, your office, your camp, your school—and teach this good news of rescue to all that you come into contact with.  

The Apostle Paul tells you how to teach that Good News in 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 when he says:

[9] [Jesus] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10] For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)

I leave you with Jesus’ words from the Good News according to Matthew:

[32] So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, [33] but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32–33, ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

July 14, 2024.

  1. Kevin Dale Miller, Christian Reader, “Ordinary Heroes.” ↩︎