Psalm 139:17-22

Psalm 139:17-22 

English Standard Version 

  God exists outside of time and space, creating everything that exists through the power of God's creative Word.  And yet still, even when we get lost in the vastness of God, God is still with us -- again, this is the intimacy of God that is simply astounding.  

  The Psalmist loves God with such passion that he takes offense at the enemies of God -- those who are taking God's name in vain are hateful to him.  This is one way in which the Psalmist demonstrates his love for God.  

  For us, it's important to look at the world through a lens of understanding what is good and what opposes God.  For many situations, how do we think about bringing grace into those places?  How can we allow the light of God's love to shine in us and through us so that the world may see the goodness of God through our words and actions? 

  It's a hard path to walk, to be agents of grace, but important that we witness to intimacy and love that we can find only in God.

Sermon for Luke 15 -- October 11, 2020

Psalm 139:13-16

Psalm 139:13-16 

English Standard Version 

  I love this section -- the idea of God knitting our inward parts together is so intimate.  I have three children, and I've never ceased to marvel at the miracle of how life develops in the womb.  Everything is so small!  We watch the ultrasound of the chambers of the heart, little valves opening and closing, and it's miraculous that such tiny parts work so wonderfully together.  Children are no less miraculous when they're born, but there's something about the way the fetus grows and the scale of it that simply astounds me.  A child is the size of a grain of rice at one point -- just think about how small the kidneys must be when they develop!  It's incredible.  And God is involved in it.

  I think there's two things to dwell on.  The first is how intimately God is involved in our lives.  God isn't sitting at a distance, waiting to judge us, or watching to see if we do right or wrong.  God is there with us at the beginning -- and if God is this invested in us when we're just starting out, how much more is God with us now?  I'm certainly far more attached to my children now.  

  The second thing is that it's worth noting how science and God work together.  God is involved in these processes.  Christianity gets panned as being anti-science, but I don't think that's true at all.  We believe that God has been involved in everything that has happened since before creation, so if the science shows us that things happened one way, I'm willing to look at that and think about how God was involved in that process.  Some of the most advanced scientific minds on earth are Christian, and the more they learn about the underlying principles of the world, the more amazed they are at God's sovereignty and wisdom.  

Psalm 139:7-12

Psalm 139:7-12 

English Standard Version 

  Jonah discovered the truth of this section -- there is no where we can run from God.  God found Jonah when Jonah was fleeing on a ship to Tarshish.  God found Moses when Moses had fled Egypt to tend sheep in the wilderness.  God found the Prodigal Son when he had fled, lost everything, and envied the sheep.  In these instances, God didn't seek to punish, but rather to save.  

  Such is the grace of God.  God pursues us to save, to restore, to redeem.  God's light goes everywhere, and the darkest of nights cannot hold back the light of grace.  No matter how deep your depression and despair might be, there is light there, there is grace there.  If you feel as though you have no hope, no outlet, you can trust that God is with you, and the intent is not to punish, but to restore to community.  When the disciples fled after Jesus' arrest, there was redemption for them, and there is redemption for us as well.