2001 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

©2001 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

9/23/01

Our Source Of Security

9/23/01 Our Source of Security

I spent a good deal of time this past week

staring at a blank computer screen,

wondering what in the world I should say this morning.

At one point I did finally put a whole bunch of words down,

mostly just so that I could feel as though I was making some progress,

but when I went back and read over them

they were just lots of words,

without heart,

without power,

without the ability to heal or to encourage.

In the end I have decided to share with you

my own personal perspective

on the turmoil in our nation right now,

why that turmoil exists,

and the alternative offered to us by our God.

Something has happened in our nation during the past two weeks,

something that none of us have ever experienced before.

And even though we have seen many powerful examples

of courage,

and patriotism,

and self-sacrifice,

still, there is an anxiety,

an insecurity,

a level of fear throughout our nation as never before.

Part of it, of course,

is because we have been attacked by an enemy

who doesn’t fight by the rules,

an enemy who hides,

who hates in secret,

and who then suddenly expresses that hatred

buy attacking and killing thousands of defenseless men and women.

Part of our anxiety is for our children,

and especially for our boys

who now must wonder

whether or not this enemy we face

will bring about the renewal of the draft

and all that comes with it.

Part of the anxiety comes from the financial instability our nation now faces

with a stock market falling out of control,

and tremendous uncertainty about the financial future of our nation.

But what troubles us most as a nation, I think,

is this terrifying feeling that all of a sudden

we have lost control.

For the past 200 years

our nation has thrived on goals and conquest.

We’ve faced our share of enemies in the past

that have threatened our way of life -

natural disasters,

foreign wars,

economic down-turns,

but with all of those it was different somehow.

In the past

even those enemies

gave us a strange sort of optimism,

an optimism based on our fierce determination

to try harder,

and our unshakable belief

that we can and we will prevail

if we work hard enough,

and fight long enough,

and never loose sight of our goal.

But what is happening in our nation today

is unlike anything we’ve ever faced before.

It isn’t just that we face an enemy,

it’s that, for the first time in our history,

we feel as though we may not have control over our own future.

For most of the past 200 years

we have been building and refining

both our financial

and our military systems

until, in recent years,

we truly have begun to believe

we are invincible - the only true super power in existence.

Through the careful manipulation of the prime rate,

and aggressive investments in the stock market,

and an optimistic consumer confidence

we just knew our financial security and stability would go on forever.

And when it comes to military might,

there has simply been no one to equal us

in the history of the world.

We alone have the ability

to literally, utterly destroy any enemy on the face of the earth...

any enemy, that is, that we can see.

But now, all of a sudden, a handful of terrorists

have caused our financial empire

to spiral out of control,

and our great military machine

doesn’t even know where the enemies are,

much less how to destroy them.

Just two weeks ago

we were Goliath, towering several feet above any of our other enemies,

with a great spear in our hands,

and massive armor on our chest.

But now,

suddenly both our eyes have been put out,

and our armor has been cut off us,

and our spear has been replaced by a stick,

and we stand bellowing and roaring

and flailing at enemies surrounding us,

enemies we cannot see.

And the worst of it

is that our national confidence

has been replaced by fear,

and by anxiety,

and by that terrifying feeling

that we have lost control of our own destiny.

Now, before I go any farther,

let me say that I certainly join the rest of our nation in hoping and praying daily

that the security and optimistic stability of our nation truly can be rebuilt.

I have found myself praying for our President

as never before in my life.

But with all that is going on around us,

and the chaos it is causing,

it occurred to me this past week

that the events of the past two weeks

have provided our nation

with what may well be one of the most wonderful gifts our God has ever given us.

You see, I think what has happened to our nation as a whole

during the past two weeks,

first with the collapse of those towers,

and then with the tremendous financial instability that has followed,

is not unlike what happened to me personally

in the spring of 1970.

I was living on the Carribean Island of Trinidad at the time.

I was 23 years old,

single,

and like most 23 year olds,

my mind was filled with all sorts of hopes

and goals for the years ahead.

My only form of transportation at the time

was a 90cc Kawasaki motorcycle.

One morning I got on my little motorcycle

and took off across the island.

I got to the main highway

and got up to about 60 mph.

I came up behind a fellow going a little slower than I wanted to go,

so I swerved out to pass.

But I didn’t realize there was a fellow behind me

who thought I was going a little slower than he wanted to go,

and he went to pass me

at the same time I went to pass the fellow in front of me.

For just a few seconds

all three of us were lined up across that highway.

But then all of the sudden

one of the cars on either side of me

swerved in,

crushing me and my little motorcycle between the two cars.

The jolt knocked the bike out from under me,

and for some considerable distance

I slid along the blacktop

on my handlebar,

my foot peg,

and my rear end.

When I finally came to a stop

and realized what had just happened,

I realized, too, that I should have just been killed.

I should have gone under the tires

of one of those two cars.

My life should have ended in a bloody heap

on a Carribean Island at age 23.

Something happened inside me that day,

something that has stayed with me ever since.

When I got up the next morning

I felt as if I was living a future

I had no right to,

a future that had been given to me as a gift

by my Creator.

And the effect that event had

on my goals,

and my plans for the future

still impacts me today.

For some reason my God wanted me around a little longer.

And that event in the Spring of 1970

has made it easier for me to let go of the illusion

that I control my own destiny,

or even that I have a right to.

When those twin towers came crashing down nearly two weeks ago

I think our God was doing the same thing for our nation

that He did for me on that road in 1970.

We as a nation have been so comfortable,

so confident in our ability to create

and sustain “the good life” by the shear act of our own will and determination.

And the real reason why our nation now struggles with such intense fear and anxiety

is not because we were attacked by terrorists,

but rather because we have been forced to realize

that we have constructed our entire national value system

upon goals and principles

that can be attacked and destroyed by terrorists.

The author of Hebrews

makes a fascinating statement

in Hebrews 12:26-28.

In this passage he is drawing a comparison

between God’s communication to the nation of Israel

the day He gave them the 10 Commandments through Moses,

and God’s communication to us now

through the Person of Jesus Christ.

He describes how the mountain shook,

and how lightening and thunder roared,

and how God demonstrated His power to the people in such dramatic ways.

But then the author goes on to say this,

HEB 12:26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven."

HEB 12:27 This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

HEB 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

Now, in those verses

the writer is drawing a contrast

between what he calls “those things which can be shaken”

and “those things which cannot be shaken.”

And before I go any farther here,

let me begin bringing us back to hope.

You see, just as there are things that can be shaken,

things that can crumble,

things that can come crashing down,

things like The World Trade Center,

and the Dow Jones Average,

so there are also things

that cannot be shaken,

things offered to us by our God

through Jesus Christ.

When our God designed for us

His plan of salvation,

His plan of absolute security in the palm of His hand

and in the center of His love,

it was not a plan that was in any way dependent

upon “those things that can be shaken”.

It is not dependent upon what culture we were born into,

or how the economy is doing,

or whether our nation is at peace or under attack.

It is not a plan that depends upon

our being surrounded by a strong military,

or by the eradication of terrorism from the world.

Rather, it is a plan that rests

on those things that can never be shaken -

things like the existence of our God,

and the fact that He has loved us with an everlasting love,

and His commitment to hold all those who come to Him

in the palm of His hand.

JOH 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

JOH 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

JOH 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

Sandee and I were walking in our neighborhood this past week,

and we passed one of our neighbors along the way.

He’s a nice fellow, not a Christian,

but a man who seems like he’s always wanted to do the right thing.

We stopped and talked for a few minutes

and of course our conversation centered on the chaos in our country right now.

His anxiety was evident,

and I came away from that conversation

realizing once again the desperation that always comes

when the only hope we have

is built upon things that can be shaken.

It was such a contrast to those final words in this passage in Hebrews:

HEB 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

A kingdom which cannot be shaken...

A kingdom built not upon our ability to do for ourselves what must be done,

but rather upon God’s ability to do for us

and in us

all those things that need to be done

in order to keep us in the center of His love.

I mentioned a few minutes ago

that I believe God is using the tremendous turmoil in our nation right now

to do for many in our nation

what He did for me through that motorcycle crash in Trinidad

so many years ago.

I believe He is offering us a powerful reminder

of the choice every one of us faces.

Do we really want a future

and a security

that rests upon our ability to hold it all together,

our ability to fend off all evil,

our ability to pick the right path to the right goal?

Do we really want a future

that is built upon things that can be shaken.

Or do we want a future

that literally rests on God Himself?

And just so that we have a clear perspective,

let me read just one

of the many self-portraits our God gives us of Himself.

This one is found in Isaiah 40:21-31:

ISA 40:21 ¶ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

ISA 40:22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

ISA 40:23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

ISA 40:24 Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.

ISA 40:25 "To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.

ISA 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.

ISA 40:27 ¶ Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?

ISA 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.

ISA 40:29 He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power.

ISA 40:30 Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,

ISA 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

..."To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?" says the Holy One.

This is the God who offers us Himself.

This is the God who seeks to place us in the palm of His hand.

This is the God who, when He builds

no one can tear down,

and when He tears down

no one can rebuild.

You see, our nation isn’t just grieving over the death of 6000+ people.

We are also grieving over the death of an illusion -

an illusion upon which we have been building our great empire for more than 200 years -

the illusion that we have both the right

and the ability to write our own script,

to determine our own future,

to control our own destiny.

It is only right that we should mourn the loss of those who died,

but we should rejoice over the death of the illusion,

because with its death

for the first time in a very long time

we can see the alternative clearly -

the Creator God of all that is,

who offers us Himself

and His love,

and His personal, intimate, daily supervision of our lives.

It doesn’t mean that disaster will never touch our lives,

but it does mean that no disaster can ever remove us from His hand,

or from His love,

or from His ability to transform even evil into good in our lives.

Two weeks ago,

before any of this ever took place,

I ended our time together with the following words.

Of course I had no idea

what would enter our lives during the days that followed,

but I think now

there is no better way for me to end our time this morning

than by reading these same words once again.

ROM 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

ROM 8:36 Just as it is written, "For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

ROM 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

ROM 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

ROM 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.