©2001 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

11/11/01

Unshakeable Security

11-11-01 Unshakeable Security

Twice this past week

I attempted to write up notes

on the 11^th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Twice I set them aside.

Preparation for our times together

has become harder for me during the past two months.

It’s not that I have any less to say.

It’s that I have become so much more aware

of how important our times together are,

and how desperately we all need

strong, clear reminders of the truth about our God.

Each week we come here

having waded through another 7 days of our news media

assaulting us with another batch of things to fear,

new potential disasters,

new threats to what’s left of our sense of security.

Sandee and I were chatting this past week

with a casual friend of ours

who had a week’s vacation coming

and the opportunity to fly to Seattle round-trip for $40.00,

but she wasn’t going to do it

because of the fear of being killed by terrorism on the trip

and leaving her children without a mom.

Though many of us would probably have gone on that trip,

we all understand that kind of anxiety.

And when we get together here on Sunday mornings

it is crucial to our survival

that what we do here

helps us counter so many of the fear-generating messages we’ve been receiving

throughout the rest of the week.

What we need is not just facts.

What we need is truth - the truth about our God.

Two weeks ago

a good friend of mine quoted back to me

something I had said

when we were studying the book of Revelation a year or so ago.

It was something I understood at the time I said it,

but something I had forgotten.

When my friend quoted it back to me

of course I pretended I remembered having said it,

and even pretended I was still keenly aware of the truth in my own life.

After all,

I’m the preacher.

And what kind of credibility could I possibly hope for

if people discovered I sometimes forget the truth

as quickly as everyone else?

The quotation my friend gave me was this:

“If you are a Christian

and you are frightened by the book of Revelation

then you have not correctly understood

the book of Revelation.”

We are not yet living in the book of Revelation,

or at least not in the part that begins with chapter 4,

but we are living in a time

that has the flavor

of the beginning of the end of life as we have known it.

And this past week I have had to remind myself once again

that the same statement I made about the book of Revelation

applies to the time in which we live.

For the past two months

we have been living in a society

that is living in fear.

Our President encourages us to go about our lives

as if nothing has really changed.

And on the outside we all succeed at some level.

But underlying our facades,

with many people in our nation,

and, I think, with many Christians as well,

there is a raging undercurrent of anxiety within us.

I tried to come up with a word picture

to explain what I see happening in our country right now,

to give us a mental image of the kind of feelings we’re wrestling with.

I think maybe it’s a little like this.

I want you to picture a 10 year old boy in London

during Hitler’s bombing raids over the city

in the second world war.

Unlike many of the children,

this boy has not been sent out of the city for his safety.

He has continued to live with his dad and mom

in the heart of London.

For the past several weeks the bombing raids have continued

day after day,

night after night,

but they have always been in distant parts of the city,

and his neighborhood has remained untouched.

In his mind he has come to believe

that this war will not touch his life or his little world personally.

Then one morning he wakes up,

gets ready for the day,

hugs his dad and mom goodby,

and heads off to school.

About ten o’clock in the morning

he suddenly hears the drone of the approaching planes.

And then the explosions start,

but not in the distance as before.

This time they are all around him -

horrible, terrifying, earth-shaking explosions.

His teacher is screaming,

his fellow students are running all over the place,

and in terror he crawls under his desk and huddles there,

watching and listening

as his world explodes,

glass shatters,

and walls collapse around him.

Though it seems like it goes on forever,

the attack lasts less than 15 minutes,

and when the explosions finally stop

and he crawls out from under his desk

the world he now enters is changed forever.

He sees some of his school mates lying very still,

covered in blood.

The building itself is in ruins,

and where the street once was

there is now just rubble,

and fire,

and bodies,

and terrified people.

As fast as he can,

he runs home,

picking his way through the chaos,

losing his way and then finding it again repeatedly.

And when he finally finds what was once his home,

there is now just a crumbling ruin with no roof,

and only partial walls surrounding it.

He picks his way inside,

and just stands there for a few minutes in shock.

Then he looks down and finds a favorite toy partially buried.

He digs it out,

and brings it over to the corner of what was once his bedroom.

Then he finds some other familiar things -

his winter coat,

his play shoes,

his pillow,

his dad’s hat,

the apron his mom always kept hanging in the kitchen.

Bit by bit,

piece by piece he tries to put his world back together.

I think our nation right now

is a little bit like that boy picking through the rubble,

finding familiar things,

trying to put them back together in a way that feels like home.

Now that the 24 hour news coverage of the disaster has ceased

we are finding old, familiar things -

our ball games are back on the air again,

and our stock market is recovering some,

and people are flying again,

(though not nearly as much as before),

and we go to work,

and we go to school,

and we pretend things are all back to normal.

But just as with that boy,

there is something huge that’s still missing,

something we have not been able to find in the rubble,

something we know we need very much,

something that gives all the rest of it value.

It’s our sense of security.

It’s gone,

replaced by anxiety,

and confusion,

and fear.

But let’s go back to that boy in London again,

picking through the rubble.

I want you to see him there once more,

sirens blaring in the distance,

noise, and dust, and confusion everywhere.

He has his little collection of important things

stacked neatly in the corner,

and then he looks down

and sees the corner of a photograph

peaking out from under a massive wooden beam.

It’s a photograph of his family -

his dad, his mom, and himself.

He wants it very much,

and he grabs the beam and tries to move it,

but it is too heavy for him.

He kneels there in the rubble,

pushing, and straining, and pulling,

tears streaming down his cheeks,

and then suddenly he hears a voice,

a deep strong voice behind him.

“Here, my son, let me help.”

He turns around to see his dad

and his mom standing there.

And all of the sudden,

with the sirens still screaming,

and the dust still thick in the air,

and the rest of the world still in chaos,

once again everything is OK.

His world will never again return to what he once knew.

His bedroom is gone forever.

His house no longer even exists.

But the true source of his security,

his dad and his mom are still there.

We as a nation right now

are in the process of picking through our lives,

looking for those things

that have remained untouched by what’s going on around us.

But those things

have lost their power

to make us feel secure.

The truth is,

our nation may never again go back to being the way it was just 3 months ago.

Many of those things

that gave us a sense of stability

and security have been destroyed.

There are many in our nation

who continue to sift through the rubble,

looking for the things that once made them feel secure,

piling them neatly in the corners of their lives.

But the only ones who are going to rediscover

the true sense of security they long for

are those who hear the voice of their Heavenly Father saying, “Here, my child, let Me help.”,

and then turn around and see Him standing there.

What I would like to do during our remaining time together this morning

is to share with you

the 5 things I believe we Christians need to know

in order to reclaim stability

and security in our lives.

#1. We need to know what God’s purpose is in the world right now.

We need to remember what He’s doing.

A statement made about Christ

in Revelation 5:9 says it very well.

REV 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

God is in the process

of calling to Himself people from every tribe,

and tongue,

and people,

and nation.

His great purpose in your life personally

has always been very simply to call you to Himself,

and then to teach you about Himself,

one day,

one event,

one personal project at a time.

That has not changed.

It has not changed in your life personally.

And it has not changed in our world.

The society in which we live,

and the political climate in which we live

are nothing more than the stage,

and the settings,

and the painted backdrops

against which our particular chapter of God’s drama is being played out.

But even though the settings may change,

the plot does not.

God is doing now

just exactly what He was doing three months ago,

and three years ago,

and three hundred years ago -

calling out a people to Himself.

Step #1 in regaining our sense of stability

is realizing that the central purpose of our God

in and for our lives has not changed -

it has always been

all about Him

and about His drawing us to Himself.

#2. Our return to stability

will come as we remind ourselves of the truth about our God.

If you’re wondering where to start,

I would strongly suggest you discover,

or rediscover the Book of Psalms.

It is filled with powerful statements about our God,

and about His care,

and His control in the lives of His children,

and often they are presented

in the context of tremendous conflicts going on in the lives of those who were writing.

PSA 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

PSA 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

PSA 46:3 Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.

PSA 46:4 ¶ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.

PSA 46:5 God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

PSA 46:6 The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted.

PSA 46:7 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

PSA 46:8 ¶ Come, behold the works of the Lord, Who has wrought desolations in the earth.

PSA 46:9 He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.

PSA 46:10 "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

PSA 46:11 The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

#1. Know what He is doing.

#2. Know Him.

#3. Know that this God truly is your personal security.

If what happened two months ago

has disrupted the security in your life,

all it means is that you had built your life,

or a portion of your life

upon a foundation that was never secure.

I know when our surroundings

provide us with the illusion of security

it is easy for us to forget.

But the only security any human being will ever have,

can ever have

is the security that comes

from knowing his life and his future

is being held securely in the hands of God Himself.

I will say it as simply as I know how -

either our God is real,

and He holds us in His arms,

or there is no security in life.

#4. I think it will help

if we know the special calling that comes to us

during times of national turmoil.

To each child of God is given

the calling of living out lives that reflect unshakeable security

in the midst of an utterly insecure world.

It doesn’t mean we do not grieve over the losses that come into our lives,

but it does mean we continue to live lives

that reflect confidence in our Lord

even in the face of those losses.

During the past 35 years

our society has undergone tremendous changes.

In just a few years

we have gone from a nation that outwardly accepted

and affirmed the truth of Biblical morality

to a culture that now laughs at even the suggestion of universal moral absolutes

and honestly believes that true “good”

means granting every person the “right”

to live any way they choose to live.

In the midst of all this turmoil

I have sometimes felt

that one of the great failures of the Christian community

is that we spend far more time moaning

over the loss of the way things were,

than we do boldly affirming

the adequacy of our God

to equip us for the way things are

and the way they will be in the future.

I don’t like what is happening in our country

or to our country right now.

But I don’t have to like it.

All I have to do

is to live my life in a way

that affirms the truth -

that my God is more than adequate for me and my needs

no matter what’s going on around me.

#5. And then, finally, I believe it is healthy for us to know why we fear.

And by that I mean simply,

that when we find fears taking root within us,

rather than allowing them to overwhelm us,

we need to face them head on,

and to ask ourselves what lie we are believing

that is giving the lie power in our minds.

What am I believing about my God,

about His relationship with me,

about His care for me

that makes the lie seem reasonable?

Repeatedly throughout the New Testament

our God tells us to not be afraid.

My favorite is found in Luke 12:32.

They are the words of Christ Himself.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”

When we fear,

one thing we know for certain -

somewhere in our thinking

we have accepted a lie as the truth.

#1. Know what He is doing.

#2. Know Him.

#3. Know that this God truly is your personal security.

#4. Know the special calling that comes to us during times of national turmoil.

#5. And then, finally, know why we fear.