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Being
an elementary teacher of 13 years I couldn’t help but being
interested that Paul is teaching a history lesson here in the letter
to the Corinthians. One of the things a good history teacher will
tell you, one reason we study history is to learn from the past. We
study history so that we can learn from the mistakes that have gone
before us so we don’t make the same mistakes that they did. Here we
listen to Paul teaching the Corinthians about the ways of many of
the Israelites that had gone before them.
Be
careful not to do what your ancestors did, be careful to stay true
to the word that you have been taught. Learn from those who have
gone before you. But I want you to focus on a particular verse that
comes after the history lesson. Yes he is presenting this as a
lesson to learn, but his important message comes at the end in verse
11. He sums up the whole purpose of sharing with them this
“wonderful news”. These things happen to them to serve as an example
and they were written down to instruct them to whom the end of the
ages have come. These things happen not because of the Israelites
but so that we can learn from them. “If you think you are standing,
watch out that you do not fall.” This here is where I want to focus.
“No testing has overtaken you that are not common to everyone. God
is faithful. And he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,
but with that testing he will also provide a way out so that you
will be able to endure it.”
God
will test you. God wants to know what you are made of it. What can
he do? And he has shown that he will test. He has shown the he will
have no hesitation to see what someone is made of; especially if we
are comfortable. My son’s favorite book happens to be an example of
this. It is probably the hardest book in the Old Testament. He came
to me one day and said, “Dad, have you ever read Job?” That’s hard
stuff and it was even harder for Job. Here is a man who had it all.
He had everything; a great career, wonderful family, living the life
of luxury. Then one day Satan comes to God and says, “I’ll bet I can
get him to fall like so many before him.” God says go ahead and try
it. I don’t think you can.
Right
there Job had won, because as we read, God will push you to the
limits, but he will not give you anything you cannot endure without
a way out. He gave job a way out when he said, “Go ahead. I know he
won’t.” Right there God was faithful to job. And yeah, Job was
pushed. Job wondered what was going on. And he had some words with
God. But God stuck with him when all else failed.
When
things got rough, Job turned to his friends. He had some people to
lean on, and he asked for their help. He didn’t understand what was
going on, but they said to give up on God as God had obviously given
up on Job. But God says stick with me. In the Psalm that we read
today it said God is my refuge. God is there. God is saying that
when I am pushing you, I want you to lean on me. Lean on me because
I will be there to hold you up. Lean on me because I love you, and
when your friends are not there at 3:00 in the morning and you can’t
sleep because of everything going on in your life, lean on me
because I will be there. When there is nothing going on at work that
gives you any satisfaction, lean on me because I will be there. When
life at home is troubled and stressful, God is right there waiting
for you to lean on him. Lean on me, let me lift you up. Let me hold
you.
Three
things I want you to take out of here today. We have what we
commonly think of is the common way to talk to God – prayer. Point
one, we have prayer. If all else fails drop to your knees. So you
think you’re weak at prayer I want you to look at it a little
differently.
Last
summer, I spent the summer working as a chaplain intern at Hunterdon
Medical Center. One day, I walked into this little lady’s room and
she looked at me with sadness in her eyes and said, “Pastor, God has
left me.” We talked for a little while and then I asked her when the
last time she had talked with God was. She told me she hadn’t prayed
in years. She felt like he wasn’t there anymore, what’s the point. I
spent the next half hour telling her about the difference between
talking with God, and praying. I asked her if she would like me to
open the door for her to open a conversation with him.
Ladies
and Gentlemen, prayer does not have to be the formal, hands in the
air, knees on the ground and all the fancy almighties and blessed be
thou stuff. All the sanctified and the “thee”s and the “thou”s. God
doesn’t want to hear prayers like that. Don’t get me wrong. He will
gladly listen to them, but he wants to have a conversation. God
wants to converse with you. As I would call my dad to check in with
him, or my son comes home to share his day with me, God wants to
have that same conversation with you.
From
my school to my house, I have a forty minute drive. I love that
drive. I look forward to that time because that is my conversation
time with God. That’s the time I can lean on him. I share with him
my day. I share the good news as well as the bad news. I look
forward to sharing that with him.
When
we are frustrated and confused or hurting, just as our children come
to us, turn to God. Father, I can’t believe this happened. God just
wants us to talk to him. That’s what prayer is. It is a conversation
with our creator.
So
that’s point one, lean on God by opening a dialogue with him. Two,
we know that God answers prayer, but sometimes his answers doesn’t
come soon enough for us, or we don’t hear it. So what is another
way, other than prayer that we can lean on God? Well, I just read
from it. God has given us everything we need here in his word. God
wants us to read to understand.
My
fourth grade students will often come to me with nothing to do, so
as any teacher will, I try to get them into a book. I use different
strategies to get them into something of interest. God does the same
thing. We come to him with a problem and he asks us if we have
looked in the Bible lately. It’s really a good book. He has answers
to almost any problem we have if we just look for it.
This
week as I was trying to put together my sermon for today, I was
stumped as to where to go with the message. God, show me something
to jump start my message. So as I sat down to go back to my message,
I opened up my computer to my daily meditation. One of them that I
like is strictly a compilation of scriptures around a given theme.
Ironically, it had to do with today’s theme although today’s
scripture was not a part of it. The word is there. It is for us to
get us to think, to open our minds and to reinforce our need to lean
on our creator. He knows what is best for us if we just turn to him
for support.
The
cool thing about the word is that you can read a passage today and
it will have one meaning today and the same passage may mean
something different to you another time. It is not a book that was
written for the people 2000 years ago. Yes, it was for them, but God
designed it in such a way that it is just as effective today as it
was then. Granted, when this letter of Paul’s was written, he meant
it to be directed to them, but when he says that is these examples
were written down for us to learn, Paul may have meant the
Corinthians – God meant for you and me. It is a book that is not
old, but brand new. It has new stuff for us every time we check it
out.
Last
point, we can lean on him in prayer, talk to him directly. We can
lean on God through what we read in the Bible. Sometimes we can lean
on God by leaning on each other. All of us are angels of God. If you
have any kind of relationship with any one in The Church, not just
these four walls, but anyone in the greater church – the church of
God – someone you know well. It could be Pastor Rich, it could be
someone down the street or it could even be someone in Michigan you
have known since you were a kid, a Sunday school teacher or someone
sitting next to you. We can lean on each other as we lean on God.
That’s why we are here. One of the reasons we come to church is to
be with fellow Christians, fellow believers of God. That’s why we
come together. We also come together to worship and praise God. I
hope that we don’t come together as individuals looking for personal
satisfaction, but rather as coming to church to be a part of the
community. That’s what we are. We are the community and from talking
to Pastor Rich, it sounds as if that is what is going on here at St.
Paul’s. He couldn’t tell me how much this church has grown together
since he has come here, how united this church was, how friendly it
is. Your minister thinks very highly of you and has no qualms about
sharing that.
When
we need to look to God, look to each other. That’s why you have
prayer concerns, fellowship time at the beginning of service, for
coffee and refreshments.
So
we lean on God in three ways, one in prayer, two in his word, and
three, lean on God through those in his church. So as I close today
I want you to remember that the song we know says lean on me when
you are not strong. We have heard it as a secular song about
friendship. We have heard it in movies and on the radio. Ironically,
I heard it on a Christian radio station this week as I ran out gas
and was stuck sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA to
come and help me out. On the radio comes “Lean on Me”. He will push
you, but never without giving you a way to endure the trials.
Praise be to
God
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