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Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 11-11-07
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "The Apple of God’s Eye"
Text: Psalm 17:1-9
Theme: faith expressed in prayer and action
Introduction
On October 8, 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower wrote a letter to Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs, with these words: “I have today signed a proclamation calling upon all of our citizens to observe Thursday, November 11, 1954, as Veterans Day. It is my earnest hope that all veterans, their organizations, and the entire citizenry will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day.”
Today is Veteran’s Day, a day for our nation to reflect with somber gratitude upon the sacrifices that the Veterans of our country have made. And of course, one of the highest sacrifices a person can make is to engage in the chaos of war in defense of one’s country. I have not been called upon to do that, but I am the son of someone who was, and so I have great respect for those veterans who have served their country.
In reflecting upon the meaning of Veterans’ Day, I have pondered many times this past week the following saying that comes from the experience of war – “There are no atheists in foxholes.” Although that thought is not technically true, it does suggest a truth. When we encounter troubles of all kinds, including life-threatening situations, our prayers often increase.
Point
The Lectionary assigned several Scripture texts for today, including Psalm 17:1-9. We don’t often focus on the Psalms, but we will today because today’s Psalm is a prayer.
In this prayer, David appeals to God for vindication (v.1-2): “Hear a just cause, O LORD, attend to my cry…From you let my vindication come…”
Then he makes a personal declaration of innocence (v.3-5): “…if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me…My steps have held fast to your paths…”
And finally, David petitions God for personal protection (v.6-9): “Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings…”
As a person automatically flicks his eyelids to protect the pupil of his eye, so God can be trusted to guard you as the apple of His eye when you are threatened with harm.
This Psalm would make a very good foxhole prayer!.
Problem
Now, it may seem overdramatic for me to suggest that our American culture is in the middle of a war, but I would challenge that notion. It’s spiritual warfare, and it’s in our midst!
Today’s Gospel – Luke 20 – summarizes our challenge very well. Just as some Sadducees in Jesus’ day claimed that there is no resurrection, so also there are many in our contemporary culture who scoff at and even attack our confession that Christ has come to bring new life, and that through faith in Jesus we are saved from the power of sin and death.
But, it was Jesus who said: “…the dead are raised...God is not God not of the dead, but of the living...” And so we speak confidently to our culture that Jesus Christ alone is the resurrection and the life!
We confess that we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come. That confession is central to the Christian faith, and it’s the Gospel word to a blind, starving, dying world.
We live in between birth and life in this world and eternal life with God in glory. How, then, shall we live? We live by faith, expressed in prayer and action.
Power
Today is a day on the Church Year calendar set aside to commemorate Soren Kierkegaard , who was born in Denmark (Copenhagen) in the early nineteenth century. In 1834, Kierkegaard wrote and published his first book, Either/Or, which startled the religious world with its denouncement of watered-down Christianity. Kierkegaard’s life and works were a serious challenge to the institutional church, especially the Lutheran Church, that he believed had minimized the distance between the human and the divine. Kierkegaard believed that there was a great chasm between God and human beings and that the only bridge was Jesus Christ. In the period of history we call the Enlightenment (when human reason seemed was emphasized over faith, and human potential over human weakness), Kierkegaard’s theology/philosophy served as a corrective to a world and a church that had lost its identity.
Soren Kierkegaard once said: “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”
Prayer defined in the Bible:
- Lifting up our soul to God (Psalm 25:1; 143:8)
- Pouring out our heart to God (Psalm 62:8)
- Crying out to God (Psalm 86:3)
- Spiritual incense to God (Revelation 5:8)
- Coming before the throne of grace (Psalm 84:1-2; Hebrews 4:16)
- Spiritual sacrifice and the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15)
- Drawing close to God in friendship, fellowship and trust (James 4:8)
Yes, “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” And as followers of Jesus Christ in the 21st century who seek to have an impact on our culture, we live by faith, expressed in prayer and action.
A long time ago I learned an acronym that helps me understand the nature and types of prayer. It’s called ACTS. But, since I’m a cat lover (don’t like dogs!), I changed ACTS to CATS. Here is what the acronym means:
Confession (1John 1:9)
Adoration (praise) (2Corinthians 9:15)
Thanksgiving (Philippians4:6)
Supplication (intercession)
Conclusion
Our American culture is in the middle of a war, spiritual war! Many in our contemporary culture scoff at and even attack our confession that Christ has come to bring new life, and that through faith in Jesus we are saved from the power of sin and death.
But, it was Jesus who said: “…the dead are raised...God is not God not of the dead, but of the living...” And so we speak confidently to our culture that Jesus Christ alone is the resurrection and the life!
Let us live our faith, say our prayers – CATS – and take action! And, while we do it, may God guard us as the apple of His eye and hide us in the shadow of His wings.
I invite you to join me in a prayer from Soren Kierkegaard. Let us pray: “Father in Heaven! Hold not our sins up against us, but hold us up against our sins, so that the thought of You, when it wakens in our soul, and each time it wakens, should not remind us of what we have committed but of what You did forgive, not of how we went astray but of how You did save us!” Amen.
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