You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/RichlandNaz/videos/308898436760014/
Our Safety
March 26, 2020
So we have been looking at the Lord’s Prayer, specifically the part that says, “Give us today our daily bread” And we have been talking about all the different things this encompasses. One of those things is our safety. Who do we trust with our safety? What sources will we turn to when our journey gets tough? Is your journey tough, what about this journey has you tied up in knots?
I’m here to tell you today, that God can be trusted to protect us. He has provided the ultimate protection, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now I know that it’s hard for some of us to understand or come to a place where we are at peace with this idea. Because it is the difference between what we need and what we want. It’s the difference between what all of humanity wants vs. what all of humanity needs, and that is simply salvation from Sin.
Often, what humanity wants is so different than that. When we are following Christ, when we are being discipled by Jesus, we have what we need all wrapped up in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
No matter what happens, He is our rescue. There is absolutely NO hardship, pain, struggle, trial, tribulation that can undo the provision Christ gives to us through His resurrection. Because that is the ultimate safety net.
We can endure whatever comes our way, whatever test or trial that comes our way, through the resurrection of Christ. Simply because we trust in the One who bestows upon us the ultimate blessing. He protects us and I choose to believe He keeps me safe.
When we accept God to be the One we can trust, to be our source of safety, we can walk today, tomorrow, and any other tomorrows we have without needing to know what any of them holds.
If God has called us to take a step of faith, then He provides the way for us to step out. He provides our safety. We may not know how God is going to handle the details of the journey even at the very moment something happens, and we don’t need to because we trust God.
Faith – real faith - goes to bed tonight and sleeps deep, knowing that God is going to bring manna again in the morning. to develop that kind of faith, you have to stop worshipping other gods, (little g).
In Exodus 24 Moses treks up the mountain, he’s gone for quite a while. The Israelites are concerned that he has been gone a long time. Then, we pick up the story in chapter 32. Exodus 32:1-6 (NIV) When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.
This whole thing sounds absolutely crazy. Think about this for just a minute. God just delivers them from slavery in Egypt. Then God provides them with manna and quail to eat in the desert where there is nothing to eat. And then they get worried while all of this is still going on that Moses isn’t going to come back, that something happened to him?! Are you kidding me?! The reality of the situation is that when things get tough, we want safety – tangible safety. We want to have something we can physically hold.
It’s truly very easy to be tempted to worship the blessings instead of the One who gives the blessing to us. It’s very easy for us to let the blessing itself become our source for safety. We receive the blessing (manna and quail or whatever God provides us today), we can see it, smell it, touch it, it fills our stomachs and we are full. So then we begin to place our trust in the blessing itself, instead of the One who blesses us.
So let’s say that our finances are a mess for whatever reason. We pray to God for the answer, and He sends it, just like the manna. It is tempting to hoard it, protect our nest egg, save it, get really tight with it, and then we end up valuing it above everything else. It’s not just money that replaces God, it can be any resource we have at our disposal.
Ever since I can remember, Bobbi and I have looked at our home as a resource for God. We have just barely gotten here to Richland, and now with COVID-19, we are being told to self isolate to slow the spread of the virus. It is so totally unnatural for us to NOT have people over to our home. But that is because we have always released our home to God for Him to have as a resource. In years past, we have had unofficial foster kids, and even official foster kids in our home. It’s just something that we feel called, if there’s room – fill them up!
Now, we could take the premise, that now we don’t have kids at home so we don’t need to open our home to anyone and just keep everything neat and tidy for us. When the kids all moved out I realized that there is only a mess in the sink if I leave a mess in the sink. And that is a tempting premise for me personally. But does that show, physically show the love of God – who adopts anyone and everyone wanting to be part of His family? Absolutely not…
Ok – back to the idea of trusting God for our safety. Let’s jump forward in the Bible to our example – Emmanuel, God with us. What did Jesus trust? I know sounds a lot like that question we had on bumper stickers and bracelets, “What would Jesus do?” Ugh! I got so sick of that because it got so misused by so many people. But, we need to ask this one – “What did Jesus trust?”
In Matthew chapter 4, we see Jesus being driven out into the desert to fast and pray by the Holy Spirit. and at the end of His time of 40 days of fasting and praying, the Tempter comes to Him. And Jesus is at a weak point physically, when He is put through these temptations.
Now some people want to argue some differing theological points here about the humanity and the deity of Jesus. Here is where I land – mainly because I believe that sometimes we get so hung up in the minutia of theology that we loose who Jesus is. Simply put, Jesus is 100% human and 100% God. There – I get it, the math doesn’t work, but I believe the theology does.
Look at what the writer of the book of Hebrews has said about this: Hebrews 2:17 (NIV) “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”
If sin came into this world and caused separation from God our Creator through the first Adam (human), then sin would have to be dealt with a sacrifice of a perfect Adam (human). And that is who Jesus is, He is both the, “…only begotten son…” – fully God – and at the same time fully human.
So, back to this first temptation. It looks like it’s about physical hunger, but really it’s about Jesus answering this same question we are looking at today, “What keeps me safe?” The adversary is forcing Jesus to ask Himself, “Can I trust God today for tomorrow?” Now, what was His answer? It was simply, humanity does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
When God calls us to follow, we can safely follow Him, even if it is through the valley of the shadow of death, because of what… oh yeah the resurrection! The reality of our human situation is that we are not safe because we have food, clothing, money, housing, whatever resource we trust. We are safe because we have trusted in Jesus Christ and His resurrection power.
Remember a few days ago, we talked about Paul. And Paul felt safe why? If you remember, death did not matter to him and if he was going to continue to breathe and live, then the only thing he was concerned with was to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If he didn’t take another breath, then BONUS!!! He was going to be dancing with his Savior – Jesus - why…because of the Resurrection of Christ!
Our safety rests in one source, that source is our Savior, Jesus Christ. When we pray the prayer, “Give us today our daily bread,” we are placing our hope and trust in the reality that even if I do not wake up tomorrow here on this earth, I will wake up tomorrow with my savior Jesus Christ.