The Comfort Of The Scripture
Sermon
About A Loving God
Some deaths are joyous.
It’s not that death itself is joyous. Instead, it’s that the person who’s dying is so at peace that he or she brings peace to those around.
Dying people always have a lot to face, a lot with which to struggle, but some face it better than others. Some face it with more hope and courage.
How do they do that? Some people look to the comfort of the Scripture.
I have a friend who was raised on the grounds of a state mental hospital. He was the superintendent’s son, and they lived in a house not far from the main building.
One night he and his family attended a kind of circus in the auditorium of the main building, and he still has two memories of that night. One’s a memory of a little white dog that climbed a ladder almost as high as the top of that two-story auditorium and then jumped safely into its owner’s arms.
And the other’s the memory of a man who 'ran away' that night. This man sneaked out of the circus, and when my friend and his family got back home, they found him hiding in the bushes by the house.
My friend’s father, who was a little man, just walked up to the much larger runaway patient and asked him what he was doing there.
And the patient answered, 'I didn’t have any other place to go.'
Sometimes when we don’t have any other place to go, there’s real comfort in the Scripture. 'I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord,' the psalmist says; 'yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.'
And that’s what the Scripture’s all about. It’s the story of the saving acts of God.
From the stories we learned as children — stories such as the Noah story and Daniel in the lion’s den — through the stories of King David and of prophets like Isaiah, the Scripture tells us God is faithful. We can trust in God.
Did you listen to the psalmist? 'I cry aloud to God,' he says, 'aloud to God, that he may hear me.'
We tend to think of psalms as joyous, but if you read them, more often you find pain and terror.
'Has God forgotten to be gracious?' the psalmist asks. 'Has he in anger shut up his compassion?'
But there’s an answer in the Scripture. 'I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord,' the psalmist says. 'Yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.'
Because the Scripture is the story of a faithful, loving God, we, like the psalmist, can find comfort in the Scripture and the stories it tells.
Stop and think for a minute. God created the world, commissioned Abraham, saved Joseph, called Moses, led his people out of bondage — that’s the big one, isn’t it?
God called Joshua and Ruth and Solomon and David and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and even Jonah, who didn’t want to go, and when he got there, didn’t want to do what he was told.
God protected them and saved them and helped them.
There’s real hope in Scripture. Remember what the risen Jesus did when he met two faithful followers on the way toward Emmaus? He interpreted the Scripture to them. He said, 'Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?'
And even then they didn’t see that he was Jesus!
'But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,' Paul tells us, 'the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.'
For us as Christians, we can have hope, not just in the resurrection of the Savior and the promise that the resurrection brings, but also in the reality that the resurrection brings, but also in the reality that the resurrection is the act of the one true living God, the One whose saving purpose can be seen in all the Scripture.
It’s not that Jesus is some kind of magician. He is God’s son, the one who has been raised by God, and because he has, he is the first fruit of our salvation.
Why is it that, as terrible as it is, death is sometimes joyous? Perhaps because there’s comfort in the Scripture — comfort for the one who’s facing death, and comfort all those who face it with her.
You know, I’ve thought a lot about that little white dog my friend described. What in the world would have made it possible for him to climb that ladder and then jump?
He knew his owner, and he knew his owner would be there. He knew he would be caught in loving arms.
On a much deeper level, that’s the comfort of the Scripture, too.
Let Us Pray
Almighty God, We commit our friend ** to you, thanking you for the promise of the Scripture, and for your loving faithfulness through Jesus. Amen.
*Person’s first name
**Person’s full name
It’s not that death itself is joyous. Instead, it’s that the person who’s dying is so at peace that he or she brings peace to those around.
Dying people always have a lot to face, a lot with which to struggle, but some face it better than others. Some face it with more hope and courage.
How do they do that? Some people look to the comfort of the Scripture.
I have a friend who was raised on the grounds of a state mental hospital. He was the superintendent’s son, and they lived in a house not far from the main building.
One night he and his family attended a kind of circus in the auditorium of the main building, and he still has two memories of that night. One’s a memory of a little white dog that climbed a ladder almost as high as the top of that two-story auditorium and then jumped safely into its owner’s arms.
And the other’s the memory of a man who 'ran away' that night. This man sneaked out of the circus, and when my friend and his family got back home, they found him hiding in the bushes by the house.
My friend’s father, who was a little man, just walked up to the much larger runaway patient and asked him what he was doing there.
And the patient answered, 'I didn’t have any other place to go.'
Sometimes when we don’t have any other place to go, there’s real comfort in the Scripture. 'I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord,' the psalmist says; 'yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.'
And that’s what the Scripture’s all about. It’s the story of the saving acts of God.
From the stories we learned as children — stories such as the Noah story and Daniel in the lion’s den — through the stories of King David and of prophets like Isaiah, the Scripture tells us God is faithful. We can trust in God.
Did you listen to the psalmist? 'I cry aloud to God,' he says, 'aloud to God, that he may hear me.'
We tend to think of psalms as joyous, but if you read them, more often you find pain and terror.
'Has God forgotten to be gracious?' the psalmist asks. 'Has he in anger shut up his compassion?'
But there’s an answer in the Scripture. 'I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord,' the psalmist says. 'Yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.'
Because the Scripture is the story of a faithful, loving God, we, like the psalmist, can find comfort in the Scripture and the stories it tells.
Stop and think for a minute. God created the world, commissioned Abraham, saved Joseph, called Moses, led his people out of bondage — that’s the big one, isn’t it?
God called Joshua and Ruth and Solomon and David and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and even Jonah, who didn’t want to go, and when he got there, didn’t want to do what he was told.
God protected them and saved them and helped them.
There’s real hope in Scripture. Remember what the risen Jesus did when he met two faithful followers on the way toward Emmaus? He interpreted the Scripture to them. He said, 'Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?'
And even then they didn’t see that he was Jesus!
'But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead,' Paul tells us, 'the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.'
For us as Christians, we can have hope, not just in the resurrection of the Savior and the promise that the resurrection brings, but also in the reality that the resurrection brings, but also in the reality that the resurrection is the act of the one true living God, the One whose saving purpose can be seen in all the Scripture.
It’s not that Jesus is some kind of magician. He is God’s son, the one who has been raised by God, and because he has, he is the first fruit of our salvation.
Why is it that, as terrible as it is, death is sometimes joyous? Perhaps because there’s comfort in the Scripture — comfort for the one who’s facing death, and comfort all those who face it with her.
You know, I’ve thought a lot about that little white dog my friend described. What in the world would have made it possible for him to climb that ladder and then jump?
He knew his owner, and he knew his owner would be there. He knew he would be caught in loving arms.
On a much deeper level, that’s the comfort of the Scripture, too.
Let Us Pray
Almighty God, We commit our friend ** to you, thanking you for the promise of the Scripture, and for your loving faithfulness through Jesus. Amen.
*Person’s first name
**Person’s full name
