Under The Wings Of The Almighty
Sermon
UNDER THE WINGS OF THE ALMIGHTY
Sermons For Pentecost (Last Third) Cycle A First Lesson Texts
The people of God are strong people. We are not weaklings who tremble and quake every time a new threat comes into our lives. We stand with boldness to face whatever life has to offer. Ruth, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, the woman from the land of Moab, was not a weakling. The death of her husband broke her heart but not her spirit. She was determined to make a new life in a new land. Somehow, the text does not tell us how, Ruth learned to believe in the God of her husband and of her mother-in-law. She learned to trust him as a God of love and compassion. In the words of Boaz, Ruth "sought refuge under the wings of the God of Israel (Ruth 2:12)." Foreigner and convert though she was, Ruth faced the future with courage because she believed her life was under the protection of God.
As Christian people we believe that the Father in heaven answered the prayer of his son, Jesus, when he prayed, "Father, protect them in your name… while I was with them I protected them and kept them safe (John 17:11-12)." We face the world with courage today because we are protected by Almighty God.
Robert, a scrawny, 10-year-old boy, answered the knock at the front door. Standing there with hands on hips was the meanest, toughest kid in the neighborhood. "Come on out here," he said, "I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp." Robert looked up into his face and said, "No, you're not." The bully glared at him angrily and asked, "Why not? You know I'm bigger and meaner than you." "I know," said Robert, "but I also know something that you don't." "What's that?" he sneered. "I know that standing just inside of this door is my big brother." Robert was able to be bold in that moment because his brother, who was bigger than the bully, was nearby. We live our lives with boldness and courage because God is there who is bigger than us and our problems. He is there to protect and defend us.
A woman awakened one morning and heard a pecking sound on the window pane. When she looked she saw a butterfly inside the pane frantically fluttering back and forth. On the other side was a sparrow pecking at the glass trying to catch the butterfly. The butterfly, which couldn't see the pane, thought that he was going to be consumed at any moment by the sparrow. The sparrow thought that at any moment he was going to have a meal; all the while the butterfly was safe because the windowpane was between him and the danger.
God is always between us and the harm and danger of life. We may not always see him. We see the danger; it is there, it's coming, it's approaching, it's in our face, but it never reaches us because God is there to protect and defend us. Someone might say, "Pastor, come on, get real. People are getting hurt and sick and are dying every day. Does God protect them?" My answer is yes; yes, God does protect them. He protects all who love him. Those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. God protects those who trust and believe in him. He protects them not only in life but through life into eternal life. We are always his, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:35-37)." God protects us in life, through life, to eternal life.
God does not change the order of things. Pain and hurt will come to your lives. Death is a part of being human. God doesn't change that but he protects us in it and through it.
We live with boldness because God protects us, not only from the things that are obvious, from the enemies that are always in our faces, but the things that are not obvious -- the dangers and threats that we never see. I've often wondered how many thousands of times God has protected my life. He has surely moved me out of harm's way many times when I was not aware.
Workers were preparing to blast rock out of a quarry. They set the dynamite, lit the fuse and ran for cover. When they looked back they saw a little three-year-old boy wandering out into the open field. They knew that any second the dynamite would explode; the little boy's life was in danger. They stood and frantically waved, trying to get the little boy to come to them. The boy was amused by their antics and went right on playing. His life was in danger but none of the men had the courage to rush out and rescue him; they knew the dynamite was getting ready to explode. The little boy's mother came on the scene and at a glance realized what was happening. She did not call out to her son nor rush out to get him. In her mother's love and intuition she simply knelt down, opened her arms wide and smiled at him, beckoning him to come. Instantly the little boy ran toward his mother. The dynamite exploded, sending a shockwave reverberating off the walls of the canyon, but the little boy was safe in his mother's arms. He never knew he was in danger; the only thing he saw was the beckoning arms of his loving mother. How many times do we hear God call to us, beckoning us to himself and all we hear is his love. We are not aware that he is at the same time beckoning us away from some harm or hurt that may lie in our path.
Many people have said, "You know, Pastor, I haven't been to church in many years but I felt an urgency to come to church today, and I want you to know what a great moment it has been. I feel renewed in my faith in God and know my life will be altogether different." I often wonder if these people realize that not only are they experiencing the beckoning call of God to come to him, but that he's also calling them away from a path in life that would harm and hurt.
The late Peter Marshall, the famous Presbyterian pastor, once described an occasion when he was a boy. He was walking home in Scotland in the darkness when he suddenly stumbled and fell. As he reached out his hand in front to brace himself and stand up, there was nothing there! Frightened, he simply remained in that position until the morning. In the early light of day he could see that he had fallen at the edge of a high cliff. One more step and he would have fallen to his death. He determined then and there that if God could guide his steps in the darkness of night, he would certainly follow God in the light of day.
There are times when it becomes abundantly clear to us that God is leading our steps and protecting our path. At one of the shopping centers in the city of Atlanta, a man named James Calvin Brady went berserk and shot five people; one of them died. In a newspaper interview, Brady acknowledged that at an earlier time he had gone to the mall with a gun in hand determined to fire 12 bullets, implying he determined to kill 12 people. He said that on that day he walked into the mall and stood before the escalator, planning to shoot the people as they came down. Something happened, however, something changed his mind and he put the gun away and left. My guess is that the people on the escalator that day never knew their lives were in danger. They rode down the escalator laughing and talking among themselves. They thought ahead to the gifts they would buy or the shops they would enter. They went home, fixed dinner, spent time with their families, went to bed and had a peaceful night's rest. They never knew, and still don't, that they were within seconds of death. How many times have we been protected by God and did not even know it?
Many years ago two brothers played golf every day for seven days on a beautiful course on the island of St. Croix. Every day they had lunch on the veranda at the club house. The week after they returned home, the paper reported that a gang of thieves had come out of the jungle around the golf course and attacked people on the veranda, killing everyone who was there. The thieves killed the woman who had waited on the two brothers, the young golf pro who had helped them, and the men and women who had served them lunch. The brothers could not help but wonder how close they came to death. They could have gone on their trip a week later and been sitting on the veranda that fateful day. They wondered if it was possible that the gang had planned their attack the week before and at the last moment something happened that changed their minds. How many, many times in life has God protected us all and we did not even know it?
What is our proper response to a God who loves us so much and protects us at all times? The one appropriate response is thanksgiving. Deep in our hearts we need to learn to be thankful to God.
Martin Luther loved to tell the story about the two bishops who were riding down the road on horeseback and saw a shepherd in the field. The shepherd was crying, weeping and wailing with tears pouring down his face. One of the bishops, a man of kind heart, rode over to ask the shepherd about his problem. The shepherd was sobbing so loudly that he could barely speak, but he pointed to the ground. The bishop saw a small toad sitting in the grass. The shepherd said, "All this time Almighty God has treated me with such good favor. He has blessed me in so many ways, not like that poor miserable toad on the ground, and yet I have never expressed to him my thanksgiving or praised his holy name."
Martin Luther, in commenting about this scene, pointed out that this was not a man of power; he was not a man of wealth; he was not even a man of learning. He was a humble shepherd and yet so understood the grace and love of God that he wept tears of thanksgiving.
I've wondered, where are our tears? Where are our tears of thanksgiving? We who take God's protective love so for granted, we who have been blessed by God in so many ways, where are our tears of thanksgiving?
A famous speaker once asked his audience, "Do you give thanks to God every morning for your health and for your life? No," he said, "I didn't either for a long time but then I had by-pass surgery. Now I do, every single day."
In this harsh world I try to say to parents, "Parents, love your children, be good to them, thank God that they are well and healthy and that you still have them with you and have not lost them." Across the years I've been with far too many parents who have. I say to children, "Love your parents, honor your parents, thank God for your parents and do it now." Over the years, I have known far too many who waited until it was too late.
There are times when tears are good. One of those times is when we shed them giving thanks to God for his blessings. As people of God we live boldly with courage and confidence. We are not weaklings! We will not tremble and quake when some new threat enters our lives.
Like Ruth of long ago, many things will break our hearts but nothing can break our spirits, for we have found refuge under the wings of Almighty God. Amen.
As Christian people we believe that the Father in heaven answered the prayer of his son, Jesus, when he prayed, "Father, protect them in your name… while I was with them I protected them and kept them safe (John 17:11-12)." We face the world with courage today because we are protected by Almighty God.
Robert, a scrawny, 10-year-old boy, answered the knock at the front door. Standing there with hands on hips was the meanest, toughest kid in the neighborhood. "Come on out here," he said, "I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp." Robert looked up into his face and said, "No, you're not." The bully glared at him angrily and asked, "Why not? You know I'm bigger and meaner than you." "I know," said Robert, "but I also know something that you don't." "What's that?" he sneered. "I know that standing just inside of this door is my big brother." Robert was able to be bold in that moment because his brother, who was bigger than the bully, was nearby. We live our lives with boldness and courage because God is there who is bigger than us and our problems. He is there to protect and defend us.
A woman awakened one morning and heard a pecking sound on the window pane. When she looked she saw a butterfly inside the pane frantically fluttering back and forth. On the other side was a sparrow pecking at the glass trying to catch the butterfly. The butterfly, which couldn't see the pane, thought that he was going to be consumed at any moment by the sparrow. The sparrow thought that at any moment he was going to have a meal; all the while the butterfly was safe because the windowpane was between him and the danger.
God is always between us and the harm and danger of life. We may not always see him. We see the danger; it is there, it's coming, it's approaching, it's in our face, but it never reaches us because God is there to protect and defend us. Someone might say, "Pastor, come on, get real. People are getting hurt and sick and are dying every day. Does God protect them?" My answer is yes; yes, God does protect them. He protects all who love him. Those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. God protects those who trust and believe in him. He protects them not only in life but through life into eternal life. We are always his, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:35-37)." God protects us in life, through life, to eternal life.
God does not change the order of things. Pain and hurt will come to your lives. Death is a part of being human. God doesn't change that but he protects us in it and through it.
We live with boldness because God protects us, not only from the things that are obvious, from the enemies that are always in our faces, but the things that are not obvious -- the dangers and threats that we never see. I've often wondered how many thousands of times God has protected my life. He has surely moved me out of harm's way many times when I was not aware.
Workers were preparing to blast rock out of a quarry. They set the dynamite, lit the fuse and ran for cover. When they looked back they saw a little three-year-old boy wandering out into the open field. They knew that any second the dynamite would explode; the little boy's life was in danger. They stood and frantically waved, trying to get the little boy to come to them. The boy was amused by their antics and went right on playing. His life was in danger but none of the men had the courage to rush out and rescue him; they knew the dynamite was getting ready to explode. The little boy's mother came on the scene and at a glance realized what was happening. She did not call out to her son nor rush out to get him. In her mother's love and intuition she simply knelt down, opened her arms wide and smiled at him, beckoning him to come. Instantly the little boy ran toward his mother. The dynamite exploded, sending a shockwave reverberating off the walls of the canyon, but the little boy was safe in his mother's arms. He never knew he was in danger; the only thing he saw was the beckoning arms of his loving mother. How many times do we hear God call to us, beckoning us to himself and all we hear is his love. We are not aware that he is at the same time beckoning us away from some harm or hurt that may lie in our path.
Many people have said, "You know, Pastor, I haven't been to church in many years but I felt an urgency to come to church today, and I want you to know what a great moment it has been. I feel renewed in my faith in God and know my life will be altogether different." I often wonder if these people realize that not only are they experiencing the beckoning call of God to come to him, but that he's also calling them away from a path in life that would harm and hurt.
The late Peter Marshall, the famous Presbyterian pastor, once described an occasion when he was a boy. He was walking home in Scotland in the darkness when he suddenly stumbled and fell. As he reached out his hand in front to brace himself and stand up, there was nothing there! Frightened, he simply remained in that position until the morning. In the early light of day he could see that he had fallen at the edge of a high cliff. One more step and he would have fallen to his death. He determined then and there that if God could guide his steps in the darkness of night, he would certainly follow God in the light of day.
There are times when it becomes abundantly clear to us that God is leading our steps and protecting our path. At one of the shopping centers in the city of Atlanta, a man named James Calvin Brady went berserk and shot five people; one of them died. In a newspaper interview, Brady acknowledged that at an earlier time he had gone to the mall with a gun in hand determined to fire 12 bullets, implying he determined to kill 12 people. He said that on that day he walked into the mall and stood before the escalator, planning to shoot the people as they came down. Something happened, however, something changed his mind and he put the gun away and left. My guess is that the people on the escalator that day never knew their lives were in danger. They rode down the escalator laughing and talking among themselves. They thought ahead to the gifts they would buy or the shops they would enter. They went home, fixed dinner, spent time with their families, went to bed and had a peaceful night's rest. They never knew, and still don't, that they were within seconds of death. How many times have we been protected by God and did not even know it?
Many years ago two brothers played golf every day for seven days on a beautiful course on the island of St. Croix. Every day they had lunch on the veranda at the club house. The week after they returned home, the paper reported that a gang of thieves had come out of the jungle around the golf course and attacked people on the veranda, killing everyone who was there. The thieves killed the woman who had waited on the two brothers, the young golf pro who had helped them, and the men and women who had served them lunch. The brothers could not help but wonder how close they came to death. They could have gone on their trip a week later and been sitting on the veranda that fateful day. They wondered if it was possible that the gang had planned their attack the week before and at the last moment something happened that changed their minds. How many, many times in life has God protected us all and we did not even know it?
What is our proper response to a God who loves us so much and protects us at all times? The one appropriate response is thanksgiving. Deep in our hearts we need to learn to be thankful to God.
Martin Luther loved to tell the story about the two bishops who were riding down the road on horeseback and saw a shepherd in the field. The shepherd was crying, weeping and wailing with tears pouring down his face. One of the bishops, a man of kind heart, rode over to ask the shepherd about his problem. The shepherd was sobbing so loudly that he could barely speak, but he pointed to the ground. The bishop saw a small toad sitting in the grass. The shepherd said, "All this time Almighty God has treated me with such good favor. He has blessed me in so many ways, not like that poor miserable toad on the ground, and yet I have never expressed to him my thanksgiving or praised his holy name."
Martin Luther, in commenting about this scene, pointed out that this was not a man of power; he was not a man of wealth; he was not even a man of learning. He was a humble shepherd and yet so understood the grace and love of God that he wept tears of thanksgiving.
I've wondered, where are our tears? Where are our tears of thanksgiving? We who take God's protective love so for granted, we who have been blessed by God in so many ways, where are our tears of thanksgiving?
A famous speaker once asked his audience, "Do you give thanks to God every morning for your health and for your life? No," he said, "I didn't either for a long time but then I had by-pass surgery. Now I do, every single day."
In this harsh world I try to say to parents, "Parents, love your children, be good to them, thank God that they are well and healthy and that you still have them with you and have not lost them." Across the years I've been with far too many parents who have. I say to children, "Love your parents, honor your parents, thank God for your parents and do it now." Over the years, I have known far too many who waited until it was too late.
There are times when tears are good. One of those times is when we shed them giving thanks to God for his blessings. As people of God we live boldly with courage and confidence. We are not weaklings! We will not tremble and quake when some new threat enters our lives.
Like Ruth of long ago, many things will break our hearts but nothing can break our spirits, for we have found refuge under the wings of Almighty God. Amen.
