Sermon at First Presbyterian
Church Lockhart
Hosea 11:1-11, Psalm
107:1-9,43, I Colossians 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21
by James Greene
The title of today’s sermon is God who leads and Loves. The key focus of our four readings is how God continues to love his people and lead his people through His Word today and through history. It shows the caring heart of God and his call to us as his people to be and to live holy examples, because God is Holy. It is in Christ that we see the example of the complete person, the whole person, who is fulfilled in living into their God given purpose. It is the intent of God, that we live into the fulfillment of our potential as the people of God.
In
Hosea we see God teaching and loving
God
takes the high ground, and chooses not
to vent his wrath and anger upon his people. Instead, Hosea
shows how God leads by example, like Jesus, and says “they will follow the Lord”. God’s people will come to Him, and God will settle them in their homes. It is a picture of a God who loves his
people even in, and through their rebellion. Much like the father in the parable of the
prodigal son; the father still loves the son through his
rebellion and his return to the father. God chooses
to redeem his people.
In
Psalm 107 we see the theme of the redeeming love
of the Lord and his unfailing love and goodness towards His people endures forever.
We also see the same theme
of the people’s rebellion and in
their hunger and thirst, they “cried out”
to God to save them. Here, God in his love delivers them from
their calamities, and leads them in a righteous way. Here too, the people give thanks for God’s deliverance.
How
many times have we experienced that love and deliverance
in our lives? Many times, we only recognize it, in hindsight,
after times of trial. One person described this experience
after going through a difficult period
in their lives the following way:
In looking back over the
difficult time they could see
where God lead
them and loved
them through a difficult
period. It was laid out over their lives like a fine lace that covered that time with the love
of the Creator. So like the Psalmist they experienced
how God’s redeeming love endures
forever, and we are saved.
In
our trouble and darkness we turn and call dial 911 for an ambulance.
But we also know, that when we are pressed down by our sorrows, and our worries in this world, we know we can call upon the Lord; the maker of
Heaven and Earth, because He will
answer, and raise us up, and lift us up in the midst of our distresses.
1
We
see in Colossians, the letter by Paul that calls us to Holy living.
It is an instruction to die to
our earthly nature, of this life, and live into our new self, that is hidden in Christ,
in God. The elements of death kill the spirit, and the earthly passions and emotions (anger and
malice) kill
the soul. God is calling us, like
Just
as the laws of physics, are God’s
laws. We understand that two elements cannot occupy the same space. The same thing applies here in Colossians. You cannot have the earthly elements
of greed, hate and malice cannot
occupy the same space as the Spiritual
elements of faith, love, and compassion. The characteristics of God need to be reflected in the characteristics of God’s people. We have to
know ourselves, as God’s people, and we have to be in tune and in harmony with God’s call upon our lives and the path that we follow on our journey in this life.
We are both sinner and saint, bitter and sweet, but we
need to live into His call upon
our lives to follow his lead and his love in the way that he shows us through the example of Jesus.
In
Luke, we see a man focused upon
his earthly inheritance and getting
his share of the family wealth.
He is concerned with following
the value of things, rather
than the relationship within his
family. He is focused on the old self, described in Colossians. He has forgotten the lesson about placing
his treasures in Heaven,
instead of demanding
them here on earth. He
like
It reminds us of the lesson in
Matthew 6:20 “But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
Jesus in his parable of the rich man describes
a man who is rich in treasures for
himself that involves his own greed
and idolatry. He forgets that God is the source of all of his wealth, and the source of his
life.
It reminds me of the short novel that I read by Tolstoy about a shoemaker and a malicious
rich prince who orders a pair of
boots from the finest leather
that he brought to the cobbler. The cobbler
begins cutting the pattern for a pair of slippers. The cobbler’s friend says that the prince will kill him. The cobbler remarks that he saw the Angel of Death standing behind the
prince and that he would not live
the night. The word comes back
that the prince has died, and that
they now need a pair of slippers for the prince’s burial. Sometimes,
with our worldly possessions, we forget that our time here is limited. That our focus needs to be on
following the path that God leads
us, and reflecting the love that God shows us through the life of His Son Jesus.
Just as in Hosea, and
the Psalm, we see how
God continues to lead and love His people even in, and through their rebellion. We are to keep our focus upon God’s
standards for our lives as the people
of God. We are to reflect the spiritual element of placing our treasures
in heaven, that we may follow God’s lead, and reflect God’s love
in the way His Son taught us, and we are to do it all…..
… In the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen.