Building
Our Lives on the Greatness of God
Psalm
27:1-5, Matthew 7:24-28
April
26, 2015
Grace
Presbyterian Church
Rev.
Dr. Richard E. Miller
Who
Pushed Me?
A
very wealthy man bought a huge ranch in Arizona and he invited some of his
closest associates in to see it. After touring some of the 100,000 acres of
mountains and rivers and grasslands, he took everybody to the house. The house
was as spectacular as the scenery, and out back was the largest swimming pool
you have ever seen. However, this gigantic swimming pool was filled with
alligators. The rich owner explained this way: "I value courage more than
fear or anything else. Courage is what made me a billionaire. In fact, I think
that courage is such a powerful virtue that if anybody is courageous enough to
jump in that pool, swim through those alligators and make it to the other side,
I'll give them anything they want, anything--my house, my land, my money."
Of course, everybody laughed at the absurd challenge and proceeded to follow
the owner into the house for lunch... .when they suddenly heard a splash.
Turning around they saw this guy swimming for his life across the pool,
thrashing at the water, as the alligators swarmed after him. After several
death defying seconds, the man made it, unharmed to the other side. The rich
host was absolutely amazed, but he stuck to his promise. He said, "You are
indeed, a man of courage and I will stick to my word. What do you want? You can
have anything--my house, my land, my money-just tell me what you want and it is
yours." The swimmer, dripping wet and breathing heavily, looked up at the
host and said, "I
just want to know one thing--who pushed me in that pool?"
[Dr. Charles Garfield]
Our
Lives are Like That Sometimes our lives are like that,
aren’t they? Things are going along fairly well when all of a sudden, we find
ourselves in a pool filled with alligators swimming like crazy to get through
the crisis that faces us.
Perhaps
we’ve been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, or have lost our job, or
our spouse has asked for a divorce, or our child is involved with drugs. Events
such as these cause us to be frightened, anxious, fearful, angry, and helpless.
Phobias Sometimes our fears turn into phobias such as
astraphobia, the fear of thunder. The story is told of a mother tucking her
small son into bed during a severed thunderstorm. She was about to turn the
light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with
me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and
said tenderly, "I can't dear. I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A
long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The
big sissy!" [Unknown].
Years
ago in Virginia, I was giving a children’s sermon on Pentecost and to
illustrate the Spirit as wind and air. I blew up a balloon and then let it go.
After the balloon shot up into the air and swirled around in a crazy pattern,
it landed on the organ. The organist let out a shriek, jumped from the organ
bench, and backed to the wall. Little did I know that the organist suffered
from globophobia, the fear of balloons.
Then there is the story of a knife thrower
in a circus who would have a young lady stand against a wall while he threw
knives and swords at her. He would barely miss her by inches but she never
flinched. She was calm, cool and collected. But one day as he threw a knife at
her, she screamed and collapsed on the floor. Thinking the worse, everyone
rushed to her side. As they expressed their concern, she looked up and said, “A
spider was crawling up my arm! I’m deathly afraid of spiders!” She had no fear
of the knives coming at her [aichmophobia], but suffered from arachnophobia, a
fear of spiders.
Whether
we have phobias or things happen to us that cause us to be fearful, the
challenge that faces us all is how to cope and survive when life’s alligators
are swarming around us.
One answer to this is given by Charlie
Brown of “Peanuts” fame who once said, “I’ve developed a new philosophy. I only
dread one day at a time.”
That’s
all well and good, but perhaps there is a more lasting solution to our fears.
Psalmist
The psalmist tells us how he copes with his fears. He says,
“The Lord is my light and
my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom
shall I be afraid?” He will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he
will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.” Because
the Lord is his stronghold, he says,
“I will sing and make music to the Lord.”
Jesus In our scripture from Matthew, Jesus gives us
the solution in conquering alligators when they come into our lives. He said
that if we hear his words and act upon them, we will be like a wise man who
built his house on rock. When the rains and floods come, and when the winds blew
and beat upon that house, the house did not fall because it had been founded on
rock. In like manner, if we hear the words of Jesus but ignore them, then our
lives will be built on sand. And when the rains and winds descend upon us, our
lives will be filled with fear and anxiety and we will separate ourselves from
Christ.
When
Jesus is the light and stronghold of our life, of whom or what shall we be
afraid? After all, Jesus is bigger than all our fears combined.
But
the problem with fears, anxieties and phobias is that they separate us from
God. And Fulton J. Sheen wrote many years ago that “Anxiety increases in direct ratio and
proportion as one departs from God.” So Jesus is saying that if we listen to
God’s Words and then make them an integral part of our lives, our house, our
lives, will not fall down. We may still experience times when we are fearful
and anxious, but they will not end up crippling us. As Paul said, “We can do
all things through Christ who strengthens us.” And we end up building our lives
on the greatness of God.
The
Marshes of Glynn In 1842, in Macon, Georgia, Sidney Lanier was
born. He was educated at Oglethorpe College and served in the Confederate army
during the Civil War. He grew up to be an accomplished flutist, English professor
and poet. Everything was going his way
until he was in his thirties. He was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. This was
like a death sentence for him since few survived this disease in those days.
All of his dreams and hopes for the future disappeared as he confronted the
specter of death. So in 1879, just three years before he died, he vacationed on
the sea coast of Glynn County, Georgia. He looked across the salt marshes and
wrote one of his finest poems, “The Marshes of Glynn.” In that poem is this
statement: “As the
marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod, behold, I will build me a nest on
the greatness of God: I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
in the freedom that fills all the space ‘twixt the marsh and the skies.”
I will build me a nest on the
greatness of God!
By that statement, Sydney, knowing his death was near, seized and hung
tightly to the power and the love of God. We, too, no matter what happens in
life, can fight through our fears by building our lives on the greatness of
God. In addition to immersing ourselves daily in the Word of God, God uses his
church, the Priesthood of All Believers, to help us cope with our fears and get
through whatever crisis we are facing.
On
Golden Pond In the movie, “On
Golden Pond,” Norman Thayer, played by Henry Fonda, fears growing old and
dying. In one scene, his wife, Ethel, played by Katherine Hepburn, asks him to
go down Old Town Road and pick some strawberries. After awhile, Norman shows up
back at the house with empty buckets. He then says to Ethel, “I got to the end of our land and I
couldn’t remember where Old Town Road was. I wandered away there in the woods.
Nothing looked familiar. It scared me half to death. That’s why I came back, to
your pretty face, so I could feel safe, where I’m still me.” In
a way, that is the story of our lives. Many times in our life journey we find
ourselves lost in unfamiliar territory facing unknown perils. We become afraid
and we panic. And so we run to someone we can trust, where we’re still
ourselves, so that our fears might subside and go away. Norman was afraid of
growing old. And Ethel was Norman’s refuge. She comforted him and helped
relieve his anxious fears. She was the human rock upon which his life was
built. Thus we can be the refuge and strength for each other as we walk hand in
hand through life, encountering one fear after another.
It
is vital that we tenderly hold those who are fearful. We may not be able to
eliminate their fears, but knowing that they don’t face them alone comforts
them and gives them courage.
Brother-in-Law A few years ago, my brother-in-law had to
have brain surgery to remove a tumor. Before he went into the operating room,
he said, “No matter what
happens, I come out a winner. If I don’t make it, I go to live with Jesus. If I
do make it, I return home to the farm.” Yes, he made it back to the farm and
still lives each day with that belief.
When
we build our lives on a rock, on the words of holy scripture, and put them into
practice each day, we build a solid emotional foundation that keeps us from
falling apart when we find ourselves swimming with alligators. And if we’re
lucky, we might find some good friends who are willing to jump into the pool
with us to help fight them off! Amen.
Psalm 27:1-5 NRSV
The Lord is my light and my
salvation;
whom shall
I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of
my life;
of whom
shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
to devour
my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
they shall
stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against
me,
my heart
shall not fear;
though war rise up against
me,
yet I will
be confident.
One thing I asked of the
Lord,
that will I
seek after:
to live in the house of the
Lord
all the
days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the
Lord,
and to
inquire in his temple.
For he will hide me in his
shelter
in the day
of trouble;
he will conceal me under the
cover of his tent;
he will set
me high on a rock.
Matthew 7:24-29 NRSV
‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on
them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall,
because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine
and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on
sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against
that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’
Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the
crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having
authority, and not as their scribes.
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