1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,640 Our scripture reading today is Genesis 15 verses one through 6. 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,880 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,560 Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your very great 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,400 reward. But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,760 what can you give me, since I remain childless, and the one 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,320 who will inherit my estate is Eleazar of Damascus. 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,920 And Abram said, You have given me no children, so a servant in 8 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,320 my household will be my heir. Then the word of the Lord came 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:40,400 to him, This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,280 own flesh and blood will be your heir. 11 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,800 He took him outside and said, look up at the sky and count the 12 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,400 stars, if indeed you can count them. 13 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,760 Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:58,640 Abraham believed the Lord and he credited to him as 15 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,480 righteousness. May the Lord add His blessing to 16 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,160 the reading and the hearing of His word. 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,160 Before I get into the sermon itself, I just want to let you 18 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,240 know I'm preaching a little bit differently today than I 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,880 normally do. And if you're interested, if you 20 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,760 care, you may not care about what I'm about to say next. 21 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,200 You know, think about the Browns and the Bengals game coming up. 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,040 Ponder whatever you need to there. 23 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:31,080 But when I am preparing sermons, I, I usually just sort of as I'm 24 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,400 praying and studying, get, get words, phrases to ideas, topics 25 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,120 that I then put in an outline and, and I usually try to keep 26 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,080 it a, a reasonably simple outline and, and parts of that 27 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,840 outline I put on the slides. And every once in a while, maybe 28 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,240 you know, once in every, I don't know. 29 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,000 I don't very, very rarely that the way I just described is how 30 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:57,960 I prepare for my sermons 99.99% of the time every once in a 31 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,840 while. And it happened this week. 32 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,800 I sat down to work on my outline and when I started typing the 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,560 outline, everything just sort of woop came out and and I thought, 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,520 well, I'll just pick parts out of that and use it as the 35 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:13,120 outline. And I can't do it. 36 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,200 So I'm doing something today which I don't normally do, which 37 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,840 is I'm going to actually be be sticking very close to a 38 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,000 manuscript for for much of the sermon today. 39 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,320 Part of it, not so much, but for most of it I will. 40 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,200 And because I don't normally do that, I wanted to let you know 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,040 what was going on and why I'm standing here behind the pulpit 42 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,120 and looking at my notes for so much. 43 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,880 So that said, I want to talk about don't be afraid of the 44 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,040 dark. I have very personal connection 45 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,160 with that statement. Don't be afraid of the dark. 46 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:50,440 Because when I was a little kid, maybe four or five years old, I 47 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:55,600 saw my very first horror movie or the part of my very first 48 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,040 horror movie and, and I was not supposed to be watching it. 49 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,400 My parents were staying up to watch it was. 50 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,240 And I, this memory has been part of me for such a long time and I 51 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,800 never really looked it up, but I remember the name of the movie 52 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:09,800 was Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. And then I thought, you know 53 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,040 what? I wonder if that's really the 54 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,520 name of a movie or did my brain just invent this and it's the 55 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,320 movie. I looked it up on IMDb. 56 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,440 That's the movie. The description is just what I 57 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,360 remember of the movie I was not supposed to be watching. 58 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:26,520 I wanted to stay up and watch. My parents said you are this is 59 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:28,840 you're not old enough for this, this is too scary for you. 60 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Go to bed. It was bedtime anyway, but the 61 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:34,520 sofa my parents were sitting on had its back to the door. 62 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:39,840 I snuck out and my bedroom and down and looked around the sofa 63 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:43,680 without them knowing that I was there and watched Don't Be 64 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,800 Afraid of the Dark. At least I watched part of Don't 65 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,360 Be Afraid of the Dark. At the point that the little 66 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,320 furry creatures crawled out from under the cupboard below the 67 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,560 steps and started attacking the family, I decided my parents 68 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,360 were smarter than I was after all. 69 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,720 This was too scary for me and I went back to bed where I did not 70 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,880 sleep much that night. Don't be afraid of the dark. 71 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,040 It's something that we as parents tell children and 72 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,040 grandchildren, and at times even ourselves. 73 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,760 In the darkness, there's nothing to be afraid of. 74 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:23,320 Don't be afraid of the dark. That's a statement that is much 75 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,680 easier to say when the light is shining. 76 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,600 It's much easier to believe at noon and when the lights are on, 77 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,840 then in the darkness of night when we cannot see. 78 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,680 Living in darkness and the fear and anxiety and worries that 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:46,320 come with it are a very human problem that we have. 80 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,840 We see in Abram today a very common problem, a very human 81 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:57,760 predicament, the dreadful challenge of trusting God when 82 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:01,720 we can't see him. Now, up to this point, Abram has 83 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,520 done some amazing trusting in God. 84 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,960 Abram lived in a region. That's what what is you know, 85 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,000 you know, the region of Haran kind of. 86 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:17,840 And God came to him, not visibly as far as we know, but somehow 87 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:22,000 Abram heard this voice from God saying, leave everything you 88 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,000 know behind all this area where you've done all of your growing 89 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,160 up and lived your whole life. And Abraham was pretty well 90 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,040 along in years already at this point. 91 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,640 And I want you to follow me. I'm going to show you a new land 92 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,640 and a new place. And I'm not even going to tell 93 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,800 you where you're going. I'll just let you know when you 94 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,480 get there. And Abraham left, and he 95 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,560 followed God into this, not even knowing where he was going, 96 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,080 followed the voice of God, taking his wife, taking his 97 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,160 nephew, taking his household with him, leaving everything 98 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:02,840 else that he had ever known behind because of the promise of 99 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:06,960 God. And Abram literally became a 100 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,200 stranger in a strange land. And when he got there, God said, 101 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:11,720 this is it. And Abram said, all right, this 102 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,480 is it. This is where God said he would 103 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,480 give him descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky above, 104 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,240 as the dust on the ground, the sand on the seashore, and make 105 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,480 him a blessing to all peoples on earth and all nations on earth. 106 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,920 There were challenges that came up that Abram met once again 107 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,880 with great faith. His nephew Lot became very 108 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,560 prosperous just as Abram was becoming very prosperous. 109 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,080 There wasn't enough land for them to grave all of their 110 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,760 flocks together. Their workers were fighting with 111 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:47,160 each other over the land and over the grazing patch, excuse 112 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,000 me, grazing spots. I still got a little bit of that 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:54,160 bug over those grazing spots. And so Abram again, with a 114 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:59,080 tremendous act of faith and humility and courage and trust 115 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,720 in God, he said to Lot, the younger you choose, you pick the 116 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,560 land you want, I'll take whatever's leftover. 117 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:11,040 And Lot took the better land. And immediately God reassured 118 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,560 Abram, don't worry, it's all going to be yours and your 119 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,320 descendants forever and ever and ever. 120 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,840 Now at this point, Abram still had no descendants. 121 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,720 This relative of his, Eliezer, a person in his household, was the 122 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:30,080 closest thing he had to an heir. He had no children. 123 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,840 But then, then other crises arose, partly due to Lot's 124 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,800 decision to live in the Jordan Valley, pitched his tents near 125 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,960 Sodom, inherited some of Sodom's problems, many of Sodom's 126 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,880 problems, ultimately all of Sodom's problems, and this 127 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,160 particular problem was political enemies. 128 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,720 And Sodom's political enemies came and conquered Sodom and 129 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,680 carried Lot and his family off as political prisoners, 130 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,600 prisoners of war. An aberman, A tremendous act of 131 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:04,640 faith, an old man, not a soldier, not a general, not even 132 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:06,280 a king. He was a sheep herder. 133 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:10,520 He was a shepherd by profession and trade, but he raised his own 134 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,040 private army, he secured alliances with neighboring 135 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:19,400 kings, and he went to war. And he rescued his son-in-law, 136 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:22,760 and he not only got lot in his family back, he got all the 137 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,640 booty, all of the loot back from that king that had originally 138 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,360 conquered Sodom. He was carried aback. 139 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,000 He was a rich man, a very rich man. 140 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,200 And the king of Sodom even said, hey, I am so grateful that you 141 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:35,480 brought the people back. You can keep all the stuff. 142 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,880 And in another tremendous act of faith, Abram said, no, no, no, 143 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,679 no, no. You're not my provider. 144 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,080 God is my provider. No one will ever say that you 145 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,520 made me rich. Everything I have, people will 146 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,800 say was given to me, my God. And so we gave it all away, 147 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,080 every penny on it. A tremendous act of faith. 148 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:04,000 But he still had no child. And now a great adventure of 149 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,680 faith that began in the light of the noonday sun was creeping 150 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:12,080 toward the darkness, and Abram was starting to worry. 151 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:20,240 And Abram was getting afraid as the darkness closed in because 152 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:25,640 he could not see how he and his wife, who were well past 153 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:28,880 childbearing years, were ever going to have a child. 154 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:35,520 And it had been years since since he thought he heard God 155 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:40,000 make that promise, but it still wasn't fulfilled. 156 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,360 Was it going to happen or wasn't it going to happen? 157 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,280 Would he have an heir? Would he not have an heir? 158 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:50,040 And God, said Abram, don't be afraid. 159 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,160 I've made you a promise. I am willing and able to keep 160 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,680 that promise. You simply have to live by 161 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,760 faith. Live by faith. 162 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:08,320 But it is a dreadful challenge to trust God when we can't see. 163 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,200 But it's the very nature of living by faith, following and 164 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,040 obeying one we cannot see, to a place where we have never been 165 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,480 in the company, sometimes of friends, sometimes of strangers, 166 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:27,960 and sometimes utterly alone. Abe entered what millennia later 167 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,560 Saint John of the Cross would call a dark night of the soul. 168 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:41,280 Dark night of the soul, a time and experience of kind of an 169 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:49,400 internal wilderness, an internal darkness in which God strips 170 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:54,760 away everything that used to provide meaning and comfort and 171 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,920 hope and a sense of connection with God. 172 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,920 John talked about two types of dark nights. 173 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,080 One was a dark night of the senses in which all of those 174 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:12,640 things that make us feel God's closeness and God's presence and 175 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,200 God's joy and God's approval are gone. 176 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,400 You used to love your morning devotional time with God. 177 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,520 It made you feel so close to God. 178 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,280 Now it makes you feel nothing. You used to love gathering and 179 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:27,080 worship with the people of the church. 180 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:31,160 You used to feel such joy as you sang God's hymns, listen to 181 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,080 God's words, preached, shared, and worshiped together with your 182 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,960 family and friends. And now it just feels like Rote 183 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,440 used to feel tremendous satisfaction and works of 184 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,600 service in the church and in the community, and now they just 185 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,480 feel like duty and responsibility and everything 186 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:56,440 that used to make God feel good and close and present and loving 187 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,960 feels empty. And you begin to wonder whether 188 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:06,000 you would just imagine it all to begin with the dark night of the 189 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:10,240 senses, when all of those things that helped us feel the presence 190 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:16,200 of God become barren and dry. And as hard and difficult as 191 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,720 that is, it's not as hard and difficult as the other dark 192 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,160 night that John taught about. And that was the dark night of 193 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:28,920 the Spirit in which the presence of God seems to be withdrawn 194 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:35,320 entirely. And there is a creeping feeling 195 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,040 that maybe I never really experienced God at all. 196 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,240 Maybe it was all just my imagination. 197 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:49,160 Maybe it was never real because I feel utterly alone and in the 198 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:56,400 dark now. That's what Abram is entering 199 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:01,280 into. I believe he began acting out of 200 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,000 fear as much or more than out of faith. 201 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,160 He made decisions. He and Sarai, his wife together 202 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:12,640 made decisions that harmed them and harmed others around them 203 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:22,080 very, very deeply. Fear and anxiety and insecurity 204 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:27,040 and the darkness of doubt and the doubt that comes in the 205 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,600 darkness. And God said as Abram was going 206 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,000 into this, as the darkness was closing, God said to him, those 207 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,960 words, do not be afraid. I have made you a promise. 208 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:45,760 I am willing and I am able and I am faithful and I will keep that 209 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:47,600 promise. And on a grand scale, this is 210 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,000 what God says to all of us, through Abram and Sarai, and 211 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,480 through our fathers and mothers of the faith, throughout 212 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,480 Scripture and throughout church history. 213 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:03,160 God promises that he is willing and able, and He will keep his 214 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,840 promises. And that promise was most 215 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,680 grandly, eloquently, and potently fulfilled in Jesus and 216 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,200 his life, death, and resurrection. 217 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,840 Jesus, after all, is the light of the world, the light that 218 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,800 shines in the darkness and which the darkness has not overcome. 219 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,720 And yet, even as we truly profess and genuinely believe in 220 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:32,560 Jesus, we often do do not comprehend His light and 221 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,480 struggle to live this life of faith. 222 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,640 As we walk through the darkness of this world now. 223 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:47,240 Not always, but sometimes the way of faith seems as bright and 224 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,360 clear as a well worn path through a sunlit woods. 225 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,600 But at other times that path disappears in the weeds and the 226 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:00,480 fog and the night, and we find ourselves in the darkness 227 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,880 wondering which way to turn, where to go, which light in the 228 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:09,120 distance is the light of God, and which is the deceptive 229 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,920 flickering of false hope and deception. 230 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,160 Now I have encountered over the years some in churches who have 231 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,240 never experienced a dark night of the soul. 232 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,760 Who who always seem to live in the noonday sun, who never seem 233 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,560 to have been given a reason to doubt, and who are completely 234 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,960 firm and their confidence, direction and faith. 235 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,400 If you are such a one, thank God for the blessing you have been 236 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:41,920 given, but please do not chide, sneer at, or judge as faithless 237 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:46,640 those who seek to follow Jesus while walking in the darkness. 238 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,360 Friend of mine used to say, just because you've graduated, don't 239 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:57,040 burn the school down. Those who walk in darkness are 240 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:01,360 prone to fears, anxieties, worries and doubts. 241 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:06,120 Doubts at first whether we're still following God and God's 242 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:10,840 way, and then whether there really is a God and a way and a 243 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,920 true light. They feel like a result of sin. 244 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,840 They feel as if sin is what bras brought in them into this 245 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:26,000 darkness, and it feels like a repudiation of faith. 246 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:32,880 They feel like they've been abandoned by a faithless God, or 247 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:37,160 perhaps that there was never really God there to abandon 248 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,880 them. Many people live in this kind of 249 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:43,520 darkness. Some live in this kind of 250 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,000 darkness, having come from a place of faith and light. 251 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:49,320 Some live in this kind of darkness, never having seen the 252 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,240 light. I think the shooter in 253 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:57,160 Minneapolis just a few days back may be an example of such a one 254 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:03,000 who perhaps never saw the light. I think one of the most 255 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,119 disturbing facts about that shooting. 256 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,760 Shooting anyone is an awful thing. 257 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,520 The shooting of children is an abominable thing. 258 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:23,119 But sometimes we can, whether we agree with it or not. 259 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:29,480 When we know the reason, an ideology, a mental illness, when 260 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,760 we can put a why on it, it can makes the horror at least 261 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:39,560 manage. But when there is no ideology, 262 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,920 when a killing like that is done by someone who seems to have 263 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:49,440 just wanted to see the world burn, who had no ideological 264 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:55,720 motivation, no agenda, just was firmly convinced that the world 265 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,800 has no meaning and no purpose, so why not kill a bunch of 266 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:08,840 children before I kill myself? That kind of darkness, that kind 267 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,240 of philosophy has a name. Maybe you've heard it before. 268 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:14,960 It's spelled the same by everyone. 269 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,880 Some pronounce it nihilism, some pronounce it nihilism. 270 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,280 I don't know why there's two different pronunciations, but 271 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:26,680 there you go. A philosophy that says there is 272 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,160 no meaning, there is no purpose, there is no light. 273 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:37,000 We are not going anywhere. We exist by chance. 274 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,720 We will end in oblivion. And while our eyes are open and 275 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,560 our lungs are breathing and our hearts are pumping blood, the 276 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,560 only thing that really matters is power. 277 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,560 The power to crush others or the power of others to crush us. 278 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,840 Whether you know that word nihilism or not, that philosophy 279 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,440 is growing at an alarming rate in our world. 280 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:16,640 It is a philosophy that is embraces darkness and says there 281 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,880 really isn't any light at all anyway. 282 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:28,400 But dark nights need not be mindless, need not end and 283 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,680 mindless, meaningless death and destruction. 284 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,520 Because some dark nights, such dark nights as Abram was 285 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,000 entering, such dark nights as people of faith have entered for 286 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,680 millennia, such dark nights are God's good gift. 287 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:51,560 They are a slow and painful stripping away of our reliance 288 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:58,360 on all that is not God when we walk in this dark night of the 289 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:03,400 soul the best that we can do. The best that we can do is to 290 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:08,160 remember the light that we used to see, to remember, and to 291 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,440 choose to believe that it was real and not imagined. 292 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:19,160 Amy and I had years ago a friend and a mentor named Kimberly 293 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:24,760 Butler, older than us, wiser than us, further down and spent 294 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,200 more time on the road in life of faith in US. 295 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,960 And she guided us in some areas, in our marriage relationship, in 296 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,240 our spiritual life and was a tremendous blessing. 297 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,720 We had a particular time with Kimberly. 298 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,120 That was what I have heard I have referred to and I've heard 299 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:45,800 other people refer to as a mountaintop experience. 300 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,040 You ever talk about or hear about mountaintop experiences, 301 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,280 whether I whether it's a camp, whether it's at a a revival 302 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,760 meeting, a worship service, a time with your family, but it's 303 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,520 like Jesus transfigured on the mountaintop. 304 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,480 When God is so present and so real and the light is so bright 305 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:09,800 and you say, how can we ever doubt you know and feel and 306 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,080 experience the presence of God? It's so real and it's so 307 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,920 wonderful and it's so beautiful and it's so good. 308 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,200 And Kimberly said to us in that she said there will come a day 309 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,880 when you will be tempted to believe that you just imagined 310 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,200 what you're experiencing right now. 311 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,160 And then it was never really real. 312 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,840 I nodded and said absolutely. Kimberly said at those times 313 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:46,280 when that happens, you need to choose now that when that 314 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,880 happens, you're going to believe that what you remember from 315 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:58,160 today was real and is real and did happen, that you didn't just 316 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:03,320 imagine it. Sure thing, Kimberly. 317 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:08,800 It's what I said on the outside. Inside is like, no way, no way. 318 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,160 This is too real. This is too real. 319 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:19,880 And then the darkness comes and I imagine, did it happen? 320 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,160 Did I just imagine it? I mean, I know the circumstances 321 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,440 were there, but that feeling just a figment of my 322 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:34,480 imagination. And I thank God that Kimberly 323 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:40,080 had the wisdom to share that with me before the darkness 324 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:45,320 came. As we walk in the darkness, we 325 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:50,160 will stumble and we will fall. As Abram and Sarai stumbled and 326 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,240 fell. We will make bad decisions in 327 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:59,000 the name of faith and hope, as Abram and Sarai made bad 328 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,240 decisions in the name of faith and hope. 329 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:09,320 And we will hurt others in the name of God, as Abram and Sarai 330 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:16,840 hurt others in the name of God, making decisions out of fear, 331 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:22,200 wondering whether the promise was real and the voice was real 332 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:25,520 or they'd imagined it all and what's really going to happen 333 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,720 and can this really work? And maybe we should try this 334 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,920 instead, and maybe we should do that instead. 335 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:37,000 And they left behind them a trail of hurting and broken and 336 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:42,240 bleeding people in the name of God. 337 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,200 And by the grace of God, as we make our bad decisions and 338 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:52,600 believe our wrong things and do things that hurt others, by the 339 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:58,120 grace of God, we become aware of how much and how far we have 340 00:23:58,120 --> 00:24:02,640 fallen and how how our bad decisions have, how bad our 341 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,160 decisions have been and the hurt we have caused others. 342 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,680 And we will sink deeper into the darkness. 343 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,200 Shame will wrap its cloak and its blinders around us until all 344 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,400 that seems to exist is darkness and despair. 345 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:24,520 And we will wonder even if there is a God, and how could there 346 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:30,200 be? If there is a God, and the God 347 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,760 is good, how could a good God ever love a Wretch such as me? 348 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,760 But it is in the deepest darkness that God will whisper 349 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,800 into our darkness. This is why I died. 350 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:54,400 This is why the cross was necessary, because you need it 351 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,160 too. You needed my blood. 352 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:03,000 You need my cross. You need my grace. 353 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,480 You have no hope without it, no hope without me. 354 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,640 All of your goodness, all of your deeds, all of your works, 355 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,520 all of your plans, all of your intentions, all of your efforts. 356 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:20,600 We're only paving the road to your hell. 357 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:35,960 But for God, a light like that is so faint and so ethereal that 358 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:40,680 it's easily missed. A light like that is easily 359 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,120 drowned out and out, shown by the dazzling lights of self 360 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:48,280 help, church work, praise, glory and admiration of the church in 361 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,760 the community. So many dazzling lights in this 362 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:57,000 world that the real hope and light of God and Jesus often 363 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,360 cannot be seen except in the darkness. 364 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,200 So if you are in such a darkness, or are approaching 365 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:16,400 such a darkness, or are aware that one might even exist, I 366 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:19,360 will give you the same comfort that God gave to Abram. 367 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:24,760 The wisdom, the truth and advice that God gave to Abram as the 368 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,160 darkness was closing in around him. 369 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,040 The wisdom, truth, and advice that are absolutely true, 370 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:36,880 absolutely right, absolutely necessary, and almost absolutely 371 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,000 futile. Don't be afraid. 372 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:48,600 Don't be afraid of the dark words that are so much easier to 373 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:53,240 utter and believe in the noonday than they are in the night. 374 00:26:55,520 --> 00:27:00,160 But our God is Lord over the darkness as well as the light. 375 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,480 Our God is Lord over the chaos as well as the order. 376 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,200 God is the Lord over confusion as well as clarity. 377 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,640 God is the Lord over fear and anxiety as well as peace. 378 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,960 And though we are unfaithful, especially in the darkness, God 379 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,880 is faithful. And though we, like Peter and 380 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:26,840 Judas, are unable to keep our promises, God always keeps his 381 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,280 promises. So let us not despair like 382 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,720 Judas. Let us repent like Peter, 383 00:27:38,360 --> 00:27:42,600 turning and returning to the light, acknowledging our 384 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,880 weakness and our failures, acknowledging the harm that we 385 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,760 have done ourselves and to others, whether individually or 386 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:55,680 collectively. And let us dispense with our 387 00:27:55,680 --> 00:28:01,080 pride and acknowledge that the best that we can ever really 388 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:09,720 hope to do is love Jesus. Let us humble ourselves and hear 389 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:16,600 from him what he told to Peter. If you love me, then feed, tend, 390 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,320 and care for my lambs that are all around you in this world. 391 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:29,200 If we take up that task as our mission of faith and love, we 392 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:34,360 can know this, that the work that we have been given to do in 393 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:38,560 faith has not been given to us because we've earned the job. 394 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,320 Not because our resume is spotless. 395 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,560 Not because we performed so well in the last job. 396 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,880 It's work we have been given to. We have been given to do because 397 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,760 God and His wisdom and mercy knows that we need the work, 398 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,240 that if we are not working in His Kingdom by His grace, we 399 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,800 will find ourselves rotting in hell by our own efforts, 400 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:11,000 decisions and righteousness. Sometimes we'll be working in 401 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,480 the light, at other times we'll be working in the dark. 402 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,680 But when the darkness falls, May God help us to remember the 403 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,800 light in Jesus name, Amen. Amen.