Can There Be Songs and Satisfaction in the Midst of Stress and Sadness

 

Luke 2:13 Sermon: “Can There be Songs and Satisfaction in So Much Stress and Sadness” LMPC Bern Sloan 12/13/20

There is always a song to be sung.  Just as we said before Thanksgiving there is a reason for JPT_ joy, prayer and thanksgiving.  So there is always a song to be sung. 
The shepherds couldn’t hear it at first.  The Bible says the angels are always singing in heaven.  They are always singing.
This is why in renaissance literature it pictures cherubs with wings for their speed and harps for their music. 
But there is always a song.  The question is can you hear it.
I was talking to the Knit Wits the other day about the Polar Express.  One of the great themes of that is “you can only hear the bell if you believe.”  Can you hear the bell?  Can you hear the singing?
What keeps us from hearing the singing to the glory of God in the highest? 
Unbelief keeps us from listening and coming to Him- of course. 
It is noise.  Sometimes it is good noise or necessary noise or bad noise. 
Just as having a lot of street lights keep you from seeing the stars.  So having so much noise keeps you from hearing the singing of the heavenly host. 
Good noise- for the shepherds may have been just talking;  necessary noise may have been taking care of noisy sheep; bad noise would be if they talked in ways that would not please God.  We can create noise or we can join in noise. 

The great hymn “For the Beauty of the Earth” talks about the whirring planets- For the mystic harmony linking sense and sound and sight there is a music that comes from simply the universe’s existence.  The music of the spheres is a philosophical concept . Some scientists talk about “orbital resonance.”  God creates music even in the movement of creation that joins with the songs of the angels in heaven.  Did you know that billions of dollars has been spent globally to listen to find aliens?  The program is called SETI (search for extra terrestrial intelligence).  In 1924 the United States actually had five minutes of radio silence to try to hear the aliens.  They heard none except they heard the whirring planets.  How about listening to the One who made us?  How about searching for Him?  There is life beyond this earth- but it is made by God- angels, archangels, souls.  God has sent His living Word to earth- He even verbally said, “This is my beloved Son- listen to Him.” 

But how do we sing in the midst of stress and sadness? 
Sadness can seemingly also overwhelm the song. 
Perhaps you remember the Psalmist (137) saying, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” 
You just don’t feel like praising God when you are hurting or grieving or stressed or anxious. 
Yet, the song of Jesus’ birth is a song that is beyond us.  It is not a song we sing at first. 
In fact, it is given to people who are living sad, tough, obscure, isolated lives.  But this song gave them and us hope. 
The angel came to Zechariah to tell him about John’s birth and Zechariah didn’t sing- he went mute.  He didn’t believe.
Joseph and Mary had no place to sleep- basically homeless- sleeping in a barn.  They didn’t sing- the angels did. 
The shepherds had a hard life- out in the elements all the time with their sheep- rain, sun, summer or winter.  Yet they heard the angels song.  It doesn’t say the shepherds’ sang back.  But the song lifted them up from their tough time to give them hope and joy.  
The key to hearing the song- and it bringing you joy is belief. 
Only those who believe can hear the song of the ages.  So Welsey writes- “Hark the Herald Angels sing.” 
Little drummer boy- do you hear what I hear?   Listen for the song of God.  The great hymn, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” has a line that says, “We’ll join in the everlasting song.”  That is the invitation- listen and join in!
     For us- we are in a tough spot.  The stress of our time is tremendous.  Yet that doesn’t mean that hope or the song is gone.  Our hope is not simply in a vaccine.  We will all die of something.  Our hope is beyond the respite of a vaccine in the living God who loves us, came for us- and made the vaccine from all death available to us who will believe in Him.
     Yesterday, joy to ring the bell for the Salvation Army with rotary.  We have done it for years.  What I have found every year is the people who have the worst cars give the most frequently and give the most.  They hear the salvation army bell- they know what it means to help others.  Some just can’t hear the bell.  They walk right by.  They perhaps have too much noise to hear the bell or the song. 

Fear Vs. Missions Sermon at LMPC 3-1-20

3-1-20 “Fear and Missions”  Gen. 12:1,2; Hab. 2:14; Mt. 28:18-20 

The Coronavirus has been blamed for taking away a year’s worth of gains from the stock market because of fear of what might happen (about 4,000 points of the Dow Jones).  It has literally wiped out the retirement income and savings of some.  Some in our church have told me they have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It is like some are saying, “Be afraid- be very afraid.”  The worst case scenarios are playing out. 
    But let us be clear about what this virus is.  It has killed 4,000 people and there are 83,000 reported cases (which means you have a 95% chance of surviving it if you contract it).  In a world of 7.8 billion people that is .0001%.  The flu in 2019-20 so far has 4 to 10 times the amount of deaths (depending on how you confirm the flu) and there have been 280,000 people hospitalized and the CDC estimates that 13 million people have gotten the flu or .1667% of the population.  Yet in Rome churches are being shut down because of the corona virus so people will not gather together.  In China the streets are empty.  In Switzerland gatherings of 1,000 or more have stopped.  How are we supposed to handle this?  Are we supposed to be saying “run for your lives?”  How do you want to react to the Corona Virus?  To point out that we are being a little bit irrational, a survey was done of American beer drinkers and 38% said they would not drink Corona Beer (even though drinking Corona Beer does not prevent or give you the virus). 
     Christians are people who know there is more to life than health and wealth.  For years the mantra that people have been repeating is this: “As long as I have my health I am okay.”  In survey after survey for the last forty years the number one priority for people is their health.  Because of this medical and pharmaceutical costs have skyrocketed.  So in 1970 healthcare in real dollars was $74 billion; In 2000 it was $1.4 Trillion and it has more than doubled that today to $3.6 trillion increasing 31 times vs. the 1970 dollar and six times the inflation rate.   
     In 1999 they said Y2K was the catastrophe that would shut down all computers, the internet and the grid-  that didn’t happen.  In 2001 Anthrax was the catastrophe that never happened that the government spend billions of dollars to prevent; In 2002 it was the mosquito born West Nile Virus;  In 2003 SARS; In 2005 Bird Flu; In 2006 E-Coli; In 2009 Swine Flu; In 2012 the Mayan calendar ended, so that people were saying the world will end- but we are still here; In 2014- Ebola was the incurable virus; Last year the threat was that measles will break out;  Now it is Coronavirus.  It is a little bit of the chicken little “the sky is falling syndrome.” It is always important to be vigilant.  But it is never right to panic.  It is important to not rationalize or feed our panic either.  The Bible says perfect love casts out fear.   It is always too easy about any situation to assume that the worse will happen.  In Christ the worst has already happened.  We proclaimed the most innocent man guilty- the ultimate unfairness.  We crucified God.  But guess what?  Evil didn’t win.  He rose from the dead.  Trust Him, do not give into fear.
     Over the years there have been human stampedes. All of them were aggravated by panic. Half of them had no cause BUT human panic.  In 1913 in Michigan 700 coal miners were passing out gifts on Christmas Eve.  Someone yelled “Fire” even though there was no fire.  70 or 1/10 of them were trampled to death trying to get out.  
     So in the midst of all the fears of losing health, where does faith fit in?  The Bible has quite a lot to say about faith and healing.  One pivotal verse is  Exodus 15:26:  “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”  Or Psalm 103:3 “He forgives all my sin and heals all my diseases.”  Jesus performed 37 miracles recorded in the Gospels- 27 of them had to do with physical healing.  Jesus raised three people from the dead.  Is this not part of the good news?  The Gospel has brought blessing with it- and physical blessing is a part of that.  All this is to show us that God not only makes us- he sustains us.  Wherever the Gospel has gone, healing has occurred.  I know in South Sudan every hospital was started by missionaries. Our South Sudan mission trips always bring medicine and treatment with them with RNs and sometimes doctors.   In Kenya there are whole areas that are mission hospitals.  Think of LMPC’s building a medical clinic in the 1980s in Malawi.  Even in our area- there is Prisma Palmetto Baptist and Prisma Parkridge Baptist. In Charlotte there is Presbyterian Hospital. In Atlanta there is Emory a Methodist started hospital.   There is Providence in Columbia and St. Joseph’s in Asheville both started by nuns.  All this is to say God is not just concerned about your spirit.  Our souls are linked to our minds and bodies- and one affects the other.  Ultimate health involved body, mind and spirit. 
     So this is missions month.  Part of what we do is to spread courage, faith, and hope.  Christmas was about Jesus coming as a missionary to us.  That is part of the Christmas emphasis this year.  Jesus had the courage to touch the leper even though the disease was contagious.  John Calvin stayed in Strasborg when the bubonic plague (the Black Death) hit to minister to those in his congregation who were sick and dying visiting them.  He stayed in Geneva when the plague hit there and continued to preach to the people.  Some say his wife died of the plague.  Calvin believed the plague was a sign of God’s wrath upon a people who did not take God seriously enough.  His call was for people to repent- which is always a good idea.  Nobody wants to get the plague- or the coronavirus or whatever.  But we don’t have to live in fear or despair or be paralyzed.   Missionaries cannot be paralyzed by fear.  You are all missionaries. 
    So in a world of fear, we can hold up hope that life is more than health and wealth.  We believe in the resurrection and the reward of heaven that far exceeds anything here.  The Psalmist says, “Whom have I in heaven but thee?  And being with thee I desire nothing besides thee.  My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). 
      This hope, this love, this courage needs to be spread through the whole earth- so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the water covers the sea.  There has been much talk about the spreading plague of coronavirus.  Some are calling it a “global pandemic” meaning it will spread throughout the world.  I hope it will not spread. But I do hope a more positive thing spreads- the good news of Jesus Christ.  Today if you go to China you will find McDonald’s.  If you go to Kenya you will find McDonald’s.  If you go to Scotland you will find McDonald’s.  McDonalds wants to be the world leader in fast food globally because they believe in their product.  Now I am not a McDonald’s critic, but if the Big Mac is the best thing we can spread throughout the world we are in trouble.  How about spreading love in a world full of division? How about spreading eternal life in a world that thinks this life is all?  How about spreading hope in a world full of stress, anxiety, depression and despair?  How about spreading calling and purpose in a world where people feel meaningless?  Missions is doing God’s work and doing it in a way that pleases Him.  I invite you to join in the kingdom cause of bringing joy to the world.