Sermon from 8-2-20 "A Purpose in Stopping"

8-2-20  Ezra 4:1-5,23  1 Peter 1:6,7  “Finding a Purpose in Stopping” 
Preached at Lake Murray Presbyterian Church by Dr. J. Ben Sloan

We have been noting that the exile of Israel has many similarities to our own time of isolation today. Last week we talked about one thing that God is doing I this pandemic is pausing or even stopping us.  Today we will read about the people of God being opposed,  being afraid, and the work on the Temple beginning to stop.  It wasn’t long after this that it did indeed stop because of the opposition against it by the enemies of God’s people.  So what do you do when your dreams stop?  What do you do when you reach a dead end?  What do you do when you want to move forward but feel that you cannot.   I think many people are in that situation now.  [READ SCRIPTURE]

When your computer freezes you can restart it, or you can shut it down and turn it back on (a “hard” restart).  On Apple devices you can restart or reset.  I believe we are in the midst of a reset or a “hard restart.”  This is not a blip. 
 In many ways we have stopped.  5 days a week school is stopped; making plans into future stopped; assuming health- stopped;  Carolina-Clemson football stopped.  Some of our hopes and dreams are stopped.  The people came back to do a good thing- build the Tempe and the city all that work was stopped because of opposition.  God has plans for us- and sometimes it may seem cruel to stop.  But let me challenge you that sometimes God wants us to stop.  Stopping in and of itself is not necessarily bad. 
   1) HE STOPS US SO WE MAY APPRECIATE- We say, “Stop and smell the roses.”  “Stop and count your blessings.” We are called to stop and appreciate/worship Him.  Before the pandemic many were telling me they didn’t have time to worship they had to go here, or there or do this or that.   Now God is allowing us the opportunity to worship and appreciate Him.  
God told Abraham to stop and look up at the stars that he would have more descendants than them.
Jesus said to those who were worried about life- to stop and look at the birds of the air and to stop and look at the lilies of the field.  Haggai, writing to these exiles who had stopped wrote several times to them, “Stop and consider your ways.” 
Today we will have communion.  Jesus told his disciples to stop and remember Him in communion. 
2) HE STOPS US SO WE CAN TRUST IN HIM- Part of having faith is not having immediate gratification of everything.  To learn to wait is a matter of trust, hope, and love that is caused by faith.  So when I say to the family- the steaks are cooking on the grill.  They may have to wait but they also know something is in the works.  When the doctor says you have to have heart surgery, or you have cancer, or you have covid-19, it is a hard stop. 
     Waiting for God to do something is an act fo faith.  The old language was “waiting for God to move.”  When you are waiting you can wait with hope or you can wait with doubt.  You can wait with faith or you can wait with worry.  How do you wait on things.  Frankly, waiting is not my strength, but faith helps me to wait.  One of the great books on doubt is the existentialist book “Huis Clos”- which means no exit.  His theory is that we are like stuck in the waiting room for a doctor who will never come.  I do not like waiting rooms- the name is not even appealing.  But every time I have an appointment the doctor comes though I may wait what seems like a long time.  In the end there is not only a being who meets with you, but He cares for you and can heal you if you will let Him.  The Bible says this about waiting- “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength- they shall mount up with wings like eagles.  They shall run and not grow weary- they shall walk and not faint.”  It tells me that when we wait we don’t just get worry and frustration- but we can get renewed strength- to mount over our problems. 
3) HE STOPS US SO OUR FAITH MAY GROW- When we are stopped it is often called a “test” in the Bible. So Jesus stopped for 40 days in the wilderness to face His temptation (tests) and pray.  The people of Israel wandered for 40 years in the desert.  They were stopped from entering the Promised Land because they were afraid (10 of the spies said there were giants, standing armies, and walled cities in the way).  But in that 40 year period of waiting they ate manna from heaven each single day to learn to trust God.  This week there was some work being done on Wessinger Road.  The first time I encountered it I was in a hurray, and there was a lot of starting and stopping. But in the end the work will get done and the road will be improved.  Abraham had to wait until he was 100 to have a child.  Paul, after his conversion studied for three years so he would know what to say.  Each stop was an opportunity to grow, to trust, to know that God would see us through.    There have been many times when the good has been opposed.  We should expect it.  I Peter 1:6,7- says, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  IN other words- when you are opposed, it is an opportunity to grow.  C.S. Lewis said, “Disappointment is His appointment.”   
Now if you don’t have faith- you may think there is no one stopping anything.  You may think it is all an accident- a chaotic and tragic one, but nevertheless an accident.  I challenge you to see a purpose even in sad even tragic things that happen in life.  I read from one of our members this reminder- “Those who inspire others see an invisible bridge at a dead end street.”
The cross is not a dead end.  This life is not.  This pandemic is not.  In Christ, with the eyes of faith- you can get a glimpse of that invisible bridge at the end of the dead end street.”     The word “Sabbath” means to stop.  We actually need to put some stops- some rests in our schedule.  Music that doesn’t have rests becomes restless and even boring.  Taking a breath adds beauty and appreciation to life.  This can even happen when those who are opposing you, or when there is a pandemic or something that is stopping you from doing what you want to do. 
Communion is a way to stop and remember.  To remember and appreciate his body and his blood given for us.