Trust God

Text: Isaiah 45:1-7

Focus: Faith

Function: To help people trust God no matter what.

Form: GOK

Intro:

I used to love the political season. But not any more. It is just way to acrimonios for me.

I observe the freak out nature of American public discourse. It is fear rhetoric designed to get us motivated, and almost always, the base desire behind it is motivated to buy products.

That is not the Kingdom of God.

We are called to pray for those in authority.

Different pundits tell us that certain things must happen in order for God to bless the land.

They all say that certain sins have to be stopped and that we are on a slippery slope to perdition if we stay on our current course.

And of course, the question is "which course?"

Is it the secularization of our society?

Is it warfare and violence by governments, including our own?

Is it the profane way Hollywood portrays sexuality?

Is it the pluralization of our culture toward other religions?

Is the problem as simple as a breakdown in the American family, a nanny state mentality and again, Hollywood?

We hear preachers and pundits cry out: "All this son proves that we are becoming a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah" but what sins make this happen?

Is the problem much more complex than the sins of others?

We cannot forget the Prophet Ezekiel and read the words from Ezekiel 16: ⁴⁹“This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. "

As Romans 1 says: God gave them over. But in their case, it was not for idolatry, but for the pride of rampant materialism, the worshiped personal gain and neglected the plight of the poor and the needy.

They turned to violence.

There are three root sins in the OT. 1). Refusal to trust God. 2). Idolatry. 3). Lack of concern for the poor.

Rarely do we hear preachers decry the idolatry of materialism and consumerism that drives our culture.

And yet, the prophet Ezekiel tells us that if we want to lay the blame of sin against anything, then it must be the materialism that keeps us focused on ourselves instead of living a life for the good of others.

It is almost as if the fleshing out of "the American dream" has become a source of curse for us.

And across the airways we are reminded to be afraid of something. Most often it has to do with God's judgment.

The message heard is that the sin, generally the reference is to the sins of others, will destroy us all.

I am here this morning to remind us to Trust God.

But as brother Jim questioned in last week's study hour, what sin? Which sins?

We know that we are under this command from Christ Himself: Do not judge lest you be judged yourselves. For with the standard you are judged, God will judge you.

He illustrates the command to not judge with the parable of the log in our eye that tells us not to worry, really ever, about the sins of others, but to keep our own conscience clean before God.

So what sins is it?

Is it consumerism, or moral decay?

And, without getting into politics, we need to say that both sides are right, and both sides can be wrong.

The moment we start blaming others, the actions of others, we have missed the point of grace.

What does that have to do with today's bible lesson?

Well, enter the prophets.

Enter faith.

Enter the covenant God makes with us.

Enter the promises and power of God.

Look at the promise. Verse 2: I will smash the door of bronze and break open the iron bars.

I love that verse.

Because it isn't up to us.

We live by faith, not by sight.

God is in control.

And this is an amazing prophecy.

It is so amazing that many think parts of this prophecy were written after the fact.

The writing of the book occurred 70 years before Cyrus was ever king. The book was written long before his birth and the rise of the Persian Dynasty. All the people of God were concerned about were the Chaldeans.

So, if this wasn't added after the fact, and I don't believe it was, then it is a miracle.

In Chapter 44, Cyrus is also referred to as God's Shepherd.

God appoints a Shepherd to take care of us.

God takes care of us.

Trust God.

And the story of Cyrus' coming to power is also amazing.

You know the phrase “read the writing on the wall” comes from the story of the writing on the wall in the book of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar was now the king. Now these kings lasted a few years before someone came along and killed them and took over.

That night of the writing on the wall, Cyrus takes over the kingdom.

In Isaiah's time, it was not imagined that a Persian would rule.

And we see the prophecy.

God has anointed Cyrus to rule.

And there is something important for us to learn in the story of the writing on the wall.

When Nebuchadnezzar became proud, Daniel told him that God sets Kings and rulers in place.

When his grandson became proud, the prophet again reminds him, God sets rulers in place.

Both times the phrase is the same: "The most High God is the ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over them whom He wishes."

Trust God.

So let me tell you about the faith of a few good men I met in Haiti.

I served on the board to a mission that worked out of Montrois, Haiti. I was there during the trade embargo. I glanced over at the headline of the Miami Herald when the place was taking off from Miami airport. The headline read: "The state department urges US citizens to refrain from travel to Haiti."

Well, the plane was in the air and there was no turning back.

We made it out a week and a half later on the second to last plane to leave for the United States and I was glad to be on home soil.

Every 15 miles or so, on the national highway, going and coming from the mission compound, standing exposed on the back of a small truck with wooden slates, a "stake body" truck, we faced either an AK47 or a M16 rifle. The leaders of the mission new the proper bribe to pay, but the civil unrest was reaching extreme proportions.

The people wanted the elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, back in power. He raised the minimum wage from 3 dollars a day to 4 and it caused a revolt by the powers that be.

I know it is a 25% jump in pay, but wages make up so little of the expense of the ruling class in Haiti that hardly affected their bottom lines.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. And the income inequality there is astounding. Downtown Port-Au-Prince has a Rolls Royce dealership. And those people were keeping the population at starvation wages.

I fight for justice. And seeing this appalled me.

But I befriended an Haitian pastor there. The guns, AK47's, a Russian Assault rifle, and the M16's, the American counterpart, were being supplied by either side in the World's geo-political conflicts. The people were whipped into frenzy by one side or the other. Generally, the side that bought their influence with either guns or food.

It was a geo-political conflict being played out in this poor island nation and the people were suffering.

I watched little babies starve to death.

Our mission compound was broken into one night and our guard was murdered for the US aid rice and beans in our warehouse.

And this pastor, obviously he did not have the luxury of having "no comment" as to which side he should choose gave me a profound answer.

It was based on this scripture.

God, he said, breaks down the iron bars and the brass gates.

We do not look to anyone but God for His help.

God can work with any leader.

Our hope is in God.

Wow.

I wrestle so much with my own understanding of politics.

If I were to listen to the pundits, from either side, I would lose my peace. I would lose my confidence in God.