“I Can’t, He Can, I Will” (Psalm 127:1-5)

“How Much Land Does a Man Need?” 

“How much land does a man need?” is a short story by Leo Tolstoy about a peasant named Pahom. At the start, he is a content and hardworking man. Unfortunately, he makes the mistake of thinking that more land would make his life better. He purchases more land. One day, he hears a better deal. The owners of the land promise to give Pahom all the land he can walk around in a day for a very cheap price. But there is one condition: he must reach his starting point by sunset that day. Pahom believes he can cover a great distance. He stays out as late as possible, marking out land until just before the sun sets. Toward the end, he realizes that he is still too far from the starting point and runs back as fast as he can. He finally arrives at the starting point just as the sun sets. People cheer his good fortune, but exhausted from the run, Pahom drops dead. His servant buries him in a grave only six feet long. Ironically it answers the question, “How much land does a man need?”

Tolstoy invites us to pause and think about big questions of life: “What’s the most important in life?” “What do I live (work) for?” “Where am I going?” Psalm 127 is called a wisdom psalm. In this psalm the psalmist teaches us to number our days aright, that we may be more God-centered in our everyday lives.

Life without God: “I Can”
Psalm 127 consists of two segments. The theme of the first is a warning about “life without God” (vv. 1-2). Another word for life without God is a “I-am-in-charge” life. In 2009, Morgan Freeman played the leading role as South African President Nelson Mandela in the movie “Invictus,” meaning unconquerable or undefeated in Latin. The movie begins and ends with Freeman reciting the 19th century poem, “Invictus.” Its ending goes like this: “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.” Many people in our culture live by this belief. But the psalmist teaches us that this is not true for the people of God.

In Psalm 127:1-2 the psalmist repeats Hebrew word shaw’, meaning “in vain” three times. Shaw’ means nothing or nothingness. In this case the house gets built but achieves nothing, has no intrinsic worth. We work hard, but accomplish nothing. We are busy with many things, but arrive nowhere. All our human effort such as building a house, guarding a city, and daily work eventually becomes anxious toil unless God is at the center. Probably Many of us remember the story of the Tower of Babel. People migrated from the east were gathered and began to work together for a great cause – building a great city for everyone. They said to each other, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4). It was a great work project, possibly beneficial for many. But the problem is their work, their effort, their plan is at the center, and God is at the periphery. So the result? With much effort, yet nothing accomplished. At first, the tower seemed to get taller, higher, built, but eventually achieved nothing. Everyone was confused, scattered. Anxious toil.

The Hebrew word for sin is hata, which means to “miss the target.” The nature of sin is to take good things and twist them, so that they miss the target, the target of God. The story of Martha is a good example. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. It was a great thing. But she was pulled away by all she had to do in the kitchen. With her own plans, thinking that she had to feed Jesus and his disciples, and entertain them, Martha got anxious, worried, angry. She started with good intentions, but missed the target, the purpose, God. Anxious toil. Like Martha, how many times are we tempted to charge ahead with our own plans, and when things don’t go as planned, we get discouraged and angry?

Life with God: “I Can’t, But He Can”
In the second part (vv. 3-5) the psalmist shows the example of what “life with God” looks like. Another word for life with God is a “I-can’t-but-He-can” life. In verse 3 the psalmist celebrates the divine gift of a child: “Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Children are not born through human effort but through God’s supernatural work. What do we do to get children? Very little. Somehow we participate in this mysterious process, but it is God who makes these children fearfully and wonderfully made who walk and talk and grow. We can’t even add a single moment to their life. But God can! God is in charge. God is at work. So we join him in his work. “I can’t, but He can, so I will.” That is the key message of Psalm 127.

Luke tells us a story about how Jesus comes to Peter’s life. Jesus said to Peter, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Now let’s listen to Peter’s own words: “Master, we worked hard all night but caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets” (Lk 5:5). Since then, his life was never the same. I can’t, but He can, so I will. When Jesus comes at the center, our work is redeemed – from anxious toil to life-giving, purpose-driven, God-glorifying work. For me personally, as a pastor, I think about the sermon all the time. There were times when my sermon preparation was really anxious toil. At that time, I was preaching at early morning services at two places – my seminary and my church – once a week. But I was not enjoying it. I studied hard, and meditated on the passage day and night. So I got my sermon done, but achieved nothing – no power, no life, no transformation. I got stressed, discouraged. I was considering quitting my preaching ministry. Then one afternoon, while taking a walk on campus, Joyce and I met another seminarian Korean couple. The wife said to me, “Last night God appeared to my dream. He wanted me to tell you this: “Though you are weak and little, you are my chosen vessel, my strong warrior.”” Even after that, nothing changed. God didn’t give me any new spiritual gift. But one thing changed. My perspective. God changed my attitude from “I can’t” to “Of course, I can’t, but He can, so I will.”

Rhythms of Grace
We all have the tendency to take charge with our own plans, and get discouraged and burnt out. Then, what is the remedy for this “I-am-in-charge” life? The psalmist gives us an answer in verse 2: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to his beloved.” God’s remedy is rest. Sabbath. Sabbath means quit. Stop. Take a break. In the Book of Genesis we find the origin of sabbath. In particular, in Genesis 1 we find the following phrase several times, “there was evening, and there was morning, one day.” The genesis way of understanding “day” is different from ours. For God, evening is the beginning of the day. We go to sleep, and God begins his work. While we are sleeping, God makes everything ready for us. When morning comes, we wake, respond, participate in the work God initiated. We rest, then we work by grace. It’s the rhythm of grace. We receive the day as God’s gift.

This daily rhythm of grace and blessing extends to the weekly rhythm. God created the world in six days, and rested on the 7th day. God worked and rested. But as for Adam, when he was made on the 6th day, he rested first, then he worked. It is the rhythm of grace. When we rest and set aside time first to be with God daily and weekly, we can see our life in perspective, and we can see our work in the larger context of God’s work. In his book Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald tells us the story of William Wilberforce as an example. William Wilberforce was a Christian and English politician in the 19th century. It took him almost twenty years to pass the anti-slavery measure. There was a time when Wilberforce almost broke down because of his ambition to gain the appointment as a cabinet post. In his journal he admitted that he had risings of ambition, and it was crippling his soul. But Sunday brought the cure. Wilberforce wrote in this way: “Blessed be to God for the day of rest and religious occupation wherein earthly things assume their true size. Ambition is stunted.” Because he rested on sabbath day, he was able to keep all of life in proper perspective and to remain free of burnout and breakdown. More than we keep sabbath, sabbath keeps us.

On our pilgrim journey we face demands, pressures, worries, and dangers that could easily wear us down. One of the greatest dangers is the “I can do it myself” syndrome, “I am in charge” mindset. But Psalm 127 teaches us to see life in perspective, that we may be more God-centered and live wisely and well. May the Lord give us a heart of wisdom, saying “Of course I can’t, but He can, so I will.” Amen.

“Know God, Know Joy” (Psalm 126:1-6)

Where Does Joy Come From?
What excites you about the week? For me personally, this past week was harder to stay cheerful and joyful compared to other weeks. The parsonage furnace wasn’t working – no hot water, no heat. I had to call for service, a technician came to fix it, and the furnace stopped working again. It happened three times within a week. I found myself fretful and grumpy. But then, I thought about our brothers and sisters affected by natural disasters in the West Coast and the South. It was hard to imagine how they would get through this. The Bible says, “Rejoice always” (1 Th 5:16). But is it really possible? As I was questioning, Henri Nouwen’s book Here and Now really helped me to restore my joy. In his book Henri Nouwen talks about “Christian joy” in this way:[1]

Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be    there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. We are inclined to think that when we are sad we cannot be glad, but in the life of a God-centered person, sorrow and joy can exist together.

David, who has gone through a lot in his life, basically said the same thing in Psalm 16:

“In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (v. 11).

So this morning I would like to invite you to ponder over this following statement: “Joy comes from the knowledge of God.” In other words, the more we know God, the more joyful we become.

God as Savior (vv. 1-3)
In Psalm 126 the psalmist sings a song of joy based on his knowledge of God. We may give a title to this song: “Where Does Joy Come from?” The psalmist answers this question in three ways. His first answer is this: Joy comes when we know God as a wonderful Savior. The psalmist sings:

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy” (vv. 1-2).

Many biblical scholars agree that the background of the psalm is the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. The exile lasted 70 years. Many Israelites suffered and died there in Babylon. But after 70 years, when the time had come, the Lord fulfilled his word spoken by Jerimiah and stirred up the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia so that he made a public declaration granting the Israelites the right to return to Judah and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (cf. Ezra 1:1). The Israelites experienced God as Savior at first hand. They rejoiced. They sang and sang and sang all the way to Jerusalem.

Joy comes when we taste and see God is Savior. For me personally I always remember a time when God restored my life. I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death in my military sickbed, suffering from dengue fever and crying out to God. God heard my cry and restored my health. But that night God also healed my wounded soul. My sin, my guilt, my doubt were all washed away; assurance, peace, joy flooded my soul. Early next morning I literally went out leaping like a calf from the stall with shouts of joy.

When I think about the Lord

How He saved, how He raised me

How He filled me with the Holy Ghost

How He healed me to the uttermost

When I think about the Lord

How he picked me up

Turned me around

How He set my feet

On solid ground

It makes me want to shout

Hallelujah! thank you, Jesus!

Lord, you're worthy

Of all the glory, and all the honor

And all the praise!

In verse 3 the psalmist sings, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!” (NIV) “We are glad” (ESV, NASB, NKJV). Joy comes when we know God as our personal Savior. And every time we remember how he saved us and did great things to us in our life, joy returns.

God as Father (v. 4)
Secondly, joy comes when we know God as a loving Father. Oftentimes we think if we come to faith in Christ, everything will go just fine. We think if we do the right thing, God will take care of the rest. But the reality is harsh. When the exiles finally arrived at their homes in Jerusalem, singing and rejoicing, they had to face the harsh reality. The Jerusalem wall remained broken down and its gates and homes were destroyed by fire. Basically, they had to start from scratch.

Perhaps many of us in this room may have powerful conversion experiences. We did experience God as our Savior. But not only that, we ought to know God as our loving Father, who listens and speaks to us, and who stays in love with us day by day. The psalmist prays to God the Father, “Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses in the Negeb” (v. 4).

It is well known that John Wesley had a powerful conversion experience at Aldersgate, saying, “I felt my heart strangely warmed.” Surely he knew God as Savior. But the day after Aldersgate on May 25, 1738 Wesley writes, “It was not long before the enemy suggested, “This cannot be faith, for where is the joy?” I was then taught that as to the transports of joy, God sometimes giveth and sometimes withholdth them.” He felt tempted by “the enemy” and lacked joy. The next day, May 26, he writes, “My soul continued in peace, and yet in heaviness because of manifold temptations” and May 27, more of the same – “Believing one reason of my want of joy was want of time for prayer, I resolved to do no business till I went to church in the morning, pouring out my heart before God.” On May 29, he writes, “I am often tempted to doubt whether I had faith at all.” But thankfully, John Wesley didn’t get down in the dumps. He didn’t stay at Aldersgate. He went out into the streets where real people face real doubts and real temptations. With them Wesley poured out his heart before God, and he experienced God as Father who heard and answered his cry.

The psalmist is disappointed with a harsh reality, but still he cries out to God in hope, “Restore our lives, O Lord, like streams of the Negeb.” Negeb was a dry wadi in the south of Hebron. But during the winter months when the rains came, all of sudden this very dry place became streams of water. It was like a spontaneous transformation. So, the streams of the Negeb represents God’s transforming power and blessing. God promised his people, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isa 43:19 ESV). Jesus said, “Ask… Seek… Knock… If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:11 NRSV). Do you feel dry and a lack of joy? Ask God your Father, and you will receive it.

God as Judge (vv. 5-6)
Lastly, joy comes when we know God as a righteous Judge. As we look around our broken world today, there’re so many things that discourage us and overwhelm us. We often think if the pandemic would go away, everything will be fine. We say if the November election is over, we will be rest. But the psalmist gives us the best and surest reason why we can rejoice here and now no matter what. It is because the Day of Harvest will surely come when God the Judge will make all things right.

“May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy.

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (vv. 5-6).

Today we may be in great sorrow, but still we can rejoice because we know our Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon. On that day, he will wipe every tear form our eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more (Rev 21:4).

In the early church when believers gathered or parted, they didn’t say “hello” or “goodbye.” But instead, they said to each other “Maranatha!” meaning “Our Lord comes.” Our spiritual ancestors had a sense of urgency and deep awareness of Jesus’ imminent return. And because of the maranatha mindset, they were able to rejoice always. While on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, “It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!” They replied, “We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, ‘The boss may come today.’”[2] May we too be all packed and ready to go!

Our joy doesn’t come from economic prosperity, or physical health, or political stability. They are all important, but they are all temporary, all passing by. Our joy comes when we personally taste and see God’s saving power. Our joy comes when we have a father-daughter relationship, a father-son relationship with God, and when we stay in love with him. Our joy does come when we know the Lord is surely coming soon. Sisters and brothers in Christ, let us choose joy and keep choosing it every day, because the Lord is near (cf. Phil 4:4-5). Amen.


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[1] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (p. 28). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
[2] “Maranatha,” NET Bible, http://classic.net.bible.org/illustration.php?id=6669

“Roped Together” (Psalm 125:1-5)

Christ Knows
A few years ago, in an interview Dallas Willard was asked about the challenges facing the church. Dr. Willard spent much of his life addressing the problem of why the church isn't raising up more disciples who look and act like Jesus. At the end of the two-hour interview, Willard was asked this pointed question: “When you look at how off track the church is, do you ever just throw up your hands in despair?” Willard smiled and said, “Never.” “But how can you not?” the interviewer asked. “Because,” he said, “I know Christ is the head of his church and he knows what he's doing.”[1] Christ knows what he is doing.

Probably you’ve heard the word “backsliding” or “backslider.” Backsliding in the Bible can be defined as a step backward in our spiritual growth; backslider as a person who turns from God to pursue their own desire. My friend Peter (assumed name) was a backslider. I always thought he was not a Christian. He seemed indifferent to religion. Anyhow he loved reading books. He and I became good friends. But then, he was diagnosed with a highly aggressive cancer. He asked me to officiate at his funeral. A few days before his death, he shared his life story with me. As I was listening, to my surprise, I realized he had been a warm, ardent Christian. He said that there were times even when he had attended three prayer meetings and helped a soup kitchen every week. But at some point he lost his enthusiasm. His participation at worship and service became infrequent. After all, he stopped practicing religion altogether.

We hear similar stories of Peter around us. Backsliding is everywhere. And we wonder, “Where is God in all this? Are we really secure?” In Psalm 125 we find an answer. We find a background of unshakable confidence and security as God’s people.

The Great Cloud of Witnesses
The first source of encouragement and security in our pilgrim journey is the Church, the community of Christ. In verse 1 the psalmist says, “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” In Jerusalem Mount Zion is not the highest peak. To its east lies the Mount of Olives, to its north Mount Scopus, and to the west and south other hills. All of them are higher than Mount Zion.[2] In other others, Mount Zion is safe and secure, not because its’ high and big, but because it is surrounded by mountains. The psalmist describes the person of faith as unshakable Mount Zion. But in reality, we don’t feel like it. We are moved. We are full of faith one day and empty with doubt the next. We wake up one morning full of hope and joy; the next day we are gray and moody. We’re like a thermometer, going up and down with the weather. But still, we (God’s people) are Mount Zion, secure and protected, because we’re in and surrounded by God’s community.

Psalm 125 is parallel to Hebrews 12, which begins in this way: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” Who are these witnesses? In the immediate context they refer to the great heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 – Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, David, and so forth. Imagine all these veterans, who ran and finished the race, are surrounding us, standing, cheering us on as we run our race! How encouraging!

But not only that, in the larger context these witnesses refer to the Church Universal, Christians from all times and places. For me personally, the were times when I had backslidden. I knew I was in the dark. But I didn’t have power to break through. I was powerless and hopeless. But even that time I knew my parents were praying for me. I knew my grandparents were praying for me. I knew my home church was praying for me. That sustained me, protected me, delivered me. I stumbled, but I didn’t fall away completely. In that sense I was secure because I was surrounded by God’s people, the church.

Our spiritual pilgrim journey is often compared to mountain climbing. When mountain climbers are on the face of a cliff or the slopes of a glacier, they rope themselves together. Sometimes one of them falls, backslides. But not everyone falls at once, and so those who are still on their feet are able to keep the backslider from falling away completely.[3] Making a friendly dooryard visit or a phone call, sharing food, sending a card of encouragement… God’s people keep us from falling away. They cheer us on. We are roped together.

The Pioneer and the Perfector of Faith
The second source of encouragement and security is God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 2 the Psalmist says, “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people from this time on and forevermore.” The person of faith is surrounded by God’s people. But even more importantly, they are surrounded by the Lord God Almighty. Our security comes from who God is (God and his character), not from how we feel.

Like I shared earlier, our pilgrim journey is likened to mountain climbing. And always, in any group of climbers there is a lead climber, who blazes the way, clips his or her rope at certain points, and once the leader reaches the top they anchor themselves to the top of the crag, so that their people can follow them up the route. In Hebrews 12 the lead climber is identified for us as Jesus, the pioneer and the perfector of our faith. Eugene Peterson’s Message version paraphrases Hebrews 12:2 in this way:

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

Jesus is our lead climber. He already reached the top, anchored himself to the top of the crag, so we can follow him up the route. The Bible says, “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested” (Heb 2:18, NLT). Jesus began and finished the race we’re in. He ran the race well. He is our coach. Jesus is able to help us, encourage us, guide us. We may slip and stumble, but we will never fall away completely. We are roped together with Jesus.

Roped Together
In 1992 the Summer Olympic Games were held in Barcelona, Spain. One of the runners in the 400-meter race was an English athlete named Derek Redmond. He had trained for years to compete in the Olympics. But while sprinting in a qualifying heat, he suddenly pulled a hamstring and crumpled to the track in pain. Determined to go on, Derek struggled to his feet. He was hobbling toward the finish line when his father scaled the retaining wall and jumped onto the track. Before anyone could stop him, Jim Redmond reached his son. The young runner leaned on his father's shoulder as he staggered to complete the race. The entire crowd stood and cheered the two men on. When they crossed the finish line, it was as if the runner, his father, and the spectators had done it together.

Our pilgrim journey, ascending to God, may be difficult, but we are not to be anxious or afraid. We don’t run the course alone. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We are surrounded by God’s people. And furthermore, Christ himself helps us toward the finish line, upward to the top of the mountain. So let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus always. We may fall and backslide along the way, but let us always remember we Christians are roped together with one another and with Jesus. The rope will hold us. Amen.


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[1] Skye Jethani, Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. (Moody Publishers, 2017), 49.
[2] Willem A VanGemeren, Psalms (The Expositor's Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 27424-27425). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
[3] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (IVP, 2019), 85.

“With God” (Psalm 124:1-8)

Silence 

“Silence” is a historical novel written by Japanese author Shusaku Endo. It is the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to 17th century Japan, who endures persecution. The young Portuguese Jesuit priest Sebastião Rodrigues and his companion Francisco Garrpe arrive in Japan in 1639. There they find local underground Christians. At that time, security officials force suspected Christians to trample on a fumi-e, a carved image of Christ. Those who refuse are imprisoned and killed by ana-tsurushi, which is by being hung upside down over a pit and slowly bled. Rodrigues and Garrpe are eventually captured. The officials torture other Japanese Christians as Rodrigues looks on, telling him that all he must do is renounce his faith in order to end the suffering of his flock. Rodriges struggles. He struggles over whether it is self-centered and unmerciful to refuse to renounce. He struggles over the silence of God.

With Us 

In Psalm 124 the psalmist proclaims with so much conviction, “The Lord is for us. God’s name is our help!” (cf. vv. 1, 8). But some of us in this room may wonder and question as we listen to the song of Psalm 124: “How do you know that God is for me? How do you know that God is with me and that He is my help?” Through the week we hear news of family tragedy, career disappointment, health crisis around us and among us, along with depressing news of world events. In the midst of all these chaotic and traumatic situations God seems silent. Then, how can we still say, “God is for me. And God is my help”?

Psalm 124 is attributed to David. When we think about the life of David, he has been through a lot. At an early age he had to face Goliath, the invincible giant. Since then, he has faced so many different goliaths in his life – King Saul’s persecution, persistent dangers of wars with neighboring countries, rape and murder among his children, Absalom’s revolt. David does not have many peaceful days in his life. But as he looks back his own life, David digs deeply into these troubles – “goliath” (“facing the giant”) moments – and finds that God was there with him every single time to help him, sustain him, strengthen him. So David praises God:

“If the Lord had not been on our side…
then they [our enemies] would have swallowed us alive.” (vv. 1, 3 NIV)

David has gone through the worst and finds himself intact. He was not abandoned but helped. Although Psalm 124 is written based on David’s personal experience, this psalm is also considered a communal thanksgiving song. David encourages his people to join him in singing, “If the Lord had not been on our side – let Israel say” (v. 1). In other words, God’s help is not only David’s personal experience, but also it’s a corporate reality, communal experience as God’s people. In the Old Testament Israel experienced God’s help. In the New Testament the early church experienced God’s help. Today we Christians experience God’s presence and God’s help in danger of being swallowed up alive, in danger of being swept away by a flood. Immanuel. God-with-us.

In Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, as Rodrigues watches his flock tortured and looks upon a fumi-e, Christ breaks his silence: "You may trample. You may trample. I more than anyone know of the pain in your foot. You may trample. It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share men's pain that I carried my cross." Rodrigues puts his foot on the fumi-e. In church history, and in our life, we find God who has chosen not to eliminate suffering, but to suffer with humanity, with us.

For Us 

But, not only does God be with us, but also He goes before us and makes our paths straight for us. Suffering, catastrophe, disaster, disease, infirmity, death – they are the results of sin. When we are stuck with all this, when we are stuck in our old sin-dead life, God came to us to be with us and to set us free and bring us alive through Jesus Christ. In Colossians 2:14-15 the apostle Paul declares this truth as follows: “He [God] canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross” (NLT). 

The Psalmist declares the same truth in this way: “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped” (v. 7). In Pilgrim’s Progress John Bunyan describes the power of the cross like this:[1]

The burdened Christian ran up this way, with great difficulty because of the load on his back. He ran like this until he came to a place where the road climbed up a small hill. At the top of the hill stood a cross and a little below at the bottom was a stone tomb. In my dream, just as Christian came up to the cross his burden loosened from his shoulders and fell off his back. It tumbled and continued to do so down the hill until it came to the mouth of the tomb where it fell inside and was seen no more. Christian was so glad and overjoyed and in his excitement he said, “He has given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death.” He stood still for a while and looked with astonishment at the cross. It surprised him that the sight of the cross released him of his burden. He looked and looked again as tears ran down his cheeks.

The burden fell off, and he is free at last. The snare is broken; and we have escaped. But God’s help doesn’t mean that God keeps us out of all difficulty. It does mean that we are never abandoned but helped and saved again and again in the midst of all difficulty. After Christian walks down the hill of the cross, he still faces many goliaths on his pilgrim journey. For instance, when he arrives at Palace Beautiful at night, he sees two lions lying in front of gate. Christian stops as if he would go back. But the gateman, whose name is Watchful, says, “Why are you so cowardly? Don’t be afraid of the lions, for they are chained and placed there to test your faith!” Yes! The snare is broken; the enemy is chained! God is with us, and He goes before us!

“Because He Lives” 

As I close, I want to share the story behind the Gaithers’ “Because He Lives.” Bill and Gloria Gaither are two of the most popular Southern Gospel music writers in the world. It was the 1960s when Gloria wrote this song. The 1960s were a chaotic era in many ways – assassinations, drug traffic, and war monopolized the headlines. Across the nation, the educational system was being infiltrated with the “God is dead” idea, while racial tension was increasing. At the same time, Bill had been stricken with a severe case of mononucleosis, while Gloria encountered some painful false accusations in the church. As you can imagine, this was a very hard time for both Bill and Gloria. And God seemed silent. Around that time, Bill and Gloria discovered that they had a third baby on the way. It was wonderful news, but it also concerned them. They wondered, “Was it really a wise thing to bring a baby into such a world?”

One sunny day in the early spring, as Bill and Gloria walked across the paved parking lot, they found a tiny blade of grass that had pushed aside layers of dirt, rock, and concrete. For them, it was a sign of hope how God works in his creation. And it inspired Gloria to write a song expressing the hope shaped by the resurrection of Jesus:

“God sent His Son, they called Him Jesus; He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon; An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. … How sweet to hold a newborn baby; and feel the pride and joy he gives; but greater still, the calm assurance: This child can face uncertain days because He lives. … Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives!”

We don’t know one thing about the future. We don’t know what the next hour, next minute will hold. There may be sickness, accident, personal or world disaster, or death. We don’t know what the future holds for us. But there’s one thing we know for sure – “He lives.” And we know He holds the future. So we will not fear. We may suffer. We may go through the worst as if we are swallowed up alive and swept away by a flood. But we are not abandoned; God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth! (v. 8 MSG) May the Lord give us the calm assurance and unshakable hope that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. Amen.

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[1]John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress (Illustrated): Updated, Modern English. More than 100 Illustrations. (Bunyan Updated Classics) (p. 38). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.