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The Tsunami and the Other Voices
A sermon preached by Dr. James Flamming
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Scripture: Eph. 6:12-18; Romans 7:14-25
In another city, another church, a man once sat in my
office and reflected that he could not believe he, of all people, had made such
a mess of his life. “I imagine God has given up on me a long time ago,” he said.
He was quiet for a while and then he said, “You know I used to get up and read
my Bible and pray every morning. I even kept a journal. I came across it the
other day. It has been years since I wrote a word in it. I guess other things
have just become much more important.” I waited until the appropriate moment and
said, “You may have walked off from God but God has not walked off from you.”
Then I asked, “Tell me about your prayer life.” He shook his head. “Don’t pray
much any more,” he said. I asked about his physical fitness and he responded
that he was in lousy shape, the worst he had ever been in his life. There is,
you know, a relationship between a disciplined spiritual life and a disciplined
physical life.
What this man was experiencing was a spiritual Tsunami. He
had met the tidal waves that sweep us off the walk of faith and send us tumbling
down into the ditches of doubt, cynicism or apathy. A Tsunami can happen when
someone who we have loved very deeply is taken from us, or someone we love walks
off and leaves us, or someone we love is a victim of a far-off war. A Tsunami
happens when life leaps out of the secure little box we have lived in, and we
have to jump out of the box with it whether we like it or not. A Tsunami happens
when we turn around and hear the C word – cancer – and suddenly what has been a
problem faced by other people is looking us in the mirror.
But hey, put it on a less intense level, the New Year’s
resolution level. Why with the best intentions do we find it so difficult to
stay with our resolutions and good intentions? Why is it so difficult to keep
ourselves spiritually, physically, and emotionally fit? Our intentions are
right. Why does it get away from us so easily? Paul has some answers for us.
A New Appreciation for the Enemy we are up
Against
Paul says we underestimate the Enemy we are up against.
There is a power, a force, loose in the world that is bent on our destruction.
Paul lays it out for us in Ephesians 6:12. (1824) “For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.” Paul then encourages us to put on the full armor of God
so that we can stand against the evil one. The Bible calls this destructive
force by many names: the devil, Satan, the serpent, the evil one, the flesh, the
sinful nature. John Eldridge in his book, Wild at Heart, uses the title,
the Enemy. The Bible has a lot to say about enemies. But Paul understands that
the real enemies of life are spiritual. They live within us.
The Bible tells us that on that day when the serpent met
Adam and Eve in the garden, and Adam and Eve surrendered to the temptation of
being their own gods, ever since the world has been bent out of shape. The
serpent won, you see. That serpent-enemy of God has been active ever since. When
on that day Adam gave away the essence of his soul, we stand ready at the drop
of a hat to do the same.
When Adam and Eve gave away their souls in the Garden of
Eden it was a spiritual Tsunami.
But first, let’s talk about the Tsunami that happened and
150,000 lost their lives. We have never seen nature as under the same evil
influence that we are. But the Enemy is at work in nature as well as in us.
A New Understanding About Nature
Paul has an amazing section in Romans 8. (Romans 8:19-27.
1757).
First, creation, says Paul, needs to be liberated.
Feel the words Paul uses for creation – frustration; will be liberated from
the bondage to decay; groaning as in the pains of childbirth. As beautiful
and wonderful as nature can be, Mother nature also has the Enemy at work within
her, ready to destroy rather than build up.
Second, nature waits eagerly for redemption. The
phrase “waits in expectation” can be translated, “is standing on its tiptoes
waiting for the sons (and daughters) of God to be revealed.”
Have you ever been at a parade, finding yourself standing
on your tiptoes so you could see what you wanted to see. That is Paul’s picture.
Nature is standing on its tiptoes waiting with eager expectation for that time
when the sons and daughters of God will come into their own.
Third, God is at work. Even though God enters into
Enemy occupied territory, God is at work. In the worst circumstances, God is at
work. Listen to Romans 8:28: “For we know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
In the midst of that awful devastation in East Asia, God is
working, enemies are speaking for the first time in decades, and people are
working together to help one another. The whole world is learning it still has
some compassion.
A Risky Interpretation
Now, there are those who interpret all bad things as the
judgment of God on unbelievers. You may recall that early after September 11,
Dr. Falwell proclaimed that the destruction of the twin towers was the judgment
of God. He later apologized and said he had the wrong theology. It is a slippery
slope to suggest that when something bad happens it is God’s judgment. It may be
the Enemy working through evil men or nature.
Besides, if God wanted to destroy evil, who is to say he
might not start with us.
I was shocked some time ago to learn that soon there will
be more Christians south of the Equator than north. Christianity has been
thought of as centering in Europe and North America. Not so any more. It is
being called the Second Christendom. Many of these believers are Evangelical
Christians. Many are persecuted and are heavy into studying Revelation, the last
book of the Bible, which speaks of the last things. In Revelation the evil
nation is called by the code name Babylon. In the first century, Babylon was a
code name for Rome. You know who many evangelical Christians in the southern
hemisphere think is Babylon today? The United States of America! They interpret
the Scarlet Woman to be us.
I do not believe that. But we are on a slippery slope if we
think the judgment of God would automatically be on “them” whomever “them” is.
Hey, maybe we need to memorize John 3:17. Not John 3:16,
but 3:17 (1650). “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.” That is what we are about here in our
church. We seek to join the Lord Christ in Enemy occupied territory that the
world through him might be saved.
We Need a New Prayer for Spiritual Defenses
We are at the time of the year when the media is full of
Super Bowl hype. One of the axioms of Super Bowl winners is that they win with
defense. Maybe Paul knew this strategy also. He said, when you go to meet the
Enemy, the evil one, you win with defense. So he gives to the Ephesians a
spiritual set of armor and appeals to them to put on the whole armor of God.
Let me confess that Paul’s passage about the armor of God
has been difficult for me to get into. I have never had armor on. I don’t even
know what a breast-plate would feel like. I’ve never carried a shield or a sword
except to brandish play-like wooden swords we made as boys. Then in Wild at
Heart, John Eldredge turned it from a passage to be understood to a passage
to be prayed. And I knew immediately what all of this was about. Walk with me
through it as if we were to use it as a prayer.
Paul says, “Stand firm with the Belt of Truth buckled
around your waist. . .” Now turn this into a prayer – like -
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Lord, as I fasten my belt this day, may it be
like a belt of truth. Help me to choose a lifestyle of honesty. Save me from
the culture of lies that I live in every day. Show me the truths I will
desperately need.
Paul continues – “with the breastplate of righteousness in
place. . .”
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Lord, I wear your righteousness today against
all temptation. Help me not to take the easy way out. May I be a warrior for
what is right, and true and just. Fit me with your holiness and purity –
defend me from all assaults against my heart. . .”
The prayer continues – “and with your feet fitted with the
readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. . .”
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“Lord, may I live out this day as an
ambassador of the gospel of peace. Show me where your larger story is
unfolding and keep me from being fooled into thinking that the most
important thing today is the soap operas of this world.”
The Apostle continues: “In addition to all this, take up
the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
evil one . . .”
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Jesus, I lift my shield of faith to declare
once again my belief that you are good and that you have good in store for
me. May I really believe that nothing is coming today that you and I can’t
handle together . . .”
“Take the Helmet of Salvation. . .”
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Thank you, Lord, for my salvation. I receive
it in a new and fresh way and I declare that nothing can separate me now
from the love of Christ and the place I shall always have in your kingdom.”
“And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God . .
.”
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Holy Spirit, show me specifically today the
truths of the Word of God that I will need to counter the assaults and the
snares of the Enemy. Bring them to mind throughout the day. . .”
If you and I are going to win the battle of spiritual
fitness we will need to win with a steady, strong defense, the armor of a prayer
born in the struggles of life.
Some of you are struggling with a surrender of your heart
to God. May the great offer of God to enter your life and your heart be answered
with your yes.
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