← ArchiveSunday, August 12, 2018DateAugust 12, 2018Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonHabakkuk 15:10Genesis 1814:48Numbers 11:1115:41Matthew 2716:42Matthew 918:25Genesis 4925:31Exodus 1427:08John 3:1638:59Genesis 1:139:12TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Music playing. What do you do when your world is falling apart?0:30What do you do when you look around at your life and our world and all you see is injustice?0:52Will you remain silent or will you speak up? This is the book of Habakkuk. So we begin a new sermon series this week for the next four weeks entitled Finding Faith in Trying Times. We can say it like this, trusting Jesus when trust is difficult.1:19So what are you going to do? I remember in 2004, it was the day after Christmas, watching and turned on TV. Some of you were still unwrapping your presents. And you see this massive flood that has destroyed Southeast Asia. Anyone remember that? The tsunami that killed some estimates say 280,000 people.1:44And one columnist, Eric Zorn, writes about this tragedy. And he's a self-proclaimed agnostic. And he writes in his article, he's a political journalist and an op-ed writer. He writes a series of questions and then answers. And I think if we're honest, we have the same emotions.2:11Not the same conclusions, but the same emotions. I want you to listen to what this journalist says. And we're going to launch into the word of God this morning. He writes, did the tsunami reflect the will of God? Or was God powerless to stop it? So he answers his own question here. Here's his answer. He said, if it was God's will, what moral lesson can we possibly accept from an entity2:38for whom individual human life is evidently so expendable? Now, let me say, if you're a Christ follower and someone comes to you with this tragedy on the heart and they say, how could God let this happen? How could 280,000 people be killed instantly? If you say, well, it's just the will of God, they're going to have this question.3:07What type of moral monster is the God that you worship? He continues. He says, why isn't then fear the only sensible attitude towards such a being? And this is his answer. He said, either way, what does it mean to trust God or to have faith in God when in seconds, on a sunny day, a crushing wave from the deep3:32can snatch a loved one literally from your grasp and drown him? He says, I call my outlook indifferent agnosticism. I don't care if God exists, and I don't know. And then he concludes this way. He said, the very inexplicability of sad events like the tsunami, like AIDS, like the cancer death of the father of one of my daughter's second grade classmates,4:02to me are reminders to focus on our obligations to one another and not the infinite, to honor the creator, if any, by honoring creation itself and hoping that's good enough. This was this journalist's answer. He said, I will not stay silent in the midst of tragedy. But is this the only way?4:32This is how most of the world looks at tragedy. And if we're honest, we can't just stay inside the comfort of our church and say, you know what, it'll work out in the end. No, we live in a broken world with broken people, and Habakkuk is a prophet that is not willing to stay silent in the midst of injustice and difficulty. And you know what? I'm not either. How can we say, God, let us rise up? When we don't understand when it's difficult, let us trust with confidence in you.5:00This is how. Look at Habakkuk with me. Habakkuk 1, if you say, well, I don't know what Habakkuk is. It's a, he, it's not an it, is a minor prophet in the Old Testament. So if you can find Nahum, you can find Habakkuk. If you don't need to use your table of contents, go ahead and mark it. We'll be there for the next four weeks. If you were in the summer Bible study and you were a lady, you can cheat.5:30You should already know what we're going to talk about this morning. Habakkuk refused to stay silent in his generation. He looked and said, something has to be done. The morality of Judah had disappeared. Brokenness was everywhere. And so Hosea, Hosea, he cries out also. Habakkuk cries out to God and says, God, are you listening to us? And if we look for other references in scripture, you say, well, who is this Habakkuk guy?6:01What do we know about him? This is what we know about Habakkuk. Look at chapter one, verse one, the pronouncement that the prophet Habakkuk saw. That's all we know about this man. His name is never mentioned in another book of the Bible. And Habakkuk, the book is not referenced in any other scriptures. Because of the high use of a liturgical language throughout these four chapters, we assume the Habakkuk is a prophet to the court.6:26He's a liturgical prophet. And so his job would be to read the word of the Lord and to go in front of the people of God and read aloud the message that God had given him. And so right now we pause and I believe we are seeing and reading what Habakkuk, he stood in the temple of the Lord and he said this, look at verse two.6:48He said, how long, Lord, must I call for help? And you do not listen. Or how long must I cry out to you about violence and you do not save?7:15Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective. Justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous.7:44Therefore, justice comes out perverted. Let's pray, Father. There are times when we look at our lives and we do not understand. Lord, I thank you for the boldness of a man named Habakkuk that refused to stay silent in the midst of a difficult time.8:04Lord, may you raise up your church today. That when we see injustice, when we see hurt and brokenness in our lives, that we would not remain silent. But that we would call out to the only one who is listening, the Lord Almighty. We stir our hearts to lean into grace.8:36Open our minds to receive your truth. And that we would be changed by the living and active word of God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. As you might have already recognized, this is a heavy message today. Simply entitled, Why? Why? God, why look at our world? So we're going to begin this way. Some of you are going to find this sermon extremely difficult for two reasons.9:05Some of you grew up or were taught that you can never doubt or question God. And if you do, it shows a lack of faith in how dare you question the creator. We're going to look at that line of thinking. Is that right? It's not if a pastor says it right. Not if a church says it's okay. What does the word of the Lord say? Some of you are in a very difficult yet opposite side of the spectrum.9:35You're here today and your life is in brokenness. When I was reading Habakkuk, you want to stand up and say, Yes! God is not answering my prayer. And so you're here today thinking, I will not trust in the Lord until I get the answer I'm looking for. What does God do with this? How does our Savior radically change us in the light of these two questions? And so our task first before we look at Habakkuk is to answer those two extremes.10:05Is it okay to question God? Is it okay to doubt? And then what happens when we do? So what is doubt? Let's look at this question of what is doubt. I think I've given you some of these answers here. Is doubt equal to questioning? It's what we need to wrap our minds around. We see very clearly in the word of God. Now I want you to listen to this because we're going to look at James.10:33That doubt is not a virtue. So if you think that God is giving you the spiritual gift of doubting, that is not from the Lord. Doubting is not obedience. James says very clear, When you pray you should not pray in doubting because your mind will be washed to and fro thinking that God would provide that. So doubt is not God's design or desire for your life.10:58I think what we must do is doubt our doubts. If we're honest, we go through seasons of doubt. Why? Because I do not know everything. And the things I knew yesterday, I can't remember today. So even if I did know everything yesterday, I surely don't know it today. And if we're honest, I do not know why God would allow 280,000 people to in an instant be washed away.11:22And I will never fully understand the weight of the creator and his sovereign will. So is it okay to question? I think we need to doubt our doubt. When you doubt, you need to say, Lord, I'm doubting. So now you changed. You let me doubt my doubt.11:51Does that make sense? Because doubt is not from the Lord. So if you are doubting, you shouldn't feel guilt or shame. You should say, Lord, lead me to doubt my doubt and trust you more. Because if you look at your life, there will be things in your life that you doubt. Because they don't make sense. Because we live in a broken world that is not what God designed because of our sin. And we live among people who sin.12:18We are one of them. And our sin counteracts God's beauty in our world. So we live in a world that's not beautiful. That's not ideal. So doubt your doubt. So secondly, we need to ask this. And I have this quote by Trevin Wax. He says, the presence of doubt for the Christian should be faith-seeking understanding. Not doubt-seeking justification.12:47That is a profound thought. Faith, ask of the Lord. Lord, help me understand by your spirit. By your wisdom. Doubt in the flesh says, God, you know I'm angry with you. I'm just looking for a reason to be more angry at you. Doubt seeking justification. So if that's you today and your heart is broken and your world is falling apart. Are you coming today in humility and saying, God, why?13:17Or are you saying, God, why? Give me reason even more not to believe. Those are two radically different questions, are they not? Same why, different hearts. So is it okay then to question God? So if God does not want us to doubt, but ask by faith and seek understanding, is it okay to question God? I pulled out three significant questions I found in Scripture.13:45One by a man that you might have heard of named Abraham. Anyone heard of Abraham? Okay, we'll get more popular as we go on. Abraham knows that his nephew Lot is living in a city that is not God honoring. And God says, I'm going to destroy that. The city was called Sodom and Gomorrah. And so Abraham struggles with that. God, how can you who are just and righteous kill someone who is righteous? And so Abraham goes to the Lord and said, God, if I can find people that are righteous in this city, we'll use spirits.14:15And one of the most mind-blowing conversations in Scripture, God is negotiating with Abraham. And God says, okay, big boy, go find them. And Abraham comes back sad. He's like, God, I can't find 100. How about 50? And God says, okay, Abraham, go ahead. Comes back and says, God, I couldn't find that. And it keeps going down. And this is Abraham's cry to the Lord.14:45Listen to this question. Genesis 18. It says, you could not possibly do such a thing. This is Abraham asking the Lord to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that, Lord. Won't the judge of the whole earth do what is just? Abraham, by faith, is seeking understanding. And he's appealing to the character of God.15:13God, I know you're just. Will you do this that is unjust? Abraham is questioning God by faith. Not seeking justification, seeking spiritual understanding. We have a second man that asks a question. And there are lots I could pull from. I just chose these. A man that you might have heard of again, named Moses. Anyone heard of Moses? Okay, good. We're getting better. This is what Moses says after these numerous rebellions in the book of Numbers 11.15:4111. Moses says to the Lord, why have you brought such trouble on your servants? Why are you angry with me? And why do you burden me with all of these people? Moses is coming to God and saying, God, you knew these people were crazy. They were cray-cray. And they're a burden to me.16:09God, what are you thinking? God, how can I leave them? Moses questions God. How? Faith, seeking understanding. Not accusation, seeking justification. A third man asks a question. A man by the name of Jesus. Anyone heard of Jesus? We're getting better. Three for three. Good. This is what Jesus says on the cross.16:38Matthew 27, 46. About three in the afternoon, Jesus cries out with a loud voice. He says, Eli, Eli, Lamach, Sabachthani, which is my God, my God. Why? Why have you forsaken me? This is the Savior. He who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.17:07Is this a question? Yes. Jesus, who was without sin, obviously was not asking this question out of justification in a sinful, selfish desire. But he was asking and praying aloud from a heart of faith, saying, God, give me understanding. My God, my God, why? And we see a very similar question here in verse 2.17:34We see Habakkuk coming to God, standing up in the temple and saying, what? God, how long? How long? God, I ask you right now, are you seeking today understanding or justification? Faith comes to the Lord and asks, God, help me by your spirit understand. Lord, help me find faith in difficult, trying times. Or are you coming out of selfish, sinful desires and you're just looking for justification?18:05You're just saying, God, give me one more thing not to believe. And the reality is you don't believe anyway and you're coming with a hard heart. We're going to see how God can change that this morning. And may we say, this is my prayer for us. I've been reading with our kids scripture at night and we came to Matthew 9. And some of you remember this situation. There's a man who has a child who is in desperate need of God's healing.18:31And Jesus comes to him and Jesus says, do you believe I can do it? And the man says, well, maybe. And Jesus says, I can do all things. Jesus is almost perturbed here. And this is what the man's prayer is in Matthew 9. The man says, I believe, help my unbelief. But what? You believe, but help your unbelief.19:01And if we're honest, if we're really honest, that should be our prayer. God, there are so many things I don't understand. But I believe, God, when I don't help my unbelief. God, help me believe. And trust with confidence. This is Habakkuk. So first question from Habakkuk. We're going to look at, does God listen? Can God save?19:31And does he even care? I think those are legitimate questions that we can ask God. Because that's what the word of God, by the prophet of God, is asking the Lord. So look at the first question. God, how long? Some of you are echoing that right now. You're saying, God, are you listening to me? Verse 2. How long must I call for help? We don't know the dilemma confronted by Habakkuk. And we don't know how long he's been praying this prayer. But obviously, it's longer than a day. And Habakkuk stands up and says, God, how long must I pray this prayer?20:00Daily, I see trouble. And God, for a long time, I have been calling out to you. And it seems like nothing is happening. Ever feel like Habakkuk? Ever been there? You say, God, I've been praying. God, I've been according to your will and according to your desire. And by your holy word, God, I've put my trust in Jesus Christ. And I'm pouring out my heart to you.20:29And Lord, nothing is changing. In fact, it looks like things are getting worse. Wait till next week. That's our cliffhanger. It's going to get worse. Come back and join us. We love you. But sometimes we feel like this. And Habakkuk just says, God, how long? And so we ask, God, are you listening? And it might not be because there's sin in your life that you don't hear the voice of the Lord.20:56It might be because God is doing something in your life. And I see this in Scripture. Prayer is the framework in which we can cast our burdens and pour them out before the Lord. Think of it this way. If you cannot pour out your heart before God, who can you pour out your heart to? I mean, if we say to the church, well, you just bottled it up. God doesn't want to hear where you are.21:26You just keep it hidden. Who can you pour out your life to then? Don't we think that the one who designed us and created us and knows us better than we know ourself? Don't you think he wants us to cast our burdens upon him? So let me, if you have been guilty because you come to God and you question, you say, God, I don't understand. Help me. You shouldn't feel guilty for that. We have people over and over and over again in Scripture asking God, God, are you listening?21:52I'm not seeking justification. God, I want understanding that comes from your Holy Spirit. Pour out your life before God. Some youth, you guys see things on a daily basis that we can't even fathom. Don't bottle that in. Pour it out before God. And you might think, well, it doesn't do any good.22:21God is not listening. Wait to the end. Wait to the end. Habakkuk is seeking by faith understanding. So we ask, does God listen? I would simply say this. Look at the promises of God in Scripture. And we see a resounding yes. When Jesus cried, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?22:51I believe the answer that is silent in Scripture was, wait. My son, give me three days, and I will answer your cry. And the stone was rolled away. And the grave clothes were folded neatly. And when the mourners went to the tomb, they said, someone has stolen his body.23:21And God says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was listening to your prayer. And my son has risen from the grave. He listens. His promises endure. His faithfulness will sustain you right now. And so if you've come here today, you say, God, are you listening? I just want to water you with this. Delays of God are always purposeful.23:48Delays of God are always purposeful in your life. And I believe God is saying to us, trust him in the waiting room. Some of you are like me. You don't like to wait. You go to the doctor's office, and you get there, and they say, show up at 8 o'clock. Be punctual. Actually, they'll tell you, you have paperwork to fill out. Make sure you show up on time. And I had to pray and say, Lord, let me answer in godliness, not selfishness.24:14Because I want to say, I'm going to show up early, and you're going to be an hour late anyway. I don't like to wait. And God is saying, trust me in the waiting room. Trust me. Second question. Not only is, God, are you listening? What does Habakkuk say here? Look at verse 2. Again, he says, Lord, I cry out to you about violence, and you do not save.24:39God, can you save? That's what Habakkuk is asking. You say you can, but do you? So I believe Habakkuk is asking a question that many of you are asking. Well, you know about the salvation of the Lord, but you're wondering, does God really save? Again, we go through scripture. The word save is asha. You might know it as asha or yehoshua.25:09It's used over 200 times in the Old Testament. I want to give you some references to the salvation of the Lord. Same word throughout scripture. A man named Jacob, at the end of his life, says this. He says, I will wait for your salvation, Lord. In Genesis 49, 18. Jacob was one of the most famous patriarchs in the Old Testament. And I have no doubt that Habakkuk, in his mind, when he's asking the God, God, will you even save?25:38He knows this scripture. He was a man that would have memorized the Torah. I believe he knew this passage well. And so he's echoing the question of Jacob. And Jacob says, I will wait for your salvation. And Habakkuk is saying, God, I know that verse, but do you save? I will wait. We see another man speaking about the salvation of the Lord.26:06We've already referenced this man, a mighty man of God, Moses. And you know, Moses was carrying these grumbling people out of Exodus, and he was going to the promised land. Moses did not have Siri in GPS. He didn't have Siri, but he had the spirit. Right? Clouds by day, fire by night. And before they got to the promised land, there were many obstacles that Moses was facing.26:32Chief among the obstacles was what? A body of water that we call the Red Sea. And Moses, like you and I, he knows the Egyptians are following him, the chariots. They're going to kill the people of God. And so Moses is looking at this body of water, and he's having to choose. God, do we die here or do we die there? And God says, neither. This is what Moses says.27:01He's standing before they cross the Red Sea, and he says, do not be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation in Exodus 14, 13. Before God has already delivered, Moses is standing up and saying, stand firm and see the Lord's salvation. Who would have known this story as a child growing up? Habakkuk. So when he's saying, Lord, do you save? He's thinking of the promises of God, saying, God, I know you saved, but I don't see you saving.27:29So let me just throw the question out there. God, do you? We also see in the New Testament, the angels proclaim this word to Mary. Listen to this. They said, you will give birth to a son. Now, let me stop there. This is really awkward for Mary at this point. She has never had relations, intimate relationships with a guy.27:59And the angel comes and says, just want you to know, you're going to have to tell your family you're pregnant. Now, let's be honest here. If that happens in your life, your first instinct is not going to say, well, it had to be the heavenly host and the virgin birth. So Mary, can you imagine the turmoil in her life? And this is what the angel says. You will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, which is the modern translation of a word that Mary would have known, a name that she would have known well in the Old Testament.28:29The Hebrew name of Jesus is Yehoshua, which means the Lord saves. And so God names his only son, why do I bring those up?28:52Because you cannot even ask the question, God, do you save without using the name Jesus? Think about that. Think about that. You cannot even ask of the Lord, do you save without reminding yourself that Jesus is the saving grace of the world? Yes, he does.29:21He does. Third question. Habakkuk asked this, God, do you listen? God, do you save? And then look at verse 4. We can actually back up to verse 3. It says, Lord, why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate? God, why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Ever look at the news of your world and you think that?29:51I do. Ever look at churches in Africa and in Nigeria right now? Christians being slaughtered, more than likely their women and kids being slaughtered for their faith. And it rises up in you. God, why? God, why does injustice, why do you tolerate that? We know you're just, but why? Verse 4. This is why the law is ineffective. The word, the Torah, the word of the Lord.30:20Justice never emerges. Wicked, restricted, righteous. Therefore, justice comes out perverted. Habakkuk launches into the specifics of his situation. And he asked this question. Really, he's saying, God, do you care? God, we know who you are, but do you care? Justice, mishpat in the Hebrew. You say you're just, God, but Lord, why is there so much injustice? Why are the promises that you say, why are they delayed?30:51These are questions that we have. And if you're here today and you have these questions, God, are you listening? God, do you care? And God, do you save? You are not alone. This is the prophet of God asking the same questions. You see, Habakkuk was a man who refused to ignore the brokenness in his world.31:14He said, God, I'm not going to ignore it. And God, I'm going to come to the only person I know who, that's you. I think it's time, church, that we quit ignoring the brokenness in our world. It's time for the people of God to rise up and say, no more. God, we're going to cry out to you and we're going to do something.31:44And we're going to rise up and we're going to seek righteousness. Lord, we might never understand the ugliness, but we will lean into your grace. I think for so long, the church has been silent. Christians, we just will say, well, you know what? Don't ask God questions. That's too close to doubt. Let's just put our heads in the sand. And one day when we die, we're going to be taken to glory and it'll all work out in the end. Habakkuk wants nothing to do with that mentality.32:12Habakkuk is crying out on behalf of the world of saying, God, why, God, how, God, help us. And so we said, well, what's the answer? Pastor, this is a horrible message. You offered no hope. What's the answer? I want to share with you a story related by an old timey coach in 1900s. His name was Lou Little. He coached at this powerhouse, Georgetown, before going to Columbia.32:41You might think now, well, I don't even know they have a football team. They used to be really good. And he relates a story about one of his players. We don't know the man's name, but we know that he was a huge defensive tackle. The problem was he had the physical physique, but he was a big teddy bear. Great teammate, 4.0, never missed a practice, but he never started a game because he was soft.33:06And one day before the last game of this player's career, the coach gets a telegram. Youth, I'll explain what that is later. He gets a tweet, right? Okay. And it says this, the player's dad has passed away. We need you to let him know.33:36In delivering the difficult news, Coach Little knows that he, this father, is the only living relative this boy has left. So he tells him, son, you need to go home to the funeral. You're going to miss your last game, but you need to do what is best for you and your friends. Four days later, Coach walks into the locker room and he sees this big defensive tackle there in the locker room. And thankfully in his memoirs, Coach Little gives us the exchange.34:06I want you to listen to the exchanges back and forth. This player walks up to the coach and the coach is surprised that he's even there. And he says, Coach, I need to play today. And Coach Little says, son, I'm sorry, but you've never started a game in your career. And this is a championship game. I can't let you start. And you can see the tears welling up in the player's eyes.34:35He says, coach, I just ask one play. Give me one play. And so the coach thinks, well, what could one play hurt? And so he puts this player in on the first play from scrimmage. And the opposing quarterback audibles, hands it off to the fullback. And there's a dive up the middle. And he runs right into this defensive tackle. He's hit so hard, the fullback is knocked out of the game.35:02So the coach says, let's leave him in. This is how his day turns out. This defensive tackle has 15 assisted tackles, 12 unassisted tackles. This is not a pastor story. This is a true story. One fumble recovery. One forced fumble. And to cap it off, he has an interception that ends the game.35:30For most defensive tackles, this is a season. And for this young man, it's one game. And so at the end of the game, every player leaves. And it's just the coach and his defensive tackle side by side, really awkwardly in the locker room. And here is the exchange of the coach and the son. The coach, little, said to him, son, I owe you an apology.36:00Never have I seen you perform the way that you perform today. How could I have judged you so poorly? He said, did you do it for your dad? And the player looks up to the coach and he says this, coach. He said, you knew that my dad was blind. He said, yes, son, I did. I saw him. I saw you bringing him out of the practice field into the game. And this is what the player says.36:28And I think there's so much spiritual insight for us today. He says, coach, today, he said, I didn't do it for my dad. He said, today was the first day and first time my dad ever saw me play. Today was the first day my dad ever saw me play. What's he saying? When you know your dad is watching, it changes everything.36:55And we do not have an answer in Habakkuk 1 verses 2 and 4. But I just encourage you this way. If you put your trust in Jesus Christ and you can call out to your heavenly father to know he is watching you, transforms everything. And I want us to conclude today how Habakkuk concludes.37:26He says this in verse 17 of chapter 3. He says, though the fig tree does not bud and though there is no fruit on the vine. Though the olive tree does not produce and the crops yield no harvest.37:52Though the flocks disappear from the stalls. And there is no cattle in the pen. Look at verse 18. He says, yet, yet I will celebrate in my Lord. And I will rejoice in the God of my Yahushua.38:20My salvation. The same question he asked in verse 2. Lord, do you save? Habakkuk says, God, to know that you are watching. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. How does the father respond to difficult times?38:47How does God respond when we scream out, why? John 3.16 beautifully reminds us how the Lord responds. For God. It means God took the initiative. So loved the world. This is not the ideal world. This is not the Genesis 1.1 world. This is the brokenness in the world. That he sent his only son.39:18So God responds to the brokenness that we see by sending his only son. That whoever believes. What is belief? What is faith? Faith is the human response to God's grace. And it is a response that is transformative. It is a response that changes your life. Show me someone that has not changed and I will show you someone that does not know the grace of our Savior.39:43Because once you respond to the grace of God, you can't help it. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. And if you have come today seeking justification for your anger and your bitterness. If you come asking the same questions in faith. Know that God will greet you with kindness.40:13And know that God responds to the brokenness of our world by compassion. God, why? We will never know. But I can say with confidence. God, because you are watching. My soul will sing. Yet, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
