CMLC 2024-01-07 Sermon

Howdy. So I had a front of mind that at one point she apparently was having a really bad day.

And she started calling me some things like that. You know, today I just could not get up.

I just could not wake up. I was waiting for royalty. Just, I just could not shake the suit off of them.

And then, apparently, it's that getting upset with her kids and saying,

yeah, no matter what they did, I was just constantly upset at them.

And I just kept getting angry with them over and over again.

And then, apparently, there was some issue at work that was coming up.

And it's like, I just kept having conflict with my boss and everything else.

And then, finally, later on, it was just like, I just wasn't hungry, whatever was going on.

And then it was told that apparently, murdering was in retrograde.

I had never heard about this before. But it supposedly is that whenever I normally see stars or planets,

they'll move this one path. And it must, sometimes based on our orders,

it looks like you're going the opposite way going a period of time.

Like maybe on the 1910 or 2080 or 20 of that.

They'll put the opposite way. And supposedly, that's whenever people are feeling like they're really, really off.

And so I was like, oh, well, that's interesting. I've never heard that before.

And then I went and I checked the calendar about this murdering and retrograde.

And apparently, it stopped being retrograde about 20 days earlier.

And I was just like, is it possible you're just being a durable human being?

Is that just a possibility altogether?

And it was certainly thereafter that we stopped being friends.

But what I think really struck me is that it was so easy

that all these things were happening.

And instead of pausing to say, hey, maybe I'm not being my best person,

then instead it was something to blame on some star or planet way far away

because it decided to change direction for over a while.

And I know that there are discussions about the moon and different lunar cycles

and sometimes effects, you know, how a feeling or a mood of the day,

it's a little bit different, you know, with the gravitational pull of something

that's close enough that it can actually change your well-being.

But even the moon doesn't determine your destiny, your direction, the way that you're going.

And the thing about this is that this idea of whether or not stars can move in directions around a spectrum

ends up getting us a lot with our passage today about the last man.

See, the last men are people who are seeing that something is different in the sky.

Because of it, they were able to notice that something must be different in the world around them.

So it's just kind of like a little bit of a background with that.

So we had talked before about how this israel and june, it has slipped into two different kingdoms.

Now, the Israel had gotten pulled into exile back around 700 BC by a spirit.

But the thing is that when that happened, their story basically came to an end.

Now, the reason why Israel's story came to an end is that they really weren't all that distinct from anybody else when they got pulled into exile.

What do I mean? They were already worshipping as altars that were similar to the Assyrian type of altars.

They were already doing practices that were similar to the neighbor study act.

They were not preserving their marriages, they weren't caring for their kids, they were worshipping different gods.

The thing is that pulling the people out of Israel into another land, nobody really noticed this.

Because when they went into that other land, they acted just like everyone else.

Aren't there times where it feels like Christians do the same thing?

That sometimes we're in a world around us and we sometimes can't tell the difference between the Christians and everybody else.

But the thing about Judah, that Judah was a little bit different.

You see, later on in the line in the early 6th century BC, is that Judah, they were being pulled into exile by a different country, Babylon.

But when they did, they didn't forget who they were. Not the same way.

See, you have people like Daniel. Now, whenever you think about Daniel, what story are you thinking about?

Daniel, end of?

Lion's Den, absolutely. But it turns out that was actually one of the last things that was recorded about Daniel.

See, one of the first things about Daniel is that Daniel realized that humans were living in a country where they were eating things that they were not supposed to be eating.

The thing is that they did not have kosher food over there. You've had a lot.

So, of course, when you're not sure if you can eat something that's on the menu at the restaurant or at the restaurant,

what's the easiest thing to always do? I'll try to get this out.

And that's the thing, is that Daniel and several other people, what are they going to do? We're just going to eat salads.

Which, you know, kind of a little bit depressing, but okay, I don't even understand.

And at least we're not the salads that have pieces of steak on them. This isn't like the Denny's steak salad special.

Which, oh, 99. It's a little bit of a fuck. With it, though, is that Daniel ended up being not only stronger, wiser, and more playful,

but split out among everybody else. Because instead of just getting sucked into what everybody else was doing,

he was willing to stop and say, I need to be different. Because God has called me to be different.

That was just one thing. You had Shack, R. P. Shack and Ben Mego, who were saying,

we're not going to worship this statue, instead he's thrown into a fiery furnace.

You have Daniel, they don't want to say, how many sheep worship you got, no matter what.

Even at this point, we're growing into a lion's den. And apparently they were not hungry,

that lions were also apparently not a solid diet that day.

Which, though, is that over and over again, by continuing to follow after God,

Daniel and the others were giving Priests to God's work.

So the thing is, is that who they were, how they were living,

ended up causing the people in Babylon to listen to the God that they followed.

That sometimes the tricky part is that when we're following after God and people see that,

that ends up leading more to them than many of the words that we have to say.

And more than that, is to ask the question, what about us?

If people are looking at our lives, do they see people who are following after God

and knowing that God is the one who's still in control?

You see, this is a difficult time. They had lost their home.

They were out in a country that they had never been before.

But what did they still believe? They still believed that God was at work, even then.

See, that's one of the things we talked a little bit about last week,

is that oftentimes we don't realize that God is speaking.

We have to listen, because we sometimes forget the idea that God is actually working in our lives here and now.

And that's the thing, is that when our lives are falling apart or struggling the most,

that's why it's the hardest to actually believe that God has anything for us.

It's hard to say, I'm going to follow after God,

if you're not even sure that God is even their speak-e-tee of the person.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.

But there are times, I'm just like, you're sitting there saying, God messed everything up too bad.

And it's more than just the angle of the people of Judaism who mess up so much that people take it out of their home.

I mean, I'm like half the adults in North America that I'm divorced.

And the thing is, is that 12 years ago, there I am looking and saying,

I'm about to make a decision that it might just completely fail me off.

And to know that at that point in time, is that I'm trying to say, I'm supposed to follow after God,

and here I am doing something that doesn't feel very popular to me.

And it was a very long time, so I wonder if God still actually had a purpose in meeting for me.

Because I wasn't going the direction that I thought I was supposed to go.

This perfect path that I thought I was supposed to follow.

No longer existed.

And that's the thing that's hard part about this, is that oftentimes, whenever we are trying to pursue God,

is that we may spend a long time feeling like we're not sure we're wrong about that.

What would it be like for those wives and men?

Going after, what do you think is that? Is that two planets?

Right now you're starting to make a little Noah as a pen and a star.

I think that's the regular star.

Is that supposed to indicate the future coming of a prince?

We don't even know what to do today.

At least that month, years continuing to follow.

Because they believed the message of some guy who had lived in their country over five centuries previous,

who told them about a God who loved them, and was sent the future through them.

How often do we feel like we're still waiting for God to say something?

And to tell us, yes, you're still following me.

That's hard. It is hard. But the thing about it is that even at those times, when we know that our lives are not going the direction

that we originally thought it was supposed to, is that God is still doing this work.

Because those people in exile had Babylon.

If Daniel and the rest of you had not had Babylon, the people of Babylon would have never heard about their God.

If they had not been in that place at that time, the wise men would have never known to follow that star.

And the other thing about you and I is that we were all the time in some places on the path that we were not expecting.

But the path isn't some direction about where we're going to go.

The path is about following the same God who loves us in his inner life today.

And that reminds me of the gifts that the wise men brought, the gold and the frankincense and the murk.

Because here's the thing about it, is that when we look at Isaiah 60, especially in verses 6, and it points out the gold and frankincense,

there's no murk in there.

I have no idea why this, the wise men, decided to add murk to the gifts that they brought.

I don't know. But I do know that the wise men knew to follow.

But by doing so, they ended up proclaiming that the king of the Jews was going to have to give his life.

Because murk was used for charity.

And I have to think about this.

Is that my following after God? It's not a question of did we always get it perfectly.

The thing is, is that as we're following, is that God is doing work, that we don't even realize he's doing because of where we are,

and what is happening that we never expected.

And that's the thing about this.

Is that by spending all that time following, is that they ended up proclaiming the next step?

And the part about the Messiah that people were not expecting.

See, that's the thing. Is that if we want to be within the story, the thing is that we're following the author.

Now right now, I'm not sure where it is that you're grinding for yourself.

There might be some things that you know you're going to have to make some difficult decisions,

and you're not sure what that's going to mean when you do so.

You're not sure how it's going to play out. You're not sure where you're going to land and all of a sudden, nothing.

Or maybe the things that have happened before, maybe you see how they altered your life,

and you don't feel like you're that same person anymore.

And you're wondering how it is that God is supposed to continue to work in your life,

when you're no longer avoiding that path that you thought he was leading before.

Or other times where you're just saying, I feel like I haven't heard anything so long.

But whatever it might be, because God is still following you,

and God is still saying, I have a purpose for you. Follow me.

So wherever you've been, wherever you find yourself, today I challenge you.

And I have just the list, but I'll set it to follow.

Thanks for your time.