Happy Canada Day! Sorry but you can take the person out of Canada but.... you know the rest:) July 1st is the 145th Birthday of Canada and they are having a great party celebrating the War of 1812 bicentennial! On July 4th we will celebrate the 236th Birthday of the USA! Both are great blessings. Canada celebrates the war of 1812 because they withheld an invasion by the USA and have had a peaceful border for almost 200 years. They remember the surrender of Fort Mackinac, the burning of the White House etc... The USA remembers the battle of New Orleans and many victories etc.... We remember these every time we sing the Star Spangled Banner! I still have to wait for my citizenship for a few more years. (I had a religious workers visa when we arrived in 2005 and didn't transition to permanent resident until 2009 and have to wait for 5 years until we can become citizens... this is if you do things legally, it also costs a lot of money and time.) I look forward to being able to vote. Every Thursday at Rotary we say the pledge and sing the national anthems and on the first Thursday of the month, because we are an international district, we sing both the USA and Canada Anthems. I love that Thursday! ALL this to say Happy Canada Day and Happy Independence Day or "Happy 4th" to all!!
This week we will look at the question of our response to the GREAT FAITHFULNESS of our Father God! We will look at the 3rd chapter of Lamentations where the Prophet Jeremiah uses a poem with each verse starting with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order to really LAMENT his life and situation. In verses 1-21 he is really frustrated by the Lord's discipline and blames everything on God.
We hear the four verses before our Old Testament in Lamentations 3 states:
17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. 18 So I say, “My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord.” 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
This is the way the lament ends and transitions in the text of the Lamentations 3, that we will read tomorrow, which describes how Jeremiah by faith in the God who is burning with love and compassion brings us above the results of our SIN which manifests in the world by disease, anxiety, pain, death etc....
Lamentations 3
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.28 Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him.29 Let him bury his face in the dust —there may yet be hope. 30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.31 For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. 32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. 33 For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
You see the Lord allows things to happen because of our
SIN but great is HIS UNFAILING LOVE. When we respond to this LOVE and
GRACE (Jeremiah calls it Compassion) He says GREAT is HIS FAITHFULNESS!
When we recognize this LOVE and FAITHFULNESS, GRACE AND COMPASSION then
we will certainly respond as the Macedonian Churches that St.Paul shares
with us in 2 Corinthians 8:And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
We hear about the women afflicted with bleeding who touches Jesus in Mark 5:25-34 where she is healed and told by Jesus “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” I hope people will read this in the context of all of Mark 5 and understand what Jesus meant when we hear:
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher any more?” 36 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
We are called to respond to the LOVE, FAITHFULNESS, GRACE AND COMPASSION OF OUR AMAZING GOD TO TRUST, JUST BELIEVE AND EXPECT HE HAS WHAT IS BEST IN MIND FOR US!
I hope you will join us tomorrow as we ponder how we respond to the invitation of Jesus "DON'T BE AFRAID; JUST BELIEVE!"
Love in Christ Jesus our Risen Lord and Savior,
Pastor Bryan
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