rescue – Salvaged Faith

With Complete Confidence

Posted on August 29, 2021Leave a comment

Text: Acts 27:1, 9-12, 15, 18, 20-22, 39, 42-43; 28:11a, 16, 30-31

About a month ago, I pulled together some of our church leaders for an evening of conversation and planning about where we are as a church and where we are going.

We started with this image from Rooted Good which simply asks – in the stormy seas of this moment, where do you find yourself?

Are you tossed about by conflicting opinions and information?

Are you riding the waves, or crushed by them?

In the midst of the constant change what is helping the most?

We took some time in small groups to share the stories of what kinds of stormy seas we are sailing through in our own personal lives… the loss of loved ones, of relationships, the concern for aging parents, the health of people we care about… not to mention the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and the swirling chaos of misinformation.

So many of these things are circumstances beyond our control… stormy seas we have no power to tame.

I’ve been sailing through some stormy seas personally, myself.

Over the last six months, my spouse and I have been working to get help for some mental and physical health concerns.

It has been a long process, with a lot of appointments and hard conversations and work.

I wish I could say that everything is okay or that we see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we aren’t there yet.

We are still riding on the choppy waves.

And the truth is, I know that a lot of you are, too.

It is hard and exhausting.

In that Wednesday night conversation with church leaders, we shared our stories of stormy waters but we didn’t just groan and complain.

We turned to scripture and read aloud these words from the Apostle Paul:

… We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)

Goodness… We have found ourselves in that place, haven’t we?

Battered by troubles… not sure what to do… thrown down?

As Paul wrote these words, you can see the faith that keeps him going.

You sense the deep trust he has that even if everything is not okay, it will ultimately work out according to God’s will.

The hope of God’s promises… in restoration, in forgiveness, in truth, in the resurrection, help him to keep going on.

And when I read those words, I find just a little bit of the strength I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth three or four years before this shipwreck and journey from today’s reading.

In part, he is talking about the cross that he must bear… which last week we named as the consequences we face when we choose to follow Jesus.

As he continues in his letter:

…What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best! (2 Corinthians 4:7-12)

At the end of the Book of Acts, Paul continues to bear that cross, being taken to Rome to stand trial for charges that still aren’t completely solid but boil down to his hope in the resurrection.

He has chosen to follow Jesus… and as Jesus shines through his words and actions, he finds himself facing the same kinds of opposition as his Master.

That itself is enough to bear… but he understood why he was experiencing those difficulties and sees every trial as an opportunity to let Jesus shine through him.

But then there were the other circumstances beyond his control… stormy seas, literally, that could not be tamed.

As our scripture for today opens, Paul is being put on a ship headed for Rome, but as a well-traveled missionary, he knew that it wasn’t safe to travel.

They were late enough into the season that the seas would be too rough for passage.

Much of the early months of the journey were spent traveling along the coastline of the Mediterranean but eventually they must make for open sea.

Paul has enough struggles to deal with – no sense in tempting fate or adding to his difficulty!

So he urges them to winter-over on the island of Crete.

But his guard and the captain of the ship wouldn’t listen to his warnings and chose to set out anyways.

You know, I can’t help but look at this map and think about the countless numbers of refugees fleeing from Syria and Libya who have tried to head north across the Mediterranean to safety.

We saw images of overcrowded and desperate families and even with modern boats many did not survive those rough waters.

Imagine being at sea during the midst of a storm in the most dangerous part of the year with only a wooden boat and sails to protect you.

But Paul knew and trusted that even though danger and trials and storms and chaos surrounded him, God was stronger.

God would rescue them.

God’s promises stand forever.

And so with complete confidence in what God could do, Paul helped the crew to make it through the storm.

It is a miracle Paul and the crew survived.

They found themselves shipwrecked on the island of Malta dependent on the kindness of complete strangers.

But that’s what God does.

Through the difficulties and trials, God shines through.

The Book of Acts seems like it has been building towards a grand climax where Paul eventually stands before Caesar and his story will wrap up with a nice bow.

But that isn’t what we get.

Instead of a trial, we find Paul continuing under house arrest in Rome.

He preaches to the Jewish leaders there, challenging them to open their eyes and ears and hearts to what God is doing.

His door is wide open and without fear, Paul keeps teaching about Jesus.

And then the story ends.

In some ways, it feels like a let down.

We have followed Paul every step of the way of his journey and we want to know what happens next.

But the Book of Acts isn’t a story about Paul.

It is the story of Jesus.

It is the story of how the word and life and message of Jesus travels from Jerusalem… to Samaria… to the ends of the world.

Paul did his part and through ups and downs and good times and bad, he continued to let the Holy Spirit work through him to share that good news.

Now, it’s our turn.

You see, that message continues to spread throughout this world.

Faithful folks carried the good news to right here in Des Moines, Iowa.

We’ve had our share of stormy seas and trials.

We’ve had ups and downs.

We have faced opposition and economic struggles and personal hardship.

But through it all, God has been with us.

And if we turn our hearts and our lives towards Jesus, we experience rescue.

We experience healing.

If we hold on, with confidence, to the hope of the resurrection, we experience abundant life.

It does not mean that the journey will be easy.

It certainly wasn’t for Paul.

And I know that it isn’t for you.

And it hasn’t been for me.

But when we cling to those promises, then as Paul wrote:

And we can keep going, with complete confidence, because Jesus is with us.

Let’s keep telling his story.

Rescued

Posted on February 22, 2015Leave a comment

For the first 20 or so years of my life, I understood salvation as one concrete idea: that Jesus died for my sin on the cross.

Substitutionary Atonement is what we call it. Jesus took our place. He was our substitute and paid the price for our sins.

But before too long, I discovered that I was terribly mistaken.

Not about Jesus dying for our sins.

But about thinking that was all salvation meant.

In its fullest sense, “Salvation is ‘God’s deliverance of those in a situation of need… resulting in their restoration to wholeness.’ It is restoration because salvation does not offer something new; it is God’s original intent for creation.” (Introduction, The Lord is Our Salvation)

The best word I can find to describe that original intent, the life that God intends for each of us is the word shalom.

It means completeness, wholeness, well-being.

And God’s work of salvation in Jesus Christ rescues us from whatever hell we might experience in our lives that has destroyed shalom, so we might experience life and life abundant once again.

Christ dying and paying the price for our sins is one piece of that work of salvation. But it isn’t the only one.

In fact, in the Western world, there are three major understandings of what the cross means, all different ways of talking about how Jesus saves us.

These are called atonement theories. They describe how we become at-one again with God… how we are brought back into shalom… how we experience wholeness once again.

The first is the one most of us grew up being familiar with – a Forensic understanding of salvation. These theories say we are like a defendant on trial and have been found guilty of breaking our covenant with God. So, a penalty must be paid. Jesus knows we are guilty and out of love, pays the price for us. He satisfies the debt we owe.

The second is called Moral Example. This grouping of theories claims that the cross is the natural outcome of the life of Jesus, who spoke truth to power and dared to love those who society rejected. And in his life and death, Christ shows us how we should live, too.

The third of the major groupings is called “Christus Victor” – Christ as the Victor! This theory claims that in the eternal battle for good and evil, we are imprisoned by sin and held captive by Satan. Jesus defeats death and evil on the cross and we are set free.

Throughout this season of Lent, we are going to see how this isn’t a debate or competition about which of these sets of theories is right, but that each and every one of them is a part of the whole. Taken all together, they describe how God continually and relentlessly works to bring us salvation, to restore us to shalom.

I want to share with you one more scripture this morning as we hear the word.

In 1 Peter, chapter 3 we hear:

¹⁷It is better to suffer for doing good (if this could possibly be God’s will) than for doing evil.

¹⁸Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous…

¹⁹And it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison.

Right there, in three verses, all three of these major theories are at play. Be like Jesus and suffer for doing good… He died because of our sins… and he went down to hell and preached to the spirits in prison.

This morning, we are going to focus on the idea of being rescued. 1 Peter tells us, and the Apostles Creed affirms that Jesus descended to the dead. He went down into hell after the crucifixion to preach to the spirits held in the prison of death.

The verses go on to say:

In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water.

As we remember in our first reading this morning, the whole world was drowning in sin… and eight lives were rescued through the water.

With the children, we remembered the promise God made right then and there, a promise to seek forgiveness and not punishment. God put the rainbow in the sky as a reminder that never again would life be destroyed, that God wants to restore us to life.

But I sometimes wonder about those souls who weren’t rescued. Whatever happened to them?

1 Peter tells us, God’s rainbow promise extends even to those who died in the flood. They were trapped by their own sin, imprisoned by Satan and death, but through the cross, Jesus wins the victory over death itself and even the unfaithful disobedient spirits of the ancient world were given the opportunity to hear the message of God’s love and offered shalom.

That’s how powerful God is. That is how mighty Christ’s victory is.

And if Jesus can rescue disobedient spirits from hell itself, than Jesus can rescue you.

Maybe you are struggling with an addiction that just seems to have you in its grip. Jesus can help set you free.

Maybe bad habits and a poor attitude have been dragging you down. Jesus can lift you up.

Maybe you are swimming in worries and fears and feel lost in that sea. Jesus will keep you from drowning.

On Ash Wednesday, we were reminded of our sin, our mortality, our finite natures. We are all sinners. We are all made out the dust of the earth. And we can’t save ourselves from drowning in all of the dirt and muck of this world.

But Jesus can.

And just as God took the dust of the earth and formed us as his people, God can take the dust of our lives and make something beautiful out of it. God can rescue us from even the dust of death and raise us up.

We’ve talked about some big words and some big concepts this morning. Atonement. Christus Victor. Salvation and Shalom.

And sometimes the only antidote to being overwhelmed by new information is to look at pictures of puppies.

These puppies are rescue dogs and these amazing photos capture them on the day they were rescued… on the day they were brought home from the shelter.

They transform from these sad and pitiful creatures, to vibrant and life filled friends.

They come to find themselves at home, loved, taken care of.

And this is what God wants for us. God wants to rescue us from the hell we experience in our lives. God wants to save us from our guilt and addiction, from our sin and temptation, from our fears and our failures.

God wants to bring us home. To restore us to shalom. To wholeness. To life and life abundant.

Jesus is strong enough to save even the spirits in hell and Jesus can save you. Jesus can transform you. Jesus can set free this entire world.

It is interesting that Mark’s account of the wilderness is not a long series of temptations and failures, but a few words about faithfulness: Jesus was tempted by Satan. He was with the animals. The angels took care of him. No drama. No mistakes. No surrender. And in the midst of it all, Satan just disappears. Jesus transforms even the wilderness, the time of testing and struggle, into shalom – a place where all are cared for. Pheme Perkins writes that even before his ministry began, Jesus had already broken Satan’s power on this world.

And Jesus can enter the wilderness of our lives, the prisons we construct for ourselves, and can transform it too.

Now is the time. Today is the moment. Let Christ set you free.