Trouble! You Will Have Some

Trouble! You Will Have Some

1st Scripture Reading:

Jeremiah 20:7-13

“O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!”

For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”

But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers

Responsive reading: Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18

It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children.

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.

When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.

With your faithful help rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

Do not let the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the Pit close its mouth over me.

Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress–make haste to answer me.

Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.”

Gospel Reading:

Matthew 10:24-39

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Message:

Trouble! You Will Have Some!

Many non-christians think that by being a Christian you have no troubles. Unfortunately, many Christians seem to think that, by being a Christian, they should have no troubles. Their voices raise to God, “Why me, Lord? I’ve been good and faithful to you. Why am I attacked, day and night?”

Why are we made to suffer through (insert your own trouble here.) I’m going to stop talking for a moment. During this silence, look into your own life a see the things that are troubling you.

• Death past,present, or impending death

• Sickness and injuries

• Financial worries

• Social issues, both personal and global

• Marital turmoil

• Unconfessed or hidden sin

It is important to remember that this is no longer the perfect world that God created for us. That world became broken with the first sin.

Also remember:

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

Saint Paul knew something of pain and suffering. He was beaten, run out of town, cursed, lied about, and thrown into prison. And yet, he was not broken. For he knew, “those who lose their life for (Jesus’s) sake will find it.

Just as some Christian believe that their life in the faith should provide them a trouble free life, there are far to many Christian who do not like the militaristic tone of Jesus’s message here. They are quite willing to accept Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

However,they are disturbed when they read Jesus saying, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus, the man of love and peace, wielding a sword? I can’t quite imagine it. The same teacher that taught, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45)

The same teacher that taught, “Love your enemy,” now says, “one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”

And why are our enemies in our own family? Jesus said, “I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Please, friends, don’t tell me that you are unaware that we are in a war. Since the garden of Eden a battle has been raging. God and his angels have been working to repair that which was caused by that Old Deceiver when he tempted Eve to eat of the one tree that God had expressly forbidden.

In the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 12, we read, “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.”

Jesus knew where the true battle was being waged, in the heart, mind, and soul of every human being, past, present, and future. As a consequence of this struggle, in and for the very souls of humanity, families will be torn apart. Jesus knew that not everyone was ready to accept the gift he was about to provide.

The law and the prophets had provided a bridge over the chasm that mankind created between themselves and God.

Jesus knew that his sacrifice was about to fill and seal that void. He also knew that not all would accept the gift, indeed they would fight believing and accepting that gift. He knew that those who carried the Good News of freedom from sin would be reviled, beaten, and abused by family and friends. This was his warning to his followers.

He knew that, just as he was to suffer and die at the hands of those who hardened their hearts against the eternal life saving miracle of freedom from sin, … just as he suffered, his followers would also.

We live in a time and place where we will likely never be beaten or killed for our belief. Do not be fooled into thinking that the battle has been won. Lack of outward resistance should never be considered as acceptance.

Ask yourselves:

• Do I daily immerse myself in the word of God?

• Do I praise Him daily?

• Do I pray open, honest, heartfelt prayers?

• Do I listen and look for God’s guidance?

• Have I :

1. Fed the hungry?
2. Given. drink to the thirsty?
3. Welcomed a stranger
4. Clothed the naked
5. Comforted the sick?
6. Visited the imprisoned?

In short, have you caused trouble for the devil today?

Is the Spirit of the Lord prompting, pushing, demanding that you speak his message? Can you, along with the prophet Jeremiah, say, “For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”

If there is no burning fire within you, then you need to fan those God given embers into flame.

Look again at Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18

It is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s children.

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me; the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so.

When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.

Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies.”

David knew, Jeremiah knew, and Jesus knew, when you earnestly seek to do the will of God, troubles will follow you. I would go so far as to suggest that, if the evil one isn’t causing troubles in your life, it may be because you aren’t troubling him.

Don’t go out breathing hellfire and brimstone. Go into all the world sharing the Good News of the victory in Jesus with everyone.

Go forth, Christian, not to give them hell, but to give them heaven.

Here ends the message.