What’s Next: The Final Piece – What’s Next Part VII

Sermon Title: What’s Next: The Final Piece to the Puzzle

Good News Statement: The LORD returns to us

Preached: Sunday, June 11, 2023, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Malachi 3:6-711 – Today’s scripture reading comes from Malachi, a messenger of the LORD, who writes in the last book of the Old Testament, an invitation and a promise for both the people of Judah and us today: “Return to me, and I will return to you.”

 

⁶ For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. ⁷ Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

One day a Pastor and a Brother from the church took a Visitor fishing on boat. Once in the Middle of the lake, the Pastor said, “I seem to have forgotten my fishing pole, be right back” and to the visitors amazement stepped out of the boat and walked on top of the water towards the shore. When he had returned, the Brother said, “I need to use the restroom, be right back.” Again the visitor watched in amazement. Once the brother returned, not wanting to be outdone, the visitor said, “I need to use the restroom too.” As soon as he stepped out of the boat, he sank. The Pastor nudged the brother and said “We should have told him where the rocks were?”

Several weeks ago, we embarked on a journey with the resurrected Christ. We found ourselves standing before the empty tomb, scratching our heads in deep contemplation and asking ourselves, “How? Why? And What happened?” Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace and Wonderful Counselor, who was crucified, spoke his last words and breathed his last breath, on the cross, in front of spectators, and was taken down and placed in a sealed tomb by Joseph of Arimathea, has resurrected. “He is not here,” are the words proclaimed by the angel in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus has been resurrected.

He was resurrected for you and me and for all those who are lost, forsaken, neglected, hurting, experience pain and hurt, and who are shouting for joy from the mountaintops. Jesus was resurrected for you and for me and for everyone else. Asking “How? Why? And What Happened?” are important but not as important as asking ourselves “What’s next?” Jesus has been resurrected, is being resurrected, and will be resurrected all for the sake of helping us to be resurrected ourselves and to return to him. Sometimes in life, we walk on the rocks and get safely to shore; but, unfortunately, because life is not perfect, we will miss the rocks sometimes and sink. When that happens we need to find ways to return to Christ. We need to remember the resurrection of Christ and become renewed, refreshed, and re-established in our faith. We need to return to Christ. But how?

We need to remember the promises of Christ that walked out of the tomb with him, promises that we need to practice as we return to him: fullness of joy, give praise, seek protection, receive the rock, and cast all things to him. Jesus returns us so that we may return to him.

 

Body:

I bet, after hearing the opening joke, your mind swam directly to the story of Peter walking on water from the Gospel of Matthew. That famous and mysterious encounter of Jesus with his disciples, while they were out on the lake being battered by waves caused by the fierce wind, invites us to think about our faith. Is our faith strong enough to keep us focused on Jesus as we find ourselves walking on water or does it have holes and we begin to sink? To refresh your memory, this is what Matthew wrote in his Gospel: “And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:25-33).

Like many of us, Peter had strong faith but then began to lose his faith because of the strong wind—the distractions and enemies in his life: he began to sink. Peter cried out for help, “Lord, save me! Lord, rescue me! Lord, don’t let me drawn! Lord, don’t leave me!” In a sense, Peter was crying what Jesus would later shout, in dreadful pain and mourning as tears poured from his eyes and anguish and defeat covered his face, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1). We have all been there: we have cried “Lord, save me!”; and we have sank a time or two. But in those moments, we hear, maybe in the distance or maybe loud and clear in our heart, the words of Malachi 3:7, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” The story of Peter walking on water is a great reminder of what the resurrection is: it is a call, a promise, an invitation, to return to Christ. But how do we return to Christ? How do we return to the surface and walk on rocks?

Over the course of several weeks, we have been building up for this moment. The moment when we pray to God, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, “O Lord, I am ready to return to you. O Lord, search my heart and guide me out of the tomb. O Lord, I am ready to be saved: I need you in my life.” Today, we seek to return to the Lord; and we seek for him to return to us.

The idea of returning to God comes out of the mouth of Malachi, one of the twelve Minor Prophets, a messenger of and for the LORD of hosts. The Book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, written between the years 515BC and 400BC during the time of rebuilding the temple—which was destroyed in 586BC—highlights the continued unfaithful ways of the people and priests of Judah. They are offering imblemished, ill, lame, and sick animals before the LORD (Malachi 1); their faith is causing people to stumble (Malachi 2); they are allowing people to be mistreated by sorcerers and adulterers, and neglecting and oppressing the orphan, the widow, and the stranger (Malachi 3); and they are refusing to remember the teachings—the statutes, commandments, and covenants—giving to Moses on Mount Horeb (Malachi 4) for the people. Essentially, the people and priests of Judah are sinking, walking away from the LORD; however, the LORD, similar to us when we rebuke the ways of Him, does not give up on the people. He calls them to return to Him. How many of you feel like today you need to return to the LORD?

Peter, in his first epistle, has been offering us instructions or methods regarding how to return to the Lord. And now, it is time to put his instructions to action. First, when we return to the LORD, we feel this sense of joy in our heart. Some would say this joy comes from deep within our heart. Peter says this joy comes from realizing that Jesus’ resurrection is our invitation to experience a “new birth into a living hope.” First Peter 1:3-5 asserts, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” When you take time to return to the LORD—find that moment throughout your day to experience His joy—you will be given a new birth, a new breath of life, something that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading because He wants to return to you. Jesus is giving you these things because he knows you need them. He knows without them, joy will be hard to come by. When we return to the LORD, we receive a sense of joy in our heart.

When you receive that joy, I encourage you to sing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart! (Where?) Down in my heart! (Where?) Down in my heart! I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.” Return to the LORD knowing that joy will be in your heart.

Second, when you return to the LORD, give praise that He is there waiting for you. First Peter 1:22 states, “Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory [and praise], so that your trust and hope are in God.” The word praise, in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, is mentioned 320 times; and of those 320 times, the word praise appears in the psalms 166 times, that’s over half. Psalm 146 asserts, “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long” (Psalm 146:1-2). The psalmist wrote in Psalm 150, “Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!” (Psalm 150:1-3). Simply praise the LORD.

I am reminded of an old children’s hymn that begins with these words, “Praise him, praise him; praise him in the morning, praise him in the noontime. Praise him, praise him, praise him when the sun goes down.” Simply praise the LORD. As you return to the LORD by giving Him praise for all the blessings and mistakes, and mountains and valleys, and successes and disasters, in your life, you will gain the confidence to pray the words of Psalm 116:1-4: “I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. Then I called on the name of the Lord, “O Lord, I pray, save my life!” When you take time to return to the LORD, the LORD will return to you by sounding the trumpets of praise.

Third, as you return to the LORD, allow Him to become your guardian. 1 Peter 2:23-25 reads, “When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” When you return to the LORD, you will gain a guardian, a shepherd, a life-long companion and a friend, that will protect you at all costs. This guardian has suffered for you; this guardian has found you when you were lost; this guardian was wounded for your transgressions (Isaiah 53:5); this guardian has healed you; this guardian has saved you from the depths of the waters; and this guardian is Jesus Christ. Needless to say, this guardian, Jesus Christ, reminds us “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). This guardian will make us lie down in green pastures; lead us beside still waters, restore our soul, lead us in right paths, and will comfort us all the days of our life (Psalm 23). When we pause, and truly allow our spirits to return to the LORD, we will receive an eternal guardian that will be with us wherever we go.

Fourth, as we seek to return to the LORD, we will be given a firm foundation to stand upon. First Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Let’s be honest, and I mean honest—since that is what the LORD seeks from us on a daily basis. There are moments in our life when we feel as if we are standing in sinking sand: the harder we try to escape something, the more trouble we find ourselves. There are moments in our life when we feel as if we have been put together by straw—anything and everything can and will blow us over. There are moments in our life when we feel as if our life is the game of Jenga—we remove that one certain cornerstone and everything comes crashing down. During those tough moments of life, we seek more strength, we seek more peace, we seek more time, and we seek answers right away. We want everything to be perfect.

As God’s chosen people, we know that our life will not always be easy: it will be challenging, it will be discomforting, and it will take imagination, acceptance, and understanding of different points of view. But because we have been chosen by God, the invite to return to time Him is always allowed and permitted and legal. He is the rock, the cornerstone of our life, which provides us something to return to. The psalmist wrote in Psalm 31:1-5, “In you, O LORD, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me; take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God….” Return to the LORD so that you may have a rock and fortress in your life.

Fifth, as you return to the LORD, remind yourself to give everything to Him. First Peter 5:7says “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” We were reminded last of three things from this section of First Peter. First, we learned that the enemy is out there—seeking to devour us and test us. Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).  He continued, “Like a roaring lion your opponent the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The enemy is out there. The enemy—whatever distracts you from Jesus, causes you to stumble and fall, and draws you below the surface of the water—is out there doing whatever it can to win you over. Although the enemy is out there, so is God, so is Jesus Christ, and so is the Holy Spirit.

Second, the enemy is out there but it is not us. We are called to discipline ourselves, keep alert, be humble, resist the enemy as best we can and shout for joy (1 Peter 5:8, 4:13). We are not the enemy but we are who the enemy fears because we of God on our side.

Third, Peter invites us to cast all our anxieties unto the Lord because he cares for us. Don’t just cast some things unto the Lord; don’t leave a few things at the foot of the cross; don’t leave a few things at the door; and don’t give God partials of things. NO, give the Lord all your anxieties and all your stresses and all your frustrations and all your worries. Give the Lord the good and the bad, the righteous and unrighteous, the triumphs and the trials, the messages and the mistakes. Give everything to the Lord because the Lord wants to take care of you.

When you return to the LORD and decide to give Him all the enemies in your life, you learn to not be “anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). You will receive “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, [and it] will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Furthermore, Matthew 6:34 asserts, “So do not worry about tomorrow…” When you return to the LORD, don’t be afraid to give Him everything—especially those things that are weighing you down. As He takes care of you, He will return to you. “The God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,” as Peter notes, “will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

 

Conclusion:

Considering the words of First of Peter and the invitation offered by Malachi, we are encouraged to return to the LORD so that the LORD may return to us. As we return to the LORD, we will find ourselves being saved from sinking and we will be able to walk on the rocks again toward the shoreline where Jesus is waiting for us. As we return to the LORD, the joy in our heart will be restored, our willingness to give praise the LORD will multiply and grow louder each day, we will accept that the LORD is our guardian, we will find ourselves standing not on sand but on the firm foundation of the LORD’s blessed assurance and amazing grace, and we will feel renewed when we give everything to him.

The LORD has invited you to return to Him, but are you willing to do that? There are multiple ways to return to the LORD: you could pray, give thanks more, read scripture more frequently, read a daily devotional, go for walks, observe God’s creation, spend time with those you love, take a weekend trip, read a new book, go shopping, play cards, be more honest, take breaks for yourself, smell flowers, or work on a project. There are many ways to return to the LORD, and I encourage you to find something each day that you can use to return to Him.

Also, you don’t have to wait until Sunday to return to the LORD. You can return to Him on a Monday, Wednesday evening, Thursday morning before the sun rises; we can return to Him while you driving somewhere, while you are in Walmart or the Dollar General, while you are on vacation, while you are out in the fields, while you are at work, while you are sitting at home, while you are working on a deck. The invite to return to the LORD is always there, but are you willing to receive that invite?

You can read story upon story of people returning to the LORD, but now it’s your turn. It’s your turn to return to the LORD. How are you going to do that? The Resurrection of Christ is your invitation to return to him: to be made new. Remember, Jesus is waiting to restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. So why make him wait. I encourage you this week to simply pray these words, “O Lord, help me return to you so that you may return to me.” Let it be so…

 

Closing Prayer:

Let Us Pray…Dear Gracious God, we thank you for the resurrection of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who reminds us each and every day that we have the opportunity to be resurrected ourselves—to return to you as you return to us. O Lord, help us to return to you so that we may experience joy, praise, receive your guardianship and firm foundation, and to be made whole again as we cast everything unto you. O Lord, we are ready to return to you today so that we are able to do your will tomorrow. All honor and glory is yours, now and forever, Amen.

 

Benediction:

Return to the LORD and the LORD will return to you. Knowing that you have been given this opportunity, may you not pass up the moment to pause and return to the LORD.  May you find ways this week to be blessed knowing that Jesus is waiting for you! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go out into the world knowing that you can return to the LORD and be made new. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.