February 5, 2006

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Rise Up

Isaiah 40:21-31

I have some surprising news for you this morning.  You are not God, God controls the earth; he is on heaven’s throne, not the other way around.  Viewing God as under our control emerges from our practical theology.  In theory we say that God is in control of the universe, but in reality we think it to be us.  We bark orders at God, and call it prayer, expecting him to act as we instruct him to. 

We have reversed the order of things.  We have likened ourselves to being God and have made a god in our own image.  What we fail to realize is that God will not be defined by the limits we impose or by our expectations.  This is the God of the universe we’re dealing with after all.

We often think what happens in this life is somehow up to us to manage.  We face terrible difficulty and we think its up to us to get through it on our own.  Tragedy strikes and we think we can handle it.  We put on our Holy Spirit superhero cape and take matters into our own hands.  Who are we fooling?  Life is really tough.  There are things we can’t handle and it’s about time we get honest about it. 

It’s about time we accept that God is big, I mean really big.  If you don’t like the word big then maybe we can agree to use the word “great”.  Regardless whether you think God is great, or whether you think he’s big, or whether you think he’s great big you can find hope in knowing that nothing is beyond our God.   I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that I serve a really big God.  Bigger than any box I might attempt to keep him contained in.  Our God is, as we said last week, the ultimate authority of the universe.  He is Lord over heaven and earth, and we aren’t.

Today, we encounter a message of hope, a message about finding our strength for living in the right place, not in Oprah’s book of the month club or in the self-help rack at Barnes and Noble, but at the foot of God’s throne.  And that is precisely where the prophet Isaiah takes us this week.  Since we agree that we are often confronted by things in life that we aren’t big enough or strong enough to handle, we can also agree that God is our only sure hope.  He is our only true strength.  He alone knows what his plan for our lives is.  So shouldn’t we learn to trust the one who created us, established our feet on a good path, and has the strength to see us through anything in this life?

The problem is that we don’t realize what we were created for.  Kind of like the story Tony Campolo tells of a town where all the residents are ducks. Every Sunday the ducks waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church. They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, and then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible. He reads to them: "Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fences can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings, and you can fly like birds!" All the ducks shout, "Amen!" And then they all waddle home.

  Like those ducks, we can either settle on living lives that fail to reach their full potential or we can dedicate ourselves to learning how to fly.  This morning I want us to think of ourselves as eagles in training.  If our faith is going to take flight we have some important things to learn about flying.  As eagles in training, spiritual eagles, I thought it would be important for us to look at the science behind how eagles take flight. 

Eagle wings and feathers work together to make a perfect lightweight team. The feathers of a Bald Eagle have many functions, including keeping it warm. The feathers are perhaps the most important component of flight. An adult Bald Eagle has over 7000 feathers, but if you put all of them together they would weigh less than 21 ounces, or 30 feathers would weigh less then a penny. Not only are the feathers incredibly light, but also they are also strong.

If you put a feather under a microscope, you would see that tiny hooks hold each strand of the feather together. These hooks are called hook barbules; the parts that they hook onto are called bow barbules. All feathers are made up of a substance called keratin. Keratin is the same substance that makes up our fingernails. The way the feathers attach to the wing is also important in keeping the eagle light. The feathers overlap each other, which creates lots of air pockets between the feathers.

An eagle's feathers are divided up into different groups. Each group has its own special job that helps the eagle fly and soar.  On the wing there are three types of feathers; primary feathers, secondary feathers, and covert feathers.

Covert feathers add thickness to the front of the wing so air moves faster over the top of the wing.

Primary feathers can be spread out like fingers on a hand to reduce drag.

Secondary feathers move up or down to control the amount of drag.

The eagle's wings are very large and powerful, yet do not weigh it down. A female Bald Eagle can have wings that are eight feet in length, but weigh less than two pounds. The shape of the wing is long and wide, which allows the eagle to soar and glide. Broad wings allow the eagle to stay up in the air longer without pumping its wings. The shape of the wing also gives the eagle greater strength when it lifts its prey. Pound for pound, an eagle's wing is stronger than the wing of a jet plane.

Is your faith equipped for flight?  Or have the wings of your faith been clipped by the trials and difficulties you’re facing?  Are you floundering under the weight of the unnecessary spiritual baggage you choose to lug around with you?  Sometimes our experiences anchor us to the past, to our un-forgiveness, to our fears, and our anger.  But God never intended for you to carry the load.  He knew life would take its toll but he has made all of heaven’s resources available to us in Christ. 

Isaiah 40, the chapter this morning’s text is taken from, paints a wonderful picture of God’s loving care and provision.  He provides us with images of God tending to our needs like a shepherd does a flock of sheep.  Images of being gathered into the loving arms of the shepherd snuggled so close that we can literally feel the shepherd’s heart beat. 

Isaiah paints a beautifully intimate picture of God’s love for us and of his desire for intimacy with his creation.  In this place fear has no hope of creeping into our minds and hearts.  We know that we are safe and that nothing can happen to us as long as we are in the shepherd’s arms.  Our heavenly shepherd is pictured as gentle and kind, tender and forgiving, approachable and available to us in our time of need.

Despite the incredibly comforting imagery of this passage, Israel is in a desperate place.  They’ve been in exile in Babylon and more than anything else they want to be home.  They are on the verge of giving up altogether.  They are tempted to desert their faith in God.  They are losing hope and losing it fast.  Ever been there?  Ever been in a place so desperate and so discouraging that the thought of throwing in the towel became a very real possibility?  God has something to say to people who are at the end of their rope.  

Israel’s problem, which is often our problem, is that they seem to have forgotten who God is.  Isaiah 40 seems to be a defense of God’s identity and activity in the life of Israel.  The nation of Israel seems to have lost its identity as the chosen people of God.  But God has something to say to his forgetful and weary people.  He refuses to remain silent and is fiercely committed to being in a relationship with his creation.  And so the prophet, speaking the words of the LORD, reminds them who God is. 

The prophet begins by reminding them of God’s sovereignty.    Verse 14 reminds us that God acts without consultation from anyone.  He alone is sovereign in all his ways.  He doesn’t take orders from anyone.  God needs know instruction.  His mind is the creative power behind the universe.  He is the starting point of all knowledge and wisdom. 

Maybe they think God has dropped the ball and failed to carry out his promises.  Appearances being what they are, the reality remains: He alone is God and he alone is able to establish Israel as his covenant people.  There are no other gods to match him in power and might.  In verse 15 we are told that the nations of the world are like a drop in the bucket compared to God’s glory and greatness.  No idol, no matter how finely crafted by the artisans of the other nations, can compare with Israel’s God. 

As we pick up our text in 40:21-22 we see God seated on his throne overlooking the universe. From God’s heavenly perspective, human beings appear to be “like grasshoppers.”  This is a great visual giving us perspective on our human limitations and on the vastness of our God.  If the God who created the stars and put them in place is on the throne of heaven, why would we ever think that he is unaware of what’s going on in our lives. 

God’s power, provision, strength, and abilities never grow tired and are endlessly available to us, whereas there are limits to our power, our resources, our strength, and our abilities.  In comparison, we are quite literally powerless.  But if we learn to wait on him, taking confidence in his ability to care for us, we will be rewarded and we will see our faith take flight.   

There are several flight lessons we must master before we’ll ever see our faith get off the ground.  First, when our strength is running on empty, God calls us to rise up under the strength he provides.  Isaiah 40:29 reminds us, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”  God’s strength sustains and supports us through the difficulties of life.  God doesn’t leave us to navigate the difficult waters of suffering and pain on our own. 

God’s strength meets us at our weakest, most vulnerable point.  The point at which we are ready to give up is perhaps one of the most spiritually profound locations of the soul we can ever be.  It is precisely at this point a mysterious transaction of power occurs. 

As we acknowledge and confess our weakness, accepting that we are powerless to change our situation or circumstances on our own, and when we are emptied of pride and self-determination, then God’s power can become great in us.  When it appears that we have exhausted all of OUR options, when we just can’t do it anymore, the power of God is unleashed in our lives.

Our surrender makes room for God’s power to take over and be enough.  The Apostle Paul experienced this exchange of power in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 which says, “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. ⁸Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, ⁹but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong” (NRSV).

The second lesson in learning to fly is this: when the weight of life is breaking us apart, when our burdens are great, God calls us to rise up under the comfort he provides.  Spiritual burdens are extremely heavy.  The weight of concern and the accompanying effects on our lives can be overwhelming at times.  Often our problems take us to the breaking point.  Sometimes we wonder if we will ever make it back.  We know we should lay our burdens down, and we know we should learn to trust God with them, but for some reason we hang on.

We cling ferociously to the belief that somehow we have what it takes.  But we fool ourselves if we think some inner pool of human strength will miraculously break through if we just hold on long enough.  The problem is we put our faith in the wrong things.  Our hope is misdirected.

Isaiah 40:30 tells us that God knows humans get tired and fall in their weakness.  In those times of weakness, when we are weary-worn from the journey we must learn to trust and find comfort in his power.  He is the source of unlimited spiritual power carrying our lives through difficulty.  He alone gives our faith the strength it needs to soar above adversity.  No matter how hard we try to overcome adversity on our own, without the strength God gives us it will amount to a lot of wing flapping and very little flying.

Today, the God who knows you and loves you in the person of Jesus Christ invites you to lay your burdens down.  His arms are open and he is asking, “Will you let me carry you?  Will you let me comfort you?  Will you trust my strength to be enough?”  First Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you” (NRSV).

Knowing that we can depend on God’s strength and power to be sufficient over any burden in this life should be an infinite source of comfort for us.  When we lay our burdens at the foot of his throne we are entrusting them to the care of the God of the universe.  He is matchless in power and might. 

When we can’t go on in our own strength, we can trust his power and rise up under the comfort he provides knowing that our mighty God is on the job.  Regardless of the outcome we know that our lives are secure in him.  We are comforted knowing that we are in the palm of his hand and nothing we face exceeds the capacity of his mighty power.

Our final flying lesson is this: when you’ve waited on God to work and move in your situation until it seems like you can’t wait anymore, keep waiting and rise up under the confidence he provides.  God calls us to rise up, out of our despair and depression, out of our fear and anxiety and walk in the confidence he gives.

Too many believers fail to live victoriously learning to walk in the confidence of God because we trade away too much power to our problems.  We focus on our problems until they consume us.  We get impatient and we want God to act, we want to make something happen.  But our confidence in God’s ability grows when we learn to wait on him. 

Waiting on God can be difficult, but we are a people who value the lessons learned from waiting.  Waiting teaches us patience.  Waiting teaches us trust.  Waiting teaches us to listen.  Waiting teaches us to pray.  Waiting gives us confidence in God’s care for us.  God rewards those who wait on him, who firmly place their hope in the Lord.

What does God promise those who wait?  Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (NRSV).  Restoration is the reward of those who wait.  Waiting unleashes God’s power to restore and renew us, giving our faith the strength it needs to soar above adversity and stay focused on finishing the race.  Our faith takes flight, not on the basis of our own strength and courage, but when we are supported by the wind of his Spirit sustaining and strengthening us through the trial.

Not long before his death, Henri Nouwen wrote a book called Sabbatical Journeys. He writes about some friends of his who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Roudellas.

They told Nouwen there's a special relationship between flyer and catcher on the trapeze. The flyer is the one that lets go, and the catcher is the one that catches. As the flyer swings high above the crowd on the trapeze, the moment comes when he must let go. He arcs out into the air. His job is to remain as still as possible and wait for the strong hands of the catcher to pluck him from the air.

One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, "The flyer must never try to catch the catcher." The flyer must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him, but he must wait” (John Ortberg, from sermon "Waiting on God," Preaching Today #199).

This is the journey we must take.  On the trapeze of life we can either cling to what we know, the trapeze bar of human effort, or we can unclench our fists and fling ourselves into the trustworthy arms of our catcher.  This is an invitation to vulnerability and trust.  As we let go of the bar we must wait in absolute trust, that God our catcher will catch us.  The only question is: will you let go of the bar?

          The message of the prophet Isaiah is a message of hope for the hopeless.  He is calling Israel and us to remember that God is sovereign over all creation.  Nothing is too difficult for our God.  God calls us to rise up under the strength, comfort, and confidence he provides.  He teaches us how to have a faith that soars above adversity. 

So whatever you’re facing today, however long you’ve been facing it, however discouraged you are, however close you are to throwing in the towel remember: our God is good and great and his mighty power waits to be made strong in our weakness.  Let us pray.

Eli Dorman

eli.dorman@mulberrryumc.org