THE RISE AND FALL

Songs of the Heart:

“JOY IN THE MORNING!”<= o:p>

Psalm 30

God turns our mourning into dancing.

A sermon pr= eached by

Dr. William= O. (Bud) Reeves

First Unite= d Methodist Church

Hot Springs, Arkansas

July 5, 200= 9

It̵= 7;s a classic story, which means you may have heard it before, but a good story c= an always “bear” re-telling.

One day an atheist was walking through= the woods, admiring all the "accidents" that evolution had created. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> "What majestic trees! What pow= erful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself. Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charging towards him. He ran away as f= ast as he could up the path.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the grizzly was closing. He ran faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. = He looked again, and the bear was c= loser. His heart was pounding, and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but the bear was right over him, reaching f= or him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him. <= /span>

At that instant the atheist cried, &qu= ot;Oh my God!"

Immediately time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.=

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others that I don't exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accid= ent. Do you expect me to help you = out of this predicament? Am I now to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the l= ight and said, "I would feel like a hypocrite to become a Christian after a= ll these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"

"Very well," said the voice.=

The light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Amazingly, the bear dropped his rig= ht paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head, and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, make me truly thankful."= = [1]=

What ar= e you truly thankful for today? Of course, on July 4^th weekend, we are thankful for our country. We are thankful for the abundant blessings God has given America—natural resources, unparalleled economic prosperity (generally speaking), over 200 years of stable democratic government.&nbs= p; We give thanks for the leaders and followers who have sacrificed themselves to preserve our freedom, and even those who are doing so today.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> We are very thankful to be America= ns today.

Persona= lly, I am thankful for the blessings of God in my life. I have been privileged with wonder= ful parents that raised me, a great marriage, two fine sons and a daughter-in-law. I have a meaningful vocation. I have n= ever known hunger or homelessness. I have truly been blessed. Is a= nybody else feeling blessed today?

Today&#= 8217;s Psalm is a song of thanksgiving. The Psalmist is giving thanks to God for personal healing. As I read this psalm over and over, three questions kept coming to mind.

First, does God cause suffering?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Is God somehow behind the bad thin= gs that happen in our lives? It = would seem to be implied in words like “= His anger is but for a moment…” and “you hid your face: I was dismayed…”[2] Does God get angry with us and hid= e his face from us?

This is probably the thorniest, toughest theological problem in the whole Bible. People have argued about it for centuries. I plan to deal wit= h it in more detail in a couple of sermons this fall, but let me deal with it briefly today.

The Bib= le has several ideas on the cause of bad things that happen. Sometimes it is the judgment of Go= d. God is a God of justice, and evil that is not forgiven will be punished. It’s as simple as that.

Sometim= es suffering is a natural consequence of evil. We make choices; the choices bring consequences that we have to bear. Bad physical habits can cause disease. Dysfunctional relational habits ca= n ruin families and friendships. You= know what it means to suffer the consequences of your own sin. That’s how life works.

Sometim= es, suffering is totally innocent and unexplainable. Babies die. Sober people are victims of drunk drivers. Natural disasters ta= ke lives. We can’t compreh= end it much less explain it. It seems meaningless to us.

That= 217;s where faith comes in. We can’t always tell the difference between different kinds of suffering= . It’s a mystery. The only way to make sense of it a= ll is through faith. Faith says all= good things are gifts from God. Ev= ery pleasure, every joy, every friendship, every evidence of love and compassio= n, every positive thing in life is a gift from a God who loves us and wants the best for us. God is the Sourc= e of everything good.

Everyth= ing bad is an opportunity for us to grow closer to God. Whatever the tragedy, whatever the trouble, whatever the disease, whatever pain you experience, God can use th= at pain to open up doorways to growth and insight and blessing. This is what faith teaches us.

Romans = 8:28 is a great statement of this faith: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”[3] This verse is not saying that all = things are good; clearly they are not. But the truth is, even in the most horrible and tragic circumstances, there is = the possibility of faith, hope, and even joy. God can bring good out of evil.

Just a = week ago Wednesday, Ed Thomas, age 58, was working with his football players in the weight room in Parkersburg, Iowa. Ed had been the coach in the tiny = town of Parkersburg for over 30 years. He had won= two state championships, and in 2005, he was named the NFL High School Coach of= the Year. Four active pro players= came from Ed’s program. But = on that Wednesday morning, a 24-year-old former football player with a mental disorder walked into the weight room and shot Ed Thomas dead.

In this= little Iowa town of two thousand, twenty-five hundred people showed up for Ed Thomas’ funeral—30 years of former athletes and friends. His pastor said, “Though Ed is gone, what he would've wa= nted you to know first and foremost today was the message of the gospel—the message that though you have failed, sinned and blown it, and we have all d= one that at one time or another, …he would want you to know that God is a gracious God."[4]

Ed Thomas’s son Aaron spoke at t= he funeral in words the Psalmist would appreciate: “You can be sad the r= est of the day, but come tomorrow, once you wake up, it’s time to get goi= ng. [That’s] the way my dad’s memory is going to live… There&= #8217;s not one of us here who can be Ed Thomas, but this can be a better place tha= n it was with Ed Thomas. For that = to happen, it’s gotta come from each one of you.”[5]= Weeping may linger for the night, = but joy comes in the morning.

The second question this psalm raises for me is “What’s the bottom line?” Is life just a series of painful, t= ragic events? Is it a losing proposition? What can we expe= ct out of life?

The Psalmist is very clear about this answer: “his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger = for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”[6]= On balance there will be more= joy than sorrow, and the pain we experience today will eventually give way to t= he bright hope of tomorrow.

Jesus, who certainly knew what it mean= t to suffer, offered this promise to his disciples the night before he went to t= he cross: “Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the w= orld will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. …= So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, = and no one will take your joy from you.” [7]= For people of faith, crucifixion b= ecomes resurrection, death gives way to life, tragedy turns to triumph, and weeping becomes joy in the morning.

Isn’t it amazing that sometimes = the people you would expect to be bitter from the blows of life are the most jo= yful ones of all?

Nancy Ortberg is a pastor who was a nu= rse in her first career. One of her earliest patients was a 14-year-old girl who had been injured in a dirt-bike accident. As a result, her le= g had been amputated below the knee. Nancy was prepare= d for a very depressed and angry teenaged girl, but when she found her patient in t= he whirlpool bath in physical therapy, she found a fellow Christian with a joy= ful attitude. The girl even lifte= d her shortened leg out of the bubbling water and said, “Look how much I ha= ve left!” Then she began t= o talk about getting her prosthesis, getting well, and getting back to her normal activities. She wasn’t ignoring her difficulties, but she was truly grateful for what she had left= . [8]=

The question is, “What’s t= he bottom line?” The answe= r is, suffering is temporary, joy is eternal.&nb= sp; Trouble is inevitable, but misery is optional. Happiness is always a possibility.=

So my third question of this text is, “What is our response?” Given the goodness of God and his h= ealing power, his steadfast love in times of trouble, what do we say in response?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The Psalmist responds in gratitude= and praise: “Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and gi= ve thanks to his holy name. …You have turned my mourni= ng into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so t= hat my soul may praise you and not be silent.&= nbsp; O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.”[9]=

The proper response for anyone who has experienced the grace and healing of God is to praise and give thanks to God. Hebrews 12:28 says, &quo= t;Let us be thankful, and so worship God." Nancy Ortberg says, “Our gratitude, our thankfulness, is a way in which we worship God. We can sing, and that is worship. W= e can say thank you, and that is worship.”[10]

During the darkest days of the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the gifted lawyer and orator Clarence Darrow was making a speech to an African-American church in = Chicago. Most of the congregation was desperately poor. There were = no jobs to be had; Social Security was an idea in its infancy; and there were = few signs of hope.

Darrow recounted the troubles they were facing, but then remarked how joyfully the congregation sang. Then he asked the pointed question, “What do you have to sing about?” It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but an elderly sister jumped to her feet and shouted, “We h= ave Jesus to sing about!”

No matter what difficulties we face to= day, we still have Jesus to sing about. We can still praise God and give him thanks. When all is said and done, and our= life has played its final note, we still have this promise: our sorrow will turn= to joy, and we’ll sing the praise of Jesus into eternity.

If you visit a cemetery in Denmark, you’ll probably see on some of the tombstones there the three-letter = word “Dak.” The word in Danish means “thanks.” What a great word to end your life with! Commenting on that word, Annie Dil= lard wrote, “I would like to imagine that the dying pray, at the last, not= ‘please’ but ‘thank you’ …simply for the privilege of being invite= d to the party.”[11]

We are thankful today because we have = been invited to the party of life, the celebration of God’s grace. In fact, refreshments are about to= be served. Come to the Lord̵= 7;s Table, and refresh your spirit. Turn your mourning into dancing. G= ive thanks, and live! Amen!<= /o:p>

&n= bsp;