Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
In our psalm this morning, we hear about some of of the thought times we all
face. The enemies that ride over us. The fire and water we have to face. Those
dark times were we face difficult things that threaten our lives, and often times
our very relationship with God.
The times that effect our relationship with God are often the hardest. They are the times that the evil one tests us in the most excruciating ways. These are the times we refer to as Spiritual Warfare.
Sometimes these bouts of Spiritual Warfare come at key moments of our lives. For me, they have often come at key moments during the discerning of my call to ordained ministry. As I've tried to move closer to God in relationship with Him.
Most of these bouts have been simple tests of my faith. They were times when I experienced doubts. Doubts that God was there. But thanks to the gift God has given me of stubbornness, the shear will to hang on during my times of doubt, I have been able to continue to hold onto faith. I was able to see that God was there and that He was fighting for my faith alongside with me.
Most of these times I didn't know I was undergoing Spiritual Warfare. Because a lot of times it's very subtle. Sometimes there are big moments. Moments where we feel alone with enemies trampling over me. Where we well the fire surrounding us and water was coming up to our heads. Where we feel trapped.
And sometimes, Spiritual Warfare comes in the form of what seems to be an ordinary good old fashioned awful day where everything goes wrong.
I had one of these during Lent one year. This Lent was going really well for me. I had come up with a prayer routine that made me feel closer to God than I have ever been through my reading of Scripture, journaling, praying, and other things.
But I was also trying to finish my applications for seminary. And in the midst of my doing so, my computer broke down.
During this time, all I had left was my phone. And one day, after our Wednesday service at St. Peter's in Helena, I noticed it was missing.
I did everything you are supposed to do. I retraced my steps, starting with the last
place I remembered seeing it.
The times that effect our relationship with God are often the hardest. They are the times that the evil one tests us in the most excruciating ways. These are the times we refer to as Spiritual Warfare.
Sometimes these bouts of Spiritual Warfare come at key moments of our lives. For me, they have often come at key moments during the discerning of my call to ordained ministry. As I've tried to move closer to God in relationship with Him.
Most of these bouts have been simple tests of my faith. They were times when I experienced doubts. Doubts that God was there. But thanks to the gift God has given me of stubbornness, the shear will to hang on during my times of doubt, I have been able to continue to hold onto faith. I was able to see that God was there and that He was fighting for my faith alongside with me.
Most of these times I didn't know I was undergoing Spiritual Warfare. Because a lot of times it's very subtle. Sometimes there are big moments. Moments where we feel alone with enemies trampling over me. Where we well the fire surrounding us and water was coming up to our heads. Where we feel trapped.
And sometimes, Spiritual Warfare comes in the form of what seems to be an ordinary good old fashioned awful day where everything goes wrong.
I had one of these during Lent one year. This Lent was going really well for me. I had come up with a prayer routine that made me feel closer to God than I have ever been through my reading of Scripture, journaling, praying, and other things.
But I was also trying to finish my applications for seminary. And in the midst of my doing so, my computer broke down.
During this time, all I had left was my phone. And one day, after our Wednesday service at St. Peter's in Helena, I noticed it was missing.
I combed the entire place twice. Maybe three times. And while bending down to find my phone, my brand new pants I had gotten for Christmas broke in a very unfortunate place. It was already the afternoon. And youth group would be starting in a few hours. I was the only one who would be there to let the parents in to drop of dinner for the group. And now I had to go home and change.
In the midst of coordinating all this without my computer and without my smartphone, I was able to reach out to Heidi Kinner, my boss at the time. And she said something like, "I think the devil is out to get you today." She offered her condolences, her acceptance that I was having a tough time, and her prayers and support to get me through.
And it was true that this was a bout of Spiritual Warfare. All the work I had done to get closer to God that Lent was unraveling. I wasn't focused on Him anymore. I was focused on everything else going on. I wasn't even thinking about the real reason why I needed to get my phone back. Or go and change my pants. Or get everything for youth group and my seminary applications done. I forgot that it was all about Him.
I did get my phone back by the way. It was in taking that moment to center
myself back in God's presence that I realized my phone cover looked very much
like another person's at the service that day. It turned out she was having a bad
day too. She had given up coffee for Lent and was mourning the first year after
her husband's death.
It's the little things that happen that turn our lives upside down sometimes. It's
the little things that make it seem like God is not there listening to us.
But these are also the times when we can see that God is very near to us. Because when we reach out, as I did to Heidi and others that day, we find that even when enemies are all around us, we still have those around us who are willing to grab our hand. Who are willing to support us and remind us that God is there to help us in our spiritual battles.
This is the lesson we learn in the psalm this morning as well. That God is with us in our struggles. That He is there to lead us to the refreshing places after we make it through our most difficult times. That He will turn our sorrow into joy so much so that we will offer incense and our sacrifice of praise to Him forever.
But these are also the times when we can see that God is very near to us. Because when we reach out, as I did to Heidi and others that day, we find that even when enemies are all around us, we still have those around us who are willing to grab our hand. Who are willing to support us and remind us that God is there to help us in our spiritual battles.
This is the lesson we learn in the psalm this morning as well. That God is with us in our struggles. That He is there to lead us to the refreshing places after we make it through our most difficult times. That He will turn our sorrow into joy so much so that we will offer incense and our sacrifice of praise to Him forever.
There is also the truth that we hear in 1 Peter this morning. That Jesus suffered for our sins. That He knows what it is like to suffer, to suffer even death itself. And so we know that if we need someone to turn to, we can turn to Him.
And at the very heart of all this is the lesson we learn from the Gospel this morning. That Jesus will never abandon us. That He has given to us an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with us always. To guide us and comfort us. We are never alone in any of our struggles because God Himself is always with us and in us.
A priest I once knew once said that she believed that there was an intelligent, malevolent force of evil in the world. That is because there is. And this evil one wishes to keep us from God. It often engages us in Spiritual Warfare, whether we see it at the time or not, to separate us from the One who truly loves us. The God who was willing to become human to save us.
But even in the worst of our Spiritual Warfare, we know that God is there for us. We know from our Scripture this morning that He is always with us. He knows what it is like to suffer, and so He is there to suffer along with us in our troubles. He is there to support and pick us back up. And most importantly, He is there to guide us away from our troubles into the refreshing places of life and peace.