Quote from Forum Archives on March 16, 2005, 10:28 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

STANDING TALL #7/9
LIFE EXPECTANCY
March 13, 2005

Text: Psalm 23

The longer I go in my walk with God, the more obvious it becomes that God
has a sense of humor. In fact, I think that I can get away with saying
that just as all love comes from God and then out to others, so all humor
comes from God and out to others. What is it I find so funny? Glad you
asked.

Because of the release of the movie The Passion of the Christ last year,
I chose to use resources from that movie for the development of sermon
themes during Lent 2004. As a result, I did not use any of the 50-Day
Spiritual Adventure material. Since I already had last year’s resources,
I decided to develop the themes about Standing Tall: Facing Fears that
Grip the Soul for this year’s season of Lent. As a result of this one
year’s delay, I get to preach on today’s theme, “Standing Tall Against
the Fear of Disease and Death” a mere four days after celebrating my 50th
birthday. Talk about timing.

The good news, I guess, is that I don’t feel any older - yet. However, if
you notice me becoming more forgetful, at least I’ll have an excuse to
give you. Give me a break; I’m fifty years old.

Another bit of humorous timing that caught my eye came a few days before
my birthday. The newspapers were reporting that the average life
expectancy of Americans is 77 years and some months. That’s supposed to
be good news because it is an increase. But why couldn’t I be thirty
years younger and see that? It would seem like even better news then. Oh
well, in spite of saturated fats, trans fats, and other pesky food
additives, we are living longer.

In spite of a few years additional longevity, though, the mortality rate
for humanity remains pegged at 100%. No wonder death can be such a large
human fear. It is inescapable. Not every human has to face financial
woes. Not every human has to personally face war or terrorism. Not all of
us have to face huge failures or disgrace. Those are some of our past
Spiritual Adventure themes. But we all have to face death, and it brings
fear to a lot of people. Woody Allen is reported to have said, “I don’t
want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through
not dying.” (quoted in “Sermon Illustrations,” Standing Tall: Facing
Fears That Grip the Soul, Wheaton, Illinois: Mainstay Church Resources,
2004, p. B171.) Well, he will not achieve it that way. I will share a
different perspective later in the sermon, so stand by for the rest of
the story.

Psalm 23 is appropriate to this theme of the fear of disease and death
because it teaches us how David stood tall against such fears. Recall how
David’s life as a young man went. After successfully facing the
Philistine giant Goliath and routing their army, David went on to other
military successes as a leader in King Saul’s army. So David faced the
fear of death on the field of combat. He was successful; so successful,
in fact, that his king became jealous of him and decided to get rid of
him. When the king failed at his first attempts, he pursued David. So
David faced the fear of death as a wanted man in his own country.
Eventually, David triumphed through God’s strength and became king of
Israel. But it wasn’t easy going for David then, either. Israel still had
enemies they had to protect themselves from, so David ventured out onto
the battlefields again. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like more
than enough adventure in one life to me.

Psalm 23 is a song of David. Because of his experience, he wrote, “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil, for you are with me…” Because of the reference to death, Psalm 23
is used frequently in funeral services. But the Hebrew word translated as
“death” here is not limited to the fear one may feel about physical
death. It refers to a deep, thick darkness or gloom of any cause. In
Psalm 107:10, the psalmist depicts the darkness and gloom experienced by
one who has rebelled against the Lord: “Some sat in darkness and the
deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains…” He goes on in verses
13 and 14 to share how God can turn even the darkest gloom into light
when the name of the Lord is called upon: “Then they cried to the Lord in
their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out
of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.” When we
cannot see any hope, no matter what the cause, the Hebrew would say that
we experience death. (Dr. John K. White, “Textual Observations: Psalm
23,“ Standing Tall: Facing Fears That Grip the Soul, Wheaton, Illinois:
Mainstay Church Resources, 2004, p. B171.)

Return to Psalm 23:4. Notice what David says that he will not fear. “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil…” He says that he will “fear no evil.” Even when surrounded by a
gloom and darkness so deep that it seems like death, or even when
surrounded by death itself, David sings that he will “fear no evil.” Why?
“For you are with me.” The “you,” of course, is God. God is with him.
God’s rod and God’s staff comfort him. Having been a shepherd, these
devices mean a lot to David. Rod and staff really refer to the same type
of instrument, so David’s use of both of them is redundant. It is poetic
use of repetition. In the context of shepherds and travelers in David’s
day, the rod or staff was the stout stick used for both protection and
support. It was used as a simple weapon to fight off wild animals
threatening the herd. Some staffs even had nails or similar objects
pounded into it so that it could be wielded like a club. Of course, when
not being used to fend off wild animals or thieves, the staff could be
used for support like a cane or walking stick. The staffs with the
crooked top could also be used to reign in a wandering sheep or reach
over a ledge to retrieve an animal that had fallen over. The rod or the
staff was a versatile, multi-functional device. No wonder that God’s rod
and God’s staff would bring so much comfort to David even if he had to
face the “valley of the shadow of death.” God would ward off any evil
that darkness and death might bring.

As comforting as the 23rd Psalm is, though, it still lacks a dimension
that was not available to King David. Make no mistake about it, disease
and death are enemies of humanity. Neither were present in the Garden of
Eden prior to man’s rebellion against God. Many of Jesus’ miracles
involve healing because Jesus came to fulfill the Kingdom of God. Disease
is simply non-existent in God’s Kingdom, for the Lord brings healing. In
our fallen world, though, it is an enemy we fear. So is death. Turn to 1
Corinthians 15:26. Paul writes simply about death: “The last enemy to be
destroyed is death.” Death is an enemy.

But here is where a New Testament and Old Testament distinction occurs.
David and other Old Testament writers could not point to the risen
Savior. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul has written, “But Christ has indeed
been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen
asleep.” We have been shown the victory that not even the beloved King
David was shown in his lifetime.

It is the knowledge of this victory that brings joy to Paul even in the
face of death itself. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55: “When the perishable has
been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then
the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up
in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your
sting?’” Turn to Philippians 1:21-23. The certain knowledge of Christ’s
victory led Paul to consider life and death one and the same. “For to me,
to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the
body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do
not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with
Christ, which is better by far…” Not only is Paul not concerned about the
“valley of the shadow of death,” he welcomes it as the avenue to be with
Christ. Romans 8:37-39. Little wonder, then, that he could rejoice in the
face of any event in his life and proclaim a confident victory: “No, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Hard
not to get excited when we hear Paul talking about it, is it? And this is
about death - a topic we usually avoid because of its unpleasantness to
us. But through Christ, not only do we not fear the evil of the valley of
the shadow of death; we do not fear the death itself. Friends, the rumor
is that the average life expectancy of Americans is 77 years some months,
but the truth of our life expectancy is captured by another well-known
Christian, Dwight L. Moody, who once preached, “My dear friends, if we
are in Christ we are never going to die… If sometime you should read that
D. L. Moody… is dead, don’t believe a word of it. He has gone up higher,
that is all.” (quoted in “Sermon Illustrations,“ Standing Tall: Facing
Fears That Grip the Soul, Wheaton, Illinois: Mainstay Church Resources,
2004, p. B172.)

Returning to our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure theme, “Standing Tall Against
the Fear of Disease and Death,” I invite you to look at this morning’s
journal insert. In addition to the daily Scripture studies, there is this
week’s Adventure application. Write your own epitaph and/or eulogy. In
other words, what memories would you want shared at your funeral? How do
you want to be remembered? Write this out and then take a look at it. In
order for something to be a memory about you, it has to be something you
have done and way you have lived. Does your eulogy say that you were kind
and gentle? Well, are you? Does it say that you were generous? Well, are
you? Does it say that you loved Jesus and lived for him? Well, do you?
Look at what you write in this exercise, and then live by those words.

The story about Alfred Nobel is well known, but it emphasizes the point
being made. It was his brother who died, but it was an obituary about
Alfred that got written in the paper. Quite a surprise, I’m sure, but it
changed his life. Much of the story about his life had to do with his
work with dynamite for which the Nobels had received fame and fortune.
Reading about it in his own obituary made Alfred recognize that much of
his life had been dedicated to something that destroys. He determined
from that point on to live the rest of his life pursuing peace. The Nobel
Peace Prize is still an award given today to honor men and women seeking
to work for peace in our world. Certainly a different story than what was
contained in his first obituary.

So it can be for us. Those who fear God and trust in Jesus Christ for
eternal life need not fear our mortal life expectancy. We combat the fear
of disease and death by focusing on the promise and the victory of the
resurrection. We combat the fear of disease and death by making the most
of the time we have left by doing all we can to honor God.

Easter Sunday is still a couple of weeks away, but Christians celebrate
the resurrection victory every Sunday. So we close this morning with the
resurrection hymn “He Lives!” As we sing this hymn, the only question you
need to ask yourself is a simple one, “Am I going to live with Jesus?” If
you cannot answer “yes,” if there is any uncertainty or fear, then you
need to know this: God loves us so much that He wants us to live forever
with Him. He wants us to be free not only from the fear of disease and
death; He wants us to be free from disease and death. Make this your
moment to believe and be saved. Don’t hold back; God’s love is now. He
lives!

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN