“Vacation -2010”
Psalm 113
Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.
Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.
This chapter begins and ends with “Praise the Lord!” And that is what I want to do this morning. My heart is filled with love and gratitude for the Lord. I realize maybe just a little bit – how good he has been to me. Back in the Old Testament days God would often have his people do something to remind them of some significant spiritual event. He started it out by making a rainbow to remind us of his love and blessing. He directed them to celebrate and have feasts to remember His love and protection. A number of times God directed His people to pile up stones as a memorial – to remind them of God’s goodness. In Joshua 4 we find one example.
1 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’”
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”
8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
This year, as I walked the roads that I walked as a boy, and swam in the lakes I swam in as a boy, and fished in the places I fished as a boy, I had my grandsons and granddaughter with me. The old road in Wirt was still dirt. Clear Lake was still clear and our old house was still standing. One of my cousins had recently bought it from another relative who bought it from my dad.
Family is always a big thing back home. Again, our vacation was only possible due to the kindness and generosity of my cousin, Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. In appreciation, I took all his money in Texas hold’em. I think I might have bested him in the shoot out, too – at least that is what I want to think.
We stayed with my mom for a week and used my sister’s vacation home for a week. My mom, my brother and his family and my niece and her family worshipped with us each week in the old Nazarene church I grew up in. It was my privilege to lead worship in the old church where I was a member of the youth group. I asked a fellow member of that youth group, Shirley Ruff, to help me sing. God really blessed worship and the presence of the Lord was so sweet. Pastor Paul is doing a wonderful job of ministering to the church and especially to my family.
And again it was my privilege to baptize and dedicate some of my family to the Lord. A few years ago, my brother Mark, who has since passed away, asked me to baptize him and his son, Ethan Andrew. I did. Then the following year I baptized his other son, John, and his daughter Molly, and a friend. This year it was my privilege to pray the prayer of repentance with four of my brother Sam’s grandchildren - two of my grandnieces and two grandnephews - and then baptize them, along with Molly’s husband, in the same spot I baptized Mark. I also dedicated her three boys to the Lord as well. I think that topped the fishing, 4 wheeling, Barbecues, shooting, card playing and all the other fun we had. That was eternal – the other temporal.
The kids had so much fun. The first three days Nate and Caleb and I went fishing. We even fished in the same spot on Clear Lake that I first remember fishing. It seemed like the fish I caught 50 years ago were a lot bigger – but those blue gill, sun fish and bass seemed pretty big to the boys, too. I even caught a nice walleye. But that spot in the lake, just off the dock of the Sure Game Resort is one of those memory places. I didn’t pile up rocks there – but it is indelibly etched in my memory banks forever. When things stress me out I can go back there in my mind and remember the goodness of God, fishing with my grandsons, and old Mel Newman, on a calm clear lake. And by the way, the Newman’s are long gone. But old Mel, took a young boy fishing for blue gill on clear lake and that boy has never forgotten it and has never stopped blessing Mel for doing that. You never know what good you do when you do some little kindness for someone. Don’t forget to do those random acts of kindness – especially for kids.
Another place of remembrance is the old Wirt Cemetery. I showed the kids where their great, great grandfather and great, great grandmother and a host of other relatives are buried. I showed them the two spots I had purchased for my family.
We attended a memorial service for my cousin John and my Aunt Joyce, that first week. John was the same age as me and my best friend as a kid. But PTS from two tours in Viet Nam and drinking and drugs took his life early. Just another reason I hate drugs and booze so much.
My preacher uncle, Tom, and my preacher brother, Fred, gave the Eulogy. One of them said that on our tombstone is the date of our birth and the date of our death and separating them is a dash. But, oh, what significance that dash has! Our whole life is summed up in that one little dash.
Those dashes in the old Wirt cemetery hold a lot of living and memories in them. My Mom couldn’t hold it together when we came to my brother Mark’s tombstone. She broke down and wept. Nate, with trembling lip, whispers, “Grandpa, why does she have to cry?” I said, “Because that’s her son who died. She loved him very much.”
I have prayed over many coffins, in my years as a pastor, with no one there to mourn or weep over it and the one inside. Live your life in such a way that you will be missed when you are gone.
One of the fun things we did on vacation was to go to a real Pow Wow on an Indian reservation and watch my two nephews, B.J. and Edwin and my niece, Anna, dance in it. They were all dressed up in their regalia. My sister, Wendy, who is a nurse, may have saved a man’s life that was having a heart attack. She took control and insisted on calling 911 and comforted him until the ambulance got there.
We sat around camp fires and told stores and remembered things – that probably didn’t happen in exactly that way. I showed them how to get a charcoal fire going with a leaf blower. I think they put me on facebook with that one. Anyway, we had a great time. And lest you are afraid we had so much fun and might move there – let me mention the mosquitoes and deerflies and horseflies and wood ticks and leeches. We all experienced crawling wood ticks, even when they weren’t there. Caleb got to experience Minnesota leeches and we all learned Minnesota mosquitoes love California blood. No thank you, we will just visit occasionally. And don’t even let me get started on the plane ride home. We missed our flight, due to a two hour inspection by the FAA. Ever spend hours and hours in an airport with 3 kids? Never want to do THAT again!
Let me end this little talk with our beginning Scripture. Those last verses are such a blessing to me. God’s Word says,
Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of their people.
I know that God looks down from heaven at you and me. I have experienced it. When I was a young man, living in sin, I felt I was all alone. I didn’t feel like anyone cared about me. I hated living in poverty stricken Wirt. No phones, no tv, no electricity, no indoor plumbing. I hated going to school with ragged clothes and having the other kids look down on me. It made me angry and fighting was the only way I felt people would respect me. I developed a great big inferiority complex and felt like the world had thrown me out on the old slop pile, the old garbage dump, the manure pile of life. And I was. It did. But God, in gentleness and grace, picked me up, cleaned me up, and set me with the leaders of my people. I am so blessed by God’s grace. God doesn’t just want to forgive you of your sins – He wants to FREE you from sin. God doesn’t just want to forgive you of your sin – He wants to cleanse you of them, 1 John 1:9 says. God doesn’t just want to give you life – He wants to give you ABUNDANT life! John 10:10 says. God doesn’t want to just save you – He wants to sanctify you for His service.
All those things I hated once - God has turned out for good. I am grateful that I was raised in poverty. I am grateful I went through the pain I did. It makes me love the Lord just that much more. All the good I do and all that I achieve in this life and all the blessings I enjoy is from God. I don’t serve Him to be saved – I serve Him BECAUSE I am saved. I don’t do good works out of fear – I do good works out of gratitude. I don’t abstain from tobacco or alcohol or drugs or sexual permissiveness to win God’s approval. I already have that. I do it to please Him. God’s Word says,
“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Phil 1:27
“Finally, brothers… Aim for perfection…” 2 Corinthians 13:11
Nobody is perfect. I will never reach perfection of actions. But that doesn’t stop me from trying. If I aim for it – even if I don’t achieve it – I will do a little better for having tried. It reminds me of our shoot out. No one said, “I’m a shooter. I’ll just shoot wherever I want. The important thing is I am a shooter.”
No! Everyone aimed for the bullseye. Everyone aimed for perfection. No one achieved it. But some came closer than others. Aim for perfection in all you do – this is God’s will for you.
God has been so good to me. He has blessed my life. May the last words I utter on my death bed be the words of this psalm - “Praise the Lord”.
God wants to take you from the garbage pit to the palace, too. But you have to be willing. Do you want to leave the slop and the stench? God loves you. You are His beloved child. He is reaching His hand down to you. A lot of people cling to the slop and are content to live in the stench of sin. It is familiar. They seem to be in control of their life there. They have developed an attachment to the slop – the booze, tobacco, and drugs. And they will live and die in that manure pile. But you don’t have to. If you want out and up – pray a prayer like this:
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for loving me. I am so unworthy of your goodness and mercy. But as you directed me, I am asking for forgiveness. Forgive me and cleanse me. Equip me and use me. I give my life to you.
