The God Who Refreshes - Part 1

Bryan Chapell: The God who made the heavens is not somehow sitting at the end of some spiritual pipeline that you construct only with appropriate thee's and thou's. But the God who made the stars understands your addiction. The God who made the stars understands your body. And we are not denying the reality of what we struggle with when we say we approach a God who controls the universe and knows the swallows and knows your soul.
Announcer: So glad you joined us for today's Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. In today's episode, Pastor Bryan shares a lesson from Psalm 84. Dr. Chapell reminds us of God's love and provision, that just as the Lord cares for even the sparrow and swallow, he extends his grace to us. You can find this lesson and many others when you visit UnlimitedGrace.com. And while you're there, look for Pastor Bryan's book, The Promises of Grace. Dr. Chapell offers a careful look at the beauty of grace and all it brings to believers. These blessings come with the understanding that because we cannot hang on to God, he hangs on to us. Let's hear now from Dr. Bryan Chapell as he shares the lesson, the God who refreshes.
Bryan Chapell: A little bird stole my sermon. It actually happened with some frequency at a church that Kathy and I ministered in in Southern Illinois some years ago. It was a historic church in an old building over 100 years old, which means there were a few cracks in the seams everywhere and there. And one of the particular cracks was where the vertical exterior wall met the eaves to the roof so that little birds could crawl into that crack and then because inside the wall it was too narrow to fly they would fall all the way to the floor level and begin to work their way toward the light, which typically was the nearest grate of the registers in the floor of the sanctuary. Which meant that at any time in the worship service, even the most poignant point in the sermon, suddenly you would hear this little flurry of a frenzied bird's wings and the bird would pop up into the sanctuary and would fly from window casement to chandelier to balcony rail to chandelier to and the sermon was just done at that point. I mean nobody was paying any attention to me. I think I tried one time to compete with the bird, and then it was just done. Let's just have the benediction, this is over. The Psalmist is a better sermonizer than I because the birds in this Psalm do not steal the sermon, they are the sermon. In particular a sparrow catches the eye of the Psalmist and that's kind of cute in a way but also a little curious because a sparrow is kind of small and insignificant and a little bit trashy. So you wonder why the Psalmist is paying so much attention to sparrows. And the answer has to be because we gain our hope by recognizing that God even has a place for sparrows, even in his house. Though small and insignificant and a little bit trashy, though caught in the cracks and lost in the darkness, if God cares for them then maybe there's a place for us. And that has to be the case for those of us who have experienced enough of the cracks in our lives and the darkness of our journey that we wonder if we can trust God after trouble. Is he real enough for a realistic world? And the Psalmist answers that question just by pointing first to a sparrow, and then to a pilgrim, and then to a doorkeeper. Each one telling us that God is real enough for a real world. The first message is just about sparrows and if you could take the journey with the Psalmist it begins in verse 1. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. You can almost imagine a person walking into the ancient temple and looking about and saying, "Wow, how lovely is this temple." And then beginning to recognize in that loveliness the cry of one's own heart. My heart and my soul cry out for the God of whatever this is to be real, to the living God. That's what I want to know, that's who I want to know. I actually want to believe that the God of a lovely place can be living and real enough for my life. But then something catches the writer's attention. Verse 3, "Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself." Even the sparrow is taken care of in this place and as inappropriate as it may seem to talk about it, it comforts the one who is seeing things. Even a sparrow has a home here. Of course it's the ancient days, there wasn't HVAC, there weren't screens on the windows. So even in the temple with all its paneling and embroidered curtains and priest robes, the birds came in. And the Psalmist just says even the sparrow has a place for its young here, builds a nest here. Now you have to think about what's happening. He's in a place of worship but he's thinking about little birds. Now I know this never happens to any of you but occasionally when I listen to other people's sermons my mind wanders a little bit. And I can remember some years ago being in a church service where I was thinking about other things, translation, worried about other things. Sitting by a window and just kind of getting lost in my thought and worry and then a little motion up toward the eaves outside the window caught my eye and I watched a sparrow with a nest go back and forth taking care of its young. And knowing this Psalm it came back to my mind, if even a sparrow has a place under God's roof taking care of its young, God has a care for me too. If he takes care even of the sparrows, surely he has a place for me as well. It's a simple truth, you know it if you can remember it in the moments you need to. "Why should I be discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home? When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me. His eye is on the sparrow and I know he cares for me." I actually want to believe that and know it's hard at times. Maybe Jesus knew it too, which is why he said, "Don't you sell two sparrows for a penny? And yet your heavenly Father knows when even one of them would fall to the ground. Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows." I need to remember that and you do too that the things that we think of as being worthless, insignificant, the ones who are a little bit trashy and messed up are the ones that God has a place for. And that message comes even closer as the verse talks not just about sparrows but swallows. Verse 3, "And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God." If the sparrow is indicative of those who feel worthless, the swallow, those who are just restless, right? What does a swallow do? Flits from here to there, here to there, here to there, and yet builds a nest out of mud and straw and as the Psalmist sees it right against the altar of the Lord. The very place where the most holy and important things that the nation of Israel could do to make itself right with God. There is the swallow with its mud and straw nest taking care of its young and God makes a place for it, even at the altar. I wonder if that meant something to the ancient Israelites as they thought that God had redeemed them from making mud and straw bricks from slavery in Egypt as the way that they had to make their own way in the world. And now God is still saying to them, "You know even the swallow with its mud and straw is cared for by me. Do not doubt your own care." It's hard to do at times. We sometimes think more easily of the God of the vastness. Last time I talked to you about how God has made the universe with so many stars that the stars actually according to the scientists number even more than the grains of sand in all the earth's deserts and beaches. Just incredible. But that vastness still doesn't compare to the reality that there are more molecules in ten drops of water than all of those stars. Just ten drops. And God puts that all together too as though the vastness is measurement of his greatness and goodness but so also is the minuteness. And if God is saying, "Listen, I don't just care for the host, O Lord God of hosts, but I also care for the sparrows and the swallows." That there is a science of the universe that's great but it's also important to remember the science of the swallows. That too is to be comforting our hearts. I wish somebody had spoken of that science to a Christian metal band known as The Order of Elijah. Some of you may know that just a few weeks ago this Christian metal band playing what's known as Jesus metal ended up denying the faith. Renouncing faith in Jesus Christ. And listen, if heavy metal is not your style, you may simply say, "Well what do you expect from that kind of music." It's not really fair. As I actually read the testimony now of the head vocalist of that band, I see something very different than just music style that led down a hard and difficult path. Something different and deeper and quite a bit sadder. This is what the vocalist of The Order of Elijah wrote. "About a year after our daughter was born, I could easily say that was the hardest year of life I ever had. After five years of being sober, I found myself drowning in alcohol again every night." "I decided to return to church in search of inner solace, and I was welcomed with open arms." And then the blog goes on to talk about matters of hypocrisy and illogic and in candor the young man's own misunderstanding of some things. But he concludes this way. "After a few months, I read about the science of addiction and life trauma. I stopped trying to pray my alcoholism away and began combating it with real methods. I began confronting my problems head-on rather than giving them to God. I became very interested in researching science and the culture of other religions. I eventually completely gave up alcohol, got my health back, enrolled in college. I'm proud to say that I have a 3.75 GPA." I wish somebody had said, the science of God does not deny the science of this world. That the God who made the heavens is not somehow sitting at the end of some spiritual pipeline that you construct only with appropriate thee's and thou's. But the God who made the stars understands your addiction. The God who made the stars understands your body. And we are not denying the reality of what we struggle with when we say we approach a God who controls the universe and knows the swallows and knows your soul. All of that. That the angle of the earth's orbit is not somehow contradictory to the love of a man and a woman. That those are both realities, yet both are ultimately ruled and controlled and made best by the will of God in them. And that reality that we have a science of nature and we have a God of science and we have a science of the soul are not contradictory things, being all put into the employ of a God of all creation who intends to nurture our souls by what he knows is right and good even of the creation he has made. These things do not have to be denied. Our God knows us and knows our world and gives us access to both. That in trusting him might turn to what he has made as well as to the God who makes them for the help that we need. The goal of scripture is not to divorce God from the real world, but to remind us he is the God of the real world. My heart and my flesh cry out to the living God. Not some sort of icon or idolatry or imagination. The real in my life active, not passive, present person who created the stars and cares for the swallows. Who knows the magnitude of creation and knows the minute needs of my body and soul. That's who I want, that's who my heart and soul cry out for, that God. And that is the God that the scriptures are presenting to us and yet so honestly to say, and yet it's hard for us to believe that at times.
Announcer: You're listening to Unlimited Grace, the audio broadcast ministry of pastor and author Bryan Chapell. Have you thought about the fullness of God's grace and the role that it plays in your life? You can hear and understand that you are saved by grace. But what other spiritual benefits can an understanding of God reveal? And what has God promised to believers that his grace will provide? In the book The Promises of Grace, Pastor Bryan offers a careful look at the beauty of grace and all it brings to you as a believer. God's word does not promise more money and fewer headaches, but his grace provides a confidence in our relationship with him. Pastor Bryan wants to help you focus on the promises that you can expect God to fulfill. Promises of assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and perseverance in trial. You can request your copy of The Promises of Grace when you go online at UnlimitedGrace.com or by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. And now, more from Bryan Chapell on today's Unlimited Grace.
Bryan Chapell: How can I believe in a God who says he cares for the stars and the swallows when I'm going through this valley right now? And for that reason the Psalmist doesn't just talk about the sparrows, he talks about pilgrims. And I'm not talking about the ones who have buckles on their black hats and teach us to eat turkey at Thanksgiving. I'm talking about the pilgrims of Israel's time. Remember in the tradition of that time, if you were being faithful you made your annual sojourns to the temple in Jerusalem from wherever you lived in other parts of the country, even in other countries. To honor God according to the worship that he required. And yet even the Psalmist says that was not the easiest thing in a real world with real life. The subject of the pilgrims begins in verse 5. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose heart are the highway to Zion. There are those people whose heart truly desires to go along the highway to the place of God's worship, to Zion. And it's not just a physical highway he's saying, there are those hearts of God's people who want him, who yearn for him, who want to see him in Zion. That's good, hearts turned toward God. But what can happen even to them? Verse 6. Their heart is the highway to Zion, as they go through the valley of Baca, they make it, the pilgrims, a place of springs. Revelation. There's no such thing as a valley of Baca in a real geographical place. The word "baca" means weeping. Their heart is a highway to God. They're seeking to be that pilgrim making their way to the worship of God and yet as they're seeking to do the right thing, seeking to honor God, their journey takes them through a valley of tears and of weeping. It's the real word for a real world that says just because you're trying to do the right thing, just because you're seeking after God, doesn't mean all tears go away. Even those who are on the highway of holiness to the place of worship have to go through the valley of Baca, of weeping. And yet as that is said, that reality is put in front of us, there are the amazing words that follow in verse 6, they make it, the pilgrims, a place of springs. It's visually part of the poetry of the hymn that's here, right? That as they are weeping, that their tears are virtually causing springs to well up in this desert valley. As though God is saying the tears themselves have a purpose. It can be really tough but the tears are welling up to a good and better purpose. Maybe even better said toward the end of verse 6, the early rain also covers it with pools. As though you start out on your journey and you go, "Oh no, it's going to rain." But the rain in the desert creates the pools, the reservoirs that are needed for the journey through the desert. That the things that we once see as the early rain that's messing us up, messing up our lives, messing up our families, that God is saying actually those are the pools, the reservoirs of faith and goodness and purpose and providence that God is preparing for the journey that's ahead. So much so that he would actually say in verse 7, they, those pilgrims, go from strength to strength, each one appears before God in Zion. That there is this amazing process of God as he is preparing for eternal things. That the journey with its tears is actually preparing the reservoirs of water and nourishment spiritually that are needed for the full journey. So you start out seeking God with the strength of the moment, but then the tears and the weeping and the struggles are actually creating the greater strength that is needed for the full journey as strength goes to strength in the plan and purpose of God. Hard to believe, of course it's hard to believe. And yet over and over again we begin to recognize how faith that is not tested at all is not trustworthy at all. And in a real world you need a faith that is trustworthy. If faith has never been tested, it's not strong enough for the real world that we have to face. A broken world, a fallen world in which there are real tragedies and troubles that we can't always explain. And so God is saying the early rain is not without purpose, not without plan. Actually providing the reservoir that is needed for the full journey. What would seem to break you is actually making you stronger for the full journey. This church staff a few weeks ago went on a little excursion to the Caterpillar testing and research center in Mossville where so many of you work and spend your lives working at Caterpillar. And just wanted to see some of what that was about and one of the things that captured my attention was the place where pistons are made, or at least tested, for these huge, huge engines of almost incomprehensible power. And I looked at where the pistons are put together, manufactured and then put together, where there's this amazing, large, depending on the engine, this large piston head with its large shaft beneath it. Taking such stresses upon it where the engine is under pressure that the shaft is going to break. It just cannot withhold the pressures. And so what is done to create the proper shaft strength for that large piston head is that shaft is put under immense cold, scored, and broken. And then repaired with bolts around it, knowing this, if you just cut the shaft smooth that the bolts could not hold it for the immense pressures it would be under. And so there is intentionally created a unique break where that which is rough binds against which is rough beneath it and when you bolt that together, it's stronger than it would ever have been without the test that it has gone through. That the testing actually makes it sufficiently strong for the job that it has to do. Why make so much about weeping and breaks? Because life is real.
Announcer: That's Pastor Bryan Chapell and you've been listening to Unlimited Grace. If you've been blessed by this message and would like to hear more from Dr. Chapell, I would encourage you to visit UnlimitedGrace.com. In addition to messages from Pastor Bryan, you can explore the many sermons, podcasts, seminars and more available to you. Also, be sure to request a copy of the book from Dr. Bryan Chapell called The Promises of Grace. We'll send you a copy right away as our way of saying thank you for your most generous financial support. Once again, go to UnlimitedGrace.com or you can give by calling 844-41-GRACE. That's 844-414-7223. Please be sure to join us next time as once again we endeavor to put Christ at the center of our efforts so that lives might be transformed by his unlimited grace. This ministry is brought to you by Unlimited Grace Media and continues to be made possible with your generous financial support.