Sermon Notes for Sunday
I was asked to preach at the Perry Alliance Church a couple of months ago, as that church seeks to pray for suffering saints on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. I accepted most willingly. I knew early on what my text would be – a Scripture I have been meditating on for some time – but I did not know just how appropriate it would be – not just for the IDOP, but also for the Sunday after election.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2
The General Principle
If there has one thing I have noticed living in the deep South, it is how my accent can change based on what I hear around me. Sometimes I put on the drawl on purpose, of course, but sometimes it just happens – what I hear around me tends to influence how I talk. I can see that same principle acted out all around me, and I bet that you have seen it in your own life. If you admire someone, as you focus on them you tend to become like them.
This principle, true in the physical realm, is even more true in the spiritual, as John documents in the above verse. Though we may be sons already by the work of saving grace, we are not perfected until we see him. That perfection is discussed in much greater detail in the next chapter, but this is where it begins – we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. There’s a cause and effect here: seeing Him as He is causes us to be like Him.
The opposite is also true. We can focus ourselves on evil, or even on good things not of God. Israel, for instance, had a history of doing just that, and getting themselves into trouble – in the wilderness, remember how they focused on the leeks, onions, and garlic that they had in Egypt? In I Samuel, remember how they demanded a king so that they could be like all the other nations they were seeing around them? Their focus, off of God, led them to admire what was in reality far less than God’s best.
So then, we see that both in Scripture and in practical application, that what we focus on goes a long way towards determining who we are, and what we do.
Two Stories – and Two Applications
Guiding Our Prayers for the Persecuted
Just a few weeks ago, violence erupted in Orissa, a state in eastern India. The violence was sparked by the assassination of a Hindu holy man, or swami. Now if anyone deserved assassination, it was this swami. For years, he has been working with ultra-fundamentalist Hindus to force low-caste converts to Christianity back into the Hindu fold. He personally sparked numerous instances of violence against Christians during the years he was in power.
I am not aware of any Christian, however, that would argue that the fact he “deserved” death gave them permission to kill him. And they did not kill him; he was murdered by a Maoist group from Tibet.
That fact did not stop the Hindus from rioting in response, however, carrying out false “retribution” against innocent Christians. Dozens of Christians were killed. Homes were burned, families split apart, and unspeakable atrocities committed. The violence continues to this day.
Because of the persecution, Christians have been left with a choice. The Maoist groups are still there, seeking to ally themselves with Christians. They offer the false hope of Maoist violence. And focusing on the violence leads to only one logical consideration; in the face of such tragedy, why not join the violence?
But focusing on the violence isn’t the answer. As I have met Christians living in oppression, I have marveled at the way that they have risen above the circumstances of their faith to focus on the author and finisher of their faith. But you can imagine how hard it must be for a Christian in Orissa – and so many other places – to take their eyes off of the pain and put them on Jesus.
That, I believe, should be our first request for our persecuted brothers and sisters: that they may be like Him, because they have seen Him as He is.
Lessons from Uzziah
Uzziah was a great king. He reigned for 52 years over the kingdom of Judah, and is one of few of whom it was said, “he did that was right in the eyes of the Lord.” We are told of many of the great things that he did, such that he became strong and spread his name abroad by the things that he did – because he was “marvelously helped.”
But Uzziah was not perfect; in his strength he became proud and usurped the role of the priests by burning incense in the temple. His punishment was swift and sure. Instantaneously he went from admired king to outcast leper.
And then he died.
Can you imagine being a Judean in those days? The king that made your nation great is dead, but dead only after suddenly and dramatically failing in his leadership. His untested son is next in line for the throne. Just three years ago, the death of Jereboam II in neighboring Israel plunged that nation into anarchy; how will Judah respond to these challenges? Indeed, will you even survive them?
The year that King Uzziah died could only have been a time of turmoil for every citizen of Judah, a time of doubt and fear and depression. The greatness of Judah, the peace of Judah, the stability and protection of Judah all hung in the balance.
It is with that background that we turn to Isaiah 6, a chapter probably familiar to all of us.
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord…
In spite of all the turmoil, Isaiah saw the Lord. He saw past all of the fright, the uncertainty, and the desperation on the physical level to see something so much greater on a spiritual plane – the glory of our all-powerful God. The picture of Judah that he saw was not pretty at all, as we see later in Isaiah 6, but it didn’t matter in the presence of God. In seeing the Lord, Isaiah found both peace and a calling.
I should note that I do not mean this application in the political sense, at least not entirely. If your politics are like mine, you are undoubtedly dreading the next four years. But who we elect is more of a symptom than anything else, and the answer is not electing “the other guy.” The answer, in fact, is not in any human at all.
The answer is in seeing the Lord. Where are we focusing?
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.