By Pastor Greg
Some
years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and even
fix his car. That night, he hears the
same strange noise that he had heard years earlier. The next morning, he again asks what it is,
but the monks still reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." Frustrated, the man says, "Fine. I'm
dying to know. If the only way I can discover
the source of that sound is to become a monk, then, how do I become a
monk?" They reply, "You must count
the number of pebbles surrounding the courtyard fountain. When you find this number, you will become a
monk."
Five
years later, the man stumbles back inside and declares, "1 have counted 26,263,968
pebbles around the fountain." And the
monks reply, "Congratulations. You
are now a monk. We shall now show you
the way to the sound."
The
monks lead the man to a wooden door, but as he reaches for the knob, he
discovers it is locked. "Real funny,” he says. “May I have the
key?" So, the monks give him the
key, and he opens the door only to discover another one made of stone. It too is locked, and he is given a key. This process continues through doors of brass,
doors of iron, and doors of steel.
Eventually they approach a door of gold.
At last the monks announce, “Behind this golden door is the source of
the sound you heard during the night.
They hand him the key. Trembling
with anticipation, the man unlocks the door, turns the knob, and is amazed to
find the source of that strange sound.
But
I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.
From the look on your face I can
tell you’re upset. Some of you are
disappointed at the punch line, but most are disappointed that I have just
wasted 3 minutes of your life. Don’t
feel bad; I hate disappointments as well.
And I apologize if I’ve let you down, but it’s just a fact of life;
eventually someone in your life will disappoint you. And If you’ve not yet experienced this,
consider yourself fortunate. The rest of
us, however, attempt live a normal life with a heart betrayed and broken
because of what someone did or said (or didn’t do or didn’t say).
Chances are someone has lied to
you, which is why it is difficult for you to trust the promises of others. Maybe someone yelled at you and called you
hurtful names, which is why you feel threatened when people raise their voice. Or perhaps someone called you worthless,
which is why you do not feel valuable; you have come to believe that you are
unlovable. You want to trust again; you
want to love and be loved, but you limp through life with a heart and soul that
has been broken; you are the walking wounded.
Have you ever met someone like
this? Does this describe you? And I ask this question because I am
concerned this brokenness may have affected your relationship with the Lord. Because of broken promises and hurtful words
from others, you struggle to believe the promises made by God. When you hear of God’s love, you figure it
applies to everyone else, but not you; you’ve been called worthless. People have turned their backs to you, and
you assume God would do the same.
Let me read you a passage from
Hebrews chapter six. And be honest about
your reaction to these words. The author says, 18 “So God
has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are
unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have
fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that
lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It
leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus
has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the
order of Melchizedek”[1]
(Hebrews 6:18-20). Hearing the author
mention God’s promise and oath, do you struggle to believe they apply to you?
The author of Hebrews is trying to
draw our focus back to what God promised in the past and how He faithfully
fulfilled that promise through the birth of Jesus. At the birth of Jesus, God demonstrated that
His promises are trustworthy; He said He would “raise
up a righteous descendant from King David’s line” (Jeremiah 33:15),
and in Jesus this promise was fulfilled.
The author’s point here is that since God demonstrated His
trustworthiness through that promise, then all His promises extended
toward Christians are just as trustworthy; they should become an anchor for our
souls. Everything God promised in the
Old Testament is fulfilled through Jesus: a non-Jewish person could be adopted
into God’s special family (Romans 8:17), death is swallowed up in victory (1
Corinthians 15:54), a person can receive everlasting life (John 3:16), sins can
be forgiven, and an individual can be welcomed into Heaven with open arms
(Revelation 19:9).
These are just a few of the
promises God made to those who trust Jesus to be their Savior. But I am aware that some don’t feel worthy of
this promise. Because they were
disappointed or wounded in the past, some folks struggle to believe that God
actually loves them. There are far too
many people who choose to believe what some person said about them
rather than accept what God has said about them. And this concerns me.
Here’s something I want you to
know about God and His promises; you don’t have to be a perfect person (or a
monk) to receive these promises. The Bible
tells us that the promise of everlasting life was spoken to a man who had
doubts (Nicodemus). Jesus laid down His
life for a bunch of men (Peter and the other Apostles) who turned their backs
during that crucial moment in His life.
Jesus accepted a man (Paul) who was persecuting Christians, and even
called this man to share the message of Salvation. In fact, it is Paul who reminds us that, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for
us while we were still sinners” [2]
(Romans 5:8). And, it is Paul who
reminds us that the “nobody’s” in this world are the very people God
accepts. In his first letter to the
Corinthian Church, Paul writes, 26 “Remember,
dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or
powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27 Instead, God chose
things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are
wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God
chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used
them to bring to nothing what the world considers important”[3]
(1 Corinthians 1:26-28).
The point is this: although people
and circumstances in this world might make you feel unvaluable or unlovable,
the actions of God do not echo that sentiment.
In fact, the actions of God prove otherwise. God valued you so much that He sent His Son
to earth on that first Christmas day to die in your place. Think about that for a moment; God loved you
so much that He sent Jesus to be your Savior.
As Jesus looked at you, He saw someone of value and worth… someone worth
dying for. Sure, He knew about your
weaknesses and shortcoming, but He still offered to die in your place – in my
place – so you and I could receive all the promises of God. Let that sink in. And when this truth begins to take root in
your heart, it will become a strong and trustworthy anchor for your soul.
[1] Tyndale House
Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Heb 6:18–20). Carol
Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Ro 5:8). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House
Publishers.
[3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 1:26–28). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale
House Publishers.
