SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 2:1-8 (ESV)

DATE: 5-10-20

I want to welcome all of you who are joining us this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I always want all of you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Today we’re finishing up a series where we’ve been looking at some emotions that most of us have experienced — to some degree or another — over the past few months. Thus far we’ve looked at the emotions of loneliness, emptiness, and anxiousness. And — today — the emotion we’ll be looking at is depression.

And we’ve been examining each of these emotions — and finding biblical guidance and help — by looking at the lives of some individuals in the Bible. We began by looking at a moment in the life of the prophet Elijah when we studied loneliness. Then we traveled even further back in time — to the time before the days of the kings — back to the time when judges led the Israelites — when we looked at the emotion of emptiness in the life of a woman named Naomi. And last week we looked at anxiousness in the life of a woman named Martha — who was alive when Jesus was here on earth. 

And — today — as we look at depression — we’re going back in time — once again — way before the time of Jesus — back to the Old Testament — to the life of a man named Nehemiah.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT AND BACKGROUND

So if you have your Bible please turn with me to the book of Nehemiah. We’ll be in chapter 2 — looking at verses 1-8.  

And while you’re finding Nehemiah chapter 2 — let me tell you what’s coming up in the next few weeks and then I’ll give you some background on Nehemiah.

First — what’s coming up? Well this is the 19th weekend of 2020 and I’ve preached 17 of them. So you’re probably tired of hearing from me. So for the next two weeks you’re going to hear from someone else — actually — two someones. Matt Ginter — the director of Christian ministries at the University of Findlay and a North Main campus regular — will be teaming up with Jon McKanna — our North Main campus pastor — for a two part series in the book of Psalms. So come eager — the next two weeks — to hear from Matt and Jon as they preach to us from the Psalms. In fact — right now — if you’re on Facebook or our church online page — why don’t you let Matt and Jon know that you’re excited to hear them preach from the Psalms. 

And after a short break — as Arnold said — “I’ll be back.” And we’re rearranging the preaching calendar — again! — and we’re headed back to the book of Romans — this time we’ll be in chapter 8. We’ve already gone through the first seven chapters and this seems like a good time to begin Romans chapter 8 — a chapter full of promises and truths about the assurance we have through our faith in Jesus Christ. 

So there’s what’s coming up in the next few weeks.

Now — what about Nehemiah? If you’ve been with us — for the past few months — you’ve heard my overview of the history of the Jewish people. Well…get ready to hear it again. 

The nation of Israel was birthed from a man named Jacob — who God renamed Israel. And from Jacob’s sons came the 12 tribes of Israel. Now hundreds of years later, these tribes demand to have a king — they wanted to be like the other nations surrounding them who had kings. And after just three kings — Saul, David, and David’s son Solomon — when we get to the time for the fourth king of Israel to be picked — well — there’s division and the nation splits into two. Ten tribes join together — in the north — and keep the name Israel. Two of the tribes stick together — in the south — and become the nation of Judah. So the people of God have split up and divided.

Now Israel is the first to be conquered by a foreign nation — the Assyrians come in and take over. The nation of Judah lasts a bit longer — but eventually the nation of Babylon comes in and conquers them. And after Judah is conquered — most of the people are sent into exile — which was prophesied about. The prophecy predicted that the people would be in exile for 70 years. But the prophecy also contained a promise. What was the promise? That God would return the people to their land after the 70 years were over. And this is the time when Nehemiah is alive — sometime in the 5th century BC — when the people are returning to their homeland. 

Now Nehemiah was in a bit of an unusual position — he was the cupbearer to the king. And this gave him direct access to the king on a regular basis. But Nehemiah — like the other Jews — he was living in exile — he was living in a foreign land. And as he begins to hear stories of what things are like back in his homeland — Nehemiah begins to be bothered by what he’s hearing. 

Which leads us to the words found in Nehemiah chapter 2. Beginning in verse 1. 

In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. 2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” Then I was very much afraid. 3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. 5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. 7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. (Nehemiah 2:1-8 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

I’ve been reading regularly in the psalms — journaling my way through them this year — and recently I read Psalm 88 — which ends with a verse that very much relates to our topic of depression and even connects with the world of social distancing that we’ve been living in. The last verse — of Psalm 88 — reads, “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” (Psalm 88:18 NLT)

So we’re going to talk about that darkness — today — the darkness of depression — which may be a close companion for you. Now we tend to see a couple of common responses to depression in our country. The first — and we’ve seen this previously with other emotions in this series — but one response to depression is to immediately address it with medication. And a second response — which we’ve also talked about in this series — is how some people try to rid themselves of their depression by pursuing something new and exciting — it could be a new purchase or a trip to Disney World — anything to distract us from how we’re really feeling — especially when we’re feeling down.

Now — and I’ve said this before — medication can be helpful — especially with clinical depression among many other mental health struggles you may be facing. So I don’t want anyone to feel guilty if you do take medication for depression — and I don’t want you to hear me say that medications are bad. I’m not saying that at all. For many, medication is necessary. But what I’m about to say — may really surprise you — because I also want to say that healthy distractions aren’t always a bad way to deal with our emotions. Sometimes a change of scenery is just what we need.

But obviously medication isn’t always the answer and neither is distracting ourselves from our emotions. And — as Christians — we have no theological or scriptural warrant to justify medication as being the only solution to depression — just like we have no theological or scriptural warrant to justify always distracting ourselves away from emotions like depression. Both can be helpful and both should come with warnings.

But — what I hope is an encouragement to you — is how the Christian faith offers us other resources not found in medications or distractions. Though the Christian faith acknowledges that our circumstances can and do affect our feelings — even the feeling of being depressed — the Christian faith also teaches that Jesus has come to offer us freedom from — and hope in — the darkness — and not just spiritual depression — but emotional depression as well. 

Now — of all the emotions that we’ve looked at in this series — depression may be the one that we Christians have been the most unkind towards those who struggle with it — though it may be a toss up between anxiety and depression. One woman recalls her church leaders telling her, “You have to pray to God for healing [from your depression]…You have to have faith and trust him!” 

Now hear me out. I’ve got nothing against prayer — and we do need to have faith in and trust God — but these phrases aren’t to be weapons used to beat up those who are struggling with depression. 

• And — often — these kinds of statements only make those who are struggling feel guilty or spiritually inadequate. 
• Statements like these may make new Christians think they’re unacceptable to God unless they get their emotions in check. 
• Others may think that God’s not going to accept them if they don’t fix themselves first. 
• And none of that is true and none of it is the gospel. 
• In fact, some of the great heroes of our faith — both in the Bible and in church history — have struggled with the darkness of depression — we’ll look at one pastor’s struggle with depression later on.

But another danger to these statements — is how they can make those who say them — proud. Because — often as we say these kinds of things — we think the person struggling just isn’t working hard enough, or practicing enough faith, or believing and trusting in God enough. And — by implication — since we’re not struggling with depression — we must be working hard enough, and practicing more faith than they are, and we’ve really figured out this whole believing and trusting in God stuff. Like — I said — it’s easy to be proud and look down on others when we have a shallow understanding of the complexities of these emotions.

Now we Christians are to be gospel people. Men and women who remind each other that God is committed to comforting his people even as they experience the darkness of depression. And God comforts us through a variety of means which we’ll look at in a bit. But — for me — an amazing thing about God’s comfort to us is that — in Jesus Christ — God has experienced all of the human emotions. So he knows how to comfort us even in the darkness of depression. 

SITUATIONAL DEPRESSION

Now the type of depression we see in Nehemiah’s life appears to be situational — which is what many of us — who may not regularly struggle with depression — it’s what many have experienced over the past few weeks and months. And I know that situational depression is only one kind of depression — and if you’re a professional — I know that situational depression falls more in a grief type category — but I think for most of us — even though there are many types of depression — for many of us — situational depression is the likely emotion we’ve been facing over the past weeks and months. 

So let’s look back at this moment in Nehemiah’s life and see the source of his depression.

Now — you may wonder — “Josh, how do you know that Nehemiah’s depression was situational?” Because of what happens in the chapter before ours. The book of Nehemiah begins with “These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” 4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:1-4 NLT)

So it’s the report of what’s going on back in Jerusalem that’s caused emotional distress in Nehemiah’s life — what will be described as a “sadness of the heart.” And if we turn to our chapter — now having this background — we read…

In the month of Nisan (So now we’re in the spring — roughly four months after Nehemiah first received news of what was going on in Jerusalem…), in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I (so Nehemiah is our narrator and he says that he…) took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. (Nehemiah 2:1 ESV)

Alright, Nehemiah is displaying sadness in front of the king — which — we see — was unusual for him to do.

2 And the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart.” (Sadness of the heart — a very honest way to describe how many of us have felt.) Then I was very much afraid. (Nehemiah 2:2 ESV)

Now the reason why Nehemiah’s afraid is — because most likely — there was an expectation that the king’s servants were only to display happy and cheerful moods in front of the king. No grumps or sad people in the king’s court — only “shiny happy people holding hands” in the presence of the king. But  Nehemiah isn’t able to hide his emotion in front of the king. And the king notices and asks him why he’s suffering from sadness of the heart. 

3 I said to the king, “Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” (Nehemiah 2:3 ESV)

So — as we’ve already seen — Nehemiah’s sadness of the heart is due to the city of Jerusalem being in ruins. There’s a situation that’s causing his depression — a sadness of heart that’s been going on for months.

4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 2:4 ESV)

Now back in chapter 1, we saw that Nehemiah was already praying about the situation in Jerusalem. But here — in the moment when he’s talking to the king — he quickly prays for God to help him before he speaks.

5 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” 6 And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. (Nehemiah 2:5-6 ESV)

Though it may seem strange to us — for the king to care about what kind of timeline Nehemiah has in mind — this most likely shows us just how important Nehemiah’s position was to the king. So the king wants to know how long Nehemiah is going to be gone.

7 And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, 8 and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. (Nehemiah 2:7-8 ESV)

Nehemiah makes a few additional requests and then acknowledges that everything that’s been granted to him — by the king — is ultimately the result of God orchestrating everything that’s happened. The good favor he’s received from the king is due to the good favor he’s received from God. 

And — if you don’t know Nehemiah’s story — I want to encourage you to go and read it and see how a man — who was so emotionally disturbed by what was happening in his homeland — go read about how he was able to lead the rebuilding of the city walls even in the face of grave danger. Nehemiah’s emotions moved him to action as he depended upon God for guidance and favor.

Now something you may not have thought much about — is how the situation we’re in — or how situations you may face in the future that bring unknowns and difficulties into your life — what I want you to know is that these situations don’t have to paralyze us — even if they stir in us intense emotional responses. Like Nehemiah — these situations are an opportunity to trust in God’s guidance and favor — they’re opportunities for us to allow our emotions to drive us to action and obedience. 

• Are these emotions complex? Yes. 
• Can they seem overwhelming? Absolutely. 
• “What if I need help or medication?” Seek help. 
• But don’t miss the opportunity these difficult moments in life bring.

GODLY SORROW

So that’s Nehemiah. Now I want us to look at a moment in Jesus’ life and — as I said earlier — Jesus experienced the full gamut of human emotions. And this particular moment in his life is so intriguing to me because it mirrors the moment we just saw in Nehemiah’s life. We’re in Matthew’s gospel — chapter 23 — beginning in verse 37.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matthew 23:37-39 NLT)

Now here’s why this moment from Jesus’ life is so intriguing to me. What was the cause of Nehemiah’s sadness of heart — what was the cause of his depression? The physical condition of the city of Jerusalem. And what’s the cause of Jesus’ sadness of heart as he laments — which means to express deep sorrow — what’s the cause of Jesus’ deep sorrow here in Matthew’s gospel? The spiritual condition of the city of Jerusalem.

The same city — Jerusalem — causes both Nehemiah and Jesus to experience a sadness of the heart. In fact, Jesus’ words about the city have been described as a “funeral dirge” — a type of “funeral song.” And — yet — even as he experiences sorrow and sadness — Jesus gives a promise of hope for the city of Jerusalem. 

For a day is coming, when he will return to the city. And on that day, people will shout “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” Which is what we see happen as he rides into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey a week before he would be killed on a cross for the sins of the world. And on the darkest day — in all of history — the light of Christ was not extinguished though it appeared that Jesus had failed his mission. For three days later, the darkness was dispersed as it was defeated by the power of Jesus’ resurrection. A power that’s still at work today — bringing relief and hope and light to those who experience the darkness of depression — the sadness of heart — a close companion in life for many who believe in Jesus.

CHRISTIANS AND THEIR DEPRESSION

So there’s a look at our emotion in the lives of Nehemiah and Jesus and the hope we have in knowing that Jesus both sympathizes with us — and is present with us — in the darkness of depression. Now I want to take this sadness of heart and help us see how the Christian faith offers hope to those who are depressed. I want to help us sympathize with those who are well acquainted with this sadness of the heart. And I want to do so by listening to how others have described their depression.

One woman has said that, “Depression is melancholy minus its charms.” One of the more famous authors from our lifetime writes, “Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced…It is the absence of being able to [envision] that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling…”

C.S. Lewis — the author of the Chronicles of Narnia series — among many other writings — battled depression. Here are some of his words on the subject. Lewis writes, “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken.’” 

Sometimes it helps to hear the words of others who have faced what we’re facing. It’s even OK to borrow their words when you can’t come up with words to describe how you’re feeling. 

If you’ve experienced depression, how would you describe it? If you’re able, would you leave a comment with your description of depression? Someone may need to borrow your words because they’re in the thick of depression right now and don’t have a vocabulary to describe how they’re feeling.

I mentioned earlier that Christians throughout church history have struggled with depression. One of them was known as the Prince of Preachers. His name was Charles Spurgeon — a British preacher who lived during the 1800s. And Spurgeon battled depression nearly his entire life. 

Now if you don’t know Spurgeon — he was a famous preacher in his day — you don’t get the nickname Prince of Preachers without being well-known, right? Thousands of people came to hear him preach on a weekly basis — and again — this was back in the 1800s — not when we tend to think of churches having congregations with thousands of members. Spurgeon was quick witted, he had a big personality from the pulpit, he smoked cigars, and was the quintessential picture of a Victorian era manly man. And — yet — Spurgeon struggled with depression — most likely both clinical and situational depression. 

Now his situational depression was due to an awful event that happened while he was preaching. During one large gathering, someone who wasn’t a fan of Spurgeon, yelled “fire.” And as the panicked crowd tried to exit the building, some people were trampled to death. Spurgeon never fully recovered from the mental pain of that moment. People killed trying to flee from a building — and the only reason why they were in the building — was to hear him preach.

Yet later on — while speaking to potential pastors — Spurgeon said, “Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited [by it] at seasons by no means few or far between [he’s saying that he’s experienced depression often], I thought it might be [comforting] to some of [you] if I gave my thoughts [on this subject], that younger men might not [believe] that some strange thing had happened to them when they became for a season possessed by melancholy; and that sadder men might know that one upon whom the sun has shone…did not always walk in the light.”

Spurgeon knew that many young preachers looked up to him — the spotlight was on him often. But not all of them knew about his battle with depression. So he wanted them to know about his depression because he didn’t want them to be caught off guard when the “sadness of the heart” became a close friend in their life.

So how did this great minister of the faith fight his depression? First, Spurgeon saw his depression as something to be used for God’s glory and for Spurgeon’s sanctification — for his growth in holiness. Spurgeon did not waver in his belief that God was in control of everything that happened to him — even his depression. And like Job — who after losing his wealth, his health, and even all of his children — like Job Spurgeon could say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Spurgeon could say, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” Spurgeon saw his depression as something to be used for God’s glory and for his growth in holiness.

Second, Spurgeon believed that his most effective ministry was birthed out of his seasons of depression. From his firsthand experience with depression, he could comfort those who were in the darkness. His experience with depression made him tender with those who were suffering. He knew that in his weakness, Jesus could be strong and shine forth through him — a broken vessel. This reminds me of the apostle Paul’s words to the Christians in Corinth when he writes, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” Spurgeon believed that his most effective ministry was birthed out of his seasons of depression.

Finally, Spurgeon used practical means — in addition to his theology — to fight his depression. He rested. He took time away from his ministry. He slowed down from all of his “doing” and worked on his “being.” Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is get outside and go for a walk and let the sun shine down on you — or — take a nap. Use practical means to fight your depression.

CONCLUSION

Now as we wrap up this series on emotions, a couple of things I hope you’ll remember. First, remember that you’re not alone. We’re here to come alongside you and support you no matter what you’re facing. So please reach out to us — send us a message or call the church office — so we can be of help to you.

Second, remember that you’re not alone. “Wait, Josh. That was your first point!” And you’re right. But — better than us being here for you — don’t forget that God is always with you. His promises to you can be trusted because the God who’s given you these promises is the definition of trustworthiness.

Third, remember that it’s not only OK — but it is good — to seek the help of professionals. Today, we’ve talked mainly about situational depression. There are many other kinds of depression and many of them require the help of a professional. You will do yourself a world of good in fighting the stubborn darkness that doesn’t seem to want to lift — by seeking the help of a professional. And we can help connect you with the pros — just give us a call.

And — finally — remember that these emotions are normal. Feeling lonely, empty, anxious, and depressed are normal human emotions. These emotions — though harder than some others to experience — these emotions don’t make you less of a human being. And they don’t make you a spiritually weak person. These emotions just prove that you’re human — like the rest of us. And we all experience these emotions to some degree or another. Which gives us an opportunity to come alongside each other in loving support, offering a listening ear to those who need to talk, and comforting one another with the comfort that God has given to us in Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we will be a church where no one faces these emotions alone. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for always being with us. Thank you for the people you’ve put in our life who are willing to walk through the darkest of days with us. Thank you for the professionals who you’ve gifted to help us. And thank you for our emotions. It is good to feel. It is human to feel. We are physical, spiritual, and emotional beings and we need to be aware of and take care of our whole being.

Jesus, we can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done for us. Not only did you do the work in saving us that we couldn’t do for ourselves — but you also willingly experienced all of what it means to be human — including emotionally what it means to be human — so that you can sympathize with our weakness and empower us with your strength.

Holy Spirit, you’ve heard my prayer. That we will be a church where no one faces these emotions alone. Help us to be that church. A people who are honest with how we’re doing — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — and who allow others to bring your comfort into our lives. We can’t do this in our strength, but we can in yours. So fill us with your strength. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION 

May you go knowing that God is always with you — offering you comfort, peace, hope, and joy. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Luke 10:38-42; Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV)

DATE: 5-3-20

I want to welcome all of you who are joining us this weekend at Gateway Church. And the one thing I want all of you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Now the owner of the sweater — and if you have no idea what I’m talking about — you need to go watch last week’s sermon — but the sweater owner is our very own worship director Shaun Meloy. Not sure how many of you guessed Shaun last week — but be sure to let everyone know in the comments if Shaun was your guess. 

During this season — of not being able to meet together — all of us have things that we miss. And one of the things that I really miss —is being able to say hi to all of the kids — I like to go around and say hi to as many of our young ones at Gateway as I can. So I want to take time right now to say hi to Shaun’s daughter Laurel. So “Hi Laurel — I hope you’re doing well and — Happy Birthday!” — she has a birthday this weekend.

We are in the third week of our series where we’re looking at some emotions that most of us have experienced during this pandemic. Two weeks ago we began by looking at the emotion of loneliness. Last week, we looked at the emotion of emptiness. And next week, we’ll finish this series by looking at the emotion of depression. But today — the emotion we’ll be looking at is anxiousness.

And we’re examining each of these emotions by looking at the lives of some individuals in the Bible. We examined the emotion of loneliness by looking at a moment in the life of a man named Elijah. Last week — we went even further back in history — to the time of the judges — and looked at emptiness in the life of a woman named Naomi. And — today — we’re going to jump hundreds of years into the future — after Naomi — to the time when Jesus was here on earth. And we’re going to look at the emotion of anxiousness through the life of a woman named Martha.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

So if you have your Bible please turn with me to the Gospel of Luke. We’ll be in the 10th chapter — looking at verses 38-42. Then we’ll be looking at Jesus’ words found in the sixth chapter of Matthew’s gospel. Now since we’re looking at two different passages, let me quickly give you the context for each of them. 

In our first passage — from Luke — Luke is wanting us to see a comparison between our text and the verses that come just before it. So what comes just before our verses? The parable of the Good Samaritan. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the parable. Jesus was questioned by an expert in religious law about what a person has to do in order to inherit eternal life. And in response — Jesus asks the lawyer, “Well what did Moses say?” And the short version — of the lawyer’s answer — is “To love God and to love your neighbor.” But he follows up by asking Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?” To which Jesus gives the parable of the Good Samaritan. Where a person — despised by the Jews — is the hero of the story. Though there are a few religious leaders in the parable — none of them show love to a person in need. But the least likely person in the parable does. 

And — the point of the parable — is that Jesus wanted to show this religious lawyer — and us — how you can “hear” God’s Word but not really “hear” it. How you can “know” what God requires of you but not “know” it. You can be all studied up on the Christian faith and yet not be changed by your study. And that’s a dangerous place to be — because it’s possible to find yourself in the presence of Jesus and yet be so concerned — or anxious — about other things that you don’t even see him.

Now in Matthew, we find ourselves in the middle of what’s known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s called that because it’s a sermon that Jesus taught while on a mountain side. Go figure, right? And the text we’re going to look at comes right after Jesus preaches on the one thing we all hate to hear a preacher talk about — money! Jesus had just told the crowd — that had gathered to hear him preach — to not store up treasures here on earth but to store up treasures in Heaven. And then — right before our verses — Jesus says, “You can’t serve God and be enslaved to money.” And I think we’ll just leave Jesus’ statement right there.

So with that as the background for these two passages, here are the words found in Luke chapter 10 — beginning in verse 38 — and again — this is right after the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

And now turn with me to Matthew chapter 6 — beginning in verse 25 — right after Jesus’ “you can’t serve God and money” statement.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Anxiety is the emotion we’re looking at today. Now before we get too far along, what do I mean by anxiety? Well if we think of fear as a reaction to a real or perceived present threat — anxiety is a reaction to real or perceived future threat. So anxiety has a future focus to it. 

Now anxiety’s been described as “walking down a dark alley without knowing where you’re going or what’s waiting for you at the end of the alley. It’s like swimming in an ocean with no land in sight. It’s like watching a scary movie — when you’re sure that something is about to happen — one of those jump scares that gets you — but it doesn’t come — and you spend the rest of the movie waiting for it to happen. Anxiety is the feeling of being certain that the world is about to end — but you’re the only person who knows — and everyone else is just downplaying things — telling you to stop worrying.”

Now in our culture — especially here is the US — anxiety is something that’s either viewed as shameful — something you shouldn’t talk about because it’s a sign of weakness — or — the other view of anxiety is to basically put all anxiety into one box — thus everyone with anxiety needs to be treated the same way. 

Now — here early on — let me affirm something. I want to affirm the good that therapy and counselors and the mental health professionals do for those who are struggling with all kinds of things — including anxiety. I’m so thankful for the many professionals we have — who are part of Gateway — helping others find wholeness and health. And — even to be more clear — needing medication to deal with anxiety — or other things — isn’t a sign of weakness. And it’s not a sign that you lack faith. As I was recently reading in a book, though we tend to think of ourselves as bodies who think and feel — that’s not the best view of how we’re made. Thinking and feeling and our physical bodies are all interconnected. You can’t separate them. The point is that medications can be helpful because of this interconnectedness between our thoughts, our emotions, and our bodies.

But where we must be careful — for example with the first view where anxiety is a weakness — we must be careful because this view falsely assumes that mental health is vastly different from other types of health. My sons — for example — are type-1 diabetics — not because they’re weak — but because their pancreas has stopped producing insulin. And the same is true for those who need medication for anxiety or other mental health related issues. 

But I also want to acknowledge that we live in a culture that’s probably too dependent on medications to solve our problems — and not just our mental health struggles. Overmedicating can be just as much of a problem as seeing medication as a sign that a person lacks real faith in God.

So here’s where the Christian faith offers a different perspective. The Christian faith begins by being honest that there are times in life when anxieties can overwhelm us. 

• In recent weeks, many have experienced anxiety about their health or the health of those they love. 
• You may have been anxious about the safety of your children or whether or not you’d have a job through all of this. 
• Students and parents have been anxious about remote learning. 
• Maybe you’ve experienced marriage stress that’s caused anxiety — in your life — or financial stress. 
• Maybe you’ve experienced anxiety for other reasons. We’d love to pray for you — so be sure to post a comment and let us know if you’d like us to contact you for prayer. Just say, “Can you pray for me?”
• But experiencing anxiety — because of these things — it’s natural.

Now I hope this brings relief for some of us — because many Christians view being anxious as sinful. Why? Well — for one — the words of Jesus that we read earlier — “Do not be anxious for tomorrow.” Or because the apostle Paul said, “Do not be anxious about anything.” But — without getting too far into the weeds — let me try and explain the complexities of this emotion — with these kinds of verses — by showing you four different reasons — not all of the reasons — but four different reasons for anxiety.

Reason one. Anxiety may be given to us directly from God for our benefit. OK — remember — fear is our response to a real or perceived immediate threat — and anxiety is our response to a real or perceived future threat. So — in this first way — God giving us anxiety for our benefit — anxiety is a great warning system alerting us to potential danger. 

An example. Say you’re walking in the woods. You’re not afraid — just enjoying the scenery. And then say — you start seeing all of the signs of bears being nearby. Maybe you see claw marks or footprints or bear pooh — whatever — and it’s obvious that bears are somewhere in your vicinity. Being anxious about bears is now the appropriate — natural — response. This isn’t sinful. In fact it would be foolish to stay in the area even if you think that “no bear can touch me because I believe in Jesus.” Believe it or not — you can believe in Jesus and be dumb. And — by the way — don’t ever invite me to walk with you in the woods.

So anxiety may be given to us directly from God for our benefit.

Reason two. Anxiety may be due to a disordered physiological response that is not sinful, but needs proper treatment. Now I don’t have any expertise here — but we are physical beings and the fall — sin coming into the world — has affected all of who we are. And our biology can have malfunctions that are not the fault of the individual. And this is where professionals can be of great help. But this kind of anxiety is not sinful even though it’s the result of living in a sin stained world.

So anxiety may be due to a disordered physiological response that is not sinful, but does need proper treatment.

Third, our anxiety may be a natural consequence of sin. This one’s different than the previous ones in that some types of anxiety are a result of the sinful choices we’ve made. 

• People who take drugs may find themselves struggling with an anxiety disorder. 
• The wife who cheats on her husband may become anxious about being caught. 
• The husband who gambles away the family’s savings will most likely become anxious. 
• Now — this kind of anxiety may need to be treated by professionals — but it should be obvious that this kind of anxiety is a result of sinful behavior.

And finally, our anxiety may be a sinful response to God’s providential care. Now I think this category is what we Christians can often be too quick to label other Christians with — that the reason why they’re anxious is because they’re not trusting God. And though this can be the case — it doesn’t have to always be the case — especially for people who have anxiety due to physiological reasons. 

But — to be clear — if we’re not trusting God — we are sinning. Now — I don’t want to speak for you — but for me personally — without being able to read people’s hearts and motives — I hesitate to go here too quickly. And — instead — I think — it would be much more loving to come alongside those who are struggling with anxiety without the assumption that their issue is that they don’t trust God.

But back to our current circumstances. We must remember that the Christian faith offers a variety of help for these anxious times — such as prayer, Bible reading, meditating on the promises of God, and seeking professional help. So we’re not to downplay our anxious thoughts — and we’re not to judge others who are struggling with anxiety — but we should comfort one another — especially those who are struggling — reminding them of the promises of God while not being close minded to the type of help professionals can offer.

And what our current circumstances have revealed — is how many of our normal coping strategies for anxiety aren’t as effective as we thought they were. What do I mean? I mean staying busy — so you don’t have to time think or worry — well that was a key strategy for many of us and we’ve been forced to slow down and face our anxiety. But a blessing — in all of this — is the opportunity we’ve been given to lean into and trust God — believing that he does care for us.

So let’s go back to our two texts and see what we can learn about anxiousness.

BUSYNESS ISN’T A CURE

And the first thing we see is this. Anxiousness can cause busyness in our lives. Anxiousness can cause us to be busy — running around — to and fro — instead of focusing on the more important things in life — because we think that our busyness will distract us from our anxiousness.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

Now we tend to give Martha a hard time — especially from this moment in her life. She’s the one whose priorities seem to be all out of whack — while Mary — well she’s the one we’re told to be like. But before we go down that path, did you notice who it was who invited Jesus into the home? It wasn’t Mary. It was Martha. Yet — once Jesus is in her house — Martha’s anxiousness causes her to become so busy that she misses being present with the one she’s invited into her home.

But the words that Jesus uses to describe Martha — are words that could be used to describe many of us today — “anxious and troubled about many things.” And I think that most of us would agree that our anxiety — thinking about possible fear-filled future outcomes — only robs us of the moment we’re living. As one pastor — who struggled with a variety of mental health issues — said, “Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.” If you can relate to that quote, let me know in the comments. How have you experienced anxiety emptying today of its strength and joy?

Now Mary did choose the good portion — or — as another translation says it “the one thing worth being concerned about.” And her doing so — is so unique — because it goes against the cultural expectations for women in her day. Martha’s doing exactly what a woman would’ve been expected to be doing. But Mary isn’t. Mary — in sitting at Jesus’ feet — is showing that she’s a follower of Jesus — one of his disciples. Mary’s showing that Jesus is always to be at the top of our priorities. 

But one other thing about Martha’s anxiousness. It results in her being overly focused on herself even as she’s trying to serve others. Notice — that as she complains to Jesus about Mary — she’s focused on herself. “Jesus, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the serving by myself. Tell her to help me.” You see, our anxiousness can get us so focused on ourselves that we even miss Jesus’ presence with us. But that doesn’t have to be the case. 

So here’s what we learn from Martha’s story. Anxiousness can make us busy — causing us to miss out on the most important things in life. 

GOD CAN BE TRUSTED

Now in Matthew’s gospel — we see an opportunity that our current circumstances have given us. Slowing down — unable to distract ourselves from our anxiety by being busy — this has given us the opportunity to see that God can be trusted. That we can trust God because he really does care for us. You see — it’s not just our anxiety that our busyness distracts us from — but our busyness keeps us from seeing how trustworthy God is. So an unexpected gift — in these unusual days — is getting to learn more of — and lean into — God’s promises to us. And we find this in Jesus’ words in Matthew chapter 6.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

Here Jesus teaches us that God can be trusted — which is a great help in facing our anxiety. Remember — anxiety is fear that’s future focused. Yet Jesus — here — tells us not to worry about what we will — that’s in the future — what we will eat or drink. He tells us not to worry about our body or what we will wear. Why? Well Jesus says there’s more to life than those things — which sounds pretty ridiculous because he didn’t say video games, or our cancelled vacation, or what will my high school graduation be like — he said don’t worry about food and drink, our bodies and clothes — those are what we call pretty basic necessities to life. So why aren’t we to worry — or be anxious — about these essentials?

“Well look out at nature,” Jesus says. “God takes care of the birds — so why would you think he won’t take care of you? Or look at the flowers — how beautifully God clothes them — so why worry about whether God will clothe you or not?” Worrying about things like this is what people who don’t believe in God do — but God’s people — the opportunity for us — is to shift our focus — from these things — to his Kingdom. To God’s righteousness. And as we put our focus on God — who he is and what he’s like — and when we put our focus on what he’s doing in the world — like the fact that his Kingdom is coming here on earth just like it is in Heaven — when our focus is on God’s King — Jesus — our eyes are taken off of the things that so often overwhelm us and — instead — we’re overwhelmed by God. As an old hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”

You see, when it comes to being overwhelmed — well earthly things that cause us to worry can’t even begin to compare with what it means to be overwhelmed by Jesus and his grace. Because — as we focus ourselves on him — we realize that he is faithful — and in turning to him — we find his promises to care for all of our needs even when we find ourselves in a day that’s full of trouble.

And do you want to know an unexpected blessing of focusing on Jesus instead of focusing on all of the things that tend to cause us anxiety? An unexpected blessing is that we gain life. You see — Jesus says — by worrying we don’t add a single day to our lives. And — in fact — worrying all the time and trying to cover up our anxiety by living a busy life — actually robs us of life. Ancient Jewish leaders understood this and spoke about how worry — and a troubled heart — shortened a person’s life.

So focus on Jesus — today. Turn your eyes to him. Trust him — today — tomorrow will come. And know that tomorrow — well — Jesus will be with you tomorrow just like he’s with you today — and always. 

HELP FOR OUR ANXIETY

Now I hope that’s an encouragement to you, but you may still ask: So — Josh — what can we do with our anxiety or what are some things I can do to be less anxious? Now there’s no one size fits all — so you may find some of these recommendations to be helpful — and others you may have tried before and found them to be duds. But here are some suggestions. 

First, read the Bible. The YouVersion Bible app has several Bible reading plans that focus on anxiety and worry. On our Facebook and church online pages, you should be seeing links to some reading plans right now.

And I want to stay here — with the Bible — for a moment because one of the great antidotes to our anxiety — and I’ve already mentioned this — but a great help to us is to remind ourselves of the unshakeable and immoveable promises that God has given to us. Now — remember — this is just one tool in our toolbox — but remembering the promises of God is a powerful tool.

For instance, if you find yourself in a situation where you’re becoming anxious because you’re thinking, “I don’t feel capable of accomplishing this task. What if I don’t do it right?” Remember that God’s promise to Paul is his promise to you. 

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

“Josh, well I’m anxious because I’ve lost my job and I’m worried about how I will support my family?” Remember…

The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

“Josh, well I feel like I’m failing as a parent. I’m tired and there’s so much that I know I should be doing that I’m not doing. And it’s all overwhelming me.” Remember that…

Jesus [has] said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Or if you wonder, “Josh, what if the thing I fear most becomes reality?” Remember that…

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

And I could keep going on for a long time — here —  reminding you of God’s promises to his people — but we need to move on to some of the other tools at our disposal.

Second, seek out Christian fellowship. The weather is warming up and though we have to stay six feet apart, we can do that sitting in driveways. You can go on a walk and keep six feet apart from someone else. Or you can call or video chat with someone to talk about what’s making you anxious. Physical distancing doesn’t have to equal no social interaction.

Third, serve. I’m so thankful for the multitude of you who have stepped up to serve others in this crisis. Serving others is a great way to find another network of support. And serving gives you a break from your normal routine which often helps with anxious thoughts. We’ve been mentioning this for weeks now — but go to our COVID-19 page on our website — gatewayepc.org — to sign up to serve those in need.

Fourth, here are just some random things you can do. Take a time out. Take some deep breaths. Listen to some calming music. Eat well-balanced nutritious meals. Don’t skip meals. Limit your alcohol and caffeine. Get enough sleep. Do some form of exercise on a regular basis. And don’t forget to laugh — because a good laugh goes a long way for an anxious soul.

And last — not because this is least important — but because the last thing in a list is what you’ll most likely remember — don’t be afraid to seek professional help. Earlier I mentioned that we’re blessed with many trained professionals in our congregation. And God has gifted them in ways that are for all of our benefit. So please — seek help. Reach out to us — here at Gateway — and we will connect you to the folks with the expertise you may need.

CONCLUSION

So here’s reality: We all have fears and we all struggle with anxiety to some degree. And this is true even for the Christian because being a Christian doesn’t exclude us from anxiety. We’re just given additional supernatural assistance to help us face our anxiety — not in our own strength — but in the power of the One who told us to bring all of our anxieties to him because he cares for us.

And one last thing. At the very beginning, I mentioned how anxiety — when you face it — willingly or unwillingly — anxiety can be overwhelming. So now — for those of us who aren’t in that place of being overwhelmed — the way you should prepare yourself now — for future anxious thoughts — is by being overwhelmed with Jesus. Turn your eyes to him and his love for you. His patience with you. His kindness towards you. His compassion with you. Go to God’s Word and be overwhelmed with Jesus so who he is and all that he’s done for you will be your strength when anxiety begins to show itself in your life.

And for those of us who — right now — are overwhelmed by anxiety. It’s not too late to seek help and it’s never too late to seek Jesus. In fact, let me pray for you — and for all of us — to seek him so he — and not our anxiety — is what overwhelms us. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, overwhelm us with who you are. Overwhelm us with your love. Overwhelm us with your kindness and mercy and tenderness and grace. Father, overwhelm everyone listening to my voice with your beauty, power, and faithfulness. Overwhelm us.

Jesus, thank you for promising us that we can bring all of our anxieties to you because you care for us. Thank you for being patient with us — as we busy ourselves — running to and fro — all while you’re sitting in our homes — waiting for us to slow down and be with you. What love and patience you show us.

And Holy Spirit, I ask that you would give those who need courage — I ask you to give them the courage they need to seek help for their anxiety. There is no shame in admitting you need help. For when we are weak, Jesus’ shows off his strength in our lives. 

So Father, Son, and Spirit, help us to trust you and your undeserved promises to us. For worrying adds nothing to our lives. But trusting you is the very definition of what it means to live. So help us to live with our eyes on you. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION

May you go being overwhelmed by Jesus and all that he’s done for you — casting all of your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: Ruth 1:1-22 (ESV)

DATE: 4-26-20

I want to welcome all of you who are joining us at Gateway Church. And the one thing I want all of you to know is that God loves you and that I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

And we’re continuing our series where we’re looking at some emotions that most likely you — or someone you know — have been experiencing during this worldwide pandemic. Last week we began by looking at the emotion of loneliness. Next week, we’ll look at the emotion of anxiousness. And then we’ll finish this series by looking at depression. But today — the emotion we’ll be looking at is emptiness.

And we’re examining each of these emotions — and finding some biblical guidance and help for them — by looking at the lives of some individuals in the Bible. Last week, we looked at a moment in the life of the prophet Elijah. And — today — we’re going even further back in time — to the time before the days of the kings — back to the time when judges led the Israelites. And we’re going to look at the emotion of emptiness through the life of a woman named Naomi.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT AND BACKGROUND

So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to the book of Ruth — which is where we find Naomi’s story. We’ll be in chapter 1 looking at the entire chapter. And while you’re finding Ruth chapter 1 — let me give you an idea of what’s going on in this period of history. 

So after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt — they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And when Moses’ time as their leader came to an end — a man named Joshua was appointed the next leader of God’s people. And after Joshua came the time of the judges — there’s an entire book dedicated to these leaders in the Old Testament — and there you can read about the stories of Ehud and Deborah, Gideon and Samson, and the many other judges who led God’s people over the course of nearly 400 years.

Now Naomi’s story comes near the end of this time period — her story comes just as the time of the judges is coming to a close. In fact, at the end of the book of Ruth we learn that we’re only a few generations away from David — who would one day be king of Israel.

RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT

So now that you have a better idea of when we are in history — here are the words found in Ruth chapter 1. Beginning in verse 1. 

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. 

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. 

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. (Ruth 1:1-22 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

Now there’s much we can relate to with Naomi’s situation. She had much taken away from her and — for many of us — we’ve experienced things that we were used to having or being able to do — suddenly being taken away from us. And — for some of us — like Naomi — this has left us feeling bitter — bitter even towards God. One person has said, “This was the truth at the core of my existence: this yawning emptiness, scantily clad in rage. It had been there all along.” So maybe you’ve gone right past bitterness and straight to rage.

Now it’s kind of easy to judge Naomi — especially if you’re coming from a religious angle — where “If you’re feeling empty, it’s because you were full of the wrong things and not full of God.” Are we to be full of God? Yes. And are we supposed to find our fulfillment in him? Yes again. But we must be careful and not ignore the real sense of loss and emptiness that we and others have experienced. And emptiness is only natural when things — or people — are taken away from us. It’s a normal feeling — even though many of us think that the feeling of emptiness means something’s wrong with us — and that’s not necessarily the case.

But here’s a truth about emptiness — we haven’t been well prepared for it. In fact, life before — and most likely after this COVID-19 crisis — life pre-pandemic taught us to ignore the emotion of emptiness by entertaining and distracting ourselves. And what the pandemic has done is strip away many of those sources of entertainment and distraction. But the emptiness is still there. And so more and more are turning to distractions that are available — alcohol, drugs, other types of self-medication — yet the emptiness doesn’t go away. As one woman said, “There’s just something obvious about emptiness, even when you try to convince yourself otherwise.”

Now — I know, I know — whatever you’re doing to try and cope with your emptiness “isn’t that bad” — or at least that’s what you’re telling yourself. And maybe it isn’t that bad, but don’t allow your perception of your circumstances cause you to miss the news of God’s love for you. The value he’s placed on you. The promises to you that God has guaranteed will give you fulfillment. Don’t accept poor substitutes for the fulfillment God is offering to you in your emptiness.

I say this because maybe your way of dealing with your emptiness isn’t by doing the “bad” stuff — maybe your response has been to hoard things. You’re desperately watching your retirement funds or stocks. We’ve seen others hoard hand sanitizer or — hello — toilet paper. Raise your hand if you’re tired of the whole toilet paper hoarding that we’ve still got going on in our country — go ahead and put a raised hand emoji in the comments.

But even hoarding doesn’t fill our void of emptiness. As someone’s said, “We become more aware of the void [of emptiness] as we fill it.”

And — finally — for others of us the sense of emptiness comes from us feeling like we’re missing out. You’re missing out on that vacation you had planned. Or that graduation. Or that wedding day. You can’t shake the feeling of missing out and that’s leaving you feeling empty. 

Now — for some good news. There’s nothing inherently evil about entertainment or wanting to be prepared by stocking up on stuff or even the longing that’s found by those who are feeling like they’re missing out — none of that means you’re a lesser person. 

But what we can’t fall for is the lie that we can entertain ourselves enough — or store up enough stuff — or reschedule our plans — in order to get rid of this feeling of emptiness. The feeling can’t be avoided and eventually emptiness must be faced by all of us. 

And this is where hope comes in. Hope comes in the person of Jesus Christ who came into our world to experience both the fullness of the human life and to offer that same fullness of life to those who turn to him in faith. And what did Jesus do to offer us this fullness of life? Well he did the last thing you’d expect. He emptied himself on the cross in order to save us and to fill our emptiness with him.

But before we jump to Jesus, let’s go back and look at Naomi’s story and see what help we can find in dealing with our own sense of emptiness. And the first thing we see is that loss hurts. And I want to make sure that we all understand that it’s OK to admit this — that loss hurts.

LOSS HURTS

Let’s begin back in verse 1.

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. (Ruth 1:1-2 ESV)

Now this was a pretty radical idea — for an Israelite — to go live in Moab. You see — for the people of Israel — the country of Moab carried all kinds of negative thoughts. The people of Moab’s story begins with child incest — you can read about in Genesis 19 — not a great start to their story. And the nation is full of people who are pagan — meaning they don’t worship the true God — and they’re pretty perverse. And they’re governed by foolish and — often — fat rulers. Which adds a bit of irony to the story because Israel is experiencing a famine, so Elimelech moves his family to the land led by overweight kings. 

But that’s not the only irony we encounter as the story unfolds. Remember, Moab was a nation that worshipped a false god. Yet Elimelech’s name meant something like “My God is king.” So that’s what people heard when his name was said. And Naomi’s name meant something like “pleasant” or “delightful.” So in the midst of disaster — a famine coming upon their homeland — “My God is king” and “delightful” move to Moab. And imagine the potential ridicule they experienced from the locals. They’re the foreigners in the land — fleeing from a famine. And the locals probably couldn’t resist saying something like, “Hey ‘Delightful.’ How delightful are things back in your country? And hey ‘My God is king.’ Did your king and God abandon you? Is that why you had to come live with us?” So imagine the sense of loss — and the emptiness that came with it. Verse 3.

3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. (Ruth 1:3-5 ESV)

Now we don’t know how long they were in Moab before Elimelech died — we’re not told. We also don’t know why he died, though there’s a tradition that believes he died because of divine retribution. Meaning Elimelech died as a consequence for taking his family to such a disreputable country and his sons died because they married women from that country — but that’s tradition — so we don’t know for certain why Elimelech and his sons die. 

But what we can safely assume is that they didn’t have plans to return to their homeland. That’s why the boys married local women. You intermarry with the locals when you plan on staying there for a long time — probably the rest of your life.

But notice how the loss has multiplied for Naomi. She’s lost her homeland. She’s lost her husband. She’s lost her sons. She’s lost the meaning of her name — in many ways. And she’s lost all sense of security now being a widow in a foreign country with no male to care for and protect her. And this was a dangerous situation as often widows had no respectable way to earn a living. Her options were to rely on the charity of others, become a slave, or even a prostitute. So Naomi has three things going against her — she’s an older woman, she has no family, and she’s living in a foreign land.

So — again — imagine how all of this loss — through no fault of her own — imagine how all of this loss has left her feeling empty. And what began as the story of a family from Bethlehem moving to a foreign nation ends with just the mother alive — now a refugee. Her husband and sons are dead — leaving two more widows in the family.

But Naomi’s story isn’t over. Verse 6.

EMPTINESS CAN LEAD US HOME

6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. (Ruth 1:6-7 ESV)

Naomi decides she’s going to take charge of her life — she’s going to head back home. And what influenced her decision? We find our answer in verse 6. “She had heard…that the Lord had visited his people and given them food.” God had come to the aid of his people — he hadn’t abandoned them afterall. And if God was there, she wanted to be there with him — so she’s going back home. And the women start off to head to Naomi’s home — leaving the land that’s claimed the lives of their husbands — heading back to a land that a famine had caused them to flee.

But the silent journey is interrupted when Naomi speaks.

8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. (Ruth 1:8-9 ESV)

There’s no need for these women to become what she’s become — women with no family living in a foreign land. So she tells them to go back home — to stay in their homeland — and blesses them for their kindness towards her. And — in many ways — Naomi’s trying to put an end to her relationship with these women. She’s thankful for their loyalty but she doesn’t want them to experience any more loss than what they’ve already experienced. And her kiss signals the end of the conversation — or so she thought.

10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” (Ruth 1:10 ESV)

Now their response doesn’t just surprise Naomi — which it does — it surprises us — the reader — as well. Apparently Naomi’s not the only strong woman in this story. And her daughters-in-law aren’t going to let their mother-in-law control them. But Naomi’s not going to let them get the last word.

11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” (Ruth 1:11-13 ESV)

Naomi’s first question — “why will you go with me?” — displays a bit of annoyance. Her second question — “do I have sons?” — only has one answer — No! And then she tells the women to turn back to their homeland — again — displaying some impatience with the women — if not a bit of anger. But the drama — between these women — isn’t finished yet.

14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. 15 And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (Ruth 1:14-18 ESV)

So the two women make their decision. Orpah kisses Naomi and returns home — she listens to her mother-in-law — and her place in the story comes to an end. Now you’ll find folks who condemn Orpah for her decision — but notice that the narrator doesn’t condemn her. I mean — she obeys Naomi — so why would we want to condemn her for obeying Naomi’s wishes? We don’t know what kind of needs there may have been in Orpah’s family in Moab and there’s no dishonor in her choosing to attend to the needs of her family of origin rather than her family by marriage.

But Ruth clings to Naomi. We’re not sure if this means she literally grabbed Naomi or if she just stood there with a “Woman, you aren’t getting rid of me” kind of look. But we can’t ignore that Ruth is ignoring her mother-in-law’s wishes. And we also can’t ignore the self-admitted loss and emptiness of Ruth. “Wait Josh. Did you say the loss and emptiness of Ruth?” Yes. She makes a wonderful statement of loyalty — but we can’t miss how it also reveals to us something else.

“Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” That’s a statement of loyalty — yes — but it’s also a statement of someone who’s suggesting that they have no people — of someone who has no God. That’s the statement of someone who’s just as much at a loss and and feeling all alone as Naomi. 

So Naomi gives up. She doesn’t even say anything. She just heads home — in silence — with Ruth tagging along. And we’re told nothing of their trip — only that it began in silence — and we have no reason to doubt that the two women made the entire journey in silence. Because — in one short verse — the journey comes to an end.

19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. (Ruth 1:19-22 ESV)

So when they arrive in Naomi’s hometown, word on the street starts buzzing — “Naomi’s back.” And when she hears her name being said — she realizes the gap between her name’s meaning — “pleasant” or “delightful” — and her experience. So she tells everyone to not call her Naomi any longer — her name is now Mara which means “bitter.” And why does she give herself this name? She tells us. Because “the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty…the Lord has brought calamity upon me.”

She says, “I was full. And now I’m empty. For God has taken everything from me.” And — maybe off to the side somewhere — was Ruth — and Naomi didn’t even acknowledge her presence. 

So let’s pause before we go any further. 

• As this pandemic has taken things away from you — as you’ve experienced real loss — loss that I don’t want to downplay — just like I don’t want to downplay Naomi’s loss — but in your sense of loss and emptiness — what might you be overlooking in your life that’s a blessing? 
• What — in your life — is the equivalent of Ruth — a blessing standing off to the side — while you’re listing off all of the things that have been taken away from you — not noticing what you do have?

So post a comment — if you’re joining us on Facebook or on our church online page — post a comment of something that you do have — something that hasn’t been taken away from you — in these days. You may just remind someone else of a blessing in their life that they’re overlooking.

But notice the contrast here. Naomi — and her family — fled when trouble came in the form of a famine — they decided to go to another country — that was their response to trouble. But Ruth chose a different response. Rather than separating herself from the trouble she would surely find in following her widowed mother-in-law to a foreign land as a widow herself — instead of fleeing from trouble — Ruth bound herself to someone in trouble — she bound herself to Naomi. 

CONCLUSION

And this is how we find hope and fullness for our emptiness. Ruth binding herself to Naomi points us to what Jesus ultimately did for us. He committed himself to us — people who were in eternal trouble and in need of someone to come and rescue us. And Jesus rescued us by emptying himself on the cross so that we — who are empty — might experience the fullness of his life in ours. Thus our emptiness becomes the means by which God glorifies himself in our lives as we trust in Jesus to give us fullness and fulfillment.

You see, the gospel is the news of God displaying his love for us exactly when we were in a place of emptiness and brokenness and in need of salvation. The gospel isn’t the news of God loving people who are full, and unbroken — people who have no need for a Savior — that’s not the gospel. The hope of the Christian faith is that “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” And that Jesus “who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” And Jesus said that he has “come that they (those he saves — those who believe in him — Jesus has come that they…) may have life, and have it to the full.” Other translations say so that they may have an “abundant life” or “a rich and satisfying life” or “a better life than they ever dreamed of.”

Jesus came to give us the Naomi life — the pleasant and delightful life — and he did so by taking the Mara life that we all deserve. He took our Mara life when he experienced the bitter life under the wrath of God in our place so that we could be given “a better life than we ever dreamed of.”

Do you want fullness of life — even when you experience the losses of life? Well fullness of life is found only in Christ alone — trusting in his love for you — believing that he can give — but even more — believing that Jesus can be — the delight of your soul. 

Now one last part of Naomi’s story that I don’t want you to miss — and a thank you to my wife for pointing this out to me. Once she and Naomi are back in Judah, Ruth begins to gather food in the land of a man named Boaz. There was a law in the land where landowners had to allow widows to collect the leftover grain that had been left by the people working their land so the widows would have something to eat. And — as it turns out — Boaz was a relative of Naomi and Ruth — but even more important — he was a potential kinsman redeemer — which means that legally he was a potential rescuer and protector of these widows. 

And one night, Ruth went to Boaz to show that she and Naomi wanted him to be their kinsman redeemer — their protector and rescuer — and Boaz told her that he was willing — but first a meeting needed to take place to make it all official. But — before he sent her home — he gave Ruth a bunch of food to take back to Naomi and he said, “Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty handed.” And Boaz did become their kinsman redeemer. And he and Ruth eventually marry. And they became the great-grandparents of David — who would later be king of Israel.

And Jesus — a descendant of David — is our rescuer — he’s our protector — he’s our redeemer. And he has promised to never leave us empty handed. For he is always with us — filling us with himself — filling us with the Spirit of God — and Jesus is so good to us that he fills us with blessings to numerous to count. All possible because he emptied himself so you can be full. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you once again for your wonderful promises to us. Promises undeserved. Promises that — at times — can seem too good to be true. But they’re not too good to be true because they are your promises to us. And you are both good and true.

Jesus thank you for emptying yourself — taking the Mara bitter life we deserve — so that we could experience the fullness of life — the Naomi life that we don’t deserve. What a display of kindness to us through the ultimate sacrifice of your life on the cross.

Spirit help us to both recognize our emptiness — the real loss we experience — while not missing the blessings that we do have. And thank you for the gift of “a better life than we’ve ever dreamed of.” The life we experience when we are filled with you. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION 

May we — in our emptiness — all turn to Jesus to fill us — knowing that he never leaves us empty handed. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 19:1-18 (ESV)

DATE: 4-19-20

I want to welcome all of you who are joining us online this weekend. And one thing I want all of you to know is that God loves you and I love you too. 

SERIES INTRODUCTION

And we’re beginning a new preaching series today. And this series was originally something I had planned for later on in the year — but given our circumstances — it seemed appropriate to move some things around on the preaching calendar. So over the next four weeks, we’re going to look at the emotions of loneliness, emptiness, anxiousness, and depression. And my goal is for us to find some help and guidance from the Bible as these are emotions that all of us — to some degree or another — are all experiencing during this global pandemic and — for many of us — we’ll continue to experience these emotions even once we’re able to resume life in a “non-social distancing — you don’t have to stay at home all of the time” kind of way.

And we’re going to begin this series by examining the emotion of loneliness. 

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

So if you have your Bible please turn with me to the book of First Kings. We’ll be in chapter 19 looking at verses 1-18.  

We’re going to examine the emotion of loneliness by looking at a moment in the life of a man named Elijah. Now to set up our verses — in First Kings 19 — you need to know some things about Elijah and his story.

Just prior to our chapter — so this is one chapter before — chapter 18 — we read of a great showdown between Elijah — the prophet of God — and the prophets of Baal — a false god. The setting is on Mount Carmel. And this is one of the great Old Testament stories — the kids really love this one. Elijah tells the prophets of Baal that, “We’re going to have a showdown to determine who serves the true God.” And here’s how they would determine which is the real God. They would prepare a sacrifice on an altar and the God who sends down fire from Heaven will be the winner. 

So Elijah — with great confidence — lets the Baal prophets go first. And they get everything ready. And they spend most of the day dancing and doing all kinds of rituals to try and get their god to send fire down from Heaven. And at one point, Elijah gets a little cocky and tells them that maybe their god is sleeping and they need to shout louder to wake him up. But you can probably guess that nothing happens.

And then it’s Elijah’s turn. And he decides to raise the stakes. He doesn’t want there to be any doubt about whose God is the true God. So he gets the altar ready. And he has a trench dug around the altar. And he has folks bring a whole bunch of water and drench the altar and everything on it — all of the wood — the animal sacrifice — water is filling the trench and running everywhere. 

And then Elijah prays, ““O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” 38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord — he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!” (1 Kings 18:36b-39 NLT)

God proves that he — not Baal — is the One true God. 

Now the king of Israel’s wife — who we’ll meet in a moment — well — she hates Elijah — and if she wanted him dead before — she wants him deader than dead now.

RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ THE TEXT

Which leads us to the words found in First Kings chapter 19 — beginning in verse 1. 

Ahab (that’s the king) told Jezebel (his wife) all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” (In plain English — she just said, “Elijah, I want you dead.”) 3 Then he (that’s Elijah) was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he (so this is God speaking) said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he (God again) said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said (and this will sound familiar because this is what he just said a moment ago…), “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:1-18 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

So in our country, we’ve basically seen two responses to the pandemic. There have been those who have pretty much ignored the CDC guidelines concerning COVID-19 — thankfully this group has grown smaller. Now the best of this group did so because they didn’t want to be driven by fear — that’s group one. And then there are others who have become obsessed with COVID-19 — making sure they follow every guideline to the “T.” And the best of this group did so because they didn’t want to endanger themselves or others.

Now there’s something to be affirmed in both of these positions. We don’t want to be driven by fear and we do want to practice loving our neighbors — especially those who are vulnerable — by doing our best to not spread the virus.

However, both of these positions have their faults. Mainly because most of us think we’re somewhere in the middle. No one’s admitting that they’re at the extremes — meaning — none of us think we’re just flat out ignoring the CDC guidelines nor are many of us willing to admit that we’re being driven by fear alone. And I do think that more and more of us have seen that social distancing has been the best way to get through this pandemic — the whole “flattening the curve” goal we have has been working. 

But where the gospel speaks to our current situation is by its encouragement to not be driven by fear and it’s commandment to love our neighbor. The gospel shows us our responsibility to love others by practicing social distancing — yet — at the same time we do so while being confident that God is with us and is in control of all things — including the coronavirus. But what I want to speak to is how all of us are experiencing the emotion of loneliness — to some degree or another — because of our circumstances. 

Loneliness — it’s been described like sitting on a hill — looking out into the distance — but not being able to see much because there’s a cloud of fog that keeps you from seeing what’s out on the horizon. And that’s what the future has felt like for many of us — every day is kind of the same. We’re all Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day. “What are you doing tomorrow” is pretty much a pointless question these days.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they’re watching their whole world far apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” Many of our worlds have been falling apart. Loss of jobs. Loss of retirement funds. Vacations and trips canceled. Uncertainties about graduations and other significant moments for our students. All we’ve been able to do is watch as things seem to fall apart.

And then — for many people — maybe this is you — you were lonely before the pandemic. 

• The spouse in a marriage that leaves you lonely. 
• A child whose parent has been so focused on work that you’re left feeling all alone — almost like you’re an orphan. 
• I think of the elderly who — for multiple reasons — were already living a stay at home ordered kind of life. For many of us — this stay at home life is new — but for some folks — this is every day. And hopefully this time builds a sense of compassion among us for those whose lives haven’t changed much because of the stay at home order and won’t change much after the order is lifted. 

But because of the situation going on in our world, many many more people are suffering from loneliness in a way they’ve never experienced before. And I want to offer all of us some hope in these lonely days. Especially given the fact that we’re not really sure how much longer all of this is going to go on. Yes — we’re seeing some signs of hope — what appears to be light at the end of the tunnel — but we don’t know how long we’re doing this.

One last group I want to speak to before we go back to Elijah’s story. Maybe you don’t think you’re experiencing loneliness — maybe that’s true or maybe you’re not being honest with yourself — I don’t know. But even if you’re not experiencing loneliness, you probably know some people who are. And today I want to encourage you with some ways that you can reach out and be a support to those in your life who are struggling with loneliness.

So let’s go back to this moment in Elijah’s life and see what we can learn about our situation and find some help for our loneliness. 

FEAR LEADS TO ISOLATION

And the first thing we see is this — we see that fear can lead to isolation. Fear — now it doesn’t have to — but it can lead to isolation. Let me show you this in Elijah’s story. Back to verse 1.

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. (1 Kings 19:1-5a ESV)

Elijah’s fear led to his isolation. And his isolation led — to what many see as — depression — another emotion some of us are experiencing. And this time of physical isolation has led to some of us being more prone to sickness — and I don’t mean COVID-19 sickness — our bodies are just reacting to the isolation in some physical ways — depression being one of them — which we’ll look at in a few weeks.

But Elijah’s fear of Jezebel caused him to run. And once he stopped running — he was all alone — and he wanted to die. Which — honestly — it’s kind of ironic. He wants to die — just not at the hands of Jezebel. And for some of us — that’s what all of this feels like — this isolation — social distancing — it feels like death. 

Maybe this time feels like death to you because you so love to help others and — right now — you can’t help in the ways you’re used to helping. Or maybe — due to their own fears — you’re experiencing people reject your help. And you’re feeling unwanted — maybe even unloved. First, thank you for reaching out to others. We need people like you — wonderful servants — who care about others. But know that your value isn’t based on what you can or can’t do for others — your value comes from God. And — through your faith in Christ — he looks at you and sees a son or daughter whom he loves. 

So keep reaching out to others. Go to our COVID-19 page and sign up to help — we’ll point you to folks who can use your help. But most importantly — don’t forget to let others help you. Who are you letting check in on how you’re doing?

And to show you that this goes for everyone — myself included — there’s a staff member here at Gateway who makes sure to ask me a few times a week “Josh, how are you doing?” Because we all need to be checking in with each other and allowing others to check in on how we’re doing.

But Elijah’s fear led to his isolation. And similarly — our fear can lead us into isolation. 

And though Elijah seems to be done with being a prophet — God’s not done with him. 

PHYSICAL ISOLATION BLURS INTO SPIRITUAL ISOLATION

Which leads us to the second thing we learn from Elijah’s story — that physical isolation can blur into spiritual isolation. Often we allow our physical loneliness to convince us that we’re spiritually all alone. Let’s see this in Elijah’s life first. We’re in the last half of verse 5.

And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:5b-18 ESV)

So Elijah’s physical isolation made him think that he was spiritually isolated. And this is something quite common — where we allow our physical loneliness — which is a powerful emotion — to cause us to believe that we’re spiritually isolated and all alone.

Now there are a few things that we learn from this part of Elijah’s struggle. One thing we learn is that the idea of God being some sort of distant judge up in the sky who’s out to get people — well — that doesn’t really align with the picture of God we have here. Here we see God acting like a loving, patient parent who comes alongside his prophet who’s in a difficult season of life. And this is who God is. He’s a loving and patient Father who comes alongside his children when they’re in a difficult season of life. He doesn’t abandon us. He doesn’t leave us all alone. He is always present with us — we just need to be watching for him — and listening for his voice.

But for others of us, this whole pandemic situation has just made you angry. You like to be in control and this whole situation has taken every bit of control — you thought you had — out of your hands. And why this is so frustrating or scary or whatever emotion it is that you’re feeling — well you’re feeling that way because you feel vulnerable because you have no control. But you must remember that Elijah’s God is your God — if you believe. He is the God who doesn’t betray his people. He doesn’t abandon them. He reassures them that they are not alone even when they’re in a cave all by themselves way out in the middle of nowhere. And God is wanting you to be reassured — right now — that you are not alone — even if you’re cooped up in your house all by yourself. He is there with you. 

So regardless if you’re angry — because of this whole situation — or if you’re depressed — and Elijah definitely shows a lot of signs of depression in addition to his loneliness — or if you’re anxious — regardless of what you’re feeling — here are some questions for you. 

• Do you believe that God is with you? 
• Are you allowing your physical isolation to convince you that you’re spiritually all alone?

And one last question — that’s a bit different. What is God commissioning you to do in these potentially lonely days? 

We didn’t read the rest of Elijah’s story, but after this conversation with God — Elijah gets up — and continues the work God had for him to do. What work does God have for you to do? 

And I know some of us would love for God to speak to us — maybe not with the strong winds, earthquakes, and fires — but we’d love to hear God whisper to us — “Here’s what you’re to do.” Well — you may not get that whisper — but you’ve got his Word. And do you know what this book tells you? It says, “You’ve still got plenty to do.”

WHY WE ARE NEVER ALONE

And we have to acknowledge that this kind of thinking — that we’re all alone — this thinking is an enemy of the gospel. This is what happens when we allow fear and our circumstances to drive our thinking — even our theology — more than God’s promises to us in his Word — we end up believing lies. But here’s why this kind of thinking — that you’re all alone — is an enemy of the gospel.

Just before he was betrayed — by Judas Iscariot — Jesus cleared up some things for his disciples — and they were still kind of confused — but they thought they were finally understanding what Jesus was about to do and why he was going to do it. And this is what we read in John’s gospel. 

Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. 30 Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? 32 But the time is coming — indeed it’s here now — when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:29-33 NLT)

Jesus tells his disciples that they’re all going to abandon him — leaving him all alone. But — he won’t be alone. Why? Because his Father will be with him. Yet on the cross — in some sense — the Father did leave Jesus all alone as he experienced the punishment for our sins. And here’s what this all means for us.

In the gospel we see that God has chosen to be with us. And he proved his presence to us in sending his Son, Jesus. And Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit would come and take up residence in us. And just before he left earth, Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake us. So God has promised to be with us — always. And in being with us, he gives us comfort and peace and hope and joy — in knowing — that we are never alone.

And the guarantee of our comfort, peace, hope, and joy — being based on the fact that we’re never alone because God is always with us — the guarantee of all this is that Jesus exchanged places with us on the cross. And on the cross, he not only exchanged places with us in taking on the punishment for our sins — but he also exchanged places with us in our loneliness. Though his disciples promised that they would never leave him — in the end — all of them abandoned Jesus — leaving him all alone. And though we often fret over and feel as if Jesus has left us all alone — we have his promise — paid for in his blood — that he is always with us. 

• Will we face trials? Jesus said we would. 
• Will we face sorrows? Jesus said to expect them. 
• But we are to take heart — why? Because Jesus has overcome the world. 
• He has guaranteed that we will be victorious over our trials and sorrows — and even victorious over our loneliness — because he took our place so we can experience the spoils of his victory.

CONCLUSION

So in this time of social distancing and forced physical loneliness — remember you are not alone. God is with you. And we — his people — are with you too. And know that God is preserving for himself worshippers — in these days — just like he was preserving for himself worshippers in Elijah’s day. 

Remember — God is with you. You are not alone. So intentionally take this time to be present with him. And take time to be present with others. Let’s pray. 

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your promises to us. The promise of your presence — to always be with us — to never abandon us — is an amazing gift you’ve given to us. It’s a gift we don’t deserve. A gift we could never earn. A gift — if we’re honest — we often doubt. But our doubt doesn’t make your promise any less true. What a wonderful gift even that is. That you are true to your promises to us even when we doubt.

Jesus, thank you for exchanging places with us on the cross. Not only did you take our place in paying the penalty for our sin, but you took our place in our loneliness. You experienced abandonment. You experienced everyone walking away from you — denying that they even knew you. You experienced loneliness so that we could experience your presence — always. 

Spirit, help us to take advantage of the time we have to be present with you. To not only remember that you are present, but to experience your presence through the Word and through prayer. Lead us towards a stronger assurance that you are always with us — that we are never alone. And even when we experience loneliness — may we know that you are present — to comfort us and to give us hope. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION 

May you go knowing and experiencing the presence of God in your life — for he has promised to always be with you. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.