Sunday's Message (His Relationship - “I am your God.”)

Even though life can seem threatening and overwhelming, Isaiah 40:10 reminds us that we don’t need to be afraid: Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Don’t tremble with fear. I am your God. I will make you strong, as I protect you with my arm and give you victories. During five worship services, we’ll consider how God can calm our fears and anxieties. We’ll consider the following:

• October 4 - His Presence (“I am with you.”)
• October 11 - His Relationship (“I am your God.”)
• October 18 - His Support (“I will make you strong.”)
• October 25 - His Care (“I will protect you.”)
• November 1 - His Power (“I will...give you victory.”)

On Sunday, October 11, we discussed how God calms our fears through his relationship with us. Below is the text and a video presentation of the sermon. 

You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

As y’all probably know, last week we started a new sermon series. And since it’ll run through the spooky month of October, it’s entitled Don’t Be Afraid: How God Can Help Us Face Our Fears. You see, for five weeks, we’ll be using this a verse from Isaiah as a guide:

Don’t be afraid. I am with you.
Don’t tremble with fear.
    I am your God.
I will make you strong,
as I protect you with my arm
    and give you victories. [Isaiah 41:10, CEV]

And last week, we kicked this off by focusing on the phrase “I am with you” [Isaiah 41:10b, CEV] and then talked about how God’s presence can help us face our fears by removing our loneliness and by shifting our focus and by enhancing our strength and how we can grow in our awareness of that presence by praying and by reading and by worshiping. Now, that’s what we did last week. And his morning, we’re going to move onto the next sentence that follows the commands “Don’t be afraid,” [Isaiah 41:10a, CEV] and “Don’t tremble with fear,” [Isaiah 41:10c, CEV] namely “I am your God.” [Isaiah 41:10d, CEV] In other words, during the message this morning we’ll talk about how God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears. 

And I’ll tell you, something happened this past week that reminded me of just how important relationships are. You see, on Tuesday afternoon, my brother sent me this little video. 

Now, in case you were wondering, that’s my dad, age eighty-five, with his accordion, something he played back when he was a kid for USO shows during the war but didn’t pick up again until he was in his seventies. Now, I’ve got to tell you, just hearing him play triggered all kinds of memories, but not about the accordion. I mean, I remember him playing the piano and the guitar but not a squeezebox. No, after watching the video, what I remembered was the relationship I had with my dad, especially after my mom passed. And I’ll tell you, that relationship, well, I think it was mutual and it was certainly important to me. For example, when he couldn’t teach his Sunday School Class during COVID, something he’d done for thirty years, every Saturday morning, he’d send me his lesson all typed up, and I’d add some maps and graphics and then upload it to my blog so the people in his class could read what he used to share with them in person. And on Sunday afternoon, somewhere around 5:00, I’d call him, and we’d talk about air balancing and family and this time of year, ODU football. Dad had season tickets. You see, when I watched that video, all those memories came back. And I’ve got to tell you, remembering that stuff, well, it made me both happy and sad: happy because I know he’ll always be close but also sad because the love and support I got from our relationship ended when he passed. 

And you know, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. Like I said just a minute ago, we’re going to focus on the words “I am your God,” [Isaiah 41:10d, CEV] and we’re going to consider not only how God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears, but also how we can affirm that relationship. 

Of course, the idea that God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears, well, from a biblical standpoint, that’s really not very radical. I mean, there are plenty of passages from both the Old and the New Testaments that offer some pretty good insight into how God’s relationship with us can calm our concerns and our anxieties. For example, right before he crossed the Jordan River to capture the city of Jericho and to conquer the Promised Land, the Lord said this to Joshua:

Long ago I promised the ancestors of Israel that I would give this land to their descendants. So be strong and brave! Be careful to do everything my servant Moses taught you. Never stop reading The Book of the Law he gave you. Day and night you must think about what it says. If you obey it completely, you and Israel will be able to take this land.

I’ve commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:6-9, CEV]

You see, because God had a relationship with his people, Joshua could be strong and brave as he led Israel into their new home. And in the New Testament, just listen to what the Apostle Paul told his protégé Timothy:

Night and day I mention you in my prayers. I am always grateful for you, as I pray to the God my ancestors and I have served with a clear conscience. I remember how you cried, and I want to see you, because this would make me truly happy. I also remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same sort of faith, and I am sure you have it as well. So I ask you to make full use of the gift God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well. God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. [2 Timothy 1:3-7. CEV]

You see, Paul wanted Timothy to know the same kind of thing God shared with Joshua: because the Lord was their God, in other words, because the Lord was in relationship with both Joshua and Timothy, they shouldn’t act like cowards. Instead, they could be brave and strong, because they’d been given power and love and self-control. 

And praise the Lord, what God did for them, he does for us. You see, regardless of what we might be feeling at the time, God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears, by reminding us of three things that can make all the difference when we’re afraid. 

For example, first, I believe it can help us face our fears by reminding us of God’s authority. I mean, just think about it, the one with whom we have a relationship has authority over creation and nature. And he has authority over sickness and death. And he has authority over all powers, both seen and unseen. Now, let me ask you, if we believe that Jesus has the authority to still storms and to turn water into wine, and if we believe that he also has the authority to heal the sick and to raise the dead and if we believe, and I mean really believe that he has the authority to cast out demons and to stand toe-to-toe with the devil and that he will do exactly what his mother Mary predicted he would do when she said this to her cousin, Elizabeth:

The Lord has used
    his powerful arm
to scatter those
    who are proud.
God drags strong rulers
    from their thrones
and puts humble people
    in places of power.
God gives the hungry
    good things to eat,
and sends the rich away
    with nothing. [Luke 1:51-53, CEV]

I mean, if we believe that our God has this kind of authority, why be scared? That’s one. 

But it’s not just about authority, second, God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears by also reminding us of his love. You see, it was love that guided the children of Israel through the wilderness so they could be God’s people in the land God had promised to them. And it was love that entered our time and space in the person of Jesus who lived so that we might understand how we can live in the present and who died so that we might feel a sense of freedom from the past and who was raised from death to life so that we might face the future with hope and joy and anticipation. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, 

No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert. Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! [John 3:13-17, CEV]

I mean, if we believe that our God shows this kind of love, why be afraid? And that’s two. 

But even beyond authority and love, I also think God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears by reminding us of God’s desire. Now, in my opinion, that’s the third thing this relationship offers us, and I’ve got to tell you, for me, it’s the most remarkable one of all. You see, I can get my head around a God who has authority. I mean, that’s really what any god worth his salt is supposed to have. And although a little more challenging, I can also understand how God could be loving. Good night nurse, if John is right, “God is love” [1 John 4:8a, CEV] for crying out loud. Now that kind of makes sense. But for the one who’s absolute in his authority and perfect in his love, for the Lord and creator of the universe to desire a relationship with me, with all my limitations and all my weaknesses and all my flaws, now, to me, that’s really mind-boggling. And yet, I think John of Patmos described this mind-blowing desire on the part of God when he wrote,

Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne. [Revelation 3:20-21, CEV]

You see, in my opinion, God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears by reminding us of God’s authority and love and desire.

And even though that’s certainly good news for us all, what’s even better is that we have the power to affirm this relationship right here and right now. In other words, although his relationship with us is eternal and unchanging, we can become more aware and more responsive to the fact that, without our permission or help, God is indeed our God, something David recognized when he said this:

Lord All-Powerful, you are greater than all others. No one is like you, and you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true. And there is no other nation on earth like Israel, the nation you rescued from slavery in Egypt to be your own. You became famous by using great and wonderful miracles to force other nations and their gods out of your land, so your people could live here. You have chosen Israel to be your people forever, and you have become their God. [2 Samuel 7:22-24, CEV]

And as Jesus said in one of his last prayers:

Father, the time has come for you to bring glory to your Son, in order that he may bring glory to you. And you gave him power over all people, so he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. Eternal life is to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, the one you sent. I have brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you gave me to do. Now, Father, give me back the glory I had with you before the world was created. [John 17:1b-5, CEV] 

You see, even though our relationship with God is ultimately grounded on him and not us, I believe we can live within that relationship by deciding to do three things.

For example, first, we can surrender our control, or maybe better, we can surrender the illusion that we actually have power over our ultimate and eternal destinies. Now, don’t get me wrong, we have control over a lot of stuff. I mean, we decide how we’re going to live and how we’re going to treat people and even how we’re going to view God. But as to where we spend eternity, well, that’s grounded in the authority and love of God. And I’ll tell you, that’s a really good thing. I mean, even though being in control might feel comfortable and be a boost to our ego, when we surrender that ultimate control to God and trust in the one who seeks and finds us, in other words, when we put the burden of having to do it all ourselves aside, we might discover the kind of peace that I think Jesus had in mind when he said, 

If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light. [Matthew 11:28-30, CEV]

First, we can surrender our control.

And then, second, we can celebrate God’s grace. I mean, if we’re serious about affirming this relationship, we can celebrate maybe the greatest gift we’ve been given. I mean, there’s a reason we end every worship service with the same words: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. [2 Corinthians 13:13, NRSVUE] And when we say “Amen” together, we’re affirming that’s what we believe. You see, together we’re saying the same kind of thing Paul said to the Ephesians:

You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. [Ephesians 2:8-9, CEV]

Second, we can celebrate God’s grace.

And third, we can accept God’s invitation, and I’m talking about his invitation to us. And I’ll tell you, that’s really what makes a relationship complete, acceptance on both side. As I learned in Junior High, although I loved Meg Floyd with all my heart and all my strength and all my soul, a relationship that’s one-sided isn’t a relationship no matter how much I wanted it to be. And even though his authority is absolute and his love is perfect, God still wants us to respond to him by surrendering whatever control we think we have and by celebrating the grace that he’s freely given. And even though I don’t believe doing this affects our immediate past or our ultimate future, it sure does determine how we live in the present. As Paul wrote to the Romans:

Don’t let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don’t obey its desires or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God. Don’t let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God’s undeserved grace and not by the Law. [Romans 6:12-14, CEV]

Along with surrendering control and celebrating grace, if we’re serious about affirming our relationship with God, third, we can accept the invitation.

Although I’ll probably always miss the relationship I had with my dad, I carry around the memory of what we had all the time. And I’ll tell you, if I ever begin to forget, I can always play that 40 second video of him playing his accordion just like he did when he was kid in a white velvet shirt playing for a USO show in 1943. But I’ve got to tell you, as it relates to the relationship we had, well, I’m afraid it’s really not the same.

But that’s not the case with God, and that, my friends, is really good news, especially when we’re afraid. You see, I believe that God’s relationship with us can help us face our fears by reminding us of God’s authority and his love and his desire to be in relationship with us. And we can affirm that relationship by surrendering our control and celebrating his grace and accepting his invitation. You see, this we can do, whether we like the accordion or not.