Sermon from a Sick Pastor

The following was written by Tim and was sent to our folks at CBC. I wanted to share it with everyone. I hope it will be a blessing to all who read it. Tim is in good spirits and slowly gaining strength, but still experiencing weakness, fatigue, mild nausea and his taste is still not exactly right. All the kids are well for now...Stacie

Psalm 27:13, 14

Introduction:
The idea for a sermon like this came from when I was reading the biography of Charles Spurgeon, the famous English preacher of the late 1800’s. On more than one occasion he was out of the ministry due to illness. Whenever that was the case, he would use his mind to create printed sermons as a way to communicate with the congregation that God had entrusted Him to lead. One time he suffered from a bout with smallpox. It was during this time that he wrote “A Sermon from a Sick Preacher” and “How to Handle Adversity.” I intend to follow the same pattern as I recover from my stem cell replacement therapy and cancer treatments.

The text that I have chosen is Psalm 27:13, 14. In it David says, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

In this passage we see the unbreakable relationship between faith and patience. Like Jack and Jill, the two go together in the story of the Christian experience. You cannot have one without the other. The one produces the other. Together they produce courage. Faith, patience, courage- when you are facing a trial of affliction you need a good dose of each one of these.

I. Faith
First of all you will notice in your English translation that the words, “I had fainted” are in italics which mean that they are not found in the Hebrew text but were supplied by the translators for the purpose of adding sense and meaning. In the Hebrew language verse 13 is an elliptical style phrase. In other words, the writer is deliberately obscure to force the reader to “fill in the blanks.” It could read like this, “Unless I had believed to see the goodness of God in the land of the living, where would I be?” There are many options as to how this could read. I think the translators chose an appropriate phrase because the focus of the entire psalm is that when you have faith, fear will disappear. They leave the impression that David was at the point of succumbing to fear and ready to faint except that God gave him faith to believe in the goodness of God.

Fear is a common human condition. It grows from general dread and apprehension to severe dread and terror. It starts when we are children as we are afraid of the dark. It continues during the teen years as we become afraid of rejection, humiliation, and failure. It grows in adulthood as our lives are filled will all possible problems and dilemmas.

Lately, for me fear has been my nemesis, as I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer in the fall of last year. What I had believed was simply a muscle strain in my back turned out to be much more serious. I became very apprehensive about my family, my future, my church, the pain, and even how others would view my disease. My fears would sometimes keep me awake at night. But like David I am learning to develop faith in the Word of God so that my fears will disappear.

David says in verse 1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” He could have just as well said, “What shall I fear?” In the dark times we simply need to focus on the sovereignty of God believing that he knows the path of our life. He is our light in a dark path. He also is our salvation or deliverer. If we feel surrounded by the enemy in a dark alley we can know that behind the scenes is our deliverer (And our deliverer is not a bumbling Barney Fife but a Chuck Norris-like Divine martial arts expert.) Praise the Lord!

If we believe this then we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Notice that we must believe to see, not see to believe. And the goodness of God is the guaranteed result. But what is the land of the living? It could be applied to this world in which we live now. In other words, those who walk in the faith of the goodness of God will in time see that goodness in this present life. I believe that. I just do not presume to tell God how that goodness should appear. But also, the land of the living applies to heaven- the home of those who are eternally alive. If we do not believe that God’s greatest goodness awaits us in heaven, we will never make it through the fearful circumstances of this life. If we believe we will see, and that faith that comes from a focus on God will make our fears disappear.

II. Patience
David readily admits in the passage that although he was living by faith, he was in a waiting mode as he was eagerly anticipating the goodness of God. When he wrote this the implication is that he had not seen the goodness of God yet. He says in verse 14 “Wait on the Lord…wait, I say, on the LORD.” James 1:3 says “…that the trying of your faith worketh patience.” God allows us to be put through trials of faith so that He can produce patience. There is no way to learn patience but to wait.
Do you remember those tests in school- Math with all the equations, English with all of the rules, and History will all of the dates? Just as with the school days in the school of the Christian life we must learn the material and pass the test to go on to new ground. This is the pattern for the course of our lives. In the process we are learning to wait on God’s goodness which is the perfecting virtue of Christ-likeness.

Faith and patience are inextricably linked. Look at Hebrews 11:1 which gives the definition of faith. It says that faith is “…the substance of things hoped for” (emphasis added). So there is an essential element of anticipation in true faith. It involves waiting for some future fulfillment of what you believe. To produce faith and patience then God will cause us to face some challenge that includes no visible sign of deliverance. The consummation of this testing experience is when we learn to accept the challenge with contentment believing that God’s deliverance and goodness will come in this life or in heaven.

This patience is not a passive submission but an active advancement in the face of the trial. It is not standing against the wind, but walking against the wind. That is one of the reasons that I am producing this sermon. It would be easy for me to sit at home and do nothing. But even in sickness there is always some productive activity for the kingdom that can be accomplished.

Listen to these two verses in Hebrews and notice the active mood in which they are written. Hebrews 6:12 says, “be… followers of them who by faith and patience inherit the promises” (emphasis added). Hebrews 10:36, “For you have need of patience,
that, after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise” (emphasis added). It is the false believer that falls away in the face of trial. It is the immature believer who resorts to unproductive worry and complaints. It is the ones who go forward in the face of trial to serve the Lord who find that their faith is real, vital, and growing. Patience is having its perfect work.

III. Courage
David says in verse 14 that if we wait on the Lord and have good courage, God will strengthen our hearts. So the natural result of faith and patience is a divinely ordained strengthening of our hearts- an ever growing courage.

Leonard Sweet gives this illustration: One tribe of Native Americans had a unique courage-building exercise for training their young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods- by himself- all night long. Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked. No doubt this could be a terrifying night for many.

After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered into the exterior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of a path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld a figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy’s father. He had been there all night long. (Citation from Soul Salsa: Zondervan 2000, pp. 23, 24.)

As David focused on the Lord his fears diminished and he was given a confidence in the powerful presence of God on his behalf. He was able to believe that after the dark night he would see the light of God’s protection, provision, and blessing. That is the essence of Christian courage.

Conclusion:
Faith plus patience equals courage. This sick pastor has been working with God to produce all three. Please pray for me as I continue this journey. I am praying for you as well.