Sermons of Rob Henderson

Rev. Rob Henderson
Shelby Wesleyan Church
https://www.angelfire.com/mi2/robhenderson/
robnaomi@oceana.net

As I stood in front of the casket I almost expected Kimmy to break out into an incredible smile and sit up. Only she could smile the way she did. Only she could touch the heart of someone with just her innocence and - smile.

Last Saturday evening Kimmy Moulton, aged 22 was riding her horse in the Brigden Fair. A snapshot taken by a newspaper photographer just moments before her collapse showed the tell-tale signs of an oncoming seizure: her head slumping forward. Many, many times before she had these episodes but always came back. But not this time.

Kimmy died Sunday morning. She went home to be with the Lord.

Her death is a tragedy. We sat, still stunned, with other family members trying to comprehend such an incident but realizing that there are no easy answers for life’s perplexing questions. The reality remained: she is not here any longer.

We won’t see her this Christmas as the family gets together for dinner. We will not see her at any future weddings or funerals (why is it these seem to be the only times we do see our relatives?). We will not see her in passing or visiting. We will never see Kimmy again... in this world.

There is the marvelous hope that cannot be described very accurately. We do have the hope that one day we will see her, perfect and without the fear of a disabling seizure. That one day we will meet on the shores of that river.

But for now, we will miss her.

In times like these the Christian finds hope that cannot be found anywhere else. You see, God cares. I wanted so much to convey that message to the grieving brothers and Aunt Linda and Uncle Jim. God does care. And He is not silent.

So often I believe that we find ourselves wondering if God is really there. Take for example, the Israelites in captivity. Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were taken during the first invasion by King Nebuchadnezzar. They arrived in Babylon shaken and I’m sure nervous and frightened. nervous. The king was nobody’s dummy. He recognized that the most valuable items a nation may have is not money or brute strength but the minds.

The Germans during Word War II indentured numerous scientists in the hopes of them discovering a weapon that would win the war. And so what Nebuchadnezzar was doing was in some ways unique. He saw value in the human mind and realized that he could be a neighborhood bully or a neighborhood leader. He decided was both.

The challenges that lie ahead for the newly transferred Israelites were unkown but some principles were going to be basic. Daniel and his friends understood something that probably most of those taken into captivity had missed: God cares.

Did God care that here were some of his servants taken as slaves by another nation? Of course God cared.

Does God care where you are right now in your faith? Does God care about the problems and circumstances of your life? Does God care about what you care about?

Of course. God is love. Love is basic to His character. And because God is love he cares for you.

God cares. But why?

Daniel had arrived in Babylon. Maybe he wondered if God cared. Maybe he wondered if God really heard his prayers. Maybe he wondered if by living righteously and doing the right things God still heard his prayers. He had challenged the status quo and he and his comrades were allowed to serve God in their eating habits. Now a different challenge had come to them.

I had a dream the other night that was somewhat perplexing. I wish I could understand what my dream was. Maybe you could help me. Tell me what my dream was about?

Could you do that? First, tell me what my dream was. Then interpret my dream.

This was the challenge that Nebuchadnezzar was giving to his wise men. “If you are so smart and so wise, then tell me about my dream. Tell me what I dreamed and then interpret it for me.”

I think that the king had such a troubling dream that he wanted a real answer. He didn’t want hypothesis or conjecture he wanted real answers. I believe that the Lord not only used Nebuchadnezzar to discipline His people but He also wanted to be real to him. God wanted to have a relationship with this foreign king.

You see, I believe that God cared about King Nebuchadnezzar. I believe that God was using various circumstances to speak to him.

I also believe, that God wants to take your circumstance, your heartache, your problems and glorify Himself and reach someone around you.

Daniel could have just simply resigned himself to the troubling community in which he lived and just let things ride. He could have just simply decided that whatever came his way that he and his friends would just accept it. They could very easily took the attitude of adaptation: when in Rome do as the Romans.

But they had a righteous attitude. “I know whom I have believed. And am persuaded that He is able. To keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”

Like Josiah, they knew the God they served. Like the sons of Issachar they understood the times and were not ignorant of the place they were in. Like Joshua, as for them and their very lives they were going to serve the Lord. Like Paul, they were not their own, they were bought with a price

And here we see the formidable task that lie ahead. At stake, were their very lives. Also, being challenged was God himself.

If God had given this dream to Nebuchadnezzar then surely He would provide the answer.

Last week, I received a book in the mail. The pastor of the church that sent this complimentary copy simply asked me to read three chapters. This book is based on a dream that the author had. I was reminded by the letter that there were instances in scripture where God spoke through dreams.

I don’t disagree. But let me make this suggestion if you believe that God has spoken to you through a dream: be careful who you tell. This author would have had far better success with his book if he had not revealed that part of the story. People who read this are going to wonder if this was really a dream, a day dream, or a hallucination. I am not suggesting that the author is lying. What I am suggesting is to be careful- especially if you write a book about it.

But nobody was going to challenge King Nebuchadnezzar on the validity of his dream. And nobody could do what the king wanted and so all of the wise men of his court were going to be killed. Until Daniel heard and the three Hebrew boys prayed.

Maybe it was the possiblility of losing their own lives because of someone else’s ignorance that caught their attention. It would mine.

Daniel said those often quoted words throghout the centuries: “Let’s pray.”

So they prayed. And God heard. And God answered.

Daniel responded with this prayer. Daniel’s prayer should encourage all of us this morning no matter what the issue is in our lives:

First of all: God is in control. (Daniel 2:20-21)

Second: God has a plan. (Daniel 2:22)

Third: God cares for you. (Daniel 2:23)

I. GOD IS IN CONTROL

Wisdom and power belongs to the Lord. James tells us that if any of us lacks wisdom we should ask of the Lord who gives to all men liberally.

What is wisdom? Wisdom is not intellect. Wisdom is not smarts. Wisdom is not your IQ score.

There are a lot of smart people who do dumb things. There are a lot of smart people who sin against God and their families. There are a lot of smart people who think they know every thing they need to know about God. There are a lot of smart Christians who limit themselves by ignoring God’s wisdom.

Proverbs tells us that “Wisdom calls aloud in the streets, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; in the gateway of the city she makes her speech...”

Wisdom and power are the Lord’s and He wishes for us to imdue or imitate His wisdom.

How many times have I relied on my own wisdom and power? Numerous times: Going into spritual warfare with a plastic butter knife for a sword and a paper plate as my shield of faith. Facing the battles of life alone and weak.

What is Daniel’s prayer telling us this morning? The source of our wisdom and strength is God. God and God alone. And He gives this wisdom and power to those who pray. To those who are called by God’s name will humble themselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways then God will hear and forgive and heal.

This prayer is a ringing testimony of Daniels faith that God hears and God heals.

We worry about the political future of our nation. I must ask: why? God sets up kings and deposes them. We need to put the future of our great nation into the hands of God and pray that righteousness will prevail. We worry about our health. But why? God knows about our hurts and pains. We need to pray for healing and let God do as He wills. We worry that we won’t know what to say when confronted with a tough people problem. But why? God will give us the wisdom to say what we need to say and the wisdom to keep silent when we need to keep silent.

God is in control.

2. GOD HAS A PLAN

Have you ever wondered what kind of plan God has for our nation? Have you ever wondered what kind of plan God has for you?

It’s easy to feel weak. It’s easy to feel helpless.

But that is how God wants us to feel. Weak and helpless. So we will rely on him.

I’ll bet Daniel saw the challenge that lie ahead for him. Life or death hung in the balance. What was he going to do?

What would I have done?

“Aaaaaah! Hey, guys, we need to escape! We need to get out of here. We need to hide! Let’s make a break for it! Oh, my we can’t escape. We can’t run! We can’t leave! We are going to die!! We are going to get the axe! Aaaaaaaah!!!”

That would probably been my response. And let’s admit it, this is quite easily your response: When that unexpected bill comes in the mail. When the doctor gives you the unexpected bad news about your health. When that unexpected phone call comes and you find yourself grieving the loss.

But let me tell you something: God has a plan.

David knew that God had a plan for his life. In Psalm 139 he testifies to God’s plan for his life: “All your days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Daniel’s prayer of praise reveals to us that what God does is according to His good will and His plan.

God was using this captivity of good godly men to bring glory to Himself.

God knows what is hidden from us and reaveals it to us, if he desires.

God has a plan and will use your life, your heartache, your distraught, your confusion to bring glory to himself. We just have to let him.

Thirdly, God Cares for You.

We have heard the scripture from 1 Peter 3:7 that tells us: “Cast all of your cares (or anxiety) on Him for He cares for you.”

But what does the previous verse tell us? “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, (why?) that he may lift you up in due time.”

God cares about you. He cared about Daniel some 2700 years ago and he cares about your circumstance and your situation. He cares about your hurts and your pains. He cares about your financial crisis. He cares about the things you care about.

God cares. And not just that, but cares for you.

God performed a miracle that day. He revealed to Daniel what the dream was and how to interpret that dream.

God has always been in the miracle business.

Why? Because he cares for the people he has created. He wants our worship not our works. He wants to bless us as his creation and not only that but bless us for worshiping him. God is not a big bully looking to squash us under his thumb, but he is a loving father.

EV Hill reminds us that when we look through scripture we see miracle after miracle.

But they were not the greatest miracle.

When God created the heavens and the earth that was not the greatest miracle.

When God rescued Noah and his family from the flood that was not the greatest miracle.

When God saw the children of Israel slaving in the hot sun, he sent and used Moses, but that was not the greatest miracle.

When God reached down and gave Samson the strength to destroy the Philistines that was not his greatest miracle.

When God saw and heard King Hezekiah and delivered the people from Sennacherub by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that was not his greatest miracle.

You might say that when Jesus was born of a virgin that that was His greatest miracle. I would have to say no. How about when Jesus healed the blind and the lame and the sick. those were great miracles but no the greatest. When the power of the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost surely that was greatest miracle?

No that wasn’t the greatest miracle.

Heaven. When we die and go to heaven, maybe that would be the greatest miracle. Nice try, but that is not the greatest miracle.

How about when one day, Jesus will return and set up His kingdom on earth, will that be the greatest miracle? No, that is not the greatest the miracle.

The greatest miracle ever to be performed by God was when he reached down into the heart of a troubled teenager in Muskegon, Michigan and gave him hope. When God looked down through all of the mess and disguises of this world on November 12, 1978 and did the miracle of salvation, transformed a heart of sin into a heart of righteousness, recreated a sinner into a saint. God performed a miracle in my heart and life.

That miracle is the same miracle that God has performed in your heart.

Why does God care? God cares because he is love. And He loves you.