Rev. David Holwick R
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 22, 2011
Habakkuk 3:17-19
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I. You're still here?
A. The Camping fiasco.
I was jogging on Canal Street this week and was passed by
a van with a large "May 21" sticker on the back.
I knew who it was - a friend of mine who lives on Mooney
Mountain.
He has stayed away from churches for years because Camping
teaches that the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn from
churches.
My friend is absolutely convinced that Camping had the date
down pat.
On Friday I emailed him to let him know what my sermon today
was about.
He never got back to me.
At least he didn't blow his life savings on that bumper
sticker.
B. People have been wrong about a lot of religious things.
1) They have come up with bad predictions.
2) They have concocted strange doctrines.
3) They have expended their money, time and sweat only to
have their version of God let them down.
C. Someone has to take the blame.
1) Sometimes they blame the teacher or preacher they were
following.
a) Harold Camping should be glad he is not living in
Old Testament times.
b) False predictions did more than embarrass you - it
got you killed.
2) Sometimes they blame themselves.
3) Often they blame God, or even reject religion altogether.
D. Disappointments can have a silver lining.
1) They are wonderful opportunities for humility.
2) They can deepen our faith rather than destroy it.
3) They can help us be wiser and more balanced.
II. When preachers get it wrong.
A. There have been many theological controversies over the years.
1) Big changes have been made by bold leaders.
a) Luther was the spark that led to the Reformation.
b) Strong leaders began the Baptist movement in England.
2) But bold does not always equal right.
a) It is amazing how people are convinced by style over
substance.
b) Millions have been led astray by sincere, talented
leaders who were dead wrong.
3) Don't put your confidence in any human.
a) Baptists don't believe anyone is infallible.
b) Put your confidence in Christ, not Christians.
B. Challenge what anyone teaches you.
1) Example of the Bereans. Acts 17:11
a) Berea was a city in Greece that was evangelized by Paul.
b) Other cities nearby had rioted because of his message.
c) The Bereans were different.
1> They listened to what Paul had to say.
2> Then they studied their Bibles to see if it
supported him.
2) Every Christian should be like a Berean.
a) Don't take every statement at face value.
b) The speaker may quote the Bible profusely but that
doesn't guarantee anything.
c) Analyze their argument and use your mind.
III. When you get it wrong.
A. Sometimes we can only blame ourselves.
1) We construct a nice little theology, and then reality hits.
2) God doesn't always fulfill our wishful thinking.
B. Misunderstanding what God promises.
1) Biblical promises are popular.
a) Some of you have little books that contain extensive
lists of promises in God's word.
b) Often, they are taken out of context and misapplied.
2) Biblical promises often include conditions.
a) "I will bless you AS LONG AS YOU..."
b) God is at least as likely to rebuke you as he is to
bless you.
C. Any Christian can be wrong, including you.
1) No one can see God, but they can see you.
a) Maybe they think God has failed because you have failed.
b) Jesus says the world will see him through us.
What kind of God do people see in you?
Eugene Peterson tells a fascinating story about when he was a
pastor in New York City.
His church's janitor was a German named Willi Ossa.
Willi was a janitor by night but an artist by day.
Peterson wanted to build a friendship with Willi because he
knew the man harbored a quiet but hostile attitude toward
Christianity.
So he asked Willi to paint a portrait of him.
Willi agreed, and day after day he would apply his brushes to
the canvas while Peterson sat there.
Willi never let him peek at the progress of the painting.
One day, Willi's wife dropped in and with one look at the
picture she shrieked, "You make him look like a corpse!"
Willi snapped back, "That is the way he will look when the
compassion is gone, when the mercy gets squeezed out of him."
You see, Willi Ossa hated the state church of his homeland,
blaming it for not doing more to stop the Holocaust.
He wanted to show Peterson his future if he persisted in what
he perceived to be the "Christian way."
It is a sad story and an indictment against the behavior of
many Christians in history.
But behind it all, one wonders if that is not the picture of
God that many have, perhaps even you.
Maybe you are left with a portrait of an unloving and uncaring
God.
Is that what people see when they look at your soul?
#17365
2) Be wary of being rigid.
a) Have you ever changed a deeply-held religious idea?
1> If not, you are probably a very shallow believer.
b) Dynamic believers should always be challenging what
they hold to be true.
1> Read up on other people's ideas about God.
2> Constantly compare your beliefs with the realities
in your life.
3) We should be bold in our beliefs and yet always open
to correction.
a) Feel free to admit you don't understand everything.
b) When I meet a Christian who acts like they have it all
figured out, I know they don't.
4) Even doubt is not necessarily a bad thing.
a) The key is to keep seeking and studying.
b) You can live a good life without knowing all the
answers.
IV. When God seems to be wrong.
A. This is a prime issue in modern life.
1) The ultimate example - Auschwitz extermination camp.
I watched a documentary recently that told of how a rabbi
and some other inmates watched trainloads of victims
being brought up to the gas chambers.
The passengers apparently knew what was happening because
they were wailing piteously.
The rabbi told those around him to pray.
He said the God of the Bible would deliver those people
just as he had done in the ancient past.
He waited for the heavens to open and God to break forth.
He didn't.
The rabbi turned to those around him and said, "There is
no God." [1]
2) We should disagree with his conclusion, but appreciate
his dilemma.
a) Truly horrible things happen in this world.
b) Many of them are done in God's name.
c) God does not always swoop in and part the Red Sea.
B. Crisis and tragedy often turn people away from God.
1) The death of a loved one, a tornado, a bankruptcy.
2) But remember that this is nothing new.
a) Even in the Bible, for every parting of the Red Sea
there is an exile into Babylon.
b) Indeed, the Bible even promises that godly people
will have lots of trouble.
3) Our corrupt world only makes sense if there is justice
beyond our puny lives.
C. Genuine faith has to be able to handle crisis.
1) The prophet Habakkuk had this kind of faith.
a) He struggled with the unfair way God seemed to be
treating his nation.
b) He was glad God was punishing Israel for its sin,
but was appalled that God's instrument was an even
worse nation, the Babylonians.
c) His conclusion was that God would work it out in the
end, even if Habakkuk couldn't see it for himself.
2) His envisions a faith that believes without backup.
a) He'll believe even if everything he depends on for
survival were to fail.
b) He will not only believe, but rejoice in his God.
V. Deep faith knows a few things well.
A. You need an anchor.
Several years ago a church in Atlanta honored one of its senior
pastors who was retiring.
He was 92 at the time and some wondered why the church even
bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.
He was introduced and as the applause quieted down he rose from
his chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding
gait to the podium.
Without a note or written paper of any kind, he placed both
hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and
slowly began to speak...
"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your
pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson
ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching.
I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just
one thing that made the most difference in my life and
sustained me through all my trials.
The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and
heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me...
The only thing that would comfort was this verse...
"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong,
We are weak but he is strong.....
Yes, Jesus loves me...
The Bible tells me so."
When he finished, the church was quiet.
They say you could actually hear his footsteps as he shuffled
back to his chair.
#33179
B. Is your foundation solid enough to hold?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] I cannot identify the film I was watching but it was a documentary.
#17365 “Gaining a Picture of God,” Ravi Zacharias, A Slice of Infinity:
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries;
http://www.gospelcom.net/slice/, December 13, 1998.
#33179 “His Greatest Lesson In 50-Odd Years of Preaching,” author
unknown, Wit And Wisdom by Richard G. Wimer, Sept. 7, 2006.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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