Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

            Whenever I have talked to church food committees about preparing food for an event, the question they always ask is, "How many people are you expecting?"

When they know how many are coming, they are diligent in making sure that they have enough food for all the people who are going to be there.

Some of them have expressed significant fear about running out of food.

In all my years of church ministry I can only remember one time when there wasn't more than enough food for a church event.

We don't like it when our resources are inadequate.

Yet in much of life our resources are inadequate.

Are we adequately holy?

Do we have the resources to love as we ought to love?

Do we ever serve God but feel that we just haven't got all that is needed?

I certainly don't feel that I have all the resources needed to respond to every situation that comes up in my role as a leader?

What about our church?

Would you not agree that we are weak and vulnerable?

Many of you have commented that we are a congregation that is much smaller than it used to be and we are a congregation made up mostly of people who qualify for a senior's discount.

How can we adequately do the work God would want us to do?

            Yet as I think about these things, I am not discouraged.

The reason I am not discouraged is because God is not limited by our lack of resources.

This morning, I would like to look at four stories from the Bible which talk about what God did when human resources were clearly inadequate.

As we examine these stories, I hope that we will be encouraged.

I hope that we will recognize the greatness of God and I hope that we will be moved to seek God for what He wants us to do for Him even with what little we have.

!

I.       A Stick

            In the song, City on our Knees, Toby Mac asks two questions which are relevant for us today.

He asks, "If you gotta start somewhere why not here…If you gotta start sometime why not now…" If we look at all the great things which God has done in the past like the miracles he did through Elijah and Peter, we wonder whether God still does miracles today.

If we read about what God is doing around the world like bringing many people to Himself in places like China we wonder whether He will do the same thing among us as well.

We wonder, "Is God among us or not?"

This is a question that was also asked by Israel in Exodus 17:1-7.

!! A.   We Need Water

            They asked it at a time when they were lacking water.

How long can we go without water?

"A 97 year old woman survived *8 days* without drinking or eating anything under the rubble of her home after an earthquake in Iran in January 2004."

In another news item it was reported that "Nearly all newborn babies were found and rescued after being *7 days* under the wreckage of a Hospital in Mexico City following an earthquake in 1985."

These are extreme situations and the common answer is that we could go for 3 days without water.

Of course, if we don't have access to water, we would become uncomfortable and panicky much sooner than that.

Recognizing that helps us understand that when the people of Israel stopped to camp at Rephidim and there was no water, it didn't take very long for them to become concerned and even more than concerned.

I have seen people scramble to line up for food and it is obvious to me that we have a powerful drive to feed ourselves.

When we don't have adequate resources, we very quickly get edgy.

!! B.   Is The Lord Among Us?

There were reasons for concern when they did not find water, but the intensity of their complaint against Moses is still somewhat disturbing.

They had just seen God do some amazing things in the very recent past.

They had seen God deliver them, a slave nation, out of Egypt.

Exodus 15 records that just previous to this event, they had camped at a place that had water, but the water was not good and they had seen Moses change the bitter water to sweet water.

In Exodus 16 we read that they had also already seen God provide manna in the wilderness.

The demonstrations of God's power, ability and willingness to help were abundant, but how quickly they forgot.

We do the same thing when we wonder, "That was then, but what about now?"

At the end of the story, Moses named the location Meribah, which means to test or quarrel.

The main contention they had with the Lord was to ask, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Moses appealed to them not to question God, but they did not listen to him.

The lack of trust in them was quite obvious.

Somehow they had not yet perceived that it was God who had led them and would not stop leading them.

We are not much different.

We also frequently get to the place where we wonder if God is among us.

Will He help when we are in a difficult place?

Will He provide when our resources are inadequate?

Is He present to lead our church?

!! C.   God Provided

            The other night on America's Got Talent, Eric Dittleman did an amazing thing by predicting what Howie Mandel was thinking.

As I watched, I wondered, "How did he do that?"

It was like magic.

There is no magic about what happened when Moses provided water for the people of Israel.

God told Moses to use his stick to strike a rock and water would come out.

It was the same staff he had used to strike the Nile River and do the opposite.

In that case, he had made water become unusable.

This time, he hit a rock with his stick, in the middle of a desert and good water came out of the rock.

It was no trick, rather, it was clear that God had done it.

In fact, we read what God said in verse 6, "I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb."

This was to show that He was present among His people.

Through a small thing, a stick, God showed His presence to the people.

He let them know that He was among them and that He was leading them and that He did care about them.

The people asked "Is God there" and God said, "I am standing among you."

God demonstrated His presence by providing water.

The lesson for us is also clear, God is able to take the smallest thing and bring about a great blessing.

The question is, will we trust or will we also ask, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

!

II.

A Stone

            So the lesson from the stick is that God is among us.

But often that still does not fill us with confidence.

Somehow we believe that what is against us is too great.

In fact often we believe that the odds are so great that we have no hope.

The second story, from I Samuel 17:1-51, is quite familiar to us.

It is the story of David and Goliath and encourages us that with God, the odds against us are never too great.

!! A.   A Fearsome Enemy

            Early in the story the power of the enemy is not only presented, but magnified.

Goliath is introduced as a very powerful enemy.

His height is described to demonstrate that he was a huge man.

Not only was his stature great, but the armor and weaponry which he carried is described so as to intimidate.

If you have ever watched strong man competitions, you can appreciate the incredible strength required to carry the weights those athletes carry.

As I read this, I was thinking that I would find it difficult even to carry the armor and weapons which Goliath had, never mind use them effectively in battle.

It is no wonder that we read in verse 11 that, as The Message says, "When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine’s challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope."

!! B.   A Weak Boy

            Into this picture comes David, whose weakness is highlighted in the story.

He is clearly too young to be a soldier because his brothers are soldiers, but he has not been called up.

When his brother, Eliab, speaks to him, he diminishes his importance when he talks about him looking after "those few sheep."

The implication is, "you are just a kid with an unimportant job."

When David offers to fight the giant, he comes before king Saul who will determine whether or not he will permit it.

At first, he does not permit it and says to him in 1 Samuel 17:33, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

David's weakness is further highlighted when Saul is convinced to let him go and provides him with armor.

We should not miss that he gives him his own armor, which we suspect was probably the best armor in the land.

But David was unable to handle the armor.

He was not used to it which shows his weakness and so when he went against him, he went as simply a shepherd boy.

The giant also perceived his weakness and mocked him when he said to him in, 1 Samuel 17:43, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?”

!! C.   A God Given Victory