A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Sun Oak Baptist Church
Introduction
A. We’re going to be looking at together at Psalm 139 in a moment, and if you would like to take a Bible and follow along with me, I encourage you to take one of the pew Bibles in front of you and open it to page 424, page 424, or you can follow along in the bulletin we have provided.
I’m humbled that Kevin and Rebecca have asked me to speak today and count it a privilege to have this opportunity to try and give some perspective to the events of their lives over the last month.
In many ways, our gathering together to remember Nathan Tyler Babcock and to express our love to Kevin and Rebecca is a very personal and intimate kind of experience. This is a special day – a unique series of events has brought us together today. And because of that I want to step softly, to tread lightly as it were, and walk us through some very real life issues that come to bear when people experience what the Babcock’s, their family members, and friends have been experiencing.
B. One of the more fascinating aspects of human behavior falls under the banner of “perspectives” – specifically, the different ways that people view things. For example: one person sees a partially filled glass of water and says it’s half empty, while someone else sees the exact same glass of water and calls it half-full. Some people are irritated that it’s raining – while others are grateful because there’s been a drought: perspective.
And the more that I have thought about Nathan the more I was drawn to this whole issue of perspective. Most of us know that it’s literally impossible to fully relate to what Kevin and Rebecca have been going through and how they have been feeling unless we have personally experienced the same thing. It’s difficult, if not impossible, for us to have their perspective on getting Nathan’s room ready; their perspective on shopping for his clothes; and all the other things parents do as they get ready for that glorious day when a child comes kicking, screaming, and crying into the world – and then all of a sudden, in a moment, one wellness appointment and it’s all over – talk about the proverbial rug being pulled out from under you.
C. And right here is where perspective begins to take on such incredible significance in the human experience: in a general sense, and I realize we can’t lump everyone in the world together, but in a general sense, in terms of perspective, the world tells us that Terry Schiavo wasn’t important; the world tells us that it’s just a stem cell; they tell us day-after-day that it’s just a fetus – not a baby – while at the same time arguing about when that fetus becomes a baby; and the same world makes stealing or damaging a bald eagle egg a federal crime.
And what it is is perspective – how one views the world and life in which we live. At times like these questions often come to mind such as “why?” There can’t be a God – after all there’s so much suffering in the world – but again, the answers are a matter of perspective and in the few minutes that I have this morning, I want to walk us through God’s perspective on some of the things that are brought to the surface at times like these and, by God’s grace, to also provide comfort and closure. How does God view the issues surrounding our presence here today; what kinds of things does He say about those issues; and what are some ways that Kevin and Rebecca been able to find peace and comfort in the midst of such sadness. And so much of God’s perspective on all of this is wrapped up in the Psalm we read a few moments ago.
Two (2) themes run right through the middle of Psalm 139: God’s absolute control and His loving comfort: God’s sovereign control over everything (whether we know it or not); and God’s love – as manifested by the comfort that only He can give.
I. God’s absolute control, what people in church call His sovereignty, thrusts out of Psalm 139 like mountains jut up out of the earth.
Notice how the psalmist un-wraps for us God’s absolute control. Read 1-9 and comment.
A. There are so many reasons why we can be comforted in the knowledge of God’s sovereignty. Because He’s God – He knows everything, we can rest in His absolute and final control over the events of our lives. Notice that King David, who wrote this Psalm and whose son also died an early death: read 139:1-4. God knows everything and He cares – just like a loving parent. Read 139:5. That’s comfort.
David also tells us we can take comfort in God’s omnipresence – He’s everywhere – Kevin and Rebecca have not been alone even one nano-second during the last month – and neither are any of us for that matter. Look at what David says in verse 7: read 7-10a.
And as if those reasons were not enough for us, another way that we see God’s care through His absolute control, not dictatorial control but loving leading control, that control is seen in His omnipotence – God is all powerful. Every human being, including Nathan, was conceived at precisely the moment in time that God intended, and lives precisely how long God intends. Read 13-16.
B. There’s no confusion, no contradiction, from God’s perspective. On one hand the world tells us life begins at conception, but on the other hand they argue when that is – but not God. He knows us before we were even conceived, and this truth is reiterated over and over in the Bible. Isaiah 44:2: “Thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb…” God’s perspective, the way He views every life; every single person whether 1-minute old; 1-hour old; 1-day; 1-week; 1-month; 24-weeks; 1-year; 10-years or 70 is the same way that He viewed the prophet Jeremiah’s life: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you…” (Jer. 1:5). What a glorious source of comfort.
II. But there’s more – David isn’t done: when it comes to viewing what God has allowed in Kevin, Rebecca, and Nathan’s life not only is there God’s absolute control, there’s also God’s loving comfort as only He can uniquely provide.
Look at verse 9. Read 9-12. Not only is God in absolute control over everything; not only is He all knowing; all powerful and present everywhere; He also deeply cares – even if we were to find ourselves in the uttermost parts of the sea, drowning in the most incredible sorrow imaginable, whether we know it or not, even there His hand will be with us.
A. I was visiting last week with Kevin and Rebecca and they shared how one way that God had comforted them was by reading the true story of man named Job, who in God’s loving sovereignty lost everything – everything: all of his earthly possessions; everything he owned; and all ten (10) of his children died instantly as the result of a natural disaster, perhaps a tornado, and Job’s reply to all of that was: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” That’s trusting in God’s loving comfort and care.
But things get worse: later, after all of that, down to nothing, just he and his wife, Job gets sick – his body becomes covered from head-to-toe in massive boils. And talk about perspective: Job’s friends, even his wife, played Monday morning quarterback day-after-day pontificating their human perspective on things. And as he sits there listening to all of that Job prays this prayer: “Your hands O God have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity…You have made me like clay….did You not pour me out like milk…clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together…”
What is Job talking about? Where is he getting his comfort and hope for the future? In God’s love for him as manifested in His absolute loving control over the affairs of Job’s life. And maybe you know the rest of the story: everything that Job lost was restored everything – his wealth two (2) times what it was and his wife gave birth to ten (10) more beautiful children.
B. Like a set of railway tracks slicing across the countryside …running into the distance as far as the eye can see…running right through the center of God’s Word are two (2) parallel themes: God’s absolute control and God’s loving care – and unlike railway tracks these two (2) themes come together to provide a level and kind of comfort no matter what the pain, no matter how deep the heartache, and no matter how big the loss.
Conclusion
A. I need to close. When it comes to dealing with the kind of sorrow that King David experienced; the kind of sorrow Job experienced – everything gone within a matter of a few hours; and the kind of heartache that brought us together today Rom. 8:28 tells us this: “God causes all things…all things…all things…to work together for our good – to them that love God and to them that are the called according to His purpose.” We didn’t have the time to read his whole story – but that’s exactly what happened to Job.
B. Please take a hymnal from the pew rack in front of you and turn with me to hymn #524 - #524. One of the most popular hymns in American church history is called “It is Well with My Soul” – and we’ll be singing it together in just a moment. The words were written Horatio Spafford – born on October 20, 1828. As a young man Spafford established a successful legal practice in Chicago, Illinois. Sometime in his youth he became a Christian and, in spite of great financial success, he went to church every Sunday, served there, and became friends with D. L. Moody, a famous evangelist, as well as other evangelical leaders of his day.
Some months prior to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 (a fire that destroyed over 17,000 homes and buildings; took the lives of 300 people and left over 125,000 others homeless) Spafford had invested heavily in real estate on the shore of Lake Michigan. These holdings were wiped out by this epic disaster. Furthermore, just before this happened he had experienced the death of his one and only son. Desiring some rest for his wife and four (4) daughters, as well as wanting to assist D.L. Moody in an evangelistic campaign, Spafford planned a trip to England for his family. In November 1873, due to unexpected last minute business developments, he had to remain in Chicago, but he sent off his wife and four (4) daughters as scheduled to sail to England expecting to follow them on another ship leaving in a few days. On November 22nd the ship that his wife and girls was traveling on was struck by the Lochearn, an English vessel, somewhere in the Atlantic, and sank in just twelve (12) minutes. Several days later the survivors landed at Cardiff, Wales, and Mrs. Spafford cabled her husband these two (2) words: “Saved alone…Saved alone.”
Shortly afterward, as planned, Spafford boarded another ship to join his bereaved wife in England. It is speculated that while crossing the Atlantic, and being told by the ships captain that they were near the area where his four (4) daughters had drowned, Spafford penned this incredible hymn with words that so significantly, deeply, and vividly described his grief: “When sorrows like sea billows roll...” However, as Susan comes to play for us, what is so noteworthy about this hymn, and should leap off the pages as we sing it, is that Spafford does not dwell on the theme of sorrows and trials, but rather focuses attention in the third stanza on the redemptive work of Christ, and in the fourth stanza Christ’s glorious second coming. Let’s stand and sing it together.
C. Why – how? From a human perspective, how can someone experience such deep personal loss, lose his only son and a short time later all four (4) of his daughters, and still be able to say with such convincing clarity: “It is well with my soul.”[1] The reason is God – even though we may dwell in the uttermost depths of the sea His hand is there. As compared to the world that we live in today, God values life so deeply, and loves mankind so much, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in that Son, will not die, will not be eternally separated from Him, but will live with God forever in heaven.
I don’t know how many of you saw it, but Psalm 139 mentions both heaven and hell. These places are not a matter of opinion or perspective – they just are: they are very real places and the reason for Horatio’s comfort and hope and Kevin and Rebecca’s comfort and hope is that are Christians. We are born sinners – separated from a loving God, but also a holy God who cannot dwell with sin. We don’t know exactly when it was, but Spafford came to realize that he was a sinner; he came to understand that, because of his sin, he was separated from a righteous and loving God that cared for him and desired to fellowship with him; he learned that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for his sin; and then he took that step of faith and received Jesus Christ into his life as his Lord and Savior and, as the Bible calls it – he was born-again. And this free gift is available to anyone. If you are here today, and want to know how to become a Christian, how to be saved, how to experience the kind of hope we just sang about, I encourage you to talk to me. I will take a Bible and show you how you can know for sure where you will spend eternity.
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[1]Osbeck, K. W. (1982). 101 hymn stories. (127). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications.