In our move across the country from Oregon to Ohio, my family had the opportunity to stop by
Yellowstone National Park.
Has anyone here had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone?
It is an awesome park with beautiful lakes, rivers, mountains, and trees.
Yellowstone has a diverse population of wildlife, and as a former biology student, still
current science nerd, there aren’t many better parks to visit.
Yellowstone is a place that actually lives up to the hype. We only spent half a day in the park
and we were still able to see elk, moose, bear cubs, bison, and coyote.
One of the main attractions at Yellowstone is a geyser that is named Old Faithful.
Some history for you on Old Faithful. Old Faithful was named in 1870. Its name was given because
the geyser faithfully erupts every 44-125 minutes. When it erupts, the geyser launches hot water
125 feet into the air. It is pretty amazing! A side note… in the early days of the park a major
attraction was washing your laundry in Old Faithful. People would throw their clothes into the
crater and once the geyser erupted, it would launch their clothes into the air thoroughly cleaned.
Apparently cotton clothes would be undamaged, but wool clothes would get tattered from the
heat of the water!
What a name this geyser has.
Old Faithful. That is a name to respect right? It would be
pretty good to be known for your faithfulness. To be known for reliability, endurance, staying
true to the course over a long period of time.
This morning, we have the privilege of celebrating the faithful ministry of our recently retired
pastor of this church. Having walked with this church through challenging times, and good times alike.
In the past three months, I’ve gotten to know him well enough to know that he’d like all of
this to pass without any big recognition, but we are thankful for him correct!?
Faithfulness is one of the things that we appreciate most about our God. We serve a God who does
not change. A God who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God is not changed or shaken
by the chaotic things that happen from day to day.
Psalm 119:89-96 NLT:
When we look at the things in this world that we can place our hope in, their faithfulness is
not guaranteed. We have all experienced the sting of being let down by other people, or possibly
letdown by a group of people that you had placed your hope in, maybe at work, or certainly in
the political realm of this world. The God we serve isn’t like these things.
As the Psalmist says:
“The Lord exists forever…Your faithfulness endures to all generations.”
A unique thing about God, is that God’s faithfulness does not falter.
I think it is easy for us to lose appreciation for God’s faithfulness.
Do you think it is possible for God’s faithfulness to end? God chooses to be faithful. We see in
scripture that Jesus faced a choice… Jesus had the same freedom of choice that each of us has.
Jesus endured great tension as the full weight of his calling stood before him. As Jesus
wrestled with the cross that laid before him, he sweat tears of blood. Jesus prayed for the
cup to be taken from him. Even with this tension, ultimately Jesus modeled faithfulness in
the fullest to us. He carried the cross and endured the agony, shame, and suffering that came
with it on our behalf. God has shown consistency across the spectrum of time. God has modeled
for us what it means to be faithful even when the cost is great.
Can we pause a minute and offer up some gratitude to God for being such a faithful God.
Let us praise Him!
Psalm 111 NRSV:
"We have reason to give thanks! We have reason to sing praise! We serve a faithful
God, amen? In times of transition and change… God is faithful! In times where our world is
shaken up by major tragedies, floods, fires, earthquakes… God is faithful! We serve a faithful
God. Our hope rests in Him!"
This Psalm reminds us that God is the provider of everything we need. He is always faithful
to his covenant. God came in flesh and modeled the extravagance of His faithfulness to us.
Faithfulness to the point of death.
The works of God are faithful and just. All his precepts are trustworthy. Think about
the journey that this church body has walked through. Bumps in the road. With a building sold,
and not owning a place to meet. God met with us each step of the way. In our previous buildings,
in the school, in rented churches, in the barn next door, and now here in this place… God is
faithful! He has proven to be trustworthy!
Think about the trials you have faced in your personal life. God walks with each of us, stands
by our side in the middle of the challenges that we face. God is able to redeem and bring good
out of the middle of the challenges that we encounter. God defeated death and out of death
brings us new life. We have a trustworthy God!
In verses 7-10 of Psalm 111 it says:
“The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They
are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent
redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his
name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those who practice it have a good
understanding. His praise endures forever.”
This section of the Psalm is speaking to the covenantal relationship that God has with us, God’s
people. Be reminded this morning that we serve a God who has never broken the covenant that has
been established. As we approach the challenges of life, we have relationship with the faithful
God.
I’ve been using the word covenant quite a bit this morning. Do you guys understand that word?
It is similar to the word contract; like in the business world except covenant is an agreement
in the world of relationships. As Christians, we enter into the covenant of marriage. It isn’t
simply a contract, like in a business relationship. In a covenant there is an agreement about
what you will bring into the relationship with the other party. In any covenant, there are two
sides. In the covenant between God and his people, God has promised and shown faithfulness
to us. We are in covenant with a faithful God. We also are called to be faithful to our end. We
are called to be a holy people. A people set apart for the purposes of God.
In my home, each morning clothes are set out for each of the children, lunches are packed,
backpacks are stocked with supplies. It is our responsibility, as parents, to equip
our children to go and fulfill their purpose each and every day. Now there are certainly
limits to our ability to equip them. I’m not always with them, right? Even still, we try our
best as parents to give them the things they need to succeed in their daily lives. They still
have a choice and responsibility to use the things we equip them with to do the best of their
abilities, right?
God has equipped each of us for everything that will come across our paths. It is God’s
equipping that allows us to be faithful in participating in the covenantal relationship that
we share with God.
How does God equip us? God gives us the Holy Spirit.
If we allow God’s Spirit to rule and reign in our lives, we will be able to live life with
God faithfully no matter the chaos and the storms that surround us in this world.
We each face the decision of if we will choose to live by the Spirit or continue to live by
the flesh, following our own desires and pleasures.
Paul speaks of this in Galatians 5:16-26 NLT:
"Live by the Spirit! There is a natural tension between the desires of our flesh
and the desires of the Spirit. The works of the flesh are fornication, impurity, idolatry,
strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, envy, drunkenness, dissention."
Paul warns that those whose lives produce the fruit of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom
of God.
"On the other hand, the fruit of the Spirit includes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness/generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
We have a calling to be faithful in response to the faithfulness that God has shown us.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
For us to be faithful in our relationship with God, we’ve got to learn to submit ourselves to
the work of the Holy Spirit. God provides us with everything that we need in order to be
faithful to his calling. We must choose to submit our fleshly desires and allow the Spirit
permission to transform us.
As we face significant changes in our lives, as we face difficult challenges, let us remember
that we serve a God who is faithful. We serve a God who is unchanging even in the midst of
this changing and chaotic world.
I struggle with motion sickness. It is pretty easy for me to get disoriented. Sitting in the
back of a car, or riding on a boat…. I’ve got to find something that I can lock my eyes onto
in the distance so that I don’t get sick. That point of focus is like an anchor. It keeps me
grounded.
We all struggle in life with this tension of where to anchor our sight. In the chaos of life,
let God be your anchor. Let God be your foundation. Let God be your source of hope so that
you don’t become disoriented and lose your way. Allow the Spirit of our faithful God to
transform you and bring about the fruit of faithfulness in your own life.
As we conclude, please know that we serve a God who is faithful. Let us thank him for that.
In our personal journeys of faith, each of us has also been impacted by the faithfulness
of others. Again, something to be thankful for. As we close this morning, may we each be
reminded, not only to be thankful for the faithfulness of God and others, but reminded that
we have a calling in response to God’s faithfulness. We have our end of the covenantal
relationship to uphold. We are not left alone in this endeavor. God has given us the Spirit.
We each get to choose if we will live unto our own flesh or allow God’s Spirit to lead in
our lives. This morning, I would like to invite you to come and pray.
