PENTECOST
20
October
1-3, 2016
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
“THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH!”
1.
An
often asked question.
2.
A
most certain answer.
3.
A
“simple” solution.
Habakkuk 1:1-3,
2:1-4 (NIV1984) “The oracle that
Habakkuk the prophet received.2How long, O LORD, must I call for
help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not
save? 3Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate
wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict
abounds. 1I will stand at my watch and station myself on the
ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to
give to this complaint. 2Then the Lord replied: “Write down the
revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3For
the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not
prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not
delay. 4“See, he is
puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous will live by his
faith.”
King
Solomon said it some 3000 years ago. In fact God had it written down in the
Bible so you know it’s true. There’s nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes
1:9) Things that happen today have happened before and will continue to happen.
Certainly that’s true when it comes to what goes on in the hearts of God’s
people. Things that you and I experience other believers have experienced too.
Things that make us happy. Things that bother us. Things that worry us. There’s
nothing new under the sun. How thankful we can be that God knows this about us
and has provided what we need to live as God’s people in our time and our
place.
He
does that for us today through a prophet named Habakkuk. His short three chapter
book provides a Bible quote that was repeated in the New Testament and those of
you familiar with Lutheran history hold on to and appreciate. The righteous
will live by faith. Let’s see what led up to that truth.
“The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received.2How
long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you,
“Violence!” but you do not save? 3Why do you make me look at
injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.” Habakkuk lived about 600 years before
Jesus was born. It was not an easy time for those who loved God and trusted in
Him. The government wasn’t doing its job very well. There was violence in the
streets. Not exactly safe for law abiding citizens to live their lives. There
was injustice. Guilty people going free.
The people of God were hurting so Habakkuk voiced their complaint. It’s an
often asked question. How long O Lord? How long O Lord until you do something
about it? Here is the heart of the matter and why it is so important for you
and I to study this word of God today. Look at what has happened to the view of
God that his people back then had. Habakkuk is the emissary, the spokesman for
all of God’s people but look at how he talks…to God. Why do you make me
look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? There is an edge there.
Blaming God. Resentful toward Him. Doubt that He knows what He is doing and is
really in control.
Now there is nothing new under the
sun. We also live at a time and in a place where there is violence in the
streets, when many people feel the government is not doing its job. We hear or
voice many complaints about injustice in our country. Many of you who served in
WWII or have loved ones who did wonder what’s going on. As you have seen
immorality grow into blatant rejection of Jesus you say, “This is not what we
sacrificed for. This is not why they died.” How long O Lord will you let this
go on? How much worse will you let it get? Then it goes to our personal lives.
Perhaps a loved one is dealing with cancer or addiction. Maybe there is family
strife or a child dealing with difficulty or straying or disobedient. You have
committed the matter to the Lord in prayer. Nothing has changed. Lord how long?
Why aren’t you listening? When will you come and help me? How long O Lord?”
There’s nothing new under the sun. It’s an often asked question.
Habakkuk was trying to be a good
pastor, to represent the needs of his people to God. He said, “I will stand at my watch and station myself
on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I
am to give to this complaint.”
I don’t think this is the attitude of arms crossed angry posturing toward God.
His heart hurt. The people’s heart hurt. They were hoping to hear from God.
They were not disappointed. “Then the
Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a
herald may run with it. 3For the revelation awaits an appointed
time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for
it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” God had an answer for His
people, a certain answer. It was so certain he wanted it written on tablets,
written in stone. That message revealed in the rest of Habakkuk was that the
evil government would not last. God would topple it at just the right time with
some invaders known as the Babylonians. And when God was done using the
Babylonians He would get rid of them too. God had it covered. It was all in His
control. He was using the evil and injustice to advance His real plan which is
the salvation of souls. They simply needed to wait for the appointed time.
Brothers and sisters, there is nothing
new under the sun. When you and I see things going on in the world, terrorism
and injustice, when we see things going on in our own country, dirty politics,
when we find ourselves struggling in our families or personal lives, chronic
issues that don’t seem to go away. People seeming to get away with ongoing
evil. God has a certain answer for us. I’ve got it. It’s under control. I am
working as I have always done on the primary goal of the salvation of souls.
Any action that needs to be done simply is awaiting its appointed time. There’s nothing new under the sun. God has it
under control.
And now we get to that well known
phrase which offers a very simple solution to those whose hearts are hurting
and wonder how long they have to wait for God to come and help. “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not
upright—but the righteous will live by his faith.” The puffed up one here
refers to the evil doers that were bothering Habakkuk and his people. God
opposes the proud. They would get theirs. But then that phrase. “The righteous
will live by his faith.” When the Apostle Paul quoted this passage in the New
Testament he emphasized the fact that we are declared righteous by faith in
Jesus Christ alone and what He has done for us. But there is another nuance
here. Those who are righteous through faith in Jesus will live, need to live
now, by faith. Faith is believing in what you don’t see. Faith is trusting in
God to come through for you before He has come through for you.
That’s why in the service folder when
I wrote a “simple” solution I put simple in quotes. It really is a simple
concept. It’s really difficult to consistently live. Here is the simple
concept. If God said it, you can trust it, 100% all the time. So when He says
He has plans for you and they will prosper you and not harm you, you can trust
that all the time. You can trust it when your plans seem to go the way you want
and when what you wanted to accomplish fails. It’s His plans that you can
trust, not yours. When He says that He works all things for good and you have
an unexpected health problem you can trust that all even means a cancer or a
fall. When He says that the blood of Jesus His Son has cleansed you from every
sin you can trust that even when your conscience tells you you are still
guilty. The righteous will live by his
faith. He trusts what God says even when his eyes don’t see the evidence or his
mind and heart tell him the opposite. A simple concept.
But not easy to do. Brothers and
sisters living by faith and not by sight is not something you can talk yourself
into. You can’t go to a big faith pep rally get all whooped up and come back
with the ability to live by faith. That ability is given by God through His
word. “Faith comes from hearing the message,” God said. We can trust that to be
true. If you are having a hard time living that simple concept, if the hurts
and worries of life are driving a wedge between you and God, check your daily
schedule. Is there time each day where you hear the word? Faith comes from that
and then you, the righteous, will live by your faith. Amen.
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