The Journey: Security

The Journey
Security
Psalm 125

Introduction: How much do you spend on security? We have locks on our houses, firewalls and virus protection on our computers, alarms and security companies, the police, the military, and probably more that we are not aware of. The budget for Homeland Security was over $40 billion in 2005 and is undoubtedly more for this year. Security seems to be something we lack as enter the journey we have been talking about these past few weeks. Sometimes it seems like our journey is more like walking a tightrope rather than a path. Is our journey really that uncertain?

I. Like Mt. Zion
We do so much to be secure in our world and yet that security often fails us. But what is the basis of our security on our journey? The psalmist compares us to Mt. Zion, Jerusalem. In ancient times Jerusalem was in an ideal location surrounded by mountains that provided a natural barrier to enemies. The walls of Jerusalem were strong and needed in a time when there were powerful enemies and great lawlessness. Within Jerusalem there was a sense of safety and protection. The world was a dangerous place but inside the city, people could relax a bit.

But what men worked so hard to obtain the psalmist sees as something God gives to those who trust him. The Lord surrounds his people providing protection to those who trust in him. It is not something we do or create but something we receive as his people. Those who abide in God will not be shaken or moved.

II. The Problem
All of that sounds great but reality is a bit different. We are shaken; we are moved by the anxiety and uncertainty of our time. Some days we are full of faith and confidence but the next day something may happen that fills us with fear and dread. Recently I was talking with a former missionary friend who shared something I had forgotten. It was in August 1982 when an attempted coup occurred in Kenya. We were several hundred kilometers from Nairobi where most of the trouble took place but what we heard was not good. I had come down with malaria and had gone into downtown Kisumu to see the doctor when suddenly everyone started running away from the downtown area. It was scary and I got home as quickly as I could. Steve said when I came in to tell everyone what had happened I was extremely pale, probably due to the malaria as much as the experience. We are never as unmoved as we think we are.

That is always true of God’s people. We can experience great victory and then be plunged into sin and despair. Israel experienced what one person described as the saw-tooth of history. One day they marched through the Red Sea to victory and a week later they are full of doubts and complaints about Moses and his God. One day they are marching around Jericho in obedience to God’s command and days later are defeated because of their disobedience. This history of Israel is a constant up and down. It is our history also. There is one constant however, it is God who never wavers in his commitment to his people. Whatever our feelings, whatever our fears, God does not change in his heart toward us. If we have a loved one who is sick or depressed we don’t abandon them or love them less. How much more so with our God. As Paul wrote,
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
We need to live in the reality of God’s promises not out emotions and feelings. Our security is in God who loves us and has made sacred promises to us.

There is another area that causes us to waver, and that is when pain, sickness and death touch the lives of those we love and ourselves. As we grow older it is so easy to fall prey to worry over health and security. The psalmist knew this also. He lived in a world without hospitals, anesthesia, aspirin, and all the things we take for granted. It is difficult when the pain of life grabs us and doesn’t seem to want to let us go. The phrase the psalmist uses is, “The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous,” Psalms 125:3. There is no doubt that there is evil in our world but this is not how it will always be. Evil is a temporary thing even if it seems things never change. God is moving toward a time when evil will be forgotten and tears and sorrow will be no more. God surrounds us. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35-36) Paul’s answer is, “Nothing.” Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

But there is one more area that unsettles us as we think about the journey and our security in it--backsliding. I didn’t do much mountain climbing when I was in Kenya. All three of my children climbed Mt. Kenya to Pt. Lenana but I never attempted it. We did as a family climb a volcano about an hour drive out of Nairobi, Mt. Longonot. Lots of people climbed it and then would hike around the rim of the crater. It wasn’t a terribly difficult climb except for one thing, the loose rock and shale that you had to go over to get to the top. If you weren’t careful you would slide back down the mountain.

We know people who have backslidden and maybe there have been times in your life when you that word would fit you. The psalmist describes them as, “those who turn to crooked ways,” Psalm 125:5. A lot of Christians worry about this and live lives of doubt and insecurity because they are so afraid of falling. But the Christian life is not like walking a tightrope. It is not possible to unknowingly wander away from God. God is relentless in his desire for you and for me. I do believe it is possible to reject the way of faith if that person so chooses. But we are all sinners. We are all lost sheep who have gone astray. We have times of weakness and doubt. We break our promises to God. We never quite live up to our potential. We may break our covenant with God but he does not break it with us.

The last phrase of the psalm tells us, “Peace be upon Israel,” Psalms 125:5. In other words, “Relax,” you are secure in God. All kinds of things may threaten us on the journey. We may stumble and fall innumerable times. But our security doesn’t rest in our performance. It doesn’t rest in the fact that things always go our way. It rests in our mighty God in whom we have put our trust. We are secure.

Livonia Church of Christ: July 23, 2006