Lord of the Mess, Part 2

First draft of a sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, March 10, 2012



Had a couple of interesting conversations recently.

First: a friend told me she had made a radical change in the way she managed money. For decades she had followed the typical American pattern of using credit cards and other forms of credit.Her finances were a mess, but she was able to make the minimum payments, so she didn't worry too much about it.

Then she began following the rules of wise money management. Now she's on track to be debt-free in a year or so. She'll be free. No longer will major chunks of her income every month be owned by credit card companies even before she makes a single purchase, before she has made a single decision. The rules of wise management have been a ladder enabling her to climb out of the pit of debt and bondage. A ladder she could climb into light of freedom.

In the past, the real manager of her money has been Bank of America or Visa or MasterCard. Now, she's enjoying the sweet taste of freedom. She is eagerly anticipating the day—not that far away now—when she will genuinely be in charge of her money. She will be the manager of her money instead of the slave of Bank of America.



Another story.
On Sunday I was headed from my house to Kent to visit a friend. I noticed a guy standing at the bus stop near my house. That's a problem because the bus does not run in our neighborhood on Sundays. I pulled over and asked where he was headed. Turned out he was headed to the same town I was, so he settled in for the ride. He was talkative. His daughter had just been admitted to the hospital for some complicated problems that involved self-destructive behavior. He was desperate to reach her.
He had walked about ten miles already. A woman in a Mercedes had given him a ride for a few miles earlier in the afternoon. He would have driven, but because of a DUI, his car's ignition was controlled by a breathalyzer. Before he got the phone call about his daughter, he had had a few beers while watching NASCAR. There was no way he was going to be able to get past that and get his car started.

He was angry at his daughter. How could she have done that stuff and been doing it and hide it so well? And he was worried and concerned. What was going to happen to her? What had he done wrong?

His life was a mess. I got to be part of God's stepping into the mess of his life and offering a little bit of help.

Last week we looked at the story of Jacob. Jacob's life was a heartbreaking picture of dysfunction and domestic misery. Still God was with him at every step. God did not abandon him. More than that, God actively reached into Jacob's life. God protected Jacob, reassured Jacob, gave him rich promises about the future of his descendants. As Christians, as the representatives of God here in this world, we are called to act like God. We are called to bring God's presence and aid close to people whose lives are a mess.

And God invites us as a congregation to help people acquire and use the tools that can help them climb out of the messes they are in and experience for themselves the freedom and joy of holiness.
On Sunday, I was able to provide a little aid to a worried, distraught father. The longer I listened to him as we drove together, the more obvious it was that he needed more than a little help. He needed freedom from the addiction that put him in a situation where his perfectly good car was perfectly worthless. I suspected that his own addiction and troubles may have played at least some role in the problems his daughter was battling.

My stopping and giving him a ride on Sunday afternoon was a ladder bringing emergency help into his life. Long term, God's desire was for him to make use of other ladders that are available and begin climbing out of the pit of addiction and into the joy and light of freedom.


Last week, I called God, “The Lord of the Mess,” because of God's gracious love for Jacob, a love that never wavered no matter what mess Jacob got himself into, no matter what mess others brought into his life.

Today, we'll consider a different picture of God as “The Lord of the Mess.” God is present with us in the mess of life. God also offers wisdom and power for climbing out of the mess.

One dramatic picture of this double picture of God is in the book of Exodus. Jacob's descendants ended up slaves in Egypt. God finally acts to rescue them from their desperate situation. In this first part of their story, they are pictured as helpless victims. God is the powerful rescuer.

After the dramatic rescue, God has his man Moses lead them through the Red Sea to a rendezvous at Mt. Sinai. There God orders them to quit thinking of themselves as victims, as slaves. They are to begin acting as free people who are fully responsible for their lives. God gives them the Ten Commandments (and other laws) and tells them, do this and life will go well. Disobey and life will suck.

In the New Testament, we find the same combination of wonderful graciousness and tough-minded legalism. In Matthew 4, Jesus ministry is summed up: He was a whirlwind of gracious healing. People did not earn his favor. They did not have to fight for it or beg for it. Jesus loved people and poured his power and affection into their lives.

Then in the next three chapters Matthew lays out Jesus' teachings. They are challenging and stimulating. And Jesus is blunt: the key to good life is DOING what he teaches.

Have you ended up in a mess—a mess you created or that others shoved into your life—take heart, Jesus is with you. He does not condemn you. He does not scorn you. You are the object of his tender affection and high regard. He sits close.

Then he offers wisdom.

Through the Bible, the church, helping professionals, AA, Alanon, and all sorts of other sources and agencies, he offers wisdom for life, wisdom for managing relationships, for managing money, for managing health, for managing time. He invites us to experience the fullness of life that is nourished by using all the tools of wisdom he has made available.

God plants a ladder in the middle of our messes and sends blessings down that ladder into our lives. He also places ladders in our messes that are intended as climbing routes. Through obedience, through taking wise action, we climb into joy, and light and freedom.