Hebrews 13:5-6 The Lord Is My Helper Dec 31, 2006
This past week I heard the old John Lenin song that wishes us a “very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Let’s hope it’s a good one without any tears.” I found myself wondering about the New Year of 2007. I am really just settling into a new house and I wonder how life will be in that place. Marley is moving into a new office location and I wonder how that will be. Of course, as with all children, events with Charlie are always moving and shifting. I wonder how Augusta Road UMC will progress as we move into the Natural Church Development process. I wonder about the seminary students with which I work. I wonder about my family and friends. I suppose in all this, I just wish for a happy new year. I suppose all of us here hope for such happiness.
Probably all of us wonder what the New Year has in store. Will there be good times? Will there be tears? How will work or school be for you? What about your relationships? When we all sit here 365 days from now, who will be here with us? Who will have moved away? What new people will have come into your life? Who will have passed from us? Each New Year comes like an open door through which we must walk and we have no idea what will be in the next room. What are your hopes for 2007?
Well, this morning, my word for you is that whatever occurs in 2007, whether events are good, or bad, or probably both, you can find happiness because in our scripture, God has promised that He will be your helper. How does that happen? God is our helper by providing us with two things we need for happiness—Contentment and Courage.
FIRST OF ALL, IT IS ABOUT A LIFE OF CONTENTMENT—At this time of year, we wish each other a happy new year, but what is happiness. Last week’s, U.S. News and World Report magazine ran a lengthy cover story called “50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2007.” Much of the article emphasized that happiness is not about having everything we want in life but that happiness comes from contentment with what we have, who we are, and how things are. Truly happy people find happiness in how things are in life right now. They are not waiting to be happy someday to be happy when things are a certain way. They have found contentment. I heard a poem which went….
As a rule, Man’s a fool
When it’s hot, He wants it cool.
And when it’s cool, He wants it hot,
Always wanting What is not.
There was a man envious of his friend that had larger and more luxurious home than his own. So he listed his house with a real estate firm, planning to sell it and to purchase a more impressive home. Shortly afterward, he began looking for a new house and as he was reading the classified section of the newspaper, he saw an ad for a house that seemed just right. He promptly called the realtor and said, "A house described in today’s paper is exactly what I’m looking for. I would like to go through it as soon as possible! The code number is 750986." The agent replied, "But sir, that’s your house you are describing."
Hebrews 13:5 says "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have" The Bible never tells us not to earn the money which we need to live. In fact, Proverbs is filled with admonitions for us to work hard, be wise with our money, and be able to care for our family. But the love of money is when we are no longer free and no longer content. No matter how much we have, we are unhappy because we want something else. The old KJV of Hebrews 13:5 calls it covetousness, always wanting what we do not have. And this covetousness is not just about money. It is about discontent, wanting something else, in many forms and in many ways. If we wish to live a happy new year in 2007, a big part of that will be in finding contentment in who we are, what we have, what life brings to us. We can have such contentment when we know that the Lord is our helper.
Can this really be done? Saint Paul wrote in Philip. 4:11-13 “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” Remember that Paul did not write these words from the desk of a nice office or from the study of his fine home. Paul wrote these words from prison. Yet, he was content. How? I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me. Paul knew that the Lord was his helper.
SECONDLY, WE CAN LIVE A HAPPY LIFE IN 2007 WHEN WE HAVE COURAGE IN THE LORD. Look at vs. 6 of our scripture. "So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” We are so often afraid and worried about so many situations. A freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Idaho State Science Fair in 1997. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide." The reasons he stated were that ·It is a major component in acid rain. ·Can cause excessive sweating. ·Accidental inhalation can kill you. He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical. Forty-three said, yes. Six were undecided. And only one knew that the chemical was H20--water. The title of his prize winning project was, "How Afraid Are We?"
The great American author Mark Twain wrote, “Most of the things I worried about never happened.” We could find so much more happiness if we had courage in the Lord and just stopped worrying so much. But what if the news really is bad? Many of us will face actual fearful situations in 2007. We will suffer loss. But still we can have courage. Did you know the phrase “Fear not” is one of the most used phrases in the whole Bible? God does not want us to fear. But this is not just some piece of good advice found in a checkout line magazine. It is not a denial that fearful events happen. “Fear not” is followed by, “I am with you.” We have this promise. “The Lord is my helper.” That was Paul’s secret as he awaited his own fate. Paul never denied his fearful prison situation. And Paul was eventually executed. But Paul was content with each day he had and had courage as he faced even death because he knew the Lord was his helper.
This morning, I would certainly wish you a happy new year. Those of us here who find contentment in each day and who cultivate the courage to face the hard times will discover that happy new year. We can do both when we more and more realize that the Lord is our helper. Happy New Year. Amen.