MY SECOND LAMENT FROM THE DARKNESS
OF
MIKE CUNNINGHAM
PALM SUNDAY 2009
It was nice receiving so much positive feedback
on the style and content of my “Pastors Lament” sermon. Two of the folks at
Harvest Time even printed it and then tucked it into their bible with the
intent of making it their own personal prayer. These were some of the reasons
I decided to continue that message on this Palm Sunday morning. Now as the
Lord enables, I’ll share my second lament.
I come before you Father as a man who once was
your enemy, but who is now by your grace and nothing else, (Ephesians 1:2-8)
been forgiven of his rebellious evil behavior through the excruciating death
and the miraculous resurrection of your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
You know that when I left this house of worship last Sunday, I had no idea
I would return today and pray another lament to you. But you did Father, didn’t
you? And I’m so glad because I would like to share some more of my thoughts
with you. To think that back in eternity past, you planned, ordained and then
by speaking your world into existence, predestined me and these particular
folks to be assembled here at this precise moment in human history, is something
which leaves me awe-struck to say the least.
You know that lately I’ve been finding it especially
comforting knowing that you are not a Creator way up there somewhere in the
outer reaches of your seemingly never ending universe gazing down upon this
grey-haired old man who is hard of hearing, and finding it increasingly difficult
not to tilt, but rather that you are right here with me and everyone else.
I also marvel at the fact that no human being can hide him or herself in some
secret place so that you won’t be able to see them because you fill heaven
and earth, (Jeremiah 23: 23-24). In fact, you are not far from any of us,
because it is in you that each of us creatures live and move and have our
very being, (Acts 17: 27-28). You also know how saddened I become whenever
I remember that most of my fellow human beings are oblivious of this wonderful
fact.
O how grateful I am that you have given me your
Word. It’s living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to
the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the
thoughts and intentions of my heart, (Hebrews 4: 12). I’m thrilled when I
read passages such as those which proclaim that your eyes are everywhere;
keeping watch over the evil and the good, (Proverbs 15:3). No creature is
hidden from your sight, but all are naked and exposed to your eyes. You are
the Creator to whom each of us must account to, (Hebrews 4:13). I love being
aware of the fact that you are at this very moment you’re encircling me and
caring for me as an apple of your eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing
them on its pinions, (Deuteronomy 32:10-11). I vividly recall those times
when out of my distress I called on you, and you answered me and set me free,
(Psalm 118:5). I
love it when you give power to the faint, and to him or her who has no might
you increase their strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall
fall exhausted; but
they who wait for you shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not
faint, (Isaiah 40:29-31). Thank you for never
failing to keep this promise. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t count
on you to always be so faithful. You and I know I’m weak, but we also know
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, ( Philippians 4: 13) for when I am weak, then I am strong,
(2 Corinthians 12: 10) as you once again demonstrated to me a few minutes
before I penned these very words. Your eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give
strong support to those whose hearts are blameless toward you, 2(Chronicles
16:9) that magnificent blessing which you made possible for me to receive
through your Son.
I realize you are aware of the fact that since
starting this series of sermons of waging a vigorous offensive against Satan
and the other cosmic forces of evil in this present darkness, I have been
subjected to a relentless barrage of flaming darts from those evil beings
the Apostle Paul warned about, (Ephesians 6: 16) but I derive enormous comfort,
encouragement and strength to continue fighting them, because I know each
of them are challenges which have been ordained by you for your own glory
and my eventual good (Romans 8:28). Although
those demons repeatedly clobbered me real hard this past week, they didn’t
knock me out, but they sure had me on the ropes as you well know. In fact,
I was pushed so hard that I was starting to fall, but I cried out to you,
and you helped me almost immediately, (Psalm 118:2). Thanks to the prayers
of those closest to me and in my total reliance on your Son for His strength,
I was able to bounce back, and continue fighting vigorously; I praise you
from whom all my blessings flow!
You search human hearts and test their mind to
give every man and woman according to the fruit of his or her deeds, (Jeremiah
17:13) and that’s something I would like to address this morning. It’s difficult
for a Bible-believing Christian trying to live out his or her faith in
“I
appreciate the often thankless public service of our legislators. They appear
to be women and men who truly care about our state and the welfare of its
people. But for the life of me, I can’t understand how any of them would even
consider deliberately choosing to treat their fellow Vermonters with contempt
by denying us an opportunity of voting on such a controversial issue as same-sex
marriage.”
Father when I interpret the mind-set of the paper’s
editorial board in light of your inerrant Word, I come to the unmistakable
conclusion that Satan is flourishing at that anti-Christian newspaper. I realize
you already know what I found to be so offensive in that editorial but I feel
good in telling you again, so here goes.
“The fundamental
flaw in the call for a referendum on marriage equality is that the issue is
civil rights, something that must stand above the opinions of even a majority
of voters.” “Even in a democracy, some ideals cannot be left simply to majority
rule” “Speaking of our legislator’s; the editorial stated: “True leaders must do what’s right even if
that means at times, going against the majority.” To use one of my favorite
phrases, I must say that editorial was “belched
out of the bowels of hell.”
Father you know I wrote my letter in a spirit
of my love for you and also for all those who have been blinded by Satan into
believing a behavior you say is evil, but which they arrogantly insist is
good. Whenever I recall the words you inspired the prophet Isaiah to record
I feel awful for those demonically deceived people. I’m saddened whenever
I I meditate on the divinely ordained consequences they will each experience
both in this world and the one to come unless the stop rebelling against you
and flee to your Son asking for forgiveness I’m saddened. Woe to those
who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for
darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are
wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20-21 (ESV)
O merciful Father, using whatever means you chose,
please demonstrate to these same-sex marriage proponents the error of their
ways. Please shake them up and continue to shake them so they wake up and
become firmly convicted of their evil. And Father please, please exert your
restraining power and strongly incline people not to succumb to the satanically
influenced temptation of taking matters into their own hands such as certain
alleged Christians did to abortion clinics property and physical harm to the
staff a number of years ago. Please drive home the fact so that everyone will
understand that vengeance belongs to you and you alone, (Romans 12: 19). As
for that newspaper which vehemently opposes the church your Son suffered such
an excruciating death for, please turn that editorial into its death-knell.
And in your perfect time, please bring all other like-mined newspapers throughout
our nation to their final edition in your perfect time. Once again I want to thank you for planning for
me to live in the beautiful
I know you remember those early days when I was
a newly born child in my faith. Back then I wished I could have lived during
the time Jesus visited this world. Just seeing Him and walking and talking
with Him and watching Him perform all those supernatural miracles would have
thrilled me no end and greatly strengthened my faith. But you planned for
me to live today in the little state of Vermont at such a time as this, and
for Him to appear on the scene in a little place named Bethlehem and an into an environment which would make our
entire country seem like Paradise in comparison.
Among the Jews who were held in captivity by
the Romans, the husbands had absolute power over their wives. Fathers also
had absolute power over other family members, including the right to divorce
their wife without any reason and sell or execute their children. A chase
wife was almost nonexistent and whenever one of them became pregnant she destroyed
the evidence by abortion. You are also aware of the fact Father that it wasn’t
uncommon for infant girls to be abandoned on the side of the road and eaten
alive by ravenous beasts of prey. There was no religious, moral, social or
cultural stigma attached to premarital sexual intercourse. Prostitution was
legal and widely practiced as was lesbianism and male homosexuality. And you
also know Father that most male homosexual acts were pedophilic and that group
sex and bestiality were not uncommon. This was Satan’s Kingdom and it was
one of darkness, the kingdom of into which you sent your only Son to usher
in “the
Now Father I hope you don’t mind but I would
rather not spend any more time speaking to you about the society you sent
Jesus into. Instead I would like to think about those truly beautiful wonders
I would have loved seeing Him do during His public ministry. Miracles such
as turning ordinary water into magnificent wine (John 2: 6-10).I wish I could
have been present and witnessed Jesus healing the royal officials son, (John
4: 46-53) and those lepers, and the poor crippled and blind folks and watched
Him feeding thousands of hungry people with a little bit of bread and some
fish; (Luke 9: 1-17) and later watching Him as He walked on the raging sea
and spoke the storm into submission to His will(Luke 8: 22-25 ). I know I
would have loved being privy to the conversation He had with the Samaritan
woman at the well, (John 4: 6-26). And then there was that memorable night
when a religious leader named Nicodemus paid Jesus a visit. I think I would
give anything to have seen the look on the man’s face when Jesus told him
“unless a man is born again he cannot
see your kingdom” and that “you so loved the world that you gave your one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but enjoy eternal life with you,” (John
3-1-21) Who could blame me for wanting to be among that group of mourners
and hear Jesus tell the dead man’s sister that “He is the resurrection and the life and that everyone who believes in
Him shall live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Him
will never die,”(John 11: 25-26). I also would have loved to have been
there with His disciples and heard Him say: I am the way, the truth and the
life, no one comes to you Father except through Him, (John 14:6) a fact which
is still despised by most of the people living in today’s world. And then
there was the time when not only would I be amazed, but I also know I would
have been scared stiff when He was met by a poor demon possessed man who,
When
he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice,
"What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg
you, do not torment me." For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the
man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound
with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the
demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?"
And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. And they begged him
not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding
there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he
gave them permission.
Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and
the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened,
they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out
to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom
the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right
mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen
it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people
of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them,
for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
The man from whom the demons had
gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return
to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went
away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him,
Luke 8:28-39 (ESV).
Once again
your Son did a big time number on Satan and the other cosmic forces of darkness.
So much so that He infuriated the so-called religious leaders who were threatened
by His increasing popularity. Then the event which we now refer to as being
the first Palm Sunday arrived, the day when He and His followers triumphantly
made their way into the city of
Shortly
after this event, those despicable religious leaders who had been secretly
plotting to kill Him and Lazarus, the man He had raised from the dead, seized
an opportunity and arranged for Jesus to be tried before the Roman authorities
on triumphed up charges and sentenced to death by crucifixion on a wooden
cross. Before the Roman soldiers nailed Him to it they scourged Him unmercifully
with a whip. His body was mutilated so badly that Jesus didn’t even look like
a human being anymore, exactly as your servant Isaiah had prophesized, (Isaiah
52:14). We both know Father I couldn’t bear being there and watching helplessly
as He suffered such torment to satisfy your righteous wrath in order to take
away the penalty my sins so justly deserve. Nor could I bear hearing your
beloved Son cry out His last words from that cross “It is finished”, and
He bowed His head and gave up His spirit,”(John 19: 30). I also know I
couldn’t handle walking slowly with tear drenched eyes away from that ghastly
scene, down what to me would have seemed like the Hill of Shattered Dreams.
You know exactly what I mean by that statement, don’t you Father? And all
the while I can imagine Satan hovering over that living nightmare applauding
wildly, while the delirious demons who accompanied him shrieked in delight,
just as I can visualize them doing whenever a group of grief-stricken Christian
mourners leave a cemetery after participating in a grave-side committal service
for a person they love dearly.
And now Father, if you don’t mind I would like to end my lament here, and, if you allow me to, I’ll continue it next week.
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