A Magnetic Messiah | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr.

John 12:20-33

20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

27 “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

I am interested in people with what I would call magnetic personalities, people who have others naturally gravitate toward them. If there is someone who people naturally want to follow. I wonder what is it about that person that draws people to them? When I was growing up in school I wondered why certain kids were popular and what made them so popular. What drew others to that person? Also, I would wonder what drew people to some of the more famous activists?  What draws people to follow a Martin Luther King, a Mahatma Gandhi, what draws people to a Mother Theresa or a Harriet Tubman?  I recently finished watching Judas and the Black Messiah a movie based on the life of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s. Chairman Hampton said that he was high off the people and that he lived for the people. He said he might have to die for the people. Hampton helped form a Rainbow Coalition, Hampton was able to get people from the Young Patriots organization, a group of Southern Whites living in Chicago, Latino leaders, and African Americans to come together to help the people in the community. 

Hampton caught the attention of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover who wanted to prevent the rise of a Black Messiah that could bring unity and coalition among black political groups, so they did to Hampton what they have done to so many black leaders during that time. Attracting people sometimes attracts people that don't have your best interest at hand. Hampton was killed by police officers in his apartment at 4 am in 1969. My mother and grandmother tell me that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, I had another friend tell me that sometimes the squeaky wheel gets removed. Hampton was too loud for J. Edgar Hoover’s tolerance and Hoover sought to get rid of him. Magnetic personalities have positive and negative consequences. 

We find someone with a magnetic personality in scripture here in the gospel according to John. Jesus comes to Jerusalem a week before Passover. Jesus has been living for the people, he has been helping the people. Jesus has been healing the sick, raising the dead, this is not too long after Lazarus was revived. People in the community are attracted to Jesus because Jesus is out there in the community helping the people. Some Greeks have come to see Jesus. These Greeks are different than the Greek-speaking Jews that would make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover feast, these are people not born into the faith. The powers that be, the Pharisees don't like that, in verse 19 they say that they are worried the world is coming to this man. We hear the Pharisees' fearful prophecy in verse 19, we see it come true in verse 20. The powers that be have their status quo messed up and they don't like that. 

Jesus knows with all the change he is bringing out, along with the fact that he is here to free us from penalty, power, and presence of sin, that he is going to have to die for the people. Jesus says that his hour is coming, his time is almost up, he does not have long for this world. 

When Jesus says that the ruler of this world is going to be driven out, a more literal translation of the Greek phrasing for “the world” means system. Jesus came to tear down the systems in place that are not like God's kingdom. God is on the side of the oppressed and has been since as early as Exodus when he told Moses to tell Pharaoh "let my people go" he was with the oppressed when the kingdom was in captivity, he was with the oppressed in the New Testament under Roman captivity, God is with those who suffer, and will be with them in victory. 

“I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” That’s spiritual magnetism at work! On the one hand, he repels; but he also attracts. Once the power of his love gets hold of you, there’s no resisting. He just brings you along.

At Jesus' birth, he attracted shepherds to a Bethlehem hillside, and later on, attracted wise men from afar. In the temple when he was 12 years old, the wise were attracted to Jesus listening and asking questions. Jesus called to his side fishermen who left their nets and tax collectors who put down their account books. Even the wise Pharisee, Nicodemus, came to him by night, in John chapter 3 to learn how to be “born again.” Jesus attracted to his side women like Mary and Martha, and men like Lazarus. Even the Roman governor, Pilate, felt the pull of his magnetism as he interrogated him.

Jesus can do the same thing for you today. Have you felt the pull of his love in your life, calling you out of ungodly habits? Have you experienced the fascination that comes from hearing his story, the timeless story retold by the church in every age? Have you ever turned to him in grief or worry or fear, and discovered at the center of your being a calm and peaceful place, where none of life’s storms can harm you? If so, you’ve felt his magnetism. Very likely, it’s what has drawn you here today.

Jesus understood that there has to be some sacrifice, the seed of wheat is sacrificed to make more wheat. Jesus was willing and able to make the most impactful sacrifice that would change the world.  Jesus is God in the flesh looking to reconcile humanity back to God. Jesus is going to do this by sacrificing himself so that all of creation can have access to eternal life. 

I remember a scene from Judas and the Black Messiah where Hampton was put in jail, and the Black Panther’s headquarters blown up. Hampton expected to come out of jail to a pile of rubble, but the community banded together to help rebuild the headquarters. People rise and make a change in their community or the world at large, and sometimes those in power do not like change. Sometimes those in power seek to destroy the person, that magnetic personality creating the change. That is why so many of our great leaders get killed, however putting Jesus on the cross was just the beginning, death could not hold him down. Jesus boldly walked into his sacrifice, boldly into being a ransom for all our lives. 

The Foolishness of the Cross | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 New King James Version

Christ the Power and Wisdom of God

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

There is a picture used online when people are making fun of others in a meme the picture is of a man during different stages of transforming into a clown. The picture is 4 smaller pictures the first of the man without makeup and by the time we get to the last picture, he is a fully outfitted clown. People use this picture to make fun of someone else's views on a matter to indicate that this person, or what they said, makes them look like a clown. The picture is meant to represent the view that whatever that person says or believes, is so silly that they should be working in the circus. 

The other funny part about this meme is that joke is that the person offering this silly opinion does not realize what they are saying is wrong, they believe what they are saying makes sense, which makes them look even more like a clown. Oh, what a bad place to be in to think you know what is right but be completely wrong. We all have been there, we all have opened our mouths and put our foot in it. If you have not said something embarrassing in your life, I am pretty sure you are an infant or toddler and don't know how to speak yet, sooner or later we will all say something incorrect, no one is right all the time.

Even though we all mess up sometimes I submit to you that messing up is not as important as how you respond when you find out you were wrong. We have an example of people getting the wrong idea in scripture. 1st Corinthians was written around 54CE, it is a Pauline letter, there is no doubt that Paul wrote this one. Scholars believe that even though we call this letter 1st Corinthians, there is evidence that this letter was Paul's second letter to the church, the letter we call 2nd Corinthians is probably Paul's 4th. This letter comes about 10 years after the area was established as a Roman colony. In 1st Corinthians Paul had to let the people of the Corinthian church know they had gotten the wrong idea about some issues. Paul spent some time with the people of Corinth, started a church, taught them, then left. 

Corinth was a metropolitan city by a harbor with a diverse population, Corinth had recently freed slaves and some wealthier people making lots of money all living in the town. While from diverse backgrounds the people of Corinth had some similarities. No matter where they were in life, social status, economic status, education, the people of Corinth thought they could do whatever they wanted. The people of Corinth were concerned about their freedom and wanted to act out. The people in the city of Corinth wanted to have their freedom and act however they felt and the people of the Corinthian church wanted to have their freedom and act however they wanted. 

The church had started to become divided when Paul wrote this letter, not just between Jew and Greek, but they had started to divide based on who they followed, and economic and social status. Verse 12 says that the people were going around saying, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. There is pressure outside of the church with Corinth being a Roman colony and the church folk separating themselves. This kind of behavior hurt the church and made the church look strange to the rest of the world when they already were not fitting in. It is popular and easy to be a Christian now it was not back then. Jesus was executed like a common criminal, someone who the Roman government was worried would overthrow them and people started setting up churches to follow this man. 

We need to step back and look at how our faith looks to others. The things we think are important, the things we think are wise, are not as important as we think. The cross is scandalous, our king of kings was executed like a common criminal and we use a symbol of the executioner's tool for representing our faith on logos and jewelry, we use it in symbolism when we say everyone has their cross to bear. 

Human wisdom does not compare to God's wisdom it is so far apart that God's "foolishness" is better than the best of human wisdom. God works in our powerlessness, what we think is wise is foolish. Paul understands that what he has in comparison to God is minor. Paul is responsible for sharing Jesus with so many people around the world, most of the New Testament are books credited to Paul, yet he thinks that he is not eloquent, and a terrible speaker. With the help of the power of God, working through Paul many lives are changed. 

The gospel challenges our human intellect, the gospel challenges us. Christ crucified to the Romans is not important but to Christians, this is a source of power and wisdom. To believers the cross is more than just an emblem or logo for church shirts, this is the symbol of true freedom from the bondage of sin and death. 

Though we know better, Christians sometimes fool ourselves into believing that we can rely upon our abilities, our expertise, our planning, and sophistication. Degrees, insurance policies, master plans, and systematic theologies are good things unless we pile them up to convince ourselves that we have life all figured out and our future neatly planned. In the shadow of the cross, such “wisdom” and thinly veiled attempts at control seem foolish.

The cross also reminds us of our unity as a church. Though we may sometimes hate to admit it, we are all tied together—liberals, moderates, conservatives—united under the cross. Our community of faith is formed around what seems to be utter foolishness—an instrument of torture and death used for the salvation of the universe. The savior has already won, the power of the gospel comes from God not social status. 

Faith is Messy | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

Romans 4:13-25 New King James Version

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 

14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 

15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 

17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 

18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 

19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 

20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 

21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 

22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 

24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 

25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Do you want to know what word I am tired of hearing these days? Unprecedented, everything going on now seems like it is happening for the first time with no end in sight. When we think we have something under control here comes something new and improved to add another unprecedented complication to the situation. Unprecedented pandemic, unprecedented economic conditions, unprecedented political conditions, unprecedented weather, unprecedented electrical infrastructure failure, it seems like the hits just keep on coming and each issue is unlike any issues we have ever seen before. The problems keep piling up and the pressure keeps coming and I can't see my way out. I am reminded of the adage "if it isn't one thing it is another." How do you press forward when you cannot see your way out? How do you keep going when it seems like you have run out of road? How do you trust God when everything around you is falling apart? We have to have faith, we all need faith and faith is not this perfect sequence of actions faith is hard, faith is strange, faith is messy.

We find a messy situation in Romans, Romans is Paul's last letter that we know of, Romans is written somewhere around 57-58 AD. Paul was writing to a church that was a community of Jewish-born Christians, people who were born Jewish, followed the Biblical laws and believed Jesus was the Messiah. The other part of the community were the Gentiles, people who were not raised Jewish, but heard about Jesus and decided to follow him. This Roman church was made up of Jews and Gentile coming together into one community to follow Jesus, this was something they had never done before. Two communities coming together who would not normally deal with each other, are now together operating as a church. In this community, the Jewish-born Christians thought they were better than the Gentile Christians because they were descendants of Abraham. 

The Roman church was divided, the church folk was trying to decide who is in and who is out. There were people putting barriers up to block others from getting in. People came together to create this church, in Rome, in the middle of Roman oppression. They are trying to start a church, not just any church but a church following the man the Romans crucified, Jesus, in the capital of their oppressors, following someone that could get them all killed, even with all that going on, the church folk still got something to argue about, just messy. A whole bunch of rules put in place that no human being can complete all on their own. How are the people of God going to find their way? 

Paul says that even though this church is doing something unprecedented, there is someone else in scripture that did something unprecedented for God and that person is Abraham. Paul is writing Romans, however, Paul is writing this Roman letter with Genesis in mind. God told Abraham in Genesis that he would be the father of many nations, that his descendants would number the stars in the sky. Abraham had to have faith, Abraham had Isaac, then Isaac had Jacob and Esau, Jacob's name was changed to Israel, and Israel had 12 sons, who would later become the 12 tribes of Israel and be a great nation of people, there it is wrap up the story in a nice little bow and everyone can go home...or maybe not. 

Abraham wavered when faced with a situation he had never seen before. Yes, we applaud Abraham for his faith now, just like Paul did in Romans, but the situation was not so clear back then. God told Abraham and Sarah they were going to have a child, and from them, many nations would come. On two separate occasions, Abraham was traveling with his family in a foreign land, and while traveling Abraham lied and said that Sarah was his sister, so someone tried to take Sarah from him only to give her back when they found Sarah was already married. Abraham and Sarah's actions could have messed up the promise. 

Another time Abraham and Sarah came up with a plan, Abraham and Sarah were going to help God by having Abraham have a child with Hagar instead of Sarah because God must not have meant it when he said Abraham and Sarah because she was "too old." Hagar had Ishmael who goes on to be a great man and nation as well, but he is not who God was talking about when God made the promise to Abraham and Sarah, not Abraham and Hagar.

Another time Abraham laughed when he heard God tell him he was going to have a child. After he finished laughing Sarah laughed too. Abraham knew what was going on in his and Sarah's body when he heard the promise, he was 99 years old and Sarah 90, and even though Abraham stumbled, he didn't stay down, he trusted God in his weakness and it still worked out for his good. In Genesis we see the man mess up over and over again, by the time we get to Romans, it is the result that is remembered over everything else. That is the legacy the people of God are willing to fight over, that is what he is remembered for, that is the legacy and family people want access to. While the people are looking at bloodlines and who begat who, Paul came to let them know that it is faith that gets us in the family, not blood, not laws, not people, faith. 

We are heirs of Abraham not by blood but of faith. We are adopted into the family by the work of Jesus Christ and faith. The many nations that Abraham is the father of is not limited by geography, it is unlimited by faith. We are justified by faith through grace. We don't earn this access we are given it by God when we believe. We can have faith even if it is not this picture-perfect example of how to behave in certain situations, even if it is messy. You may be in a Genesis moment in your life right now but keep pressing forward your Roman's victory is on the way. It may look bad right now, it may be very messy right now but, in the end, God wins. What is going on right now is just a snapshot, a single picture, the world hasn't seen the whole album yet. This is just a quarter, we still the rest of the game to play. We just need to keep the faith.

God who brought life out of Abraham when Abraham was as good as dead also raised Jesus from the dead can breathe life into your present situation no matter how dead the situation seems to you. The work is finished through Jesus Christ, the many nations come through Christ, and the barrier between Jew and Gentile was lowered by Jesus. Christ gave himself up for us all. We can have a messy faith in God. 

Such faith means that we can trust God to work through us, even when our bodies fail us. It means we can trust Jesus to lead us, even when we wander through a thicket of difficult moral choices. It means we can trust the Holy Spirit to uplift us, even when we disappoint ourselves and others. Being righteous does not come from moral perfection, but it is based on being made right with God through our faith in Jesus.

Following the Right GPS | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

Psalm 25:1-10

1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.

2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Many of us have spent time traveling long and short distances, to places we have been to before and places we have never been before. When I go places, I like using GPS, sometimes even when I know where I am going, a GPS will let me know about any road closures, traffic jams, the GPS lets me know exactly how long it is going to take to get me there. Something I have learned using the GPS, speeding doesn't save me as much time as I thought it does. It might if I have to go 40-50 miles, but going on a short trip, not so much. I might get 1-2 minutes back. I still like to go fast, I just know I'm doing it to feel the speed, I am not saving any time...or gas. There are so many options for GPS and I may use a different GPS depending on the situation. There are tons of different GPS apps out there to choose from, each app offers a different look, feel, and different features besides just telling you how to get where you are going. There is one GPS app I don't like because if I am listening to something like music or a podcast while that app is open, it pauses them says the next direction, then restarts the music, over and over again, keep right and take this exit, take this exit, stay on the feeder road, all while my favorite song has stopped 10 times in 5 seconds. One GPS app I like to use won't pause the song but turn it down, and on that one, you can turn the voice completely off and just have the visual directions. 

People have their favorite GPS, they come with so many features now, like the ones that tell them where the police are located, so they know when and where to slow down. There are GPS apps that tell you where the traffic is and when to take a detour, some GPS apps let you know about car accidents. There are even GPS apps that allow you to program the voice giving you directions, one parent I know has her GPS programmed to her child's voice when they were 7...and cute, the GPS serves as a reminder now that the child is much older...their voice is not as cute

People have their own system to get from point a to point b, some use a GPS, some like to write the directions down, some like to just drive around the general area until they find where they need to be. All kinds of ways to get somewhere. Some people seem better at finding their way than others. All of us form “cognitive maps” of locations we travel to frequently. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be able to find our way around our house. But some people form “cognitive maps” even for places they’ve visited only once. If they ever go back there, they can navigate easily and have an inner sense of where things are in relation to other things. For example, “McDonald’s is here, so the library is to the left, and the street beside that should take me back to the highway.”

Author Erik Jonsson, in his book direction-finding titled Inner Navigation, says “Our natural curiosity, the interest with which we look at new things, especially those that stand out as landmarks, is enough to create the cognitive map without any conscious effort.” Basically how curious we are about our surroundings determines the quality of our cognitive maps. Whether we are writing directions down, using a GPS app, or just exploring until we find a way, there are so many options out there our focus can be shifted to so many things. How do we know if we are on the right path? How do we know that we are not embarrassing ourselves? 

David was dealing with the same question in scripture when he wrote the 25th Psalm.  David wrote Psalm 25, an acrostic poem, or a poem that uses each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order. Psalm 25 is also a prayer about focusing on God because David was worried about being put to shame. Our focus should be on God. Faith and hope mean being open to God's instructions. Focusing on God brings the spirit into our lives and the power to stay on the right path. David asks God for a few things in his prayer. 

First David says to God, protect me. 

Protect me (25:1-3)

Following the right GPS keeps you protected from dangers. David says he will put his trust in the Lord and his enemies will not triumph over him. When you are on the right path you will not run into enemies you can't beat. The text says trust in the NIV, the NRSV, King James, and New King James says I “lift up my soul.”  David trusts the Lord with his life and because he trusts the Lord with his life he doesn't believe he will ever be put to shame. When David talks about shame in the text this is not an internal feeling, this is public humiliation. We follow God to keep us protected, there are times in my life where I heard a voice tell me to go the other way told me to go home, and I am standing here today because of God’s protection. 

That hope in verse 3 could also be translated into patiently waiting, those who hope in the Lord won't be put to shame. We can wait on a host of things, people, places, politicians, organizations, systems, sometimes they may work out other times they may not, however, waiting on the Lord will always work out. 

I know it is rough right now but when you are hurting and don't know where your help is coming from, God sees your pain. God sees your suffering. Wait on the Lord and his protection as David did, God will protect us like he did David. 

Pilot me (25:4-5, 8-10)

Following the right GPS keeps you in better company, the text says “make me know your ways” David had the presence of mind to ask God to teach him God's ways. I remember seeing bumper stickers and signs that would say "God is my co-pilot" then later on I saw bumper stickers and signs that said, if God is your co-pilot, switch seats." David is saying he doesn't have it all together, that he has not arrived yet. David says he still needs God to guide him, help him, pilot him on this journey called life. When we have the right pilot, we take ourselves and others in the right direction. We have to let God and God's word lead us, not political beliefs, not greed, not the chance to score points on our so-called haters. 

When we have the wrong pilot, poor decisions are made. Here in Texas, we saw firsthand when greed, and a refusal to plan ahead meet a natural disaster. Not the natural disaster itself but how the so-called leaders responded to it. Politicians were told to prep their plants for cold weather 10 years ago but didn't because they thought it cost too much. Politicians blaming wind turbines and the new green deal for the whole state being out of power when the new green deal hasn't even been put in place. Politicians deciding to go to Cancun while their constituents are freezing without heat, power, and water. Politicians saying that Texans would rather put up with days without power than connecting the Texas Electrical grid to the rest of the country...Naw bruh. 

When our pilot is greed, people suffer, when our pilot is political, people suffer, when our pilot is division, the people suffer. The Bible tells us over and over to love God and love our neighbor. David is following the right pilot when he said that God guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. We have to follow the right pilot; the right pilot uses the right GPS. 

Pardon me (25:6-7)

David asks God for forgiveness; this forgiveness is based on God's steadfast love (hesed). Hesed means covenant loyalty, kindness, and mercy, as well as steadfast love. It is used as a synonym for the word verse 6 with rahamim (tender mercy/compassion), which is also related to a Hebrew word for womb. What David is saying with all these words related is that God's mercy and steadfast love have been there since the beginning, as a matter of fact, God's love and mercy "are old as time." David fervently yearns for God to forgive him rather than to remember his sins. God is a merciful God; God's love is steadfast. 

When you are struggling and cannot find your way there is a GPS that is better than the rest. Following the right GPS will get you to the right destination. Even the sinners can follow the right GPS. God's love is available for all. Following the right GPS will lead us to God’s pardon. 

Something Worth Waiting For | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

Isaiah 40:21-31  King James Version

21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.

24 Scarcely shall they be planted, Scarcely shall they be sown, Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth, When He will also blow on them, And they will wither, And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the Lord 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.

One thing I don't like to do is to wait. Pre-covid if I had to wait for a table at a restaurant I don't want the staff to keep coming by telling me that it is going to be a little longer. These days if I order food on DoorDash or Uber eats, I don't want to see the estimated time for my food to arrive, keep going up. I hate waiting. I don't like waiting on this pandemic to come to an end, I don't like waiting on certain situations in my own life to change. I don't like waiting in general for anything. 

There are those who are waiting for loved ones to return home, 

for a report from the doctor, 

for the right person to become their spouse, 

for a home to live in. Some are waiting, and while they are waiting, it seems the only news they keep getting is the wrong kind of news. 

We all are waiting on some good news, especially when the bad news keeps coming. We all have a little bit of “news fatigue” that leaves us sometimes feeling depressed, powerless, and distrustful of news sources. It seems like the more news we take in, the more anxiety we feel or, on the other side, the more desensitized we are to the news. We hit a point like the Wicked Witch of the West did in the musical The Wiz, don't nobody bring me no bad news!

The People in the Book of Isaiah were waiting and it seemed like all they kept getting was bad news. The people in Isaiah were waiting for deliverance in the scriptures.In the book of Isaiah the Isralites were down and out, beaten up, and tired of waiting on something they could not see. 

The people of Jerusalem had by now been in captivity by the time of this writing for over 70 years. For many of these people, all they knew was Babylon. The Israelites had been captured by the Babylonians, who took them from their homeland. The Babylonians tried to take the place of the God that the Israelites worshiped. Isaiah 14:13 says that the leaders of Babylon said “I will be like the Most High”. These Israelites only knew of a corrupt government looking to remove their culture, heritage, and religious values. They know they are loved by God but they are currently captured by a government. The Israelites were waiting on a savior and deliverance that seemed like that salvation and deliverance would never come. These people were down and out, beaten up, and tired of waiting on something they could not see, then here comes the prophet Isaiah for 39 chapters telling the people how some of this was their own fault. 

The prophet Isaiah basically told them, “you wanted to worship government over God, this is what it got you! You want to be in the world and of the world, how is that working out for you?” The Israelites are waiting for deliverance. Isaiah is there to help. Yet Before he can do that, he tells them what they did to get there in the first place.  After letting the people have it for 39 chapters we transition into chapter 40. 

Isaiah is pleading his case for them to keep waiting on the Lord. He’s saying, Let me tell you what God is going to do... just wait on him. This is an appeal that Isaiah wants on the public record. “I know you have been waiting for some time now, I know you are tired of the bad news over and over again,  but let me tell you about how good God is.” 

Isaiah wants the people to activate their faith by activating their  memory! We can remember our history and know that God fulfills promises. Isaiah reminds the people what they should know and what they have heard. They may not have experienced it for themselves but God still has a history and that history has been passed down through the generations. 

Even though the people were suffering under Babylon, governments are not God, politicians are not God, kings are not God. Anything a government, king, or politician can do is temporary in the eyes of the Lord. The text says the princes will fall, they are like grasshoppers, they cannot reach the level of God, wait on something that is substantial to pull you through. The enemies are but a drop in the bucket, or dust on scales, they are less than nothing when compared to God.

God is a long term God and God is worth waiting for. God's word stands forever, God's word has prominence, and is timeless. God's word is worth waiting for. God created in the beginning and is creating now.  God does not suffer from “news fatigue.” As Isaiah says ,  in verses 28-29 “He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint And to those who have no might He increases strength

Not only does God have  the long term view in history, God offers power and strength to those who feel the fatigue of bad news in the present. Human beings tend to try to fix every problem or tell those who “should” be doing something to fix them. But as life in the pandemic has taught us, there are limits to human knowledge and ability. If we trust only in ourselves, we are bound to get tired of waiting when we fail or reach the end of our ability. Life can have us feeling disappointment and exhaustion when the reality sets in that we cannot “fix” everything on our own no matter how hard we try. But in all things, God is still worth waiting for. 

The Message translation of Isaiah 40:28-31 says

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening? God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. 

We have waited on things that were definitely worth waiting for, there are those who have waited on their spouse, thought they would never get married and found the right one. There are those who waited on the right house, tried over and over to get one only to fail time and time again but then the right house for the right price became available.  There are those who waited on children, thought it would never happen and now have blessings in their lives biological or adopted. There are those who waited on personal growth and success, struggled in business, struggled in personal development, but when they look at where they are now versus where they were back then, they know the phrase well, "if had not been for the Lord on my side where would I be..." and there are those who waited on many other blessings. If those things were worth waiting on, how much is the Lord himself worth waiting on? 

Waiting is hard when we are waiting on the wrong things. How much better would our stress levels be if we spent as much time praying as we do worrying about what someone else thinks? If we spent more time reading the Bible as opposed to watching the news? I am not saying we should not be informed but spending more time with God can't hurt. We have to put our time, talent, and treasure into things that will last for the long term. The Word of God lasts forever and God is worth waiting for. We can wait on the Lord. Waiting means that we are not always in control but when we let go, and let God we can experience God's power more fully. You might be tired now but wait on the Lord, he will renew your strength, he will recharge your batteries, he will give you the ability to keep waiting. Letting go and letting God will give you the energy to keep on keeping on. 

God Works, Praise Him | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

111 Praise the Lord!

1 I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.

3 His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever.

4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant.

6 He has declared to His people the power of His works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

7 The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure.

8 They stand fast forever and ever and are done in truth and uprightness.

9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: Holy and awesome is His name.

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

     

Can I share something with you? Sometimes I find it hard to praise God. I imagine that may be strange to hear from a pastor… someone that teaches people the Bible, and encourages others, and praises God for a living, but it happens. Work stress, family stress, financial stress, internal stress. Sometimes I spend so much time pouring out, that I miss out on being poured into. Sometimes I also get into a routine or a rut of doing things and the time gets away from me. The monotony of this pandemic behavior, dealing with sickness, death, people making the situation worse with their anti-science, anti-mask, antisocial opinions. 

I know that I am not alone though. We can all get caught up in our emotions sometimes; we are human, and we have emotions. When we get sad, sometimes we focus on the fact that we are sad. When we get mad, sometimes we focus on the fact that we are mad. Sometimes we just get into a routine and praise gets thrown by the wayside. If we’re being honest, some may go several days or weeks without talking to God unless it is the routine of  'bless this food for the nourishment of our bodies" prayer or another routine prayer before bed. Sometimes it is hard to praise the Lord

Fortunately, we are not the only ones who felt like this. The people of God felt down during the time of this Psalm. God gave us some ways in scripture to remember God's works and some reasons to praise him. Even if you are not a believer there is reason to praise. Church folk will say praise God! But outside of the church, it’s really popular to have a positive outlook or an attitude of gratitude. No matter the circumstances a person’s mindset is important. In Psalm 111 the people have an answer to this routine, this rut we may get into and the answer is to remember that God works, so praise him. Psalm 111, which scholars believe was combined with 112 is also an acrostic poem. This means that the poem follows an alphabetical pattern in the Hebrew Alphabet. Each half of each verse starts with a different letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. Psalm 111 has 22 phrases in it not counting verse 1a and the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters in it. Psalm 111 was written in this poem format so that the people during the Bible times learning this scripture could remember it better. Just like learning the English alphabet, A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for cat, D is for dog, and so on and so on. We do that with the kids all the time. Patterns like that work because it makes it easier to remember and recall for later. So when the people of God got into a rut, when they got a little down, they had a pattern, almost like a nursery rhyme      to remember. They needed to remember that God works, and God is worthy of praise. 

The translation loses a bit going from Hebrew to English. The text says to praise the Lord, give thanks with the whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Praise is something everyone can see, when you are praising God there should be no question what you are doing. And then the hallelujah there for praise is one that the "Halle" is repeatable and gets louder before we get to the yah part. Like a child calling out to their parent over and over again. Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad dad!! There is no doubt about who they are talking to and whether or not they are excited about it. There is real genuine praise coming forth. 

What are things were they praising God for? God provided food for them. God gave the Israelites manna while they were traveling in the wilderness and took them into the land overflowing with milk and honey. God made sure the people back then had food to eat, and he is making sure we have food to eat now. God works, praise him. 

God gave them the promised land; God took them from slavery to possessing the land. God works, praise him. You may be oppressed in your current situation. The oppressors have been keeping you down so long you cannot even think about getting up let alone see it. But the Lord will fight your battles just like he fought the Israelites battles. The Lord will make your enemies your footstool. God works, praise him. 

God protected them; there were plenty of times the people of God could have and should have been eliminated but were protected. Sometimes I think about the phrase I heard growing up about being protected from dangers seen and unseen. These people knew that God protected them before and can do it again. God Works, Praise him. 

God made a covenant with them, a promise. God promised to redeem the people, and the text says that he commanded this covenant forever. God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should seek a cause to repent. If God said he is going to do it, his word is good. God works praise him. The text started and ended with praise. We can start and end with praise. I think about a song by Marvin Sapp from time to time called Praise Him in Advance. 

I've had my share of ups and downs

Times when there was no one around

God came and spoke these words to me

Praise will confuse the enemy

So I started singing, I started clapping

I started dancing people were laughing

They knew my problems, they knew my pain

But I knew God would take them away. 

Sometimes we have to praise God in advance, praise God beforehand. We have to make an effort to remember how good God is and how good God has been to us. Remember all the times God worked for us before and hold on to them until we see him work again. Even if it isn't happening fast enough for our liking or doesn't come the way we want it to God's track record is more than enough reason to praise God. God Works, Praise Him! 

Alpha and the Omega, -Beginning and the end, Creator of everything -Dominion and power

Excellent in all his ways-Father to the Fatherless-Great and Greatly to be praised

Holy -Immaculate -Just-King of Kings- Lord of Lord-Magnificent in all his ways

Near us at all times-Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omniscient -Powerful beyond measure

Qualified to run my life-Righteous-in Him, I put my Trust-Unchanging-Victorious

Wonderful in all his ways-Xristos -His Yolk is easy and his burden light-Zenith of all creation

God Works Praise Him

We praise him because God is God all by himself! We praise Him because of His grace, God provides and protects, and promises us out of grace. We could never be obedient enough that we deserve anything from God. The obedience is for us to be better believers, his grace is a reason to glorify him. 

Imagine what your spiritual life would look like if we remembered reasons to praise God more? I would like everyone who is hearing this message to write down 1 thing to praise God for, and look at it at least one time for the next seven days. This is more than a gratitude journal. It’s a practice of praise, of remembering how God works and why we praise him.

Try Before You Buy | Pastor Johnnie Simpson Jr

John 1:43-51 NRSV

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 

44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 

45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 

48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 

49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 

51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you,[a] you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Try before you buy, it’s one of the many comforts that have been strained during this time, the ability to try something out before we buy it. People don't buy homes without walking through them, we try on clothes before we buy them, even take cars for test drives. 

Now many online shopping places allow us to “try and buy.” They have made it easier to return items we purchased online, the websites have apps that show us what we would look like with the clothing, or glasses, or whatever item we purchased. They give us a virtual try before you buy experience. While it may not give the exact look and feel of shopping in person it still gives us the chance to sample what we want to buy. 

An opportunity to try before you buy happened right here in the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel According to John. In the passage I read we find Jesus right after baptism, going out into the world to recruit disciples. Jesus went right to work, no confirmation certificate, no banquet, no special Sunday service, he went right to work. Nothing wrong with celebrating but I appreciate skipping the formalities, pomp, and circumstance sometimes and getting right down to business.  Not only did Jesus get started without a bunch of ceremonies, but Jesus also went out into the community looking for people to share the good news with. Jesus was baptized, then found Andrew and Peter, then found Philip. 

Philip a new disciple, is going to testify to Nathanael about Jesus and this is the first time that someone’s testimony is met with resistance. Nathanael hears where Jesus is from and asks can anything good come out of Nazareth? Nathanael is looking down on Jesus at first based on where he came from. Nazareth was considered insignificant during the biblical time. Nazareth is not mentioned much before Jesus, and not mentioned in other sources like Josephus. Nazareth was a small town with an estimated population of 300 to 400 people. Compared to Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee which had 10 times the number of people in its city. In other words, Nazareth was a small county suburb and the people in the other big cities didn't think much of it. 

It's easy to judge Nathanael because he looked down at the mention of Jesus’ hometown but let's not point the finger at him too hard now. If a homeless person came into the church, some good Christians would look down on them, if someone came into the church didn't speak English fluently, some good Christians would look down on them, if a woman walked into the church with too many kids for your liking some good Christians would look down on them. That is why so many churches are struggling now, not because of the pandemic, the pandemic is only ripping the proverbial band-aid off and exposing some churches failure to connect with community faster. Churches are struggling because the church is supposed to be out in the world making disciples, but the church won't get close to people because the church doesn’t approve of them.

Philip's response to Nathanael’s challenge is something I aspire to; the Lord is still working on me though. Philip doesn't argue with Nathanael, Philip just says "come and see" come test this Jesus out for yourself. Philip asks Nathanael to “come see,” and Nathanael was willing to follow Philip, I believe Nathanael followed Philip because Philip's witness was authentic. Jesus said later on in the text that Nathanael was an Israelite without deceit, and I believe Nathanael was willing to check this Jesus out because Nathanael thought Philip was authentic as well. Being authentic Christians is a whole sermon by itself but I will just say for now that I get upset looking at what kind of example so-called Christians are setting for Christianity these days especially surrounding public events. 

Last Presidential election in 2016, people told us to obey those who are in authority over us quoting Romans chapter 13, now the same people are quiet when people are storming the capital and actively planning to kidnap and kill elected officials because their candidate lost the election. When people are standing in the pulpit telling their church members to get as many guns and ammo as they can. Pastors putting curses on people who voted for the candidate they didn't like, so-called Christians claiming they are pro-life but say nothing about people on social media saying all the n-words and liberals need to die. Matter of fact I hear more that deleting their preferred politician’s social media account or shutting their preferred social media application down is a violation of free speech. Blue lives matter until they are stopping you from storming the senate then they don't seem to matter as much. The witness is not authentic. And if that is the Christianity you are out here trying to give me; I don't want it. No wonder the church is failing.

And there are those who find some way not to address injustice at all, they are just as harmful. I get just as mad at those who are quiet while destruction is happening as those who cause the destruction. Problems don’t get solved by saying nothing while evil persists.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian alive during the Nazi rule of Germany said: 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

Martin Luther King said in his letter from a Birmingham jail that the moderate was the biggest stumbling block to the Civil Rights movement. The Church has to be willing to engage the community, along with the world at large and speak truth to power. 

Nathanael and the church have been looking at the external qualifications, but Jesus looks at the heart. Jesus wasn't worried about what Nathanael said, he looked into his heart, and still engaged him. 

Jesus is the fulfillment of scripture, Jesus is God and man, that is why the text calls him Jesus son of Joseph of Nazareth and the Son of Man. 

Jesus is the replacement for Jacob's ladder, the place where heaven and earth meet. Jacob has a dream in Genesis where he saw angels going up and down a ladder from heaven to earth and back. That place connected the earthly and the divine. Jesus says he is that new connection. Jesus is the perfect bridge between heaven and earth. Just like Jesus connects the people to heaven we can connect the people to Jesus. Connect authentically like Philip and Nathanael did. 

Jesus not only says “try and buy” (“come and see”) in this reading, but he says (to Philip): “Follow me.” I

So to what does Jesus invite us? If we use John’s gospel as a source, Jesus invites us:

• to see where he lives.

• to observe the signs and wonders he performs.

• to stay and pray.

• to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• to feed the flock (a life of service).

 

Let’s accept the invitation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to take a look. We can tell others to come and see what God is doing. It can’t hurt. Let’s stop what we’re doing and think about what Jesus is inviting us to do, or to be. Perhaps we’ve been followers of Jesus for many years, but we’ve never really considered what — specifically — Jesus has invited us to do. It’s possible we don’t have a clue as to our role, our mission, our ministry. Jesus says, “Come and see” — try and buy — and it’s an invitation that could change our lives.