Dancing in a Dirge (Sermon)_transcript.txt

[0.00 --> 8.48]  Well, it is my pleasure this morning to bring you God's Word. And today we are going to be
[8.48 --> 13.44]  wrapping up sort of our current sermon series that we've been working on for the past month
[13.44 --> 19.08]  on Habakkuk. Now, I was pumped when Pastor Chris asked if I would join him in this sermon series,
[19.12 --> 24.06]  and I was even flattered that he asked that I would do the fourth and final installment
[24.06 --> 30.52]  of this series. And then I realized that while he preached the last three weeks on three chapters
[30.52 --> 37.38]  comprising 57 verses of this book of the Bible, all he left me with was three measly verses at the end.
[38.10 --> 41.66]  And I guess he already knows that I'm long-winded and he didn't want to give me too much to go off
[41.66 --> 47.70]  of. I'm kidding, of course. The real reason there's so few verses today is simply this. This is how the
[47.70 --> 53.66]  text breaks down in this book. And the three verses today not only sort of conclude the book as a whole
[53.66 --> 59.50]  and bring some finality to it, it also summarizes the past three weeks quite well, which I guess
[59.50 --> 64.36]  that makes sense. That's how conclusions work. Before we start, though, this is important. It's
[64.36 --> 69.60]  important that you all know that unlike Pastor Chris, I have no real convictions on how to pronounce
[69.60 --> 76.82]  this prophet's name. I have been saying all my life Habakkuk, and so now to pronounce it Habakkuk
[76.82 --> 82.96]  is a little bit hard for me. In fact, I may be going back and forth this entire sermon, and if I do that,
[82.96 --> 86.04]  feel free to write me lots of emails and let me know that I did just that.
[86.86 --> 91.18]  Actually, what I'll probably do is just use words like him or that prophet or that guy,
[91.30 --> 95.18]  because generally that's what people do when they don't remember someone's name, right? Like if
[95.18 --> 98.48]  someone comes up to you and is like, hey, Kevin, like you respond and you don't know who they are,
[98.88 --> 105.04]  you respond with like, hey, buckaroo. So I might just default to that or do something similar today.
[105.96 --> 111.38]  Anyways, our text today comes from Buckaroo 3 verse, no, I'm kidding. I'm not actually going to do this.
[111.38 --> 117.88]  We're going to read from Habakkuk 3 verses 17 to 19 this morning, and because it's so short,
[118.70 --> 124.46]  I want to start a verse early and read verse 16 as well. I figured we could all use a bonus verse
[124.46 --> 130.86]  in our lives during this season. So verses 16, it actually really kind of sets the stage, so to speak,
[130.90 --> 136.04]  for our text. So please open up your Bibles, pull out your notebooks, your pens, pull out your chai tea
[136.04 --> 142.50]  lattes, your puppets, your glasses, your stress balls, whatever you need right now to really dig
[142.50 --> 150.86]  into this text, grab it and join me as we read Habakkuk 3 verses 16 to 19. And there we read this,
[150.90 --> 159.38]  it says, I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound, decay crept into my bones
[159.38 --> 166.60]  and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation
[166.60 --> 174.60]  invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive
[174.60 --> 181.34]  crops fail and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
[181.34 --> 192.30]  stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God, my Savior. The sovereign Lord is my
[192.30 --> 200.02]  strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to tread on the heights.
[201.30 --> 209.90]  The word of the Lord. Now, like I said, this passage, it nicely sums up what the entire book of Habakkuk is
[209.90 --> 215.52]  about. Within these few lines of this book, we hear about the prophet, how he is in both a state of
[215.52 --> 223.94]  despair and a state of triumph. With the fear of the nation of Babylon's invasion growing and growing
[223.94 --> 229.28]  and the worry that his people were going to suffer because of it, Habakkuk, he's in dire straits.
[230.42 --> 239.16]  We read that his body trembled, his heart pounded, his lips quivered, the attack was coming, and he knew,
[239.16 --> 246.26]  he knew there would be loss. He knew there would be pain. He knew there would be suffering. He knew
[246.26 --> 257.06]  there would be death. However, in the midst of this despair, we read today that he rejoiced.
[259.38 --> 264.38]  When he started this book, Habakkuk was about to fall apart. Destruction, violence, wickedness,
[264.38 --> 271.84]  injustice. It was all around him. He cried out to God, and his cries were heard. God answered his
[271.84 --> 278.92]  complaints, and he provided Habakkuk the confidence, and more importantly, he provided Habakkuk the lens,
[279.56 --> 287.66]  the perspective that he needed to lift him out of his despair. Though he was physically and emotionally
[287.66 --> 295.16]  weak, Habakkuk was spiritually strong, and our text is the final phase of his transformation.
[297.68 --> 304.36]  Habakkuk realized that his peace, his peace, did not depend on his circumstance.
[306.20 --> 312.26]  And in verse 17 of our text today, he lists and outlines all of the worst pending dooms he could
[312.26 --> 318.78]  think of in his circumstance. The failure of crops, no more figs for cakes, no more grapes for wine,
[318.90 --> 325.24]  no more oil and grain for bread, the loss of sheep and cattle, no more meat to eat, no more clothes
[325.24 --> 331.32]  to wear, no more jobs to do, no more purpose to live for.
[331.32 --> 342.26]  Habakkuk. But even in the midst of annihilation and ruin, of famine and even death, Habakkuk was prepared
[342.26 --> 350.20]  to trust God. Not necessarily trust that God was going to save them from this torment, no,
[350.58 --> 359.30]  but that God was going to save them from the laws of sin and death and war and suffering forever.
[359.30 --> 367.34]  In fact, it went beyond trust. Not only did he believe in God's redemption plan, but he rejoiced.
[368.08 --> 376.58]  He was joyful in the midst of his concern. He found strength, not in himself, not in his understanding,
[377.08 --> 383.80]  not in his ability to cope with his circumstance. No, he found strength in the sovereign Lord.
[383.80 --> 390.58]  He found his footing in the God who keeps his covenant promises forever.
[392.52 --> 399.00]  Habakkuk came to realize that his faith could ultimately and even finally be left in the God
[399.00 --> 406.40]  who keeps his covenant promises forever. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in the Lord,
[406.40 --> 417.74]  my Savior, he says. He could rejoice because he began to understand that his faith is a gift.
[419.32 --> 424.98]  Now, we talk about spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts of things like encouragement or hospitality or wisdom,
[425.08 --> 433.32]  there's lots. Faith is also a gift. Faith is something we are all given to varying degrees, sure,
[433.32 --> 451.34]  but we are all given this gift. And the strength and power of that gift of faith is in the object of faith,
[451.44 --> 456.66]  not in the holder of it. So, for example, if I were to put my faith in the government, let's just say,
[456.66 --> 462.80]  the government is the object of my faith. It has the strength, it has the power, not me. I have very
[462.80 --> 468.92]  little control over what the government does. So, the object of my faith has the strength and the
[468.92 --> 473.78]  power, not the holder of it. Or perhaps we put our faith in the economy. Again, we have very little
[473.78 --> 479.80]  control over what the economy does. So, it holds the power of our faith, not me, the holder of it.
[479.80 --> 492.16]  That means that when we put our faith in God, the strength and power of that faith is God, not us.
[493.54 --> 497.78]  And of course, the big difference between God and the government or the economy or anything else
[497.78 --> 506.78]  is that God is faithful to us. That's why Pastor Chris has said several times over the past three
[506.78 --> 513.90]  weeks that when we become weak, when our confidence is shaken, God remains faithful.
[515.52 --> 522.72]  The power and the strength of faith is in the object of faith, our God.
[525.28 --> 529.34]  I'm going to let that marinate for just a little bit. So, sit on that, stew on that a little bit,
[529.34 --> 538.82]  and we'll get back to it. So, Habakkuk, he finds his hope in God's faithfulness. Hope.
[539.94 --> 545.66]  Hope is such an interesting thing, isn't it? It's incredibly important. It's important because
[545.66 --> 552.26]  what we believe about our future completely controls how we feel about our present.
[552.26 --> 559.52]  Let me say that again. What we believe about our future completely controls about how we feel about
[559.52 --> 566.22]  our present. I read a great example of this that highlights this truth. In his book, Making Sense of
[566.22 --> 573.56]  God, Timothy Keller, he uses the following analogy to show just how important our perspective and
[573.56 --> 581.24]  understanding of the future is to our perception of reality. So, picture this. Follow along with me
[581.24 --> 586.34]  here. Pretend there are two women, both of which are the same age, they're the same socioeconomic
[586.34 --> 592.02]  class, they're the same race, same worldview, same everything. And you take these two women and you
[592.02 --> 599.48]  give them a job. They get the same job. It is a super boring job, an assembly line job. Take part A,
[599.80 --> 608.02]  put it on part B, do not rinse, do not lather, only repeat over and over and over again. They're in the
[608.02 --> 613.44]  same room, same lighting, same temperature, same hours, same breaks, same job, same everything.
[614.20 --> 622.54]  The only difference is that you tell woman A that after a year you will pay her $30,000 for doing that
[622.54 --> 631.72]  job. And you tell woman B that you will pay her $30 million to do that job. Well, what happens?
[631.72 --> 637.50]  After a week or two, woman A starts to wonder if it's all worth it. She begins to grumble and complain
[637.50 --> 643.22]  and eventually she quits. She bows out. Woman B, on the other hand, shows up every day, whistling while
[643.22 --> 649.90]  she works, faithfully doing her job. She sticks it out. Her future hope of that $30 million makes the
[649.90 --> 659.66]  day seem not so bad. How each woman perceived her future completely controlled their present situation.
[659.66 --> 663.36]  Hope matters.
[665.44 --> 672.08]  And yet we find ourselves in an increasingly hopeless world, don't we? People are feeling
[672.08 --> 680.26]  at a loss for hope. This past Thursday was Let's Talk Day. It's a day in the year where we all are
[680.26 --> 684.98]  encouraged to talk about and post on social media about mental health and raise awareness for
[684.98 --> 690.28]  invisible illness. And it's a wonderful day. It's a fantastic initiative because mental health
[690.28 --> 697.44]  needs our discussion. It needs our attention. Anxiety is becoming more and more prevalent.
[698.04 --> 707.92]  Depression too. Suicide numbers are rising. Generation Z, the youngest generation right now, is the most
[707.92 --> 715.90]  anxious generation in decades. Maybe ever. Eric Uslander, he's a PhD professor in Maryland,
[716.04 --> 722.22]  he highlights this and he says this. He says, young people today are the first generation in history
[722.22 --> 727.94]  to be certain they are and will be worse off than their parents.
[730.20 --> 735.90]  According to studies done by the American Psychological Association, your average child today
[735.90 --> 743.92]  reports more anxiety than a child psychiatric patient in the 1950s. That's remarkable. That is
[743.92 --> 749.46]  heartbreaking. People are feeling hopeless, especially young people. They have little hope
[749.46 --> 755.08]  for their futures and it is causing stress and anxiety and depression to degrees that we have not seen
[755.08 --> 765.82]  before. Hope matters. We're becoming a people with increasingly less hope. Our culture is losing
[765.82 --> 769.92]  hope in everything. We're losing hope in the government, whether you're a liberal, conservative,
[770.40 --> 775.54]  democrat, republican, wherever you land on the spectrum, you have experienced hopelessness in our
[775.54 --> 780.82]  nation's leaders recently. We're losing hope in the environment. Climate change is happening. Animals are
[780.82 --> 786.14]  going extinct. Pollution levels are on the rise. Some of you feel like this is a hopeless situation and others
[786.14 --> 792.64]  of you that don't feel this way, you feel hopeless in articulating your point of view. We're losing hope in our
[792.64 --> 799.08]  economics. First-time home buyers, especially in this area, they're feeling crippled by the market and
[799.08 --> 805.32]  people are running more and more frustrated with the economy in general. In fact, just this week,
[805.60 --> 812.52]  the GameStop stock chaos that happened is just a perfect example of the attitude and the hopelessness
[812.52 --> 818.16]  that people have surrounding the economy. That GameStop stock story, A, is just very hard to say.
[818.16 --> 823.54]  B, Wall State really underestimated a generation raised on highly coordinated, synchronized World
[823.54 --> 832.56]  of Warcraft raids. That's what I think happened. Back to the point. Polls everywhere are showing a
[832.56 --> 841.52]  declining confidence in our future. And it is all due to a loss of hope in the things that we evidently put
[841.52 --> 850.92]  our hope in. Hope matters. And it goes beyond simply losing our hope. We're beginning to become
[850.92 --> 858.24]  enthralled, enthralled by hopelessness. Now hear me out here. The most popular books we read, the most
[858.24 --> 864.00]  popular movies we watch, are not ones right now filled with joy and hope anymore. They are stories
[864.00 --> 870.50]  where hopelessness reigns. Movies that take place in dystopian futures intrigue us because we relate to the
[870.50 --> 875.38]  hopelessness of the characters and that the characters face in those circumstances. Book series
[875.38 --> 882.44]  like The Hunger Games or Divergent, they do the same. We love stories with antiheroes. Marvel superhero
[882.44 --> 887.36]  movies, sure, they broke bank this last decade, but the most highest grossing Marvel movie of all of
[887.36 --> 893.36]  them was Deadpool, which featured a vengeful and ruthless antihero. Breaking Bad, probably the most
[893.36 --> 899.12]  popular television show of the past decade. Also, its lead was an extremely immoral antihero.
[899.12 --> 905.36]  This week I saw three trailers for three major movies coming out in 2021. Those three movies,
[905.68 --> 912.04]  Dune, a dystopian future where humanity fights to survive, Godzilla vs. Kong, a movie that is
[912.04 --> 916.94]  humanity's at the mercy of two giants fighting each other, and Greenland, an apocalyptic movie about
[916.94 --> 924.98]  the end of the world due to comet fragments crashing towards the earth. So much hopelessness,
[924.98 --> 938.14]  and we are drawn to it. So why does hopelessness reign so prevalently these days? Perhaps it's because
[938.14 --> 945.90]  we keep putting our hope in the wrong things. That's precisely what Habakkuk learned throughout
[945.90 --> 950.96]  this whole book. He was hoping for a solution to the circumstance that he found himself in. He was
[950.96 --> 959.34]  hoping for a solution to the impending captivity that he was about to face. But what he got was not a
[959.34 --> 966.94]  solution to that problem, but a reminder of God's promises, God's promises that are bigger than our
[966.94 --> 974.44]  circumstances. What he got was a promise that God's redemption story is grander and more beautiful than
[974.44 --> 984.26]  whatever story we want to plug ourselves into. What he got was a reminder that the story that God calls
[984.26 --> 994.36]  us to be in is his story, the story of redemption. And that is a story that is just full of hope.
[994.36 --> 1003.76]  I love this quote from Tim Keller again. He says this. He says, hope that enables us to face the worst in
[1003.76 --> 1008.84]  this world depends on faith in something that transcends this world.
[1012.12 --> 1017.22]  If we keep putting our hope in a different government or a new approach to climate change or
[1017.22 --> 1023.32]  the stock market suddenly rising or falling or a new boyfriend or a new girlfriend or a new job
[1023.32 --> 1033.72]  or a new identity crafted from this world, our hope is finite. It is small. It transcends nothing.
[1036.52 --> 1045.62]  Hope that enables us to face the worst in this world depends on faith in something that transcends the world.
[1045.62 --> 1063.30]  Hope that helps us to face the worst in this world. Habakkuk figured that out. His hope was no longer in crops or food or cattle or employment or his nation or himself or even this life. He was reminded that his hope must be in the Lord.
[1063.30 --> 1075.62]  Now there is no event in our lives that puts hope to the test more than when we brush up against death.
[1076.98 --> 1086.40]  When the reality of the shadow of death falls upon us or upon someone that we love, hope becomes so much more than an idea.
[1087.40 --> 1088.88]  It becomes a reality.
[1088.88 --> 1099.46]  The need for hope in something that transcends this life moves to the forefront of our minds when death is present.
[1100.40 --> 1106.92]  When people are on their deathbed, for example, they welcome conversations with pastors, ministers, priests, elders,
[1107.16 --> 1110.12]  even if they've never stepped in a church before in their life.
[1110.12 --> 1140.10]  Death is not natural.
[1140.10 --> 1143.66]  The death that he died was the death we all deserved.
[1144.94 --> 1154.24]  But by raising to life on the third day, he defeated death once and for all until he comes again at the end of time to redeem all the cosmos for his glory.
[1156.70 --> 1161.04]  Habakkuk's hope was in that future for him.
[1161.04 --> 1168.16]  That future promise of the Messiah who would restore the world and bring justice to the injustice.
[1168.88 --> 1171.10]  Bring peace to the warfare.
[1171.62 --> 1174.62]  Bring life into a world full of death.
[1176.62 --> 1181.62]  Brothers and sisters, we now live on this side of the empty tomb.
[1181.72 --> 1183.02]  That was a future for Habakkuk.
[1183.28 --> 1185.80]  It is a reality, a past event for us.
[1185.80 --> 1194.46]  We know our risen Lord has accomplished justice and peace and eternal life,
[1194.64 --> 1203.54]  and we hope in certainty for the fulfillment of these promises when our already victorious Savior
[1203.54 --> 1209.64]  comes down from his heavenly seat at the right hand of God to restore all of creation to its final glory.
[1210.18 --> 1215.22]  Then all who believed in him can rejoice in body and in soul forever.
[1215.74 --> 1218.76]  That is our hope.
[1218.76 --> 1228.82]  Believers in Christ, we are not simply hoping for some comfort for the life that we might have lost.
[1229.30 --> 1233.90]  We can look towards this full restoration of the life that we wanted,
[1234.08 --> 1236.88]  but could never have due to the sin and brokenness of this world.
[1237.12 --> 1239.36]  Our hope is in so much more.
[1239.36 --> 1251.14]  Other religions, they offer an afterlife that is primarily conditioned on people living morally and good lives.
[1252.42 --> 1256.66]  But the salvation Christianity offers is not for good people,
[1257.50 --> 1261.94]  but rather for people who understand and acknowledge that they are, and never will be,
[1262.56 --> 1267.26]  good enough themselves and are desperately in need of a Savior.
[1267.26 --> 1276.14]  Because of this, we don't have to approach death uncertain of whether we will be found worthy of eternal life or not,
[1277.20 --> 1284.92]  but we can approach death confidently, knowing our Redeemer lives and our hope is secure.
[1286.16 --> 1287.50]  We've seen this throughout history.
[1288.20 --> 1291.38]  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was about to be executed for plotting against Hitler,
[1291.38 --> 1296.00]  and he wrote that death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom.
[1296.00 --> 1299.08]  At the end of his life, D.L. Moody wrote that,
[1299.20 --> 1301.08]  Someday you will read that I am dead, he said.
[1301.42 --> 1302.34]  Don't believe a word.
[1303.02 --> 1305.80]  At that moment, I will be more alive than I am now.
[1307.72 --> 1310.34]  The first martyr, Stephen, back in Acts chapter 7,
[1310.40 --> 1312.36]  he's about to get stoned for witnessing the gospel,
[1312.46 --> 1313.94]  and he looked up to the heavens and he said,
[1313.94 --> 1320.06]  Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
[1320.06 --> 1324.02]  Our church has seen it too.
[1324.68 --> 1327.16]  Two of our members passed away in December,
[1327.70 --> 1337.90]  and yet both Dave and Brum were confident that their sure hope was in Christ.
[1339.36 --> 1342.36]  That this life was simply the beginning.
[1342.98 --> 1343.92]  They were sure of it.
[1344.56 --> 1346.04]  We can be sure of it too.
[1346.04 --> 1351.22]  We recognize that we are part of a more beautiful story,
[1351.38 --> 1353.02]  a story that is already victorious,
[1353.24 --> 1355.22]  and yet a story that is not concluded.
[1356.26 --> 1358.74]  The conclusion comes with Christ's second coming,
[1358.82 --> 1361.00]  where he will redeem all things once and for all.
[1361.38 --> 1362.64]  That is our hope,
[1362.96 --> 1365.92]  and it is an eternal hope.
[1369.50 --> 1370.34]  Concluding with this,
[1370.38 --> 1371.18]  as I mentioned earlier,
[1371.24 --> 1372.22]  our hope is not earned.
[1372.98 --> 1374.04]  Our hope is not bought.
[1374.04 --> 1376.18]  Our hope is not even found,
[1376.26 --> 1378.56]  because that presumes we need to search for it.
[1379.82 --> 1380.04]  No.
[1380.50 --> 1382.06]  Our hope is a gift.
[1382.20 --> 1385.80]  It is a faith in our intimate relationship with Christ Jesus,
[1386.10 --> 1387.22]  our Savior.
[1387.98 --> 1390.00]  And this hope is available to everyone,
[1390.60 --> 1392.10]  no matter their circumstance.
[1394.56 --> 1400.44]  That is why Habakkuk could rejoice in the midst of his impending captivity.
[1400.44 --> 1404.06]  That is why Christians can sing at funerals.
[1404.26 --> 1407.80]  That is why we can be caught dancing in the dirge.
[1408.32 --> 1412.62]  That is why we can be wrecked and worshiping.
[1413.66 --> 1416.80]  Because our hope is secure in Christ.
[1417.96 --> 1418.28]  Amen.
[1418.50 --> 1418.94]  Let me pray.
[1420.48 --> 1425.42]  Father God, we are so grateful for this eternal hope in you.
[1425.42 --> 1430.72]  Lord, the gospel truths of Christ's life, death, and resurrection,
[1431.36 --> 1434.26]  and the knowledge that we have that he will once come again,
[1434.32 --> 1435.22]  he will soon come again.
[1436.06 --> 1437.12]  That is our hope.
[1437.70 --> 1442.00]  God, we ask for forgiveness when we put our hope in finite things.
[1443.52 --> 1444.96]  May you convict us when we do.
[1446.26 --> 1449.96]  Lord, will you draw us more in to your story,
[1449.96 --> 1453.82]  your story of redemption for all of the cosmos.
[1454.22 --> 1459.08]  And may we take this hope and apply it to our lives.
[1459.88 --> 1462.58]  May we stop looking for hope in the wrong things,
[1462.80 --> 1465.64]  and may we focus it solely on you.
[1465.90 --> 1467.54]  We pray this in your name.
[1468.08 --> 1468.36]  Amen.
[1468.36 --> 1468.48]  Amen.