HOW TO HANDLE BEING RIGHT
HOW TO HANDLE BEING RIGHT Being Wrong When You’re Right Lamentations 2:7 – 13
CMBC August 2, 2015
We had out grown the camp facilities at Sylvan Lake, Alberta. o No opportunity to buy land around the camp. o I and two other board members found some property in the foothills of the Rockies that would be great for a year-round camp facility. Architect proposed a lodge facility with a swimming pool and all, rather than the tradition cabins. o I and a few others thought that was a mistake. We proposed smaller 12 man lodges scattered through the woods, with a central dining area with the activity and meeting rooms. o It was a pretty intense debate for several meetings. o The big lodge supporters won the debate and the lodge was built. As the camp program developed in this facility, I began to see that I was wrong. o The camp went on to develop into a great expanded facility with an amazing creative ministry. o I was definitely wrong. 20 years after the construction of that first lodge, my son because the program director, where he served for more than 12 years. 15 years later, as of this last January, our grandson is now the program director. How to deal with being wrong is a definite spiritual growing experience, and there are lots of Bible Study books and sermons on how to deal with being wrong. o But what about handling being right. o My colleagues on that Camp Board were very gracious in how they responded to being right - gracious to us who were wrong. The Prophet Jeremiah had told the people of Judah about where they were wrong, very wrong in their relationship with God o He plainly called it rebellion against God and told them of the specific consequences they would suffer unless they repented. o And then it happened. o The Babylonian conquerors over ran the country, totally destroying Jerusalem and the country side, and taking great number of captives back to Babylon. Jerimiah had told them so! 1
Have you ever said to someone, “I told you so!” your children, your brothers, your spouse, your neighbour, the people of the church? Jerimiah had every reason to say, “I told you so.” They had laughed at him They had scoffed him They had harassed him They had thrown him into prison They tried to kill him. Now he was proven to be right. o He had been proven as an authentic prophet, a man of God, o as opposed to the false prophets who had harassed him and whom the people had followed, But it was not over As important as being right, for the man of God, is how he handles being right. 1.
WE HAVE ALL BEEN PROVEN RIGHT a. When it turns out you were right … i. We could see the consequences of someone’s wrong decision and wrong action. 1. Not to marry someone 2. Not to change jobs 3. Not to invest in that venture 4. Not to get involved with those people ii. Sometimes it is when someone has given you a difficult time, and then their life fell apart. iii. Seeing someone living in sin, as Jeremiah did, and then God punishes them. iv. “I told you so!” b.
It feels so good to be proven right i. It is a boost for our ego and confidence ii. It confirms for us that we were on the right track iii. I wonder what I would have done, had they built the lodge at Camp Caroline and I was proven right. iv. It is a good positive encouragement for us to be proven right – but it is risky. v. We can be wrong when we are right.
2
c. 2.
But our role isn’t over when we can say, “I told you so!”
JEREMIAH’S RESPONSE TO BEING RIGHT a. He wept over the consequences Lamentations 2:11 I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. i. Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet. ii. His letter Lamentations is filled with sorrowfull weeping iii. He does remind the people why this devastation is happening iv. But he tells them with a weeping heart. b.
He identified with the people Laminations 3:1 - 5 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD's anger. [2] He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. [3] He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. [4] He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. [5] He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. i. This is amazing. He could have been arrogant, and strutted around boasting, “I told you so!” ii. Instead he joins with the people in their guilt and pain iii. Paul told the Corinthian Church about the punishment God sent to the Children of Israel and said this: 1 Corinthians 10:11 - 12 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. [12] So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! iv. In Galatians 6:1-4 we read: Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. [2] Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. [3] If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [4] Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 1. Being right isn’t about how good you are 2. Being right is evidence of the grace of God in your life. 3
3.
c.
Jeremiah offered them hope Lamentations 3:19 [19] I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. [20] I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. [21] Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” [25] The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. i. He points them to the very God who is punishing them and tells them that this is the God of hope. The God of grace and forgiveness. The God of deliverance and salvation. ii. There is a still a long time of suffering under the consequences of their sin. 1. Jeremiah says, [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. iii. Jeremiah had “told them so” but now he is telling them of the grace and forgiveness of God to those who will repent. iv. He tells them now of the hope there is in the Lord.
d.
A gracious call to repentance i. Then Jeremiah makes this profound statement Lamentations 3:39 Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? [40] Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. [41] Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: [42] “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. ii. The message is, don’t give up. Repent and turn back to the Lord. iii. This is a gracious way of saying, “This is what I was telling you all along.” iv. “I told you so!” but it is gracious
THE GODLY PRINCIPLES TO FOLLOW a. Carry their burdens i. Identify with their pain 4
ii.
Weep with them
b.
Be their most trusted friend i. They can turn to you in confidence ii. They can call on you for direction and help
c.
This is the best opportunity for spiritual growth i. You can help them in their spiritual growth ii. Do this with humility, lest you fall
d.
Be there as beacon of hope i. What is done in the past is done ii. What God now wants to do is to look at the hope of the future
5
CMBC August 2, 2015
We had out grown the camp facilities at Sylvan Lake, Alberta. o No opportunity to buy land around the camp. o I and two other board members found some property in the foothills of the Rockies that would be great for a year-round camp facility. Architect proposed a lodge facility with a swimming pool and all, rather than the tradition cabins. o I and a few others thought that was a mistake. We proposed smaller 12 man lodges scattered through the woods, with a central dining area with the activity and meeting rooms. o It was a pretty intense debate for several meetings. o The big lodge supporters won the debate and the lodge was built. As the camp program developed in this facility, I began to see that I was wrong. o The camp went on to develop into a great expanded facility with an amazing creative ministry. o I was definitely wrong. 20 years after the construction of that first lodge, my son because the program director, where he served for more than 12 years. 15 years later, as of this last January, our grandson is now the program director. How to deal with being wrong is a definite spiritual growing experience, and there are lots of Bible Study books and sermons on how to deal with being wrong. o But what about handling being right. o My colleagues on that Camp Board were very gracious in how they responded to being right - gracious to us who were wrong. The Prophet Jeremiah had told the people of Judah about where they were wrong, very wrong in their relationship with God o He plainly called it rebellion against God and told them of the specific consequences they would suffer unless they repented. o And then it happened. o The Babylonian conquerors over ran the country, totally destroying Jerusalem and the country side, and taking great number of captives back to Babylon. Jerimiah had told them so! 1
Have you ever said to someone, “I told you so!” your children, your brothers, your spouse, your neighbour, the people of the church? Jerimiah had every reason to say, “I told you so.” They had laughed at him They had scoffed him They had harassed him They had thrown him into prison They tried to kill him. Now he was proven to be right. o He had been proven as an authentic prophet, a man of God, o as opposed to the false prophets who had harassed him and whom the people had followed, But it was not over As important as being right, for the man of God, is how he handles being right. 1.
WE HAVE ALL BEEN PROVEN RIGHT a. When it turns out you were right … i. We could see the consequences of someone’s wrong decision and wrong action. 1. Not to marry someone 2. Not to change jobs 3. Not to invest in that venture 4. Not to get involved with those people ii. Sometimes it is when someone has given you a difficult time, and then their life fell apart. iii. Seeing someone living in sin, as Jeremiah did, and then God punishes them. iv. “I told you so!” b.
It feels so good to be proven right i. It is a boost for our ego and confidence ii. It confirms for us that we were on the right track iii. I wonder what I would have done, had they built the lodge at Camp Caroline and I was proven right. iv. It is a good positive encouragement for us to be proven right – but it is risky. v. We can be wrong when we are right.
2
c. 2.
But our role isn’t over when we can say, “I told you so!”
JEREMIAH’S RESPONSE TO BEING RIGHT a. He wept over the consequences Lamentations 2:11 I have cried until the tears no longer come; my heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. i. Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet. ii. His letter Lamentations is filled with sorrowfull weeping iii. He does remind the people why this devastation is happening iv. But he tells them with a weeping heart. b.
He identified with the people Laminations 3:1 - 5 I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD's anger. [2] He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light. [3] He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. [4] He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. [5] He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. i. This is amazing. He could have been arrogant, and strutted around boasting, “I told you so!” ii. Instead he joins with the people in their guilt and pain iii. Paul told the Corinthian Church about the punishment God sent to the Children of Israel and said this: 1 Corinthians 10:11 - 12 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. [12] So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! iv. In Galatians 6:1-4 we read: Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. [2] Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. [3] If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. [4] Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 1. Being right isn’t about how good you are 2. Being right is evidence of the grace of God in your life. 3
3.
c.
Jeremiah offered them hope Lamentations 3:19 [19] I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. [20] I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. [21] Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” [25] The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. i. He points them to the very God who is punishing them and tells them that this is the God of hope. The God of grace and forgiveness. The God of deliverance and salvation. ii. There is a still a long time of suffering under the consequences of their sin. 1. Jeremiah says, [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. iii. Jeremiah had “told them so” but now he is telling them of the grace and forgiveness of God to those who will repent. iv. He tells them now of the hope there is in the Lord.
d.
A gracious call to repentance i. Then Jeremiah makes this profound statement Lamentations 3:39 Why should any living man complain when punished for his sins? [40] Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD. [41] Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: [42] “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven. ii. The message is, don’t give up. Repent and turn back to the Lord. iii. This is a gracious way of saying, “This is what I was telling you all along.” iv. “I told you so!” but it is gracious
THE GODLY PRINCIPLES TO FOLLOW a. Carry their burdens i. Identify with their pain 4
ii.
Weep with them
b.
Be their most trusted friend i. They can turn to you in confidence ii. They can call on you for direction and help
c.
This is the best opportunity for spiritual growth i. You can help them in their spiritual growth ii. Do this with humility, lest you fall
d.
Be there as beacon of hope i. What is done in the past is done ii. What God now wants to do is to look at the hope of the future
5
