SCRIPTURE READING
Psa 121:1-3 A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the
hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made
heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he
who keeps you will not slumber.
This week I watched the movie ‘Faith like
Potatoes’, a movie about the evangelist Angus Buchan. It seems like every time
I watch this movie I learn something new about hope, about faith and about
trust in God. Now I am sure many of you watched this movie and would agree that
besides this being a very good story, it is also amazingly inspirational when
you start to realise this is based on an actual true story. And what is even
more amazing is how God can transform an unbelieving, swearing, drinking,
smoking, racist Boer into one the greatest seed sowers our modern world has
come to know.
Now in the movie itself, Angus Buchan proclaims
in Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the one of the worst droughts that this
country has ever known, before thousands of farmers, farm workers, and ordinary
people, that he was going to grow potatoes that season. Now let me tell
something about potatoes. Firstly let me ask how many of you have ever
attempted to grow potatoes in the garden? How many of you have had such success
that the seed you planted actually yielded enough potatoes so as to meet your
needs for that season?
As can be expected, not many of you had that
success. And wouldn`t blame you. You see, potatoes are one of those very
specialised crops that needs a lot of attention. The temperature needs to be
correct. If temperatures are too warm, you find plants
that are green topped, but which have no tubers. Potatoes require cool nights
for good tuber formation. This means that potatoes need to planted correctly in
season so as to mature in cool weather. What was Angus`s problem? This was in
the middle of summer in searing heat.
And potatoes are usually planted in spring as early as 3 weeks before
the last expected frost. Planting time can vary to avoid hot, dry conditions
and to minimize disease and pest problems.
Secondly
potatoes, although they need well drained soil, they need regular watering to
enhance the size and growth of the potatoes. Angus`s problem was that there was
no rain at all and therefore the possibility for a successful crop was close to
zero.
And
the worst thing about growing potatoes is you cannot see whether they are
growing, even when there are green tops. You have to hope that they are there
and have faith when you harvest that it will be a good yield
There
is a quote from this movie that I find very inspirational. It says “The seed
for a great miracle lies not in difficulty, but impossibility”.
Romans 8:23-25. “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for
adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we
hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
I
think you only need to look at some of the Bible stories to see that this quote
is true. Daniel in the Lion`s Den, Moses parting the Red Sea, Elijah and the
flame from heaven to burn up the burnt offering, to name among a few.
And
I know there are many among you who can testify today that God has taken the
impossible in your lives and made it possible.
Mat_19:26
But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible."
This
message and tis promise is repeated in
·
Gen_18:14;
·
Jer_32:17,
·
Num_11:23;
·
Job_42:2;
·
Psa_62:11;
·
Jer_32:27;
·
Mar_9:23
·
Mar_10:27
·
Mar_14:36
·
Luk_18:27
·
Luk_1:37
·
The list goes on and on.
AND
Act_2:24 says “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of
death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
And it becomes very evident in this movie that
through the power of the Holy Spirit and the promises of Jesus Christ that this
man, a man just like you and me, whenever God performed a miracle in his life,
he became more and more bold. Because it seems the more he believed in God, the
more God revealed Himself to Angus. And the more God revealed himself to Angus
the more Hope, Trust and believe Angus developed. And more Angus Believed the
more God was willing to do for Him.
And
if you can remember Jesus said in:
Mat 17:20 He said to them, "Because
of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain
of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and
it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
AND in
2 Corinthians 3:12. “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”
Now Angus Buchan
is not a Seventh Day Adventist. In fact he does not belong to any Christian
denomination. He does not attempt to recruit any person for any church. Unlike
many other famous evangelists, he lives in a house made of sticks and mud. He
does not take a collection at his ministries, but has never left a town owing
any company any money for any services rendered. He trusts God to Provide for
his every need, no matter what the costs may be. For example Michael Jackson
paid a few million rands to hire kings park stadium for one night. Angus prayed
to God, and God made it possible for Angus to hire this stadium for two prayer
meetings for a few thousand rands.
And this amazing
testimony from this man`s life goes on and on. We are united in Christ. And we
can claim the exact same promises as Angus did, in the same way that he claimed
the promises shown to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, Joseph, Joshua, David,
Peter, John, Paul and all the other saints as contained throughout the Bible
and history.
But how many of
us have really CLAIMED IT. How many of
us have really TRUST GOD, BELIEVED IN GOD, HAD FAITH IN GOD. How times have God worked miracles in our
lives and the very next day we doubted Him? I have. And I am ashamed to say I
still do. I want to believe that I am one of those who belief that “if
you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for
you."
Testimony
at Medi Clinic
If you look at the story of the
saints that were persecuted through the ages for their faith in God, the one
common thing that you will find among all of them is that BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED
IN THE ROCK THEY BECAME LIKE THE ROCK AND WERE UNMOVED. And because they were
UNMOVED, They have claimed the right to the tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a
desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Many of you know this story even though it is not doctrinally correct,
or even Biblically correct:
A man arrived in
heaven and was ready to be assigned to his permanent home. At the check-in desk
he told the clerk that he didn’t understand why he was here in the first place.
So, the clerk called for St. Peter. "How can I help you," St. Peter
said. The man told St. Peter that he was a very religious man and was caught in
a flood. The rains were coming down harder and he repeatedly called to God for
help but help never came. He saw on the weather channel that the flood waters
would continue to rise and local residents should take precautions. He said,
"God help me." He decided to weather the storm and when the waters
began to rise he went to the second floor of his house. Two men in boat came by
and they asked if he needed help. But, the man said, "the Lord will help
me," and they went their way. The waters continued to rise and he climbed
on the roof. A few minutes later a helicopter came by and they asked if he
wanted a lift. He again said, "the Lord will help me." So, the
helicopter left. "I don’t understand," he said to St. Peter angrily.
"Why didn’t God help me?" St. Peter replied, "Who do you think
sent you the message, the boat and the helicopter?" And the countenance of
the man fell.
How many of
us can say that we have that faith in God, in Jesus, in the resurrecting power
of the Holy Spirit? And many times after being in the worst despair we lift up
our eyes to the LORD and call on His name. And you know Brothers and sisters
MOST of the time we don`t even see the miracle that He works in our lives.
Hebrews 6:11-20. “And we desire each one of you to show the
same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you
may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience
inherit the promises.”
So many of us
become so sluggish in our relationship with God that we don’t even realise how
far we drift from Him. And for me, the litmus test I use in my life to measure
How Far I Have moved from God is a simple question I ask myself – When last
could I see God work a miracle in my life? Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking
whether God worked a miracle in my life or not. That is a question should never
be asked, because waking up in the morning is a miracle enough. But I am asking
when last could I identify a miracle that God worked. Because my Brothers and
Sisters, the longer you time you spend admiring an artists` work, the easier it
becomes to recognise His art even if He never told you it was His.
We concentrate
so much on the problem we experience and the heavy burden that it is and the
hardship that it causes in our lives that we don`t stop to realise that this impossible situation is actually a
seed to a great miracle.
We put all our faith in strategizing a solution or conning our way out of this
deep pit that we find ourselves in that we forget:
1Sa_2:9 "He will guard the feet of his faithful
ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness, for not by might shall a man prevail.
AND
Zec_4:6 …: Not by might, nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT, says the LORD of hosts.
And
it is by His Spirit that we find deliverance. It is by His Spirit that we are
lifted out of the depths of sheol. It is taking up His yoke that life becomes
easy. It is by making his Word the lamp to your feet and the light to your path
that your way will be certain, because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the
Life.
Imagine
never knowing the Way. Imagine never knowing the Truth. Imagine never knowing
Life. They say life begins at forty. But my life began when I was introduced to
Christ.
I
never knew what hope was. I never knew what faith was.
I
can only think back and see the dark place I was in and how God through the
miracle of His love for me managed to pull me out of there and show me the
light.
Imagine
never seeing that light. Imagine being so attracted to darkness that
countenance also appears that way. Imagine being in a place where there is no
hope. Imagine being in a place where we could never experience love. Hollywood
tells us that we live in such a place. That man is his only hope. That we have
to create our own saviours to save us and that our hope lies in man to overcome
whatever challenge may face us. Imagine if God never loved us.
Ephesians
2:12. “. . . remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,
alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of
promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”
I
am glad I believe in a
God of Peace,
a God of Love,
a God of Joy,
a God of Hope.
I am Glad I serve
a God who could promised me the hope of an everlasting life, so that I don’t
have to inject poison into my body just to look younger.
I am glad I serve
a God who regards me as His highest priority, who loved me so much that He sent
His only Son to die in my place.
I am glad I serve
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Romans 15:13.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by
the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
