Sermon: The Piglet Syndrome

Summary: Even though there are plenty things in life to be afraid of, through the one true God, there is ultimately nothing to fear. Through him, we can have courage as we seek the Lord through prayer, reading, and following God while we focus all of our hope in him.

Text: Ps 27

Scripture Reading: Mt 10:26-28

Intro:

1. Wondering about the title of the sermon. How do you say Piglet's name?

a. P-p-p-piglet

b. Piglet is always scared

c. Scared of leaves falling, the wind, his shadow, etc.

d. Seems cute

2. The reality - There is plenty to be fearful of today, if you are so inclined

a. E-Coli, strange viruses, cancer, side effects of medication, etc.

b. Global warming, huge storms, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes,

earthquakes, tsunamis, crime, war, terrorists, etc.

c. Back in 1990, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that 30

years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were:

- 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers,

5) Loud noises.

- Today, kids are afraid of: 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4)

Pollution, 5) Being mugged

d. Reality - World is a scary place, natural and human dangers

3. I remember a simulation that showed on T.V. when in High School

a. Showed what would happen in nuclear attack to Offutt AFB

b. Showed downtown Omaha, then it was blown away

c. Following day, many teens in tears, they were terrified

d. There are all kinds of fear

- Fear of something bad happening

- Fear of sickness

- Fear of calamity

- Fear of death

4. Into this fear, the Psalms have a message. What message? (Ps 27)

I. Take courage (v.1-3)

A. Psalmist declares that he will not fear

1. Whom shall I fear?

a. That is a rhetorical questions

b. The answer is no one

2. My heart will not fear

a. Will not be intimidated into doing nothing

b. Will not be scared into hiding

c. Will not be frightened into giving in to the enemy

3. I will be confident

a. Will not have a tentative commitment

b. Will not be paralyzed by fear

4. The Psalmist will continue serving and worshipping God

B. Some think this sentiment may be a little out of touch

1. This Psalm was written 3000 years ago

a. It was a different time and a different place

b. They did not have all the complex dangers we have now

2. Take a closer look at the dangers the Psalmist faced

a. v.2 - Evildoers came to devour my flesh

- Not talking about zombies

- Image of ravenous animals tearing him apart

- Enemies are like wild animals, chasing him

b. v.3 - A host has encamped against me

- Host means a massive army

- Picture the scene, he is surrounded

- The psalmist is outnumbered

c. v.3b - They are making war against him

- All of their war machinery focused on him

- No place to hide or escape

- Would you be shaking in your boots?

d. v.10 - Mother and Father have forsaken him

- He is alone

- No family to depend on

3. Title of Psalm says, "A Psalm of/to/concerning David"

a. Could be song David wrote, or one written to him, or

concerning him, depending on translation

b. Whatever the case, Psalms focuses attention on David

c. Did David have enemies? Yes

- Saul and his army pursued him everywhere

- Some refused to help David or hide him

- David spent a lot of time on the run

- David even lived among the Philistines for awhile

d. Can you imagine?

- Being driven from home, away from wife, kids?

- Always having to watch your back?

- Always having to hide?

4. This less worse, more worse, or no different than danger today?

a. Some of you in bad neighborhood, some face hostility at

home or overseas

b. Some of you been among people who hate you

c. Psalmist troubles probably worse that what many

Americans face today

C. ILL: A mother asked her son to get can of tomatoes from pantry

1. He protested, it was dark and scary

2. She assured him Jesus would be with him

3. He stood at door, said, "Jesus, if you are in there, could you

hand me the can of tomatoes?"

4. For us, it may not be fear of the dark that paralyzes us

a. May not even be fear of the bomb, or tornadoes

b. Could be fear of rejection because you are a Christian

c. Could be fear of mild persecution due to your faith

d. One of Satan's tools is intimidation

- May not be intimidation at end of the spear, or gun

- May be mild intimidation at the end of a finger,

singling you out as a misfit due to your faith

D. The psalm reminds us to take courage, do not be afraid

1. They look like they are stronger

2. But psalm reminds us enemies of God will ultimately fail

3. The ones who will stand in the end are his faithful ones

II. Seek the Lord (v.4-11)

A. Our courage comes ultimately from God, he is the strong one

B. What does it mean to seek the Lord?

1. (v.7) - Prayer

a. Here we see prayer with attitude of humility

- Psalmist not pray arrogantly

- Instead he asks God to be gracious to him

b. Psalmist humbly understands our help is from God

- God doesn't delight in horses or chariots

- God not delight in tanks, guns, missiles, planes

- God delights in a pure heart that seeks him

c. One way we seek God is praying to him

2. (v.11) Seeking the Lord's instruction

a. Psalmist didn't say, "Bless my plans O Lord"

- Psalmist says, teach me

- Psalmist says, lead me in a level path

- Psalmist is inquiring after the Lord's instruction

b. (v.4) - Psalmist wants to meditate

- Heb: baqar means to inquire, seek, consider

- Isn't just meditation, but seeking God's will

c. Fortunately we don't have to wonder what God wants

- We discover God's will in his word

- We see it exemplified in Jesus himself

d. Need to spend time prayerfully in the world

3. (v.8) Walk with God

a. My heart said, "I will seek your face"

b. Of course, this is metaphorical

c. Means to be acutely aware of God's presence in your life

- I say aware, because it is not as if God is not there

- Ps 139 says you cannot leave God's presence

d. What we are saying, is our heart draws close to God

- He is on our mind, we meditate on him, pray to him

- We fellowship with him reading the scriptures

- We become godly,

- He guides our thoughts and action

4. Becomes a huge problem when you don't do this

a. Many act in the name of God, and don't know him

b. They serve a caricature of God

- They use him for political ends

- They use him to become wealthy

- They use him to control others

- They have little to no understanding of him

c. They may call him other names

- Some call God a she, a mother

- Some call him Allah

- Some call him simply a higher being

- Some call him a force

d. Using God for self-centered purposes is nothing new

- Jn 6:15 - Jews wanted to force Jesus to be their king

- They not interested in submission

- This was more self centered interests

- When they discovered Jesus was not going to meet

their agenda, many left

C. ILL: Lincoln would ask a question when faced with an issue that

someone tried to settle with a twist of language, or an assertion of

power

1. Would ask - How many legs does a calf have? Four.

2. What if you called his tail a leg, how many legs? Still four

3. Calling his tail a leg does not make it a leg

4. Simple rule - Saying so does not make it so

a. Calling something else God does not make it God

b. If serve a caricature of God, you not serving God

c. If believe in a twisted version of God, you will be twisted

- That's why some kill heretics in name of God

- This is why some mutilate others in name of God

- This is why some declare war in God's name

- This is why some say do whatever is okay as long

as it doesn't hurt anyone

D. It is important to seek the Lord

1. By praying humbly, reading submissively, and walking with God

2. Most of all, by focusing on Jesus

a. Jesus is the Word become flesh

b. Jesus is God in the flesh

c. Jn 1:18 - Says Jesus has "interpreted" God

3. If we do this, it help avoid serving a caricature of God

a. Will avoid the Santa Claus God, or grandpa God, the God

of hate, the wishy-washy God, etc.

b. Always seek the Lord

III. Wait on the Lord (v.12-14)

A. God will come through, we need to persevere

B. The Psalmist believed God would come through

1. Wait for the Lord

a. Qawah - To wait, or look eagerly for

b. Idea is not passive waiting, but active hope

- This is the hope of Abraham who left Ur

- This is the hope of Moses who left Egypt

- Rahab who went from being Canaanite to Israelite

- David who hoped in Lord when driven from home

c. Waiting, looking eagerly for is realigning life to him

2. Psalmist believed he would see the goodness of the Lord

a. Do you believe it you will see goodness of the Lord?

b. Jesus had this conversation with Martha in Jn 11

- Jesus said your brother shall rise again

- She said, I believe he will on the last day

- Jesus meant NOW, not at the end of time

c. Psalmist says the same thing

- Believed he will see the goodness of the Lord in the

land of the living

- If he didn't believe this, he would be overcome by

despair

d. God is not good after we die, but good all the time!

3. God is not God of the dead but the living

a. Some Christians don't believe God will do anything

b. Some pray as though God will not act at all

c. Why pray if God not going to do anything

d. But God can and does

C. ILL: Can think of a couple of instances

1. Jeremy our miracle child

a. Jeremy was supposed to have been born with serious

defects, brain damage

b. We prayed, the church prayed

c. Jeremy was better, the doctor had no medical explanation

d. But we had a divine explanation - It was God

2. Uncle Mike and a large part of the family

a. Resistant to the Gospel

- Said he believed in God, believed in Jesus

- But didn't do anything about it

- No praying, no going to church, no worship

- He helped people, but not in name of Christ

b. Prayed for him and other members of family for years

- In cases like that, not sure what to pray for

- Wanted him to see his need for God

c. Then was diagnosed with cancer, given weeks to live

- Dad called, and Mike said he needed help

- He accepted Jesus by being baptized

- He didn't die, lived for another year and half

d. In the meantime, through him, many others baptized

- His son and family, a friend, a cousin

- Grandkids, and I lost count after awhile

3. Amazing what God does when we pray

a. My son who supposed to have brain damage is in college

b. Mike has gone on to be with the Lord

- Never thought we could say that

- He leaves behind many others who came to Lord

D. Our hope is bigger than health, our hope is in God

1. It means this world is not home

2. We live as aliens in a foreign world

3. As we travel to that home, Lord is with us always, even to the

end of the age.

Concl:

1. As cute as he may be, Christians are not p-p-p-Piglet

2. We don't' fear rejection, intimidation, ridicule

a. They did all that to our Lord

b. But Acts 2 says God did not abandon his soul to Hades

c. Mk 1:13 - Tempted by Satan with wild animals, and Angels ministered

to Jesus in his time of need. God did not abandon Jesus

d. God raised him from the dead

3. God will not abandon you either

a. He wants you to seek him today (inv)

b. Remember, seeking God is a lifetime endeavor

4. Where are you at this morning in seeking God?

a. Belief? Repentance? Confession? Baptism? Discipleship?

b. What do you still need to do?

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BULLETIN OUTLINE

Sermon: The Piglet Syndrome

Text: Ps 27 Scripture Reading: Mt 10:26-28

Intro: Into the fear in this life, Ps 27 has a message

I. Take Courage (v.1-3)

A. Some think this sentiment out of touch

B. Closer look at the dangers the Psalmist faced

1. v.2 - Evildoers came to devour my flesh

2. v.3 - A host has encamped against me

3. v.3b - They are making war against him

4. v.10 - Mother and Father have forsaken him

C. Not very different from today

II. Seek the Lord (v.4-11)

A. Our courage from God

B. What does it mean to seek the Lord?

1. (v.7) - Prayer

2. (v.11, 4) Seeking the Lord's instruction

3. (v.8) Walk with God

C. Huge problem when you don't do this

1. Many act in the name of God, and don't know him

2. They serve a caricature of God, Jn 6:15

D. Ultimately by focusing on Jesus, Jn 1:18

III. Wait on the Lord (v.12-14)

A. The Psalmist believed God would come through

1. Wait - not passive waiting, but active hope

2. Will see goodness of the Lord in the land of the living

B. God is not good after we die, but good all the time!

C. He is with us all the time

Concl: What do you need to do?

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Small Group Notes: The Piglet Syndrome

Open: (choose one)

- What sorts of things are you willing to wait a long time for?

- What are you afraid of?

Explore: (Psalm 27)

1. Describe the dangers the Psalmist faced and how he might have felt

2. Discuss the reasons the Psalmist took courage

3. What things affected the attitude of the Psalmist?

4. Discuss what it means to seek the face of the Lord? How would one know if he or she is seeking the face of the Lord?

5. Describe the concluding attitude of the Psalmist and what led him there.

Apply:

6. What sorts of things threaten or challenge your faith in the Lord?

7. What are some ways you can strengthen your courage and faith?

8. How can you use insights from this Psalm to strengthen and encourage yourself or others?

Prayer