Cliff Loesch October 21, 2007 Psalm 121 My Help Comes from the Lord Jennifer called me about 8:30 a.m. Friday morning to say there was a guy in the office asking for a ride to a Lutheran church. She wondered if I could come down to visit with him. I immediately thought of the last time she called when someone was there in the office. That time I was home for lunch when she called and there was a guy there that she said she had referred to Love, INC and other agencies but he wouldn't leave. Without going into all the details, that situation was a little different than most-a little unsettling. And we, frankly, suspect that guy for some thefts that we had in the building not so long after that encounter (and he's the reason our doors are now locked most of the time). So I thought of that situation when Jennifer called on Friday and I asked her, "He's sitting there in the office?" And she said yes. So I got there pretty fast (in the van) ready to possibly give this guy a ride to a Lutheran church. In the office I found a very tall, friendly man who told me he had recently re-dedicated his life to the Lord through Chuck Colson's ministry. He said he wants to reconcile with his wife in Dodge City, so he's been hitchhiking from Talequah, Oklahoma. He said that he grew up in a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church and he's certain that they will help him on his quest. Now I have to say that hearing stories of salvation in combination with a request for cash is pretty common. And I sometimes wonder if people who come by asking for help realize how many stories most pastors have listened to. And I wonder if they realize how skeptical of stories so many of us have become. But there was something a little different about this guy. For one thing he never asked for anything from us except a ride. He said a police officer had told him about a big Lutheran church on highway 54 in Goddard. I was willing to take him there but I couldn't remember a Lutheran church on 54 in Goddard. Jennifer and I looked in the phone book and were unable to find one. But Ascension Lutheran on North Tyler was listed as a Missouri Synod church and I offered to take him there. On the way we talked more. Raised Lutheran in Indiana; recruited to Texas for basketball at Abilene Christian College; taught PE and history in Dallas and Tyler for quite a few years; angered by racism; got off the track and into trouble and then prison. And now, starting over. His wife, who he met in college, lives in Dodge City (her home town). They're separated but not divorced. She won't take him back until she can see some change. So he's headed to Dodge City. And there's no doubt in his mind that if he can get to a Missouri Synod Lutheran Church that they will help him with the next phase of his journey, and there's no doubt in his mind that if he can make it to Dodge City that he will be able to show his wife that he is a changed man and that he will win her back. I didn't tell him what was in the back of my mind. But the chances of a random Lutheran church helping him-I didn't think-were all that great. Likely they would tell him that they don't keep money laying around the office, or maybe they could give him a little food but that's about it, or maybe they would refer him to the Salvation Army or some other group. But he seemed so certain. I didn't want to burst his bubble. Sometimes the longer you listen to someone's story the less authentic it sounds. But this guy was just the opposite. The more I listened the more authentic it sounded. And though you start with a natural wariness-I began to feel more at ease with this guy. I dropped him off at a Lutheran church as he requested. And as I was driving back I thought to myself that this guy seems to have a lot of faith: his certainty that a church of a particular denomination will listen to his story and give him some help; his confidence that he can reconcile with his wife. And I thought to myself, you know, this guy just might be able to find the help that he needs. With that much confidence and faith-I'll bet he will do it. And I tried to think of the obstacles to faith that he will encounter. On Thursday night, he told me, he slept outdoors over by Metropolitan Baptist Church. I thought of my own night's sleep-snuggled under layers of wool and flannel and Polartec. And I wondered how hard it would be to have faith while you're sleeping outdoors on a cold night. But despite the obstacles he had made it from Talequah to Wichita. And I have no doubt that he'll make it on out to Dodge City. And you know I'll bet he will find a job and reconcile with his wife and start rebuilding his life. When you have a certain kind of focus and so much confidence and faith-it seems like just about anything is possible. No matter what the obstacles. I think one way of looking at the Psalms is to say that they express some of our deepest desires and hopes and longings. We constantly face questions in life: Where can we find help? What can we depend on? Psalm 121 says, "I lift up my eyes to the hills." And of course hills are inspiring. There is something uplifting about them. Yet as grand as the hills might be we realize our help does not come from them directly. Nor does our help come from numerous other places we might look. And of course we can have faith in ourselves. But most of us realize that sooner or later we come to the end of our own confidence and strength and ability. We really do need some outside help. It appears that we were designed to be interconnected-even dependent to a degree. And Psalm 121 asks, "from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord." The psalm goes on to note that God's concern is constant: God will not slumber nor sleep. Also, God will keep you from evil and will remove some of the barriers. Maybe not all of them. Obstacles seem to be part of the life of faith. But the prayer of Psalm 121-and the hope-is for smooth sailing ahead. We can all relate to that prayer and that hope. And the reality is that as we put our faith in God who knows what barriers and obstacles are cast aside simply through faith. Now thinking back to the guy on a mission to get to Dodge City: I mentioned that I thought he seemed to have a lot of faith. Did he have faith in himself-in his own ability to discover a way to make the journey? Or did he have faith in God-that God would show him the way and bring him in contact with all the right people? I can't really answer that question since I cannot see into his heart. He did talk about his renewed relationship with God. But being a Christian does not necessarily mean you live a life filled with faith. And I think that's what struck me about this guy. I saw some contrast between him and me. He was confident things were going to work out despite a few little obstacles. I didn't really doubt that he'll make it to Dodge City. But I could sure think of a lot of difficulties and found myself a little skeptical about his feeling that he could find help easily. And it made me think about faith. What do we mean when we say with Psalm 121, "My help comes from the Lord?" And what does it mean to have faith in God? Faith is not just positive thinking and faith is not just a can-do attitude. But if we put our faith in God can it really be faith without those things? Though a positive outlook is not always easy to come by, how can faith be faith without seeking a positive view of things? And how can faith be faith without that can-do attitude that says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me?" We must realize that faith is not a guarantee for a particular outcome. Having faith does not mean we can manage God or manipulate others to bring about the exact result we want. But faith helps us through the obstacle course of life much better. Faith, simply, makes the obstacles seem smaller and the possibilities seem greater. And faith helps us envision new opportunities we never imagined before. And sometimes faith delivers the exact answers we were hoping for. But all the time faith helps us realize that God is near and that God is our source. Indeed, our help comes from the Lord. |