S67E4 | Raising the Flag | Responsibility | Rev. Nick Korir

Are you feeling cold this morning? Wow, wow, it's a cold morning but I really want to thank you for making it and being here in this very cold morning. Around three years ago or four years ago we committed as a church that we are going to go through the whole Bible and we began with the New Testament and we went through the New Testament from the pulpit and in our readings and then after completing the New Testament we are now on the Old Testament and from this month we've been looking and for the next three months we'll be looking at the book of Psalms and we began with raising the flag. The series that Reverend Nick began us through one month just at the beginning of this month and he looked at as we are looking at raising the flag identity and then he looked at our reality. Last week Pastor Andrew took us through again our reality and today we continue and today we'll be closing this series on raising the flag and we want to look at our responsibility as Kenyans in this season and our posture, our focus as we go into this election. We don't want to approach this election from a place of fear, anxiety and uncertainty but from a place of hope and courage. God is seated on the throne. He will reward the righteous and he will judge the wicked and believers should never be afraid. Last week as Pastor Andrew took us through Psalms 27 verses 1 and reminds us again that the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The Lord is a stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid. So we do not want to approach this election or elections casually. Instead our approach will be guided by prayer, God's counsel and wisdom as we exercise our civic duty. In Psalm chapter 37 verses 1 to 7 David is speaking to the righteous so that they focus on the Lord. He's telling them that they should not worry about evil or the wicked and what they should do. So today our passage is Psalms 37. It is a huge chapter with around 40 verses and I realize that to be able to do justice I will focus my attention from verses 1 to verses 7. So if you can turn with me let us read Psalms 37 verses 1 to 7. We'll be reading from the NIV version and this is what it says, do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong for like grass they will soon wither like green plants they will soon die away trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart commit your way to the Lord trust in him and he will do this he will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn your vindication like the noon day son be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him do not fret when people succeed in their ways when they carry out their wicked schemes let us just pose and pray heavenly Father we thank you for your word because your word strengthens us encourages us cancels us as we delve into the psalm Lord may you teach us and instructors as I decrease and you increase in Jesus name amen amen when the psalmist speaks about what will happen to both the wicked and also what will happen to the righteous as he speaks as he speaks through this passage in chapter 37 there are 17 phrases where he mentions the destruction of the wicked and they are around 47 times when he speaks about the rewards and the blessings that will benefit those who are righteous and so because it's a huge passage as I said we will focus on verses one to verses seven and he is speaking primarily to encourage those who are righteous and I believe that this passage of speak of scripture is speaking to encourage us who are believers especially in this season and in this period and David begins by saying and this is my first point that faith in God fixes worry that when we put our faith in God we do not need to worry and David says do not fret because of those who are evil God knows that we are prone to be anxious in fact in the scriptures there are 365 times in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that address this concern of fear and God says do not fear it is easy to look at our nation as it gets into this election cycle because as Kenya goes through every any election cycle there is a lot of anxiety and there's a lot of fear about what will happen and people can easily become anxious but let me ask as a question I don't know by the way these are by the way how many parliamentary elections has have been held in Kenya since Kenya became a protectorate around 1920 do you know how many elections have been held do you know and please don't Google anyone who knows any historians in the house who knows how many elections have been held in this country would you know it is actually 24 since the British colonial rule we have had 24 elections parliamentary and this one will be the 25th one the first election was held in 1920 and 11 elections have been held since we became independent as a country 11 so we are going into our 12th election but let me ask you another question how many presidential elections have been held in this country maybe talk talk to your neighbor do you know how many presidential elections have been held in this country and let me give you a hint it is since independence because before independence we had governors who ruled on behalf of either his majesty or her majesty the king or queen respectively you know how many ten ten that's close but not quite right you are now you're guessing how many not ten not eleven actually 13 we've had 13 presidential elections but then the question is how come they've been more presidential elections sorry in a lot in election how come they've been they've been 13 cycles of presidential elections than parliamentary elections which are 11 do you know why historians do you know why it's because in 1978 when the first president of this country Joe McKinnon died there was an election that year but why the election wasn't held is because president moey was elected it was unopposed so there was no need for an election that is one and then the second one you know it was the repeat election in 2017 that was just a bit of history the elections and primarily the presidential ones seem to hold us captive people seem to have a lot of stick in presidential elections and the level of anxiety in these elections cause a lot of concerns I just recently got a message from one from from a friend who lives in one of our informal settlements and they're saying that they're considering to move out of that settlement and the reason is attention has begun to rise and that's our reality it may not be our reality here as as members of a congregation possibly because of where you live but there are people around us in informal settlements and in other hotspots that are getting very very concerned because of the tension that there is and also the times that we are living in they don't help either we are living in a time when we are seeing so much inflation we are seeing a sort of global financial meltdown and many people in this season are highly strong you can see it in the streets as people walk around you can see it as people drive people are highly strong and as somebody said correctly that also possibly toxic workplaces troubled relationships abuse or simply life events not turning out as expected there are issues that can cause you to feel as though you're losing control and that is our reality but the Bible reminds us that we are not actually in control God is in control when we have free will to choose what we please God is the one that makes the ultimate choice that whatever you experience is part of God's plan for you and it's the psalmist writes and he says this in psalms 55 22 and possibly speaking to encourage us that cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you he will never allow the righteous to be shaken Jesus speaking in Matthew 6 25 our Jesus not to worry because worry is a reflection of our lack of faith in God when David says do not fret because of evil men he gives a reason and the reason is that he knows his God and that he knows his God is a judge and he knows that it's evil men who cause sometimes some of the tensions that we have the people who manipulate situations and cause so much concern and chaos David knows what will happen to them they will be judged they will not last whatever they do is seasonal and not permanent therefore you should not lose sleep over them you should not be overly anxious Proverbs 24 19 to 20 says do not fret because of evoduva's or M or be envious of the wicked for the evil doer has no future hope and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out David correctly says and puts it that we have a judge in heaven who is watching over every activity on earth and will hold men to account instead of worrying what should we do and this leads us to my second point and my second point is dependence on God will result in good deeds David says trust in the Lord and do good trust in the Lord and do good for those of you who fly maybe you fly from one part of this country to another maybe possibly want to fly to Mombasa or you want to fly out of the country to a certain destination few of us after we have booked our flight and rushed to the airport checked in and boarded the plane known none of us asks who is the pilot how many hours has he flown this plane does he have a license nobody asks you just go in and you sit and very comfortably expecting that this plane is going to take up because there's a pilot but in case you get into our plane and you get a voice coming over the air saying hello this is second officer come out you're wrong and with me is also second officer what do I do go to our dog earlier I don't know the name and by the way this is my first flight I have not flown before I just got my license last month and I am looking forward to fly with you to Amsterdam I can assure you I can assure you the obvious stampede for the door and you'll be saying no I want to get out I want to get out I do not want an office pilot to experiment his flight with you would you what you want is that you want an experienced pilot who will be able to fly you and I think that's our situation when it comes to matters of trust trust means to firmly believe in the honesty and truthfulness of another one can trust God one cannot trust God and worry at the same time just as we trust pilots to fly us without requiring to see the pilot's license and to find out how many hours he or she has flown I think it's the same thing we have a God who we can put our trust in he has piloted this universe for millions or thousands or millions of years without any issue and we can put our trust and our confidence in you as stories told that in the second world war the Germans were bombing London and so what people had to do is that they had to go underground into the train stations even as the bombs were going on overhead and it was noted that one old Christian woman seemed to stand pretty well under the strain and somebody asked her how she managed to keep calm day after day in spite of the danger that they all faced and she replied and she said every night I pray and I tend to worry about what the enemy is going to do during the night but then I remember what my pastor says that God is always watching and so I go to sleep after all there is no use for two of us to stay awake the Bible says and this is true that he will not let your foot slip he who watches over you will not slumber according to Psalms 1 21 verses 3 trusting in God will make us not fear how does trusting in God and doing good go hand in hand trusting in God means total belief that he is reliable that he is true that he is able to rescue and save and this is a choice that we make we choose to believe in him and he's in his person as the Almighty victorious God when we make this choice it will influence our actions as we obey in Acts 10 verses 38 it speaks about Jesus and it says how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him this doing good is not from us it is as a result of the Holy Spirit operating within and influencing our actions towards others just as Paul writes about the fruit of the Spirit which is love joy peace for parents kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control and it says against this there is no law when we trust in God we will do good because he will enable us and how doing good is so needed at this point and at this time we're going about to get into an election we do not know what will happen beyond the election we don't know but because we trust in God we know that whatever results after that election if they scales we will stand and we will do what is right at this time we would do what we can even to help the weak because when we trust in God we do good number three and this is what the psalmist is saying enjoy God and he will align your heart he says delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart because when we enjoy God something begins to change in us one of the challenges we face individually is alignment to God and to his will when David says delight yourself in God as a man after God's own heart he is referring to choosing to enjoy God's presence wanting to be with him in prayer and in our thoughts that you're placing him right at the center of everything that you do that's spending time with him in prayer as we have been doing because we've been taking time in the season to fast and to pray for 40 days so spending time to him with him in prayer and in the word for us is a joy that's what it means that you can delight in him it calls us to shift our attention and admiration towards him it is about admiration it is about intimacy it is about gratitude somebody say that the word delight is a verb it is an action of taking great pleasure in God to please him taking great pleasure in God to please him that every time you're thinking how can I do something that will please him I am reminded of a relative of mine I recently lost an elder cousin a much older cousin I got to know him possibly when he used to come home he used to come he lived quite far my ancestral roots are way back possibly one and a half hours from here a place called man who is in Gatondo North that's where my grandfather a man by the name of Khabibi came from and so this cousin came from then used to come to Nairobi as a young man possibly just finished school maybe around 2021 and he would live with us as he looked for a job he was a tall guy but extremely loving so because my older siblings used to go to school and I used to stay at home he would stay with me and what he would do is that he would do tricks he would take some those some certain fruit I can't remember what it is called in English but in my German language it is called dog I don't know how many of you know that and then what he would do with this it is like a marble he would throw it up in the air and then he would show me and all of a sudden he does something and he does his hands and it is not there then he does this and he removes it from his armpits then the next thing he throws it up and then he he does this and I can't see the next thing it's coming out of his nose and I'm wondering my goodness this guy then the next thing he holds me and says David let's go for a walk and he was such you know a sanguine nature such a happy guy and we would take walks and he would walk with me I lived in we lived in the router and so we walk around he would go he would buy me sweets and walk up and down and we come back and he plays with me and he swings me and he throws me up and down and I loved this guy when he got a job and had to leave working with us I really missed him completely totally but what I knew about this gentleman is what he made me feel he made me feel loved he made me feel special I was only four years old but he took the time and we develop such a great relationship and such a love that even he has to come whenever he would come home when we were young even when we were teenagers when he knocks on the door he walks in me and my siblings just rush to him and hug him and jump on him because he was so special to us we delighted in him as he delighted in us he did good things for us and he loved us and I think delighting in the Lord is having that relationship where you can enjoy his presence because you know what he also takes pleasure in us and enjoys us the Westminster Catechism, the Chatechism sums it up very well it says the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever delighted in God requires me to get to know him well he is immortal invisible and beyond full comprehension with my human finite mind but he is knowable and he wants to be known and Jeremiah 9 24 says that let the one who boasts about this that they have the understanding to know me that I am the Lord who exercises kindness justice and righteousness on earth for in this I delight declares the Lord in Jeremiah 9 24 when we delight in the Lord he gives us our hearts desires in biblical language the heart is the core of the human spirit from which spring emotions thoughts motivations courage and action when we delight in God he transforms our desires to conform to his desires David was right and as a man after God's own heart he led the nation with integrity because his desires were God's desires he was sensitive to God's heart for justice and fairness he kept his promises even as king and that's why we see him recognizing and honoring mephibosheth in keeping with the covenant that he had made with Jonathan in his reign in the reign of David worship was institutionalized in the nation of Israel because as a man after God's own heart he knew the centrality of worship in the nation of Israel and he was a true worshiper and so we can see and we can learn from David what it means to delight in the Lord it means to be in his presence all the time that we can worship him even when you are known that we can delight in him because when we delight in the Lord there's something that shifts in us even in this season when there's so much anxiety around us that we can delight in him because our hearts will be transformed number four committing our plans and issues to God is not in vain to commit our ways to God literally means bringing to God all our issues our cares our concerns and bringing them to before God in prayer it means to unburden and entrust our matters that disturb us possibly causing us no sleep it means that we are bringing to God our successes our failures our plans and questions that we have even currently that we can actually unburden all our issues even our current issues before God in prayer even as we ponder about the next elections the global crisis personal issues that we can bring them before the Lord in prayer that commitment and trust does not come without reward because God is faithful and he will do it but what is it that he is going to do according to that passage when we commit our way to the Lord and trust him transformation will happen and we will grow in our faith and because God is faithful he will bring forth our righteousness that's what it says in Psalms 37 verses 6 when our way is committed to him he shapes us and he grows us in his righteousness so that we start changing and transforming to become more and more like him and Paul explained this many years after the psalmist even as he says what happens is that when we have the spirit in us we will then exercise the fruits of the spirit he says the same in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 where he speaks about that I appeal to you therefore brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to present yourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God and he says that do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your faith that you may prove the will of G