Saturday, April 08, 2006
March 26, 2006--Trapped in the Elevator Blues
Note: This post is taken from loose outline notes of the actual sermon. Actual live sermon may have differed. This is not an exact transcript. No video of sermon available. Sorry!
Text: Hebrews 11:1-6
Last week, I was away from church. Actually I was home in bed, having just gotten home at 5am from Detroit Michigan. I attended an event with my two cousins and their friend. It was Big Time Wrestling. Forgive me, Lord, it is one of my vices. Well, anyway, I drove up last Saturday morning to Columbus, to meet David and Darren, and then we drove to Detroit, Michigan. Oh my, what a long trip. We had a good time, though, even though at the state line, Darren's friend lost his hat at Arby's, so we did have a casualty. Maybe that was foreboding of what was to come.
Anyway, we attended the event in a broken down arena in Detroit, Cobo Arena. It makes my old Cincy Gardens look like the Ritz. Well, it was a good time. Got to hang with my cuzzes and we had a good time rooting on the good guys and cheering the bad.
Well, anyway, we left the arena, and we went to the parking garage. We were on the fifth floor, so we were gonna take the elevator up to the fifth from the first. With my bad knee, it would have taken a long time. Well, we got into the elevator and we were immediately shoved into the back. It was obvious to us all the weight limit was reached, but 15 people outside couldn't wait so they shoved in. "There's more room in there." We tried to tell them it wasn't about the room, but about the weight. They, of course, knew better. Well, the elevator got stuck. Yep, it went up briefly, then went down and got stuck in the shaft, in between the first floor and the bottom of the shaft. The doors didn't open.
Now, of course, one could get angry at the people who pushed in...and I was. However, this did not last. My emotions ran the gamut. Anger at the fools who didn't listen. Aggravation at their stupid jokes, which quickly turned into one girl just constantly repeating "this is bad." To fear, how much air we have in here anyway? to, loathing-Lord, I hate the people outside.
Of course, was any of this healthy? No. Was it productive? No. All it did was raise my bloodpressure. I noticed on this elevator there were a few different kinds of people. There were the doubters--it is no big deal, this can't be happening. How many do we know who want to live in complete denial of their situations and in complete denial of God? Lots. Then, there are the doomsayers. These are the ones who seriously think we are going to die in the elevator. There were quite a few of them. They began yelling and screaming and talked of beating down the window to the outside. These folks refuse to see God in anything, and view life as a constant downturn. Then, there are the complainers. These were the folks yelling about how cramped or how hot. They did little to aid the situation, they just exasperated it. There are many out there like them. Then, there are the callers. One person was able to reach their cell phone and dialed 911. There was a firestation 2 blocks down the street, so we should be out in no time. Well, 1 hour later...we finally get out.
These wwas another group of people--those who realized there was no control, and simply said wait it out. These are the Christians of the group. You see, life at times is like getting stuck in an elevator. We realize we are not in control. We realize that no matter what, some times accidents and other things happen. Rather than needlessly rail against things we can't control, we need to learn to deal with them, and to call upon someone who could help us. The complainers who screamed for someone outside to help us, they were engaging in futility. However, the person who called 911? Smart. He called someone who could help. However, our 911 needs to be God, Christ. We cannot expect earthly salvation to always work. Quite simply, we are finite and tiny, and the world is so big and chaotic. Things happen. We are not in control. HOwever, we need to take comfort in the fact that God is in control. Pray and have faith. Once the call was placed to 911, I had no doubt we would get out safe. However, after an hour, that faith was shaken, but it was solid. Likewise, our faith can be shaken, but it needs to remain steadfast. After all, we are stuck here anyway, least we can do is not sweat the stuff.
When things go out of control, as most things are, we need to bring our faith in. Faith is the key. Faith is what gets us through the heartache and physical ache of many things in our lives. Without faith in God, we are helpless. Even small faith, like mine, that getting trapped on the first floor is not a death sentence, can move mountains. I stayed calm, even though I was angry. Why? Because I knew that getting crazy or what have you would be futile. I was not in control. therefore, I gave control and ownership of the issue to God. I laid it at his altar. I did also lay my sin burdens as well, just in case. That helped me to remain calm, even if uncomfortable. So, when we get stuck on the elevators of life, make the call to the Godly 911, then don't worry. The prayer/call will be answered. And it will be at just the right time.
Text: Hebrews 11:1-6
Last week, I was away from church. Actually I was home in bed, having just gotten home at 5am from Detroit Michigan. I attended an event with my two cousins and their friend. It was Big Time Wrestling. Forgive me, Lord, it is one of my vices. Well, anyway, I drove up last Saturday morning to Columbus, to meet David and Darren, and then we drove to Detroit, Michigan. Oh my, what a long trip. We had a good time, though, even though at the state line, Darren's friend lost his hat at Arby's, so we did have a casualty. Maybe that was foreboding of what was to come.
Anyway, we attended the event in a broken down arena in Detroit, Cobo Arena. It makes my old Cincy Gardens look like the Ritz. Well, it was a good time. Got to hang with my cuzzes and we had a good time rooting on the good guys and cheering the bad.
Well, anyway, we left the arena, and we went to the parking garage. We were on the fifth floor, so we were gonna take the elevator up to the fifth from the first. With my bad knee, it would have taken a long time. Well, we got into the elevator and we were immediately shoved into the back. It was obvious to us all the weight limit was reached, but 15 people outside couldn't wait so they shoved in. "There's more room in there." We tried to tell them it wasn't about the room, but about the weight. They, of course, knew better. Well, the elevator got stuck. Yep, it went up briefly, then went down and got stuck in the shaft, in between the first floor and the bottom of the shaft. The doors didn't open.
Now, of course, one could get angry at the people who pushed in...and I was. However, this did not last. My emotions ran the gamut. Anger at the fools who didn't listen. Aggravation at their stupid jokes, which quickly turned into one girl just constantly repeating "this is bad." To fear, how much air we have in here anyway? to, loathing-Lord, I hate the people outside.
Of course, was any of this healthy? No. Was it productive? No. All it did was raise my bloodpressure. I noticed on this elevator there were a few different kinds of people. There were the doubters--it is no big deal, this can't be happening. How many do we know who want to live in complete denial of their situations and in complete denial of God? Lots. Then, there are the doomsayers. These are the ones who seriously think we are going to die in the elevator. There were quite a few of them. They began yelling and screaming and talked of beating down the window to the outside. These folks refuse to see God in anything, and view life as a constant downturn. Then, there are the complainers. These were the folks yelling about how cramped or how hot. They did little to aid the situation, they just exasperated it. There are many out there like them. Then, there are the callers. One person was able to reach their cell phone and dialed 911. There was a firestation 2 blocks down the street, so we should be out in no time. Well, 1 hour later...we finally get out.
These wwas another group of people--those who realized there was no control, and simply said wait it out. These are the Christians of the group. You see, life at times is like getting stuck in an elevator. We realize we are not in control. We realize that no matter what, some times accidents and other things happen. Rather than needlessly rail against things we can't control, we need to learn to deal with them, and to call upon someone who could help us. The complainers who screamed for someone outside to help us, they were engaging in futility. However, the person who called 911? Smart. He called someone who could help. However, our 911 needs to be God, Christ. We cannot expect earthly salvation to always work. Quite simply, we are finite and tiny, and the world is so big and chaotic. Things happen. We are not in control. HOwever, we need to take comfort in the fact that God is in control. Pray and have faith. Once the call was placed to 911, I had no doubt we would get out safe. However, after an hour, that faith was shaken, but it was solid. Likewise, our faith can be shaken, but it needs to remain steadfast. After all, we are stuck here anyway, least we can do is not sweat the stuff.
When things go out of control, as most things are, we need to bring our faith in. Faith is the key. Faith is what gets us through the heartache and physical ache of many things in our lives. Without faith in God, we are helpless. Even small faith, like mine, that getting trapped on the first floor is not a death sentence, can move mountains. I stayed calm, even though I was angry. Why? Because I knew that getting crazy or what have you would be futile. I was not in control. therefore, I gave control and ownership of the issue to God. I laid it at his altar. I did also lay my sin burdens as well, just in case. That helped me to remain calm, even if uncomfortable. So, when we get stuck on the elevators of life, make the call to the Godly 911, then don't worry. The prayer/call will be answered. And it will be at just the right time.
# posted by Mark : 1:05 PM
