Good morning,
Welcome to Eureka Presbyterian Church and thank you for coming.
Today’s message titled “Letting Go” is based on1 Corinthians 10 vs 1-13.
A man slips and falls off the edge of a cliff. On the way down he manages to grab onto the tree growing from the cliff. He is hanging there 200 ft from the top and 1000 feet from the bottom. His situation seems hopeless. So he looks up to the sky and decides for first time to pray then he yells: “is anybody up there?”.
After a long silence a deep voice bellows from above “Do you believe?” “Yes” the man replies.
“Then let go of the tree” says to voice.
The man pauses for a second, looks up again and finally responds: “Is anybody else up there?”
“Letting Go” can be particularly challenging, when you have no idea where you are going, when the course is uncertain, when the outcome is not clear.
On October 23d 1983, I stepped aboard on an airplane headed for America. It was a bit unnerving, flying to a foreign land not knowing what to expect on the other side.
I had to “Let Go” of the comforts of home, back in Holland. I remember there was a layover in London, but flight from AMS was delayed, and missed my connection, had to be rescheduled through Minneapolis, then to Seattle then Portland.
I stopped stressing out about it, “Let Go” of my anxiety, and surrendered to whatever was meant to happen. Eventually I arrived in Portland, and the rest is history.
When I came to Arcata in 1984, the company was still called Sun Valley Bulb Farms.
The largest crop in those days were Daffodils. Millions of daffodil flowers were picked from December through February. In June and July many school kids in Arcata spend their summer vacation picking up daffodil bulbs.
Then 11 years later in 1995 we grew our last crop of Daffodils. We “Let Go” of a long tradition of Daffodil growing for Sun Valley, but also nearly 100 years of rich Daffodil history in Humboldt County.
“Letting Go” is the theme of the song we heard earlier by Louis Armstrong titled: “Let my people go”.
These were the words the Lord instructed Moses to convey to Pharaoh, to “Let Go” of the Israelites after 430 years of captivity in Egypt.
Eventually, Pharaoh did let them go. The Israelites went through the Red Sea.
But once in the dessert disbelief and distrust set in.
In Exodus 17: 3 they complained to Moses and said: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst.
Even though they had been subjugated by their Egyptian oppressors, the Israelites knew what they had in Egypt. But now they are in the wilderness, not knowing what the next day would bring, depending on the Lord to provide food and water.
They become restless, lose confidence, lose faith, and it leads to complaining and moaning, and they get into rebellion, like building a golden calf and worshipping it, and some men started messing around with women of local tribes and worshipping their gods.
Paul uses this historical context, while writing a letter to the Corinthians.
He warns the folks in Corinth of their wicked ways, by giving them a history lesson.
This brings us to today’s reading of 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, on page………..
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate, the same spiritual food, 4and all drank, the same spiritual drink.
For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
6Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.”
8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.
10And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11These things happened to them, to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12So if you think you are standing, watch out, that you do not fall.
13No testing has overtaken you, that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not, let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out, so that you may be able to endure it…………..
Please bow our heads. Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find wisdom, and in your will, discover your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Greek city of Corinth is located on a peninsula,
with Ionian Sea on one side and the Aegean Sea on the other. At the narrowest spot it is only 3 miles wide.
In 1882 a canal was built across,
saving ships the long (400+ mile) treacherous journey around the southern point, referred to as Cape Matapan.
But in Paul’s day, there was no canal, and goods would be offloaded in Corinth, and taken across the land. The port of Corinth developed into a bustling seaport, an intersection between East and West.
This meant a town full of sailors, looking for a good time. It became a magnet of drunkenness and prostitution. In ancient days, if someone was characterized as a Corinthian, it would imply a licentious and unrestrained lifestyle.
It was in that setting, where Paul arrived with the “Good News Message” of Jesus Christ. Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, establishing a church.
Three years later on his “3d Missionary Journey” Paul is now in Ephesus, when he receives several disturbing reports of things happening within the church in Corinth.
He is so distressed by all this; that he sits down and starts writing one of the longest letters, he ever wrote, to those believers in Corinth.
The letter lays out a blueprint, for the Corinthians to live a virtuous life. But in order to make his point he inserts a historical perspective in Chapter 10, by reminding them of what happened to the Israelites in the wilderness, 1500 years earlier.
In verse 8 Paul writes: We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 23.000 fell in a single day.
The historical context of this, is found in Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods.
In verse 9, Paul writes we must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. He is referring to Numbers 21:4
The people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord, sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
These passages in the Book of Numbers (OT) sure seem very challenging. But it is even more mind boggling to find this in one of Paul’s letters.
This is the same Paul who writes about “Love” in 1Corinthians 13, and about salvation for all, Jew and gentile alike.
So where is Paul coming from? Why is he bringing this up??………..
Here is where “Letting Go” comes into the picture……
In the final analysis, the Israelites were not letting go, they were not putting their trust in the Lord, and instead they were complaining and moaning and full disbelief and distrust.
If they would have “Let Go” and trust in the Lord, they wouldn’t have had to spend 40 years in the wilderness in the first place.
The Israelites had seen the powerful hand of God during the plagues and miracles of the Exodus.
Yet, like many people, they walked by sight and not by faith, and God was displeased with their unbelief.
The bible says in Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith it is impossible to please God”. Paul reminds those folks in Corinth to “Let Go” of their sinful ways and believe.
Marc and Angel Chernoff, in their bestseller book “Getting back to Happy” tell the story of a psychology professor raising a glass of water asking: “How heavy is this glass of water I’m holding?”
Students shouted out answers ranging from eight ounces to a couple pounds.
She replied: the absolute weight of this glass doesn’t matter. It all depends on how long I hold it.
Hold on for a minute or two, it’s fairly light. Hold it for an hour, its weight will make your arm ache a bit.
Hold it for a whole day, your arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed.
In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer you hold it, the heavier it feels.
“Our stresses and worries in life are very much like this glass of water.
Thinking about them for a short while, not much happens. Yet the longer you think about it the more it begins to ache.
If stress and worries consume your life, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed – incapable of doing anything else, until you “Let… Go…”
Years ago, someone handed me a book to read titled God’s Smugler.
He said it is a fascinating story about a Dutch guy called Andrew, and since you are from Holland you may find it interesting.
Come to find out that Andrew grew up in a town, no further than 20 miles where I was born and raised. He spent his childhood during the second World War.
As a youngster described himself as a rebellious adolescent.
At age 18 he enlisted in the Dutch Marines Corps and fought in the independence war of Dutch East Indies (Present day Indonesia).
The scene in Indonesia was horrific, he tells of killing villagers and children, and while not on patrol, lots of drinking.
He eventually got injured, when a bullet shatters his ankle. He ended up in a hospital in Indonesia run by Franciscan nurses.
He was amazed about the joy those nurses exhibited, and how cheerful they were, despite a heavy workload. It was the type of joy that he was missing.
At one point he asks Patricia, one of those nurses, why are you so happy and full of joy? With a sparkle in her eye she answered, you know……it is the love of God.
She told Andrew, you have to “Let Go”, you are so troubled by your past, that you resort to drinking and rebellion.
Then she told a story of how monkeys are caught in the jungle. The villagers take a coconut on a rope; drill a hole on one side just large enough for the monkey’s paw to slip through.
They put a pebble inside the coconut. The monkey will try to get the pebble out, it will rattle but he can’t get it out and the monkey will not “Let Go”.
Andrew endured a period of severe emotional distress; he was overcome with guilt of the atrocities of 2 years in Indonesia.
He lived a lifestyle that included drunkenness and immorality not unlike those folks in Corinth.
He returned to Holland and spent time in a VA hospital for a long rehabilitation from his injuries. One day all patients were invited to a tent meeting in a nearby town.
A fellow patient had snuck out and bought some liquor. By the time they made it to the tent meeting, both were drunk. The preacher was not amused with these two guys in the back, making a ruckus.
As the tent meeting concludes, the closing song is: Let my People Go.
On the way back on the bus, and while laying in bed, that song kept playing in his head.
Years earlier before going to Indonesia, his mother had given him a bible, but all that time, he never once picked it up.
He kept it at his nightstand in memory of his mother. But as he was laying there in the hospital bed, and that song kept playing in his head, he reached out and started reading.
From that moment forward he read the bible, and within months stopped drinking. The fire within had ignited. The bible stories he had heard as a child, that didn’t make any sense to him then, now became real.
Once back home, one night, he was laying in bed while a huge storm with strong winds was howling around the house.
In the wind he heard the voice of Sister Patricia telling the story of the Monkey not “Letting Go”, he heard the singing, “Let my People Go” “Let it Go”, give yourself to God.
He said a simple prayer: Lord, if you show me the way, I will follow you.
From that moment forward his life changed forever.
That night he gave his live to Christ. He “Let Go” and surrendered and put his trust in the Lord.
The book is a truly remarkable and fascinating story of Andrew smuggling bibles into countries behind the Iron Curtain during the “Cold War”.
Andrew passed away last year at age 94, and his ministry continues today, and is known as Open Doors International, supporting persecuted Christians in over 70 countries…….
In this season of Lent, “Let Go” of the past, no matter what the past may have been.
Ask Jesus to cleanse us of our sins.
Let go of adverse experiences,
Let go of negative thoughts that hold us back,
Let go of bad habits,
Let go, and put your trust in the Lord,
Repent of our sins, give ourselves to Christ, and accept him as Lord and savior.
He will lead us on the narrow road to the Kingdom of Heaven
Thank you,
God Bless you, Amen
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