WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:09.439 This podcast is brought to you by Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley, D.C., in the hope that it will draw you closer to the one who loves you most. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:39.280 On January the 15th, 2009, Chesley, known by his nickname of Sully Sullenberg and his first officer, Jeffrey Sciles, hit a flock of Canada geese shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:49.200 Both engines in their A320 lost power, and the plane began to glide very quickly toward the ground. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:58.960 LaGuardia cleared a runway for them, but Sully quickly realized that they wouldn't have time to make it back to the airport. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:07.280 And the only flat, smooth place where they could possibly land was the Hudson River. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.640 And so he radioed back. 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.280 And he told his passengers to brace for impact. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:29.840 And then with the cockpit uncharacteristically silent, he calmly made an emergency landing in the Hudson River. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.719 All 155 people aboard were safely rescued. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:46.959 And after searching the aircraft twice to make sure nobody was left on board, Sully was the last person to leave the plane. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:02:00.159 And when the cockpit voice recorders were analyzed by investigators, what amazed them was the calmness of Sully's response. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.599 The chaos thrown at him by the loss of both engines was not something that he could control. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:12.639 All that he could control was how he responded. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:18.479 And much of that calmness came from Sully's experience. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:28.639 By the time of that fateful flight, he had flown more than 20,000 hours in military and civilian aircraft. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:36.240 Now he had never landed a powerless passenger plane in the Hudson River before. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:44.240 But he was able to do it, and he was able to do it with remarkable coolness and composure. 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:59.039 And the way that Sully landed that plane in the Hudson River is an inspirational story for us of the calm collectedness that human skill and experience can produce. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:08.719 But Sully's actions probably won't give us a pattern that we can follow in our own times of crisis. 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:24.560 Because his crisis came while flying a plane, something that he had been doing since he was 16 years old, and over the years had done in a wide variety of aircraft and in a large different kinds of situations. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:32.000 He was a certified flight instructor for gliders and for both single and multi-engined aircraft. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:38.960 He also worked to improve airline safety through work with his union and the National Transportation Safety Board. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:55.840 And though the bird strike did put Sully in a situation where he had to do something he had never done before, he had all of those years of experience in the field of aviation which prepared him to face the chaos with calm. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:07.520 He said, one way of looking at this might be that for 42 years I've been making small regular deposits in this bank of experience education and training. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:15.039 And on January the 15th, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:23.439 But that's not how things tend to work out for most of us, most of the time. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:32.319 Our chaos tends to come in areas outside of our realm of expertise or experience. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:41.040 A routine scan or blood test reveals a serious health risk and we have no medical training. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:48.720 A registered letter warns of a devastating legal dilemma and we're not a lawyer. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:52.800 And then there are crises for which no one can prepare. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:05:00.879 A relationship we treasure crumbles into ashes, and there is nothing we can do, even if we are a trained counselor. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:12.639 And who can prepare for recent events like wildfires that force thousands of people from their homes or vacation properties, including people in our own church family? 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:25.439 Or a trade war such as the one between Canada and the United States, which threatens to disrupt commerce between the two countries and have serious impacts for businesses and the workers they employ. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:36.959 So, where do we turn when there is chaos at our door and we have no personal resources to help us respond? 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:48.480 To answer that question, let's continue our series called When God Restores Us, and let's turn to Psalm 93 for God's answer. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:06:01.199 Now, as we do that, it will help us to know that Psalm 93 begins a collection of psalms called the Enthronement Psalms. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:19.920 And these Psalms were gathered together here in this part of the book of Psalms, or the Psalter, and they were put here to answer God's people in the wake of their exile and the apparent failure of David's throne. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:22.800 There's a theologian by the name of J.C. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:35.839 McCann who calls Psalm 93 and the ones just after, 95 to 99, the theological heart of the Psalter, of all the psalms. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:54.319 Now, we tend to, and I'm including myself here, we tend to seek comfort in Psalms that sing of God's gentle personal care, like Psalm 23, rather than in defiant declarations of God's cosmic sovereignty. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:07:02.879 But imagine what it must have been like for those people who followed Yahweh in faith back in ancient times. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:20.240 The Babylonian army had conquered their country, killed thousands of their people, struck down the royal line of David, ruined their capital city, destroyed their temple, and took the best and brightest of those who survived into exile in Babylon. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:29.279 Can you imagine the overwhelming turmoil God's people were facing? 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:35.759 From a human perspective, there was nothing left. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:55.680 And yet, and yet, God inspired his people to write and sing songs of praise about the one thing, the one thing that could carry them through this dark and dreadful time. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.600 The Lord reigns. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:07.279 Now, in the Bible, there are two senses in which God is a king who reigns. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:20.000 Most often, God's kingship refers to the way he ministers and governs his people throughout history, especially from the New Testament times onward through his son Jesus Christ. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:29.040 But here in the enthronement Psalms, the emphasis is on God's divine rule over all creation. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:35.440 And these two ways in which God is king are, of course, connected. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:58.240 For the God who we worship as king in our hearts is the same divine king who spoke this world into existence at the beginning of time, who sustains it with his presence throughout history, and who is working toward healing its brokenness and restoring it to his rightful rule at the end of time. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:14.080 Now, informed by the Bible, we can say that God is king in an objective, universal sense, and God is also king in a personal subjective sense. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:28.000 And embracing both of the ways that God is king is important for us in terms of having a resilient, holistic faith that endures. 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:41.919 But the first of these two aspects of God's kingship is especially important when tremendous turmoil in the world overwhelms us. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.240 In hindsight, I guess I should have said the second, given the order I placed them in. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:51.120 I'm talking about God's divine rule over creation. 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:56.559 That's especially important when tremendous turmoil in the world overwhelms us. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:06.480 For God's people during the exile and absolutely everything, absolutely everything that could have provided some sense of security and normalcy was stripped away. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:15.440 And there was nothing, absolutely nothing in their everyday lives that indicated to them that things were going to be okay. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:27.279 They were strangers in a strange land, they were dominated by a pagan superpower, and they had nothing to call their own but their own lives. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:43.279 And yet, it is right here, at the very lowest point of human life, that belief in God's infinite power over all things is essential. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:11:10.720 For nothing else will give us hope when a loved one hangs between life and death in a hospital operating room, or a family member is gripped by an addiction they seem to be powerless against, or a mental or physical illness is causing your life to become unraveled, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:19.840 At times like these, in the face of forces arrayed against us, we have nothing. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:31.759 No hope, no courage, no strength, no personal resources at all to help us to get through the next minute, the next hour, or the next day. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:48.080 That's when God's divine power to stand between us and chaotic evil forces that seek to destroy us and defiantly declare, you shall not pass. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:52.879 That's when it's most needed. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:57.840 And that's exactly what we see in Psalm 93. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:08.080 Psalm begins in this way: the Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:12.320 Indeed, the world is established, firm and secure. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:15.360 Your throne was established long ago. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:18.240 You are from all eternity. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:28.240 Now, immediately we recognize that this is a hymn of praise to the eternal, invincible, universal reign of God. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:35.200 You see, God is and always has been the ultimate king. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:40.000 And this was true even before anything else existed. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:47.279 As the first words in the Bible declare, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:13:00.639 And it is because the universe was formed at God's command that we can embrace the psalmist's assurance that the world is established, it shall never be moved. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:07.200 Like the psalmist, we can see that chaos rises up all around us. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:16.480 For the psalmist writes, the seas have lifted up, the seas have lifted up their voice, the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:25.519 Now, in the ancient Near East, the deep and unpredictable sea was seen as a source of chaos and danger. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:35.679 And despite the dark waves that threaten us and the powerful storms that seek to drown us, there is one more powerful still. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:47.279 And when we are secure in the king above all kings, and our hearts are rooted in him, then the psalmist's praises become our own. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:58.159 As he writes, mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:08.480 And in the security we have in God's cosmic kingship, our lives are changed. 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:22.320 We take seriously what God says in his word, and we seek to align our lives with it so that God may be glorified among us. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:27.200 And this is all in response for what he's done for us. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.879 As the psalmist writes, your statutes, Lord, stand firm. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:45.279 Now, you might be thinking to yourself, Pastor, those are nice sounding words. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:52.799 But when my life is totally falling apart, I need something more substantial to hang on to. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:15:00.159 How can I take to heart Psalm 93's assurance of God's divine cosmic reign? 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:05.279 And if that's what you're thinking, I get it. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:13.600 We all need a rock solid foundation to carry us through the storms of life. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:26.240 But know this the words of Psalm 93, the words that God gave us, the promises that He has for us there, were not written in a vacuum. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:35.200 So look around and see the wonder of God's kingly power and creation. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:48.720 The majestic mountains that surround us, the sun that energizes the world by day, and the moon that directs the tides and the seasons by night. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:16:05.440 See God's incredible wisdom in the intricate complexity of interconnected systems throughout creation, down to the inner workings of a single tiny human cell. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:21.600 Now the seas may roar and foam, and the mountains quake with their surging, but they all have their limits, which were placed on them by the God who created them. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:30.960 And the same kingly rule that set limits on the chaotic sea at creation didn't stay locked in the past. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:38.639 It stepped into history in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:45.440 The very waters the psalmist sang about show up again. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:55.279 This time with Jesus asleep in the back of a boat with his disciples as they sailed across the Sea of Galilee. 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.360 Mark tells us what happened in his gospel. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:05.519 The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:11.680 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, Quiet, be still. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.160 Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.880 He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:23.599 Do you still have no faith? 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:28.880 They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:32.640 Even the wind and the waves obey him. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:44.880 Jesus is telling us that our fears reveal the areas where our faith in him is lacking. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:55.920 And it's God's power to calm the storm that strengthens the faith he gives us in our feeble hearts. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:08.240 The king who rules over all creation gives us his power to stand firm in the chaos and glorify him with our lives. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:23.920 In the first movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, as Gandalf the Gray and the rest of the fellowship flees through the minds of Moriah, they are pursued by orcs. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:35.119 And as they cross the bridge of Khazadum, a Belrog, which is a demonic monster of shadow and fire, comes after them. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:47.359 Gandalf defiantly confronts the Belrog and declares, You shall not pass, and he drives his staff into the bridge. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:54.960 The bridge collapses under the weight of the Belrog, and he falls into the depths below. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:10.720 As Gandalf turns to rejoin the group, the Belrog's flaming whip lashes up from the depths and winds itself around Gandalf's ankle and begins to pull him down. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:17.839 Gripping the stone ledge, Gandalf looks into Frodo's eyes and stops struggling. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:21.680 He says, Fly, you fools. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:28.240 And then he lets go and falls into the abyss with the bell rock. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:34.400 That's a picture of what Jesus Christ has done for you. 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:42.799 He placed himself between us and the epitome of chaos and evil. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:51.039 He stretched out his arms on a cross as his declaration of you shall not pass. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:20:00.079 And when the power of sin and evil was fully spent, only then did Jesus give up his life and die. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:05.440 He saved us at the cost of his own life. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.519 He fell into the grave that we deserve. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.599 And it looked like all was lost. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.359 But God was still king. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:25.599 And even though it looked like evil had won, that was still true. 00:20:26.880 --> 00:20:40.000 God was king, and so on the third day that followed God the Father showed his ultimate power over life and death and the entire cosmos by raising Jesus back to life. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:43.279 And that is only the beginning. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:57.599 For Jesus' resurrection signals the start of the renewal of all things, including us, and the restoration of the rightful rule of God that will be fulfilled at the end of time. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:08.480 Dear friends, if it's not happening already now, at some point in your life, chaos is going to come knocking at your door. 00:21:09.759 --> 00:21:18.240 And to help you prepare for that chaos whenever it shows up, here is a challenge that I'm setting before you today. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:25.920 First, identify an area of your life where you are still relying on yourself. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:39.359 Maybe it's that test result you're managing on your own, or the a letter you haven't opened, or a relationship you're trying to fix through sheer effort. 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:46.480 Or the uncertainty of that trade war you're just gritting your teeth through. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:51.839 We all have a part of our lives where we want to be a hero like Sully. 00:21:51.920 --> 00:22:01.759 And so we trust in our own calm and our own competence and our own control instead of resting in the king who already reigns over it. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:08.640 Name that part of your life and give it to Jesus. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:15.039 And then, second, immerse yourself in Psalm 93 and let it soak into your soul. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:19.920 Maybe even memorize the first part of verse one. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:24.160 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:33.920 And then when fear rises and your personal resources run out, say that verse aloud. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.359 Not because it makes the chaos disappear. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:47.200 The storm was still real for the disciples in that boat, but because it reminds you of who is actually in the boat with you. 00:22:49.359 --> 00:23:08.000 Focus on the cosmic glory and the majesty of King Jesus who loves you, who is with you, and who carries you through all the chaos you may experience into eternity with him. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:18.079 You don't need special training or experience to survive whatever chaos life may throw at you. 00:23:18.880 --> 00:23:26.720 All you need is a king who's already reigning over it and all things. 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:32.079 And Jesus is doing exactly that. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:33.440 Amen. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.279 Let's pray. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.119 Dear Jesus, we thank you for being the king of our hearts. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.400 We thank you also for being the king over all creation. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:50.160 You have the power to calm the storm. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:57.759 We pray that you would calm the storms in our souls when chaos comes knocking at our door. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:05.519 Help us to keep our eyes fixed on you and follow you wherever you lead us. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.000 And may you be glorified in our lives. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:24.880 May your love and your grace and your mercy be reflected into the lives of those around us so that they may know you and your great love for them and that you could be their king too. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:30.400 In your precious name we ask this, and all God's people said, Amen. 00:24:32.799 --> 00:24:45.920 If you have enjoyed this podcast and would like to support the work that we are doing at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church of leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus, please go to WGLC.org slash donate. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:49.440 Any gift that you would like to give will be greatly appreciated. 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:51.359 Thank you and God's blessing.