Yeah, good morning.
My name's Brian Robinson, and I'm happy to be here.
If this is your first time at Redeemer, welcome here.
If you've been here all along, I'm just glad to see you guys.
So we've reached July at Redeemer, which means Russ goes out of town for a few weeks.
And it also means it's time for the B Team pastors to step up.
And so that's why I'm here.
This July we have a little something for everyone.
I'm gonna start this week.
Next week we have uh Brad O'Kelly, aka The Redeemer Blue Collar Comedy Tour.
And followed by uh David Russ, a little bit more of an MIT kind of intellectual flavor.
So I think in one of those you'll probably find your sweet spot, I hope.
Um it also B-Team Pass pastoring also keeps our, we all like a church, a small church, so it keeps it a little smaller than when Russ is up here every week.
So I'm as evidenced by today.
Um on a serious note, we do, I love it that Russ gets to go on sabbatical.
Um I know as his friend it is healthy for him to do it.
I know he appreciates the rest uh just from preaching every week and um planning for a pandemic.
Um I know he I know he's just grateful for it, um, and it's healthy for him and his family.
I also think it is very healthy for our church to not be focused on one guy.
Um if we're focused on someone, I pray that it's Jesus.
And I pray that he speaks through us and I pray that he speaks through me this morning.
Um so we'll be going through these next four weeks through the book of Habakkuk, and I'm actually very excited about that.
Um Middle School Brian would be very um amused that uh 45-year-old Brian is up here talking about Habakkuk because it was always a punchline to a joke for me.
If you want like a good laugh, just a quick laugh, you just throw around that word habakuk because no one really knows what's in the book, and so you can always get an easy laugh, and no one really knows how to pronounce it.
So uh it's no accident that I'm here teaching on Habakkuk.
Um so let's pray first.
Heavenly Father, um, just thankful for our church, thankful for Sam and Annie, Audrey, and and our staff.
Um I just pray that we would know that we are more broken than we realize, but we are more loved than we dare to dream.
I pray that uh in my weakness you would be strong this morning, and that's my only hope.
Thank you.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
Alright, so um I'm gonna be preaching through Habakkuk 1, 1 through 11.
Kind of a bird's eye view of this book.
The word Habakkuk actually means embrace.
Uh, he's been referred by some as the doubting Thomas of the Old Testament, and I think in reality, he's better called a prophet of faith.
The whole book is really about having faith.
Um he did have questions for God, and he asked those very honestly.
But in the end, he trusted God, and uh it kind of concludes with this beautiful prayer of faith to God in Habakkuk 3.
Um, so this book is pretty short.
You could read it in probably 10 minutes, it's three chapters long.
Uh he was a minor prophet, which means God spoke to him.
He had a relationship with God.
Um, the outline of the book is pretty straightforward.
Um starts with Habakkuk complaining to God, and then God responds, and then Habakkuk complains about that response, and then God responds again, and then finally Habakkuk kind of submits and prays.
Um, so I'll be preaching through Habakkuk's first complaint and God's response to that.
And I'm actually really excited.
When I first read through this section, I was like, I get to preach on that.
Um, and I think it's really relevant to our lives today.
So my little section is divided into Habakkuk and then God responding.
So let me go ahead and read verses one through four.
Um Habakkuk says, O Lord, how long shall I cry for help and you will not hear, or cry to you violence and you will not save?
Why do you make me see inequity?
And why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me.
Strife and contention arise, so the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted.
Does any of that sound relevant to you when you turn on the news right now?
Like it feels very real, and it was written so long ago.
Um, we don't really know much about Habakkuk's life except for that he was a prophet.
Um we know from the beginning that he has a relationship with God.
And just in these few verses, he speaks to God in a really personal way.
What do you do when you see injustice in the world?
So Habakkuk's world is kind of crashing around all over him.
The Babylonians were this powerful, kind of savage warrior group that were coming in to attack his nation.
And then he also saw the leaders in his nation were acting with corruption, just like we see today.
Um there's examples throughout the Bible of people angry and questioning God.
And I think that's unique among Christian religions because if we just had an all-powerful God, I don't know that we would have the freedom to lament or to cry out to God like Habakkuk is.
But because we have a God of grace, we can do that.
And I think that's unique and special.
Um early on in the pandemic, it was probably, I guess, the end of March, I have a nine-year-old son, uh, James, and I help coach his soccer team.
And I got an email about soccer season being canceled.
This was like the 48 hours of time where the world is just like done.
Um, and so I knew James was not going to be happy about this.
So I went to him and I said, buddy, sorry, your soccer season's done.
They canceled it.
And he looked at me just square in the eye, and he said, Dad, I hate the coronavirus.
And uh, you know, I've thought a lot about that since then because I kind of love his honesty, because at that time I was kind of like maneuvering, how am I gonna make it through and how am I gonna control?
And uh I think I've thought a lot about that because I hate the coronavirus a lot too, and I love it that kids sometimes are just cut to the chase.
They don't, you know, he's very honest, and I think that's kind of what Habakkuk is going is doing right here.
He's lamenting to God, and I think God already knows it anyway.
I think it's healthy for us to do that.
So, how does God respond to this?
Um, if we read verse five, he starts off by saying, Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astounded.
For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
So God's perspective and my perspective are very different.
Um, our creator knows that his creation is not capable of understanding what he's doing.
I've heard a pastor say the biggest difference between you and God is he doesn't think he's you.
Um also, like a patient told me this last week.
Um, she said, God has his plans, and that you have your plans, and one of you is gonna have to be flexible, and I don't think it's gonna be God.
So I can relate to all of those things.
Um but the older I get, the more I tend to believe in things that I can't see than the things I can, and God is gradually showing me faith.
That's what that's called.
Uh 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says, For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Moving on into the next verses, verses 6 through 11, God goes through a not a very good description of the Babylonians, these people that Habakkuk is worried about.
He describes them as bitter, hasty, dreaded, and violent.
But he concludes by saying that they are guilty men whose own might is their strength.
So, what does that mean?
I think it means that their power or their identity is in their own strength.
I call that self-reliance.
And God uses those words to describe the root problem of the Babylonians, but it's also your root problem, and it's also my root problem.
So, what has happened to me since March 19th?
Um, we definitely all have unique stories about how this has been hard for us, um, and some are harder, and some people have really enjoyed this time.
I think we've all kind of experienced a mix of that.
So, for me personally, I'm a dentist, I'm a small business owner.
So, mid to late March, um the CDC and the ADA were telling me I have to shut down my business.
And um, I felt pretty helpless.
Um I began having trouble sleeping.
I would wake up at like 4 a.m.
and think, oh my goodness, how are we gonna pay our bills, provide for our employees with no revenue coming in my office?
And um had just that gnawing kind of just burn in my stomach when I would wake up, which is unusual for me.
Um and I I wrestled with God.
I can relate to what Habakkuk's saying.
And I remember one morning sitting in my desk and I prayed, God, why can't like just make it go back to normal?
Uh, probably a common prayer during these times.
And what I felt like God was saying back to me was, um, well, what you want, Brian, are you want your old idols back, and and I love you too much to give them back to you.
And these idols are you know, financial security, um, being seen as a provider, also being a provider for my family and my employees, and just even idols of recreation.
Like I was thinking, I don't know if we're gonna be able to go on another vacation for the next five years.
Um, and that was a very real thing for me.
Um, and I think slowly, very gradually, God brought me to a place where I felt like I knew what he was up to, and I settled into a more relaxed pace.
Um, we had so much good family time.
Um, my two teenage daughters, once your kids start driving, you don't see them as much.
And so we saw them a lot more, which was a gift.
I feel like we got a couple of free months with with these two.
Um, just good.
We played this new card game called Sky Joe, highly recommend Sky Joe.
Um, and just every meal we had around the table was very sweet time.
Um, and then uh April 20th happened, and I woke up and we got an Amazon box, and it was a skateboard that my sweet daughter Meg ordered.
And um so I told her that morning, I said, Meg, don't do anything dumb on the skateboard.
Like, I don't want to take you to the ER during the coronavirus.
And so some of you may guess what happened next.
Um later that afternoon, I was on my way out to the car to go somewhere, and I saw Meg and Allie in the driveway on the skateboard, and I thought, I'm gonna go watch and see what they're up to.
And I did watch, and then I got on the skateboard, and I actually rode it around a little bit successfully for the last time.
And then I got on the skateboard and I put my right foot on the skateboard and it took off.
And 100% of my weight landed on my left elbow.
And I knew this was not like I rub some dirt on it kind of situation.
My hand started turning blue, my elbow was just not shaped right.
Um and so, yeah, in the middle of the virus, I went to the emergency room.
Um, and I had surgery on my elbow.
And I think I even have a picture of it.
It might, I don't know if it's up there.
Yeah.
So that's my elbow.
Um, a plate and nine screws put in there.
And you can tell, I mean, it's doing a lot better now, but um, that was that was you can take that down for everybody, I'm sure that's good.
Um but again, I felt like uh I need my elbow to work, like to do my job.
Um, and again, I felt like God was removing idols in my life.
At that point, I was um still playing golf occasionally, which is like socializing for me, still running, but those things were kind of taken away, and uh I feel like he was teaching me like what really matters in your life, like when you wake up, um I was still able to spend time with my family.
I was still able to spend time with the Lord, and I feel like he truly taught me like one day at a time is not just a cliche, like this is how I want you to live, is one day at a time.
And I wrote all this down because my mind is fickle, and I as soon as I feel like I'm back in control, um, I'll tend to forget these things.
And I think he, I mean, he even gave me a scar to help me remember remember all this on my left elbow.
So in conclusion, I think what stands out to me in this passage of Habakkuk is God says to me, Brian, if I came down and told you, and he put his arm around my shoulder, and in a loving way, he said, if I told you what I was doing, you would not understand it.
And that's I think kind of hard for me to believe because I mean, I read the Bible and I think, you know, yeah, but if God came down and told me, I would believe it.
But this is not what Habakkuk says.
He says, if I came down and told you, you wouldn't believe it.
And I think on the face value of that, it's pretty frustrating because I want to understand it because I want to control it.
Um, but I think as we contemplate and pray on that a little more, it's pretty hopeful because we all know ourselves and how incapable we are of controlling anything.
Uh the knowledge that I wouldn't understand it frees me to know that I don't have to have it all planned out.
And because this same God is in control, is the one that loves me so much that he sent his son to die for me.
Um, I just think I know that I can trust that God, and that's what he's telling us.
So let me pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this word that you gave us 2,600 years ago in the Bible that is very relevant to us today.
Um, thank you just for the gift of faith that you show us in real ways that we can't control it and we can't understand it, but you can.
And we know that there is hope and there is peace and there is contentment in that.
And I pray that we would remember that each morning and then the next morning, and just rely on you one day at a time.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.