Getting out of Life's Pit

When life is in the pits…

Let’s talk about life in the pits…

 Homeless

Sick

Tired

Sick and tired of being homeless

Penniless

Running out of options

Or just running and running

I have met homeless people who are running and running

They get on a bus in Ohio or Minnesota

They get off the bus in Phoenix

They come to the Human Service Campus

They try to put a life together

The person who got on the bus gets off the bus

You know what I am talking about

We can’t run from ourselves

The old addictions got on the bus in Toledo get off in Phoenix

I can quit this anytime I want!

We do for a few hours or days or even weeks

Then the ugly head of drug of our choice grabs us by the throat

Maybe we are lucky and we get rid of that old drug

But then another one grabs us and we have a new plaything

Soon we find ourselves strangled by its hands

The bad attitudes got on the bus in Minneapolis get off in Phoenix

It’s not my fault – if people treated me better I would be rich too

There a plenty of handy excuses around why things aren’t working out

We let the world outside us control our destinies

Come on now

We recognize the face in the mirror

Some of didn’t do the Greyhound Therapy

But we tried own reform program

We said to ourselves, “If I get married, I will be different.”

That lasted a few months or even a few years –

There was more storm then calm

Maybe if I get a new boyfriend or a new girlfriend

We try that plan for a while, until they got tired of our crap

And we got tired of theirs.

Come on now

We recognize the face in the mirror

Don’t we?

Now here we sit in the chapel at St. Vincent de Paul

This wasn’t how life was supposed to turn out in Twenty-Eighteen

We came here for some good news, Chaplain.

I have some Good News.

Listen to these words from the Hebrew Scriptures,

from what Christians call “The Old Testament”

Listen carefully now

Psalm 103

^1-2 O my soul, bless God.
    From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
    don’t forget a single blessing!

^3-5 He forgives your sins—every one.
    He heals your diseases—every one.
    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

^6-18 God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet.

Did you hear what I just read?

Here is Good News, friends!

If we think that leaving on a jet plane like John Denver

Sang about is the answer – Listen to this answer:

God will deliver you in three areas of your life

Not just deliver you – God will give you three gifts

That will change your life and mine.

Here are the three deliverances:

Forgiveness –

One psychiatrist said many years ago that if people would

Experience forgiveness we could empty most of the mental hospitals

In this country.

Guilt – the major source of psychological, mental, physical and spiritual disease

God forgives your sins – every one!

God does not treat us as our sins deserve

Nor pays us back in full for our wrongs.

As far as the sunrise is from the sunset

God separates us from our sins

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

There is another deliverance

God heals your diseases – every one

Nothing can separate you from God’s love

Not cancer, not hate, not fear

Not arthritis or heart disease

God heals all your diseases – every one

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

There is another deliverance

God redeems you from hell  - God saves your life!

I think everyone here knows what hell is

Come on now                     

Hell on earth –

The greatest hell is that space between you and God

That space only exists in your mind

Because listen to what God’s Word says:

“God is sheer mercy and grace;

Not easily angered, God is rich in love”

God’s love is seeking you and me out

Right now, right here

“While we were enemies of God;

God sent the Son to die for us.”

You may have cursed God yesterday

Or still cursing God today for your life

God is still loving and forgiving you!

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

There are three gifts promised here

The gift of royalty – let your head be crowned with love and mercy

Do you remember the story of the Prodigal Son?

The son who took his inheritance and squandered in a foreign land

He came to his senses one day while he was feeding the pigs in the pig pen

“I could be living at my father’s table today.”

He started for home.

His father was waiting for him. His father saw him come down the road.

His father called for the servants to bring a robe, a pair of shoes and a ring.

The ring was the sign of royalty.

God has a ring – more than that a crown – not just any crown

A crown of love and mercy

Do you feel unloved and unlovely?

Come, be blessed with a great, boundless love

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

There is more – there is another gift – the gift of beauty

Do you feel unclean, unwashed, unbeautiful?

Embarrassed to be in a chapel dedicated to the glory of God?

Do you feel ugly? Uglier than hell?

Let yourself be wrapped in God’s goodness.

Around your ugliness put God’s goodness

Soon no one will see your ugliness

They will only see the goodness of God.

Come, let yourself be wrapped in the goodness of God

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

Wait, there is a third gift God has for you

Remember how tired you are of your life?

Worn out, cast aside, a piece of old, rusted out trash?

Let yourself be renewed in the youthfulness God provides

Oh, to be 18 again you say or 25 or even 35!

I wish I could be young again

You can be –                                                        

If you live in God’s presence.

God’s presence is everywhere –

There is one problem we are looking at ourselves,

At our circumstances, at our lives

We have to take our eyes off ourselves and look around

We see God everywhere.

When we take our eyes off ourselves

We will soar like the eagles!

Slowly breathe in what you just heard.

Ronald Friesen © 2018