March 16, 2014
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Sermon
Series on “The Names of God”
Sermon
9 of series-
“The
Sacred Names of God: Yahweh/Yahweh Yireh”
Psalm
121 Names of God Bible
Let
us pray…
Loving,
gracious, God of Lent…we thank you for this day that we have come into Your
house to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. You have invited us here through
the blood of Your So, Lord Jesus Christ by the work that You did on Calvary’s
Cross. Help us to settle our minds and hearts as we hear the word you have for
us this day. Thank you for loving us and providing a way through the desert of
chaos this world has to offer. Speak Lord; we are sojourners who need to drink
from Your living waters. Amen
We, as humanity, work so hard every day
to provide the things we need. We work at jobs that we like…and sometimes don’t
like…to be able to provide for our families. Society would have us believe that
if we are not able to provide the things that “it” thinks we should have we are
a failure. But it can be hard sometimes because we live in a fallen world that
believes that the more possessions you have the more you are able to provide
for our families. If you are not a “go
getter”, willing to do anything to get what “you want”, you are weak and
deserve to be on the “lower rung of society…” Oh how wrong society is. We can
provide for some things but the most important provisions we are given in life
don’t come of this world.
We are continuing on our journey of
learning the Sacred Names of God and
praying in that same name. We have prayed to the one true God…our Elohim…we have talked about and prayed
to El Elyon who is the Most High
God…we have come to realize that our God is the everlasting, eternal God…our El Olam. Last week we even realized that
our God is also our Redeemer…He is Go’el.
How fitting that during Lent we talked
about a Redeemer. We are in that season of the church where we journey to the
cross where we are redeemed and made righteous not by our own means but by what
God did to and for us on that cross long ago. We have prayed the name of Adonay…our Lord. In the name Adonay we are reminded that we serve a
Lord who loves us with a passion…one who loves us without end. But today we are
praying in one of my favorite names for God…we are praying to Yahweh. Now this name also means Lord but…but…this name is the name of the Lord
that reminds us of His providence for us.
You see Yahweh is a special name for God. As the sacred, personal name of
Israel’s God, it was eventually spoken aloud only by priests worshiping in the
Jerusalem temple. After the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, the name was
not pronounced. Adonay was
substituted for Yahweh whenever it
appeared in the biblical text. Because of this, the correct pronunciation of
this name was eventually lost. English editions of the Bible usually translate Adonay as “Lord” and Yahweh as “LORD.” You see…Yahweh is the name that is most closely
linked to God’s redeeming acts in the history of his chosen people. We know God
because of what he has done.
Yahweh is not a God who is remote or
aloof but One who is always near, intervening in history on behalf of his
people. The knowledge of God’s proper name implies a covenant relationship. (Have there been times in your life when you
have seen this name of God at work? Have you ever seen this attribute of God
shown in the lives of others? We can see throughout history where God has not
been distant and has rolled up His sleeves and gotten into the mix of the chaos
of the world to show His loving power…the chaos of our own lives and changed it
into something of beauty.) The name Yahweh
evokes images of God’s saving power in the lives of his people.
I am reminded of Moses and the
Israelites. They were in need of someone to provide a way for them to be set
free from the tyranny that they lived in. They had been enslaved by the
Egyptians and had no way out. But God provided for them in a mighty way. They
were lead by the “strong arm of Yahweh
into a place of freedom. (To the
Egyptians the name Yahweh would have been a terror— a name to forget because it
conjured plagues, darkness, defeat, and death. But to Moses and the Israelites
Yahweh would forever mean deliverance, freedom, promise, and power. God’s
people could not invoke his name without remembering what it was like to walk
through the parted waters of the Red Sea, to gather manna in the wilderness, to
receive the commandments on Sinai. How many times do we feel like the children
of Israel when we see no way out but…but…Yahweh provides a way through the
desert of our souls…? Yahweh —Israel’s faithful, wonder-working God, the
One who out of pity and love reached into human history to untie the bonds of
an enslaved people— that was the name by which this God wanted to be forever
known…and still does the same today…)
We, as Christians, can believe and
remember the stories of old We can remember how Yahweh has stepped into our lives and provided a way. We can
picture has stepped into our lives and provided a way. We can picture Yahweh as this:
Forgiving • Healing • Redeeming •
Compassionate • Delighting to bless
you • Working on behalf of the oppressed • Slow to anger • Gracious • Loving .
Yes…Yahweh
is an awesome name for our God that brings visions of deliverance. As we think
of God in that way be begin to see and believe Yahweh Yireh… the Lord provides.
When you pray to Yahweh Yireh, you are praying to the God who sees the situation
beforehand and is able to provide for your needs. Let’s think about
Abraham for a moment.
(Tell
the story of Abram from his call to sacrificing Isaac…
Left
family, God gave him Isaac at an old age, asked for Abram to sacrifice His son,
provided a sacrifice.)
Like Abraham…Yahweh Yireh still provides. We may be tested like Abraham at times
but as we trust in God’s providence He will show His compassion and providence.
You and I can’t imagine the providence He has in store for us if we just
believe. When we put something on the altar, sacrificing it to him, we
acknowledge two things: that He is God, and that we are not God. This is the
worship we need to offer, the worship that will allow us to experience his
provision for our lives.
(Tell
of the providence of God through Jesus)
Are you feeling that you are in need of
some type of provision in your life? Are you feeling that you are in need of
some type of provision from Yahweh? Is
there something that you need and just can’t put your finger on it? Maybe…just
maybe…if we put our lives on the altar we will see the providence of the Lord.
Perhaps if we set aside our fear of the unknown…the fear of tomorrow, it will
give room for Yahweh Yireh in our
lives. Perhaps maybe, if we as Christians set aside our fear of ----- we will
once again see the glory of God in the chaos that surrounds us…
Maybe…just maybe…
Let
us pray…(pray to Yahweh Yireh)
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