Psalm 42

Water is essential for life. A person can go for long period of time without food, but for a relatively short period without water As living beings we are mostly water. When scientists consider the possibility of life on other planets, they often see water are the necessary compound. Water is necessary for life - as we know it.

That is why the image of the deer panting for water is so strong. You see you don't have to teach a deer to long for water, just like you don't have to teach a person to thirst. To thirst for water is basic and biological. Thirsting is chemical. It is built into who we are on a molecular level.

I say all this to make a point about the first line of this psalm. It says as a deer pants for water, so my soul thirsts for God. Many people read that and they think "OK, it says I should thirst for God."

No, that misses the point. It is not sating you should thirst for God. It is saying you do thirst for God. You are spiritually thirsty because God is as essential to your makeup as a spiritual person as water is to your makeup as a physical person. In the Bible a person is the dust of the earth made alive by the breath or spirit of God. God is the essential element of the chemical makeup of your soul.

You thirst for God! That is the fact. We as human beings all experience that thirst to know God and to have God living in us. God made us that way. It has been said that each of us has a God shaped hole in our hearts and only God can fill that hole and make us whole and complete. The deer does not pant for water because someone said "Oh, you should be thirsty." The deer pants for water because it is thirsty.

You are thirsty for God! The problem is that sometimes we find other things that seem like what we are thirsty for and they do not do the job. Have you even been dehydrated but instead of drinking water you drank a soft drink. It was liquid but it did not provide what you really needed as well as plain water would have. That is why doctors tell you when you are dehydrated to stay away from soft drinks and drink either water or drinks designed to help rehydrate you. We have all heard stories of people adrift at sea who were thirsty and drank the salt water only to die quicker as the salt water actually drew the water out of their cells instead of putting it in. We all thirst for God, but sometimes we try to fill that need through other things.

Since today is Father's Day I want to speak especially to men. Our lives are so full. And many of those things in our lives can be fulfilling. It is easy to think that these things will fill the thirst we have. So I want to enumerate some of those things that will not satisfy that thirst.

Your job will not satisfy your thirst. One of the things that brings men fulfillment is our jobs. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you find fulfillment in your job I am not suggesting that you give up your job and go find an unsatisfying one. I know I find fulfillment in my job. I get to go to church every day and get paid for it! I get the help people and teach people about God! If you find fulfillment in your job that is probably a sign that you have found your calling.

But we should not expect that to satisfy our deepest needs. As satisfying as a calling or career can be, we are not what we do for living. Too many men lived for the job and when the job ended what did they have, a few plaques for being best employee and a pension? A job may be meaningful, but it cannot provide deep meaning. It is not that water that you thirst for.

Hobbies will not satisfy your thirst. Hobbies and activities can be good. They can be creative outlets and can be productive. Activities can be meaningful and satisfying. I know following Duke Basketball has been tremendously satisfying for me. Sometimes following Carolina foot ball has not been satisfying.

People often try to satisfy their longings with hobbies and activities. But all the hunting trophies or homemade furniture in the world cannot fill the void. Even a National Championship cannot satisfy that ultimate thirst. Only God can do that. -Family cannot satisfy your thirst. Family is a good thing. It can and should be a satisfying thing especially being a father. Let me tell you about my kids� Well maybe not. We don't have all day.

The love of family can and should be a source of satisfaction and meaning. But it will not fill your longing for God. The relationships with in a family are vehicle for expressing and experiencing God's love. But the family is not the source. God is the source of the living water that can satisfy your thirst

Church cannot satisfy your thirst. "Wait a minute. Did the preacher just say that church cannot satisfy your thirst?" Yes, I said that. Church can be the place where your relationship with God is nurtured and grown. So coming to church can be a vehicle of receiving the spiritual water we thirst for.

But church itself can also make us thirsty. There are a lot of thirsty people in church. Some are even dying of thirst. Because church is not what satisfies our thirst. God is what satisfies that thirst.

Only God can satisfy your deepest longings. Only God can quench your spiritual thirst. Only God give your life ultimate meaning. Other things may be meaningful, but they will not bring ultimate fulfillment. But God can fulfill you.

Jesus is your connection to God. He came into this world and died for your sins. He did that so that you can know God. Trust in him so that you can receive that living water that will satisfy your thirst.

Don't try to fill your life with work or hobbies or family or even church. Don't let you soul be downcast within you. Put your trust in Christ. Place your hope on God. And let God quench your thirst.

Are you thirsty? Now, that was a silly question. Of course you are! Let Jesus give you the living water you thirst for.

Luke 8:22-39

Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. We've all experienced a summer thunderstorm. They can come up suddenly and without warning. One minuet the sun is shining and the weather is clear and then all of a sudden a strong wind comes up. Then you hear the thunder in the distance and see the lightning. Before you know it the bottom falls out and the sky becomes dark.

We understand why that happens. In the summer the heat and sun cause water to evaporate quickly. The humidity rises to the point that the hot air has all the water it can hold. Then when it starts to cool off in the afternoon it starts. The cooler air cannot hold as much water as the hot air so the water in the humid air starts condensing. And the quicker it happens the more static electricity builds up in the moving changing air and lightening and thunder and rain are the results. And it keeps up until the humidity and the temperature of the air are again in balance.

We understand the process. Any one who is as smart as a 5th grader can understand the basic physics of a thunderstorm. But none of us can stop it. I don't care how smart you are you cannot prevent a storm from happening. We can sometimes predict it, and prepare for it. Some day we may be able to significantly influence weather on purpose, but to date we cannot control or prevent storms.

The reason I am talking about storms is that there are at least four storms in this passage today. The first one is obvious. Like any body of water the Sea of Galilee, which was really just a lake, intensified the summer storm phenomenon. The water was there to be absorbed by the hot air and then fall out of the air when it cooled off. So the fishermen among the disciples were used to sudden and sometimes fierce storms.

One day Jesus and the disciples were crossing the lake and such a storm arose. Jesus, probably tired from the teaching and preaching and healing, was asleep in the boat. The storm came up and this was a big one. Even Peter and the other fisherman were frightened. They woke Jesus probably so that he could grab a bucket and start bailing.

But instead of bailing water Jesus spoke to the storm. Luke says he rebuked it. And immediately the storm stopped. And the disciples, the ones who had seen other miracles, said "who is this that the wind and waves obey him?!"

The second storm is not as obvious but it is there none the less. And it all has to do with where they were. The Sea of Galilee was the border between the Jewish region of Galilee and the gentile Region of the Gerasenes. The passage starts off with Jesus saying "let's go over to the other side. This is when this second storm started.

The disciples were used to ministering to their fellow Jews. They understood them. They were alike. But on the other side of the sea were people who were different.

Sure they were frightened by the storm, but even before that they must have been scared to be going to the other side. Following Jesus was leading them out of their comfort zone. Add to that a storm and the disciples suffered from an emotional storm. Fear of the elements and fear of people who were different had them in a personal turmoil of doubt and fear. No wonder Jesus chastised them for their lack of faith.

In the midst of their storm Jesus said "Peace, be still." That calmed the sea, but I am not sure it calmed the disciples. They were still wondering what they had gotten themselves into. Luke says that after Jesus calmed the storm that they were afraid. They wondered "who is this guy in the boat with us?"

The third storm was the psychological storm that met them on the other side. If the disciples were not afraid before, then they must have been when the boat landed. Not only was there a herd of pigs, a sure sign that they were not among Jews anymore, but a demon possessed homeless man met them and fell at Jesus' feet. Psychologists would say that this man was suffering from some kind of schizophrenic psychosis. This psychosis caused him to live naked in the cemetery.

The disciples had been asking "Who is this?" after Jesus calmed the storm. The demon possessed man knew who he was. He addressed Jesus as the "Son of the Most High God." This man must have suffered horribly. Who knows what kind of psychological, emotional and spiritual torment he went through.

Again Jesus used his voice. And just as he had rebuked the storm, he rebuked the demons. He cast them into the pigs and the pigs ran down the bank and were drowned in the sea. And the man was in his right mind. The storm was over and he could return to his home and his life.

This brings us to the fourth storm. The first was a physical storm. The second was an emotional storm. The third was a physiological storm. This one was a social storm. The people of that region who had tried to control the demon possessed man with ropes and chains saw what had happened. The swine herders had run to the village and told the people. They came and saw the man clothed and in his right mind.

And they were frightened. They had not been able to control the man. But Jesus had calmed him with just his voice. They were frightened like the disciples had been when Jesus calmed the storm on the sea.

So out of fear they told Jesus to go away. If he could control the demon possessed man what else could he do. He had already destroyed a whole heard of pigs. What else might he do? So they told Jesus to go away.

Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee and he calmed the spiritual storm of the demon possessed man. And he has the power to calm the storms in our lives. Those storms take many forms. Some are personal and emotional. Some are storms of mental illness or addiction. Some are interpersonal and have to do with relationships.

What are the storms in your life? Jesus can calm them and give you peace. But remember how the people reacted to Jesus' power to calm the storms. The disciples were in awe and frightened but the still followed Jesus. The town's people were frightened and in awe too but the rejected Jesus.

Jesus has the power to calm all the storms in out lives. Will you stay with him? Or will you tell him to go away. You now sometimes we want the storms to stay. The status quo - even a stormy one is familiar. Jesus might lead us out of our comfort zone.

Will you follow the storm stopper or will you reject him?

Luke 8:26-39

What�s in a name? Apparently not much, because the Bible doesn�t even tell us what the man�s name was. I�m sure the Gerasenes has some names for him. Like "that Waco who lives in the grave yard," or "that guy who is a few figs short of a bushel,� or "the one whose sail doesn�t go all the way up his mast."

The Jews had a few names for him too. At the top of the list was "Demon Possessed" but "Unclean" was among them. His was an extreme but classic case of demon possession. The demon was unclean so it drove him to live in one of the most unclean places. It would cause him to live in the wilderness without any clothes on.

And of course we have a few names for this unnamed man. Names like "Paranoid Schizophrenic with Delusions of Grandeur and Persecution," "Dangerous to Himself and Others," "Homeless," or just plain "Crazy."

What�s in a name? Well, apparently quite a bit because Jesus asks for a name. Instead of calling this poor man names like the Gerasenes, Jews and us, Jesus cuts to the chase. He asks the demon, "What is your name?" In fact if you have a red letter edition you will notice that this is the only thing Jesus says in this passage except for "Go home and tell what God has done" at the end.

Even the demon seems to feel that names are important. It may seem strange to us but the demon knows who Jesus is! And right away it addresses Jesus. But he doesn�t call him "Jesus of Nazareth," but "Jesus, Son of the Most High." And recognizing who Jesus is, it pleads with him for mercy.

Ancient Hebrew belief considered names important. Knowing a demon�s name gave you power over it. That is why Jesus asked for the demon�s name. That name is revealing for when the name is told the magnitude of his problem becomes apparent. He doesn�t have "a" demon but a legion of demons in him.

What�s in a name? Obviously everything! Once Jesus has the name he has the power to command the demons to leave. In an ironic act of mercy he allows the demons to enter a herd of pigs. The demons seem to like the arrangement even if the pigs didn�t. And after all, having an extra thousand or more demons wandering around the countryside was not good for the local population.

The end result of naming the demon is that the man, whatever his name is, was returned to his senses. The people found him sitting at Jesus� feet clothed and in his right mind. What would they call him now? "The guy who used to be a few figs short of a bushel?" It was a little disconcerting to the people. It is unclear whether it was the loss of the pigs or the spiritual power demonstrated by Jesus but for one or the other reason they asked Jesus to leave.

And what about "What�s His Name?" He asked to follow Jesus and presumably become one of his disciples. If he had we might be naming John Doe of the Gerasenes in the same breath with Mary Magdaleen and Joseph of Aremathea. But Jesus sent him away with the command to tell others how much God had done.

What�s in a name? A lot, if you name the right thing. Everyone was spending a lot of time calling the man in this story names. Yet they didn�t bother trying to name his problem. Instead of labeling this poor guy they should have asked what his problem was. Jesus was able to see past the labels and name the real problem then deal with it and help the man.

We spend a lot of time labeling people instead of getting to know them. I remember a guy I met when I was volunteering at the Washington Street Soup cellar. I forget his name but I got to know him. He was young, about 19, and so was I, and he was a regular at the soup kitchen. I got to know him one day when he was trying to convince one of the volunteers that the Earth was closer to the Sun in the winter. I took his side and assure the doubtful volunteer that indeed the Earth was closer to the Sun when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Contrary to what you would think it is the tilt of the Earth not its distance from the Sun that determines the seasons.

Most people would look at the young man and call him "homeless" or "unemployed." They might have even labeled some mental and emotional troubles. I know the volunteer assumed he was crazy when he said the Earth was closer to the Sun in the winter. But I came to know him as a young intelligent man. And I realized that along with other problems he needed someone to listen and be a friend.

What�s in a name? When dealing with demons it�s everything. Those who have dealt with demons of alcoholism and other addictions will tell you that admitting and naming the problem is half the solution. Naming the demon is the first step in casting it out. Too often we cannot name our own demons.

But for Christ naming the demons is easy. The one who calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee can calm the storms in our lives. He knows us by name and he knows our problems. He can also help us to name our demons.

Then by the power of the Son of God Most High, he can cast them out. But that can be scary. Maybe that is why the people asked that Jesus leave. They were afraid he would start naming their demons.

What�s in a name? The world if the name is "Jesus." In the name of Jesus there is healing and hope. He can calm the storm. He can forgive our sins. He can save our souls.

He can name our demons and cast them out. Sometimes that can be scary. Who will we be when he does that? We might even need to change our name or at least the one that everyone calls us by. But Jesus knows our true name - "Child of God."

Recognize him as the Son of the God Most High, and allow him to heal you and calm the storms of your life!

1 Kings 19:9-14

Elijah was running from the reality of his life. He was scared. Have you ever been scared, for your life?

Elijah had been zealous for God and had made some evil people mad. There was a contest between God and the gods of the people. And God demonstrated that the other gods were false. When the priests of the false gods called on them, they did nothing, but when Elijah prayed, God poured down fire from heaven. After that Elijah and the people executed the priests of the false gods. Of course Jezebel, the Queen, was very upset about this. She vowed that she would do the same thing to Elijah that he had done to her priests. She would hunt him down and see him killed as well. That was the reality from which Elijah was running. He was running for his life. He had made the powers of evil mad and they were retaliating. They were tracking him down to kill him. So he sought to escape that reality.

Real life for Elijah was that the Queen wanted his head. In the past Elijah had needed God, and God had answered his prayer with fire from heaven. But after the smoke cleared, he saw no sign of God left. All he saw was Jezebel's army charging at him. So Elijah panicked and ran.

Everyone who runs from something also runs to something; Elijah was no different. He was running to a cave in the wilderness on Mt. Horeb. He was seeking safety there. The wilderness is where God had protected the people of Israel in the past. In the wilderness God had cared for Israel and gave them food and water. And on Mt. Horeb God had spoken to the people of Israel and given them the law.

Elijah was afraid. He remembered that God had cared for the people in the wilderness. So he ran to the wilderness seeking God. The wilderness is where God had parted the Red Sea. That was where God had followed the people in a pillar of flame and smoke. Elijah was looking for a simpler time when life was not so complicated. No Jezebels and false gods to deal with. Just God's people trusting God to see them through the wilderness. God had spoken to the people from that Mountain once long ago. So Elijah ran back to the place of Israel's childhood. The place where their Heavenly Father had cared for them in the past.

And when he got there, God said, "What are you doing here? This is not where you should be. You should be proclaiming my word and working my deeds in the face of evil, not running in fear of it." Elijah was seeking to escape from the here and now and hide in a comfortable past. But God was in the present, as unpleasant as the present was for him. God was in the midst of the turmoil that Elijah was running from. God had been there all along, but Elijah had failed to see it.

Elijah ran to hide from the reality of his life, but God met him where he was. He ran to the cave of a familiar past out of fear. He was running from the present task that God had for him. But God followed him there. And God cared for him there. And God spoke to him.

Sometimes the way God speaks is as important as what God says. There was a great wind, and God was not in the wind. There was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. There was a great fire, but God was not in the fire. Then there was a silence and God was in the silence.

God doesn't always speak to us out of the great and miraculous. Often God speaks to us out of the mundane and ordinary. Elijah saw no pillars of smoke and fire in Israel. He saw no manna from heaven, no parting of the sea. He saw no divine hand carving commandments in stone. He saw no rocks gushing forth living water. So Elijah ran to the wilderness seeking these things so that God could comfort him in a troubled time. But God was there, back in Israel all along. Not in burning bushes or pillars of fire. But in the ordinary and mundane. God's thundering voice was there all the time in the silence of everyday life.

People today are running from reality. They are afraid of the responsibilities and the troubles of everyday life. People today look around and they see no burning bushes or pillars of fire. Occasionally we see a flash of brilliance, a miracle, the hand of God. But after the smoke clears all we see is life's troubles bearing down on us. So people try to escape into materialism, or consumerism, or drugs, or entertainment.

Many men, fathers, run from their responsibilities to their families. Our society is experiencing an epidemic of absent fathers. Some fathers abandon their families. Some refuse to pay child support. The courts have to track them down to make them pay for their children's bread. These are the obvious cases. Not all men abandon their families, but many run away in other ways. They run to their jobs and hide there. They run to the lake or to the woods and hide there. They spend time with the TV instead of with their kids. They get lost in cyberspace instead of interacting with their children. Ouch! That one hurt.

I don't mean to pick on fathers today; especially myself. This epidemic of absent fathers is but a symptom of a larger ailment. We in our society run from reality. We look around and real life doesn't look exciting to us. No burning bushes. No parting of the Red Sea each morning to get us going. All we see is the same old thing day after day. So we escape.

Elijah shows us that God is present in the ordinary as much as in the extra-ordinary. Like us, he tried to escape from his troubles. It is true none of us has Jezebel's army hunting us down. But we have all tried to run from our troubles as he did. Elijah had tried to run and hide in the past. He tried to find God by running from his troubles.

Then God appeared to him. Not in the wind earthquake and thunder, but in the silence. Silence is nothing more than nothing. It is not a presence. It is an absence. It is the absence of voices and sounds. But it was in that absence of sound that God appeared and spoke to Elijah. And God showed Elijah and us that our Savior is always with us. Even when there are no obvious signs of that presence.

Don't run from reality. I know you have trouble seeing God at work in the humdrum of everyday life. I know I sometimes do. What does checking homework and bandaging knees have in common with pillars of fire and smoke. What does peanut butter and jelly have to do with manna from heaven? Where are the miracles of God in the mundane day to day tasks of Fatherhood? But God is there. We may only see it in the flashes of glory. When a child says a prayer on their own for the first time. Or spontaneously gives a hug or a kiss. The responsibilities of life, like Fatherhood, may seem devoid of burning bushes and pillars of fire. But God is there in the absence of such grand things. God is in the small ordinary things. God even speaks through silence.

Listen! Really listen. - Did you hear it? God is speaking to you!Did you hear it? God is speaking to you!

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