Propheting: Living with Ambiguities Habakkuk 1:1-3
It’s g=
ood to
be back with you today after having Hosea come and share his story last
week. I have to tell you: I h=
eard a
lot about Hosea’s visit.
Evidently, he made quite an impression. That being as it may, however, you=
’re
stuck with me again today.
We are now i=
nto
week eight of “Propheting in the New Year.” After today, we will have just four
Minor Prophets remaining--which brings us this morning to the prophet Habak=
kuk
and to what I believe to be a very important word for our lives.
You see, Hab=
akkuk
struggles with the ways of God. He
finds them hard to understand; yet he perseveres through his doubts and arr=
ives
at one of the most beautiful expressions of faith in all of Scripture. To get started, let’s look at
chapter 1, vv. 1-3:
Habakkuk 1:1-3 1 The oracle th=
at
Habakkuk the prophet received: 2 How long, O LORD, must I =
call
for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, "Violence!&quo=
t;
but you do not save?
3
Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me=
;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.=
Do you ever find yourself feeling like Habakkuk does here? Maybe on a really bad d= ay, it seems that life is broken, that it’s not fair, that a whole lot of th= ings are not working out the way they should?&n= bsp; Habakkuk had to learn to live with the ambiguities.
Ambiguity can be defined as “an uncertainty abou= t what something really means or what its true intention is.” The prophet had to live with such = ambiguities, and so must we.
Whether it’s a deadly earthquake in
For most of us, these questions begin the first time s= omeone we know dies unexpectedly—maybe a friend at school, or a favorite uncle. These two examples hap= pen to be my own earliest recollections of sudden death. I bet you also have at least one s= uch experience from childhood, the memory and pain of which you still carry with you to th= is day.
These are the kinds of concerns that plagued the proph= et Habakkuk. They troubled him u= ntil finally he concluded that the only defense we have against despair is faith. Otherwise, we’re= left only with cynicism, pessimism, or even agnosticism—which means the qu= estions win, and we lose.
So Habakkuk invites us to place our faith in God--who = not only understands our questions, but knows the answers—and Who will ma= ke them known to us, but only in His time.&nb= sp;
Until then, we patiently and faithfully wait on the Lo= rd. Maybe it will also help if we reme= mber that Habakkuk came to this conclusion only after struggling long and hard w= ith his questions. Don’t yo= u find it interesting that Habakkuk begins his book by doing what we are often tol= d to never do?: he begins by questioning God.&n= bsp;
Listen to this again: “How long, O LORD, must I = call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ‘Violence!’ but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustic= e? Why do you tolerate wrong?” (Habakkuk 1:2-3a)
We’ve just entered the Lenten season, forty days= of spiritual preparation leading up to the celebration of Easter. Jesus also asked “Why?”= ; From the cross, He called out, R= 20;My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The Psalmists often question God, and many other Bibli= cal writers do as well. There are= times when we simply cannot help ourselves. We ask the hard questions; but listen: God is big enough to handle it when we do. He can handle our questions.
If we are thinking people, and if we are ever shocked = and saddened by tragic events, we will surely identify with Habakkuk’s questions. I know I do, and m= ost of you do as well.
Now, as we read through Habakkuk, we discover that his questions are much the same as our own: 1) If God is GOOD, why does He allo= w so much evil to exist in the world? 2) If God is in CONTROL, why do so many things seem out of control?
Habakkuk could not harmonize his understanding of a go=
od God
with the awful events going on in the world around him. He knew that
What was incomprehensible to Habakkuk, though, was tha= t God would bring about their downfall at the hands of the Babylonians. Listen to his complaint:
“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you can= not tolerate wrong. Why then do y= ou tolerate the treacherous? Why= are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves= ?” (Habakkuk 1:13)
Hear what he’s saying? God, if you must judge Your people= , if they have to go down to defeat, can’t you at least find a better grou= p of folks to carry out Your judgment than the Babylonians? Why, they are worse than we are!
Nothing about God’s plan made sense to Habakkuk.= There were ambiguities; and he was uncomfortable having to deal with them--just as we are. And like us, he wanted immediate a= nswers to all his questions—but the answers did not come.
Most of us go through times like this on our journey t= hrough life--those moments when faith seems overwhelmed by doubt, when questions abound and answers are few, when God seems far away.
Habakkuk found himself down in this “dark valley= of the soul.” But before he concludes his book, he shares with us a few answers. Not all the answers, but enough of= them, at least, to sustain him and keep him in touch with God.
1. The first of these is found in this phrase: “…the righteous will live by his faith…” (2:4b) Maybe you’ve heard it “…the just will live by faith.” This verse is so important that it’s found in three New Testament books, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. But we find it first= in Habakkuk: “…the just will live by faith.”
What does it mean? Well, let’= ;s break it down. The “righteous” or the “just” are those who are in right relationship with God, those who love Him with all their hearts, and seek to please Him with their lives. =
So what about “the just?” They will “live.” This means to truly live, to live w= ith all the fullness God intends for our lives to have. The just will live fully now, and = also live in eternity.
They shall live fully, how? “= ;By faith!” Well, what̵= 7;s that? Belief? Yes, but more than that. It’s a rare person who doesn’t believe there’s some kind of God somewhere.
Faith is when you and I commit our lives to the God we believe in. It’s when mere belief gives = way to trusting—a trusting faith that leads to obedience. As James reminds us, faith without= obedience, without the actions that faith must produce, is dead.
Faith is also about perseverance. It endures. It sees us through t= o the end of life. In fact, Bible scholars tell us that the best translation of this verse is, “…= the just will live by faithfulness.”
Faithfulness. Steadfastness. A relationship with God that’= ;s not dependent upon the whims of the moment.&nb= sp; A trust that keeps on keeping on even when passing through the valle= ys of life. The questions still = come, but faith won’t let them overwhelm us.
When the Apostle Paul said that “faith abides,” this is what he was talking about—the real deal. Not lip service, but a genuine trust in God—a sturdy confidenc= e in God that is able to survive the hard times—yes, even when the ambigui= ties are abounding! “T= he just will live by their faithfulness.”
2. Habakkuk supplies another answer a bit later in chapter two. He has just discussed the worthles= sness of idols, but then says, “…the LORD is in his holy temple; let = all the earth be silent before him." (Habakkuk 2:20) (Call to worship)
We shouldn’t expect to overcome the ambiguities unless we have been fait= hful in worship. When chaos happen= s, we’ll have trouble finding God unless we’ve been meeting Him all along in His Holy Temple--and spending time before Him in silence.
God has made it clear all through His word that this should be a priority in our lives: to know God and to worship Him--to do this personally, and to teach = our children to worship Him as well.
It’s sad what little priority we place on this today—even among people who claim to be followers of Christ and members of His church. So many will allow most anything t= o take priority over what we do here—the worship of God and the teaching and training of ourselves and our children in the things of Christ.
Habakkuk spoke about the idols in his day. Well, friends, we have them too.&nb= sp; The idols are anything, any relationship, any activity that becomes = more important to us than the things of Christ and His church. Even good things, when assigned a = higher priority than worshipping God and teaching and training ourselves and our children as followers of Christ, become idols.
Why don’t we get this? Ther= e have never been more idols any where, I don’t believe, that in 21st century American culture. And= these idols are claiming the lives of our children at an alarming rate. But do we even see it? And do we care?
This is how it was in Habakkuk’s day.&nbs= p; He tried desperately to remind his fellow countrymen—just as he would remind us: “…the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." (Habakkuk 2:20) This matters, friends. When will we wake up and realize h= ow important this is?
3. Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m making this too simple. Habakkuk still had to struggle wit= h the ambiguities of life, as do we. I don’t hear him saying to us that all we have to do is have faith and worship God, and all our questions will go away, or that everything in our lives will be fixed.
As Paul told the Corinthians, we still look through darkened glass. Even with strong faith and a consi= stent worship of God, there will be things we cannot see clearly or understand fully. There will still be am= biguities, in other words.
But, listen. When you and I confes= s our need of the One who is greater than ourselves, when we come to God in faith, and put our trust in what He has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ,= we discover the fullest and most meaningful lives that we are capable of livin= g.
There are still some storms, young people (as you studied this weekend), and some questions. The ambiguities of= life don’t just go away. Con= sider this: maybe if they did, faith would not be necessary—or, at least, we would no longer realize what an absolute necessity it is.
When the ambiguities of life seem overwhelming, I would encourage us to remember= the words of Habakkuk. He struggl= ed as much as anyone ever has with the things in this world that just don’t= add up, the tragedies that make no sense.
A. Yet he arrived at a confident faith in God which became for him a way of li= fe, “…for the just will live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4b).
B. His was a life nurtured by worship, for “…the LORD is in his ho= ly temple; let all the earth be silent before him..." (Habakkuk 2:20).
C. And this combination of faith and a worshipful devotion to God led Habakkuk= to this beautiful and powerful testimony which emerges from his personal struggle. Listen to how he en= ds his book:
“Though the fig=
tree
does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines, =
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
yet
I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is=
my
strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a de=
er,
he enables me to go on the heights.=
221;
=
&nb=
sp;
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
Life is complicated, friends, and its ambiguities can = seem overwhelming. Faith won’= ;t solve every problem, nor answer every question we have.
But our relationship with the Lord--through faith--will provide enough strength, and hope, and joy, not only to make life worth liv= ing, but to enable us “to go on the heights.”
Jesus Christ invites us to place our faith in Him. “I have come,” He said, “that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” Will you say “yes” to Christ. You don’t have = to wait until every question is answered.&nbs= p; Simply place your faith in Him today. Trust Him and receive His gift of abundant life.