THE SHOCK ABSORBER

(This sermon was preached on New Years, January 1, 2017 at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore) 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?   My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.  (Ps. 121:1-8)

          By almost all accounts, 2016 was a difficult year for many people.  Many persons experienced loss of loved ones, others sickness in their own bodies or the sickness of those whom they loved or cared for.  Some experienced separation and divorce from those whom they had had loved.  Others experienced job transition. 
         When we look back over 2016, the mantra of the age-only hymn is very true and very real for many of us –

“Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved can stand,
Build your hopes on things eternal,
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

          Indeed, if 2016 taught us anything, it taught us that we need to hold ever more tightly – ever more firmly and assuredly to God’s unchanging hand.
          If we are to travel through the annals of time as it is recorded in Scripture, we will discover that we are not the first people to experience years where in many ways  there have seemed to be more downs than ups, more wrongs than rights, more sadness and joy. 
         As we make our way to Psalm 121, we find that David is singing out of his own pain.  He and the people of God who followed him had gone through some difficult times just as many of us have.  


         And in the midst of their trials and tribulations, they had looked for help in a lot of places but could not find the help they needed.  The people of God had looked around their community, they had looked among themselves, they had searched and searched, but they couldn’t find the help they needed.
        Aren’t we a lot like that?  Don’t we tend to look in a lot of places, search all over, and often then realize that there’s not much help to be found.  Don’t we look to family and friends, who sometimes can help us, but often can’t.  Don’t we look to the Internet and self-help books and CDs and DVDs, but find that we can’t always find the help we need.   
        In the midst of this, David sings a song with the people of God, and declares, “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from?”   “I looked to the hills – from whence cometh my help?  My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”  If we asked David to help us today, and explain what he really meant here, he might tell us this morning that he had searched all over, he had looked high and low, he had talked to a lot of people – and finally he concluded, “I looked to the hills – and I realize that my help comes from the Lord.”
        And furthermore, David would tell us that he found out that the Lord doesn’t sleep, “God watches over me, both day and night.”   David would then tell us that “The  Lord is my shade at my right hand; the sun will not harm me by day, nor the moon by night.   And to top it off, he would tell us that “God is my protector, and will keep me from harm.”
        In other words, God is the shock absorber.  Can I tell you about the shock absorber?  Some things may happen in 2017 – as they did in 2016 - that will serve to shock us, and we will need a shock absorber.
        Anybody who drives a lot knows that it really blesses you on the journeys that you must travel to have great shock absorbers on your car.
        Indeed the journey that is ahead in 2017 might be filled with landmarks, detours, bumps in the road, potholes, and wayside rests. 
        I did a little research on shock absorbers, and I found out that a shock absorber (shock "damper") is a mechanical or hydraulic devisee designed to absorb and buffer shock impulses.  It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typically heat).
       That’s what God almighty does with the stuff that comes into our lives designed to shake us up and take us out.  “Man meant it for evil, but God means it for good.”  “God will make your enemies your footstools – make your haters your elevators.”  “There’s no weapon that will be formed against you that can take you out.”  “If God be for you, who can be against you.”
        We can rest assured that in God we have a divine shock absorber.   A shock absorber – to take on the bumps in life’s road, and help you deal with the ups and downs that will come your way – to help you make sense of your fears and your doubts – to help make plain your confusion. 
        I’m glad that we have a shock absorber for 2017 in Jesus. David ended Psalm 121 by saying that, “The Lord will keep you from ALL harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
         I’m glad that the same God who kept us in 2016 will keep us in 2017.   The same God who made  some ways out of no way 2016 - healed somebody’s body, clothed somebody in your right mind when you thought you would lose it, showed up in the midst of the mess – the same God will show up and show out in our lives in 2017.