Redemption Stories

Well we are in a series called Songs of Summer which is based in the Old Testament book of the Psalms and today we're going to be in one of my favorite Psalms at Psalm 107 which is all about God's goodness and his never-ending love. What's cool about this Psalm is it illustrates these things through a series of little stories what I'm calling redemption stories.

When we talk about redemption we need to be clear about what this word means. The big rich word has to do with being rescued, delivered, healed, transformed, forgiven—it's all of these things and more. Before we look at the redemption stories in Psalm 107, I want to give you a modern-day example of a redemption story. It goes back a couple decades but a guy named Charles was once one of the most hated people in Washington. In fact, he was so notorious he one time said that he would walk over his own grandmother for his boss. His boss at the time happened to be then President Richard Nixon, and Charles Coulson was his political hatchet man. He just came up with a lot of nasty schemes to kind of clear out people from Nixon's way.

But when the Watergate scandal broke open, Coulson's life was just plunged into crisis. It started to crumble around him and it was during that time he reached out to a friend, a guy who ran a large corporation, and Coulson was thinking, well maybe this guy will be my next employer. But instead, that man gave him a copy of C.S. Lewis's book Mere Christianity. In between a friendship and the book, Charles Coulson became a Christian.

Now when this happened, the press completely mocked him. They thought it was a ploy to avoid prison, but to their surprise, to everyone's surprise, Coulson actually pleaded guilty to the charges that were levied against him in large part because of this burgeoning sense of remorse that he had over his crimes. He spent seven months in prison and during that time he was stripped of his ability to practice law. His son was arrested on drug charges and his father died just in those seven months. But even so, he was beginning to learn what it means to turn your life over to your Savior.

By the time he was released from prison, he actually found it shortly thereafter a ministry called Prison Fellowship. You've probably heard of it, an Angel Tree and all of its kind of outgrowth. It grew into the largest ministry to inmates of its kind in America and probably the entire world. But his legacy really goes far beyond that because he's the author of over 20 books. He was a much sought-after speaker. He became, of course, in the latter part of his life, one of the most beloved respected Christian leaders in our country.

Now how does that happen? How does a ruthless political hitman end up becoming this wise and winsome follower of Jesus? Well, in his own words he says victory comes through defeat, healing through brokenness, finding self through losing self—in other words, through redemption. And again, that's what Psalm 107 is all about.

It begins like this: I'm going to invite you to open up the Bibles that you might have or in the pew racks in front of you. You can also follow on all the verses; we're going to see are in the notes and also on screen. But Psalm 107 starting at verse 1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever." I want to hit the pause button there for just a moment because you're going to see this phrase come up often: thanks to the Lord for he is good. And why? Because his love endures for as long as we're good too? No, it doesn't say that. I just want to test and make sure you're awake here. His love endures for what? Forever! Because of his goodness and his grace and his love.

Let me just ask you, how often do you find yourself thinking about God's love for you? We think a lot of things about God and often it has to do with maybe things he might want of us or how he's directing us. But how often do you just sit and think, you know, God created me to love me? God didn't need me; he wanted me. This morning I hope that you will have a fresh appreciation, like we just sang, that he would tune our hearts to his grace, his love, and that it would just fill us with a sense of joy simply because he loves us and that is never going to change.

Continuing at verse 2: "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story, those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south." You might have just noticed that the psalmist points to the four points on the compass, right? There's a connection in the immediate context to Israel's past because they were exiled from Egypt in the south and they were exiled to Babylon in the east. But they were gathered back. They historically had enemies on their western shores and to the north as well, and they were dispersed. Now they had been gathered back to tell their stories of redemption.

But it goes beyond even their stories and their need for redemption; it really goes to our need for redemption, our stories, and even to the one who makes this possible: Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. So it's not just the four points of the compass; it's really the four points of the globe. This is universal, something that applies to all of us. There are four redemption stories for each of these compass points. The first one reminds us of this: it reminds us that God's goodness and love endure when I'm wandering in the wilderness. If you're a note taker, you might want to write that down: when I'm wandering in the wilderness.

Now let me ask you something: have you ever been literally lost in a situation? Just raise your hand if you actually got lost at some point. Okay, how about metaphorically? You spent some time wandering in the wilderness? This is church; confession is good for the soul. All of your hands should be up right now if we're just kind of being self-aware and honest. We've all spent some time wandering. It says starting at verse 4: "Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things."

Again, this recalls obviously Israel's wanderings in the wilderness, but again it really includes everyone who's gotten lost in life. In a little way, I experienced this the summer before last. I was speaking at a conference center up on the Oregon coast and I had the opportunity to bring my daughter Anna. She came with me; she was going to be my little technical assistant and it was really fun. One day there was an opportunity for us to go; we had a longer break and so we decided to go for a hike. We went through this beautiful emerald forest that works its way out towards this overlook of the Oregon coast. It's called Falcon Point. We didn't see any falcons, but we saw a bald eagle and a ton of fun.

We decided on the way back, rather than just retrace the trail—it's kind of a mucky trail and it was several miles long—we noticed from the outlook we could see that there was a beach next to the trail just south of it. We could actually see the road on the other side of this long beach, and I knew that we were parked in a little lot just north of that beach. So sure enough, we dropped down to the beach and walked our way down. It was just a change of scenery and it was much shorter. Then when you get to the other side of the beach, you go through kind of this little state park area and the trail kind of goes back and forth with switchbacks. Then you actually go underneath the road, which is Highway 101, this little tunnel you go under, and you come up on the other side.

Now I know we're just a couple hundred yards from the car, so like good job dad, you know, you found a shortcut. So we're walking and 200, 300 yards turns into 500 yards, three-quarters of a mile, half a mile, mile. We keep telling ourselves it's just around the next corner. I know it's around the next corner. Anna, she's tired at this point and we're up to a mile and a half maybe and we're just kind of dragging along. What is going on? Suddenly there's a break in the trees because prior to all that they just cut the road right through all of this forest. All you can really see is trees on either side, the road, and the sky—that was about it.

But when we got to this break in the trees, lo and behold, there's the Pacific Ocean on our right-hand side. Now you got to put your thinking caps on: if you're walking down the road and the Pacific Ocean is 90 degrees to your right-hand side, which direction are you walking? Let me hear you. South! Like, oh my goodness, there was one of those like way to go dad moments. I mentioned Charles Colson at the beginning in his reflections on his time before he became a believer. He says this about his life back at that time: "I had no moral compass." In other words, he was just wandering.

One of the things I learned that day is, first of all, getting lost is not fun. Secondly, the worst part is the time you don't even know you're lost; you're just wandering. But then when you get that break in the trees, so to speak, and you know which way to go, you get this kind of boost of energy. Every little step you know is taking you closer. I'll tell you that walk back was a lot easier than the walk out into the wilderness. I don't even want to admit how close we were to the beach—50 yards from where we took the wrong turn, there's the car. I probably should have just pushed the little thing on the fob; it would have called us. It's like Maxwell Smart, Mr. Thigh that much. Well, all's well that ends well, and I got a great meal out of that whole experience.

I want you to notice that the wanderers in this first story, that when they cry out to the Lord, it says in verse 7, "He led them by a what? A straight way." He didn't throw them a curve. He said, "Well, jump through all these hoops and then maybe we'll get you back to where you need to be." It was just simple; it was straightforward. It's like what Jesus says in Matthew's gospel in chapter 11, verse 28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Maybe some of you are weary this morning because wandering, you know, it wears you out. It grinds you down; it fills you with a sense of burden like Jesus is talking about here. But he says, "Just come to me." It's as simple as just having childlike faith—just come to me. Because listen, if you're looking today to be relieved of the weariness of your wanderings, the burden of that, if you're looking for a safe place that you can settle, you will find it in Jesus Christ because he has a heart for those who are lost and wandering. He's the one who leaves the 99 to find the one—that's the kind of love he has for us.

The second redemption story reminds us that God's goodness and love endure when I'm stuck in a dark place. You know, sometimes you hear people talk about a dark season, a dark era in their life. You know, I was in a dark place, and what often they're referring to is when a habit developed into an addiction or they entered into a relationship against their better judgment and it became unhealthy. They look back at it with regret. Or perhaps in a more subtle form, and I have to say as a pastor, I think this is an issue pretty good at avoiding some of the more overt kind of ways of finding ourselves in a dark place—not always, but often we want to be respectable church people.

But one of the ways that I think we can get ensnared is when somebody offends us, somebody hurts us, and we start to develop a grievance against them, bitterness against them that we have a very difficult time letting go because I feel entitled to that. I demand some sense of satisfaction. Whether it's rebellious choices or things that sink their claws into us through addictions or a root of bitterness, the bars go up one by one by one, and suddenly we find ourselves in a very dark place. I mean bear in mind the first group, they did not intend to get lost; they just were. But this second group, the people in the dark place, well there's a reason for that. It says beginning at verse 10: "Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron bars, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High." In other words, it was a prison of their own making, not of his making, of their own making.

But it says in verse 12, "So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help." You might be thinking, well that was not very nice. I mean he kind of made their lives miserable. Yeah, he did it out of love for them because you know what's worse than God kind of frustrating you at a point in life or making your rebellion an unhappy thing? The worst judgment, the worst thing that can happen is that God gives you over to your own self and allows your heart to become so hardened you don't even notice the darkness anymore. You don't even mind it; you made it your home. But God, in his mercy, you might say, he helps these people hit bottom. They get sick of their chains and their captivity, and it says picking up at verse 13: "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains." Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down the gates of bronze and cuts through the bars of iron.

Amen, amen. Some of you know your redemption story is right there because there was something that had a stranglehold on you, but it doesn't anymore; you have been set free. Several years ago—in fact, it was 20 years ago this summer—we had a guest speaker here at Twin Lakes Church. His name was Louie Zamperini. You might have heard of him. Anyone here when Louie spoke about 20 years ago? A few of us were, yeah. It was really cool in the years that followed to see how his story became a best-selling book called Unbroken, and then that became a blockbuster movie. It was really well done, except there was one glaring omission: it barely touched on the core of Louie's story, which is his faith. Because he would tell you after he got home within a short amount of time, that's when his life started to crumble; that's when the darkness kind of caught up to him.

I mean he survived a crashing into the Pacific and 47 days in a life raft and over two years in a hellish horrible POW camp. But he gets home and he begins to become very much broken, where there's a sequel that's coming out that tells the rest of the story. It's called Unbroken: Path to Redemption. This is the part of the story that I think Lou would be very pleased is being told. Here's the movie trailer to watch this.

Bless you, Lewis. Welcome home. All of thorns was praying for your safe return. Miracles didn't save me, Podrick; a couple of atomic bombs did that. Nor Louis Zamperini, actually. Thank you for what? For preserving the free world? For silly girls? People from all over the country want to know if you're going to run in the London Olympics. What's this? If you're going to train for London, you have to do it right. Just go nice and easy; see if you can make it all the way around. You think you can run a four-seven mile again? I would be doing this if I didn't go on to run. Run to win! You will never escape me; wherever you go, I will find you. Are you sleeping well? Yeah, we got any nice sweats or nightmares? I just thought I'd be able to forget everything. Why is God silent? My good man, suffer. Why is it he stopped the pestilence? Wasn't he stopped the wars? Here tonight, there's a drowning man just looking for some type of hope for the future, but there's a lifeline—just reach out. These men did terrible things to you. What are you going to say to them?

Okay, spoiler alert. Yeah, I think it's going to be cool, but spoiler alert: I tell you what Louie said to those prison guards, those guys that did such terrible things to him. He traveled all the way back so he could see those men, look them in the eye, and say, "I forgive you. I forgive you because I've been forgiven in Jesus Christ." That's one of the most beautiful moments of his redemption story when he extended the grace and freedom that God had given him.

Well, how about you? Is it possible that you're still stuck in a dark place and something has a hold on you? It's had a hold on you in such a sustained way you've actually become convinced you've come to believe that you will never be free of it. I am here to remind you today that Jesus Christ broke down the gates of hell so that you could be free—that you could be free. And it may not happen overnight; it may be a very long journey, but you can be free. And you know, if you don't believe me, come to one of our recovery groups this week. Get into a small group this fall and see for yourself. You're going to see people; they're not perfect, but they're not slaves. They're not prisoners to their sins anymore.

You might be thinking to yourself, "Wait, time out, Mark. You don't know my situation. There's just too much water under the bridge. There's just too much carnage in my wake. It's too late for me." But you know what? Here the good news: this third story is that God's goodness endures even when I'm paying a price, even when I'm dealing with the consequences of my past. Would you agree that often—at least I know this is true for me—much of my own pain has been self-inflicted? Anyone with me there? Yeah. In fact, I found this quote; nobody knows who said this, but they probably don't want to be known. It says this: "If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles in the backside, you wouldn't be able to sit down for two weeks." Ouch! That's kind of hard truth there.

It says starting at verse 17: "Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death." I want to say, you know, sometimes I hear this a lot from folks. They think that if they're sick or some tragedy has befallen them, it's like God's punishing them or he's trying to teach them a lesson or something like that. That is so much the exception in Scripture that it is the rule right here. It's simply talking about the natural consequences for foolish behavior. And even so, even in that, God can bring goodness out of our own mistakes, out of our own messes. It says then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

Now to be clear, this is not saying that you can abuse your health forever and then ask God to just kind of reset everything, you know, push the start button all over again. There are natural consequences. But again, this is a picture of God's grace. These people, when they cry out from their death, he delivers them not because they deserve it—I mean quite the opposite. And again, the same is true for us. It says in Romans 5, it says, "When we were utterly helpless," you know what that means in the Greek? Helpless is as Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Our lives, our bodies, our eternity have been redeemed because of the fact that Jesus Christ paid the price. He paid the price.

And how do you respond to that? You know, with this kind of a polite, you know, golf clap: good shot, Jesus? No, it says here in verses 21 and 22: "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy." You know, my prayer for all of us is today we would have a song of joy in our hearts because of what Jesus has done for us—not because you just kind of whipped yourself into a frenzy, but because the Spirit just reminds you of all that Jesus has done for you.

So to recap these first three stories, we said God is good and his love endures when I'm wandering in the wilderness, I'm stuck in a dark place, when I'm paying a price, and finally when I'm caught in a storm. Beginning at verse 23: "Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. Then they saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away; they reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end." Pretty vivid, huh? Everything caught in a storm. I mean some of you probably actually out on the seas, but for most of us, it's a storm in life—something that descends upon you; you have no warning.

You know what? There is not a week that doesn't go by in this church that somebody's life isn't turned completely upside down. How do we goes by but there's not some dread diagnosis or tragic loss? Our hearts in those moments, our prayers in those moments, is that the storm would lift. And in Psalm 107, if you haven't noticed so far, all the stories have a happy ending, so this one does too. It says starting at verse 28: "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm." I bet they were! And he guided them to their desired haven. We're glad, and why wouldn't they be?

But we all know that there are certain storms that God does not dispel how or when we would like, right? Sometimes he does that and we're glad; we praise him. But other times—and if you haven't had this experience, I promise you, you will—where the miracle isn't that all of a sudden the wind and the waves are gone; the miracle is that God shows up in a way that's real and powerful and that through his presence there's a sense of calm in you. There's a sense of peace that transcends human understanding. Sometimes if that kind of peace, that kind of stillness is to be found at all, it will be through the miracle of God doing that kind of work in us.

Because here's the thing: ultimately, the only safe haven is not going to be found in this life; it's going to be found in the life that awaits us. That is the ultimate safe haven where these frail bodies are fully redeemed and we enter into the rest where there's no more pain or death, no more sorrow. Do you believe that's your future? Do you believe that, church? Yeah, we're trying to. This is why this is so challenging, and I think it's especially challenging for us living where we do and when we do. People in previous times, I think they had an anticipation of heaven that exceeded ours because you know what? They didn't have it so good here.

But we are surrounded by so much wealth and beauty and opportunity. I mean an abundance! I mean look where we live. In case you haven't noticed, you live in one of the most beautiful, richest places on the planet. Just this last Thursday, just this Thursday, I'm driving up Highway 1 on my way here to the church and I come across these two cars. They're just one by one in this slowing. They're the most exotic cars I think I've ever seen. They're just spectacular. I'm going, "Oh my goodness!" I think they probably came up from Car Week at Monterey. I look; this is one of them looked exactly like this. It could have been the same car. I'm trying to make out the name; you know it certainly didn't say Chevrolet or something like that on it. It's got this weird name: Koenigsegg Regera, and I may have butchered the pronunciation. But after I get to the church, I Google it and here's what I found out about this car: in 2017 they produced 80 of them and they sold out for two million dollars apiece. I got two of them right next to me!

Okay, but that 2018 version, those go for 2.34 million dollars apiece. Oh, by the way, they go from zero to 186 miles an hour in 10 seconds. Okay, yeah, I passed them both, okay? Yeah, in my Toyota! But as we've all learned, you know, you can have a fast car, but if you're on Highway 1, you're probably not going to go very fast. Traffic grinds down to a slow crawl and then a halt. I'm right next to this car; it was the only way he was going to catch me. I roll down my window and he says, "Roof lifts off these things," and the guy's sitting there and I go, "Wow, that is an amazing car!" I hadn't done the research; I just was basing this on the looks. "That is an amazing car!" The guy looks over at me; he goes, "Yeah, only if my life wasn't so empty and miserable I might be able to appreciate it." Do you believe that? You shouldn't because I just made that part up. You wanted it to be true, didn't you? Yeah, we all want that guy to be unhappy. You know, he looked pretty content actually.

Okay, here's my point, and I do have one. Like I said, we have so much wealth, so much abundance. I mean, when was the last time most of us even had a second thought about where our next meal would come from? We have so much; we expect so much out of this life. I mean, you don't have to have a two million dollar car to start thinking that this is as good as it can get. I mean, if you got your health and you're surrounded with luxury, it might actually diminish your taste for heaven. Like, do they have cars like that in heaven? I don't know, but they got them here. That's the challenge that we face. We lack perspective, except when we're in a storm. You find yourself in a storm and you will start to long for that distant shore, for that safe haven.

Every time Martin Luther, who was the father of the Reformation, he experienced quite a few storms in life. Living 500 years ago, he didn't have the kind of comforts and aids available to him. So when he lacked in that, he made up for in perspective—the kind of perspective that you really only develop in the tough times, in the storms of life. He said this one time: "Though man is poor, sick, despised, and burdened with adversities, he sees that he keeps more than he has lost. If he has no money and goods, he knows nevertheless that he has a great God. If his body is sick, he knows that he is called to eternal life. His heart has this constant consolation: only a short time and everything will be better. Only a short time and everything will be better." And that's why, by the way, he's not just romanticizing death; he's not minimizing suffering. He's just fixing his eyes on Jesus. He is focused on the safe haven that Jesus provides us because of the redemption that he's accomplished for us.

And that's why we can say, whether hell or high water, wherever we're at, we can say, "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind." And so as we wrap up, in response to all this, I want to encourage you to ask yourself, what is my redemption story? Perhaps you've already been thinking about what is your redemption story. Do you remember when you were wandering in the wilderness? Do you remember a dark place? And yet Jesus came to you in that place and he either led you out of it or he broke your bonds. Can you give thanks to the Lord for that today? Can you praise him for his love?

Even if you're in a place in life where you're kind of paying a price, okay? The bills came due and you're dealing with that. You know, you may have to deal with the fallout of things in your life for a time or maybe for the rest of your life, but never forget he's paid the price. Jesus has paid the price and your debt is cancelled out in the court of heaven. Can you thank the Lord for that today? Because listen, he's been to the desert; he's been to the dungeon; he has tasted death; he has calmed the storm. He did all of that gathering exiles like you and you and you and me because he loves us and we are his forever.

So again, what's your redemption story? And maybe for some of us here today, a friend invited you or you ended up here; you don't really know why, but you're here. Your redemption story doesn't end at Jesus yet, but can. In fact, in just a moment, I'm going to give you an opportunity to receive the grace, the forgiveness, the life that Jesus offers you. Again, most of us probably have already done that, so in these final moments, I would just want to encourage you to just review that and reflect and soak in that. Be filled with gratitude because of all that he's done for you in that. And as you think of that, remember also to give him thanks. Give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love as you review all that he's done for you as a result of it.

Because here's just a beautiful encapsulation of that in Colossians 1: "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins." Amen, amen.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness and your grace. We thank you for this opportunity to gather together to hear from your word, to be instructed by your Spirit. Lord, I pray specifically for two groups. First of all, I pray for those, Lord, there was a time, maybe even a point in time we said yes to you; we received Christ. Others of us in that same group, we can't really remember the day and the date, but we know that's where we arrived—that we follow you in faith and trust. Lord, I pray that you would just give us songs of joy today. I pray that that would overflow out of our lives and into the lives of our neighbors and our friends and our co-workers and that we would want to tell our redemption story. We just wouldn't be able to hold it in.

And Lord, I pray for those that are here today and they know this is the day your voice is calling them. You are saying, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden," and you are offering them rest—rest from their sins, rest from their hang-ups, their hurts. You want to restore, redeem, transform their lives. If that's you, the words aren't magic; I just want to encourage you in your heart to agree with what you're saying is, "Lord, I admit I need you. I've wandered; I'm lost. I've rebelled; I've been in the dark place. I've been in the desert. I've covered it all, Lord, I admit that. But I believe that you took those things; you took them to the cross, that you died for me. You paid the price, and through your resurrection now I have a life. I have that safe haven offered to me now and for eternity, and I want to receive that." If that's you, just in your heart to say, "Yes, Lord, that's me. Count me in." It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

And Lord, I thank you that you hear those voices; you see those hearts, and you include them into your fold. They are now part of your family. We celebrate that; we thank you for that. And we pray all these things in the name of our matchless Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves us. It says his name we pray, and all God's people said, amen, amen.