The Lutheran Hour
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"Never Alone"
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Text: Psalm 25:16
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Jesus lived and died for sinners. His sacrifice is the means by which the Lord forgives and saves. But there’s more to our salvation than the tale of an unfair death. Jesus’ third-day resurrection is proof that the Redeemer is alive and can bless and be with His people always. God grant He be with us in this lonely world. Grant this Lord, to us all. Amen.
It is a lonely world. As proof of that, I would refer you to Walter Samaszko, Jr. of Carson City, Ne. I would refer you to him, but I can’t. I can’t because Walter Samaszko, Jr. was found dead in his home in June of 2012. Sadly, Walter Samaszko, Jr. had died sometime in April or May. Walter died and nobody noticed. That surprises me because Walter had lived in that home since the 1960s. He was part of a community, a neighborhood. Even so nobody knew or missed him; nobody checked on him; nobody knocked on his door. Walter died a lonely man.
Walter died a lonely man, but not a poor man. He was not a destitute soul who cut himself off from others because he feared somebody might laugh at his poverty. No, Walter wasn’t poor. As his house was being cleaned for sale, authorities discovered Walter had some gold. Walter had gold bars; gold coins, both common and collectable. Best estimate: Walter had $7,000,000 worth of gold. Even so, $7 million in gold wasn’t enough to stop Walter from dying alone; it wasn’t enough to stop him from passing from this world unremembered, unmissed, and unmourned.
This is a lonely world. Come to my office and read the letters, the emails, listen to the phone calls which come to The Lutheran Hour and you will quickly see most are born of loneliness. Go to the Internet, do a Google search. Type in the words, “I am lonely.” If you do, you will be taken to site after site filled with the writings of lonely people. Take a moment, read what they’ve written and you will hear painful, poignant, heartrending stories from folks who feel no one is there, and if someone is there, they don’t care, and if these people do care, they don’t care for the writer.
It is a lonely world. On this earth I imagine there may be someone who has managed to make it through their high-school years feeling loved, popular, appreciated, and applauded. There may be, but I have yet to meet that individual. Even the most popular, the alpha students, feel isolated, alone, frightened, rejected, and dejected. Sit with a young lady who was not asked to prom or homecoming and she will tell you what loneliness feels like. Sit on the bench or the stands and visit with the young man who has tried out for, but not made, the football squad, the basketball team, the tennis team, the chess team, or any other team. Already in their teens these young folks have become authorities on loneliness.
Now you may think of loneliness as an occupational hazard which comes when we outlive family and friends. Not true. Loneliness is not directly linked to the number of candles on your birthday cake; it is not confined to holidays at nursing homes where the residents sit near a phone which never rings because the children have forgotten them. Loneliness can also come to the mother who watches the last of her children get on the bus for his first day at school; it comes to the business man who has been told the company no longer has use for his skills or appreciation of his experience. Loneliness is a dear friend who has moved; it is a spouse who has wandered; it is a mind which is erasing memories of days past.
Have I mentioned your loneliness yet? Maybe your loneliness came when you realized you could never again ask your mother for a family recipe or your father for a bit of practical advice. Maybe it came when you decided not to cook a Thanksgiving Day turkey for one. Maybe it came when you saw your friends all having children and the doctors told you you couldn’t. This is a short program so I cannot begin to mention all the ways loneliness can come. Even if I were given 24 hours and did a marathon broadcast, it wouldn’t make any difference. At the end of that time I would have just begun to touch upon the pain which comes to lonely human hearts. Yes, “The world is a lonely place.”
We have now reached the point in the message where I ought to encourage you to turn to the Bible for relief, solace, and help. Unfortunately, if you look into the pages of Holy Scripture, you will find that not even God’s great heroes of faith managed to avoid all forms of loneliness. Noah was lonely as he spent time warning the world of the impending doom their sins were bringing. Nobody listened to him so he and his boys worked alone to build the ark. Moses was a great leader, but there was seldom a time when he didn’t feel he was alone in listening to the Lord and trying to follow God’s commandments. When the prophet Elijah was running for his life, he spoke to God. This is what he said, “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” Elijah, great man that he was, had been kicked in the teeth by loneliness.
The list is not yet complete. I could mention the Judges who were raised up for a purpose, but soon after their purpose had been accomplished the people forgot and turned back to their sinful ways. That was lonely. I could talk of the Prophets who were criticized and condemned, rejected and rebuffed by God’s hard-hearted, hard of hearing people. That was lonely. Instead of mentioning each of these, I will let King David speak for them all. Writing in the 25th Psalm, the Monarch said, “(Lord) Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me. Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.” (Psalms 25:16-20 ESV)
Did you hear it? God’s hand-picked King David, ex-shepherd and giant-slayer, survivor of court intrigues and family rebellions, the man who had planned and would finance the temple was lonely. Sounds strange considering David had a gaggle of wives, a flock of generals, some national administrators, advisers, and a host of traditional hangers-on who liked being in the entourage of the rich and famous. A person could be forgiven for asking: “David, just why is it you are lonely?”
David’s answer is twofold. The first part is taken from the Psalm’s second verse. It is an answer you might expect. David says, “let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.” David’s enemies were making him lonely. I guess that makes sense. You know, if you ever open your mouth, if you ever have an opinion, if you ever try to accomplish something, you’re going to make enemies. You may not mean to make them, you may not want to make them, but they will be made nevertheless. These enemies we have made will whisper behind our backs; make up lies when we’re not around; give poor reports of us when they can, kick us when we’re down, and make our lives both miserable and lonely.
David is lonely because of his enemies. That’s reason #1. Reason #2 is one which you may find surprising. In verse seven, David pleads, “Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.” Looking at his life, David is forced to confess that not all of his isolation has been caused by his enemies. He admits that when he was young, he committed his fair share of sins. Then, without breaking stride, he says that those sins are not confined to the time when he was an ignorant kid. He says, “Don’t remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions.” Even now, even as he is asking for help David must confess he Is guilty of displeasing God. To David’s way of thinking, loneliness is caused by the moats and trenches our enemies dig to isolate us as well as the sins we commit which wall us away from God and each other.
You can tell David has given this some serious thought. Still, the question remains, “David, what do you expect God to do about all this?” The ruler is prepared for that question. He has a number of answers and suggestions. First He says, “Lord, make me to know your ways, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation.” Asking God for wisdom and guidance and truth is a good idea, but it’s just the beginning.
David continues, “…remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! …pardon my guilt, for it is great… Turn to me and be gracious to me,…bring me out of my distresses.” And then, as a reminder to himself and the wrong he has been doing, David repeats, “Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins…” Then David ends the Psalm with these words: “(Lord, I wait for you. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.” (Psalms 25:1-22 excerpts (ESV)
As a person reads Psalm 25, the Psalm written by a King, they have to be impressed by a ruler who admitted past mistakes and acknowledged God as the One who was able to give him wisdom to deal with his enemies. It is quite a contrast from world leaders who, rather than confessing their guilt, prefer to put a spin on things and cover up their errors, mistakes, and falsehoods. Truly, I am hard-pressed to think of any contemporary leader who publicly confesses his sins and then acknowledges the Triune God as His Protector, Confidant, Guide, and Redeemer. It simply isn’t done, is it? Still, just because rulers don’t follow David’s example, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. Like David, every one of us ought to pray: “Lord, I wait for you. Redeem me and save me from all my troubles.”
The world is a lonely place. Do you think, my friends, the Lord will respond to such a prayer? Many of you who are isolated and have become embittered have your doubts that God can or will do anything to save you from your loneliness. If you are among or part of such a throng, please allow me to assure you God will indeed respond to such a prayer. God will respond and I will tell you how.
Twenty centuries ago the Father in heaven sent His Son to this earth. Normally a King is warmly welcomed, God’s Son wasn’t. On the contrary, the country’s earthly leader unsuccessfully tried to murder Him. God’s Son, Jesus the Savior, lived His entire life for you and me. This He did not because you are so wonderful, so beautiful, or so lovable. No, He did this because He loved you. In spite of who you are… the wrongs you have done… the evil thoughts which are in your mind… the nastiness which blackens your heart, Jesus loved you. The reason He did is beyond human comprehension and can only be attributed to a Divine caring which is beyond anything this world has ever seen or will ever see again.
Jesus lived His life for you; easy for me to say, hard for Him to do. If you feel lonely, let me tell you about lonely; let me tell you about how it was for Jesus as He lived His life for you. Living for you meant that the people of His own hometown, the folks He had grown up with, they tried to kill Him. It meant the respected members of the church did their very best to make Him look like a fool. They were always coming up with trick questions which, no matter how Jesus answered them, would be wrong. The only problem was, when Jesus answered, they were the ones who looked foolish. That had to be lonely dealing with people who hated You so.
Living His life for you meant that people followed Jesus and appreciated and applauded Him as long as He gave them what they wanted. If He fed them, that was cool and they tried to make Him King. If He healed him, that was wonderful, and they sang Jesus’ praises far and wide. But if Jesus said, “Follow Me”; if He said, “Give away what you have to the poor and join me,” well, that was a different matter. Sadly, Jesus watched great throngs, people that He was trying to save, turn their backs on Him and walk away. That, my friends, is loneliness.
But there’s more. Jesus had friends. There were twelve men whom the Lord had hand-picked so He might teach and explain to them how He was giving His life for the salvation of sinners everywhere. These were the men who were supposed to carry on and share His story throughout the world. Unfortunately, these men were not always the best of pupils. They seldom understood what Jesus was saying; they didn’t figure out what He was doing, and, with the exception of a few special moments, they often found themselves at odds with His work. The last night they spent together Jesus asked them to ‘watch and pray.’ They didn’t, they fell asleep. Three times they fell asleep when Jesus needed them. Then, one of His friends, Judas by name, betrayed Jesus with a kiss. It was a kiss that put the Savior into the hands of His enemies. As for the other disciples, they ran away… except for one who went to check things out and ended up swearing He had never met the Savior. Talk about lonely… Jesus understands your kind of lonely… but you cannot understand His.
In the previous paragraph I spoke of how Jesus lived for you. But Jesus also died for you. After Jesus had endured a number of trials on trumped-up charges, the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate, gave in to the demands of Jesus’ church and allowed the Redeemer to be crucified. It was a terrible way to die… made even worse by what Jesus could see through His pain. Only one of His friends was brave enough to come and that he did in the company of Jesus’ mother and a few women who had always supported Jesus’ ministry. Those were the only friendly, familiar faces there. Representatives of His church were laughing… the government was gambling for His clothes… passersby on the road mocked Him and He was even insulted by one of the criminals who was dying next to Him.
But the worst, the part of Jesus’ loneliness you can never understand is this: Jesus was abandoned by His own Father. The Father who loves even the worst of sinners, and I mean the worst of sinners; the Father who has never forsaken anyone else, turned His back on His own Son. And why, why would God do this to His Son who was completing the work assigned to Him; the work of carrying our sins and keeping the Commandments? The Father left Jesus so there never would be a time when He would have to leave you. By Jesus’ death God has made it so all who believe will be forgiven and in His presence forever. Even more, Jesus’ third-day resurrection from the dead says those who believe on Him will never be alone. Indeed, the last thing Jesus said to His friends and to us is this: “I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” Those are the words which say, the loneliest of souls needs never be alone.
In World War II the Nazis threw the Lutheran Pastor, Reverend Martin Niemoller, into prison. The speed of his arrest allowed the pastor to take with him only the clothes on his back and his small New Testament. As the heavy iron gates closed behind him, the good Pastor put his hand in the pocket were his Bible was being cradled, he ran his fingers over the edges of that precious book which tells what Jesus has done. At peace, Pastor Niemoller whispered to himself: “I’m not alone, for the Lord is with me.”
The world is a lonely place. But none of us have to be alone. The Lord who has saved us is here. If you would like Him to be with you and dispel your loneliness, please let us be of help. Call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for February 24, 2013
Topic: Sadness in Heaven for Those Not There?ANNOUNCER: Will thoughts of hell dampen the happiness of heaven? Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi, Mark. Good to be back.
ANNOUNCER: Pastor, today we have a question which may be on the minds of believers as well as unbelievers.
KLAUS: I’m interested. What does our listener want to know?
ANNOUNCER: Heaven is supposed to be a happy place, but how can we be happy in heaven knowing others are suffering the torments of hell? Many reject Christianity’s teachings when they realize the implication that their friends, their relatives, their ancestors aren’t necessarily going to be in heaven.
KLAUS: Tough question. I don’t know if I can give an answer people are going to find entirely satisfactory. I’ll try. Let’s begin at the beginning. Mark, how does a person get into heaven and how do they get into hell?
ANNOUNCER: Getting into Hell is easy. Actually, we all deserve hell just by being our good old sinful selves. The Bible teaches that hell is the default destination of everyone who has broken God’s laws or fallen short of the perfection and obedience He demands. Apart from Christ, we would all naturally end up there, no matter how bad or good we’ve been.
KLAUS: The “default destination,” I like that. And how do we get into heaven?
ANNOUNCER: No one deserves heaven, but they receive it as God’s gracious gift, through faith in Christ. God declares sinners righteous on account of Christ and this allows them to enter heaven.
KLAUS: Wonderful, wonderful. Now, which sinners does God want to save? For whom did Jesus die? Did Jesus die to save only a select few?
ANNOUNCER: No, Jesus came to carry the sins of everyone and to offer salvation to everyone.
KLAUS: Okay, let’s put it this way. There was no way we could save ourselves. We were doomed. The Lord, motivated by grace and mercy, decided to affect a rescue. To mount this rescue effort, it was necessary that His Son die-to pay the price God’s justice demands for sin. Which brings us to right here and now. Let’s illustrate it this way: we were all drowning in sin. God is here, throwing out life preservers, an unlimited supply of life preservers. There’s one for everybody, if they want it. Those life preservers are faith in His Son. What’s more, God even puts the Holy Spirit in the water with us to drag us over to those life preservers… to put us into those life preservers and buckle us in. Is that accurate so far?
ANNOUNCER: It sounds just like “Coast Guard Alaska!”
KLAUS: But… some people say, “No, thanks. I’m going to try to save myself.” They refuse the life preserver. Others think there must be other life preservers–just as good–that they can trust, so they also turn down what God is offering. Again and again, God offers help and salvation and forgiveness and heaven. But people turn Him down, they refuse His offer.
ANNOUNCER: And then comes Judgment Day. Those who are found clinging to Jesus, their Savior, are saved and those who refused Christ, remain condemned.
KLAUS: That’s the story. Now, let me ask. When those souls in heaven find themselves safe and saved, how are they going to react?
ANNOUNCER: They’ll be overjoyed that they were saved.
KLAUS: I agree. God didn’t have to save them, but He chose to. He didn’t have to sacrifice His Son, but He did. It was a tremendous act of love. But how should those folks feel about those who aren’t saved? Should they be angry at God for not having done more?
ANNOUNCER: I don’t think so. God did all He could, but many didn’t want what He was offering.
KLAUS: Right. Those who thought they were good enough swimmers on their own, who thought there were other ways they could get into heaven, who refused to admit they were drowning-God ultimately gave them what they wanted.
ANNOUNCER: Explain that one more time.
KLAUS: One of my seminary professors said, “Hell is God’s last act of love for those who don’t want Him around.” Remember, God wants everybody to be saved… He made it so they could be saved. In a strange and sad way, these folks in hell got what they wanted, not what God wanted to give them. And I don’t think people in heaven, who understand and are thankful for all God has done, I don’t think they’ll be so traumatized when God allows the folks in hell to have what it is they wanted. On the contrary, since they will be in perfect harmony with the Lord, those folks in heaven will agree with God that it was only right.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Go, My Children, with My Blessing” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)
“Partita on ‘O Gott, du frommer Gott'” by J.S. Bach. From Orgelbüchlein & More Works by J.S. Bach by Robert Clark & John David Peterson (© 1997 Calcante Recordings, Ltd.)