Bret Hammond

We had an early Father's Day family outing to the zoo yesterday. Grandpa had a great time watching the animals with Ruby. It was a good thing we had Gracie along; she read the plaques to us, giving us essential information about the various animals.

For instance, she told us we shouldn't smile at the spider monkeys because they take bared teeth as a sign of aggression. "Who cares?" I thought. There was a fence between us and the monkeys, so how aggressive could they get? I grinned big and noticed one of the monkeys swinging along the fence until he got in front of me and bared, not his teeth, but another part of his anatomy at me.

Gracie should have read the part about how excellent a spider monkey's aim is.

Thankfully I stopped smiling in time, and the monkey lost interest in me shortly after I lost interest in it. Aggression is often unpredictable. I've seen aggressive drivers, sports fans, and political fanatics. Thankfully none of them have mistaken my smile as an excuse to unload on me. Not like that monkey, anyway!

Psalm 2 asks the question, "Why do the nations rage?" Why, indeed? What is to be gained by the anger and abuse often hurled at others with whom we disagree? Nothing for the kingdom of God, that's for sure! And the Psalm makes it clear that it's the nations that rage. The people of God are invited to join their Heavenly Father for a very different response.

And as for me, I'll keep smiling! I'll just stand a bit further back.

I've joked that the only reason I keep going to school is to maintain my Spotify student discount. Spotify is a service that contains a massive collection of music. It's introduced me to new songs I've fallen in love with and allows me to build playlists of my old favorites. So whatever mood I find myself in, there's a Spotify playlist that speaks to it.

This summer, we're going to the Psalms, that carefully curated playlist of songs in our Bibles. Spotify's got nothing on the Psalms! Whatever you're feeling or need to feel, there's a Psalm that speaks to your heart.

Today, we'll begin with Psalm 1, with blessings for the one who "delights in the law of the Lord." As we hear these ancient songs resonate through our hearts, we may find that we're not just reading the Psalms; the Psalms are reading us.

A Funeral Message for Darrell Short by Bret Hammond

I was an hour away from home, looking for some relaxation on a beautiful summer day. My destination was a rails-to-trails project where I could walk, think, and pray. As I approached the parking lot for the trail, my old vehicle balked! It didn't want to turn! With great effort and a lot of trouble, I steered into the lot and assessed the problem.

My power steering was out.

An hour from home.

Jack LaLanne would have approved of the workout I got on the drive back home. Every curve was a challenge. I felt right and left turns burning in my forearms, and just keeping the old clunker pointed in the right direction kept me sweating. No power steering meant I was left to my strength to get home.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you," Jesus promises in Acts 1:8. Power to steer the church against the tide of the world and power to meet life's challenges with holiness and peace. Ten days later, that power was given on the day of Pentecost.

And yet, you and I confess that too often, we live like we have no power steering, struggling to make our way in this world through our own strength. What blessings would we know if we took our hands off the wheel and trusted God's guiding power?

Tim Keller passed away Friday, three years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Keller was a significant voice in the Christian faith, often confrontational, always kind, and always pointing people to Jesus.

I followed him on Twitter, where, among the short rants offered by way too many, Keller presented grace, reason, and Christ. A week ago, Tim Keller posted, "If the most powerful person, the power behind the universe loves you with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind, and you can see that on the cross, why are you afraid?" All this while his body daily reminded him that time was short.

Tim Keller had what the apostle Peter called "a living hope." That's been the driving force as we've looked at 1 Peter in these weeks after Easter. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

So, I echo Keller, "why are you afraid?"

in this message, we wrap up our trip through 1 Peter with a fantastic promise for our lives today and eternity as well.

"Trouble won't kill ya."

In his song, "La Vie," Billy Sprague tells the story of his grandmother Myrtle and the trials she had lived through, outlasting two husbands, all of her sisters, brothers, and cousins. Myrtle was left to wonder why she was still alive.

I can't help but think of Mom today and all she lived through. She came from a family of nine children, but she buried most of those siblings before her death. She endured a miscarriage, the death of a son by suicide, her husband's descent into dementia, and the challenges of her own weakening body. Still, I think she and Myrtle would have agreed. As Billy Sprague put it, "She smiles and she'll tell ya, 'Trouble won't kill ya,' 'cause if it did, she would have died."

The chorus of the song plays between French and English. "Oh, la vie est dure, that much is sure. Mais Dieu est bon si bon." As Dad would say, "Pardon my French" (sometimes I doubt that he actually knew French); the lyrics translate, "Life is hard, but God is good, so good." The chorus concludes, "Through the fire and the rain, I call him by name. And when the night is long, I remember mais Dieu est bon (my God is good)."

Grandma Myrtle and my mom each had a simple faith. They didn't have answers to the tough questions, but they endured the fires that burned through their lives. So today at Kansas Christian Church, we turn to 1 Peter 4:12, "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you." Maybe we'll hear something of Myrtle and Marge echoing back, "Trouble won't kill ya." And encouraging us on with, "God is good, so good."

Dad taught me always to carry a spare tire and jack in the car's trunk. That served me well until I found someone with a flat one day, and my tire iron didn't match their lug nuts. That's when I started carrying a four-way. Then I found someone with an easily fixed tire puncture, and that's when I started carrying a patch kit. Then I started carrying a tire pump. And then . . .

Be Prepared. That's not just a lesson for Boy Scouts; it serves us all well to be ready for whatever the world throws in our direction. I hear something of that in Peter's call to be prepared to give a reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Too often, it's easy to tell people what frightens us and causes us to lose sleep. Are we prepared to share our hope over our fears, though?

There are movies we've watched so often that certain lines have burned themselves into our memory and found their way into everyday conversation. So, for a number of you reading this, all I have to write is, "Tis but a scratch!" and, well . . . if you know, you know!

As a kid, watching the Black Knight suffer injury after injury, losing limb after limb, all the while maintaining that he's "had worse," was hilarious. As an adult, though, I've seen too many times when friends in horrible circumstances have minimized their pain, downplayed their suffering, and feigned, "Tis but a scratch," while their hearts were breaking.

What is it in us that causes us to trivialize our travails? Why do we struggle to admit when we're hurting? It only prevents us from allowing others to bless and help us through our pains.

Peter reminds us that pain is universal—we all experience it. He also calls us to see that there are lessons in our pain, lessons that draw us closer to God and closer to each other.

In 1 Peter 2:19-25, we hear Peter's pain prescription and find the grace to endure together.

Oh, and "Alright . . . we'll call it a draw."

In 1927, following the sudden death of his wife, Arthur John Gossip preached his sermon, "But When Life Tumbles In, What Then?" This sermon continues to impact us as we search for a faith that will take us through the troubles of life.

The full text of this manuscript can be found at https://www.brethammond.com/2023/04/but-when-life-tumbles-in-what-then/

Of all the words of faith and devotion in the Bible, I find myself reflecting on three spoken by Daniel's friends before the fiery furnace.

"But if not."

When faced with the choice of either bowing down and worshiping idols of gold or submitting their lives to the fire, these men spoke with conviction about the power of God and faith in his ability to save them. In Daniel 3:17, they declare, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning firey furnace."

In the next verse, though, they follow up their confidence with the words, "but if not." But if he doesn't save us, but if we burn in the furnace, but if our lives are taken from us, "we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

I hear something I need in that statement. I need a "but if not" kind of faith. I know God can heal, but if not, I will still worship him. I'm confident in God's ability to answer my prayers, but if not, I am still his.

Today, a week out from Easter, we need to hear the call to a "but if not" kind of faith. We'll go to 1 Peter and find a faith that lives despite the reality of our griefs, troubles, and lack of sight. We need this kind of faith.