We've all been hurt.
We all carry scars.
We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let's build that relationship together right here.
Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.
So we're going to be talking about something a little different today.
So let me ask you this before we get started.
Do you know what a life verse is?
There are those verses that we all go to in hard times.
They're the ones that give us comfort.
They give us strength if we need it.
That peace of heart, that peace of mind.
Even Jesus quoted scripture when he was being tempted in the wilderness and when he was
going through hardship.
Even people who don't fully understand scripture have favorites.
Think about it.
We see things all over the place.
Like take for example John 3.16.
It's at every sporting event imaginable.
Political rallies just everywhere.
There's a gathering.
There's somebody that has something that says John 3.16, right?
Even on the first few pages of many Bibles is Psalm 119 verse 105 which says,
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
A lot of pastors that are out there will use this Psalm as an opening prayer during the
opening of their services.
You may have even found yourself using it if you're familiar with this verse.
A ring that I often wear is inscribed with Philippians 4.13.
And Philippians 4.13 says, I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me.
It's another real popular one.
Now I'm going to go through another favorite verse of mine.
And this thing, I'm telling you, that light's going to go on and be like, whoa.
Hold on tight.
I mean this is going to blow your mind.
This is great.
And I love it.
And a big part of it is because I love silly things.
I like to be entertained.
I don't know about you, but that's part of something that pulls me in.
I don't want to sit there like, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah.
Like I'm sitting in front of Charlie Brown's teacher.
Just something boring.
This is something that much like a couple weeks ago when we learned about a certain
talking donkey.
Remember that?
So you can't say that the Bible can't entertain us while teaching us at the same time.
But I digress.
I'm going down a rabbit trail here.
Let's get back on track.
So we have quite a bit to go through in a little bit of time.
So let me ask you this.
Have you ever thought about God's armor?
Or more specifically, I should be asking, is that all that's being worn?
No, of course not.
People aren't naked under there.
Especially, you think about God's underwear, there's nothing on the backside.
It's all to the front.
All I see that's back there on the backside is God.
Nobody's back there mooning Him.
No one's showing off their backside for that.
So did you know that God told someone to buy underwear?
No, I have not fallen off my rocker.
I promise you.
Bear with me.
We're going into that right now.
So for those who follow with their Bible, and for those of you who just like to take
notes and then go back later on, I'll invite you to join me in Jeremiah chapter 13.
And that is where we're going to be spending the bulk of our time today.
So just so you know, I will be reading from the CSB translation today.
So it's going to read a little different from what some of you all say.
And I'm going to address that here in a moment.
So let's start off though.
Jeremiah chapter 13, verses one through two.
The Bible says, this is what the Lord said to me, go and buy yourself a linen undergarment
and put it on, but do not put it in water.
So I bought the underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.
Now depending on what translation you're reading, your Bible most likely says loin cloth, waistband,
linen girdle, a linen sash or a linen belt.
But think about it.
What is that?
It's underwear.
And think about underwear back in those days.
It wasn't the thin, easy to pull up stuff that we wear today.
It was a much bigger cloth that was wrapped around and affixed to people in a much different
manner, much like the clothing of that time was much different than what we wear today.
And even some of the changes in the last 40 years, have our clothing different.
And it seems silly.
We can laugh.
It's like really underwear?
What in the world is this doing?
What's going on?
This has to be the most absurd thing I have ever come across in the Bible.
But we have to keep in mind that every verse is here to learn from.
It is.
So as silly as it is, I said, we can laugh.
It is funny and we're talking about underwear.
Second Timothy chapter three, verses 16 through 17, the Bible reminds us, all scripture is
inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training
in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
You see, it's God's word.
It's his truth.
And he's given it to us to help us.
And just like this scripture, does it make sense right out the gate?
Does life always make sense?
No.
Does Christianity always make sense?
The things that we're called to?
No, absolutely not.
But it's a reminder that we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and not get caught up in the
world that's around us because of course we take our eyes off of Jesus and we start looking
around, that's when we start to sink.
So this is where we really start to go into it.
At some point, you will be different from everyone else that's around you and you're
going to have to take a stand.
You are going to have to make that choice as to whether you care more about the ways
of the world and what the world says or God.
Plain and simple, world or God.
And when we say the world, really, you know, it's Satan or God.
It'll be a life or death moment.
Now, it could be literal, it could be quite literal, but it could be the other way.
You might be blessed with a long life and that moment was simply a turning point where
you had that literal come to Jesus talk with the Lord and further your relationship with
them.
Look at the chaos that we see in the news today and look at the focal lens that Christians
are being looked at through.
Much like in the earliest days of the term Christian, it's increasingly being used kind
of as like a curse word.
The term Christian is being used to mock and ridicule professed Christians by many groups
a day.
Like, oh, those Christians.
Oh, you're a Christian, huh?
Okay.
You know exactly what I'm talking about.
More and more so, you know, you look at all these little groups and woke movement and all
that and it's very much turned or being turned into a bad term.
It's a flag for many people, which is unfortunate, but the Bible warned us that this was going
to happen.
With that said, God is going to make us uncomfortable and once we're uncomfortable, He's going
to test us.
I saw, I see this meme and it pops up fairly regularly, you know, at least a couple of
times a year and it says, when you're going through hard times and you wonder where God
is, remember the teacher is always quiet during a test.
Let me see that again.
When you're going through hard times and you wonder where God is, remember the teacher
is always quiet during a test and it's true.
You know, think about it.
It's like when you're in school or anywhere else, you know, even like, you know, continuing
education once you hit the professional world, you know, are you really able to ask questions
during a test?
No, no.
It's like you either know it or you don't.
You know, and that's what the test shows us.
You know, how much do we know?
What do we need to work on?
You know, and so with that said, you know, we're going to be looking at underwear today
because before we put on, you know, his armor, we need to have our underwear on.
So that brings me to our first point, you know, new underwear.
It's vivid.
It's nice.
You know, think about it.
We are all bright.
We all are.
And Jesus even talks about this.
Specifically he talks about the salt and the light.
In Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 through 16, the Bible says, you are the salt of the earth.
But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?
It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world.
A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand.
And it gives light for all who are in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father in heaven.
We're called to be the light in other people's times of darkness.
Just like when you're drawn to a candle and the room is dark, or a night light in the
hall and you're trying to make your way down in the middle of the night and not wake anybody.
We're all drawn to the Lord's light when we find those dark times in life as well.
And we should all strive to let His light shine through us for others to see.
Many of you know I worked at First Response for a long time.
And that's one of the things that when I was a trainer that I would say, if you're not
there to help people in their darkest hour, this isn't the job for you.
But you know what?
As a Christian, we're all called to be there in people's darkest hours.
So whether you like it or not, that is part of the job.
And you think about it.
Even new black underwear is bright.
We're talking black, right?
It's like, what do you mean bright?
Well think about it.
It's that nice shiny black.
It hasn't had that chance to fade or get spots or turn gray or those little thin areas from
wearing it so much.
It doesn't look worn yet.
So it's still very vibrant.
On the flip side of that, new underwear, just like other types of clothing, it's not always
the most comfortable.
It hasn't been broken in yet.
It's nice.
It's supportive.
But it hasn't quite molded to your body yet.
And as a Christian, we know that being a Christian isn't always the most comfortable.
Especially when we're being questioned about our faith.
When people make those anti-Christian comments, they take those things like, Jesus love you,
and they turn it into a joke like, oh, Jesus loves you.
We all know the types.
So that brings me to my next point.
Our underwear needs to be fresh.
So let's go back into Jeremiah 13 here.
Verses 3 through 7, the Bible says, Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time,
Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates,
and hide it in a rocky crevice.
So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
A long time later, the Lord said to me, Go at once to the Euphrates, and get the underwear
that I commanded you to hide there.
So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where
I had hidden it.
But it was ruined, of no use at all.
Once the linen wasn't fresh, it became useless.
Nobody should be wearing dirty underwear.
You should be changing it regularly.
I hope you are, and serving God and growing in our relationship with Him is no different.
God has a ton of new things to share with us every single day, but we need to look and
we need to listen.
Not just hear it, but listen.
There is a difference between hearing and listening.
And we have several tools at our disposal to help us with this.
Just to name a few, we have the Bible, we have different groups, there are camps out
there.
You can start a journal, take notes and ask questions, write down prayers.
It gives you something later to go back and look over.
And you can take special notes.
When you see those answered prayers, it's like, Whoa, yeah, that was answered.
That's awesome.
Okay, great.
That's one more thing I can praise and add to my own testimony about how God's helped
me in my life.
Your relationship with God really determines whether or not your underwear is fresh, if
it's dirty, or if it's useless.
Which brings me to that next point.
Your underwear is yours, and it's yours alone.
Nobody should be wearing somebody else's underwear.
For that matter, do you really want to?
No, it should be yours.
Don't play dress up with someone else's drawers.
As individuals, we don't even like to wear the same kind of underwear.
Think of all the different types that are out there.
You have your boxers, your briefs, your panties, etc.
When you think of all the different decorations, you have your plane, you have your colorful,
superheroes, polka dots, stripes, etc., etc., all down the line.
There's so many different kinds.
There's something out there that fits everyone's taste.
Your relationship with God is no different.
You can't have a relationship with God through other people.
It can't happen.
You shouldn't want that.
God wants to have a personal relationship with each of us, individually.
Everyone's relationship is different, just like your relationships with other people.
Your relationships with your friends and different family members are all different.
Your parents, for example.
Your relationship with your parents is nothing like the relationship that your siblings have.
As a matter of fact, your parents don't even probably treat you guys quite the same.
Same can be said for your spouse, for your children, your neighbors, your coworkers,
and so on.
You have a unique relationship with all of these people, just like they have a unique
relationship with you.
The person that you consider your best friend, somebody else can't stand.
The same for you.
Your relationship with God cannot and will not ever be the same as anyone else's for
the exact same reason.
Coming together with the Church isn't enough.
Reading your Bible isn't enough.
Prayer isn't enough.
You have to have that relationship with God.
This comes back to using our tools.
There are hundreds of Bible apps, devotionals, journals, in addition to the good old fashioned
paper and ink that we've all grown up with.
There's still Bible stores out there.
You go in there and you might even have to ask for help because they have so many different
types.
You can participate in Bible studies, read books to gain or improve insight into certain
things that you might find confusing.
Having to have a relationship with God through other people is just like wearing someone
else's underwear.
It really is.
There's no excuse for any of us at this point, especially when we have so many options available
to us.
Which brings me to my next point.
God's underwear, it's snug and supporting.
Join me now in Jeremiah 13.
We're going to go through verses 8 through 11 here.
The Bible says, verses 8 through 11, the word of the Lord came to me.
This is what the Lord says, just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah
and Jerusalem, these evil people who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness
of their own hearts and who have followed other gods to serve and bow and worship.
They will be like this underwear of no use at all, just as underwear clings to one's
waist.
So I fasten the whole house of Israel and Judah to me.
This is the Lord's declaration, so that they might be my people for my fame, praise and
glory but they would not obey.
Your underwear should support you and God will support you, but you have to listen and
you have to obey, even when it doesn't make sense, even when you don't want to.
Oh, that's a big one there, huh?
You know, we have to get close and we have to hold on to God.
You know, I think about Jesus going through the crowd, what were people trying to do?
They're reaching out, they're trying to grab him, trying to hold onto his clothing.
When we stray from God, we start to wear out, we get stretched real thin.
Even the elastic band on your underwear eventually wears out and breaks, that little snap, right?
Then that underwear, it becomes useless.
God from your life at that point, it's in the trash, done, gone, bye bye, rubbish.
See, when we push those boundaries of how we go through life in the world and try to
see how much we can do on our own without God, our relationship with him, it's getting
stretched real thin, it's getting pulled to that limit.
If we keep pushing and pushing and pushing, eventually we get too far away and it breaks
and we become lost.
It's because we get caught up on our own pride, which is a very, very ugly sin.
If you haven't been paying attention, that is the whole point of Jeremiah 13.
We all know actions speak louder than words.
What people see versus what they hear, that's going to send up some red flags if they don't
match up.
Jeremiah, as you can see, he liked to use things that would get people's attention
and their curiosity, really suck them in so that he could get the point across.
The illustration here, who was showing what had happened to Judah, and really, we see
it happening today all around us.
You see, Judah, at one point they had been really close to God, really close.
They're God's people, right?
But by this point, they were becoming useless because of their pride.
Things were stretching thin.
He chose underwear because it was, and still is today, an extremely intimate thing.
It's a very intimate piece of clothing.
Because of their pride, they're a walk around in ruined skivvies and soon they would have
a fallout with God if something didn't change.
That's the whole point.
Even today, we have to renew our relationship with God daily.
Just like chapters in our lives begin and come to a close, our underwear needs to be
changed as well.
Sometimes we have to do it a lot more frequently so that we can become closer to Jesus and
become the people that he wants us to be.
The people he wants us to be.
We have the instruction.
We know what we need to be doing.
We need to start doing it.
That's where we get our hope because in his mercy and his grace, we've been given this
chance to have this relationship.
We haven't just been cast to the side.
Jesus took the cross for us so that we could start living for him.
So the next time you're pulling out a fresh pair of underwear, help you think about this.
Think about Jeremiah 13 and that it serves as a reminder.
God's there and he will support you.
But you have to maintain that relationship.
Thank you for joining me today here at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
If you'd like to know more about our ministry or how you can support us, you can do so by
going to our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or you can visit us on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.
We'll catch you next time.
God bless.