Sermon Snippets

Hard-wired within our American culture is a fear of excessive surveillance and governmental control. From George Orwell's classic Nineteen Eighty-Four to the blockbuster Hunger Games books and movies, the fear of having to look over our shoulder because 'Big Brother' is watching is a well-used and effective narrative tool. 

For those unfamiliar with the Biblical text, it may be surprising that Scripture repeatedly brings this idea up as it describes God. Sure it may not be the same thing, but imagine you aren't overly familiar with the Bible and your only point of reference for this are the pop cultural examples. Now read these verses with those lenses:

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

- Psalm 139


It may be a bit alarming if you haven't grown up in church but did read Orwell's book in middle school and have immersed yourself in the dystopian society book genre.


Thankfully, God reveals this aspect of himself as a truth to be cherished not feared. A healthy respect is necessary for sure, but God's omniscience (aka, he is all-knowing) is a comforting reality when all seems lost. Proverbs 15 includes several verses which highlight this reality and encourage us with it. 


15:8-9 and 15:11 are just two of the six passages we'll look at on Sunday as we learn that we have nowhere to go and nowhere to hide when God is concerned. And that can be a good thing. A really good thing.