Lies We Believe: “I Have to be Strong” 

6/23/24 

Welcome to the first message of our new sermon series: “Lies we believe.” In John 8, Jesus had an argument with the Pharisees. They were religious leaders who didn’t like Jesus. Jesus told them, they belong to the devil and there is no truth in him. The devil is a liar and the father of lies.  

You can say the devil or evil or sin pulls us back from living in peace with ourselves, God and others. We repeat lies to ourselves and believe them. Next week we’re going to look at the lie, “This is just the way I am. I can’t change.” I’ve got this addiction, and I just can’t overcome it. Or, you know, I’ve always struggled with finances and I’m just never going to be good with money. The next week we’ll talk about the lie, “I’m not good enough.” I’m not a good enough parent. I’m not a good enough spouse, or friend, or employee. And the last week we’ll talk about the lie, “I am what I do.” If I’m raising a kid who is going down the wrong path, that must mean I’m a bad parent and a bad person. If I don’t have a nice vehicle, I’m not successful. If people aren’t envious of my vacations, I’m a failure. If I don’t have an important job and make a lot of money, I’m not worth much. I am what I do. 

Today we’re going to talk about one of the most common lies, that is the lie that we have to be strong. We have to hold it all together. There are different categories of strength. The first one is feeling you need to be emotionally strong. My brother, Pat, died the end of April, and I wanted to be strong, I didn’t want to cry in public, but I get emotional easily. I did a lot of crying! I tell myself, it’s ok to be vulnerable. Sometimes we feel we have to be strong emotionally for someone else. Parents might feel they have to be strong and say, “our marriage isn’t working, but we have to hold it together for the sake of the children. We have to be strong.” Sometimes children feel like they have to be strong for their parents, they might think, “If we work really hard at being good, we can keep our parents together.” That’s a lot of responsibility kids might feel for something that they can’t fix, that isn’t their fault.   

We feel like we need to be strong emotionally, so we act strong. But we’re acting. We’re not being our real self. We’re believing a lie that we need to be emotionally strong. 

Another category is to say I have to be a strong provider. I have to keep our home orderly, it’s up to me to put food on the table. I have to get all the yard work done. I have to provide financially and balance the checkbook. Maybe I need to get a second job. Especially with inflation I feel the stress of keeping everything going, I have to be a strong provider.  

Another category where you can feel you need to be strong might be spiritually. Maybe you have a lot of people in your life who aren’t Christ followers, and you feel like you have to be a good witness and say the right things to them. It’s up to you, you have to be strong to make them Christians. If someone asks you about the Bible, you feel like you have to have the right answer. You’ve got to be spiritually strong! But it’s a big responsibility to think someone’s eternity, that they become a Christian, is 100% up to you!  

Then there’s a professional category of “I have to be strong.” You might have a job you hate, and your coworkers are crazy. But you think you have to endure this job that you can’t stand. Or maybe you feel like you’re the only person with a work ethic at your job. And you think, if you aren’t strong and if you don’t do everything, nothing will get done. Me, I remember in the early months of Covid, being worried. People can’t come to church. What if people don’t give anymore and the church runs out of money? What if people don’t come back to church? What if I kill the church? You might feel pressure to be strong in your work. 

The good news is, “I have to be strong” is a lie, and Jesus wants to reveal the truth. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free!” The truth is no, no matter how strong you are, your strength is limited. You’re not God and you can’t fix everything that’s wrong, do everything that needs to be done and be strong all the time. Maybe you feel, “That’s where I am. There’s more than I can handle. I have too much to do and a short fuse. You feel pressure and guilt. “If only I was a better spouse, a better Christian, a better provider, and better at my job. But I can’t get it all done!” The issue is your strength is limited. You can’t do it all. You’re not created by God to have all the ability in your own strength. God’s strength is unlimited. That’s why He doesn’t want us to depend on our own limited abilities, but to do life empowered by him, by his unlimited spiritual strength. God doesn’t want us worried, stressed and depending just on our own limited abilities. He wants us to do life empowered by his limitless spiritual power. 

There’s a verse in the Old Testament I love: Isaiah 40:30-31, “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”  

Those who hope in the Lord don’t have to be 100% strong. They can be weak, they can be vulnerable, take a day off. Take their troubles and hand them over to God.  

And the amazing thing is, when we hope in the Lord, and not in ourselves, God’s strength is enough. I took a Sunday off June 9 to go to the Penn Southeast Conference meeting. Worship was better here than if I had been here!  

At Trinity youth led worship! Camden Welker was the worship leader, and Ashley Merchant helped. Sage did a great children’s sermon with cookies! Cayden and Kate were greeters, Kallie and Evan were acolytes, Bella and Delaney took up the offering, Sage, Quin and Landen read Scriptures, Sharon Scheib read the sermon and Landen Booth did the video of worship for facebook. It was so awesome to watch! 

At St. Peter’s: Susan Shadle led worship and read the sermon, Jim Erdman did an amazing job of reading Scriptures, Michelle Keefer gave a moving witness to the importance of God and church in her life, and Kayla did the children’s sermon like a pro! God moved in worship in a powerful way! 

Jesus said, the truth sets you free! The truth is, you have to be weak, vulnerable, and dependent. The Apostle Paul was a superstar in starting congregations and going out as a missionary to the gentiles. Paul seems really strong: he survived beating, whips, shipwrecks, angry mobs, and prison! But this superstar Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 he was weak! He said he had a thorn in his side. By that he meant some problem, maybe a speech impediment or sickness. We don’t know what the thorn in his side was. But he begged God to take it away! I can imagine him saying, “God, I have important things to do, I have good news to preach to those who might never otherwise hear it. Heal me!” Paul begged three times, but God left it there. Why? God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul decided this was great! He had relief from the stress. He had God’s peace. And he said, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power my rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses. For when I am weak, I am strong.” 

My homework for you this week is to delight in a weakness! Maybe you think I can’t change my family member, that’s my weakness. But I’m delighted! I pray for God to do what only God can do. I can’t do everything at work, that’s my weakness. But I’m delighted, because, God, you can do all things. I trust you. 

There’s a lie that we believe that we have to be strong. We don’t! When we stop depending on our own strength, we can trust and hope in God. He is enough. His grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect, when we admit, we are weak and in need of him. Amen.