A Good Talk by Pastor Humphreys, But a Delay in the Official Opening of "The War Room" Prayer Project

Sermon: “Undefeated On Paper”

FACILITIES “ON THE FRITZ,” PRAYER MEETING RELOCATED

A burst water pipe in the main Berean church building left it without water, a temporary condition that master plumber and church Elder Eddie Hall has managed to remedy. But the Wednesday night prayer meeting was still relocated across the street, to the old Adventist Conference Headquarters Building. It was an intimate venue, and electronic amplification was unnecessary. Tonight was to be the kick-off of the “War Room” theme for these prayer meetings, but this has been postponed a week. Pastor Austin Humphrey’s sermon, “Undefeated On Paper,” was probably prepared to adapt to this martial theme. It took for it’s text Joshua 10:12, a wartime occurrence (like most of Joshua): “Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.” Time literally stands still, just as requested!

Pastor Humphreys stated that Joshua was asking God to do something that had never been done before. He said that one of his favorite movies was “Mission: Impossible.” As evil as some of the villians were in this movie, often the greatest adversary was “time itself.” Joshua needed more time in order to defeat the Amorites. This need constituted an “impossible” situation. His unusual request to God had three results.

Mission: Impossible. the TV Show, not the movie. I saw a comedy sketch about the strongman Peter Lupus played. The parody of him said,”If you need any heavy-lifting done, just call on me!”

• God gave him PEACE. Joshua 10:8 reads: “And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” It was a “done deal.” The pastor said that if we ever found ourselves feeling that we were sure that we would suffer defeat, we must “look through the eyes of faith.” This comment reminded me of Second Kings 6:17: “…And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” God already has a plan in place to get us out of our mess, and spiritual armies as well.
• God gave him a PROMISE. Pastor Humphreys noted that some might inquire, “God, are you sure that all of this is going to work out?” The promise is stated above, “I have delivered them.” My attention lapsed. I may have had a narcoleptic moment. When I came to, I heard the pastor say, “In the War Room we are getting ready to go to war with the enemy!” My capricious brain referenced the line from “Dr. Strangelove” where the President intercedes in a squabble between the George C. Scott character (a military man) and the Soviet ambassador, saying, “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”

George C. Scott played Abraham in last Sabbath’s post. This Wednesday, he is a paranoid general sitting in the War Room in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr.Strangelove.”

• God gave him POWER. Joshua did not ask God for anything as commonplace as “strength for his men.” He asked for an impossible thing, for something “ridiculous.” The pastor restated that Joshua asked for “something that has never happened before.” Pastor Humphreys made a similar statement in last Wednesday’s sermon, noting that Abraham’s faith that God could restore, if need be, his son Isaac to life was also “unprecedented.” Pastor Humphreys was preaching in a small room tonight, but his next sentence was designed to fill a cavernous space: “Why would you pray a “pattycake” prayer when you need God to do something “exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us.”
  

Joshua was facing an army that they had never encountered before. Continuing the “War” metaphors, Pastor Humphreys told us that we were facing an enemy that gets an update on our tactics everyday. The pastor said that Joshua understood that in warfare your greatest asset is your relationship with the Commander in Chief. I have acquired a nice little book about the Salvation Army. They are heavily into an extended and pervasive “military” metaphor. My ephemeral song “A March” is very militant. Christ did not come to bring peace, but a _________! (You fill in the blank). Pastor told us that we all needed to be “trained in prayer.” This way, if anyone should approach with a great need, we would be ready to respond. If we should take a notion to pray for something impossible, God will do an impossible thing. The pastor concluded with another reference to time, declaring that time was defeated at the Cross, and cited a portion of Hebrews 12:2, to the effect that God is the “author and finisher” of our faith.