Redeemer Lutheran Church
1084 W. Bullard Ave.
Fresno, CA   93711
Phone: (559) 439-8500
Fax: (559) 439-8585
office@redeemerfresno.com

The Reverend Clarence Eisberg
Phone: (209) 725-9082
Cell:  (209) 631-3108
pastor@redeemerfresno.com

Worship ~ 8:30 a.m. & 10:00 a.m.
Family Ministries ~ 10:00 a.m.
Holy Communion ~ 2nd & 4th Sundays
Connecting People to Jesus
www.lcms.org




The Reverend
Clarence Eisberg

September 6, 2009

“The Hound of Heaven”
“I fled him down the nights and down the days
I fled Him down the arches of the years
I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him.”

Francis Thompson wrote those words as he spent his life running away from God.  The
poem pictures God like an old bloodhound sniffing our sent, always in the distance,
occasionally letting out a howl to remind us that he is on our trail.

As the lengthy poem goes on, Thompson says he “fled across the margins of the world.”  
But the refrain always comes back:

“Still with unhurrying chase and unperturbed pace  eliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following feet, and a Voice about their Beat”

God is always there, always pursuing, always engaged in disclosing himself.  In his book
“The Testament of Devotion,” Thomas Kelly wrote: “Over the margins of life comes a
whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by.”  We
search for God and finally find Him, only to discover that it was God who was searching for
us all along.

God knew that Saul was present at the death of the first Christian martyr Stephen.  God
knew that Saul had heard the spoken words of Stephen.

By birth and education Saul belonged to three different worlds.  He was born in Tarsus, a
Roman city, which gave him the treasured Roman citizenship, and thus certain rights and
privileges that others did not possess.  He was very religious, blameless according the
Law of Moses, a Pharisee, well educated at the feet of the best Jewish scholar of the day,
Gamaliel.  He was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin, ambitious and full of hatred for those
fellow Jews who believed in Jesus.

Years later Saul, Paul would write in his letter to the Galatians Christians….”I was
extremely zealous fro the traditions of my fathers…” He had a fanatic commitment to
assert the followers of the Way.  To Saul, this new movement of Christianity was heresy.

Saul is on his way to Damascus to seek out those who were Christians in order to arrest
them and put them in prison in Jerusalem.  But, unknown to Saul… he was being pursued
by the living Christ, the Hound of Heaven.  God is always pursuing those who do not
believe in Jesus through the hallways and corridors of time.  

The journey from Jerusalem to Damascus is about 140 miles and would take 6 or 7 days.  
About noon on the 4th or 5th day suddenly a bright light, brighter than the sun stopped
Saul’s group in their tracks.  (read v 4-9)

Did you notice the words of Paul? “Who are you, Lord?”
He did not say… Lord Jesus, I’ve been waiting for you.”  Up to this point Saul, knew what
the disciples had been preaching about Jesus.  But in Saul’s mind Jesus was just a
carpenter from Nazareth.  He had not studied at the feet of any Jewish scholar.  He had
not been to any seminary.  He had no bank account.  He had been born in a stable, lived
in other people’s homes and was crucified like a common thief by the Roman
government.  

In answer to his question… “Who are you?”  “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  

God revealed himself to Saul in a burst of light from heaven.  Two weeks ago God
revealed his plan to Philip with an angel.  “Go south on the road to Gaza.”  Then on the
road, Philip heard a voice in his head which said, “go stand by the chariot”. How does God
reveal himself to us?

Nature is probably the oldest and most recognized revelation of God.  God’s revelation
through nature is commonly referred to as “natural” or “general” revelation.  It is a
revelation that comes to all people.  One wonders how any student of science can view
the strains of DNA found in each and every cell of our body claim life as an accident?

Rev. Babcock often left his home for an early morning walk up a hill overlooking Lake
Ontario with the farewell, “I’m going out to see my Father’s world.”  In 1901, he wrote a
poem with 16 stanzas.  We are familiar with three:

“This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears All nature sings and round me rings
the music of the spheres This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought of rocks and
trees, of skies and seas; God’s hand the Wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world; the birds their carols raise
The morning light, the flowers bright, declare their  
Maker’s praise Our God has made this world and shines in all that’s fair In rustling grass I
hear God pass, who speaks to me everywhere. Our God has made this world; o let us
neer forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is ruler yet.

Nature is great… but is not enough to adequately show us the “way to God.”  While the
mystery of creation causes wonder in our hearts, nature is not all sweetness and light.
Hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and earth quakes visit untold destruction upon
innocent people.  From history we know that people who were seeking God often looked
to nature and ended up worshiping the sun, moon and stars.  A religion based on nature
is not enough to give peace to one’s soul.

Yet God can use nature in his pursuit of lost souls.
In 1982 a gentleman by the name of James from Dos Palos, had asked me officiate at his
wedding. This was a gentleman who was not a Christian but he did believe in God.  About
three years before his first wife was accidentally killed in an accident on the ranch.  Prior
to her death she had become a Christian.  

James was not sure that there was such a thing as heaven.  He did not know the bible
stories that you and I take for granted… the story of Lazarus, the sermon on the mount,
the promises of Jesus in John 14, let alone the stories held in the pages of the O.T.  He
shared this story with me.

The fall of 1981 had been an extremely rainy and wet fall.  The rains had started early.  
James was a cotton farmer.  Finally one day it was overcast, misting rain and he prayed:  
“God give me five days of sunshine.”  The next day the sun was out and remained out for
five days, and as they pulled the machines in from the field on the fifth evening it began to
rain.

His prayer was answered in nature. We talked about that for some time and my comment
went something like this:  “Wonderful.  God is pursuing you.  He is trying to draw you
closer to Him closer to his written word so that you can have the gift of eternal life and
forgiveness through Jesus Christ.”  Of course James was not even sure that heaven
existed… it doesn’t matter… God was at work.  There is no one more persistent than
God.  

Another way that God reveals himself is through visions and dreams.  The Bible makes
clear that God is often revealing his plans through visions and dreams.  Abraham and
Sarah received an angelic visitor who assured them they would have a son.  God came to
Moses in a burning bush.  God spoke to Joseph in dreams.  A bolt of light strikes Saul on
the road to Damascus and he is given specific instructions.  “Go into the city and you will
be told what to do.”  

Several days later God speaks to Ananias, a Christian believer in Damascus in a vision.  
God was quite specific: “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man
from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.  In a vision he has seen a man named
Ananias come and places his hands on him to receive his sight.”         

When the voice of God speaks to you it will cause an adjustment to be made.  What did
Ananias say:  “Lord, I don’t want to go… this man is here to arrest us.”  God had a plan
for Saul. Ananias could not see the future. He was concerned about the present, the
possibility of arrest and prison. But God had a plan for Saul…“Ananias he is my chosen
instrument to carry my name”…beyond the walls of Jerusalem, beyond Judea.  He will
carry the message of salvation in Jesus to Gentiles, and proclaim my resurrection before
kings and rulers.  Ananias obeyed.

When God speaks to you, you need to be ready for action.   
When God speaks it is not for conversations sake.  
When God speaks through the bible, prayer, circumstances, the church, he has a
purpose for you.  He speaks when he is ready to accomplish something through you.  As
human beings I know we’d like to hear from God every day… but he is not interested in
giving us devotional thought for the day so that we can have good feelings through out
our day.  

It reminds me of the story of Abraham.  God spoke to him one day and told him to gather
up his belongings, his family and travel to the land that he would show him.  God also
promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son.  Life goes on… do you know
how many years passed before God spoke to Abraham again?   25 years.  It took God 25
years to prepare Abraham for fatherhood.  God’s plan was bigger than giving Abraham a
son… God was creating a nation.  God was taking his time building Abraham into a man
of faith and character.  The quality of a father shapes the next generation.

What have we learned today?  The moment God speaks you will have to make an
adjustment.  When Jesus spoke to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee, who had been
fishing all night and caught nothing…. Jesus called from the shore and said… “put your
nets down on the other side of the boat”.  In that moment they had to make a choice..  
They obeyed.  

The ultimate revelation of God is found not in nature, not in history, not in visions and
dreams… but in the person of Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 1:1 says: “Long ago God spoke to
our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his son.”  Jesus Christ is the “Word may flesh, who lived among us.” John
writes: “We have seen his glory, the glory as the Son of God.”  

C.S. Lewis once said that “he cannot give advice on pursuing God, having never had that
experience.  It was the other way around; He was the hunter and I was the deer.”  
(Reaching for the Invisible God. P. 121-122)

Saul was baptized and he spent time with the disciples in Damascus.  He was told about
the miracles, the teachings of Jesus and Holy Communion.  Then Saul, now Paul began to
debate with other Jews in the synagogue confronting them with the O.T. prophecies which
pointed to Jesus and the Messiah, his death and resurrection.

Billy Graham in his book “Till Armagedon…a perspective on Suffering“, wrote: “Slowly we
have drifted away from the biblical truth: without the shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness…Modern man would like to make of the cross a thing of sentiment or a trinket
to be worn around the neck an ornament on the church steeple, or a emblem stamped in
gold on our bible…. But it is the suffering and sacrifice of Christ on Calvary that ….
demonstrates the immensity of God’s love.”

Jesus Christ rose from death and the grave.  God the Father accepted the sacrifice of
Jesus on the cross.  Anyone who acknowledges Jesus as Savior is changed.  Saul was
changed.  The past sins of Saul, the terrible and tragic arrests of Christians, their
persecution were forgiven. Saul, now Paul, was anew creation by grace.  By the cross of
Jesus, sinners become saints. Those who are burden by past sins can lay them at the
foot of the cross.

At the cross human hearts that are hardened by sin find themselves changed, finding
forgiveness at the cross. The empty grave of Jesus has been the target of cynics.  For
centuries people have worn the cross and others have burned it.  You can do about
anything you want to the cross and the empty grave, except ignore them.  Paul wrote:
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are
saved, it is the power of God to create a new person.”  (I Cor. 1:23-24)  

Royal Canadian Mounted Police train men in anti-counterfeiting work.  They never let a
trainee see a counterfeit bill.  They know only one genuine type of ten-dollar-bill exits.  
They so thoroughly study the genuine bill that anything that does not measure up to that
counterfeit.


You can’t imagine all the ways people can counterfeit money.  But Mounties don’t study
how people counterfeit money.  They just study the real thing.  Anything that doesn’t
measure up to that is fake.


If you are faced with a decision about Jesus, as was Paul a decision must be made.  Yes,
nature challenges the mind to think about the existence of God.  Yes, personal
experiences can make one think about the existence of God.

When the disciples were on a small boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee a serious
storm arose.  Water was swamping the boat… they were bailing water like crazy, when
suddenly Jesus comes to them walking on the water.  Peter is invited to walk on the
water.  He does.  When he took his eyes off Jesus he began to sink.  He cried out.  “Lord,
save me.”  Jesus reached out his hand… and immediately they were in the boat.  All the
disciples, good Jewish boys fell down and worshiped Jesus…God in flesh who created the
waves, and stilled the waves was in their presence.  They made a decision.  


When God speaks to your heart by the Holy Spirit, calling your name, He is offering you
forgiveness, eternal life, by faith in Jesus.  Adjustments may have to be made.  When God
speaks to your heart by the Holy Spirit he is inviting you join him in his work of telling
others about the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.  Adjustments may have to be
made.  Philip walked down the road to Gaza on faith, waiting on God’s direction.  Saul,
Paul, blinded by the light, was led to Damascus.  There in the home of a Jewish friend, he
prayed, fasted and waited.  When Jesus revealed himself as the “living bread” the source
of eternal life… Saul changed his name to Paul and proclaimed Jesus.  

When God reveals himself to you….
1) You will have to believe God is who he says he is.
2) You will have to believe God can do what he says
3) You will have to adjust your thinking.
4) You will have to obey his voice
5) When you obey God will accomplish his work through
you building your faith and trust.