At The Heart
Sermon
The Courage to Carry On
Sermons for Lent and Easter During Cycle B
Object:
We have a new library in town. I went over to check it out the other day by attending a bag lunch seminar.
As I walked in the front door, there was a huge sign that listed all the rooms and all the programs. Amazing. There were several seminars with guest lecturers listed. The seminar rooms were equipped with computers for PowerPoint presentations. Each had a small kitchen for refreshment preparation. Then there was a room full of computers. Each was occupied. A few people were standing in line waiting for an empty space. I also observed a research room. It contained a few tables and chairs, but most notably there was a large serving area with two receptionists and two computers nearby. "We can help you research most anything," said one.
I heard someone ask the other receptionist, "Where do they keep the books?"
Is it possible to have a library without books?
Our big megachurch in town lost its pastor last week. He is moving on to join the faculty of some church leadership school for pastors in Atlanta.
I remember the first time my wife and I visited this huge church facility in a gorgeous setting overlooking the mountains. Our friends had invited us to join them for lunch in the church cafeteria. It was on a Tuesday, as I recall. We had a delightful time. The meal was superb. There must have been a hundred people present enjoying a smorgasbord that would have put any restaurant to shame.
Someone asked if we would like a tour of the facilities. "Yes, of course," we said.
The dear lady took us on a 45-minute escapade. We visited the gymnasium, the fitness room, and the auditorium with screens, monitors, and twelve speakers. We saw the counseling center with a very cordial receptionist and four Christian counselors. We visited the media center and the family resource store. It was a magnificent ministry center.
Toward the end, I heard someone ask our guide, "Where is the sanctuary, the place where people worship and celebrate the eucharist?" I was embarrassed by the question, but I thought to myself, is it possible to have a church without a sanctuary, and worship, and faith? What is central to any church, anyway?
In our lesson for today, Peter is preaching from Solomon's portico. He chastises all the listeners for missing the point of God's gift of Jesus to them. He recites all the miscues including choosing the release of a criminal instead of Jesus at the big hearing before Pilate. "You really blew it!" says Peter. But God raised Jesus up from the dead anyway. We are witnesses to this fact!
Peter then turns to the crippled beggar he had just healed and speaks the truth to all his listeners. "And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you" (v. 16).
What is central to the church, any church?
What is most important to any life, a Christian life especially? Faith, faith, faith.
Peter is a perfect example as to the power of faith in human life.
The Bible tells us that faith can move mountains. Faith can generate enormous reserves of hope and love. It can transform any life to become more aware of God's presence and activity in the world.
How shall we define this critical component of life called faith? The writer of Hebrews defined it as ... "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
John Calvin defined it as a confident knowledge of God's benevolence toward us, which is based on the gracious promise in Christ -- revealed in our minds and confirmed in our hearts.
Howard Macy described faith as a response to God's initiative. God calls out first. God's yearning for us stirs up our longing in response. This response is faith.
Ken Gire describes faith as trust. Gire once prayed, "Dear God, someone once said that writing a novel is like driving at night with your headlights on -- you can only see a few feet ahead, but you can make the entire trip that way. Living a life is like that, too, I think. Certainly a life of faith is. Give me the grace, O God, to live such a life ... and to realize that though the light given me is never as much as I would like, it is enough. It is enough."1
Faith is trusting God in all aspects of life.
Defined in these and similar ways, it is no exaggeration to conclude that without faith, whatever programs a church may have, it is not really a church. And might we also conclude that any life that is yearning and longing to rest secure in God's promises, regardless of the moments of struggle and doubt, understands just how precious God's gift of faith really is.
Faith becomes precious especially when we experience its strength during the tough times.
Years ago, Ernest Campbell, pastor of Riverside Church in New York, told of an interesting conversation he had with a college student at Lake Junaluska Conference Center in North Carolina. The young man was a PK (preacher's kid), very much loved and supported. He was contemplating the pastoral ministry but going through what he described as a mild crisis of faith. He confessed to this void in his life as, "I'm not sure what I believe."
Campbell, speaking out of love and genuine concern asked the young man a simple question: "What would you do with more faith now if you had it?" Campbell went on to suggest that the young man had few needs that really required faith:
* His parents were paying for his education.
* He had a nice support system at school.
* He had a loving home to go back to.
* All things were being provided for him.
"What do you need more faith for anyway?"2
It has been said in a variety of ways that God's gift of faith comes to those who really need it. Campbell went on to suggest that it is only as we attempt great things for God that we can expect great things from God. If we are content to play the money game or the status game or the pleasure game, we don't need faith for that! If we are 100% committed to our vocation in life, we don't need faith for that. But if we are trying to generate enough strength and courage to overcome some injustice or unbelief or loss of hope, God will give us faith. Lots of it.3
When life becomes challenging and difficult, that is when faith is precious.
In the final analysis, faith in Jesus Christ is a precious gift to the church and to individuals everywhere. May God continue to bless us with a deep awareness of his presence, power, and purpose.
____________
1. Ken Gire, Reflections on the Word (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1998), p. 19.
2. Twentieth Century Pulpit, edited by James W. Cox (Abingdon, 1978), pp. 38-39.
3. Ibid, p. 39.
As I walked in the front door, there was a huge sign that listed all the rooms and all the programs. Amazing. There were several seminars with guest lecturers listed. The seminar rooms were equipped with computers for PowerPoint presentations. Each had a small kitchen for refreshment preparation. Then there was a room full of computers. Each was occupied. A few people were standing in line waiting for an empty space. I also observed a research room. It contained a few tables and chairs, but most notably there was a large serving area with two receptionists and two computers nearby. "We can help you research most anything," said one.
I heard someone ask the other receptionist, "Where do they keep the books?"
Is it possible to have a library without books?
Our big megachurch in town lost its pastor last week. He is moving on to join the faculty of some church leadership school for pastors in Atlanta.
I remember the first time my wife and I visited this huge church facility in a gorgeous setting overlooking the mountains. Our friends had invited us to join them for lunch in the church cafeteria. It was on a Tuesday, as I recall. We had a delightful time. The meal was superb. There must have been a hundred people present enjoying a smorgasbord that would have put any restaurant to shame.
Someone asked if we would like a tour of the facilities. "Yes, of course," we said.
The dear lady took us on a 45-minute escapade. We visited the gymnasium, the fitness room, and the auditorium with screens, monitors, and twelve speakers. We saw the counseling center with a very cordial receptionist and four Christian counselors. We visited the media center and the family resource store. It was a magnificent ministry center.
Toward the end, I heard someone ask our guide, "Where is the sanctuary, the place where people worship and celebrate the eucharist?" I was embarrassed by the question, but I thought to myself, is it possible to have a church without a sanctuary, and worship, and faith? What is central to any church, anyway?
In our lesson for today, Peter is preaching from Solomon's portico. He chastises all the listeners for missing the point of God's gift of Jesus to them. He recites all the miscues including choosing the release of a criminal instead of Jesus at the big hearing before Pilate. "You really blew it!" says Peter. But God raised Jesus up from the dead anyway. We are witnesses to this fact!
Peter then turns to the crippled beggar he had just healed and speaks the truth to all his listeners. "And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you" (v. 16).
What is central to the church, any church?
What is most important to any life, a Christian life especially? Faith, faith, faith.
Peter is a perfect example as to the power of faith in human life.
The Bible tells us that faith can move mountains. Faith can generate enormous reserves of hope and love. It can transform any life to become more aware of God's presence and activity in the world.
How shall we define this critical component of life called faith? The writer of Hebrews defined it as ... "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
John Calvin defined it as a confident knowledge of God's benevolence toward us, which is based on the gracious promise in Christ -- revealed in our minds and confirmed in our hearts.
Howard Macy described faith as a response to God's initiative. God calls out first. God's yearning for us stirs up our longing in response. This response is faith.
Ken Gire describes faith as trust. Gire once prayed, "Dear God, someone once said that writing a novel is like driving at night with your headlights on -- you can only see a few feet ahead, but you can make the entire trip that way. Living a life is like that, too, I think. Certainly a life of faith is. Give me the grace, O God, to live such a life ... and to realize that though the light given me is never as much as I would like, it is enough. It is enough."1
Faith is trusting God in all aspects of life.
Defined in these and similar ways, it is no exaggeration to conclude that without faith, whatever programs a church may have, it is not really a church. And might we also conclude that any life that is yearning and longing to rest secure in God's promises, regardless of the moments of struggle and doubt, understands just how precious God's gift of faith really is.
Faith becomes precious especially when we experience its strength during the tough times.
Years ago, Ernest Campbell, pastor of Riverside Church in New York, told of an interesting conversation he had with a college student at Lake Junaluska Conference Center in North Carolina. The young man was a PK (preacher's kid), very much loved and supported. He was contemplating the pastoral ministry but going through what he described as a mild crisis of faith. He confessed to this void in his life as, "I'm not sure what I believe."
Campbell, speaking out of love and genuine concern asked the young man a simple question: "What would you do with more faith now if you had it?" Campbell went on to suggest that the young man had few needs that really required faith:
* His parents were paying for his education.
* He had a nice support system at school.
* He had a loving home to go back to.
* All things were being provided for him.
"What do you need more faith for anyway?"2
It has been said in a variety of ways that God's gift of faith comes to those who really need it. Campbell went on to suggest that it is only as we attempt great things for God that we can expect great things from God. If we are content to play the money game or the status game or the pleasure game, we don't need faith for that! If we are 100% committed to our vocation in life, we don't need faith for that. But if we are trying to generate enough strength and courage to overcome some injustice or unbelief or loss of hope, God will give us faith. Lots of it.3
When life becomes challenging and difficult, that is when faith is precious.
In the final analysis, faith in Jesus Christ is a precious gift to the church and to individuals everywhere. May God continue to bless us with a deep awareness of his presence, power, and purpose.
____________
1. Ken Gire, Reflections on the Word (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1998), p. 19.
2. Twentieth Century Pulpit, edited by James W. Cox (Abingdon, 1978), pp. 38-39.
3. Ibid, p. 39.
