Yesterday, Today, And Forever
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series II, Cycle B
A pastor in Indiana went to visit an 87-year-old man named Ermil, who was a hospital patient. A member of his church told the pastor about this old man who was an acquaintance. "He's not a believer, but he is really in need," the church member said. "I met him at the county home for the elderly. He's a lonely old man with no family and no money."
The pastor was busy taking care of his large congregation, but decided to see the old man. On the third visit, Ermil said, "I'm not very religious, and I don't know much about the Bible, but the doctor told me that I'm dying. I really need spiritual help." As the pastor inquired about Ermil's background, he found out that Ermil had attended Sunday school as a child, but had never been baptized. The pastor told Ermil about Jesus and how he had died for all of us that we might have eternal life. Ermil nodded his head in agreement. The pastor then told him how Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Baptism.
Ermil said he wanted to know more about baptism and joining the church. The pastor, who wanted to be sure he wasn't rushing forward without proper education, promised to come back every day for the next week and teach Ermil the basics of the Christian faith. "When you finish learning about the faith, if you can choose to be baptized, we can do it right here in the hospital."
"I'd like that," Ermil said. The pastor said a prayer with the old man and was at the door, ready to leave when Ermil said, "Pastor, could we do it sooner?"
The pastor came back to the bed. "Ermil," he said. "You really don't want to wait a week, do you?"
"No," the patient replied.
"Why don't I come back tomorrow and teach you what the Bible says about baptism and then if you desire, we can baptize you at that time?"
"I like that better," the old man said.
"Fine," said the pastor. "We can review the other basics of our faith after your baptism." He was about to leave when Ermil said, "Pastor...."
"Yes, Ermil," the pastor said. "Do I understand from that look on your face that you want to be baptized right now?"
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, Ermil, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior."
"I don't know much, but I believe with all my heart."
"We can baptize you right now. You can learn about what baptism means later."
"Yes," Ermil said, with a huge smile on his face.
Without further ado, the pastor got a bowl of water from a nurse and baptized Ermil, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
The Ethiopian eunuch in our Bible story had that same spirit of urgency about faith in Jesus Christ and baptism that the pastor discovered in Ermil. That same good news of salvation in Christ applies not only to the past, but to the present and the future as well.
Yesterday
The conversion of the Ethiopian is a Bible story from the distant past. As we look at Bible stories from the past, we need to look at what happened right before and what happened right after these stories. In our story there is an amazing unity between the text and the context. We find that unity in the turning point of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:35: "... He [Philip] proclaimed to him [the Ethiopian] the good news about Jesus."
That theme, the good news of salvation in Jesus, runs like a thread through the front-side of the story and the back-side as well. Earlier in Acts 8, we read about Philip preaching the good news of Jesus in Samaria. Philip was one of the seven deacons, or lay leaders, chosen by the apostles to help with the work of Christ. Stephen, another deacon chosen to help with spreading the good news, had been martyred, with Saul watching and approving. Saul was the fanatical Pharisee who was "ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women ... committing them to prison" (Acts 8:3). In other words, the good news of Jesus was being preached in spite of great persecution.
In spite of persecution and the death of his spiritual brother Stephen, Philip boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus and the kingdom of God in Samaria where many people were converted (Acts 8:4-12). That leads us into the story of the Ethiopian.
We pick up the story in verse 26: "Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' " There Philip met the Ethiopian who was a high official in the court of the Queen of Ethiopia. Apparently the Ethiopian had heard of the monotheism and morality that was unique among the Jews and had become a "God-fearer." God-fearers were Gentiles who had become Jews by faith. We read in verse 27 and 28 that he was returning home from worshiping in Jerusalem. He was reading Isaiah 53.
Philip started with a question, always a good thing to do when dealing with outsiders. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" (Acts 8:30). When the Ethiopian said, "No," Philip came over to the chariot in which he was sitting and explained the text to him. The text from Isaiah 53 was: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him...." "This scripture is all about Jesus," Philip told him. He shared the good news that Christ died for our sins and that by baptism and belief, we can enter the kingdom of God.
Since they had stopped next to a stream, river, or lake, the Ethiopian asked, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:37). Belief in Jesus as Savior and baptism as the entrance sacrament into Christian community are the themes running through not only Acts 8, but the story that follows our text.
Acts 9 opens with the story of the colossal conversion of Saul, the persecutor, who became Saint Paul, the missionary apostle and evangelist. Like the Ethiopian, Saul is changed by Jesus. He confesses Christ as Lord and Savior is baptized and gets the new name Paul.
These are all yesterday's stories, stories of what happened in the past. What difference do they make for today, and the tomorrows before us?
Today, Tomorrow, And Forever
What difference does the old, old story of Jesus make for today? What difference does it make for our lives today that Jesus died on the cross and rose again? What difference does the good news of Christ and salvation make for practical living today? What difference does baptism into Christ make for the present and the future?
What happened to the Ethiopian changed his life. According to tradition, the Ethiopian's faith in Christ and his baptism led him to plant the seed of the gospel in Ethiopia where it still thrives today. In other words, belief and baptism not only changed the life of the Ethiopian, but the lives of many others. Christ is the forever Son of God for all people.
The book of Hebrews describes the forever man this way: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Some things last for a short time; some things last for a little longer. Salvation in Christ is a message for all time.
Some good ideas come and go. Peter Drucker, the business guru, says that most good ideas last from five to eight years. This good idea of salvation in Jesus Christ lasts until the end of time.
In the midst of whirlwind changes in our culture, it is good to know that belief and baptism into Christ remain the same no matter how many changes we must face. One person described the changes, good and bad, we must endure today like this:
Nostalgia
If you are near 65, you have been witness to more changes -- good and bad, than any other generation from Adam and Eve on. Wow! What a time you have lived. Consider the following:
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball-point pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes, and before man walked on the moon....
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of."
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outer space was the back of the Strand Theater.
We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual-careers, and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums; a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware and software wasn't even a word.
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exams. Pizzas, "McDonald's," and instant coffee were unheard of.
We hit the scene when there were 5-and-10-cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sanders or Williams sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi, or buy enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, coke was a cold drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was Grandma in a rocking chair humming a lullaby, aids were helpers in the principal's office and mother was one word -- not two!
And we were the last generation that thought you needed a husband to have a baby!
-- Anonymous
In the midst of all this change, isn't it a good thing to hear the words of Philip to the Ethiopian about the good news of Jesus and his love that took him to the cross that we might have life in abundance in the here and now and eternal life forever? Isn't it a good thing to hear that outsiders like the Samaritans were made insiders by the name of Jesus? Isn't it a good thing to hear that Paul and the other apostles spread this message of Jesus across Asia Minor, Europe, and the rest of the known world, to your distant relatives and mine?
Isn't it a good thing to hear again the good news of Christ so that we don't need to get "carried away by all kinds of teachings because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever"? (Hebrews 13:8-9). Of course it is!
Isn't it a good thing to hear that Jesus is the true vine from which we receive life? That's what John 15:1-8 says. Isn't it good to know that Jesus is the bread of life that sustains us in all times? That's what Jesus says in John 5:35: "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
We are never satisfied until we are attached to this vine of life and receive the bread of eternal life.
A story is told of an old man who goes to a diner every day for lunch. He always orders the soup du jour. One day the manager asks him how he liked his meal. The old man replies, "It was good, but you could give a little more bread. Two slices of bread are not enough."
So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices of bread. "How was your meal, Sir?" the manager asks.
"It was good, but you could give a little more bread," comes the reply.
The next day the manager tells the waitress to give him a whole loaf of bread, sixteen slices, with his soup. "How was your meal, Sir?" the manager asks.
"It was good, but you could give just a little more bread," comes the reply once again.
The manager is now obsessed with seeing this customer satisfied with his meal, so he goes to the bakery and orders a six-foot loaf of bread. He cuts the bread in half and tells the waitress to serve it to the dissatisfied customer. He asks, "Well, Sir, how was your meal today?"
The old man replies: "It was good as usual, but I see you are back to serving only two slices of bread!"
There are some people you just can't satisfy!
In fact, all people everywhere are unsatisfied until they taste the bread of life -- Jesus Christ. Until we believe in Christ and are baptized, we are not what God intends us to be. Roman Guardini puts it this way:
Until a man makes the transposition from the world to Christ, he will fight, found and form this and that, only to discover that thousands have done the same before him and thousands more will do the same after he is gone without affecting the constantly running sands of time for more than an instant.
That's the transposition made by the Ethiopian, by the Samaritans, by the people Paul converted, and by millions of people today who come to saving faith in Christ and are baptized. Our story is not a dead text from the past, but a living invitation to accept the eternal Lord Jesus Christ who alone gives eternal life.
The pastor who baptized Ermil, the 87-year-old man mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, had a secretary named Charlotte. Charlotte was an excellent secretary, "the fastest typist I've ever seen," the pastor said. But Charlotte wasn't a Christian. Repeated invitations to come and join the Christian community in worship were met with resistance. Charlotte wore short skirts and even a tight, red jumpsuit. When the pastor asked her to wear more appropriate clothing in the church office, she confessed she didn't have enough money to buy other clothes. Later, it was discovered that Charlotte was a "go-go" dancer by night.
At a staff meeting with other pastors and church workers, a devotional on baptism and it's meaning for today was given. The staff members all had contributions to make about how remembering their baptism had helped them through very difficult situations. Charlotte didn't say a word. Finally, choked up with tears, she said, "I can't talk about this. I've never made a commitment to Christ. I've never been baptized."
The pastor explained to Charlotte that she could attend the six-week pastor's class that the church held six times a year for those considering membership and she could be baptized after that. "I have to work nights in order to pay my bills," she said. "Besides, I have read about all those topics you talk about. Remember, I type up your sermons, class notes, and recently I typed your book Jesus Christ, The Liberator. I believe all that stuff. Can't I be baptized right now?"
The staff members looked at one another and then all looked at the senior pastor. "The only thing holding you back is making a sincere confession of Christ," he said.
"I believe in Jesus as my Lord," she said. They baptized her on the spot.1
____________
1.ÊCharlotte's story is told in the book she typed: Jesus Christ, The Liberator, by Ron Lavin and Bill Grimmer, M.D., (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Co., 1974).
The pastor was busy taking care of his large congregation, but decided to see the old man. On the third visit, Ermil said, "I'm not very religious, and I don't know much about the Bible, but the doctor told me that I'm dying. I really need spiritual help." As the pastor inquired about Ermil's background, he found out that Ermil had attended Sunday school as a child, but had never been baptized. The pastor told Ermil about Jesus and how he had died for all of us that we might have eternal life. Ermil nodded his head in agreement. The pastor then told him how Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Baptism.
Ermil said he wanted to know more about baptism and joining the church. The pastor, who wanted to be sure he wasn't rushing forward without proper education, promised to come back every day for the next week and teach Ermil the basics of the Christian faith. "When you finish learning about the faith, if you can choose to be baptized, we can do it right here in the hospital."
"I'd like that," Ermil said. The pastor said a prayer with the old man and was at the door, ready to leave when Ermil said, "Pastor, could we do it sooner?"
The pastor came back to the bed. "Ermil," he said. "You really don't want to wait a week, do you?"
"No," the patient replied.
"Why don't I come back tomorrow and teach you what the Bible says about baptism and then if you desire, we can baptize you at that time?"
"I like that better," the old man said.
"Fine," said the pastor. "We can review the other basics of our faith after your baptism." He was about to leave when Ermil said, "Pastor...."
"Yes, Ermil," the pastor said. "Do I understand from that look on your face that you want to be baptized right now?"
"Is that possible?"
"Yes, Ermil, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior."
"I don't know much, but I believe with all my heart."
"We can baptize you right now. You can learn about what baptism means later."
"Yes," Ermil said, with a huge smile on his face.
Without further ado, the pastor got a bowl of water from a nurse and baptized Ermil, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
The Ethiopian eunuch in our Bible story had that same spirit of urgency about faith in Jesus Christ and baptism that the pastor discovered in Ermil. That same good news of salvation in Christ applies not only to the past, but to the present and the future as well.
Yesterday
The conversion of the Ethiopian is a Bible story from the distant past. As we look at Bible stories from the past, we need to look at what happened right before and what happened right after these stories. In our story there is an amazing unity between the text and the context. We find that unity in the turning point of the story of Philip and the Ethiopian in Acts 8:35: "... He [Philip] proclaimed to him [the Ethiopian] the good news about Jesus."
That theme, the good news of salvation in Jesus, runs like a thread through the front-side of the story and the back-side as well. Earlier in Acts 8, we read about Philip preaching the good news of Jesus in Samaria. Philip was one of the seven deacons, or lay leaders, chosen by the apostles to help with the work of Christ. Stephen, another deacon chosen to help with spreading the good news, had been martyred, with Saul watching and approving. Saul was the fanatical Pharisee who was "ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women ... committing them to prison" (Acts 8:3). In other words, the good news of Jesus was being preached in spite of great persecution.
In spite of persecution and the death of his spiritual brother Stephen, Philip boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus and the kingdom of God in Samaria where many people were converted (Acts 8:4-12). That leads us into the story of the Ethiopian.
We pick up the story in verse 26: "Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, 'Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' " There Philip met the Ethiopian who was a high official in the court of the Queen of Ethiopia. Apparently the Ethiopian had heard of the monotheism and morality that was unique among the Jews and had become a "God-fearer." God-fearers were Gentiles who had become Jews by faith. We read in verse 27 and 28 that he was returning home from worshiping in Jerusalem. He was reading Isaiah 53.
Philip started with a question, always a good thing to do when dealing with outsiders. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" (Acts 8:30). When the Ethiopian said, "No," Philip came over to the chariot in which he was sitting and explained the text to him. The text from Isaiah 53 was: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him...." "This scripture is all about Jesus," Philip told him. He shared the good news that Christ died for our sins and that by baptism and belief, we can enter the kingdom of God.
Since they had stopped next to a stream, river, or lake, the Ethiopian asked, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:37). Belief in Jesus as Savior and baptism as the entrance sacrament into Christian community are the themes running through not only Acts 8, but the story that follows our text.
Acts 9 opens with the story of the colossal conversion of Saul, the persecutor, who became Saint Paul, the missionary apostle and evangelist. Like the Ethiopian, Saul is changed by Jesus. He confesses Christ as Lord and Savior is baptized and gets the new name Paul.
These are all yesterday's stories, stories of what happened in the past. What difference do they make for today, and the tomorrows before us?
Today, Tomorrow, And Forever
What difference does the old, old story of Jesus make for today? What difference does it make for our lives today that Jesus died on the cross and rose again? What difference does the good news of Christ and salvation make for practical living today? What difference does baptism into Christ make for the present and the future?
What happened to the Ethiopian changed his life. According to tradition, the Ethiopian's faith in Christ and his baptism led him to plant the seed of the gospel in Ethiopia where it still thrives today. In other words, belief and baptism not only changed the life of the Ethiopian, but the lives of many others. Christ is the forever Son of God for all people.
The book of Hebrews describes the forever man this way: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Some things last for a short time; some things last for a little longer. Salvation in Christ is a message for all time.
Some good ideas come and go. Peter Drucker, the business guru, says that most good ideas last from five to eight years. This good idea of salvation in Jesus Christ lasts until the end of time.
In the midst of whirlwind changes in our culture, it is good to know that belief and baptism into Christ remain the same no matter how many changes we must face. One person described the changes, good and bad, we must endure today like this:
Nostalgia
If you are near 65, you have been witness to more changes -- good and bad, than any other generation from Adam and Eve on. Wow! What a time you have lived. Consider the following:
We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball-point pens, before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes, and before man walked on the moon....
In our time, closets were for clothes, not for "coming out of."
We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outer space was the back of the Strand Theater.
We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual-careers, and commuter marriages. We were before day-care centers, group therapy and nursing homes. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt and guys wearing earrings. For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums; a "chip" meant a piece of wood; hardware meant hardware and software wasn't even a word.
In 1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exams. Pizzas, "McDonald's," and instant coffee were unheard of.
We hit the scene when there were 5-and-10-cent stores, where you bought things for five and ten cents. Sanders or Williams sold ice cream cones for a nickel or a dime. For one nickel you could ride a street car, make a phone call, buy a Pepsi, or buy enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.
In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, coke was a cold drink, and pot was something you cooked in. Rock music was Grandma in a rocking chair humming a lullaby, aids were helpers in the principal's office and mother was one word -- not two!
And we were the last generation that thought you needed a husband to have a baby!
-- Anonymous
In the midst of all this change, isn't it a good thing to hear the words of Philip to the Ethiopian about the good news of Jesus and his love that took him to the cross that we might have life in abundance in the here and now and eternal life forever? Isn't it a good thing to hear that outsiders like the Samaritans were made insiders by the name of Jesus? Isn't it a good thing to hear that Paul and the other apostles spread this message of Jesus across Asia Minor, Europe, and the rest of the known world, to your distant relatives and mine?
Isn't it a good thing to hear again the good news of Christ so that we don't need to get "carried away by all kinds of teachings because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever"? (Hebrews 13:8-9). Of course it is!
Isn't it a good thing to hear that Jesus is the true vine from which we receive life? That's what John 15:1-8 says. Isn't it good to know that Jesus is the bread of life that sustains us in all times? That's what Jesus says in John 5:35: "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
We are never satisfied until we are attached to this vine of life and receive the bread of eternal life.
A story is told of an old man who goes to a diner every day for lunch. He always orders the soup du jour. One day the manager asks him how he liked his meal. The old man replies, "It was good, but you could give a little more bread. Two slices of bread are not enough."
So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices of bread. "How was your meal, Sir?" the manager asks.
"It was good, but you could give a little more bread," comes the reply.
The next day the manager tells the waitress to give him a whole loaf of bread, sixteen slices, with his soup. "How was your meal, Sir?" the manager asks.
"It was good, but you could give just a little more bread," comes the reply once again.
The manager is now obsessed with seeing this customer satisfied with his meal, so he goes to the bakery and orders a six-foot loaf of bread. He cuts the bread in half and tells the waitress to serve it to the dissatisfied customer. He asks, "Well, Sir, how was your meal today?"
The old man replies: "It was good as usual, but I see you are back to serving only two slices of bread!"
There are some people you just can't satisfy!
In fact, all people everywhere are unsatisfied until they taste the bread of life -- Jesus Christ. Until we believe in Christ and are baptized, we are not what God intends us to be. Roman Guardini puts it this way:
Until a man makes the transposition from the world to Christ, he will fight, found and form this and that, only to discover that thousands have done the same before him and thousands more will do the same after he is gone without affecting the constantly running sands of time for more than an instant.
That's the transposition made by the Ethiopian, by the Samaritans, by the people Paul converted, and by millions of people today who come to saving faith in Christ and are baptized. Our story is not a dead text from the past, but a living invitation to accept the eternal Lord Jesus Christ who alone gives eternal life.
The pastor who baptized Ermil, the 87-year-old man mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, had a secretary named Charlotte. Charlotte was an excellent secretary, "the fastest typist I've ever seen," the pastor said. But Charlotte wasn't a Christian. Repeated invitations to come and join the Christian community in worship were met with resistance. Charlotte wore short skirts and even a tight, red jumpsuit. When the pastor asked her to wear more appropriate clothing in the church office, she confessed she didn't have enough money to buy other clothes. Later, it was discovered that Charlotte was a "go-go" dancer by night.
At a staff meeting with other pastors and church workers, a devotional on baptism and it's meaning for today was given. The staff members all had contributions to make about how remembering their baptism had helped them through very difficult situations. Charlotte didn't say a word. Finally, choked up with tears, she said, "I can't talk about this. I've never made a commitment to Christ. I've never been baptized."
The pastor explained to Charlotte that she could attend the six-week pastor's class that the church held six times a year for those considering membership and she could be baptized after that. "I have to work nights in order to pay my bills," she said. "Besides, I have read about all those topics you talk about. Remember, I type up your sermons, class notes, and recently I typed your book Jesus Christ, The Liberator. I believe all that stuff. Can't I be baptized right now?"
The staff members looked at one another and then all looked at the senior pastor. "The only thing holding you back is making a sincere confession of Christ," he said.
"I believe in Jesus as my Lord," she said. They baptized her on the spot.1
____________
1.ÊCharlotte's story is told in the book she typed: Jesus Christ, The Liberator, by Ron Lavin and Bill Grimmer, M.D., (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Co., 1974).
