Draft Sermons

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�For this We are Called� 2015

Psalm 34:1-10 1 Peter 3:8-9, 13-18

Psalm 34:1-10

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want. The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

1 Peter 3:8-9, 13-18

Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called�that you might inherit a blessing. Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God�s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

A generation ago, Carl Barth, a Swiss theologian

would often say that preaching should be done

with a Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

He did not mean that the pulpit and preaching

should become a platform for our personal politics,

but that Scripture, the word of God should be used

to interpret current events and the issues of our lives.

My intend today is not partisan politics, but to reflect

on how God�s grace guides the way we live out in the world,

and how our relationship with Jesus Christ

as revealed in the teachings and truth of Scripture

is the appropriate lens through which

we perceive and interpret world events.

It has been all over the news and Internet this week,

and we have been angered, even enraged and horrified by

the increasingly unspeakable cruelty of Islamic terrorists�

� responsible for kidnapping and selling

young Christians girls of Nigeria into slavery,

� the wholesale slaughter of Christian families in Syria,

� and the depravity of the terrible pictures released this week

of the 21 young Coptic men, Christians beheaded in Libya.

These events raise a difficult theological question and struggle,

how do we as Christians think about, interpret

and respond faithfully to such things in our world?

* I don�t mean or intend

to get into what our nation or military ought to do,

or what our political leaders should have to say,

but, from the depths of our own hearts,

as we consider and reflect on these things,

how is what we are feeling and thinking informed

by our faith and by the truths of Scripture?

More than just an intellectual exercise, on a very personal level,

I have known some very dear Christian friends in Syria,

and one of the most meaningful and significant

Communion or Lord�s Supper experiences of my life

was with a group of Syrian Christians

after we had to walk past machine guns

to worship together at a church in Damascus.

The idea of those families being tortured and slaughtered

fills me with a sense of rage and crushing sorrow ---

-- so how should I feel and respond as a child of God�s grace,

and how does my trust and hope in God�s truth and promises

inform and guide my thoughts and my reaction to terrorism?

The Lenten lectionary reading for today is from 1st Peter

and was written during a time of incredible pain and sorrow,

of terrible persecution and wide-spread suffering.

It�s thought to be from when Nero was the emperor,

who was determined to use the full force of the Roman Empire

to destroy and wipe-out entirely the Christian Church.

The Christian community of 1st Peter

was under threat and siege of severe persecution,

they were reeling under the painful loss

of dear friends and family members �

� and the pressure to deny and abandon your faith in Christ

or face imprisonment, torture and a brutal death.

Reading through the entire letter of 1st Peter,

the author never once tells them to duck and hide,

or try to keep your faith in Jesus secret and hidden.

Also, it never says to strike back hard, and show your enemies�

that the people of God are not to be trifled with or threatened.

Instead, it is a call with deal with evil, with trial & persecution

by living gently, to live with grace and compassion,

and always be ready to explain the hope we have and live,

as an alternative to this world�s ways of violence.

The message to those suffering and persecuted Christians

was to try to live in a world hostile to your faith

by modeling your attitude, behavior and responses

after the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

and to trust in God enough, to hope and endure.

vs. 8-9, 14-16a, 18

�Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called�that you might inherit a blessing.�

�But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. � For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.�

Bishop Desmond Tutu was asked why he became an Anglican priest

rather than joining a group to oppose & fight against apartheid.

His answer was that one time, when he was a little boy,

he and his mother were walking down a street after a rainstorm,

and tall, white man wearing a collar and in a black suit

stepped off the sidewalk into the mud to let them pass.

Living under apartheid, the young Desmond Tutu was surprised,

and he asked why the white man had treated them with respect.

His mother said,

�Because he is a man of God. He is an Anglican priest.�

Tutu said that right then he decided to become a priest,

and that from then on he wanted to be a man of God.

That Anglican priest�s life gave an accounting for his hope.

When I was a boy, my father�s aunt who stayed with us sometimes,

often said as I went out the door, �Remember who you are.�

It wasn�t that she thought I might forget my name or where we lived,

but she wanted me to live up to who I was ---

- my family, my heritage, my background,

all the blessings and advantages of my life�

� and to be the best me, that I could manage.

The truth is, the world does watch us, wanting to see�

how we react and respond to temptation, trial and adversity�

� to see if our faith, our hope and trust in the Lord

really makes any difference

when our path in life gets twisted and difficult.

* Biblical hope is our confidence in God and in God's love,

it�s our confident assurance that God is indeed gracious.

It is not self-confidence that we ourselves can defeat evil

or that we can withstand the storm by our own will or strength,

but it is a certainty in God and in God�s promises,

and that becomes the source of our power and strength,

and the truth and hope by which God calls us to live.

It�s not that we learn we can endure all things,

or that we have the power and strength to withstand,

but that as we pass through life's fire and adversity,

through experience, we discover how gracious God is,

in ways better and beyond what we could imagine.

* That is a part of God's promise, God�s purpose and our hope.

Our Christian hope is far more than just wishful thinking.

It is not denying life�s dangers, disappointments or fear,

but is built on the foundation of God�s gracious love,

and our absolute certainty

that God is good, and His promises are true�

� and because Jesus is Lord, the ultimate outcome is certain,

our destiny in God and God�s purpose is sure and assured,

and not even death can separate us from God�s love.

Now it�s tempting to say that all works for the little stuff,

and we can be patient and gentle for life�s minor irritations�

� but maybe not so much for violence or the big stuff,

and not when life and death, or torture are at stake.

But earlier this week, a man very close to the life and death stuff,

Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic church

issued a most remarkable statement the day after

the 21 brutal murders in Libya by Isis were reported.

Consider his words amid that loss carefully:

It is with deep feelings of sorrow and pain that we received confirmation earlier this evening of the brutal murder of Coptic Christians in Libya at the hands of Daesh (IS). While every life is sacred and every death tragic, the particular brutality demonstrated in this instance and others like it shows not only a disregard for life but a gross misunderstanding of its sanctity and equal value in every person.

Our prayers are particularly with the families of these young Coptic men, who were fathers, brothers, sons and friends of many within their tight-knit rural communities, in which their absence will cause significant loss and sorrow. Their families are not only deprived of breadwinners who had travelled to Libya to support them, but of the joy that they bring when they return.

While it may seem illogical or incomprehensible, we also pray for those who have carried out these horrific crimes, that the value of God�s creation and human life may become more evident to them, and in this realization, that the wider effects of pain brought by this and other acts of brutality may be realized and avoided. We pray for an end to the dehumanization of captives who become mere commodities to be bartered, traded and negotiated with.

We cannot remember our Coptic brothers without also remembering all those who have lost their lives in equally brutal circumstances: journalists, aid workers, medical staff, religious leaders, a young pilot and communities that are considered incompatible with a fringe and intolerant element.

In the midst of this sorrow however, we must continue to dig deeper for the joy that comes from an understanding that this life is but a �vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away� (James 4:14), and that true glory and joy are found in an eternal life prepared for all those who live in and for love and peace.

It is only through this understanding that we can continue to live according to the words of 1 Peter 3:15 as demonstrated in the life and witness of the Coptic Church and her children over centuries, ��always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you��

That is not pie-in-the-sky idealism only suitable for children,

but the words of a faithful and grieving Christian leader,

talking about living our faith amid danger & persecution.

This isn�t about the politics

of what a nation or its military ought to do,

but as a Christian, what is in my heart.

Did Jesus really mean it, when he said in Matthew 5:43-44,

�You have heard that it was said, �You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.� But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.� ?

I do believe our world is becoming

a more dangerous and difficult place for Christians,

and I don�t know God�s purpose or intention in all this.

But I do know that the lives

of those 21 slaughtered Christian men were not wasted,

and that the Lord has not and will not be defeated�

� which is truly an appropriate lesson for Lent.

As I reflect on the events and dangers of this world,

and on even my own struggles with loss and disappointments,

I am reminded and encouraged by our readings today,

that we can trust God to bring us through every struggle,

for God is steadfast and faithful, and does fulfill His every purpose, glory and plan�

� and truly, people should be able to see that grace and hope in me.

Also, I do not want to let hatred or bitterness inhabit my heart,

so during this season of Lent I am asking the Lord

to shine a Light,

to clean and bring to healing any of my dark places�

� so that my life and the way I am living

is faithfully illuminated by God�s hope, joy and grace.

The spiritual exercise I am suggesting for this week,

is to ask in prayer, and maybe even write it down,

where am I seeing God at work in and through my life?

where does my life and where do my encounters in this world

best and most reveal and reflect God�s truth and grace? �

� and are there some areas,

where I might need to do a bit more work?�

� so that my life does give account for the hope that is in me.

I believe that as those so totally and absolutely loved by God,

our call is to deliberately and actively demonstrate

God�s love and grace by our attitudes and attention,

by serving as caring dispensers of his love and grace�

� so that by attitude, behavior and response

our lives declare with the psalmist: 134:8, 4

O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

�