A Spirit of Power and Love

This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. It was also Memorial Day. What does the coming of the Holy Spirit have to do with remembering our military personnel who gave their lives for our country? You might be surprised at my answer.

I am faced with a dilemma today – and so is every preacher who takes the job seriously. Today is one of those “double whammy” days. It’s both Pentecost Sunday and Memorial Day Sunday. Now, at first glance, those days seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with one another. So which one do I emphasize during the sermon?

Pentecost Sunday, on the one hand, celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit. The usual scripture reading is out of the book of Acts, a familiar story to many people. On that day, Jesus’ disciples were gathered together in prayer. Without warning, the Spirit of God blew into their midst like a mighty wind, and settled on them in tongues of fire! They suddenly had the power to speak in other languages so that the Gospel could be heard all over the known world; and Peter preached the very first Christian sermon as he called for repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.

Memorial Day, on the other hand, is a very different kind of celebration. While Pentecost is a Christian holiday, Memorial Day is an American holiday. On Memorial Day, we remember the men and women who have given their lives for our country. While Pentecost is joyful, Memorial Day is a solemn day. “Taps” and “The Star Spangled Banner” are the most frequently heard pieces of music in cemeteries all around the country. And while Pentecost celebrates the newness of life in the Spirit, Memorial Day remembers those whose lives have been ended all too soon during the grim business of war.

Both holidays offer images that are vital for us to remember. We don’t want to forget the tongues of the Spirit’s fire on Pentecost, but we dare not forget the flag-draped coffins of Memorial Day, either. How in the world can any preacher choose between those two images?

Well, maybe we don’t have to choose. Maybe the fire of the Spirit that filled the believers on that first Pentecost is the very same fire that still fills men and women who willingly offer their lives up for the sake of their country. And maybe the best way to illustrate the power of that Spirit is by telling a story.

The year was 1943; the day was February 2. The American transport ship Dorchester was moving steadily across the icy waters of the North Atlantic from Newfoundland to Greenland. It carried over 900 servicemen, merchant seamen, and civilian workers. The captain knew that German U-boats were in the area; so he had given orders for that everyone should sleep in their clothing and keep their life jackets on. But below deck, the sleeping quarters were hot, and the life jackets were uncomfortable. Despite orders, many sailors were sleeping stripped to their skivvies.

Just before 1:00 in the morning, a German U-boat happened across the transport. She locked the Dorchester in her sights, and fired three torpedoes. One of those torpedoes hit amid ship on the starboard side, far below the water line, knocking out power and radio contact. It also knocked a huge hole in the ship’s hull. The Dorchester began to sink, and the captain gave the order to abandon ship.

We can only imagine the chaotic scene on board the Dorchester. Scores of men had been killed or wounded by the German torpedo. Others groped blindly in the darkness below deck like moles trying to find their way to safety. Those who reached the deck were met by a frigid blast of Arctic air. That air and the equally icy sea promised a quick death to anyone who was forced overboard. Panic-stricken men jumped into overcrowded lifeboats; and in the chaos, others drifted away nearly empty.

In the midst of all the confusion and terror, four Army chaplains were islands of strength and hope. They were Lt. George Fox, a Methodist minister; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, a Jewish rabbi; Lt. John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, a Dutch Reformed pastor. The four chaplains worked their way among the frightened men, calming those who were panic-stricken, helping to tend the wounded, and guiding those who were disoriented towards the lifeboats. Witnesses of that awful night remember the four chaplains offering prayers for the dying, and encouragement for those who still had hope. One witness, Private William B. Bednar, found himself floating in oil-smeared water surrounded by dead bodies and debris. “I could hear men crying, pleading, praying,” Bednar recalls. “But I could also hear the four chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going.” Another sailor, Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, remembers that he tried to go back into his cabin; but Rabbi Goode stopped him. Mahoney explained that he had forgotten his gloves and would need them in the cold Arctic air. “Never mind,” responded the rabbi, “I have two pairs.” Much later, Mahoney realized that the rabbi had given him his own gloves, knowing that he would never leave the ship.

As the Dorchester continued to sink, the chaplains opened a storage locker and began distributing life jackets. When all of them were gone, the chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to four frightened young men. John Ladd, a survivor who witnessed the chaplains’ courageous act, commented later, “It was the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven.” As the ship sank beneath the icy waters of the north Atlantic, survivors in nearby life boats could see the four chaplains standing together. They were braced against the slanting deck, arms linked, offering prayers for the men of the Dorchester. Out of over 900 men, only 230 survived. It is certain that many of them were saved by the selfless courage of the four chaplains.

On that first Pentecost, God filled men and women with a Spirit of love and power – a spirit of love for their fellow human beings, and a spirit of power to offer themselves up for a greater good. We have all heard stories of Christians down through the ages who have suffered death out of love for others. It seems to me that when men and women willingly give their lives for the sake of their country and for their fellow human beings, it is the doing of that very same Spirit. Love enables us to care; power enables us to take great risks; but love and power enables us to offer up our own lives for the lives of others we may not even know. So, maybe Pentecost and Memorial Day aren’t that different, after all. Maybe the pictures of flag-draped coffins should include an image of the Spirit’s fire hovering over them. Oh, we can’t see that fire; but we know that it’s there. I don’t care whether the fallen are Christians, Jews, atheists, or agnostics; no human being can show that kind of courage without God’s help! As we remember them this weekend, let us also give thanks for the Spirit that fills us not only with power, but with courage and with love.

God's Binoculars

What is "hope," anyway? Is it just wishful thinking? Maybe it would be useful to think of "hope" as a glimpse through God's binoculars. This sermon will explain what I mean!

Some years ago, there was a Broadway show with the intriguing title, “On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever.” I believe that it was even made into a movie. Now, I don’t remember a thing about either the Broadway show or the movie; but I sure do remember the title! “On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever.” What a vision that brings to mind! It conjures up an image of a cloudless sky so clear and blue that it seems to go all the way to heaven itself. And on the other side of that sky… what? Despite the title of the show, our vision isn’t that good. We need some help to see that far. We could try using binoculars, like the ones that I use to identify birds perched on the fence at the far side of our yard. But they can only help me see for about 50 yards. Our military forces have high-powered binoculars that can see a lot farther than the ones I use. Those binoculars can spot hostile forces on a ridge several miles away. But even those binoculars can’t see forever. No, to see forever, we have to use God’s binoculars.

And what if we looked through God’s binoculars? What would we see? We would see a world that looks a lot like this one, but with none of the smear of sin that we live with every day. We would see a world of amazing beauty. We would see a world where all relationships are healthy, where everyone respects all others with no greed or jealousy or hatred. We would see a world where everyone sits together at a banquet table where all are fed and none are excluded. We would see a world of welcome, of nourishment, and of love. We would see the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

Now, there are those who say that such a place isn’t possible. They claim that it’s pie in the sky by and by. They call such a vision “wishful thinking.” They look around at wars and diseases and earthquakes; and they can’t believe that our world will ever change. But that’s because they have never looked through God’s binoculars. Do you know what the name of those binoculars is? It’s “hope.” Hope can see all the way to the end of time itself. Faith is knowing that God walks with us day by day, giving us the courage to walk boldly into the future and doing things that we have never dared to do before; and hope is knowing that we are walking into a future that is in God’s hands!

Let me tell you a secret about the future. When we reach it, God will already be there. And God keeps giving us glimpses of it so that we keep going. Let’s face it, without God’s binoculars of hope, we’d get so tired and frustrated that we’d just sit down and give up. And we all get to that point now and then. We feel like a hiker who has tried to cover too much ground in one day. Even if you’re never hiked a trail in your life, I’ll bet you know that feeling. Our feet hurt; the backpack we’re carrying feels like it has rocks in it; and all we can think about is how tired we are. So God gives us a look through those binoculars of hope. Through them, we can see clear, cold streams that gurgle as they dance over pebbles. We can see soft beds of pine needles in fragrant forests. We can smell the aroma of fresh-caught trout grilling over an open fire. And we find the strength to go on for just a little bit longer.

Well, fellow hikers, I caught a glimpse of that beautiful world this morning. Maybe you did, too. I saw it when two fine young men announced their intention to follow Jesus Christ and were baptized. I saw it when this congregation welcomed them with enthusiasm and joy. I see it every week when we pray for one another and support one another in the midst of all kinds of difficult situations. And I will see it when we rejoice because of birthdays and graduations and anniversaries. Even in the midst of a world that is very far away from the kind of world that God wants for us, we can see what will one day be a reality. How does Paul put it in his letter to the Romans? “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God; and that hope does not disappoint us!”

Thanks be to God for clear days! And thanks be to God for the binoculars of hope that help us to catch a glimpse of forever!

Faithful Courage

At the church that I pastor, we celebrate the Gifts of Women Sunday on Mother''s Day. This celebration includes all women, not just those who are mothers. This year, we celebrated the courage of women that arises from their faith. In particular, we remembered an early Christian martyr named Perpetua. She faced accusations that we do today! Maybe you'll see yourself as you read about her experience.

Getting old isn’t for sissies! Some of you may have heard that; and many of you know that it is true. Getting old isn’t for sissies. I like that quip. It tells me that, as I get older, instead of fading quietly away, I will need to be even braver than I am now! There will be challenges that I will have to meet, and courageous decisions that I will have to make. No, indeed, getting old isn’t for sissies! Being a Christian isn’t for sissies, either. In fact, being a Christian takes great courage! That may come as a surprise to some of you. After all, in the United States of the 21^st century, we Christians are a privileged people. Oh, we may whine about laws that allow a Jewish menorah to sit next to the Nativity scene on the Post Office lawn; but, in general, we Christians play the tune that everyone else must dance to. But things aren’t that way everywhere. Even as we gather here to worship in safety, Christians in the Middle East are being slaughtered by ISIS because of their faith. What courage it must take for them to confess that they are followers of Jesus Christ!

Christians have displayed that kind of courage ever since the Christian church began. You’ve all heard about Christians in the early Church who were martyrs for the faith. They were nailed to a cross, or burned alive, or thrown to wild animals in the arena to be torn apart. Imagine how much courage it must have taken to admit that they were followers of Jesus! And many of those martyrs were women. In fact, down through the ages, women have shown exceptional courage in circumstances that were difficult at best, and life-threatening at worst. The scripture that we heard this morning (II Maccabees 7:1-2, 20-23) is a model of that kind of faithful courage: a mother who watched seven sons martyred in one day and who was herself killed in the end, but who never gave up her faith in God! And I’ll bet if you thought about it, you could come up with many more examples of courageous women. But this morning, I want to remember one that you may never even have heard of! Her name is Perpetua; and she was an early Christian woman who showed great courage in the face of persecution.

Perpetua lived at the end of the second century in the North African city of Carthage. At that time, Christianity was spreading rapidly into North Africa, and into Carthage in particular. The Roman emperor Septimius was threatened by the rapid growth of Christianity. He called it “the empire within the Empire.” In fact, he was so threatened that he ordered Christians arrested and put to death. Perpetua, like many of the women who are here today, was a daughter, a wife, and a mother. She came from a wealthy family and, was married to a man who was up-and-coming in Roman society. She had just given birth to her first child. According to stories about her, she was only about 22 years old. And she was a Christian.

Perpetua was arrested and thrown into prison. All that would be difficult enough for anyone to endure. But Perpetua’s courage was tested three more times, by accusations that are especially difficult for women. In fact, they are still used today. I’ll bet that you’ll recognize them yourself, even if you’re not a woman! When her father visited her in prison, he ordered her to deny her Christian faith. After all, he was the head of the household, and he thought that he knew what was best for everyone involved. “Quit running around with these Christian weirdos!” he told her. “Come home and behave the way that a proper woman should behave!” We’ve heard that one, haven’t we, ladies? We’ve all had people tell us that they know what’s best for us, especially when they don’t agree with what we’re doing. If they don’t like it when we march off once a week to serve the homeless at the local soup kitchen, they glare at us and chide, “Those people aren’t fit company for you! Why, you might catch a disease from one of them. They’re dirty and smelly! Why do you insist on going down there?” And when we answer, “Because Jesus wants me to,” they don’t like it at all. It takes courage to stand up to someone who is insisting that you should be something other than what you are. Perpetua’s answer was a model for all of us: “I cannot be called anything else than what I am: a Christian.”

Then, Perpetua’s father upped the ante. He accused her of not caring about them. You know that line, I’m sure. “Do you realize that you’re making us all unhappy? You’re bringing shame on our whole family! Just come home, and we’ll forget that this whole thing ever happened.” That’s a tougher one to answer. None of us want to cause pain to other people, certainly not to those we love. It takes courage to follow Christ in the name of a greater good, especially when our family doesn’t understand our actions. If a woman goes to a protest carrying a sign that says “Build schools, not bombers,” we might admire her. But if her husband is the CEO of an aircraft corporation, his reaction won’t be very admiring at all. “What will people think?” he’ll ask. “You have humiliated me! You get back home right now!” Yes, it takes nerve to say to your family, “I’m sorry, but I’m not responsible for your feelings. I must follow Jesus Christ, regardless of how that makes you feel.”

But the final accusation was the worst one of all. Perpetua’s father accused her of being a bad mother. Every mother has heard that accusation at one time or another. Sometimes mothers even say it to other mothers. Every mother in the workforce carries a load of guilt as heavy as a bag of rocks on her back because people accuse her of being selfish. Every stay-at-home mom carries the same load of guilt because people have told her that she could provide for her children better if she would only go back to work. That guilt is why stores sell so many luxury items like baby wipe warmers. If women hear over and over that they are bad mothers, they will purchase all kinds of things to make themselves feel better. It’s a lose-lose situation for mothers of today, and it was a lose-lose situation for Perpetua. But she had the courage to persevere through even this accusation; and because of her courage, some of the guards who held her in prison were eventually converted to faith in Jesus Christ.

Perpetua was martyred, thrown to wild beasts in the arena together with several of her fellow Christians. We admire her courage, and we wonder how in the world she was able to persevere to the end. The answer is the faith that I talked about in last week’s sermon. Faith is the certainty that God has our back; and faith allows us to take one step at a time with absolute confidence that God is walking with us, guiding us and strengthening us. And that’s just what Perpetua did. She took one step at a time as she followed Jesus Christ, knowing that God would give her courage to follow wherever that road would lead her. And that’s what millions of courageous women have done as they followed Jesus Christ as his resurrected people. Joan of Arc did it by wearing men’s armor and going to war as she helped to free the people of France. Harriet Tubman did it by guiding scores of runaway slaves to freedom in the north. Dorothy Stang did it by advocating for the rights of South American peasants who were losing their land. Step by step, one day at a time, with faithful courage, they not only fought enemies, but also well-meaning people who believed that they should be doing something else.

We need to be courageous, too, whether we are women or men, mothers or fathers, married or single, young or old. We all need to be courageous because at one time or another, we will face the very same accusations that Perpetua did. Are we stepping out of the role that someone else thinks we should be playing? Jesus sometimes wants us to rock the boat! Are we making our family happy? Maybe the better question is whether we’re making God happy. Are we caring for those who are our responsibility? Sometimes we can care for them best by working for the good of all God’s children!

May we have the faithful courage to follow Jesus Christ wherever he may lead us, walking step by step, and listening not to the accusations of our fellows, but to the voice of God as he calls us to move courageously into the future.

One Step at a Time

What the heck is faith, anyway? And what does it have to do with us other than in church on Sunday? If you choose to read this sermon, it may suggest some answers to those questions.

Faith is one of the most used words in our Christian vocabulary! Faith, after all, is one of the foundations of our resurrected life. In the book of I Corinthians (13:13), Paul says that faith is a part of the “Big Three” – faith, hope, and love. And in his first letter (5:4), John says that our faith is “the victory that has overcome the world.” That’s pretty powerful stuff! But it makes me wonder what “faith” is, anyway. We use the word “faith” at least as much as we use the word “love,” but we don’t usually stop to think about what it means.

What does the Bible say about faith? The most famous definition of “faith” in Scripture is the first verse of chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews. Many people know that verse by heart. In the King James Version, it goes like this: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  That’s clear as mud, isn’t it? So let’s put that verse in more modern language: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we don’t see.” We have faith when we rely on God’s promises, knowing we can’t prove that those promises are reliable. No experiment with test tubes and boiling liquids will ever prove that God’s promises are true. We either believe them or we don’t. Faith is believing that God is reliable in his promises to us. But what does that mean for us Christians as we live our daily lives? What does faith have to do with making breakfast and going to work and paying the bills? Before we get to that – and we will – let’s take a look at what faith isn’t; because there are a lot of mistaken notions out there about Christian faith!

First of all, having faith doesn’t mean believing in things that are impossible. Atheists frequently accuse Christians of doing just that. “Faith in God,” they say, “is just a delusion. Do you believe that pigs can fly, too?” These folks think that we Christians are like one of the characters in the book Alice in Wonderland, who exclaimed, “Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Believing in impossibilities may be imagination or whimsy or humor; but it’s not faith. Faith also isn’t magic like Love Potion #9, although there are plenty of Christians who consider their faith to be just that. “If I only had more faith,” they say, “then I would be able to…” You can finish that sentence any way you like. “If I only had more faith, I could make a million dollars… I’d be able to lose 50 pounds… I’d be patient with my mother-in-law.” But these folks are confusing faith with skills or ability. Let’s face it, no matter how much faith each of us has, there are some things that we will never be able to do. I can have all the faith I want, but I’ll never be an Olympic basketball player! And faith doesn’t guarantee divine rewards, either, even though a lot of people believe that it does. They twist faith into a way to please God. Having more faith, they say, makes God happy with you; and if God is happy with you, you have a better life. You make more money; you have more friends. But this makes God into a divine dog trainer. If you have faith, you get a biscuit. Obviously, then, if you don’t have many biscuits – if your life is difficult – you must not have very much faith. But this is a terrible misunderstanding! Having a difficult life doesn’t mean that you have no faith. After all, Jesus had the most faith of anyone in history, and his life was very difficult, indeed! No, faith has nothing to do with having an easy life. Faith is something else entirely.

So if faith isn’t believing in impossibilities, or magic, or a way to get a good life, then what is it? Faith is quite simply, believing that God is on our side. Faith is trusting that God has your back! Now, that doesn’t mean that God will pull you out of every mess that you get yourself into. Faith isn’t an insurance policy. But it does mean that God is with us through thick and thin, good times and bad, whether we’re healthy or sick, rich or poor, elated or depressed. So, now we come to the practical side of faith. What does that mean for us Christians as we live our daily lives? What does faith have to do with making breakfast and going to work and paying the bills? It means just this: we can go forward in joy and confidence! It means that we can’t do anything that will make God abandon us. It means that wherever we go and whatever we do, God is there, too. Now, beware! Having faith doesn’t mean that we can plan out our whole lives and expect God to buy into our plan. In fact, if we do that, we might be in for some surprises! You know what they say: If you want to give God a good laugh, make plans! But it does mean that we can go through our lives step by step, one day at a time, knowing that God is walking beside us, ready to help us whenever we ask for that help!

The best image of faith that I have ever seen is in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. If you’ve seen it, you know that archaeologist Indiana Jones is working with his father to find the long-lost Holy Grail. But, of course, the bad guys want it, too! Near the end of the movie, those bad guys shoot Indiana’s father, who lies dying in the cave of the Grail. Only by going to fetch the Grail can Indiana save the life of his father. But to get it, he has to risk his life by solving three tests. He successfully solves the first two, avoiding both falling into a pit beneath the crumbling pathway and being beheaded by a whirling sword. But the third test requires “a step of faith” into a deep chasm with a certain fall to death on the rocks below. There is no other way across. So Indiana closes his eyes and steps into thin air, only to feel his foot land on solid ground! A hidden bridge has been there all the time, invisible until the first step was taken. Faith leads us the very same way, one step at a time. As we look into the future, all we can see are deep, threatening chasms; and we are afraid to move because we’re afraid of falling over the edge into their depths. We can’t see the bridges that are right in front of us, because they are only visible when we step out in faith.

In the gospel of John, Jesus meets a lame man and asks him if he wants to be healed (John 5:1-9). Jesus then invites him to take a step – just one step. When the lame man does it, he is healed. That man isn’t so different than we are. We all need to be healed, too; and all Jesus asks of us is to begin that healing by taking just one step in faith. Sometimes the healing that we need is personal. At a recent denominational gathering, the keynote speaker was a woman who has dealt with mental illness all of her life. She described her shame at realizing that her family was different than others; and her fear that other people would discover her secret. It took her a long time to take the first step towards healing; but when she did, she eventually found the health and peace that Christ offers to us. Other times, that healing involves many of us. Sometimes, it involves a whole congregation. Take our church, for example. We’re a very healthy church. Our worship attendance has remained stable for the last several years; and our giving continues to be generous. But we have some problems. There are very few children in our Sunday school program. The activities that have meant so much to us for years aren’t attracting the attendance that they once did. And while we have an active group of young adults, most members of our church are on the older side. Our church needs some healing. And all that Jesus asks us to do is to take one step in faith. Now, I know that’s hard to do! When we look around, all that we can see are the pitfalls that surround us. Like Indiana Jones staring into that chasm, we’re afraid that we’ll fall over the edge if we take a step. But without that step, we’ll stay right where we are, treading water when we should be swimming!

Now, there is no guarantee that our steps will lead us where we want to go. Sometimes they do. On those occasions, all kinds of things fall into place; and it’s easy to feel God walking beside us. Those are the times for prayers of thanksgiving, as we take joy in where we are and where we are going. Other times, our steps are more difficult, and we aren’t sure that we’re on the right path. That’s OK. God knows that we make mistakes sometimes! Those are the times that we can pray for wisdom and guidance even while we’re walking along. And there are times that we’re so confused, we don’t even know what direction to take! That’s when prayers for courage are in order. Taking the very first step is sometimes the hardest one; but if we really have faith in God’s promises, it’s something that we’ll decide to do.

Yes, faith is knowing that God has our back. Faith is being certain that God will always be there for us with guidance, comfort, and wisdom. Faith is taking one step at a time, and trusting that a bridge over the next chasm will appear even if we can’t see it until we step out on it. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we don’t see. While the world tells us to play it safe and keep ourselves secure, faith encourages us to step out even (maybe especially) when we don’t know where we’re going. Faith gives us the victory over all the challenges that the world can throw at us – one step at a time.