Sunday April 22,
2012 Sermon Rom. 8:28-35,37-39,
John 10:27-30
Prayer:
We begin the
Transition Process in earnest today with a sermon series titled, “Facing the
Road Ahead.”
I’ve heard some of
you ask why it is necessary to do this. First, it’s important you let some time
pass between pastorates, given that Pastor Barry was here for 25 years. There
needs to be time to grieve and to process what it means to not have your long
term pastor present. You need time to understand things will be different from
now on.
Secondly, and
perhaps more importantly, this time is an opportunity to look within and come
to some understanding of who you are as Cross Lutheran. To ask questions about
what it is Cross Lutheran wants to be into the future. What will be her mission
and how she will go about her work.
Thirdly, this is an
opportunity to discover, and to find meaning and purpose of who and what Cross
Luther will be into the future. This series and
those that will follow are meant to help engage the whole congregation in the
transition process. It meant for the congregation to think and reflect in an
intentional way about the direction of ministry for the future. It’s meant to
help stimulate conversation, evaluate and assess, clarify ministry, and to
challenge you to discover the mission and ministry of Cross Lutheran.
So… we start today
by “Facing the Road Ahead.”
And the road ahead
seems daunting and uncertain. We are living in difficult and uncertain times
for sure. While some families are doing ok, many families continue to struggle
financially, there continues to be high unemployment and under employment, and
when we look at our communities we see civil strife, beatings and murders,
robberies, and abuse in most if not all sectors of our society. The media and
TV talking heads seem more times than not to fan the flames of uncertainty and
fear. And as you may think some of this fear and anxiety even finds its way
into the church as well.
For example:
-
Pr
retires and now what will we do with no Pastor?
-
Why do
we have to wait so long?
-
Why do
we have to do this process & reflection?
-
It seems
the road is so long and difficult.
-
These
questions are based on fear and uncertainty and based on our own methods to
survive.
-
And the
transition process is based on hope and faith that God provides.
Pr. Peter Marty of St Paul Luth. Davenport
Iowa, wrote in the Lutheran Magazine, “Fear keeps telling us there is not
enough to go around. Not enough time, not enough resources, not enough
strength, not enough grace, not enough patients, not enough God.” Marty
continues, “Trusting Faith believes in God’s sufficiency no matter what…
trusting faith simply lends us the courage to walk through those fears.”
Jesus tells us
multiple times to NOT be afraid…. DO NOT FEAR.
-
Jesus says in our story today, “My sheep know
my voice. And I know them… they will never be lost.”
-
Paul says, “If God is on our side, can anyone
be against us.”
-
Paul continues, “Nothing can separate us from
God’s love.”
What this tells us
is if Jesus is central to our faith the difficulties and uncertainties will be
minimal and we will be able to preserver… And we will NEVER GIVE UP… We’ll
Never Give Up despite the storm clouds… despite the seeming endless road…
despite the situations and circumstances of our lives… NEVER GIVE UP!!!
I’d like to reflect
on 3 reasons to Never Give Up…
“Remain
Connected to Jesus”
The first reason to
Never Give Up is to remain connected to Jesus. Peter says in his sermon in Acts
3… “God sent his chosen Son to you because God wanted to bless you.” Prior to
Pentecost, Peter was an emotional wreck… in fact all the disciples weren’t all
that confident that God was blessing them. They were holed up in a room scared
to death. They had trouble believing what was happening to them. They were
challenged in their faith and wondered what it all meant. At Pentecost that all
changed and Peter finds a new confidence in Jesus, he chastises the religious
people in the temple and basically says, “All God desires is that people turn
back to Him.” Do you want to reduce your propensity to give up…Stay connected
to Jesus? Friends… we… all of us… need to consistently discover ways to stay
connected to Jesus and it will lessen our reasons to Give Up.
“Follow Jesus”
The second reason to
Never Give Up is to become an intentional follower of Jesus.
Jesus says in John 10:27… “My sheep know my
voice, and I know them… and they follow me.”
Are you following
Jesus? This question revolves around
the issue of Discipleship or as I like to refer as… learning to follow Jesus. We will reflect on this more
specifically at another time. But, essentially following Jesus has 6
principles or practices that we need to do consistently… they are…
o
Community
Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving
o
Relationship
Building… and Generosity
When we are
intentionally and consistently living these practices or principles we are
following Jesus… we are staying connected to Jesus. And when we are doing this
we will Never Give Up!
“God
Loves You No Matter What”
The third reason to
never give up is that God loves you no matter what.
Paul says in Romans 8:33-35… “If God says his
chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or
can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now
he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us
from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and
nakedness, or danger and death?
Paul continues by saying, “Nothing can
separate you from the love of God.”
Prior to coming to
Cross I had been without a call for 7 months. One gets a little nervous when you begin to run out of living
resources… i.e. money. It is easy to
give when you don’t see God doing all that much on your behalf. There are glimpses of God’s work…
there were times when money showed up that helped out at just the right time. It really gets down to holding on to
trusting God’s provision and perseverance… as Paul states, even through the
difficulties God is present. Because
as Paul sees it… “If God is with us, can anyone be against us.”
So… giving up is not
an option… I am not going to let you give up. I am going to keep you focused on
what God is doing and what God will do and it is not to give up. You will not
give up because you will remain connected to Jesus… because you will
intentionally follow Jesus… and because you will know that God loves us no
matter what.
In Closing:
This is kind of a
humorous story, but this story lends itself to what we’ve been talking about.
Chuck Evans was a
parishioner in a former congregation. What’s unique about Chuck is that he has
an eye disorder that is making him blind. He is currently 80% blind today. The
humorous part is that Chuck works for the IRS… that’s right… the Internal Revenue
Service. At some point he knows he will no longer be able to work there, but
until that time the IRS makes accommodations for him. Chuck was when he could
see was an accountant, and when he was part of the congregation I was serving
he was about 70% blind and I asked him to be our treasurer. He laughed and
said, “You know that I’m legally blind” and you want me to serve as a treasure?
I said, “Yes I know and yes I want you to do this.” I told him, “Lets both pray
on it.” He agreed. Chuck was ready to give up in his life. He saw no way to be
a productive person. After praying about it for a few days, he came to me with
tears streaming down his face accepting the invitation and saying, “You are the
first pastor who never saw my blindness as a limitation.”
Honestly, the Holy
Spirit spoke to me and I just knew he could do the job and frankly, I don’t
like seeing anyone give up…
I pray you too will
Never Give Up!! The Road Ahead
Continues…
See You Out on the
Road.
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