MCC St. Louis - Check Us Out!
Get your own, Free Homepage"SHOW ME YOUR PERSEVERANCE"
So...this morning and for the next 2 weeks, I want to offer a sermon mini-series based on selections from Mr. Moore's book. These sermons will all be on various aspects of our Christian discipleship I want us to think about living our faith in a "show me" world.
We do, you know. Live in a "show me" world. More and more, the world is desperately searching for something to believe in...for a way of being that will bring peace and meaning to people's individual lives. And anyone who would accept the title of "Christian," instantly takes on an expectation and, yes, a certain responsibility to show the world that life in Christ DOES make a difference in the way we live and find meaning in life God knows that too many have already illustrated some terrible examples of"so-called" Christianity to the world; the judgement and intolerance that non-Christians have come to associate with the misguided efforts of many Christian churches and leaders has given us, as we Southerners would say, a "long row to hoe" in order to bring the true message of God's love to the world.
But just because it has become harder and harder to live out the truth of Jesus Christ in our lives...just because the world has become more and more jaded and cynical about what we say we believe, doesn't mean we can just give up Because, you see, that's one of the primary things the world is saying to us: "If you really believe that God loves you and that, through Christ, there is nothing that cannot be overcome - that resurrection truly always conquers death, then SHOW ME YOUR PERSEVERANCE. The world is looking to us to teach them how to not give up on life!
Too many people have, you know: given up on life. And in many cases, it's not so much that they have stopped living but they've stopped taking any personal responsibility for their lives. If you don't believe me, just catch one episode of "The Jerry Springer Show" or "Rikki Lake" or "Judge Judy." A newspaper writer said, "If the 80's were the Me Decade, the 90's have become the Hey, Not Me Decade." We're living in very frank times when people will openly admit just about anything, but then, just as quickly, justify everything by pointing the accusing finger at someone or something else. Think back to some of the more celebrated examples of our time - - the Menendez Brothers, Tonya Harding, Ted Bundy - they, and many others, admitted their misdeeds, but then quickly explained them away by saying things like, "A poor childhood made me do it" "T.V violence made me do it" "peer pressure made me do it" "mob madness made me do it."
Too many people today have simply given up on trying in life. They would rather bemoan the lousy deal they've gotten than to do the work of pressing on and nsing above the challenges. That's pretty much the case with the story of the three employees we heard from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 25:14-29). This story has been called the "Parable of the Talents," but a more contemporary name might be the "parable of the investments." An employer, going away on a trip, gave three employees differing sums of money but trusted them all to make the most of what they had. After returning from the trip the employer called in these three to get a report The first two had invested their money wisely and had done well. They were commended for a job well done. But the third did not fare so well. This person had been too afraid even to try and had done nothing but hide the money. Such a lack of imagination, courage and effort cost the boss money - and ultimately it cost that employee a job.
But let's go back a minute. Think about what the third employee said in giving the boss that report. "I knew you to be a hard person to please, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your money in the ground. Here, take back what is yours." In other words, that employee was saying, "I didn't work. I didn't try. I didn't make an effort. But it's not really my fault. Actually, Boss, it's really your fault, because I knew you had high expectations, and that scared me, paralyzed me, froze me up. You're the guilty one, because you put all that fear in me. So I'm not really responsible. Yes, I failed, but it's not really my fault." Oh, man..."Judge Judy" here we come!!
Please recognize: those were the words of a person who has quit on life and now spends the days pointing the accusing finger of blame at everybody else. Psychologists tell us that as long as we live, we have two desires working within us, doing battle against one another. One is the desire to give up, to pull back, to throw in the towel and quit on life. The other is the desire to move forward through struggle and effort, risking and stretching and growing and striving and celebrating life.
As Christians that is exactly what we are called to do and to show to the world: that we can always move forward and embrace life. Sadly there are far too many in the world who are like that third employee. They give up and give in to the desire to quit on life. They start out well, with starry eyes and great fervor, ready to conquer the world and live life to the full; but then along came the pressures, the problems, the difficulties, the challenges, the responsibilities, the burdens, the disappointments, the heartaches, and the stresses. Suddenly, they feel hoodwinked and deceived. They feel cheated. They feel that life has dealt them a poor hand - a hand not nearly as favorable as others are holding. Others always seem to get more than them. For a while, they yell, "No fair!" Then they quietly fold their cards and give up. They no longer really live. They pull back into a hard shell. Life becomes merely a series of escapes. They vegetate; they exist; they get by; they use most of their energy blaming somebody else for their problems; they develop what has come to be known as a "victim mentality," they walk around and seem to be alive, but in essence, they have quit on life. As Christians, we certainly can't afford to slip into that way of thinking.. that kind of non-living The world is desperately searching looking at us and saying, "Give me some hope. Show me your perseverance."
Fred Astaire was, without dispute, on of the top singers, dancers and actors of all time. In Top Hat, Swing Time, Holiday Inn, and other famous movies, he danced and crooned his way into people's hearts world wide. But in 1932, when Astaire was starting out, a Hollywood talent judge wrote on his screen test: "Can't act Can't sing. Can dance a little."
God has given all of us some measure of talent...some level of faith.. some degree of ability. That's true of every human being. Sometimes circumstances or other people try to tell us we're no good. That what we have doesn't measure up and can't come to anything worthwhile. But hear again, in a slightly different wording, our Lesson Reading from James, chapter 1, verses 2-4. "Consider it perfect joy, my sisters and brothers, when you face trials because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Like young Fred Astaire's, if we will just keep on dancing and using what God has given us, we can each, in our own way, achieve great things for God. The world needs our witness of perseverance.. now more than ever.
Sometimes we become discouraged because we don't think we're making any progress.that we're not achieving anything through our efforts We tend to be very "results-oriented". Last Sunday, after our "Anti- Violence Vigil," someone said to me, "Jeez, I can't believe we're still fighting the same battles we were fighting thirty years ago? But isn't it wonderful that some of us are still willing to fight? To keep trying to bring justice and peace to this world. If we never worked for anything unless we were absolutely sure we would see the results we wanted, I'm not sure we would achieve very much. And, frankly, I'm not sure that "achieving" per se is the most important thing anyway. Perseverance, in and of itself, may be what God really wants from us.
A man was sleeping one night in his cabin in the woods when suddenly this room filled with light and Christ appeared. The Lord told the man that God has work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. Christ explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might The man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface ofthe unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts in the man's mind: "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You're never going to move it." Thus giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. He thought, "Yeah, why should I work so hard at an impossible task? I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough."
And he planned to do just that until one day he decided to pray about the situation and take his troubled thoughts to God. "Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength into what you have asked me to do. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What's wrong? Why am I failing?"
Christ responded, compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewed and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done, I, my friend, will now move the rock."
Sometimes when we are called to serve God (and as Christians, all of us are), we try to use our own intellect to figure out what God wants us to accomplish, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and perseverance. God wants us to persevere with a faith that can move mountains...even as we recognize that if mountains do indeed get moved, it will always be God who moves them!
Our main job is to hang in there come what may! We must live lives of faith...of hope...of love - all the while trusting in God. Because, you see, when you're a Christian, the whole world is from Missouri, saying, "Show me your perseverance." The world really needs to see what God can do...through us! !
Get your own, Free Homepage