Sermon Title: Are We There Yet?
Sermon Date:
April 13, 2008
Sermon Text:
Acts 2:36-41
Scripture
36"Therefore
let all
37When the people heard this,
they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles,
"Brothers, what shall we do?"
38Peter replied, "Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom
the Lord our God will call."
40With many other words he
warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt
generation." 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and
about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Message:
37When the people heard this,
they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles,
"Brothers, what shall we do?"
There
are so many ways to say that little phrase – what shall we do? How about the dreaded words “Are we there
yet?”
If
you have been in the car with a child on a trip ….. you know those words. You have probably said those words. ARE WE THERE YET?
When
I was doing youth ministry in Indianapolis our bus driver Ken had a solution to
the other, closely related question “How long until we get there?” Any time the question was asked the answer
was “twenty minutes.” It didn’t matter
that we had just pulled out of the church parking lot on our way to Washington,
D.C. the answer was “twenty minutes.”
After a while they tested him to see if the answer would stay the same
and it did….twenty minutes.
Another
solution to those questions is quite priceless.
The amount of money changes as the child gets older but let’s assume you
have a 10 year old asking. At the
beginning of the trip hand them a roll of quarters. Yep, $10 worth. Then every time he asks “how much longer” or
“when will we get there?” he has to give up a quarter. The greedier the child, the few
questions. Brilliant, isn’t it!!!
I
wonder what Peter did when the folks in first century Palestine asked “Are we
there yet?” He was probably asking
himself the same question.
What
did it mean for them to be “there?”
Can
you imagine being left behind to pick up the pieces of the life Jesus led? Can
you imagine being left in charge????
Can you imagine the doubts they must have had from time to time….even
having seen Jesus again? Can you imagine
them asking themselves just what they were supposed to do next?
What
shall we do?
How
do you know what it means to be “there?”
I
spoke last weekend at a women’s conference in Evansville at American Baptist
East church. I talked about “Conquering
the Oz Syndrome.” Now the Wizard of Oz
is one of my all time favorite movies although my brother in law thinks it is
among the scariest movies ever made.
Those flying monkeys freak him out but I think it is a great story about
a lot of different things, but in particular how we postpone living until
certain conditions are met.
You
know….if I only had a brain, if I only had a heart, if I only had courage, if I
could only go back to Kansas. If I could
only get a better job, or lose weight or get married, get divorced, have children,
not have children……you know what I mean.
Oz is that place where we get stuck thinking only about the “if I
onlys”.
This
idea came to me the night I was asked to speak at the conference. It was last summer while I was on vacation
and spending the night at my friend Carol’s house in Mansfield, OH. Carol has one of the most popular Better
Homes and Gardens floor plans from the 50s.
And the kitchen window is where it is supposed to be…over the sink, not
like my apartment where I have to put a picture above the sink to have
something to look at.
But
on this particular night the breeze was cool and delicious and I got up to get
a drink of water. The motion light came
on in the back yard and I stood there looking at her lovely kitchen, looking
out her lovely window into her lovely garden and thought, “If I had a kitchen
like this I’d cook more.” Then I burst
out laughing. I was in Oz. Now I do love to cook but I don’t like
cooking for myself, but how often do we say that “If I only…..” as an excuse
for not doing something.
Are
we there yet? What shall we do
next? If the disciples had bought into
the whole living in Oz syndrome, I wonder if we would be here at all. Would the church even be in any form
whatsoever? Or would they have sat and
waiting for Jesus to return yet again.
What if the disciples had refused to listen to Peter, the heir
apparent? What would have happened?
What
happens today in our churches when we continue to wait for something to
get better, get more like it used to be, get more like other churches in
town? How do you know you are there yet
or that you are even on the right road to Kansas?
I
hope these summer sabbatical months will answer those questions for us. What does it mean to be the people of Jesus
Christ who happen to worship at First Baptist Church of Lafayette,
Indiana? What does it mean to be a
person who follows Jesus Christ who happens to worship here? How do you know you are there yet?
Last
week I told the story of Dr. Ben Carson, born a seriously poor black child in
Detroit. Raised by a mother who left
school in the third grade but refused to let her two sons sink to the bottom of
the class. She made them give up
television and do homework. Each week
they had to read two library books and write reports which she could barely
read herself. But within a year Ben went
from being at the bottom of the class to the top of the class, all because of
his mother’s determination and a success.
Ben
was able to recognize a rock in class based on having read a book at home. That success energized him and propelled him
toward a live of learning. He eventually
went to Yale, then Medical School at the University of Michigan. At the age of 32 he became the Director of
Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and in 1987 made medical history by
separating twins conjoined at the back of their heads.
He
has written two books Gifted Hands
and Think Big. He says the words of “Think Big” stand for
this:
Talent: Our
creator has endowed all of us not just with the ability to sing, dance or throw
a ball, but with intellectual talent.
Start getting in touch with that part of you that is intellectual and
develop that, and think of careers that will allow you to use that.
Honesty: If
you lead a clean and honest life, you don’t have skeletons in the closet. If you put skeletons in the closet, they
definitely will come back just when you don’t want to see them and ruin your
life.
Insight:
It comes from people who have already gone where you’re
trying to go. Learn from their triumphs and their mistakes.
Nice: If you're
nice to people, then once they get over the suspicion of why you're being nice,
they will be nice to you.
Knowledge: It makes
you into a more valuable person. The more knowledge you have, the more people
need you. It's an interesting phenomenon, but when people need you, they pay
you, so you'll be okay in life.
Books: They are
the mechanism for obtaining knowledge, as opposed to television.
In-Depth
Learning: Learn for the sake of knowledge and understanding, rather
than for the sake of impressing people or taking a test.
God: Never get
too big for Him.
From
what I’ve read and heard about Dr. Carson I don’t think he would say he is
“there yet” but Mary Wilkinson would disagree.
After
church last week Mary Wilkinson said “I have the rest of the story about Ben
Carson for you to share next week.
Dr.
Carson was to operate on one of Mary’s students who has a brain tumor. Doctors are Riley Hospital wouldn’t do it –
too risky but Dr. Carson would.
So
the students in Mary’s class made a poster that said “Our prayers and strength
go with you” and they laminated it and sent it with her to the hospital.
As
the nurses were taking her to surgery she tried to take the poster but was told
no until Dr. Carson came in and said, “Of course that has to go too!” So their sign held a place of honor in the
operating room, sterilized of course.
Then
at 10:30 while ??? was in surgery, Mary and her students stood in a circle and
thought good and positive thoughts for their friend.
Later
when Dr. Carson was talking to her parents following the surgery he said, “You
know, at 10:30 I felt this surge of energy go through me.
Are
you there yet? Are we there yet? What will it mean to be “there” as a church
of Jesus Christ?
The
disciples were ready to find out. Are we
ready to join them?