Sermon Title:  Life-Changing Questions

Sermon Text:  Romans 8:38-39

Sermon Date:  September 11, 2005

 

            There is a lot going on in our world.  So much that it is hard to know exactly what to talk about today.  News coverage of Hurricane Katrina has consumed us.  Evacuees are heading in many directions, even Lafayette.  Children are separated from their families.  Illegal aliens are staying away from shelters for fear of being deported.  People are afraid to leave their homes in New Orleans for fear of losing what little they have left.  Some well-to-do residents have stayed behind to protect their mansions and wish the city would just give them water and electricity and leave them alone.  Yet one host town in Texas held a wedding for a couple that has never been able to afford one.  Even the diamond rings were donated.

            Then there is the remembrance of what we were doing four years ago at this moment, on the day forever known as 9-11.  Some of us were sitting at the first women’s breakfast, shocked.  Others were glued to the television sets or wandering around stunned and confused.  We hastily planned a noon prayer service where we came together to cry and pray.  And we waited to see just how bad things would be. Our hearts were broken when we heard the stories of those lost, and of the huge number of firefighters who died doing their jobs.

            That hit home yesterday as my daughter Courtney and I watched a dear friend of ours, a young man we have known for sixteen years, take the oath to become a firefighter in Hamilton County.  I didn’t ask anyone if they specifically chose the day before the anniversary to bring in new firefighters but it certainly was not far from anyone’s mind.  We thought of it as the American flag entered the room and as we said the pledge of allegiance.  When Rob’s pregnant wife, their two children and Christy’s firefighter dad pinned Rob’s badge on him, it was hard to hold back the tears. 

            It was a reminder that life goes on.  It goes on as these young men with children and wives stepped forward to become part of a risky profession.  It goes on as we dedicated our teachers for another year of challenges and learning. It goes on as we gather in our Come Thirsty small groups.   It goes on as we will gather here next Sunday to begin our 171st year of ministry. 

             The beauty of the days behind us and those ahead of us is that the old adage is true – that which does not kill us, makes us stronger.  We are stronger than we were four years ago.  I received this untitled, anonymous poem that points to the good we should remember with the bad this week:

 

As the soot and dirt and ash rained down, We became one color.

As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building, We became one class.

As we lit candles of waiting and hoping, We became one generation.

As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno, We became one gender.

As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength, We became one faith.

As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement, We spoke one language.

As we gave our blood in lines a mile long, We became one body.

As we mourned together the great loss,

We became one family.

As we cried tears of grief and loss,

We became one soul.

As we retell with pride the sacrifice of heroes, We become one people.

(Dr. Larry Bethune, ‘From Remembrance to Hope’)

 

Two overwhelming tragedies separated by time.  One, four years ago, a tragedy by human hands.  Last week a tragedy by nature.  One born of hatred, seeking power and control.  The other, well, you can’t contain nature, no matter how hard you try.

One left us with questions, “how could someone do such a thing?”  The other has left some asking, “God, where were you?  Are you down here?”

One left us wondering if we could forgive.  The other has left us wondering how to give, how to help.  You know that donations are pouring in at much faster rate than the donations of 9-11 or the tsunami.  As of September 8, over $503 million in gifts and pledges has been given to the Red Cross in the name of Hurricane relief.  I don’t know how much has been given through the ABC but I’m confident the numbers are hefty too.

A lot has happened just in these four years.  Certainly the lives of those most keenly affected have been changed but we as a country have felt a lot too.  Saddaam Hussain is in prison.  We are involved in a war that has freed people but  is also claiming military and civilian lives.  And many natural disasters have happened.  Earthquakes.  Tsunami that killed 200,000.  More hurricanes – two this year, seven in past 18 months to hit Florida.  Experts predict 21severe storms and hurricanes may stir up in the Atlantic this hurricane season.  And there has been more, much, much more. (New York Times)

There is a part of us that might like to run for our beds, pull the covers over our heads and pretend none of this has happened or nothing will happen.  But there are people in need, hurting, homeless, jobless, looking for their children and parents, and they need us.

So we could talk about life changing questions as in “God, are you down here?” but that answer is simple.  “Yes, always, absolutely, God is here with us” as we are reminded of in Romans 8:38-39.  But a real life-changing question is “God, am I letting you work through me?”

            God works through us when we forgive, as did a congregation in Coventry, England immediately after their cathedral was destroyed by German bombers during WWII.  There is the liturgy they spoke:

 

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

 

The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,

FATHER FORGIVE

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,

FATHER FORGIVE

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others

FATHER FORGIVE

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee

FATHER FORGIVE

The lust which dishonors the bodies of men, women and children,

FATHER FORGIVE

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,

FATHER FORGIVE

 

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

 

(www.esermons.com)

 

God works through us when we do not dwell on the past but focus on the future.  Dwelling on the past is different than being rooted in it.  You know our theme for the 170th anniversary was given to us by Harriet Coppoc – rooted in the past; focused on the future.  There is a difference between dwelling the past and being rooted in it.

 If we were dwelling on the past we would be unable to move ahead, to do things differently.  We would insist that nothing should change and that the way we have always done things will be fine for the next hundred years.  But we all know that doesn’t quite work that way.  Being rooted in the past takes what we have learned and combines it with the changes life brings.  Because life is much different than it was even 25 years ago. 

Did you know that today’s college freshman has never known a time without AIDS, ESPN, or Pampers. The names John, Paul, George and Ringo mean nothing to them, but Sponge Bob Squarepants, Ginger and Posh do.  They barely remember a time without email.  They don’t leave notes on the fridge.  They send text messages on their cell phones.  They have watched natural and manmade disasters on the evening news.  They adapt pretty easily because their world has moved fast, very fast.  Information changes rapidly in their world.  We have been surprised at how a cell phone takes a picture but they aren’t.  They expect this new stuff. 

But they have fears, plenty of them.  They fear they will not be able to support themselves financially.  They fear they will never have a happy marriage, but their number one fear is that "Something bad may happen to my family." (Christianity Today, September 7, 2005)

We all have fears, but remembering that God is faithful, always with us and will never leave us, opens the door to get up every day and take a deep breath, knowing and believing that God is in the heavens and that ultimately much is right with the world.  But we are still left with tough, life-changing questions -- particularly for those of us sitting in church today – what are we going to do with our lives?  What are we going to do for God?  For the people in the Gulf states?  For the homeless and jobless in Lafayette?  For those still trying to understand this God thing?  What will we do?  God, am I letting you work through me?

 

The mission of the church and her people has not changed since the date we now call 911 occurred any more than it has changed since this community of faith opened its doors 170 years ago.   The mission is the same.  The ultimate mission is to be found faithful in the midst of sorrow and devastation.  To be found faithful by sharing with the have nots.  To be found faithful by sharing the good news of the endless love of Jesus Christ with someone that feels unworthy and unlovable.  The mission of the church of Jesus Christ is to be found faithful in ways that those watching will find us believable.

On the Sunday after 9-11, my sermon title was “Being Found Faithful.”  I was inspired by the words from a Steve Green song, “Find us faithful” that was sang at the 25th anniversary celebration of Habitat for Humanity held on September 12, 2001.

We're pilgrims on the journey of the narrow road,
and those who've gone before us line the way,
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,
their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us run the race not only for the prize,
but as those who've gone before us,
let us leave to those behind us
the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
and our children sift through all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover
and the mem'ries they uncover
become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

Chorus:  O may all who come behind us find us faithful/
may the fire of our devotion light their way,
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe,
and the lives we live inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us find us faithful.

Let me close with the ending from that 9-16 sermon, words I think are still true today.

We've found that that is our job. To be found faithful.
· Faithful to the God who will not let us go…even in death.
· Faithful in our witness that while lives may be lost, and buildings may be gone, God is present in our midst.
· Faithful in sharing our story that Jesus is alive and well, and walks among. · Faithful in not allowing hatred to come from us.
· Faithful in seeking justice, but not revenge.
· Faithful in calling others to do the same.
· Faithful in recognizing that God, throughout the difficulties of life, is our constant, guiding light.
· And faithful in remembering that darkness cannot put out darkness, only light can do that.

Romans 8:38-39 says: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Where is God?  Still here, sifting through the rubble looking for the lost.  God bless America. God bless the world.  (“Being Found Faithful,” September 16, 2001 – read the entire sermon at www.firstbaptistlafayette.org).

For us today, four years later, may God bless each and everyone of us as we seek to discover how God is living through us in the world.  And may our thirst to know God more never be quenched.