June 25 Sermon
Today we close our week of Vacation Bible School where we learned of some who were heroes of faith even while they were afraid. Noah, Mary & Joseph, the lost sheep, Daniel, and the disciples are all examples of those who experienced both faith and fear. If we are honest with ourselves, don't we, too, have to admit we feel fearful at times, even as we have faith in God? Seeing these pillars of the faith and knowing that at times, they too, must have been fearful gives us hope. Knowing that we have a Savior who seeks and saves the lost is comforting as well.
Imagine being Noah. God told him to build an ocean-liner--in the desert. His neighbors thought he was crazy. Noah may also have wondered about himself over the decades through which he was building the ark, yet he pressed on. Faith overcame doubt. He received assurance as he began to hear the pitter-pat of the rain-drops on the roof of the ark. God rewarded Noah's obedience and saved him through the flood. When it was all over God put a sign in the sky to show he would never again destroy all humanity with a flood.
Now think of Mary and Joseph. Mary--young and innocent, giving birth to a child she claimed to be the Son of God. Joseph--a righteous man--being asked to believe all this. And he must have wondered what would happen if it were all true! We parents are awed at the responsibility that comes with raising our children , so just imagine what it would have been like for Jesus's parents! How does one bring up the Son of God? Still Mary and Joseph responded in faith. They accepted the job God had for them.
Then there was Daniel, brave Daniel, willing to follow God's laws despite the consequences. I'm sure even Daniel had some doubts as he saw the hungry lions staring at him, as he felt their hot breath blowing down his neck. He could probably see them drooling over their huge teeth. Yet Daniel endured and God saved him.
We'll skip over the sheep story for the time being, so next we come to the disciples--all called by Jesus to be his witnesses, who not an exceptionally long time after being called experienced the storm of our Gospel text and were the epitome of fear.
They displayed what many of us feel when the storms or pressures of life get to us. We begin to wonder, "Doesn't God care?" And isn't that just what the disciples asked Jesus? They were afraid of perishing and at times so are some of us.
One poet, Agnes Brewer, wrote that sometime God allows things in our life to wake us up to our need to be found:
I stood upon a mountaintop And cried, "Oh, God, why me?
This load you gave me is much too great. It drove me to my knees!"
A shaft of light came through the mist--A storm I didn't mention.
God said, "Sometimes it takes a lot To get some folks' attention."
[quoted by C. Edward Bowen. Emphasis, May/ June 2000; p. 62]
Now we'll get back to the sheep story. We are sometimes like the sheep that got lost. We wander off on our own, usually not intentionally leaving the flock and shepherd behind; we just want to do our own thing. We actually don't think a whole lot about it. Eventually, however, we discover we're alone and become frightened, because we can't find our way back on our own.
Fortunately for us, however, we are never out of the Savior's care. He is Lord of the here and now, he's Lord in St. Louis where the youth will be heading, and he's Lord no matter to where we or our loved ones wander off. The one who gave his life for us on the cross is the same one who searches high and low for that one of us who has become lost either intentionally or by accident. He looks until he finds us. Then he picks us up and carries us on his shoulders so we may be reunited with the rest of the flock. Safe in his arms we are no longer afraid.
We aren't afraid when we are in the Lord's presence, but like the disciples we are awestruck. We, too, marvel at just who this Jesus might be that even the wind and sea obey him. We marvel, too, at the fact that despite our repeated wanderings and failure to live up to God's design for us, Jesus still seeks us out. No matter who we are or what we've done God desires to be in relationship with us.
Jesus died on the cross to ensure that we could be brought back into a relationship with our heavenly Father, but that was not the end. Fortunately for us a sequel has been written. It tells of Jesus, the very Son of God who not only die to pay the penalty for our sin, he didn't stay dead. He rose, gaining us the victory over death as well. We now can live as free people. We fellowship with one another knowing we're all welcome and made family. We know that we are never alone, and that each person is important so we want to go out and help Jesus seek the other lost sheep and bring them back to the fold.
In order to be effective in this task we need to keep on with the study of God's Word. One week in the Summer at Bible School or at a youth gathering, or even once a week at worship just won't make it if your desire is to grow in faith. We have incredible opportunities to study God's Word here at St. Stephen. Beginning July 9 we start our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure, "Celebrate Jesus;" We will not only learn eight things about the character of Christ, we will also be challenged to implement five actions steps which will help us be more Christ-like. In August we are encouraged to invite those who don't know or believe in Christ, those who are questioning their faith, and those who want to know more about the faith to come together for our Alpha program. The kick-off dinner will be on Sunday August 27th at 5:30 P.M. and the classes will be held weekly along with dinner on Saturdays, beginning September 16th. Also in September our midweek education night will occur beginning Thursday, September 14th. These last two programs are new, so you'll have a chance to get in on the ground floor. Finally Sunday morning Sunday School resumes September 3rd at 9:30.
I hope you will continue the journey you've begun by participating in one of these programs. Through them you will learn to continue to trust the one whom even the winds and the sea obey despite the storms and challenges of life, because he is truly worthy of our worship and following in his steps.
Copyright 2000 by Rev. Laurel Bobb