Living into our belief

Living Into Our Belief
Welcome to this our 5th week of Easter…We’ve been celebrating the resurrection of Jesus for several weeks now…Recalling that same excitement of Easter morning when the women were at the tomb of Jesus and seeing for the very first time that Jesus was not dead, but that he was indeed alive…Easter is an 8 week celebration in the Christian calendar—50 days of Easter from the morning of Easter until we reach Pentecost—the day the Holy Spirit came upon the followers after Jesus ascended…As we continue in our celebration of the resurrection, which can really be celebrated everyday as we look for ways that we have seen God—the ways that we have recognized God’s presence in our midst…But as we come together this morning as Christ’s Church, we come to celebrate the resurrection together as a community of believers.
As we continue to celebrate the resurrection together, this morning we have two stories—one is the passage from John where Jesus is sharing part of what is known as his farewell discourse or his kind of “goodbye speech” with the disciples…He gives further information about who he is, if they haven’t gotten it figure out yet, what they’ll expect to happen, and also what they’re expected to do. In the passage from Acts, we have the story of Stephen who is known as the first Christian martyr—the first Christian to die for his faith. The very kind of faith and beliefs that Jesus talked about in his farewell discourse.
Within the conversation with the disciples, Jesus shared with them some profound truths—He told them that there was a place that was prepared specifically for them…He told them, “I am the way…”…He told them that they had seen the Father because they had seen him…He gave them these specific things as a gift to them, as not just words for them to cling to, but beliefs to hold and act upon…
Last week, as we gathered together in worship, we shared together the times, places, and events in our life were we had seen God…I have a confession to make about that…Last Saturday night, I was trying to finish my sermon and things just weren't coming...I'm not sure what the problem was, but for one reason or another, I wasn't in tune with the Spirit...I was trying, but I just couldn't quiet down my busy mind in order to hear the Spirit and to listen for the message...I had wrestled with the passages throughout the week and had heard things throughout that time and thought that I had the message, but when I put my fingers on the keys, it just wasn't coming...So, I shut the computer in frustration and decided that I needed a break...I had a basic outline and I had explored the passages, but nothing was coming to the front...As soon as I did that, and I walked away and went to brush my teeth, that's when I heard it...I heard the Spirit moving.
The week before that, we heard the story of the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus and in that story, I had challenged ya’ll to look for God...to see where God was present in their midst...And I realized that so many times these challenges are given and folks don't have an opportunity to share the responses from their challenge...Kind of like during VBS when the kids do their daily challenges, then they get to come back and tell everyone what they did! So, I listened to the Spirit moving and decided that for a good part of the sermon, it would be a wonderful opportunity for folks to share where they had seen God during the week...
Just as the disciples on the road to Emmaus stood in amazement to see Jesus standing before them and just as much as the disciples sat with Jesus in our story from this morning…My Lord & My God...It was an amazing, amazing experience...to hear where you had seen God...Where you had experienced God in their midst...Where your eyes had been opened and you had seen God...My Lord & My God...It was amazing...To hear where you had seen God in the midst of joyous occasions, stressful situations, unexpected situations, quiet situations...Amazing Grace...
It’s amazing when things like that happens…when we put ourselves aside and let the Spirit move where the Spirit will move…When we live into our believe…When it becomes something that shapes us and works with us and not just something that we do on Sunday morning or when we’re in the sanctuary….But when our belief in God is something so strong and so powerful that it invades every aspect of our lives and every aspect of our being…From getting a calculator from someone sitting next to us, to seeing a smile, to having someone answer a call from God…My Lord & My God!
What’s amazing when we live into our belief is that it becomes something that we don’t necessarily think about all the time…Sure there are the times when we have to take a step back and breathe—those moments when the “I” in ourselves just wants to burst out…You know those times too—when you’ve been wronged, when you’ve been hurt, when you’re mad or angry…You know those times…Those times when you just want to say, “Okay God, close your eyes for a minute, because this isn’t going to be pretty.” Those are the times when we have to take a step back from ourselves and take some deep breaths—where we breathe in everything that is of God and breath out everything that is not of God…When we allow the Spirit to move within and through us…When we intentionally live into our belief…
Stephen was someone who lived into his belief intentionally and completely and it lead to his death by stoning…He was not shy about sharing his belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah and if got him in trouble with authorities for being blasphemous or something that was going against God…But he didn’t back down at all from his beliefs or how he expressed them…He gave an impassioned speech to the council before they carried out his sentence of death…Stephen didn’t make his plea because he wanted a great crowd around him or because he wanted any more attention that he had already gotten…Stephen simply believed and lived his life in every aspect of that belief, so much that it cost him his life…And even up until the very end…He said that he saw Jesus and while he was being stoned and breathing his last breaths, he cried out to God, “Please don’t hold this sin against them.” Have you heard that phrase before? Jesus said virtually the same thing as he died on the cross, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” At that very moment where Stephen is being killed, where he is being stoned, he could have cursed the men there and cast all kinds of ill wishes toward them, but in Stephen’s last breath, he asked that their sins not be held against them…Amazing grace!
There’s another person mentioned in our passage about Stephen this morning...As Stephen was being stoned, Saul was holding the coats of the witnesses…Some may recognize the name Saul…But others may know him better as Paul…Yes, the same Paul who wrote many of the letters that we have contained in our New Testament…Within in Saul’s story, he had a conversion on the Road to Damascus…Certainly there were things throughout Saul’s life that helped him to become Paul and we’ll hear those stories another day…But, for Saul to see Stephen living his beliefs to the very end of his life…that even as Stephen breathed his last, he lived his belief…I can’t help but think that there had to have been something about that that made an impact on Saul…
Have you ever thought about that for yourself? How is the way that you are living into and through your belief showing to others? What kind of an impact are you making on another person? Where are you helping to show someone else the love of Christ through your actions? Those are big questions…and they’re big responsibilities…It may be what scares some people about believing in Jesus…That it’s just to high of expectations, and does that mean that I have to be perfect? Does it mean that I can never have any fun? Does it really mean that other people are watchign what I do? It can be intimidating to think about things like that! Anyone who has spent time with children knows that children pick up far more that oftentimes adults think that they do! And sometimes more than adults want them to! When we live into our belief, it’s more than being cautious because there’s someone else around, but it’s being intentional to follow the calling that Jesus has given us…To live into our belief…
Jesus told his disciples that greater works would be done through them…But they aren’t just greater works to do greater works…They’re greater works through faith. Faith in Jesus Christ…God made flesh…Working through the Holy Spirit…A belief in the promises that Jesus made…In the promises that Jesus continues to make and to extend to each of us now and every day…An opportunity that we have to life into that belief this day and everyday…Sometimes it’s a challenging road…But along the journey, we are surrounded by God’s perfect love…We are surrounded by this amazing grace…Sometimes we capture it in ways as we see God…There are times when we show that love through our actions…And those times aren’t isolated or separate instances…They are forever and constantly merged together…For where ever God’s love is shown, God can be seen…Greater works will be done…
Last week, your challenge was to continue to seek those times when you see God present in you midst and those times when you are able to show the love of Christ…The challenge this week is to do both…Live into your belief…Let the Spirit move in and invade…Let that perfect love, that amazing grace do greater works through you…