"In His Steps"

Acts 2:42-47; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10

There is the story of a man who went to the country of Burma about a hundred years ago and suffered untold hardships trying to reach the lost in order to tell them about Jesus Christ. For seven heartbreaking years he suffered hunger and privation. During this time he was thrown into a terrible prison, and for 17 months was subjected to almost incredible mistreatment. As a result, for the rest of his life he carried the ugly marks made by the chains and iron shackles which had cruelly bound him.

Undaunted, upon his release he asked for permission to enter another province where he might resume preaching the Gospel. The godless ruler of the country indignantly denied his request, saying, "My people are not fools enough to listen to anything a missionary might SAY, but I fear they might be impressed by your SCARS and turn to your religion."

Indeed, the person who has suffered for his or her faith is a much greater witness for Jesus Christ than anyone who may profess the faith but has been unwilling to take the risks that go with it. The Apostle Paul knew this as much as anyone of the other apostles, for Paul, himself was subject to persecutions for the gospel. In fact, as he told about his sufferings, he wrote: "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, spending a night and a day in the open sea." The Apostle Paul was thrown into jail countless numbers of times and was then beheaded in the city of Rome for being nothing less than a Christian. Perhaps it was for this reason that Paul was able to write as he did in our Epistle lesson: "If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God."

There is the story of how, years ago, a Roman emperor said to a Greek architect: "Build me a Coliseum, and when it is done, I will crown you, and I will make your name famous through all the world. And, indeed, when the work was done the emperor made the announcement: "Now we will crown that architect. We will have a grand celebration!"

On the day of the celebration the Coliseum was crowded with a great host of people. The emperor was there and the Greek architect, who was to be crowned for putting up the building was sitting nearby. And they brought out some Christians and stood them in front of some cages full of hungry lions.

The emperor arose and shouted, "The Coliseum is done, and we have Christians at the mouth of these lions, and we have come here to honor the architect who has constructed this wonderful building. The time has come for me to honor him, and we further celebrate his triumph by the slaying of these Christians." At this the Greek architect sprang to his feet and shouted, "I also am a Christian."

Hearing this, the emperor had the architect thrown to the lions, as well. And his body, bleeding and dead, was trampled into the dust of the amphitheater, simply because he preferred the crown of eternal life over any crown that an any human emperor could bestow.

But, what about us? Christianity is legal in our country. We have freedom of religion. People can be as religious or as non-religious as they choose. And, perhaps this may be one reason why Christianity in the United States has been on the decline over the years while in nations like Poland and China, where being a Christian has been discouraged by the government, Christianity has grown. For in those places where being a Christian brings scars and suffering the witness for Jesus is powerful. Our own country, on the other hand, has seen a decline in the number of persons claiming to be Christian. And perhaps the reason for this is that the suffering of the typical Christian in America is nothing compared to what it is in other places.

So, what does this mean? It means that if our churches are going to grow we simply have to work harder to bring the Christian faith to our neighbors, to our families, and to our communities.

In our lesson from the book of Acts we are given a brief description of things that the early Christians did which resulted in making converts to Jesus. Perhaps we would do well to take heed of what those things were.

First, we are told that "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

Now, like I said, we need to pay attention to this. Notice that the scripture said that they devoted themselves to these things. What does that mean? It means that nothing was more important to them on Sunday morning than to go to church. Nothing was more important to them on the Lord's Day than hearing the apostles' teachings. Nothing was more important to them on that particular day of the week than meeting with their fellow Christians. Nothing was more important to them than sharing the Lord's Supper and praying to God.

But, can we say the same thing in our own day? Are Christians as devoted as those early Christians were? Are we United Methodists as serious about our calling as they were almost 2,000 years ago? Are we as careful as we should be with our Saturday nights so that we aren't too tired, or too groggy to go to Church the next day? Or, are we only too willing to let a vacation be our excuse to be away from the fellowship of Christians on Sunday morning? Or, do we give in too easily when our boss tells us that we're going to have to work on Sunday? Or, do we let visitors to our home over the weekend be our excuse for not coming to church?

For the first Christians, and for any Christian who is really serious about the faith, being devoted to Christian education, fellowship, worship, and prayer means putting those things before anything else. The book of Acts tells us that this is how a church can grow.

Secondly, the book of Acts tells us that everyone was filled with awe at the wonders and miracles being performed by the apostles. Do we have wonders and miracles taking place in our midst? I would think that we do. In fact, very often, as we share our joys and concerns here on Sunday morning we hear of some the wonders and miracles taking place in the lives of others around us. When someone is healed of a disease, when someone is spared serious injury in an automobile accident, when someone shares the news of a baby's birth, any of these things should give us cause to be awed at the love and power of God's Spirit working mightily among us.

And being awed is important because being awed can be contagious. But, are we so easily awed, these days? I mean, with the space shuttle going up every month, now; with all of the spectacular things that we see contrived everyday on the T.V. and in the movies; I wonder if perhaps our ability to be awed hasn't gotten a little numb.

In fact, as I listen to a lot of young persons speaking today I hear the word "awesome" being used quite a bit to describe things that really aren't very awesome at all. Sometimes I wonder what they would say if something or someone truly, radically, awesome, like Jesus Christ, did come along in their lives.

Nevertheless, we Christians need to be awed by the things that are, indeed, going on in our midst. For it is in being awed by God's workings in our lives that we become excited about our faith, excited enough to share it. And it is in sharing our excitement with others that our church begins to grow.

But, not only did the early Christians worship together and not only were they excited about their faith, but they looked at their fellow members as though they were their own brothers and sisters. The scripture tells us that "all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."

The early Christian church set the mold for how all good Christians down through the centuries have selflessly supported their churches. If there was a need, all gave freely and all shared together in the common ministry of the church.

Certainly, this should be our goal, as Christian today, as well. For when Christians support the work of the church in this way, the Lord will, indeed, as in the words of our lesson from Acts, "add to their number daily those who are being saved."

When we think how much Christ loved us that he was willing to die for us, and not just a easy death, either, but death by crucifixion, we should be shamed by how feeble our own sacrifice is as we follow in his steps. Surely, there is nothing too great, no challenge too demanding, no goal beyond our reach that cannot be met by those who are serious followers and disciples of Jesus Christ. Amen.