5-5-96	Christ's Encouragement	Acts 7:55-60

1 Peter 2:2-10

John 14:1-14

The scripture lessons that were read this morning tell us, more than anything else, that if we're going to really be Christians, followers of Jesus, we must cast off any fear or anxiety we may have about our self preservation. In following Jesus, you cannot be afraid to die.

And I know how this must sound, especially to a person who is not familiar with the teachings or the stories of the Christian faith. Certainly, a person walking into this worship service might have some trouble with what I just said, especially if that person was what we call "un-churched". For all of us are born with a desire to protect ourselves. We all want to live. It is natural to be afraid of death, to avoid death at all costs. Nevertheless, as uncomfortable as it may seem, we who follow Jesus are reminded by our Gospel lesson for this morning, as well as by our lesson from the book of Acts, that life upon this earth isn't everything. And even those of us who have been Christians for many years need to be reminded once in a while about getting too comfortable in this world. For, if we really believe those scriptures we profess, we're going to be spending a lot more time in heaven with God than we will ever spend here!

And, so, we are given this reminder as we read the book of Acts, this morning, about the stoning of Steven. Now, Steven was one of the first Christians, a devout follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, the scriptures tell us that he was one of the first deacons of the church; a person who assisted the elders of the church by visiting the sick, taking food to the poor, and doing other work that the elders did not have time to do. In fact, his good works for the church were becoming so well known around Jerusalem that it was making him unpopular with the leadership of the city, who, of course, were not Christian. They even tried to argue theology with him, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

And, so these non-Christian leaders got their heads together and figured out a way to get Stephen arrested. They had him taken before the high priest where he was charged. Yet, Stephen eloquently defended himself by citing the history of the Jewish people. And he pointed out that each time God sent them a prophet, they would either kill him or give him a hard time, pointing out that even when God sent Jesus to them, they crucified him on a cross. Hearing this, the leaders believed they had justification to stone him. But, this didn't bother Stephen. He was so full of the Holy Spirit that he could see glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And when Stephen told the leaders what he saw, they were so infuriorated, that they plugged their ears so they couldn't hear what he was saying, anymore, and took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

I was reading what other's have said about this scripture passage the other day. One pastor has written that all of us who call ourselves Christians should get stoned once in a while, in the biblical sense, of course! What he meant was that all too often we are afraid to profess our faith out of fear that we may offend non-believers to the point that they may want to do something to hurt us. And, in these days, offending non-believers isn't a difficult thing to do. I heard about a woman who was told that he couldn't take her coffee mug to work anymore because it had "Jesus" printed on it. So, she took it to court and the court ruled that she could take her coffee mug to work because it was her personal coffee mug and she had the constitutional right of free expression.

Of course, taking a Jesus-coffee mug to work is no big thing, right? Imagine the person who might dare to say, "Jesus loves you, and so do I!" to his fellow workers! Do you know a person who might do such a thing? Sometimes people like that run the risk of becoming so nauseating to fellow workers that they take it to the boss. Certainly, sharing the faith to non-Christians can be a dangerous and painful thing to do. No one likes to be rejected or shunned by his or her fellow workers! No one likes to get fired or be left off the promotion list! No one likes to get stoned (in the biblical sense)! And, yet, the scriptures warn us, even prepare us, who are really serious about following Jesus Christ for such a possibility as this.

The question is: "How much of this Christian stuff do you really believe?" Do you believe in it enough so that people might wince at you? Do you believe in it enough so that folks might shun you? Do you believe in it enough so that it might get you in trouble? Do you believe in it enough so that it might get you arrested? Do you believe in it enough so that it might get you thrown into jail? Do you believe in it enough so that it might get you stoned or crucified? Just how much do we have to believe this Christian stuff? What was it that Jesus said to his disciples? Wasn't it something like: "Anyone who does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me"? So, the question that we need to keep asking ourselves is, "How much of this are we willing to believe?" Are we willing to die for Christ?

You know, it isn't just the unchurched and new Christians who need to hear this question. It's those of us who have been Christians for many years who need to hear it, as well. For many Christians the church has become a kind of a cacoon wherein it is safe to live and profess the Christian faith. So, many Christians have come to look at the church as being the sole appropriate place to share their faith. In turn, the church hires missionaries and clergy and other "hired guns" whose job it is to boldly face the world with the message of Jesus Christ and suffer the consequences for doing so. In fact, this is a misuse of the church. For Jesus calls us all to be his disciples. Jesus calls us all, each of us, to take up the cross and follow him.

And, so, it is with this understanding of the Christian faith and what it takes to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ that Jesus said to his disciples on the night before he was to be crucified: "Let not your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

I don't know how many times I have said these words in funeral services I have conducted. Certainly, this is a favorite passage for funerals, mainly because it goes on to say, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you." And, yet, these are not just words for funerals and for those who have lost loved ones. Rather, these are words for those who feel called upon to give themselves fully to the ministry of Jesus Christ. For, if you feel called into this ministry there will be times when you may feel troubled because of the challenges that face you. And there will be those times when your trust in God and in Jesus Christ will be required to get you through.

An author by the name of Jeanette Strong has written these words about trust that I would like to share with you. She writes:

When my son was a toddler, washing his hair was always a problem. He would sit in the bathtub while I put shampoo on his hair. Then, when I poured on the water to make a lather, he would tip his had down so that the shampoo ran into his eyes, causing pain and tears. I explained that if he just looked straight up at me, he could avoid getting the shampoo in his face. He would agree; then, as soon as I started to rinse his hair, his fear would overcome his trust, and he would look down again. Naturally the shampoo would run into his face again, and there would be more tears.

During one of our sessions, while I was trying to convince him to lift up his head and trust me, I suddenly realized how this situation was like my relationship to God. I know God is my Father, and I'm sure He loves me. I believe that I trust Him, but sometimes, in a difficult situation, I panic and I turn my eyes away from Him. This never solves the problem; I just become more afraid, as the "shampoo" blinds me.

Even though my son knew I loved him, he had a hard time trusting me in a panicky situation. I knew I could protect him, but convincing him of that wasn't easy, especially when all he could see was water coming down. His lack of trust hurt me, but it hurt him more. He was the one who had to suffer the pain. I'm sure my lack of trust hurts God very much, but how much more does it hurt me?

Often in the Bible, we are told to lift up our head to God when problems come. God knows how to protect us if we remember to listen to God. Now, when I find myself in a situation where it would be easy to panic, I picture my son sitting in the bathtub, looking up at me, learning to trust me. Then I ask God what I should do. Sometimes the answer may seem scary, maybe risky, but, one thing I'm sure of – God will never pour shampoo in my face!

God calls us to belief. God calls us to ministry in the world. Sometimes the road and the tasks ahead look tricky, perhaps a bit dangerous or treacherous. But, when we put our trust in God, even our lives are taken care of. For in Christ there is only life, eternal life. And he proved that by rising from the dead.

Amen.