MAY 2, 1999
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sermon:
ABLE TO DIE AND LIVE
By
Eldridge E. Fleming, Ph.D.
New Hope Presbyterian Church
Biggersville (Rienzi), Mississippi
Children=s Sermon:
Good to see you here this morning. Today I want to read a story to you, and I hope you will pay close attention as you hear it. Those in the audience who are a little older than you should get a grip on this as well.
Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students, but are not sure how to go about it.
One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can=t find a seat. By now people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet. (Although perfectly acceptable behavior at a college get-together, trust me, this had never happened in this church before!)
By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realizes that from the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking to ward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can=t blame him for what he=s going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid sitting on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man=s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can=t even hear anyone breathing. The minister can=t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see the elderly man stop and drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won=t be alone.
Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says, AWhat I am about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.@ Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read."
(From the Internet, no author given.)
Can you remember that? Let us pray.
Scripture:
Today in a follow up from last week, we=re going to do more reading from the Book of Acts 7:55ff through the end of the chapter. I want to read that very familiar story -- at least it=s familiar to me. But as I begin to think about it, I don=t believe I have spoken on this particular passage to you in these five years that we celebrate next Sunday.
Hear then from the Book of Acts about the response the people made to the deacon, Stephen. He had preached to them and had called them Aa stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ear, who always resist the Holy Spirit.@ I don=t know whether that is mean-spirited or not, but it is pretty much calling it like it is, and he tells them who they are, and so on. And he had accused them of being the murderer of Jesus and they didn=t like that.
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Our next reading is from 1 Peter 2:2-10.
To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner," and "A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall"; for they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy.
Our gospel reading for the morning is from John 14:1-14. Would you stand with me, if you wish, to hear the gospel.
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; henceforth you know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
The Sermon:
I am sure that you have heard by now that President Slobodan Milosevic has released the three American POWs at the initiative of the Reverend Jesse Jackson and a group of clergymen who went with him. The group that was with him was shown on TV and -- as best my eyes could perceive -- included the Bishop of the United Methodist Church of the Mississippi Annual Conference. He was standing right behind Reverend Jackson in a TV interview this morning as the prisoners were freed and about to board the plane for Germany.
One of the things that impressed me as I looked at these is that these persons of various denominational backgrounds who had gone with Jesse Jackson to that place had all decided before they went -- in some way consciously -- how they would handle their own death. They had to have done that. They had to know that they were going in during bombing raids that were continuing. They had to come to terms with their own dying or possibility of dying because there was no bombing let-up and no guaranteed safe passage by NATO. They did the risk, and now they taste the victory.
What this reminds me of is the fact that we, as Christians, have to decide how we=re going to live and how we=re going to die. Maybe I turned that around. It is, How are we going to die, so that we can begin to live.
All of you know who Charles Colson is. He is the one who created, as a result of his conversion, a prison fellowship. He was the legal counsel to President Richard M. Nixon. He was the one who was involved highly, along with others, in the Watergate break-in. He served time in a penitentory and during the serving of his time, he was introduced to Jesus Christ in a meaningful way. His whole life has been changed, and ever since he has been working to spread the gospel in many, many different ways.
Chuck Colson makes a report that I know you all know very well, but I shall review it for you using Colson=s words. These particular comments were gotten from his web site on April 26, 1999. It is www.breakpoint.org if you want to look it up. You can find, from time to time, different comments that he has made. Colson begins by saying, AIt was a test that all of us would hope to pass, but none of us want to take.@ He goes on to tell this story:
As you may have guessed, the event I'm describing took place last Tuesday (on April 20) in Littleton, Colorado. As the Washington Post reported, the two students who shot 13, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did not choose their victims at random--they were acting out a kalideoscope of ugly prejudices. Media coverage has centered on the killers= hostility toward racial minorities and athletes, but there was another group the pair hated every bit as much, if not more: Christians. And, there were plenty of them to hate at Columbine High School. According to some accounts eight Christians -- four evangelicals and four Roman Catholics -- were killed.
Among them was Cassie Bernall. It was Cassie who made the dramatic decision I=ve just described-- fitting for a person whose favorite movie was "Braveheart," in which the hero died a martyr=s death. Cassie was a 17-year-old junior with long blond hair, hair she wanted to cut off and made into wigs for cancer patients who had lost their hair through chemotherapy. She was active in her youth group at West Pool=s Community Church and was known for carrying a bible to school. Cassie was in the school library reading her bible when the two young killers burst in. According to witnesses, one of the killers pointed his gun at Cassie and asked, ADo you believe in God?@ Cassie paused and then answered, AYes, I believe in God.@ AWhy?@ the gunman asked. Cassie did not have a chance to respond; the gunman had already shot her dead. As her classmate, Mickie Cain told Larry King on CNN, AShe completely stood up for God. When the killers asked her if there was anyone that had faith in Christ, she spoke up and they shot her for it.@
Cassie=s martyrdom was even more remarkable when you consider that just a few years ago, she had dabbled in the occult, including witchcraft. She had embraced the same darkness and nihilism that drove her killers to such despicable acts. But two years ago, Cassie dedicated her life to Christ, and turned her life around. Her friend, Craig Moon, called her a Alight for Christ.@ Well, this Alight for Christ@ became a rare American martyr of the 20th century.
According to the Boston Globe, on the night of her death, Cassie=s brother Chris found a poem Cassie had written just two days prior to her death. It read:
Now I=ve given up on everything else
I=ve found it to be the only way to really know Christ
And to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again
And to find out what it means to suffer and to die as he did.
So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life
Of those who are alive from the dead."
Colson goes on to say that "the best way all of us can honor Cassie=s memory is to embrace that same courageous commitment to our faith. For example, we should stand up to our kids when they want to play violent video games. We should be willing to stand up to community ridicule when we oppose access to Internet pornography at the local library. For the families of these young martyrs, I can only offer deep personal sympathy and the hope that they might take strength from the words Jesus spoke to the woman who honored him by pouring ointment on his head. AWherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.(Matthew 26:13)@ Then, AWell done good and faithful servant. Now enter into the joy of your Lord. (Matthew 25:23)@
It is astonishing. It is shocking that anyone living in this era would have to give their life because of their faith in Jesus Christ. But so it is today. Not only at Columbine High School, but at other places in our world people are giving their lives for their faith.
I want us this morning to think about being ready to die and living. Cassie gave that last line as one living who has been dead. The living back from the dead. So it is for all of us, in a sense, in that we have had a chance in these few days since that tragedy occurred to give some thought to what it means to be willing to die for Jesus Christ. What would you do in the face of such a challenge? How would you stand the test?
There are others in the Columbine story. There was one girl who begged for her life, who pleaded with her executioner that she was newly engaged, she had been making good grades. She begged and out of her pleading, he did not kill her. That is a different story, isn=t it? We have one who stands firm in her faith and one who pleads for life to continue. Which would we be? How would we act?
In our reading of the scripture this morning, young Stephen -- I guess he was young, he had a lot of vim and vigor, so I assume he was young -- Stephen, who was a newly elected deacon in the church, was preaching about his experience. He was telling his story to those in the crowd who would listen, and when he accused them of what they had actually done, they became very upset with him. But Stephen was ready for the crisis. He had prepared himself for that time, he knew his faith and he knew what he must do. So how do we prepare for the crisis?
Joseph Byrd, of Monroe, Michigan and a pastor, has pointed out that we need to prepare for the crisis. (Abingdon Preaching Annual 1999 Edition, May 2, 1999.) We need to be ready for the reaction of non-believers and we need to be willing to follow Christ into death. I think Cassie=s story illustrates that and that is why I began with it today. But how would we do?
Let=s turn to Stephen for a few moments to see if we can find something that would teach us how to really live in the face of dying. As we look at it, first of all, we see that Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. So that=s a beginning point. Only a life submitted to the direction of the Holy Spirit will have the power to stand in such a crisis and face the inevitable and face it with honor and dignity.
War is hell. It is a form of hell that spreads over the earth in such atrocities that are unmentionable. What is it that we honor most among the persons who defend our country? It is their preparedness to stay to the duty and with dignity go to the death if it need be. And so many have. So many have. To be prepared for that is a real thing to happen to us. To be prepared.
As a Christian we have this extra power, this power of the Holy Spirit. Stephen was filled with that power of the Holy Spirit and because he was filled with it, he could face the crisis that was before him.
But Stephen did a couple of things that I want us to use as markers in this, and the second thing that he did, before all of this killing of him occurred, Stephen was preaching to this crowd. He told them his story. He had laid it on them what they had done. He had faced them -- face to face -- and accused them of what they had done to Jesus Christ.
Now they had to make a decision. They could do one of two things: they could do as three thousand others did on the Day of Pentecost, repent and be baptized -- or they could become a mob. A mob. A raging, angry mob. They had to make a choice and they chose to become a mob. But as their anger was boiling and as they were being pricked to the heart and cut to the core, Stephen did something else. He knew that he was in a crisis moment, so he looked to heaven. Now when he looked to heaven, he saw something. They didn=t see it, but he saw it. As he looked to heaven, he saw heaven open and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. Stephen wasn=t one to keep his mouth shut, as you already can deduct, and what he saw, he told.
He said to this mob, AI see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.@ You talk about throwing gasoline on a simmering fire, he really exploded the scene. They became now a raging mob, not just an angry one, but they were raging. They came running at him, and he did something that was going to prepare for what happened next. First of all, he was full of the Spirit and second, he looked to heaven, and third, he told what he saw. Now that prepares most of us for what we=re going to face.
But the reaction of the non-believers was there. Those persons around him who did not hear him made several kinds of responses. First, they were really upset with him for his message and his allegations were too great for them to bear. They were cut to the core. They were convicted by the Holy Spirit, and they couldn=t sit still. They had to do something.
The same thing is true with us. When the Holy Spirit of God deals with us and comes at us and cuts us to the core, we have to make a response. Either we have to repent and follow or we become angry and withdraw and make a mob.
So they were really upset and had to do something. Get the picture? Here is this group of people. Stephen is still trying to speak to them. They stop up their ears. You know how children do: They plug up their ears so their can=t hear anything. Stick your finger in your ear and you don=t hear much. They stopped their ears and they began to make a great noise. They began to shout. And the purpose of the shouting was not only so they couldn=t hear, but it was also to make it so no one else could hear. So non-believers respond by not hearing, making a great deal of noise, and making it so others couldn=t hear.
There=s a message in there. You think that sounds like some of the political shenanigans we hear today. It=s the same tactic. It works. It=s everywhere, almost. It works everywhere. It works in political situations. It works in educational institutions. It works in church settings. It works everywhere. It works in the work world. You don=t like someone who is around you -- that you associated with -- what do you do? You refuse to talk with them? You don=t want to hear what they have to say. And if they get to talking to you and are really getting next to you, you=re going to talk to somebody else. You make a lot of noise. You make a disturbance. And then you make sure that nobody else is able to hear them either.
Now if you do those three things -- and this is typical of non-believers -- and the person still persists, and the risk of the message getting through is still there, there=s only one option left. That is, you have to dispose of the messenger.
How do you dispose of the messenger? How do you get the person who=s carrying the news out of the scene? How do you get rid of them?
Well, in political circles sometimes you can just start a good rumor. Oh it doesn=t have to be true. Rumors never are true. They=re kind of based on a tiny bit of fact, but it=s not the purpose of a rumor to tell the truth. A rumor will defame, degrade. It will make the person less than what they really are. So if you have someone in political office, someone who is telling the truth, getting to you -- what do you do? You do something to get them smeared. Smear tactics. We=re all familiar with those. That=s a way to get rid of the messenger.
Ministers are given to having that done to them from time to time. Start a little story about them. A little misconduct here or there. Just raise a few questions here and there and the first thing you know there=s enough doubt going on that a big one starts and their effectiveness is killed and they are gone. Get rid of the messenger.
But you see, sometimes that=s not good enough. The messenger just keeps coming back, and in that case -- sometimes -- the messenger gets killed. In the case of Stephen, that is exactly what happened. They got rid of the messenger by killing him. Look at what is happening to Stephen as that is occurring. He is praying as they are stoning him. He is following Christ in death, folks, that is what we=re talking about. How is one to follow even to the death?
He prays. He prays for his enemy. He commits his life, his breath, his soul to God. Whatever happens to me, regardless, I am yours. That is what he did. Into Your hands I commend my spirit. And then, his last thing was to pray for those who would kill him.
So if we follow Christ in death, we pray for strength for the moment, we prepare ourselves for it, and then we pray for forgiveness for those who do this despicable thing to us. Stephen=s death, in that sense, is a pattern for our lives. We can all anticipate that people will react in some way as we talked about. But when we speak the truth and stay with the truth, occasionally we go to the point of even dying for our faith.
Now when one has made the decision that they would die for their faith and they=ve committed themselves to Christ in that spiritual prayer that Stephen prayed, then you are ready to take whatever comes. At that point one becomes free from the fear of death. Being free from the fear of death means that one can die, however is necessary, and be free to the spirit of Christ and commit themselves to God=s hands. Once we have done that, once we have done that, we are then free to live. Nothing troubles us at night as much as being afraid to die. When we=ve wrestled with the angel of death, so to speak, to the point we give over to God everything that is, we are now ready to live.
It is interesting how Stephen died, is it not? He knelt to pray. And as the rocks and the stones began to fall, he prayed, giving himself to God and praying for those who were throwing the rocks. Out of that experience -- not known to Stephen at the moment, but in his spirit -- there was a young man who was standing there watching the goings on. That young man was probably in his late teens or early twenties, and as he stood there in his garb, others began to lay their coats at his feet. Someone asked if they could lay their coat or cloak there. Sure. Don=t let anybody take it. Sure. And they began to pile their coats around him, because throwing rocks was hard work. You had to find the rocks, dig them out of the soil, or you had to go get the rocks you threw and throw them again -- which in that case and in that scene was very dangerous.
So this young man was standing there and he was cheering them on, no doubt, because he consented to what was happening to Stephen. He said encouraging words to the throwers: Get their marks more accurate, get a bigger stone, hit at a certain spot. That man=s name was Saul. In that scene of Stephen dying, Saul was watching, and the Holy Spirit that cut the hearts of those who listened to the Stephen sermon, stirred later the heart of the one who guarded the coats.
God doesn=t stop with the death of his saints, they live on with him and they live on in their ministry to someone else. When you are free of the fear of dying, you are now ready to live. It is my hope that we will follow in the pattern of Stephen and in the mode that was set by Cassie so that when it comes our time to stand for our faith, we shall stand. And having done all else, we shall stand in faith to Jesus Christ. For we know that in being willing to die, we shall be free to live. Amen.