In the Face of Fear: Sermon Mark 4:35-41

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Franklin D Roosevelt spoke these words at his first inaugural address in 1932. He spoke these words to a country that was facing one of the hardest times in its history, the Great Depression. Roosevelt tried to calm the fears of the country in that time of economic struggle and yet the greater struggle, World War II, still loomed ahead.

In today’s society, fear seems to be a commodity in high demand. We as a society love to be scared. Every time we turn around there seems to be another horror movie being released, around Halloween countless haunted houses that spring up all around and we just can’t seem to sit around a campfire without telling a few old ghost stories. We loved to be scared every now and then, but some people do live their lives in constant fear. Peladophobia is the fear of bald people. Porphyrophobia is the fear of the color purple. Chaetophobia is the fear of hairy people. Dextrophobia is the fear of objects on the right side of the body. Thalassophobia is the fear of sitting down. Odontophobia is the fear of teeth. Some even suffer with Phobophobia, fear of being afraid.

We also have fear in the church. Just try to create something new or different in a church and I can almost guarantee that in some way, confrontation with fear is inevitable, just as the disciples became afraid in the midst of a storm. Our story today contains three types of fear seen in the church from time to time; the fear of change, the fear of the unknown, and the fear of the unexpected. Each one of these fears requires the same solution and that is the steadiness and strength of Christ. Today we will explore these three fears and how Jesus’ response to the disciples gives us an example of our responses to fear in the church.

First is the fear of change. After a long day of preaching and teaching the people, Jesus wanted to take a boat and go across the Sea of Galilee. I imagine that Jesus wanted to because he was tired and wanted to get away from the large crowd of people that had gathered to hear him teach. He was tired and needed some rest. In fact, Jesus was so tired that the Bible says he fell asleep in the stern of the boat. These fishing boats were not that big only about the size of a small sailboat today and so this must have be a pretty uncomfortable ride, but still Jesus was fast sleep. Now the Sea of Galilee lies in a basin between two mountains and the weather is subject to change almost immediately. The disciples became caught off guard in unexpected storm and they became afraid of the changing weather. Churches can be like the Sea of Galilee, calm and serene one moment and then in the blink of an eye we find ourselves in the midst of turmoil and storms. In addition, we just like those disciples become afraid at the thought of change, especially in the United Methodist Church where pastors come and go every few years. Congregations always have apprehension when the new person comes in. Will his sermons be informative and interesting? How will get along with everyone? How will things we different? We get so used to things staying the same, we become so accustom to the status quo that when anyone tries to rock the boat, we have a tendency to panic a bit. This fear of change can be crippling to a church. It can prevent growth and evangelism within the community. Sometimes the changes don’t have to be within the church itself but within the community. Perhaps the socioeconomic landscape is changing, perhaps more minorities are moving in, fear of these changes can prevent a church from doing its function which is to spread the gospel of Christ within its community.

The second fear is similar to the fear of change and that is the fear of the unknown. Change leads to the unknown and to uncertainty. The disciples feared the storm because their future was unknown to them. We must remember that these men were fishermen and they had lived and worked their entire lives on the Sea of Galilee, so the storm that they were in must have been tremendous for these seasoned fishermen to be so afraid. The water was rushing in, they were many miles away from shore, and so the real threat of drowning was there. They feared the unknown. Why do we fear death? It is an instinctive fear found in all animals. It is the flight or fight reaction. When confronted with a life-threatening situation we either run or get ready to fight. Why? We believe that heaven exists and those who have faith have less fear than others do, but I would be willing to say that almost each of us has some fear of dying. Death is the ultimate unknown and just like any unknown, we tend to worry about the outcome. The church can fear about what it is uncertain. It might be creation of a new children’s ministry, it might be the building of a new life center or parsonage. Any time the future is unknown we tend to fear what might happen. Some of us tend to see all the bad things that could happen. If we borrow money to pay for a new building, what happens if people stop giving? What happens if we can’t pay the mortgage? This fear of the unknown, like the fear of change causes stagnation within a church. We don’t want to try anything new because of the fear of what might happen. We don’t want to invite new people into the church because we might get some riff-raff in here. The fear of the unknown causes a church to panic just as the disciples started to panic in that boat.

Thirdly, is the fear of the unexpected. The disciples had expectations of Jesus. They had seen him heal lepers, give sight to the blind, and yet Jesus was in the back of the boat snoozing while they were about to sink in the middle of the sea. They had an expectation that as long as Jesus was there that they would be safe. Jesus’ reaction was unexpected and caused the disciples to have even more fear. They cried out to Jesus “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” They didn’t expect Jesus to wait so long before he did something. They didn’t expect Jesus to just lie there while they were running around bailing water out of the boat. Many people fear to talk to others about Jesus because of the unexpected reaction. The person might ask questions we cannot answer. The person might get mad and even become violent. This fear prevents many people from fulfilling the Great Commission to spread the gospel to the whole world. In addition, sometimes we just like those disciples have expectations of Jesus. We expect because we are followers of Jesus that everything should be smooth sailing and even when things get rough Jesus will be there to help at first sign of trouble. However, things get worse and worse and fear begins to grow in our hearts and we think, “Why is God doing this to me?”

What can we do when faced with these fears? Faith is the enemy of fear. Jesus stood up and said “Peace! Be still!” and just as quickly has the storm had begun the winds and waves stopped. He turned to his disciples and said, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Faith is the only thing that conquers fear. There is a direct relationship between the two. The less faith your have the more you fear and vice versa. When we grow in faith, our fears diminish. When we place our faith in Christ those changes are not something to be feared but something to be embraced. When we have faith, the unknown ceases to be, because we have the knowledge and the faith that Christ is with us no matter what. When we have faith then even when Jesus doesn’t come at the first sign of panic, we trust that he is always there to help us in times of need and that he won’t give us more than we can handle in a days time.

Jesus wanted to teach the disciples something. He wanted to teach them that the power of Christ is perfect in the midst of human weakness. Just as we might think that all hope is lost, Jesus shows us that there is always hope. We just need a little faith. The disciples also learned that only by going through the storm that they truly understood who Jesus truly is. Only by going through the bad times can we, just like the disciples, see how truly good and powerful Christ is. The disciples reacted to Jesus by saying, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” At that moment, they truly began to realize whom they were following, this person was not simply a prophet or a rabbi, but Jesus was something much, much more. When we truly begin to understand who Jesus is and what he can truly do that is where faith begins. That is where fear begins to die.

As a church, we always have problems and things always change some for the good and some for the bad. We cannot stand idly by and be in fear of growth. We must stand on the foundation of faith in Christ. The unknown and unexpected are no longer something, which leads us to fear when we put our whole trust in Jesus.

The Love Commandment: Sermon John 15:9-17

Most of us remember Jackie Robinson as the first black man to play Major League baseball. In his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson faced adversity nearly everywhere he traveled. Pitchers threw fastballs at his head. Runners spiked him on the bases, brutal epithets were written on cards and spoken from the opposing dugouts. Even the home crowds in Brooklyn saw him as an object of reproach. During one game in Boston, the taunts and racial slurs seemed to reach a peak. To make matters worse Robinson committed an error and stood at second base humiliated while the fans hurled insults at him. Another Dodger, a Southern white man by the name Pee Wee Reese, called timeout. He walked from his position at shortstop toward Robinson at second base, and with the crowds looking on; he put his arm around Robinson's shoulder. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career.

We spent last week discussing God’s love. We talked about how God’s love is accepting of us even though we do not deserve it, also that God’s love is forgiving, we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and yet God did not hesitate to send his only Son to take the punishment for us. We talked about God’s love being supporting. He lifts us up when we are down and he provides people in our lives that give us strength in our times of need and finally that God’s is freeing and that we have to accept that freedom in order to be truly happy. We also talked about how we must in turn be all of those things to our brothers and sisters. This week I want to continue that theme and talk a little more about the kind of love that Jesus commands that we have for one another and for Him.

The Scripture lesson today contains the final speech, the final lesson from Jesus to his disciples. They are walking through the garden on the Mount of Olives and Jesus is talking to them. He his teaching them but I also believe that Jesus was preparing them for the horrors of the next 24 hours. He was also preparing them for the mission he was about to put them on and the mission that we as the Body of Christ continue today; to make disciples of all people. As part of this final pep talk and lesson, Jesus begins to talk about love and about abiding. He says “As the Father has loved me so I have loved you: abide in my love.” We heard this word abide last week in our lesson from John’s first letter. What does it mean to abide? One definition is “to remain stable or fixed in a state” and another is “to continue in a place”. So when we follow Jesus and we obey his commandments we abide or we remain stable or fixed in the state of his love. That is what Jesus was talking about when he said “abide”. We are surrounded and bound together by the love of Christ. The Body of Christ, the Church is held together forever by the love of Christ. But if we want to abide in this love forever we must be willing to extend the love and demonstrate the love to other people. I have said many times in the two months that I have been your pastor that we are being watched. We set ourselves apart when we tell others about our faith. And so when we demonstrate the love that we have experienced through Christ, then we abide in that love. That demonstration, that expression of God’s love to other is the commandment given to the disciples by Jesus. Jesus expects our love in return and he expects the same love to others that we have for ourselves. Jesus says “This is my commandment, that you love me as I have loved you.” There is one word in that sentence that makes all the difference, it is that word that makes this commandment one the most challenging in the Bible and the word is the shortest one in the sentence, only has two letters “as”, love others as I have loved you. This brings a whole new challenge. Not only are we to simply love other people, but we are to love those people as Christ has loved us. Loving others as God himself loves us. That seems like an overwhelming task, almost impossible to do. Where would we even start? Within the verses in John 15 Jesus gives the disciples a description of the kind of love that he expects his children to have for one another.

First, we our love should be joyous. Jesus said that he talks about the love of God so that “joy might be in you, and that your joy may be made complete.” We, as Christians are the blood bought children of God. We are so loved by God that he sent is Son so that we can be with God for all time. The Bible says that we are made only a little lower than God. If that is not reason enough to be joyous I don’t know what is. We have no reason not to be the most joyous and happy people on the Earth and yet we are not. And its ok to be depressed sometimes, its ok to be down in the dumps sometimes because sometimes life is hard. Some of us have times that we get depressed and even grumpy but some of us stay in that state constantly. We have to realize that God loves us more than any of us know or can comprehend. The love of God brings joy into our lives when we are down. We sang the song last week called “Love Lifted Me” and the words are true. The love of Christ lifts us when we are down and keeps us safe and secure through all of life’s ups and downs. Joy is so much better than sorrow and depression and the joy that we have in our lives is contagious to others. People will look at us and say “There is something different about so and so, she is always in a good mood. Many of you may know Brother William Suddath, who was pastor at Elkton Baptist Church for many years. I was never a member at the church but I would see Brother Suddath occasionally in the community. One thing that I always remember about Brother Suddath is that he always had a big smile on his face, in fact I cannot remember a time in which I didn’t him smiling. He had the joy of Christ’s love within him. He knew that God loved him beyond words and he demonstrated, we reciprocated that love to everyone he met. His joy was contagious, you always felt happy being around him. I hope that one day someone can say that about me, I know I have a lot of work to do to accomplish that, but it is something that we all should aspire to accomplish. Let’s all try to be more joyful and I am speaking to myself as well as you all.

The love that Christ commands us to have is a joyous love and it is a love that we can work to achieve, but that love is not always sunshine and daisies, sometimes love is tough and sometimes live gives us hard choices to make. The love that Christ expects from us is sacrificial. When we surrender to the work of Christ in our lives we become new creations, with new focuses and new goals. Sometimes it takes a while to clean out the old baggage in order to make room for the new things Christ has for us. Everyone, including myself, struggle with this, I have had to give up friends and I continue to struggle with old habits but when we are free of the old, then the new shall come and we are made new by Christ. Jesus told his disciples that “No one has greater love than this to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus was referring to his sacrifice on the cross for his friends; he was once again telling the disciples what was going to happen. Hopefully we will never be faced with the choice to sacrifice our lives for our friends and family. However, there are sacrifices that we can make for our fellow human beings out of love. We might sacrifice some money to a needy person, we might sacrifice some time to work at a soup kitchen or visit a neighbor. We might sacrifice some canned goods to those you are hungry, but all these sacrifices should not be done because we feel obligated to do it or because we are afraid of God’s punishment if we don’t do it, but because of the love that we have for one another, the love that is expected of us by Jesus.

Jesus reminded the disciples that they were chosen specifically by Jesus. Each one was chosen for a reason and they had been appointed to go and bear fruit, just has we have been chosen and appointed to go and bear much fruit. Fruit is used as a metaphor many times in churches. In fact it would be hard to go to a district or conference meeting without hearing fruit used to describe the good the Church is doing. Fruit is the result of our ministries as a church. Fruit is the result of our joy and the spreading of that joy. Fruit is the result of all the sacrifices we make in our lives. All of us in this room this morning are fruit. Someone in our lives planted the seed and nurtured us in our faith and we have become mature fruit of God’s Church. Jesus continues by saying that the fruit that we bear for God is the kind that lasts. It does not wither or rot and it does not come or go with the seasons, but it is preserved for all times.

We are friends with Christ. We are workers in the kingdom of God. When we share the love of Christ with the world then we are connected with Christ; we abide in Christ and he abides in us. We are unified together as children of God within his love. Our connection with that love and our sharing of that love to our brothers and sisters serves as our Christian IDs, our identifying mark as Christians; it is the mark of Christ. Our love should be joyous, our joy should spread to all those around us. Our love is sacrificial; we sacrifice the old ways to make room for new blessings from God and we make sacrifices of ourselves to help others. Finally our love bears fruit. The fruit of our love is the bringing new people into the church and bringing help to those who are in need. This is what our love should be and it something that we must strive toward. Love others as I have loved you. It is not easy, but with the help of Christ it is possible.

All You Need Is Love: Sermon 1 John 4:7-21

Who is God and what is God like? Humans have pondered that question since their creation. Today our idea of who God is or what God looks like is based on artistic renditions in paintings and Hollywood’s idea of what God is. We all know the depictions of God that we see on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and in numerous other paintings. We remember the booming voice heard in the movie The Ten Commandments, there also have been other depictions, George Burns played God in a couple of movies back in the 80s and recently Morgan Freeman played God in a movie called Bruce Almighty. There are also many descriptions of God in the Bible, from God walking in the garden with Adam and Eve, to the burning bush, to Jesus who became God as a human being. The Bible does say that we as humans were made in His image and therefore we can take some idea of what God may look like.

There are many scholars and theologians that study God but have no idea what God really is. I am about to embark on a new journey at Vanderbilt. I am excited to being my studies and learn all I can about God, Christianity, and what it takes to be a minister. However, I already know all the theology that I will ever need and it is something that we have already touched on here. God is love.

The Greeks have several words for love. There is brotherly love which is philos, which is where they get the name for Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. There is eros, which is romantic love and there is agape, that is the unconditional love that God gives to us and we should give to God. I want today talk about that theme and to talk a little bit about the different parts of God’s love; that God’s love is accepting, forgiving, supporting, and freeing.

First, God’s love is accepting. We are accepted into God’s fold, through the sacrifice of his Son. None of us deserves that gift, but God loved us before we were born. He gave us the gift and all we must do is take it. That gives us an example to live by. Just as God is accepting of us, so we should be accepting of our brothers and sisters. John says in his letter “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command; Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Who are our brothers and sisters? Look around you. Anyone and everyone you see, no matter, their race, age, cultural background, are our brothers and sisters and we are commanded to love them as we love ourselves. When we are accepting of others then we become a little more Christ-like and that, I believe is the goal of a Christian life. Jesus ate and hung out with sinners, tax collectors, drunkards, prostitutes, and other people with not so good reputations. When he was asked why he did this, we replied that he was not here to heal the well but the sick. Jesus wanted to be with those he knew needed his love and grace and those who were willing to accept it. We, as Christians must also get in there with our hands and get dirty. We must be accepting of those who may not be the highest caliber, just as Christ is accepting of us.

God’s love is also forgiving. The main theme of the Gospels is that God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice, for us, although we do not deserve it. Jesus is God in the flesh, he walked among us on the earth, he faced all the same problems and issues that we face not because he had to, but because we wanted to walk a mile in our shoes. When it was all said and done, through his death and resurrection we are forgiven. The only was that could have been done is for Jesus to suffer one of the most painful, humiliating, horrible deaths that mankind has created. The word excruciating comes from the type of pain felt while being crucified. It was so horrible and painful that they have to make up a new word for it and while he was suffering this death he was thinking for us, above all. God knew that he could not lower his standards, so in the ultimate act of forgiveness, Christ became sin for us and God poured out his wrath on him in our place.

If Christ did that for us, when we shouldn’t we do it for each other? Forgiveness is the real “F” word and it is something that is demanded of us by God. What does God’s word have to say about it?

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, you’re heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 18:21-23 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seven times seven.

Mark 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Luke 6:37 “Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven”

Luke 17:3 “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

And that is just a small sample of what God’s word says about forgiveness. God knows that holding grudges not only affects your soul but also your body. I have heard it said that holding a grudge is like drinking poison yourself and then waiting for someone else to die. God forgave us; he has given us the most priceless gift in history. Shouldn’t we then follow in his actions and forgive those who we have fought with. Forgive those who have done wrong to you. Let go of that pain and that burden. Forgive.

God’s love is also supporting. It lifts us up when we are down; it gives us hope eternal no matter what comes our way. God has a plan for each of our lives and he sees us through the hard times and the hard times teaches us and prepares us for the future. God has also given us the greatest support network; the church. Alcoholics Anonymous is a successful rehab organization and one reason why it is successful is because there is a group of people there helping each other through their struggles. In order for the church to be successful we must be there for our church family. Love is the most powerful gift that God bestowed upon us and it is the one thing that unites us all. We should also have an accountability partner. I encourage all of you to get an accountability partner. This is a person who will pray for you and someone you can pray for. You share your secrets and your heartfelt desires with this person. If you are struggling with a particular problem they can help you with it. Jesus had twelve apostles. They followed him everywhere and went with him throughout his ministry, but Christ also had a small group that the really trusted and leaned upon. We remember that during the transfiguration that Jesus brought Peter, James, and John with him, he also took them while he prayed in Gethsemane. Jesus knew the importance of having a close support network.

Finally, God’s love is freeing. Paul says in his letter to the Romans that though we were slaves to sin we have been set free from sin. Christ said in the Gospel of John that whoever the Son sets free is free indeed. If we are free why are there so many Christians that act like they have not been set free? They walk around with what seems to be 4 50lbs sacks of corn on their back, struggling to make it through the day. Why? Because still hold on to their sin even though it has been forgiven. The book of Hebrews says that God “will forgive [our] sins and will remember [our] sins no more”. Many times we tend to receive the forgiveness but forget the forgetting. Whatever you have done, the very second that you receive Christ’s grace your sins are forgotten by God. Even afterwards if you confess your sin to God, then it is forgiven and forgotten. If God has forgotten about it, why haven’t you? Too many times do we hold on to past transgressions when we should just drop them. Take them to the foot of the cross and then leave them there. There is a contemporary Christian song that says that your sins are on the ocean floor forgotten forever. Stop being weighted down by sin you have already confessed and been forgiven of. Receive the freeing power of God’s love and live in joy and peace.

All of these things are aspects of God’s love and we can continue with descriptions and adjectives about the love of God. There is something else; it is something that I have touched on in each of the four aspects of God’s love. Love from is steadfast. God is everlasting, God in Jesus described himself has “the Alpha and the Omega” the beginning and the end, and so we have the assurance that despite all we have done as a species and as a culture that God, who is love, remains steadfast. But if God is love and he gave this love to humanity, then why is there so much hate in the world? I feel it is because although God’s love is everlasting, omnipotent, omnipresent; receiving that love is a choice and with that reception comes a responsibility. And if we choose the love, then we have to choose the whole package. God’s love is not ala carte or a buffet, we cannot say “well I love you God and I love you Jesus and I love my friends and family, but I’m not going to love someone who I don’t like. I will love the church, but if you let someone in that I don’t like, then I will take my love and my financial support elsewhere. It is easy to love those who are underdogs but it is hard to love those who we argue with, it is hard to love those who hate us or spit in our face. And maybe just maybe by expressing genuine love we can help those people see the genuine truth. I am not saying that we have to agree with them, but if we are to love God we must also love all of God’s children. If we choose the love of God then we must take the whole thing. We must strive to love everyone, to love those who look, act, and even love differently. We must continue the love if God’s love is to become complete in us.

Pure love, agape, comes from God. It is not created by humans but it is a gift from God. We have discussed four aspects of that love; accepting, forgiving, supporting, and freeing. When we accept God’s grace, we are forgiven for our sins, we find support with God’s work, and are set free from burdens. That is what God does for us. We must also, be accepting of other people, we must forgive those who do us harm, and we must support each other as Christians. If we do this and remain in God’s love and on His path then we are free indeed.

Follow the Leader: Sermon John 10:11-21

"Oh God, help us to be masters of ourselves that we might be servants of others, take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire."

I want to start out by playing asking a question this morning.
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only
your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three
candidates

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults
with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also
chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until
noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of
whiskey every evening.
Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian,
doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never
cheated on his wife.

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

This goes to show that sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes those we perceive as good leaders are not. I am sure we can all think of a few politicians on both sides of the aisle that we thought were good leaders but turned out to be pretty bad. We can see the effects of poor leadership in all aspects of our government. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not going to go off on a tangent badmouthing the government, but the government always seems to provide perfect examples of bad leadership. Good leaders are desperately needed within the Body of Christ and especially within our own denomination. I read this week that attendance within the UMC is declining, with only 44% of members attending weekly services regularly. In 2004, only approximately 43% on United Methodist churches accepted a member by profession of faith that is a number that must go up. We must strive to become better leaders and better ambassadors for Christ and the good news is that Christ gives us the keys that we need to be successful leaders. There are six keys, six characteristics that make a good leader and so as I preach this sermon to you this morning I am also listening and learning these keys for myself.

The first characteristic that Jesus gives us is that leaders are always people of good character. Jesus begins the Scripture we read this morning by saying that “I am the good shepherd” and this is something that no of us can deny. Jesus was of good character and moreover he was of the best character that the world had and has ever seen. Jesus never lied or cheated. He always had the best interests in mind for his followers. He never led them astray or into danger. Jesus remains the one shining example of a good person. We can’t always say that about our leaders today can we. We can’t say that they always have our best interests in mind or that they never lead us astray. We need only to turn on the television and watch the nightly news to understand that. Last fall I attending a lecture series at Vanderbilt and heard author and evangelist Jim Wallis speak. He had recently written a book called God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, and while he spoke he said something that stuck in my mind and that was there are some politicians in Washington that are truly looking out for the best interests of the people, but you can count them on one hand. The basis, the foundation of good leadership is a good heart, a good character, someone who is willing to set aside their own wants and needs for what is needed for the people.

This leads to the second key for good leadership and that is a good leader loves the ones they lead. We cannot overstate the love that Christ has for us. He continues verse 11 by saying “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” and Christ practiced what he preached. He did lay down his life for all of us, for the entire world. I watched a movie this week that I just love called Band of Brothers it is based on a book by historian Stephen Ambrose and it centers on the men of Easy Company, a company in the 101^st Airborne Division, before and during World War II. These men fought in Normandy on D-Day, in Holland, and in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. All during their time fighting there were numerous examples of men sacrificing themselves for the aid of their comrades. Although we seldom have opportunities for that type of heroism in the safety of our borders, there are instances that require sacrifice. Perhaps we sacrifice some money for the church or for a charity. Maybe we sacrifice an hour to visit a shut-in or even a prisoner. Perhaps we sacrifice a few dollars to the homeless person we meet on the street. In whatever situation that may arise good leaders are always looking out for others before themselves. People are willing to follow someone that they know loves them. As children we listened to our parents, most of the time, because we knew that they loved us. Leading by love is always much easier than leading by fear or coercion. And so when we demonstrate our love to our communities then those people become much more likely to listen to what we have to say.

Good leaders are never in it for the money. I can tell you for a fact that I and every other preacher in the world did not answer the call to ministry because of the promise of money. Mother Teresa did not work for her entire life in the poorest cities in India because the pay ways good. The aid workers who travel to Africa, Asia, Central and South America do not go because of a good salary. These people do what they do because of a deeper desire and a deeper need. Good leaders do not make decisions based on what is good for their pocketbooks, but what is good for the people. Jesus tells the disciples “The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.” The hired hand is only their for one thing, the money. He has no personal interest in the sheep, he is just there to collect his check at the end of the week and go home. The shepherd on the other hand is not just there for the money, he has a vested interest and personal relationship with his sheep. This is not just a job, but it is a lively hood. So we see that money does not make good motivation for leadership and sacrifice. The love and desire for money is a selfish venture and only leads to decisions that are best for the leader and not best for there flock and as we have already seen that doesn’t make for good leadership.

Good leaders do not tuck tail and run at the first sign of trouble. Jesus says “The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away.” A leader looks adversity right in the eye and deals with the problems calmly but assuredly and a good leader never plays the blame game. One person that I think of when I think of a good leader is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln faced the most adversity of any president before or probably since. His goal was to run the country while attempting to reunite the country. He had to run an army, a country and also deal with all the people in Washington that wanted his job. But all the while he never backed down from problems and he never blamed someone else for his misfortunes. Jesus also never backed down from a challenge. Jesus looked the Pharisees dead the eye and, with love, dealt with the issues. Many people, even the Devil himself, tried to stop him and even trick him but Jesus stood tough. Problems are going to come. We are dealing with problems right now in this church, and nothing will even be solved if we start playing the blame game or if we simply ignore them. But if we stand firm in the foundation of Christ and we face the issues head on then there is nothing that we cannot overcome.

Good leaders are also never swayed by public opinion. Leaders must be willing to make the tough decisions even when those decisions might not be popular at the time. I am once again reminded of something that Jim Wallis said. He said that in Washington, politicians walk around with their fingers in the air, looking for what direction the popular political wind is blowing and to change things in government one doesn’t change the way the politicians look for the wind, but you have to change the wind itself. Jesus faced a constant sway in public opinion. Remember a few weeks ago we talked about Palm Sunday and the same crowd that would make him king only a few days later called for his crucifixion. Some crowds loved and adored him and some crowds tried top stone him and in the midst of this fluctuations of popularity Jesus remained steadfast and strong in his message. He never wavered. So the Church must remain persistent and unwavering in our message. Sometimes what we believe as Christians does not match was is considered the norm in society. The world would tell us that the homeless person on the street deserved what he or she got. Popular culture would say that what happens in Africa is irrelevant to us in the United States. Society would tell us that the only way to be happy is to have as much money and material things as we can get our hands on. The world would say that we should only look out for number one. But Christ teaches us that we should love and serve our neighbors. Christ teaches that we should gather up treasures in heaven by making sacrifices on Earth, and Christ teaches what we do to the least of these we also do for him.

Finally leaders are never satisfied with the status quo. Good leaders are always looking toward the future and are always looking at ways things can be improved. Jesus said that “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus was looking toward that day when all his children, all of his followers will we united as one. So we must also look toward that day. But in the meantime we have work that needs to be done. We cannot be satisfied with the way things are, we must always be moving forward. A church that isn’t growing is a church that is dying.

Jesus was the quintessential good leader. He was of good character; he always put the needs of others above and beyond his own needs. Jesus loved those whom he led. He loved the world so much that he freely gave his own life as a sacrifice for our salvation. Jesus was never in it for money. He spent most of his life in poverty without a roof over his head. Jesus never ran away from problems, he confronted those who opposed him with love, but also with strength and determination. Jesus was always looking forward to future goals and he set his mind, body, and spirit toward meeting those goals. Jesus, the master teacher, always led by example and everything he said was backed up by an action. He could never be considered a hypocrite. That is something that is desperately needed again in the Church. We must strive to make our actions meet our words. When we speak of God’s love then we must demonstrate that love in our lives. Good leadership is a vital key in any business or organization and it is no different for the Church. We must strive to take on the example of Christ and become good leaders for his Church.

Sermon John 20:19-31

Let’s play a word association game this morning. I am going to say a name and you speak out the first thing that comes to your mind. The first thing, there is not right or wrong answer. OK. Peter. John. Matthew. Judas. Thomas. Most people when they hear the name of Thomas the apostle they automatically think…doubter. That is what Thomas has become famous for; in fact he has become a phrase that you can find in the dictionary, the definition you will find is “One who is habitually doubtful”. Habitually doubtful, now we don’t know much about Thomas, but I don’t think that one act of doubting should make someone a cliché for 2,000 years. But it is this one account in John that has makes Thomas one of the more famous disciples of Jesus. Does Thomas deserve this notion? Can his doubt provide a lesson for us today?

Thomas is not the only person in the Bible to have doubts. You can go all the way back to Adam and Eve. They doubted the seriousness of God’s commandment to not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Abraham doubted God’s ability to provide him and Sarah with a child. Moses doubted God’s ability to use him as a tool to lead Israel out of Egypt. Gideon doubted God’s ability to use him. Job, I mean come on, the entire book of Job is about doubting the goodness and the power of God. Even the disciples themselves doubted the resurrection of Jesus until they saw him first hand. If they had all believed they would have been waiting outside the tomb on Sunday morning instead of hiding in the upper room. So we really can’t put ole Tom down like we do as the famous doubter.

Imagine if someone you knew well, your spouse, one of your kids came up to you and said, “I just saw so and so the Wal-Mart and she looks great you would have never imagined that she died last week.” If someone had said that to you, you’d probably think that person was nuts, maybe overcome with grief and hallucinating. So we can see that Thomas is put into this position that he really can’t help. He is a reasonable person, not to excitable, very practical and he was loyal to Jesus, in fact the only other story we have about Thomas is when Jesus decided to return to Bethany, a town near Jerusalem, to bring Lazarus back to life. Now the last time Jesus was near Jerusalem he and his whole following almost got stoned to death. So the rest of the disciples were, understandably, a little leery to go. But Thomas said “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” So Thomas had loyalty, although his faith might have wavered. But I think we are all guilty of that from time to time.

I can remember as a child and as an adult asking questions and yes even having my doubts. I remember asking God, “If you are real, cut out the lights in my room” and things of that nature. We live in society that demands proof. America is full of Missourians, who want you to “Show me” first. And so doubt and questioning what we are told is nothing new to us. I have heard it said of some people, “If they told me it was raining I would go outside and check.” So I think we can all identify, in a certain way, with Thomas.

Let’s go back to the story of today because Jesus is doing something here. Jesus chooses to appear to his disciples when Thomas wasn’t there. I mean Jesus is the Son of God, I don’t think Jesus was caught off guard by the absence of Thomas. And so appearing while Thomas was out was done deliberately. But why did Jesus do this? Jesus as he always does wanted to teach something. Even as the Resurrected Savior of the world, he was still a teacher. Jesus first appeared to the disciples on the same Sunday he was resurrected, but waited a week to return for Thomas. Now can you imagine that week. All week long the other disciples were trying to tell Thomas that Jesus had resurrected, “Thomas, really, we aren’t kidding, He’s alive” and there is poor ole Thomas, “I am not going to believe until I can’t touch the scars.” But then, a week later Jesus appears and Jesus offers Thomas exactly what he was looking for. Thomas had said that he would not believe until he felt the scars on his hand and place his hand in Jesus’ side and that is what Jesus offered. Then an amazing thing happens, Thomas not only believes but goes a step further in his praise of Jesus by saying “My Lord and My God” so not only does Thomas believe that Jesus has risen but that he is indeed God. Jesus took doubt of Thomas and made it belief and not just ordinary belief but super-faith, because Thomas has gone above and beyond anything that the other disciples had said. God had taken the weakness of a man and made it strength. But this is nothing new. God has always chosen the weakness to prove his strength.

We remember Abraham, he was older and thought that he and Sarah would not bear any children, but God took that weakness that doubt and made Abraham the father of nations. Moses had a speech impediment, he stuttered, but God took that weakness and that doubt and made Moses the deliverer of his people. God takes what is weak and makes it strong. Why does God wait until we are at our weakest and when our doubts are the highest? I think it is only in our weakness can we put ourselves aside enough to see God working. We are a culture of do-it-yourselfers. I can remember about a year ago I was putting together a bookshelf and I though I could do it myself, I mean I am not Bob Villa but I know my way around a hammer and screwdriver. Well after about two hours, I had decided that I couldn’t do it and I had to ask for help. I had to humble myself and ask for help and so we must be humble before God to ask for help.

Also we see that Jesus provide specifically what Thomas needed. Thomas made specific requests and Jesus met each one. It is ok to doubt and it is ok to question because God will provide you with what you need if you are willing to receive it. But it might not happen instantaneously, because remember Jesus waited a week to appear before Thomas. So we have to be patient, but I want you to know that Jesus is always working on us, even when we don’t realize it. If there is a person that you have been talking to about Jesus, and I hope you have been talking to people about Jesus but that’s another sermon, but those people whom you have prayed for and have hoped would see the light, let me tell you, Jesus is already at work. The Spirit is already there and Jesus will provide what they will need. I remember in my evangelism class at Vandy, my professor said that acceptance of Christ is not a choice, it isn’t, it is a surrender. I want to repeat that because it bears repeating, the acceptance of Christ is not a choice, it is a surrender. We surrender to a work that Christ has already been doing in our lives and that work began on the Cross. If you have doubts this morning, its ok, it is only natural to doubt, but Christ will provide you with what you need to believe.

All of the stories we have heard this morning have one thing in common. Abraham, Moses, and Thomas needed a personal experience with God because that is where faith begins. We might not get a burning bush or a personal appearance of Christ, but Christ still gives us personal encounters. I might be a feeling, it might be a moment looking into the eyes of your children, but there comes a moment in every Christian’s life when the risen Savior makes himself known to us personally. There comes a moment in which we let our guard down just enough, we humble ourselves just enough to see that Christ doesn’t come to us, but he has always been there. There is a poem that I am sure we are all familiar with, called Footsteps, there have been several variations but the one I will read is from Mary Fishback Powers, and it was written in 1964.

One night I dreamed a dream.
I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

Jesus is always there with us. He has always been there, even in our doubt and even in our weakness. The sealed tomb could not hold him back, Satan could not hold him back, death could not hold him back, our hearts cannot hold him back. Jesus is the master locksmith and will break into our hearts. Even as Christians sometimes we shut him out, we want to do things our way but he never leaves, he is always there, waiting to say, “do not doubt, but believe.”