Super Sunday: Sermon Isaiah 6:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-20

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

There was once a young man who stayed out a little too late one Saturday night and did not want to get out of bed in order to go to church that Sunday morning. His mother came in and told him, “its time to get up” she was greeted with the usual moans and groans and the obligatory “5 more minutes!!” a few minutes later she came back into the room and said “If you don’t get up right now your are going to be late” at this point, being a little irritated at his mother he shot out of bed and told her “Give me three good reasons why I should get up.” She responded “OK, one I am your mother and I want you to go, two it is Sunday and God wants you to go, and three you are the pastor.” I think the most disturbing part of that joke is that the young pastor still lived a home with his mother. The underlying issue in this joke is commitment. This is our topic for today, commitment.

Now in case you don’t know today is Super Bowl Sunday, that one day of the year when most men cheer and most women groan, c’mon ladies it’s just one day of the year. Today’s match-up is between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears and regardless of who you might be pulling for the Bears or the Colts; you have to admit that this men are committed to their profession. The Super Bowl is the pinnacle game in the NFL season and some would argue that it is the pinnacle game in all of professional sport and a team cannot make it to the Super Bowl without commitment from the players, the coaching staff, and the rest of the organization. These players don’t just show up on Sunday play for a couple of hours and then go home. There are hours of practice many times in the hot, humid Sun, there are hours of watching film on the opposing team, there are hours of preparation for each game, especially a game as big as the Super Bowl. This is a sport that demands dedication and commitment.

How committed are we to the Gospel, to the Kingdom of God? We all have shown some commitment this morning by getting up, getting dressed, and coming to Church. However, is this where our commitment ends? Being a Christian is not limited to one hour on Sunday, but it is a 24/7 job. Our job description is simple, “to make disciples of the whole world”, but that is a lot harder that it sounds. We have talked about being equipped for the Kingdom, being united as a Body, and our reason, our focus is to love God and to love neighbor. But the actual work, the actual job that we do is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and to make Disciples of Christ, this is our work. So the question before us this morning is; do we take every opportunity given to us to proclaim the Gospel? Are we out their moving and acting within the Body of Christ? I think we all, including myself, do some great things, we make great strides for the Kingdom within our communities, but we all, myself included, could do a lot more. There are so many problems in the world, there are so many people suffering and it is our charge to do something about it. It is our job to proclaim the good news to the poor and oppressed. But we don’t always do that, we always have an excuse. I think I have used them all personally. So let’s look at some of the excuses people give and the Bible’s answer to those excuses.

The first excuse people give is that I am not worthy to proclaim the Gospel. I would be too embarrassed to tell people about Christ, because these people know me. They know what kind of person I used to be and they know I still make a lot of mistakes. I have burned too many bridges and I have way too many skeletons in my closet. I had that problem myself. I have told many people I used to hang out with in high school that I was answering a call to ministry, that I was going to be a pastor and most of them look at like “You’re going to be a what?!!?” followed with a round of laughter. You mean to tell me that you, Brad Smith, the guy who used to drink and smoke and hang out of car windows and act a crazy person is going to be a preacher. Those words can sometimes be discouraging. Isaiah had the same problem, he had a vision that he was in the throne room of God and he was looking at the beauty and grandeur when he had a horrible thought. He thought, “Oh no, I am a sinful man, a man with unclean lips and I live with a land of people with unclean lips, what do I do, God is going to zap me because I am unworthy.” In other words, God I have done too many bad things, I don’t deserve to be in your presence, if you knew half the things I have done you would destroy me. But what does God do, God does not destroy Isaiah, instead God sends an angel and touches his lips with a hot coal, purifying it. This is a symbolic gesture, I am not going to stand here with a hot coal and burn your lips. The meaning behind this is that is was the Power of God that made him clean and it is that same power that enables us to proclaim the gospel. It is the power of the Spirit and the power within the message itself.

Let’s turn back to Paul for a second. Paul was once known as Saul, we all know that, and Saul was one of the chief persecutors of the Church, he approved stonings and he was present at the stoning of Stephen. He was a bad guy in the eyes of a lot of people, he was known throughout the lands as a guy, if you were a Christian, you didn’t want to mess with. Then he had that experience on the Damascus Road and everything changed. He became known as Paul and became the greatest evangelist in the early days of the Church. But I can imagine that those first few months were pretty intense. He would try to talk to a fellow Christian and they would run, he would proclaim the gospel and people would think he had flipped his lid, how can this person who has persecuted the message of the Gospel now stand there and now proclaim it? Paul answer is that it is not he that speaks but it is the power of God, the grace of God that speaks through him. He says that I myself am not worthy to proclaim the Gospel, but it is the power of the Gospel, which is the Grace of God.

Paul says ^“But by the grace of God I am what I am”. I am what I am, in other words Paul is saying I can’t hide my past. I cannot escape the mistakes I have made, but God’s power has worked within me and I am changed. I cannot change who I was, but through the Grace of God I have overcome it and risen above it. No matter what you have done in the past, God will empower you to proclaim it. In fact our past, no matter how checked or shady it might be, it only demonstrates God’s power and the power of the Gospel. If we can rise above our past then anyone can be changed by God. Remember God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. We are not worthy to proclaim the Gospel, but through the power of God and the power of the Gospel we are, just as Isaiah and Paul, made worthy.

Another excuse is what if someone makes fun of me or rejects me? I have always heard the saying that your do not bring up the subjects of religion or politics in polite conversation and a sure fire way to rile someone up is by bringing up religion. Many Americans think of their faith as private, something that is theirs alone and cannot or should not be shared with anyone. I could not disagree more with this statement. I feel that our faith is always personal, deeply personal, but it can never be private. We have to share our faith; we have to open to community. But with that openness and willingness to talk comes a risk. When you put yourself out there then you open yourself up to ridicule and rejection, its part of the job unfortunately. Paul talks about being a “a spectacle or a fool for Christ” earlier in his letter to the Corinthians, now this doesn’t mean to dress up like a chicken and stand on a soapbox on the courthouse square squawking for Jesus. What this does mean is that you run the risk of being called a fool remember Paul said his letter to the Romans that the story of the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing and to some people it is utter nonsense, but for us it is the power of God. You are going to run into those people, who will say that you are wasting your time and effort preaching this nonsense. If this happens just remember that you have not failed God and God has not failed you, but there are some people who refuse to accept it and that is their problem. But the fear of rejection or ridicule is not an excuse not to proclaim the Gospel. This is not an option it is a requirement, it is a mandate from Christ and Christ will give you the strength to do it.

Briefly, the final excuse is I wouldn’t know what to say. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I would tell you that you begin with your actions. People should notice something different about you. Your kindnesses, patience, your openness, remember the list from last week, and then someone might ask you, why have you changed or why don’t you get more angry or vengeful. They might ask you why you care so much for the poor or for the homeless or for the people in Africa and other places. That is your opening. That is your chance. You tell them that God in Christ has changed your life. You tell them about a God who came down to heaven and was crucified for all of humanity. Then you tell them about how that Savior was raised on the third day and how that gives us hope for the future that this world is not the end, but only a beginning. They might ask you some questions and you might not know the answers to them, its ok, be honest say “I am not sure about that but let’s explore it together”, say “I’ll ask my pastor about that and get back to you.” Remember that God is always with us, the Power of the Spirit will not abandon us even in the midst of the shadow of the Valley of Death. We have to be committed to take the step and God will be will us.

Commitment is sometimes a hard thing to undertake. Remember the story about breakfast of bacon and eggs, how the chicken played a part, but the pig was committed. We have to strengthen our commitment to God, using our gifts, united as one, with love was our purpose and the proclamation of the Gospel and the making of disciples as our duty. We do not have go alone, God will be with us and that is bigger that any excuse we can think of.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.