Ready? Philippians 1:21-24; John 11:25-26 (Wednesday Night Reflection)
This past Sunday has
turned a former humorous sermon illustration into a worship nightmare. The sermon illustration went something like
this: a gunslinger walked into a worship service and pulled out his six-shooter
and said, “Anyone not prepared to meet God today needs to leave.” With that declaration, about half the
congregation left. The gunslinger then
sat down and declared to the pastor that he could continue on since only the
faithful remained. The humor in that is
gone and the image is all too real now in light of Sunday’s massacre in
Sutherland Springs, Texas where more than than 26 of our brothers and sisters
in Christ went went from praising the Name of Jesus to finding themselves fully
embraced in His arms.
And while that happened over
1,300 miles away from here, it still touches our lives. The loss of life breaks our hearts. The reality of evil stirs emotions from
within us. It calls for a response from
us. The question is, my brothers and
sisters, how will we respond? How will
the loss of all those lives affect us?
We could choose to let it
cause us to become fearful. There are
some who see, hear, or read of the shooting in church and their first instinct
is that it is not even safe to go to church; thoughts of abandoning gathering
with others for worship crosses their minds.
Then, if they decide to come to church, the creek of every board, the
opening of every door, causes them to cringe and slowly turn their heads in
fear to investigate the sound.
The thing is, my friends,
in a sense, we are spoiled. We are used
to driving our cars and trucks or walking to church and being able to openly
worship God without any thought of danger.
However, for many of our brothers and sisters, maybe even a majority of
our brothers and sisters outside of this country, the threat of torture and
death for worshipping Christ is real each and every week. They gather with others for hours worshipping
and praising God understanding that at any moment their government or others
might break into their service and kill every one of them…or arrest them,
torture them and/or sentence them to death.
Yet they gather for worship regardless of the danger. The same was true for many of our brothers
and sisters in the early church under the rule of the Roman Empire when Nero,
Domitian, and others were in charge.
Worshipping Christ ran the risk of being nailed to a cross, being burned
as a streetlight, or being food for lions.
Yet those early Christians kept on worshipping… otherwise we would not
be worshipping tonight. So not coming to
worship…well, that’s not a faithful option.
Christ calls us together…and if we stop, “as is the habit of some,”[i]
then we ignore the Word of God, and evil wins.
I’ve encountered other
fearful responses as well. I’ve read
stories and heard of brothers and sisters deciding that they needed to post
armed guards or patrols outside of their churches during worship or insure that
members who have carry permits come packing.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not making this a sermon about gun
control. We live in a nation where it is
the constitutional right for a person who chooses to, to have a gun. Those who enjoy deer, duck, rabbit, or wild
turkey, especially this time of year, need them on hand. Yet the thought of armed worship, something
about that doesn’t sit right as we worship the One who told Peter to put away
his sword…something about it doesn’t feel invitational to those who are not
already part of the congregation.
I’m not suggesting we
stick our head in the sand and can pretend like nothing happened. Something did happen. 26 of our brothers and sisters were
killed…another 20 were wounded…and another lost soul that Christ died for did
it. There are simple, practical safety
issues that we and other churches can take to minimize surprises, though there
is no 100% plan, even the armed guard or weaponized congregation plan, that is
a guarantee that nothing like that could ever happen here.
However, there is a sure
fire preparation that every one of us need to make. It is the only definite guaranteed
preparation. The biggest part of this
preparation is confessional. It is confessing
that we are really not afraid of a gunman…we’re really not afraid of a
terrorist. What we are really afraid of,
is dying. We don’t want to die. We don’t want those we love to die. Why?
Because we’re not ready…we’re afraid they’re not ready. Am I suggesting that we should all want to
die or want our loved ones to die? By no
means…God didn’t give us our lives in order that we might wish them away. They are a precious gift to be cherished and
to be used…to be lived…to be lived in faith, not in fear.
So how are we to view
them, then? We are to find ourselves
having the same struggle that Paul himself had as he wrote the church in Philippi:
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to
shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will be
exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me,
living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means
fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed
between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far
better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.[ii]
What is Paul saying? Paul is openly declaring that he is good
either way. Living or dying, to him both
are a blessing…living is Christ, dying is gain.
Paul says, “if I get to live, then I get to serve Christ each and every
day, there is no more blessed way of living that to live for Christ. Dying, on the other hand, if I die, I get to
find myself resting in the very arms of my Savior, and it can’t get any better
than that…Living for Jesus or resting with Jesus.” Paul says, “I’d rather be resting with Jesus,
but I know that there is work for me to continue to do here because others are
not ready…others are not at the point of being ready to rest with Jesus…so I am
glad to remain.”
Our best preparation for
an event like Texas is getting to the point that Paul found himself…realizing
that he is good either way. It is asking
God to strengthen us, to prepare us, in the same way that we pray within our
service of death and resurrection…perhaps praying it so many times over the
last twenty-two years is what has brought me to the point of being like
Paul. In the service, contained within
one of the prayers, is this petition:
“Help us to live as those who are prepared to die. And when our days here are accomplished,
enable us to die as those who go forth to live, so that living or dying, our
life may be in you, and that nothing in life or in death will be able to
separate us from your great love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.”[iii]
How do we get there? How do we get to the point of being
ready? It is simply trusting Jesus…it is
getting what Mary and Martha had such a hard time understanding outside the
tomb of their loved one, Lazarus. It is
hearing the Word of God and acting on it by trusting Jesus when He says, “I am
the resurrection and the life. Those who
believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die.”[iv] Jesus asks, “Do you believe this?”
If we do, if we truly do,
then no matter what happens, here or anywhere, we are ready!
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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