Sermons in Glass 11. Missions

Sermons in Glass: 11. Missions

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

November 17, 2013

Matthew 2:13-16; Luke 24:1-5

          One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, “I’m not going.”

          “Why not?” she asked.

          “I’ll give you two good reasons,” he said. At that church—

                   1. “They don’t like me, and

                   2. I don’t like them.”

          His mother replied, “I’ll give you two good reasons why you SHOULD go to church today:

          1. You’re 59 years old, and

          2. You’re the pastor!”

          I found that in my box this week!

          I do like you and I know you like me so I am here this morning!

          I can always tell when my sermons are getting a little dry because someone always comes to the rescue with a joke.

          Before I go to the ‘Sermon in Glass’ message I want us to pause to remember two great men.

          Both died on the same day, November 22, 1963, 50 years ago this coming Friday. They are:

          President John F. Kennedy, and

          C.S. Lewis.

          The death of C.S. Lewis was overshadowed by the assassination of Kennedy. C.S. Lewis touched my life in a special way with his books, Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters.  

          I could do a whole sermon on C.S. Lewis but instead we will go to Lancet 11 in our Stained Glass windows in this series based on the ‘Sermons in Glass’ from our windows.

         

          The stories in our windows are

                   stories of the life of Jesus,

                   stories of faith,

                   stories of history,

                   Bible stories that have been passed down through the years.

          They surround us each Sunday and I think that it is important that we know them.

          In fact, next Sunday, there will be a quiz and a prize for the person who can identify the most pictures. The prize will be that you don’t have to listen to my sermon! NOT!

          In today’s window Jesus triumphantly emerges from the tomb in this scene of resurrection.

 

          Then we go back to the beginning of Jesus’ life. Here we have the flight into Egypt. Joseph, Mary and Jesus leave Judea, having been warned of Herod’s rage, and escape the “Slaughter of the Innocents.”

          And finally, Albert Schweitzer, doctor, missionary, scholar, minister and musician stands at the pinnacle of twentieth century western civilization.

          Here we have two stories of Jesus life.

                   An event that happened when he was an infant, and

                   Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

          There is an unusual Easter card on the market. It is designed to look like a Christmas greeting card.

          The upper half of the card features a nativity scene with a baby in a manger, surrounded by adoring shepherds.

          The lower half of the card features those same shepherds, 30 years later, standing before Jesus' empty tomb.

          Ever wonder which revelation of God was greater news to tell?

                   Was it the birth of God's love?

                             Or the triumph of God's love over death and hell?

          Isn’t it interesting that in the same lancet we have both miracles—

                   Jesus birth and resurrection.

          It takes child-like trust in God's love and assurance to have faith in these two visions of love incarnate.

          1. Jesus triumphantly emerges from the tomb.  

          Do you see the butterfly?

          Jesus is still wrapped in the grave cloths coming out of the tomb.

          The phrase in this scripture that stands out to me every time I read it is the question by the angels,

           “Why are you looking for Him who is alive among the dead?

                    He is not here. He is risen?”

          This is the all-important question for us this morning. There are some of us who still look for Jesus among the dead.

·        There are those who regard Jesus as the greatest man who ever lived on earth and who then died.

          That will not do.

                   Jesus is not dead; He is alive.

                             He is not a hero of the past;

                             Jesus is a living presence today.

·        There are those who regard Jesus as a man whose life must be studied and whose teaching must be analyzed. Jesus is not only someone to be studied; he is someone to be met and lived with every day in life.

Jesus is a living presence.

·        There are those who see in Jesus the perfect pattern and example.

He is that.

He is not only the pattern and the example,

          he helps us,

          and guides us,

          and strengthens us to follow that pattern.

He is not simply a model for life; Jesus is a living presence.

It might just be that our faith has lacked something essential because we too have been looking for Him who is alive among the dead.

          2. The flight into Egypt.

          This picture tells a story about Jesus early life—one we don’t talk about very often. When Jesus was a baby his parents were afraid that Herod would kill him along with all the other male children under two years old.

          This was called ‘the slaughter of the innocents.’

          The ancient world had no doubt that God sent his messages to people in dreams. So Joseph was warned in a dream to flee into Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous intentions.

         
          Matthew shows that Jesus' early childhood consisted of a series of moves—        the whole family shifted from place to place, giving Jesus a lot in common with modern day "army brats" and "preachers' kids."

          Joseph and Mary live both undercover and underground in order to safeguard their child's life.

          Joseph is told that no less than King Herod himself wants the baby not worshiped, but killed.

          Joseph's obedience to the angel's warning is immediate and unquestioning. He turns away from

                   his homeland,

                   his established livelihood,

                   and goes "underground" for the sake of his family's safety.

          Matthew's gospel interjects into the birth narrative the intertwined stories of the baby Jesus' family's flight into Egypt, and the murderous rage of Herod the Great.

          The so-called "slaughter of the innocents" recounts a crime so heinous that it continues to confound and confuse us—even with today’s violence.

          This is a story of choices.

          Joseph faced a night of terror.

          Faced with the choice of staying where it was comfortable and familiar or leaving for a strange land, he chose the latter, based on the divinely relayed word of warning he had received in the dream.

          We, too, face the same choice. We can stay where it is comfortable or go through new doors of opportunities.

          What doors?
          • The door of resentment, opening up possibilities for achievement.
          • The door of materialism, opening up opportunities for contentment.
          • The door of destructive habits, opening up pathways of freedom.
          • The door of sterile spirituality, opening up vistas of growth and maturity.
          • The door of relational distance, opening up circles of intimacy.
          • The door of entrenched attitudes, opening up arenas of openness and flexibility.

          When we are crippled by fear there is one thing to do—open the unknown door.

          This past week I spent time with a business man in our community. With tears in his eyes he shared his fears with me. Among them was fear of failure—he had a major business set back that day.

         

          Joseph had fear for his family.

          So, he opened the door to a strange land.

          We can do the same.

          3. Albert Schweitzer was a German—and later French—

theologian, organist, philosopher, physician,

and medical missionary in Africa,

known for his interpretive life of Jesus.

          He challenged both the secular view of Jesus as depicted by historical-critical methodology current at his time in certain academic circles, as well as the traditional Christian view.

          He depicted Jesus as one who literally believed the end of the world was coming in his own lifetime and believed himself to be a world savior.

          Schweitzer received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of "Reverence for Life.”

          Among his famous writings is the book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus.

If you go home and read it you will get extra credit for today!

          From 1952 until his death he worked against nuclear tests and nuclear weapons with Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn and Bertrand Russell.

          Dr. Albert Schweitzer was not without controversy particularly his paternalistic attitudes regarding the Africans he worked with.

          Dr. Paul Woudenberg was the pastor here when the windows were installed. He spent time with Albert Schweitzer and even wrote a book about him.

          I have talked with Paul a couple of  times over the past weeks as I have worked on these sermons. This past week I asked him about the criticism of Schweitzer. His response was instant, “Schweitzer was totally honorable and this criticism is nonsense.”

          There are many Schweitzer quotes that I like:

          “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.

          It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.

          We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

          “Success is not the key to happiness.

                    Happiness is the key to success.

          If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”

          “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

          “Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.”

          “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”

          Today’s Sermon in Glass reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus,

                   the protection of Jesus because of Joseph’s courage,

                   and a unique, though flawed, visionary missionary.