Grace Series: C is for Courageous

Pastor Burcham's Sermon

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning, we continue to focus in on our vision. That is, what we believe God is calling to us to accomplish. And we key in on one of the important facets of our vision. It is the fourth statement of our vision that says Gloria Dei will be courageous in outreach. That is, every member will have a passion and will courageously reach out to other people with the gospel message.

I see some nervousness on some of your faces. You're saying to yourself, even though it's early, the synopses are working pretty quick. You're saying, “I don't reach out. Reach out? Say, that's another name for evangelism. Evangelism? That's another name for witnessing. Hokey smokes! He's going to talk about me saying my faith to my friends and neighbors.” So you're a little bit nervous. And then on top of that, we tagged onto the front of it “courageous.” “So what does that mean that I have to be courageous in outreach?”

Perhaps you have a false notion of what it is to be courageous in reaching out with the gospel. Just possibly, right now in your mind, maybe this is what you think of when I say courageous in outreach: [Movie Clip] “A clear place to go when you die. Yes, and we do have visual aids on the slow of minds. And now admitting incredible slow minds today. You think you can live your life apart from God? You think you can live your life in sin and get away with it? Stupid people. Stupid people.”

It qualifies as courageous. I'll give him that. Don't think it really qualifies as outreach, though. Not positive anyone's going to come to faith with a guy with a bullhorn telling them they're stupid people. So that's not the vision of being courageous in our outreach. That's not it at all. So maybe you've toned it down a bit and maybe there's a different image that comes to your mind and you say, “Courageous in outreach,” and maybe you're thinking something more similar to this: [Movie Clip] “(Music) (Knock on door.) Hi, I'm Charlie. I understand you Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Johnson and your son visited Trinity Presbyterian August 5 of this year.”

“Yeah.”

“Was it fruitful, was it?”

Courageous. No doubt. But again that's not what the vision is about, about knocking on strange doors and talking to interesting people. That's not the vision. And when I say we're going to be courageous in outreach, what we're really talking about here is really three parts of that vision of being courageous in outreach. And it all begins with this. It's the vision of people who have been touched by God's grace in such a powerful way that they can't help but spread that grace to others. No bullhorns. No knocking on doors. We're talking real, genuine, heart to heart, just speaking from your heart and how God has changed your life and giving witness and not even knowing you're giving a witness. It's about being touched by God's grace in a powerful way so that grace just emanates to those around you.

A case study of a man who has been touched by God's grace in a powerful way has got to be Peter. Now we see Peter in the Acts reading for this morning where he's standing up with all this boldness in front of all the Jewish leaders and rulers and, here he is a poor fisherman, he stands up to them and says, “Salvation is found in no one else besides Jesus Christ.” But how did he get to that point? How was he so courageous in doing that? It's because Peter was touched by God's grace in a powerful way.

Let's go back a few months in Peter's life, back when Jesus was still with him on earth, before He was crucified. Jesus is with His disciples and scripture records this, “Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night, you will all fall away on account of me.'” Peter pipes up and he says, “If all fall away on account of you, I never will.” Jesus answered, “I am going to tell you the truth. This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Peter, all of his arrogance, says, “Even if I have to die with you, Lord, I will never deny you. I'll never fall away from you.”

Fast forward about five or six hours, you know what happens. Jesus gets arrested. He's hauled off to the temple courts. Meanwhile, Peter is lurking in the background trying to see what's happening. He gets caught. Scripture says this, “Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard and the servant girl came to him. ‘You were with Jesus of Galilee,' she said. But he denied it before them all, ‘I don't know what you're talking about,' he said.” Skip down one verse. He denied it again with an oath, “I don't know the man.” Skip down one more verse. “Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don't know the man.' And then a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, and he went out and wept bitterly.”

Peter, at that instant in time, is a broken man. Not only was he Jesus' disciple, he was part of the inner circle. He was one of Jesus' close friends. In that instant, he realized the very thing he said in his arrogance that he would never do, that as he's cursing and he's calling down oaths on himself that he doesn't know Jesus, he has done the very thing he said he wouldn't. He has disowned his friend, his teacher, and his Lord and his God and, that very moment, he is a broken, crushed man in need of God's grace.

Move ahead just a few days. Jesus has resurrected. The gospel writer, John, records this, “When He had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?' ‘Yes, Lord,' he said, ‘You know I love you.' Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.'” A couple verses later, Jesus turned to Peter and He said, “Follow me.” Do you know how significant that was for Peter? Peter thought he was washed up. He's no longer deserving of being Jesus' disciple. He won't be one of the apostles going out and spreading the news of Jesus. He's the one who denied Him, cursed Him. He didn't just run away, but he vocalized the fact that he didn't know Jesus. He thought he was done for, and Jesus comes to him in love and grace and He says, “Peter, feed my lambs. You're still my servant. You're still my disciple.” He says to Peter, “Follow me. You're still going to be my apostle, Peter. You're still going to do powerful things in the kingdom of God .” Jesus reinstates Peter. He experiences God's undeserved love. He experiences God's grace in a powerful way and, experiencing that grace, there's no stopping Peter. He is going to testify to Jesus until it finally costs him his life eventually. That's the Peter we see standing in front of the Jewish rulers and leaders. That's the Peter we see saying to them, “You're commanding me not to speak about Jesus. I'll tell you what. You judge for yourself. Do I obey you or do I obey God? Because I have to tell you, I can't help talking about everything I have seen and I have heard.” That's Peter. He experienced God's grace and now he wants to spread that grace to anyone who will listen.

It's the vision of our congregation that every person who comes through these doors would experience God's grace in a powerful way. And once they experience that grace, they can't help themselves but talk about that grace. Let's think back for a moment here. Who of us can say we haven't denied our Lord? Who among us can say we haven't been in a conversation, maybe it's at work, maybe it's at school, maybe it's at a social setting, a topic comes up that you know where God stands on that topic, but instead of piping up and standing up for God, you remain quiet or, worse yet, you just silently nod your head in assent with everyone else. Because you don't want to stand out from the crowd. Who among us has never lied? Who's never cheated? Who's never stolen? Who's never been unfaithful? Who's never sinned? And yet, God's love is constant.

We don't deserve God's love. We haven't earned God's love and yet God loves us unconditionally. As Jesus loved Peter, Jesus loves you. As Jesus died for Peter and for his sins, Jesus has died for you and for your sins. As Jesus removed the guilt and the shame Peter was feeling, Jesus has removed the guilt and the shame from you. As Jesus changed Peter's life, He's changed your life. As you experience God's grace in a powerful way, there's no stopping you from just the way you live, the way you talk, and even those opportunities when you blatantly talk about your faith. When you've experienced a love like that, that love just overflows to other people. It's the vision of this congregation that everyone who comes here is touched by God's grace in such a powerful way that they can't help but share that grace with others. It's the vision of our congregation that ordinary people are doing extraordinary things, that just regular ordinary folks have extraordinary courage and accomplish extraordinary things.

Talk about ordinary folks, we're talking about Peter and John. Peter and John are fisherman and yet they find themselves standing in front of the elite of the elite of the Jewish people. The High Priests are there. The rulers of the people are there. They're in front of the Sanhedrin, the High Court of the Jewish people and yet, they're standing there with all courage and all boldness testifying to what Jesus has done for them. That caught the rulers so off guard that the writer of Acts records this for us, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note these men had been with Jesus.” You see, they couldn't figure it out. These were all learned men around them. These are the top of the top. You have two fisherman. They haven't had any schooling. No special training. And yet these ordinary men are doing extraordinary things, giving witness to their faith in powerful ways, being persuasive in their presentation of the gospel. How is that possible? It's answered a few verses earlier. It says, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,” Jesus had promised them the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power from on high. Peter and John had received that Holy Spirit and they stood there in front of the people and they gave a powerful witness. They were ordinary men doing extraordinary things.

My Folks, we're just ordinary folks. We're ordinary people, but we can do extraordinary things. We can give witness to our faith in powerful and persuasive ways. No classes are needed. No witness workshops we need to attend. No special training has to happen. You have everything you need. You have the love of God in your heart. You've experienced His grace in your life and you have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. It's that Holy Spirit that's living within your heart, that Holy Spirit that gives you the boldness and the courage that allows you to do extraordinary things.

Extraordinary things like a fellow member named Joy. Joy has been witnessing to her father for years. Now that's extraordinary, Folks, because there is nothing more difficult than to witness to a family member and especially a parent. But she regularly sends him scripture messages. She told me recently she just bought him a bible. I have confidence God's Holy Spirit is going to work through her witness and change his heart. But we're talking just an ordinary person, but she's doing something extraordinary. It's the vision of our congregation that every member just as ordinary as we are but through the gift of God's Holy Spirit, we can do extraordinary things. Extraordinary witnesses to what Jesus has done in our lives and the change that can affect in other people's lives. It's the vision of a congregation that is bold and innovative in sharing the gospel.

You cannot get much bolder than Peter and John. You can't get much bolder than to stand in front of the whole Jewish community, a community that has been praying for hundreds of years for the Messiah to come, they've been longing for him, waiting for him, to stand in front of that community and the religious leaders and to say, “Do you all remember Jesus? Yeah, the guy from Nazareth . You will recall you railroaded Him through the system and then you watched as He died on a cross and you all celebrated when He was put in the grave. You remember Jesus? Well, I need to tell you something. Jesus was the Messiah and you killed Him. You messed up.” Now that's boldness, Folks. To tell an entire nation they took the long-awaited Messiah and hung Him on a cross and watched Him die. To stand in front of them and say, “But God raised Him from the dead and salvation is found in no one else except in the name of Jesus Christ,” that is boldness on the part of Peter and John.

But how did they get to that point? How did they get to that point where they could make that witness? Because they were innovative. They ceased a moment. They had their eyes opened for a moment when they could give a witness, and they ceased that moment. Go back to Chapter 3 in Acts. You find out they're walking in the city and there's a crippled beggar there, been there since birth because he hasn't been able to walk his entire life. The only way he could eat is to beg for money. Peter and John come into the city. This is what scripture records, “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold. I do not have. But what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.'” No sermon necessary at that point in time. The man jumps up to his feet. He's dancing around on the street. He follows them into the temple court. All of the people are looking at him. They recognize him. They've seen him for years sitting there at the gate. And now he's dancing and walking around these two men. You see, they ceased the moment. And through God's spirit, they knew this was what they were supposed to do. And because of that, that opened up the door for them to say, “Why are you surprised he's walking? It's because of the name of Jesus Christ that he's walking.” And that led them to give witness then in front of the entire ruling class.

Now if you go a little bit further in Acts, you'll find out Luke records for us that most of the people were scared to join them but they were held in high regard by all the people. And the next verse says, “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in Jesus Christ.” They ceased the moment, and they gave witness to their faith. It's the vision that our congregation will be bold in witnessing to Jesus and will be innovative, that is, will cease those moments in time that God opens up to us. It says we'll do whatever it takes to spread the news of Jesus and what He has done for the world. It means when those moments open up, we'll use whatever means, whatever is most effective to get the gospel message out. We're going to do that individually. We'll cease those moments in our community, in our state, and around the world.

We ceased the moment just about a year ago. Just about a year ago, there was a couple getting married in church. They were from Uganda . They wanted to have a song in their native tongue. So, all of a sudden, the e-mails started going back and forth between the Lutheran Church and mission in Uganda . Before you know it, a timid e-mail comes back and says, “We've heard about your worship at Gloria Dei. Any chance you could come over here and do a conference for the 34 churches in Uganda ? We really need some help, and we just need to know we're not alone in the world.” We ceased the moment as a congregation. We came together and we have partnered together with the Lutheran Church and mission in Uganda . In January, we're going to have that conference for those 34 churches. We're going to bring them all into one location. We have collected over 200 backpacks and school supplies to send over to the orphanage in Uganda and, in January, I'll meet the man we're going to put through seminary so we can put another pastor in the field in Uganda . That was a moment opened up before us that could have been passed by, but we as a congregation ceased that moment and now we're going to be bold in sharing the message with the people of Uganda . It's that kind of thing that is the vision for our congregation.

Not only in Uganda but in Iowa . In western Des Moines, here in Urbandale, in your relationships at work and at home and at school, it's when we see those moments and through the power of God's Holy Spirit, we're bold in our witness.

It all comes back to God's grace. God's grace has touched our lives and it's changed us. And having experienced that powerful grace, we can't help but spread that grace to others. That's what it means to be courageous in outreach. Bullhorns are optional. Amen.

Copyright 2006 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church