This is a special day in the life of the church -
REFORMATION SUNDAY. The last Sunday in October recognizes that
portentous day in 1517 when a German priest named Martin Luther
challenged the medieval church for its spiritual laxity. On what
was his town's equivalent of a public bulletin board - the front
door of the castle church - he posted 95 theses (or
propositions), statements of belief, as a challenge to the church
authorities. That act of ecclesiastical effrontery began the
Protestant Reformation, the effects of which continue to effect
you and me today.
As time went along, Luther was called before a church
council to recant his views. As the story is told, Luther
refused with words that have become famous. He is reported to
have said, "Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise."
Where do YOU stand? It matters what YOU believe despite
those folks who say "No...as long as you believe something...as
long as you are sincere." That is not true. If you did not
believe that iron and steel moving at any speed at all were
stronger than flesh and blood, you would never bother to look
both ways when crossing Market St. at rush hour. If you did not
believe that crack and cocaine can be deadly killers, you would
never bother to tell a youngster, "Just say NO!" If you did not
believe that spiritual matters are important, you would have
never bothered to make your way to First Presbyterian Church this
morning. What you believe determines how you live.
In our New Testament lesson this morning, we read of some of
the great heroes of the faith: Noah, Abraham, Moses. What they
believed determined how they lived. Noah built a huge ark far
away from any water, suffered the derision of his neighbors,
because he believed that God had a reason for telling him to do
it. Abraham pulled up stakes and moved to a strange land because
he believed God would provide him a home. Moses rejected the
easy life of a prince of Egypt because he believed God would
deliver him and his people to a better life. The list goes on
and on. Read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews all the way through
(not just passim) and you will see evidence piled upon evidence
of the fact that people live the way they do because they believe
the way they do.
Let me share with you what I believe. First, I believe in
God. That is hardly a startling statement from a Presbyterian
pulpit, I know, but I believe in a particular God...not a
whimsical god to whom I can go for deliverance from the rain or
the sun when they do not suit my fancy. I do not believe in a
God who is at my beck and call to bail me out from some hole I
have dug for myself, not even one who can steady me over that
three-foot putt when the match is on the line or work some
miracle for my Braves to give them the World Series next year
(although that WOULD be nice). I do not believe in a celestial
butler.
I do not believe in a God simply in terms of moral values,
good and evil, because those values are relative. For example,
is killing ever good? Of course. When a cancer kills a patient,
that is evil. But when a surgeon kills a cancer, we cheer. What
is good and what is evil are concepts that are humanly judged.
To be sure, the God in whom I believe, the God who shapes my
life, is quite definitely "good" as we understand "good," a God
who takes sides, a God who loves love and hates hatred, a God who
wants us to behave in one way and not in another. That is the
Christian idea. I believe in that God.
But there is more. That good God, I believe, is the source
of creation. God made the world and everything in it: heat,
light, space, time, colors, dogs, cats, broccoli...everything.
God made them up out of the divine head as we make up a story.
Then it was turned over to us to operate properly...Genesis says
"to have dominion over." That shapes what I do because I BELIEVE
I am called to handle that task in a way that is consistent with
God's wishes. "Here I stand."
Of course, I also believe that a great many things have gone
wrong with this world that was once all good (after all, it is
the creation of a good God), and that God insists, and insists
very loudly, that we put them right again. In this, we have been
given help. And that logically leads to a second point of
belief. I believe in Jesus Christ.
Why God chose to operate like that is beyond my
comprehension. It would have been much simpler just to wipe this
old world out and start over with a more cooperative creation.
But God did not. The only explanation is the one the scripture
gives: that "God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish
but have everlasting life."
Jesus was only here briefly, just thirty-three years. But
during that time, he explained what was needed to get things back
to the way they once had been. He reminded us of the
relationship we should have with God as well as our neighbors.
He said it was not good enough to continue on the way that we
were going. It was not a popular message. They crucified him.
But not for nothing. I believe that Jesus died so that you an I
might live. "Here I stand."
But there is more. That little band of friends who were
Jesus' original followers could not have done what they did on
their own, nor could they have done it just on the memory of one
such powerful personality as Jesus Christ. They needed help, and
they got it. That is why I believe in the Holy Spirit.
Granted, this one is difficult. How does one define or
describe the Holy Spirit? Jesus did it best. In the third
chapter of John's gospel we read, "The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where
it comes from or where it goes. So it is with...the Spirit."(1)
Wind. We know it is there. We can feel it. We see what it
does. We cannot control it. It is immensely powerful. But we
cannot see it. Thus, the word of Jesus: "so it is...with the
Spirit."
Quite frankly, no definition is entirely satisfactory, nor
will one ever be. But none is really necessary. We do not
require a definition of wind before we make use of it. Sailors
do not go to the dictionary before they put out to sea. They
simply use what they know to build their boats in obedience to
what knowledge they have, then run before it or tack into it or
even avoid it entirely. The wind is power...and so is the
Spirit.
I testify to that out of my own experience. My family and I
were living contentedly in North Carolina, and planned to stay
right there. But the Spirit moved. And so did we. To
Pennsylvania. There was no thunderclap, no disembodied voice
that came and said "GET THEE TO WARREN"...just that "still, small
voice" of the Holy Spirit. "Here I stand. I cannot do
otherwise."
But there is more. I would not have even realized that God
was calling me here to First Presbyterian or anywhere without the
leading of the word. That is why I believe in the Bible.
Without that, we would have only the scantiest idea of God; Jesus
would have been just an obscure historical figure; and the Holy
Spirit would be unknown. The Psalmist says "Your word is a lamp
to my feet,"(2) a guidebook for living. The Presbyterian Church
believes that. Our confessional documents say that the Bible is
our only true guide for faith and practice.
How firm a foundation
Ye saints of the Lord
Is found for our faith
in his excellent word.(3)
"Here I stand [too]. I cannot do otherwise."
That leads to one more conclusion. If I believe in a triune
God and I believe in God's word, I must believe in the church.
Of all my beliefs, I admit that this is the one most difficult to
defend, because throughout history, religion of all kinds has
been used to justify the most horrible acts. There were the
Crusades, the Inquisition, human slavery, Northern Ireland, the
Middle East. The September 11th attacks came in the name of
religion. And before we say that was them and not us, simply
remember that the church has rarely been anything like what God
would want it to be. Mark Twain wrote, "We have made a graveyard
of the globe in trying to ease our brothers' way to happiness and
heaven." How sad.
But in spite of the spotty record, I still believe in the
church, which means that I believe in you. YOU are the church,
not some building. In spite of the faults, in spite of all the
things to recommend against the church, the people of God, I
realize that all my other beliefs tell me that God loves you.
God sent Jesus to die for you. God gave the Spirit to empower
you. God offers the word to instruct you. That means I had
better get in line and love you and believe in you too or, by
implication, I say God made a mistake, and I will not do that.
The Bible says, "The commandment we have from him is this: those
who love God must love their brothers and sisters also."(4) "Here
I stand."
At the end of our lesson from Hebrews a few minutes ago,
there were words about a "great cloud of witnesses," those heros
of the faith whose lives were controlled by what they believed.
A word about them. We really cannot say positively what the
writer intends to convey. Can those faithful men and women who
have gone before actually see us and cheer us on as we run our
own daily race? Or does the word "witness" mean one who has
proclaimed God's truth to the world, just as when we speak of a
witness on the stand in a court of law? We do not know. But if
the word does not say specifically that those faithful folk can
see us, it does not say that they cannot either. What a thought!
That we run that race, that we take our stands, in front of all
history and heaven.
I have shown them to you before. Yonder they are. There is
the gallery of the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And
over there, the prophets: Samuel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. And over
there, the gallery of the apostles: Peter, James, John and Paul.
The Reformers whose work we celebrate today: Luther, Calvin,
Knox. Over there, the gallery of the great evangelists: Wesley,
Whitefield and Spurgeon. The missionaries: David Brainard,
Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone. And over here, a gallery
that perhaps means more to you and me than all the others, the
one where sit our own fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters
whose own race is now done, those who gave us a solid foundation
for our beliefs, a solid footing for our faith. They are the
witnesses who surround us, watching our conflicts and rejoicing
in our victories, saying a joyous AMEN when we proclaim with our
lives, "Here I stand." And above them...and watching with
them...the one who died that they and we might live, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
So there you have it...Here I stand. Where do YOU stand?
What do you believe about God? Do you believe God cares for you
just as much as He did for Noah and Abraham and Moses and all the
rest? Do you believe God has work for you in this world? What
do you believe about Jesus Christ? Does what Jesus said and did
shape your life? What about the Holy Spirit? Does your belief
call you to seek the Spirit's guidance and ask for divine
direction? The Bible - is it your primary guidebook for faith
and practice? Is it a daily part of your life? How about the
church? Is what you believe about God's people enough to
overlook differences and to love without reservation? Is what
you believe enough to commit yourself to its work and worship?
Important questions, every one! Because what you believe
determines how you will live.
Happy Reformation Day. May God grant that, as we walk this
pilgrimage of faith together in Warren, we can say to all of
those questions, "Lord, I believe... and so I live. On
Reformation Day...on ANY day...Here I stand! I cannot do
otherwise."
Amen!
1. John 3:8
2. Psalm 119:105
3. The text first appears in John Rippon's A Selection of Hymns (1787) attributed to "K.''
4. 1 John 4:21
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