"They Were Faithful; They Kept Their Promise"
Sermon Transcript for August 29, 2004
By Rev. Joe Trueblood
Well, good morning! Reverend Mike asked me some time ago if I would help during his sabbatical period; and I said, “Of course! How about letting me help you thank God at Pebble Beach?” That’s what he said too. So here I am. My homiletics professor was Dr. Ed Myer. He taught that sermon preparation involved finding a specific piece of Scripture and then studying that Scripture and its cultural and historical context until you understood the central point that the Scripture was trying to make. And then you take that central point and you overlay it with contemporary society; and wherever that intersection was was the point of the sermon. Well, Dr. Myer is not going to be happy with what I am going to do this morning. I’m going to read you the first five verses of the Book of Acts, but following that I want to do a broad brush survey of the entire book of Acts. And so with my apologies to Dr. Myer, Acts 1:1-5 reads, “In the first book, Theophilius, I wrote all about what Jesus did and taught; from the beginning until the day when He was taken up into heaven, after given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. After His suffering He presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs appeared to them during the forty days, and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait there for the promise of the Father. This He said is what you have heard from me. For John baptized with water, but I will baptize with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” May God bless this reading and our understanding of the Holy Scriptures.
When we do a grand historical sweep of the Book of Acts, we see God in every paragraph, every sentence, every quotation mark, every period. The Book of Acts just oozes with God’s presence. Written as a companion book to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter One begins with the promise of the Holy Spirit and the description of Jesus’ ascension. Chapter Two picks up and tells us the story of Pentecost. The Apostles and those with them were in the Upper Room and they are engulfed by the Holy Spirit. An inspired Peter proclaims at length Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, as the Messiah. And many believed and many became the first charter members, if you will, of the first new church start in Christianity. Chapter Three we read of the first Apostle healing. Peter heals the crippled man. By Chapter Five the Apostles are healing many people. All is not well of course. The religious leaders are questioning, threatening, and arresting the early Christians. Stephen is stoned to death in Chapter Six. Yet the church continues to grow as the Spirit of God works for good in the midst of this challenge and even death. In Chapter Ten Peter, following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, goes to Cornelius’ house and shares the good news with that household. And they too receive the Holy Spirit into their lives. The Good News is not just for Jews, it’s for Gentiles too we learn. In Peter’s case we see the Good News was taken to one family. In Chapter Nine we read of Saul, the Christian persecutor, as he encounters God on the Emmaus Road. His conversion; and he becomes Paul, the new evangelist who desires to take the Good News to all of the known world. Acts ends, as we fast-forward through Paul’s missionary journeys, Acts ends with Paul in Rome under arrest but still preaching faithfully to all who would listen.
Clearly, as you read those Scriptures in more detail, the Spirit of God was present in the Acts of the Apostles and the establishment of the early church. Just as surely as God was with Peter and James and John and Paul during their acts of spreading the Good News, the spirit of God has been with the people of Grace United Methodist Church in our acts of living out the gospel in Franklin, Indiana. In baptism, marrying and burying, in good times and bad times, in devastation and celebration—each of you can think of those times—God has carried us through!
The Book of Acts covers about thirty years of time span. What are Gods actions in our lives over the last thirty years? Well, if we look at the international scene first to get the big picture, during the last thirty years we’ve witnessed things like the end of apartheid in South Africa. For those of you who’ve forgotten your history already, apartheid was an official governmental policy that stated that whites were superior and blacks were inferior and the majority black population was kept subservient by the white minority through laws, through terror, through torture and through death. Decade after decade it went on. In the 70’s and 80’s pressure began to mount from outside and from inside South Africa. Pressure came from international sanctions from governments and businesses that decided the best way to fight apartheid was to withhold the economic advantage of their being in the country. Pressure came from other companies who chose to be in the country and to operate, but to ignore the laws and to employ and to promote blacks and whites on an equal basis. Pressure came from the National Counsel of Churches and United Nations. And by 1990 things began to change. In 1994 fully free elections were held. And in the midst of it all was the spirit of God and the people of God. This was monumental—as monumental as the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, which also occurred in our last thirty years.
In 1981 through 1984 I was working on my doctorate at Christian Theological Seminary. My doctoral paper was on the subject of “Business Ethics from Christian Perspective”. It was impossible in those years to talk about that subject without apartheid becoming part of the conversation. And that was particularly relevant because companies like Eli Lilly had chosen to operate in South Africa. My doctoral work included gathering case studies written by business folks at St. Marks United Methodist Church were I was at the time. And one of my parishioners who wrote a case study was Bob Parks who worked for Eli Lilly and directly related to the South African operation. He wrote how Eli Lilly chose to be there and to oppose apartheid by simply ignoring it and treating everyone equally and fair. Sometime after 1984 I concluded my doctorate and all of us had kind of moved on. But the news was filled again with a particularly brutal massacre of blacks in South Africa. I was upset and the next Sunday some of my frustration slipped into my sermon. Dr. Myer would have told me not to let that happen either. My memory is that I said something like, “It may be time for American companies to divest from South Africa in protest from this last action.” After the service I’m out in the hallway shaking hands and out of the corner of my eye I see Bob coming down the line. I could tell he was upset. But when he got there he shook my hand and said very strongly, “Joe, you’re wrong!” And to put that in proper perspective, I think there were at least three exclamation points at the end of his sentence. But that was that. A few more years of history would show that Bob was right; I was wrong. It did take pressure from inside as well as pressure from outside to make change happen.
Well, my point this morning is that Bob felt strongly about this. He had poured his lifeblood into Eli Lilly and their operation including that work in South Africa. Bob could have made a real stink. Bob could have held a grudge. Bob could have worked behind the scenes to undermine the pastor. Certainly those kinds of responses have occurred in many churches many times over far less relevant issues. Instead, Bob shared his thoughts honestly and with grace. He allowed his pastor to be wrong as he acted with grace. I’ve been in this community and congregation now for going on my fifteenth year, and I have observed during that time, I have experienced during that time many, many, many acts of grace. More than anything else, sharing God’s grace in all of its forms has been more than just our church name. It is the hallmark of who Grace United Methodist Church is. As surely the Spirit of God for those thirty years led the Acts of the Apostles, I am convinced the Spirit of God has been mightily at work with the people of Grace wherever they were around the world and right here in Franklin, Indiana.
Today we come to worship to make our faith statement about the character of God. Actually, if you think about it, every morning we arise and go about the business of life. And in the process we make our faith statement about the character of God. Grace United Methodist Church stands in the linage of the saints like Peter, James, John, and Paul. The people of Grace have a long and a proud heritage--the children and the youth ministries, the huge amount of mission dollars that have been raised over the years. It was Grace who was instrumental in visioning, building and supporting the Franklin United Methodist Community. Where we are this morning just a short walk away from the Underground Railroad--what a faith statement about the character of God that was by our ancestors!
But I wonder, I wonder what people will say about us in say 370 years? In July of 2000 Sandy and I joined the huge Christian pilgrimage to Europe for the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany. Oberammergau is a quaint little village in the Trolling Alps about 60 miles south of Munich. In 1633 the black plague was sweeping across Europe. It would wipe out fully a third of all the population of Europe. Though isolated, the people of Oberammergau were worried that the black plague would come to their village and wipe it out too. And so they put up guards at the roads to keep people from coming into the village during that period of time. Best laid plans! One of the residents was working away from home and when he finished he knew the territory and worked his way around the guards back into town. And sure enough, he showed the signs of the plague and then he died. Well, the people of the village panicked. What were they to do? The elders called the entire village together and they agreed that if God would spare their village, they would perform an outdoor play of the passion of Christ about every ten years. We understand their predicament don’t we? Some uncontrollable force arises and we bargain with God! We’ve all been there. We know how it goes. Oh, God, please just get me through this and I promise… Oh, Lord, don’t let her die, she’s so young. I’ll do anything. Oh, Lord, please save our village and we promise. And then they waited and they waited and they waited. We’ve been in the waiting room. We know how torturous waiting can be. And finally came the realization the plague was gone, it had run its course and they had been saved. Miraculous! God had seen them through the valley of the shadow of death. And true to their promise, one year later in 1634, the first play was performed on a stage set up over the tombstones in the cemetery. And approximately every ten years since, they have performed that play by the residences of the village, except one year when the Pope ordered that no passion plays be given, and then once during WWII. The play has grown into an all day event with a luncheon intermission. Thousands see it as it is put on day after day from May through August/ September. And people come because their work at Oberammergau is the place of a holy miracle. Well, actually two miracles. But the amazing thing is not God’s faithfulness in the midst of crises. God always keeps God’s promises. The miracle is that the people of Oberammergau have kept their promise! For 370 years generation after generation, the people of Oberammergau, have continued to keep their promise. Now that’s a miracle!
Grace United Methodist Church has a 135-year history of faithfulness. Lives have been touched by Grace in powerful ways. The congregation has laughed together, cried together, prayed together and worshiped together. Our soul purpose in life is to glorify God and to be all that we can be as God’s children. It is for that purpose that you and I were created. Three hundred and seventy years from now, that will be 2374; nothing greater could be said about the people of Grace than the words that are said about Oberammergau. They were faithful; they kept their promise!
The end of the 100th Psalm reads, “For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and His faithfulness to all generations.” That’s God’s love and faithfulness. And what of the love and faithfulness of the people of Grace enduring forever into all generations as our Christian calling and be assured is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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