Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
January 20, 2008 – 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
Isaiah 49:1-7       
1st Corinthians 1:1-9    
John 1:29-42

Safe in the Midst of a Storm

 He was in his third year of college.  He had flunked the first, barely passed the second, and thought he was failing the third.  He had been an alcoholic for several years … and experimented with a lot of drugs.  He saw himself as a huge failure … and no real direction in his life. He was hung over … couldn’t remember where he had been the night before, or who he had been with.

It was March.  He was in school in Canada.  The ice on Lake Ontario was breaking up into huge chunks and he had gathered with lots of fellow students who were mesmerized by the ice floes.

He impulsively jumped onto one … then another, going further out into the lake.  Occasionally, he slipped … hangovers do that to you.  He would get wet, climb back onto the floe, cutting his hands on the sharp edges of the ice.  By the time he was a couple hundred feet out, he began to notice folks on the shore … some laughing … some concerned for his safety, urging him to come back … some yelling that he was crazy, but he was angry … lost  … alone … and really didn’t care whether he lived or died.  His hands and feet were numb, and he was bleeding.  What a grand exit this would be – with all these folks watching.

He doesn’t remember how he got back to shore … but, miraculously, he did. 

When asked how he did it … what happened that day, he has no answer.  He tells the story as a true life event, but also as a parable of his life.  When pushed for more of an answer of how he “got saved,” he said that he used to think that he was just lucky … but now attributes it simply to the grace of God.

Ever felt like you were jumping from one ice floe to another … nothing much solid under you, but knowing things are happening quickly, and you have no idea how you’re going to get to shore?

A survey released last year by the Barna research group compared the various views, behaviors and attitudes of a group of “no faith” people (self proclaimed atheists and agnostics) with a group of folks who actively participated in the Christian faith.

There are a number of interesting results:

The “no faith” group was less likely to be registered to vote or to describe themselves as active in the community, but more likely to adapt easily to change and to be into new technology.

When asked whether or not they perceived themselves to be at peace, two-thirds of the “no faith” group said they were, while 90% of the active-faith adults declared themselves to be at peace.

Now, what is interesting is that both groups acknowledged having about the same number and kind of personal difficulties:  About 10 % of both groups admitted to being in serious debt; between 12% and 13% acknowledged dealing with some sort of personal addiction, and when it came to finding a few good friends, about 40% said it was a problem. 

So, if both groups have the same number and kinds of problems, how do we account for the significant difference in being able to be at peace?  I think the Isaiah passage gives us insight:  “The Lord called me before I was born; while I was still in my mother’s womb he named me.” (Is. 49:1b) 

There is a sense that God knows my name … the sense that God knows what is going on with me at any given moment … and God will not abandon those whom God loves.

That was the case with Isaiah.  But there was more to his story.  He knew he had been called by God, to be God’s servant … but he also had the sense that he had spent his whole life, with nothing to show for it.  “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing … yet surely my cause is with the Lord …” (Is. 1:4)

But Isaiah isn’t the only witness!  Listen to the words of the Psalmist:

Psalm 40:1-11

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.  2He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. 4Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. 5You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted. 6Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7Then I said, "Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.  8I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." 9I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. 11Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep me safe forever.

And the people said:  AMEN!

NOTE:  The “facts” in today’s sermon regarding the results of the Barna research came from “Proclaim” Jan. 20, 2008; copyright Parish Publishing, New Canaan, CT, 2007.

SERMON IN A SACK:  A soldier’s “stripes” … talk about a sergeant, and who ranks higher and who ranks lower.  John knew that Jesus has the highest rank … and we are to obey him.