Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
April 20, 2008 – 5th Sunday of Easter
Acts 7:55-60  
1st Peter 2:2-10 
John 14:1-14

Seeing God

It was one of those churches that have worship services on Sunday evening, as well as Sunday morning.  Those Sunday night services are a little different:  more informal, more hymn singing. 

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church’s pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.


“A father, his son and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast,” he began, “when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.”

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.

The aged minister continued. “Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: To which boy would he throw the other end of the life line? He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, ‘I love you, son!’ he threw out the life line to his son’s friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered.”

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. “The father,” he continued, “knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore he sacrificed his son to save the son’s friend.

“How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us! Our heavenly father sacrificed his only begotten Son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line he is throwing out to you in this service.” With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room.

The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon, with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.

“That was a nice story,” politely stated one of them, “but I don’t think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian.”

“Well, you’ve got a point there,” the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face. He once again looked up at the boys and said, “It sure isn’t very realistic, is it? But I’m standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his Son for me. You see, I was that father, and your pastor is my son’s friend.” (www.homileticsonline.com, retrieved 4/18/08)

When was the last time any of us saw God?  When was the last time we heard a story and thought to ourselves, “That had to be God at work?”  Certainly God was present when that man made the decision to throw the rope to the other boy – whether or not you agree with his decision.  Certainly God was present with Stephen when he calmly looked to God and asked forgiveness for those who were stoning him to death.

Surely when we took Will and baptized him – acknowledged his membership in God’s family – God was present. 

We often think of God when we see something especially beautiful in nature – a sunset, a sunrise, a clear starry night, a fragile wildflower … but our faith is that of embodiment.  We believe that God inhabits people’s bodies and Jesus is the perfect example.  If anyone has seen Jesus, they’ve seen God.  That’s the message of today’s scripture passage.

So this week, I offer a couple of invitations.  1) Make a point of looking for God in the people you meet, because – however deeply hidden, God is there, even in those who aren’t nice to us.  2)  Make a point of letting othesr see God through us, because – however deeply hidden, God is here!

SERMON IN A SACK:  Talk about Earth Day and all the things we can do to take care of God’s earth.  Hand out “Green Bags” for each family.