Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
April 27, 2008 – 6th Sunday of Easter
Acts 17:22-31
1st Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21

Worriers or Warriors?

A commercial jet made a particularly hard landing – a bone-jarring landing. Afterward, the airline had a policy that the pilot was to stand outside the cockpit and greet the passengers, thanking them for choosing this particular airline. He was surprised that no one made a comment about the landing. He was actually relieved when everyone had “de-planed” except one little old lady, walking with a cane.

She approached the pilot and said, “Sonny, do you mind if I ask you a question?” The pilot assured her that she could.

“Did we land,” she asked … “or were we shot down?”

I suspect many of us have had days like that. Days when things weren’t going well, and we felt “shot down.” Everybody tells us how fortunate we are to have friends, family, a house, health … whatever … but we don’t feel fortunate. Our lives are filled with a nagging fear that we can’t even put our finger on.

Jake was a farmer and he worked himself too hard. He went to the doctor complaining of stomach cramps, and then back pains. After enduring all kinds of tests, the doctor assured Jake that he could find nothing physically wrong with Jake. It seemed that Jake’s problems were emotional. Jake was a prisoner of his anxiety. Jake had grown up during the Great Depression, and had been haunted all his life by a fear of poverty. Finally, the stress got to be too much, and Jake committed suicide. Ironically, Jake was financially well-off. He wasn’t in danger of going hungry or losing his farm. But, as one of his sons said at the wake, “I think what Daddy really needed was the assurance from someone that things were going to be okay. I think if he had had that, he’d still be with us.”

The assurance that things are going to be okay.

Jesus was about to leave his disciples. Already they were meeting behind closed doors for fear of their lives. Jesus knew what lay in store for them: persecution, imprisonment, even martyrdom. He also knew what they needed most – the assurance from him that things were going to be okay. And so he tells them that he is leaving them with a gift – “Peace I give to you.” Peace of heart and mind … not a fragile peace like the world offers … so don’t let your hearts be afraid.”

Jesus knew what was ahead. Jesus knew it wouldn’t be an easy road. Jesus knew that there would be some genuine challenges to faith, and so Jesus gave a gift: the gift of the presence of the Holy Spirit … the One who would bring to remembrance all the things Jesus had said to them, and – maybe even more importantly – the gift of peace … internal peace.

We’ve all seen the sign that said something to the effect “If you can keep your head while everyone around you is losing theirs, then you just don’t understand the problem!”

What Jesus said is that we can keep our heads when everyone around us is losing theirs … when most other people would be losing theirs … because we understand God and we trust God’s promises. Our peace comes from within and isn’t limited by what is going on around us.

Maybe you know the story of Olympic speed skating champion, Dan Jansen. Dan was the favorite in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. But just before he was to race, news reached him that his sister Jane’s long battle against leukemia had ended in death. "When I finally got on the ice for the 500-meter race," writes Dan in his autobiography, Full Circle, "I felt wobbly, as if I hadn't been on skates in six months." He thought of Jane. "Jane is dead. Should I be here? How can my parents cheer for me while facing the burial of a child? Jane is dead."

Unable to concentrate, Jansen had a terrible Olympics. His poor performance was compounded by his guilt. "You jerk," he thought, "your sister just died." His lack of success at skating should not matter to him under such circumstances, he thought, but it did.

Things did not improve much for Dan in the 1992 Olympics. In spite of a history of winning championships in other venues, he was becoming regarded as an athlete who "chokes" when his biggest test of all comes. He retained the services of a sports psychologist, but still his performance was marked by slips and falls.

Then came the 1,000-meter race at those same "˜92 Olympics. He had never won this event before, but he knew this was probably his last chance ever to win a gold medal. Approaching the starting line, he touched a ring around his neck containing the birth stone of his eight-month-old daughter, Jane. She was named after his late sister.

Once more, in a major race, Dan slipped. But this time he did not falter as he had before and when he crossed the finish line the noise was deafening. After years of intense training, four trips to the Olympics, and five humiliating falls, Dan Jansen finally won his gold medal in the Olympics. And Dan will be the first to tell you that the victory was won on the ice only after it was won in his own heart and mind.

Jesus promises the gift of courage in the face of adversity … the gift of peace in the face of inner and outer turmoil … the gift of God’s presence in ALL of life.

NOTE: Today’s sermon is credited in large measure to a sermon of the same title by King Duncan, and can be found at www.esermons.com.

SERMON IN A SACK: The book “Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”
Talk about how we all have bad days, even when we’re trying to be good … but God is always with us … even if we go to Australia!