Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
May 4, 2008 - 7th Sunday of Easter
Acts1:6-14
1st Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

In Everything, Give Thanks!

Some people read this passage from 1st Peter, and they decide that everything that happens to us is to be seen as a "blessing" from God. They will tell you, quite straightforwardly, that God has every event of your life planned, including anything that seems to be bad at the time. If that gives them faith that everything will come out right in the end, it could be a blessing. But too often, what happens is that we then think that every evil thing that happens is visited on us by God. And instead of being led to a renewed faith in the ultimate working of God, people become angry, and they turn away from God. Afraid to tell God that they're being treated unfairly, that they are angry at Him, they say nothing. They are hurt, frightened and isolated, even from the love of the One they need most surely.

But this is not what Peter is saying here. We need to read carefully to hear what Peter means to convey to us. Peter doesn't say that God wants us to suffer. He says that sometimes we suffer because we are of the house and lineage of the Christ. The suffering that sometimes comes upon those who are faithful to God comes precisely because we are cloaked with God's spirit.

The same forces that wanted Jesus dead still exist! There are those who feel threatened by love ... those who feel threatened by opening their lives to a wider circle of people. Those who are willing to speak up for the disadvantaged make some people uncomfortable ... even to the point of anger and downright hatred. There are those who are very comfortable - despite the fact that their lifestyles are supported by unjust practices ... and these folks get angry when anyone challenges them.

Very few of us have ever been threatened for doing the right thing ... for speaking out, for speaking up ... but who among us hasn't allowed ourselves to be intimidated by fear of judgment, by fear of ridicule. So, we hear an ethnic joke ... and we are uncomfortable, but we laugh uncomfortably instead of speaking up and telling the other that their joke, their language is offensive.

Peter wants us to know that when we do the right thing in God's eyes, we can expect others to try to intimidate us into "the norm." We can expect to suffer, expect to be persecuted. That's why there are "Whistle Blower" laws ... because folks in power retaliate, instead of welcoming those who speak the truth in their organizations.

What Peter wants us to know is that God's spirit is with us ... and we can trust that.

Some 30 years ago, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man, there was a general uprising in Birmingham. The African Americans organized and were trained for resistance to being evicted from their bus seats.

"What're you going to say, when some white man tells you to get out of your seat?"

"Excuse me, please, but I paid for this seat, and I'm going to sit in this seat."

"And what if they threaten to hit you?" A little fainter voice: "Excuse me, sir, but I paid for this seat, and I'm going to sit in this seat."

"And if the bus driver gets up and tells you to get out of that seat?" "I paid for this seat, sir, and I'm going to sit in this seat."

"And if they pick you up, and rough you up?" Silence. Then, "I don't fight back, I just go limp."

"And if they throw you onto the sidewalk?" "I probably won't be able to do much, sir! My bones will be broken!" Nervous laughter, then uproarious, all around.

They were standing up for what was right -- the right to keep the seat they paid for, not to have to give it up to any person who told them to, just because their skin was dark. And they were beaten, and they were thrown to the sidewalk, and they were jailed. So they stopped riding the buses altogether, and started to walk to work and back.

Sometimes that meant getting up two hours earlier so they would be at work on time. But they did it. It usually meant they were getting home two hours later at night, too. Eating late. Shorter hours of sleep. But they kept it up. They kept it up for two years, until the wills of the bus company and the city were moved to allow each rider a seat, first come, first served, at the same price.

Do you think you would have that kind of staying power in the face of severe opposition, even violence? To walk to wherever you work every day for the next two years? How far would you have to walk? How long would it take? How certain would you be, after even a month, that "God will, after some small suffering, restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast?" For what benefit do you think you would go through what those people went through?

To the extent that we are willing to stand up for what is right, to speak up for what is right - in the face of ridicule and persecution ... God's spirit is resting on us! And that's the Good News for today!

NOTE: Today's sermon is taken in large measure from a sermon entitled: "Developing Staying Power" by Sandra Hefter Herrma and can be found at www.esermons.com.

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

SERMON IN A SACK: Small stones. Talk about what it is like to get a stone in our shoes - how uncomfortable it can be. Things that we worry about are like small stones ... and God invites us to take everything we worry about and give it to God ... because God loves us.