Acts 6:8-15, 7:54-8:1 To Die For Sermon preached September 29, 2013 About a month ago I got a phone

call that I had been dreading. I knew the call was going to come and it was just a question of time. I knew, that sooner or later they were going to catch up to me. You try to forget about this sort of thing, but its always there, lurking in the back of your mind. And then the call came. I picked up the phone and steeled myself for what was to come. The caller went into his prepared monologue and then came the words I was dreading - Would you be willing to serve on a Presbytery committee? For those of you not fluent in Presbyterian-speak, the Presbytery is our regional district. And many Presbytery committees, in many Presbyteries, are frankly a waste of time where the people serve out of duty and obligation, and where little is done that actually helps build the Kingdom of God. But not all Presbytery committees are this way. When I was in Virginia, I served as the chairman of the Examinations Committee of the Committee on Ministry. What that mouthful means is that I was in charge of the committee responsible for meeting with every new minister called to a ministry within that Presbytery. And our task was to examine the ministers faith, theology, knowledge of our polity and to try and help determine if this pastor and church were a good match. I loved it! We had great conversations about theology and biblical interpretation, got to hear people share their faith stories. And heres what we would do - there were five of us on the committee and wed sit in a circle with the often-nervous minister, some of whom were halfexpecting us to shine a bright light in their eyes and to interrogate them with obscure theological questions - but we would structure the meeting more like a conversation. And after a while the minister being interviewed would relax and wed get to know him or her and then, Id get ready to ask - the question. It was a question that after I first asked it the committee said, Man, you need to ask that question every time. It was a pretty simple question - only five words - but it provoked some deep thought and conversation. And so Id look at the rest of the committee and theyd know that the question was coming, and Id look at the minister with us and ask, What would you die for? The responses were revealing, and fascinating. One man went silent for a while and said, My family and my Lord. One minister got indignant and declared there was nothing she would die for. Another said, I dont know if I have the courage, but I hope Id die for the Lord Jesus Christ. Stephen in our scripture reading knew what hed die for. The Lord Jesus Christ. 1

Stephen was a leader in the Jerusalem church, called to be one of the first group of deacons. God gives Stephen the power to do signs and miracles like healing, gives Stephen the wisdom to share the gospel and to confute every argument against it. And through him people are coming to faith in Christ. Predictably, some people dont like it. The powers-that-be who have been trying to stomp out this Jesus movement get some bad characters to invent false testimony that Stephen was talking trash about Moses, even about God. Blasphemy! For that he gets arrested and put on trial before the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious authority of Israel, the same group that condemned Jesus to death. And they give Stephen the opportunity to testify - and he preaches a sermon - we skipped over it in our scripture reading - a pretty long sermon of Gods plan of salvation from Abraham to Jacob to Moses to David - and then brings in Jesus and says you betrayed and murdered the Holy One of God, and theyre furious and then he sees a vision of the risen Christ standing at the right hand of the Almighty and tells them what he sees - and for this they drag him outside and pick up rocks and they all stone him to death - and Stephen dies croaking out Lord, forgive them... Stephen died for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so now Ill ask us the question - what would we die for? What or whom do you care for so passionately, so deeply, what matters to you so much, that you would die for it, for him, for her, rather than turn your back and slink away? What would you die for? Maybe wed say, Id die for my family. Maybe wed say, Id die for my country. Maybe wed say, wed die for our faith. And this is not an idle, what-if kind of question. The question is so important because the answer is so revealing - because its only when we figure out what wed die for, that we know what were living for. But Stephen - and countless others through the centuries - have been willing to die for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even just recently - the terrorist attack on the shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya - attackers armed with AK-47's and grenades stormed into the mall. According to a story in the Washington Post, the attackers ordered Muslims to leave the mall, so they would not be harmed. Now listen to this excerpt published by the Post: One British man said his wife and children were hiding behind a meat counter in a store with other women and children. The gunmen sprayed bullets at them, killing a woman and a teenage girl, and wounding his wife, said the man, who asked that neither his nor his spouses name be used because they feared retribution. His wife lay in a hospital bed and declined to speak. The gunmen, the man said, released the children who were still alive and informed his injured wife that she, too, could leave if she converted to Islam, making her recite the 2

Shahada, Islams basic profession of belief...1 When one says the Shahada, one says There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. It is a rejection of pagan gods and also the Christian trinity. Did Christians die in Kenya because they refused to renounce their faith? At this point its unknown, but it is documented to have happened in Syrias ongoing civil war, where Christians were at gunpoint ordered to recite the Shahada, or die. Now this can be hard to understand. We understand easily, that wed throw ourselves in the path of a truck to push a child out of the way...we understand, that wed trade places with a husband or wife who is hooked up to a chemo line but still dying...we understand, if weve been in the military, being willing to die to protect your squad. But faith - it seems so - unsubstantial. Why would anyone die for their faith in Christ? Well, what countless followers of Jesus Christ have learned over the centuries, is that when you love Jesus Christ so much that youd put your life on the line for him rather than deny him, that youd rather die with him that live without him, well, then you begin to really live. Now and for eternity. At this point, you may be thinking, Hey, I just came to church to hear some good music and celebrate our churchs anniversary and maybe get some inspiration to help me get through the week, what in the world is this strange man talking about? And you know, most of the time we preachers have pretty modest aims. I remember hearing Bryant Kirkland who used to be pastor of Fifth Ave Presbyterian in New York City say that hed be happy if after a sermon some of his people would be nicer to their seatmates on the bus. But this morning here I am, pointing to the example of Stephen and saying that if we are to find the depth of abundant life Jesus wants for us, we have to stake our lives on him, we have to follow him no...matter...what. Now this is a hard word to say to a congregation of people Im really growing to love. But this keeps coming up in the gospels. Jesus calls us to stake everything on him and to follow him no matter where it leads. Jesus said, Those who seek to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for the sake of the gospel will find them. Following Jesus isnt about getting some spiritual hints that will make you happier and more prosperous...following Jesus is hard and strenuous and sometimes even dangerous. C.S. Lewis once said, I didnt go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of pills would do that. If you want a religion to make you really comfortable, I certainly dont recommend Christianity. Jesus isnt really interested in making our lives comfortable. What he wants, is to make our lives 3

worth living, lives that continue forever. Heres the thing - were all living for something, even if we dont realize it. I know people who live...for the approval of others. They so desperately want to please a parent, for instance, that even as mature adults they have mom or dads voice in the back of their minds hectoring them about everything they do. I know people who live...to find the right person to spend their lives with, thinking that person will complete me. I know men who live...to play online multi-player video games. I know one who has a family and has turned down promotions because it would cut into his gaming time. Ive known people who live for their next house or the next car. And I know a whole lot of people who just muddle through without really consider what theyre living for, but essentially they are living for their employer...or the bank that holds their mortgage...or to just to get wasted on the weekend. You see, the real threat we face is, as one philosopher said, that we might die earlier than we really do die, before death has become a natural necessity. The real horror lies in such a premature death, a death after which we go on living for many years.2 Most of us settle for far less than we should. Jesus Christ calls us to follow him and stake everything on him not because he wants cringing obedience - he wants to give us lives worth living, lives where our years count for something. Were celebrating the churchs 145th anniversary today. Ive learned a lot about Central by doing research for the presentation youll see during the lunch today. Ive learned that you and I stand on the shoulders of women and men who have put Jesus Christ first in their lives and sacrificed to come together as a congregation that has stood here for almost a century and a half, a congregation where countless people have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, a congregation that has fed the poor, sent our missionaries, provided homes for refugees, taught boys and girls the love of Jesus Christ. And they left to us an amazing church facility and a pretty nice endowment, too. They lived lives for Christ that counted. Because they discovered the great secret - that you get life, by giving yourself away. So whats next for Central? You know, this was supposed to be a sermon celebrating the churchs anniversary that also kicked off our stewardship campaign...and here you got a sermon about putting your life on the line. Maybe it seems a little over the top. But Ill tell you, Im done with playing at church. Im done with churches that are vaguely religious clubs that provide services for an entitled membership. Im done with being the kind of pastor who tries to make everyone happy. Been there, done that, got those t-shirts. What I want, is to be part of a community of Christ-followers who put it all on the line for the Lord Jesus Christ. What I want, is to be part of is a church that wants to change the world.

You see, something amazing happens when you are willing to put it all on the line to follow the Lord Jesus. You become part of his unstoppable movement to change the world. On Easter Sunday in 1963, about 5,000 African-American followers of Jesus gathered at New Pilgrim Baptist church in Birmingham to march downtown to the jail and pray for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was incarcerated there. But when they got close to the jail, waiting for them was police chief Bull Connor with barricades and fire trucks and police and dogs blocking the street. Andrew Young went forward to reason with Connor and was getting nowhere when someone in the crowd hollered, The Lord is in this movement! Were going to the jail! Young writes, Everybody in the front rows...got up and started walking toward the barricades and the massed police. Stunned at first, Connor yelled, Stop em! Stop em! But the police didnt move a muscle. Ive never seen anything like it, Young continued. They just stood there watching...Even the police dogs ...became perfectly calm. The firemen just stood there holding hoses...I saw one fireman...with tears in his eyes, just let the hose drop to his feet. Our people marched right between the fire trucks singing, I want Jesus to walk with me. We marched on to the park across from the jail...Connor just stood there cussing and fussing. His policemen refused to arrest us, his firemen had refused to hose us, and his dogs had refused to bite us.3 You see, when a person, a church, a movement puts Jesus Christ first, puts themselves on the line, is even willing to die out of love for others, out of love for the world Christ died for, you become unstoppable. Closing 55 years from now, its going to be Centrals 200th anniversary, in the year 2068, should the Lord tarry in returning. We hope and pray that there are going to be people sitting right where youre sitting today, thanking God for the gift of this church, thanking God, that this church made a difference in our community and the world, thanking God that people like little old you and me decided were going to follow the Lord Jesus, no matter what. Well, time to close so we can go eat. Theres a story about a man who went to the doctor. The doctor did some tests, and left the room to read the results. When he came back into the examining room, he said, Im sorry, but I have bad news. Your condition is terminal. Oh, no! the man wailed. How long do I have? Ten, began the doctor.

Ten? Ten what? the patient interrupted. Days? Months? Years? Nine, said the doctor. Eight, seven, six... Were all going to die someday. Lets make sure that while were living, we live for something that really matters. The Lord Jesus Christ and his church and Kingdom. Amen. Endnotes 1.http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/attackers-storm-nairobi-mall-killing-dozens/2013 /09/22/9234d360-237f-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
2

Eugene Peterson, Run With The Horses, p. 17. Downers Grove, Ill: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985.

3. Robert E. Dunham, Unmarked Memories and the Road Ahead, in Journal for Preachers, Pentecost 1994, pp. 15-16.