Rev. Roland J. Wells, Jr. - Pastor

St. Paul's Sermon 2001

The Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost - Nov. 18, 2001

Lessons: Malachi 4:1-2; 2 Thesalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19

"Standing Firm When it's Hard"

I) A Little House on the Prarie

1) Past week- visited a huge ranch- 40 square miles- almost 26,000 acres-

On it are many old homesteads- back in the 1880's, government gave homesteads of 160 acres- current ranch would take up about 160 such homesteads.

2) Land is dry, harsh, unforgiving- those 160 homesteaders struggled on their little ranches- dry, hard, difficult land.

3) Land of sandstone bluffs, dinosaur fossils, uranium mines, Indian artifacts, many dry gulches and very little water- a few natural springs; and wells are highly prized.

4) On the ranch- one fairly well preserved homestead- several buildings that show what life was like for those settlers. The rancher calls this his '1880 Town,', but people were still living there in the late 1930's-fifty years of struggle, built in logs and mud.. Buildings are now falling down- a lifetime of work, settling into the prarie..

5) A barn was the place they'd store up a little grain and give their horses shelter in the storms.

6) They had a little garage for their Model T, and a place to work on their machinery. But the house is what will make us think.

7) The little house had six rooms; it has dirt floors. It's made of logs chinked with mud from the stream. Later, it was covered with roll-style tar-paper-brick siding. I bet they had flower beds, and big garden. Their root cellar was filled with many old Mason jars.

8) The furniture in the living room included that rough board cupboard, which held up the chimney. Just about every room had its own mud-and-stone fireplace. The walls were covered with newspapers glued down, to keep the wind out. It must have been pretty cold there when the wind whistled through at -20. A little wall paper covered a few spots, and some wall board covered sections of the ceiling.

10) And it was a house that must have been filled with voices; with talk, with music; with school work. This was that family's whole dream. Imagine that mother dreaming her way through the Ward's Christmas catalogue in the dustbowl '30's. Imagine the hard work of hauling the water, washing the clothes, baking the bread, making the meals, tending the garden, canning the food for winter, nursing sick children with no penicillin. And dirt floors. Dad trying to keep a few dozen cows alive, hoping to make enough to pay the taxes and make it another year.

10) The newspapers on the walls dated up to the '30's. The well and cistern said 1938. Some of the children of that family were of the same generation as some of you. Some may have fought in WWII, some may have been children then. Some of you are those ages.

11) It doesn't seem like much. Dirt floors; mud chinking; but it was all the world to that family in those hard times. We can't imagine living in such a place. We can't imagine such poverty; yet this was perhaps the high point of their dreams; it was what their family had worked for across 50 years. But I those hard times, they lived there, laughed there, dreamed there, had hopes there, and made through those hard times. I was deeply moved.

12) And as the winter comes, that little farmstead stands against the cold for another year.

Some of you remember those hard times of the Great Depression. Those were difficult days, and they were followed by World War II. We have a hard time understanding the challenge that faced that generation. Those were difficult times.

II) Jesus Talks About Hard Times

Jesus talks about a different kind of hard times. A cataclysmic, eschatological, end-times hard time:

[10] Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. [11] There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven... [16] You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. [17] All men will hate you because of me.

When we look at the hard times of our forebears, it seems tame compared to the time Jesus foretells. How could this time of thing happen?

But if we look at even the past 100 years, we saw all those things. Nations at war- more people killed in war than in all previous centuries combined! The scientists tell us rate of earthquakes has accelerated in the last century, and they can't explain why. Millions of Christians were put to death in China and the Soviet Union, many times with their own families turning them in! Jesus said, and they will put some of you to death.

We've seen these things. We will see more. We live in a world surrounded by an end time scenario. We see Israel alive gain after 2,000 years. We hear Hebrew spoken again for the first time in 2,500 years. We see Israel becoming more and more isolated as world politics revolve around the middle east, ancient nations arise, and even Israelite battles Philistine again, in the same places as 3,000 years ago. We see God's blessing of Ishmael, the other son of Abraham coming to pass, as the Arabs control the world energy resources. As the western governments court the Arabs, Israel is beginning to stand totally alone. Deadly pestilences (synonyms-'blight, disease, epidemic, infection, pest, plague;) -- even new ones like HIV and old ones like anthrax, plague and smallpox. Ten years ago- who would have ever dreamt of our country facing these old diseases again. We haven't even given our kids smallpox shots!

We are living in these times, and we lose track of what they are. Maybe we can't see all the players yet; maybe we don't see the details, or the figure of the Antichrist- but can you see these very words working themselves out in history all around you?

III) Jesus' Promise Comes to us-

12] "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. [13] This will result in your being witnesses to them. [14] But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. [15] For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict...[18] But not a hair of your head will perish. [19] By standing firm you will gain life.

For the believer, these hard old words are words of hope. He will bring us through. The stakes may be high. In one breath Jesus says they may kill us, and yet But not a hair of your head will perish. Our hope isn't just for this life. He will not let us alone. He will care for us, he will keep us. He will bring us to himself. As we learned this fall in Pr. Tom Parrish's study this fall, Jesus will personally come and bring us to him. He will bring us through. Paul said it well, maybe from prison, Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In human terms, those old timers, whose old homesteads I visited this week, knew how to make it through in tough times. I was deeply moved by the struggle they lived in, just to make a living and stay alive. In deeper spiritual terms, we can go far, far back to Jesus' own words about a hard time to come. No matter what may come, no matter what we may face, he will bring us through. Nothing will harm you. Your life is hid with Christ in God.

When you need to bear witness, he will give you the words. Do you lean on that now? It's not even hard now, can you trust him? Will you be bold in witness? What are you afraid of? He promised to give you the words!

Jesus final words in this passage are both a promise, and a challenge. They are all gospel- but not only a promise, they stretch us, they give us a target, they lead us on. Did you hear them: 19] By standing firm you will gain life. The second century Christians in the time of Nero's persecution clung to those words. So did the Christians in several other waves of persecution. Christians in Russia and China clung to those words and witnessed boldly in the 20^th Century. Their blood was the seed of the great revivals in those countries today.

Are you ready to trust to that level? Are you ready to lay it all down and follow like they did?

Do you see life in biblical terms, of faith being a matter of life and death? They did.

Jesus calls us to that surrender; to that readiness; to that level of commitment. Are you ready? They were.

Invitation; Amen

Pentecost 24 - November 18, 2001

Malachi 4:1-2

"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. [2] But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

2 Thes. 3:6-13

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. [7] For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, [8] nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. [9] We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. [10] For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

[11] We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. [12] Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. [13] And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

Luke 21:5-19

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, [6] "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."

[7] "Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"

[8] He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. [9] When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."

[12] "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. [13] This will result in your being witnesses to them. [14] But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. [15] For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. [16] You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. [17] All men will hate you because of me. [18] But not a hair of your head will perish. [19] By standing firm you will gain life.