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| Pointing to Our Hope (1 Peter 3:15) |
| Written by Pastor Fausel | |
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Grace mercy and peace … Let’s say we were to take a survey this morning. Surveys are very Christmas-season-like … You remember in our Christmas gospel that a census was taken of the entire Roman world? A census is sort of like a survey … So, what if we were take a survey like that? And say we did it not just of our church or of just the United States but of most of what we might call the modern western world … and so besides our church and Kentucky and the United States ….we’d include, say, Australia, India, Japan and Great Britain. And for this survey we were to ask just one question – And the question is this: “What are the four most recognized and communicated symbols in the world?” What would be number one symbol that most of western civilization would recognize? Would it be the Cross of Jesus Christ? Drive through any town of any size in America, and what do you see? Church after church with a cross on top of its steeple, right? Well, again, remember we’re asking this survey not just of the United states … also of Australia, India, Japan and Great Britain … So what would the results be? Well, I have the results of that survey right here. And I have to tell you, the Cross didn’t make number one. What Did? [Show Rings] You recognize that? The Olympic Rings. According to an actual survey that we’ve been describing this morning, this was the most recognized and communicated symbol in the world. Well, if the Cross didn’t make number one, did it make number 2? No. Guess what did, [Show Arches] “I’m loving it” … “You deserve a break today” The “Mickey D”, McDonalds arches came in number two. Well, how about third? Did the Cross make number three? No, it didn’t. This might be bit of a surprise to us in KY … but the Yellow Shell [Show] from the Shell Oil Company was deemed the third most communicated symbol in the world. Well not to hold you in suspense any longer, I have to tell you that … the Cross did come in at number 4. Maybe we shouldn’t be too discouraged by that … given that the other symbols have millions of dollars invested in them each year to make sure that they’re recognized and communicated. But on the other hand … how many more Christians are there in all those countries than billboards? … than television sets? … than hamburgers served? … or Olympic game participants?? Why... we might ask… after 2000 years in the making, is the Cross beat out by products of our global culture and economy that are at most just over 100 years old? And even the one ranked number two … is younger than I am?? Well, let’s look at it this way. Back in those dark ages when I was born, there was a car company in America that built a car called the Packard. And their advertising slogan became famous … it boasted: “Packard -- ask the man who owns one!” In other words, the company was saying: “Don’t just take our word for it that it’s a good car .. Just ask any of our owners, and they’ll tell you how good a car it is!” In fact after I prepared this sermon … I caught a Toyota ad boasting this past week: “Ask the person who drives one.” You see, sales people will tell you that there’s no better endorsement for a product that a satisfied and happy owner. And so, that’s sort of the conundrum we get into as Christians. The Cross is a symbol of the greatest thing on earth … and heaven for that matter … The Cross symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ that brings a peace with God that transcends time and eternity. It’s the most important thing every man or woman or child on this earth needs. And yet, with about 3 billion registered “owners” of the Cross on earth … roughly a quarter to a third of the world’s population claiming some connection to Christianity … the Cross comes in last in our survey behind hamburgers and gasoline … not to mention … sports! Why is that? Well, because often the rest of the population is unaware of what Christianity offers … or they are unaware of their need for what God has provided for them through His Church. On top of that, the bold truth is: we, the church, could be better sales people. “Come, join us,” we say. The world simply answers, “Why?” And we don’t always give them a cogent answer. So, let’s talk about that. Today we still find ourselves in the Season of Epiphany… Epiphany meaning God showing forth His Glory. And one of the ways He does that is through us … through those to whom He was given His Holy Spirit. And that’s going to be our topic for the next few Sundays: how do we live out this encouragement we hear in Scripture in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” “A reason for the hope you have” … that means quite simply … that we point to the Cross. Now. When we are confronted with this biblical encouragement, we may be tempted to think that our answer should be just like everyone else’s of faith. For instance, if two people are both Christians, then what they say and how they say it ought to reflect the same belief … the same faith … In other words, maybe all we’d have to do is just recite the Apostle’s creed and be done with it. But that’s not God’s intent. He didn’t make us with a cookie cutter. He made us all different by design. And in that respect, each of us has our own relationship with God. And so, each of us also shows forth the glory of God in our lives in our own way … again by His design. Let me give you an example. As you may know, the seminary I attended, the Seminary at Fort Wayne, is fairly traditional in its thinking. But located on its grounds in one of its dorms is a radio station that plays, of all things, contemporary Christian rock music, 99% of it written and performed by Christians who do not come from a Lutheran background. See the tension? And yet, one of the oldest, most revered and most conservative of Professors at the Seminary made this observation in class: “I teach in the evening at one of the Jr. Colleges here in town, and I have met students there who have come to faith in Jesus Christ by listening to that radio station. I know they are not listening to me on Sunday Mornings.” You see, by design, God shows forth His Glory through different people in different ways, with the purpose of growing His kingdom. And so. It will be our goal over the next couple of weeks to help each of us better understand how God wants to do that in each of our lives. How are we going to do that? Well, first, by recognizing that each of us has a different personality … as well as different gifts. How you approach a person or a situation may be all together different than how someone else might. And it may be by God’s design that the one of us he puts into that situation is the one of us that He knows may be heard. You see … by personality, some people are straight forward, no non-sense, and up front with others. While other people are more laid-back, introspective and cautious. Others can be more playful, talkative and outgoing. While others come across as more reserved, deliberate and contemplative. But there’s a universal common denominator in all of these … no matter what personality we may have or what gifts God has given us. We each have a story. A Gospel story. And that’s a personal STORY. Or we could say: It’s your story. God may have worked faith in us in different ways, but in the end our stories will be pointing to the hope we have … and why we have it … Yes, we’re back to the Cross. Let’s take a couple of for-instances. Some of us, maybe many or most of us, are life-long believers. We were Baptized as infants and have never knowing anything other than being in the Christian faith. But then there are some we might call prodigal sons. People who had faith, but then, fell away for a while, only return to the fold later. And yet, there may be some others never knew God in Christ at all until later in their lives. But no matter how we came to faith … what’s most important now is what that faith means to us. What difference has that Cross made to the way we look at life? … to the way we relate to other people? … to how we set our priorities? … to how we deal with our fears? What does that Cross mean to you when you see others in need? … when you see others experiencing losses and grief … when you see others celebrating their blessings…? You see, all of those situations are opportunities for us to tell others about the hope we have … to give glory to God by pointing to the Cross. To tell our Gospel story. As we said earlier … how one person does that in a situation may be very different from how another person would do it … because each person has their own personality, their own story, even though they have the same hope and the same faith. So. The next couple of weeks we’re going to talk about sharing the hope that we have, that hope that makes us one in Christ. And we’re going to affirm that we don’t all have to do it the same way … or that there’s only one right way. But the encouragement we’re going to hear is to do it. To share our hope … to point to the Cross. And perhaps the simple ideas we’ll be sharing these next weeks might get us over that hump … the hump of saying, “I don’t know how.” Remember, nothing … is impossible with the Lord, In Him. Amen. |