Past Sunday Sermons

Dare to Draw Close
Mark 5:21-43
July 8, 2012
Adam Kelchner, preaching

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What is so captivating about power and authority when we see it embodied in flesh and blood? What draws us near to larger than life personalities whose very presence commands attention? A corporate manager who commands board room activities. A revered spiritual leader whose words let you see into the very depths of God’s imagination. A politician whose oratory and presence stirs the crowds into a frenzy. Perhaps you find yourself more naturally drawn to the power of nature, whether it be standing at the edge of a precipice overlooking sheer cliffs, natural gorges, and raging rivers or gazing at water rushing over majestic falls. If not in the mountains or somewhere like Niagara Falls, then perhaps on a sandy beach with waves breaking into tumultuous surf at your feet.

Somewhere. Someone. I think we’ve all been captivated, held in place by an encounter with sheer power. One evening, years ago at Annual Conference, the conference preacher had stirred thousands of delegates to their feet with shouts of ‘Amen’ and ‘Keep Preaching.’ His prophetic, audacious words told the truth about the church but also pointed us toward a more inclusive style of community.
I set out quickly after worship concluded, determined to find this preacher and hear more of his prophetic words. I made my way through one of the tunnels in the conference arena so I could maneuver through the gathering crowds. Several yards ahead, I could see him with his flowing robe and stole caught in the wind of his brisk walk. I called out. “Pastor!” He stopped walking, all six and a half feet tall, towering there before me. He turned around. “Yes?” Suddenly, I was searching for the carefully crafted introductory speech I had prepared in my head just moments before. As I searched for words, he (likely well aware of the intimidated young man standing before him) said, “Walk with me.”
As the crowd grew larger, Jairus stepped forward falling at the feet of Jesus pleading for help not for his own life, but for the life of another. Jairus, a man of power and authority in the synagogue has thrown himself at the mercy of the man in the center of the crowd, a traveling Jewish teacher. We can imagine Jairus with tears in his eyes pleading for help uttering these words: “My daughter is about to die.” Jairus could have even been yelling at Jesus because his own power in the community cannot stave off the death of his little girl. It is a familiar cry, “Please, please do something,” when we see our loved ones overcome with the pain of suffering or disease.
Still crying out in desperation, with no other concern other than to save his daughter, Jairus declares that Jesus can heal his daughter-he can save her from the grip of death. Blessed is Jairus for his keen perception that he has entered into the presence of the divine, Jesus divine with power to heal and triumph over death. And so, Jesus set out toward Jairus’ home to care for the little girl. In short time, Jairus and his household learn that no one can come into contact with the Christ and remain untouched, unchanged in their condition.
It is on the journey to see Jairus’ daughter, that the divine power of Jesus is made public before the gathered crowd. It is at this point in Mark’s story within a story, that we encounter the desperation of the woman who remains nameless. She suffers. She suffers from years of pain from hemorrhages, from going from doctor to doctor perhaps without an accurate diagnosis and no immediate hope of a cure. After while, her material livelihood was depleted from the unending visits to doctors unable to ease the pain of her body. This account of her travails is hauntingly familiar and prophetic, as individuals and families we know risk their livelihoods for medical treatment. What a timely word as the debate and rulings on healthcare rage in our political world. Impoverished by the cost of treatment and cast from the center of communal participation due to purity laws, the woman is completely vulnerable and sick. How can a nameless woman, pushed away for her ritual impurity and poverty, draw Jesus’ attention to her condition? She is such a stark contrast to Jairus whose power and prestige aided his ability to step forth in the crowd toward Jesus.

The woman with seemingly nowhere else to turn presses through the crowd and secretly touches Jesus’ clothes. In order for us to understand the motivation for her supposedly audacious behavior of touching Jesus, Mark allows us to hear the woman’s thoughts. “If I but touch his clothes, I’ll be healed.” She senses that when life comes into contact with the presence of Jesus Christ, it will not stay as it is. Miraculously, upon touching Jesus’ garments, the woman’s bleeding stops! She is healed.
Then with tension in the air so thick it can be cut with a knife, Jesus begins searching for the one who had touched his garments. Is he upset or shocked? We sense that the private act of the woman in touching Jesus’ clothes could be disastrous if she is found out. The woman, already cast out from communal life, could be further castigated and alienated for making bodily contact with people in the crowd causing ritual impurity. As Jesus’ disciples question the absurdity of his question, given the size of the crowd, Jesus waits, scanning the crowd. Why doesn’t the woman, still unnoticed, slip away from the tense situation, carrying with her the benefit of her private healing? Rather than slip away, the woman began her public account of the healing.

The woman had experienced the presence and life-giving power of God. What else could she do than tell the truth of her encounter with God’s power? I think the woman’s behavior gives us a model-when we experience the life-changing presence of God, what else can we do but tell the story? In telling the story of her healing, she confirms herself as a child of God-a daughter raised to new life. Jesus confirms her healing, the power of her faith, and sends her forth in peace. But quickly, the peace spoken to the daughter of Israel is disrupted by the words of messengers that Jairus’ daughter is dead. Jesus’ attempt to bring a healing hand upon the little girl in order to save her life has seemingly failed. Too little, too late?

One afternoon on my chaplain rounds I visited with a family of faith who told me with great hope of the thousands of people around the world praying for their sick child. The child’s life depended on the success of a major surgery that was scheduled for the next day. So that afternoon we shared prayers for healing, a quick recovery, the steady hands of surgeons, assistants, and nurses, and the peace of the Holy Spirit. The next day, while making rounds, I learned that the surgery was not successful, yet rather disastrous. The seemingly ineffective prayers of thousands of worldwide supporters compounded the family’s devastation and disappointment. Why did the prayers for healing seemingly go unanswered? Didn’t God hear the prayers of the faithful thousands petitioning for this child’s health? Like Jesus not making it in time to the little girl, was God absent during the little boy’s surgery?
One of the most difficult, even perplexing challenges of our faith tradition is to have trust in the power of the divine when our pleas and prayers to God are not met with satisfaction. In the experience of absence and despair, there is a good word that is spoken. “Do not fear, only believe.” Jairus is told by Jesus to believe and not to be afraid. Trust in the authority of Jesus Christ who speaks life out of death. Trust in the life-changing power of God among us. Trust in the touch of the One who authors life and restores wholeness. It is in Jairus’ home that Jesus, accompanied by a small number of his disciples and the little girl’s parents, speaks words of life and brings restoration with his touch.
This Markan story is a story of God’s authority in Jesus Christ restoring life. It is a story about the audacity of faith, which can drive us to transgress the strongest social barriers for the sake of being made whole and right in our relationships with God and one another. It is a story about the power of trusting a divine word even when there is seemingly no good reason to think there is a way forward. Can we risk trusting God even in experiences of absence? But like the daughter of Israel, when we place trust in the God of life and we experience God’s grace for ourselves, what else can we do but tell the story? Do we as a church, of the mighty and the meek, dare to draw close when the life-changing power of God is near? What are our stories of life-changing power and God’s extravagant love?

“God Is With Us in the Storm”  
Mark 4:35-41      
Belmont UMC—June 24, 2012
Ken Edwards, preaching

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This is the first Sunday for pastors starting new appointments and I’m holding all of them in my thoughts and prayers today. I remember my first Sunday here five years ago. I wrote the word “Breathe!” in bold letters at the top of my notes—just in case I forgot to do so. Pastors are nervous on those first Sundays—there are so many new faces and names.

There was one family in one new appointment that I remember from the very beginning and they continue to be friends. I saw the wife and husband at Conference last week—it was joy to see them once again. He was chair of Administrative Board and she was chair of United Methodist Women when I first met them. But these were not the reasons I became close to them.

I was touched by what had happened and was happening in their lives. Their oldest son, a bright, faith-filled young adult had died tragically in the months before my arrival and their youngest son had been diagnosed with leukemia and had just finished his last round of chemotherapy when I arrived. Their home consisted of 2 other children and the wife’s blind brother who lived with them.

I was deeply touched by their love for one another, their faith in God, their faithfulness to the church, and their deep roots in the community of faith. They were, and are, a meaningful witness to the power of God’s grace to sustain and carry us through difficult times. I must tell you that their youngest son is a cancer survivor and is a healthy adult who runs a thriving business. But when I met them, their life was in the middle of a storm.

What do we do when our life faces such storms? On these beautiful summer days the world seems benevolent and kind. It is difficult to imagine that life could deal out any unsuspecting storms, but we know that is not the case.

In the doctors office you hear the doctor use the word “biopsy” (one of the most sobering words in the English language) and everything else she says is drowned out by that one word.

Because you are aging and you have continued health problems the time is coming when you have to give up your home. This is a fearful and uncertain time in your life.

Marine officers visited your front door yesterday. The news they brought means that your child is not coming home from war.

You were picking up the dirty clothes in your child’s room last week and found a bag of marijuana. Everything in your family’s life changed that day.

There are many other storms: a miscarriage, a lost job, or flood waters rising at your back stoop.

On the Sea of Galilee storms often pop up without much warning. One of those storms arrives and Jesus is asleep. Sometimes it feels like God is sleeping or not paying attention. The ancient pagans believed that their gods slept, like human beings sleep. It was during those periods when the gods were sleeping that calamities took place. Bad things happened when the gods were inattentive or drifted off and snoozed.

This is why one of the affirmations of faith of the people of Israel was so important. “Behold, the one who keep Israel will neither slumber nor sleep!” (Psalm 121:4) This affirmation distinguishes Yahweh from other gods. Our God does not sleep but watches over our coming and going from this time on and forevermore. (Psalm 121:8)

The ancient church was a church that existed in the midst of a storm. The storms of persecution threatened its very existence. Those early people of the Way were often misunderstood and the prevailing powers felt threatened by their growing numbers. They lived and worshipped in secret and with some fear, and they existed as a rock of faithfulness in a pagan and hedonistic world. And the storms that beat upon the early church would have sunk it, except for the sure affirmation of the church that “Jesus is Lord!’ and their firm belief in the power of the resurrection.

When the storms became too frightening for them, they would tell a story (a story so important that it appears in all 4 Gospels). They would tell a story about crossing the Galilee. There was a great windstorm and the waves swamped the boat. Jesus was asleep at the stern of the boat. They woke him, asking, “Do you not care that we are perishing?”

“Peace, be still!” Jesus commanded the storm. The storm ended; the disciples were left in awe from this encounter. They would tell this story over and over again to remind the community of believers that Jesus does care and that God is always with them in the dark storms of night.

Like the early Christians we are not immune to the storms of life. Those storms pop up unexpectedly, like the storms on the Sea of Galilee. We are not promised a life without these experiences, but we are promised the peace of God in the midst of trouble.

Some of those storms may be caused by our own integrity, as we find our beliefs in conflict with the world around us. The violence, racism, and self-centeredness of this world can make for rough sailing for any thinking Christian.


In the Gospel story Jesus and the disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee to get to the other side. This is where Jesus feels called to go. On the other side is the place of the Gentiles and it will be a new and challenging place for the disciples to minister. One of the first persons they will encounter is be a man who is so mentally ill that he is nicknamed “Legion.” Jesus is able to bring peace to this very troubled soul.

When the church hears God’s call and responds faithfully we may find ourselves in challenging places, places that feel a bit stormy and troubling at first. But God does not abandon the faithful.

We will have some stormy experiences in this life. Many of you have already had your share of them. There will be difficult and trying times and we will wonder how we can possibly make it through. And we will want to remember a story about a day the disciples were with Jesus in a boat and there was a storm, but Jesus calmed the storm and the fears of those present. And we will remember that God cares and we will know that God loves us and has not gone to sleep.

And we have each other. The boat was a symbol of the church and when the early church told this story they would have understood that it was a story about the church, about a community of believers. We are in this boat together. When the storm clouds gather on the horizon of our lives, we have each other.

We come alongside those who are caught in one of life’s storms and we become the presence of Christ to those persons. When our faith is weak because of our circumstances and we begin to wonder if God is paying attention, someone whose faith is stronger will come alongside of us, and that person’s faith and hope will be enough for both of us. This gathering we call the community of faith is a gift to each of us and one that we must never take for granted.

And we have the grace of God. We will experience storms in our lives but God will give us grace in the midst of turbulent times. Visiting and counseling with persons going through difficult times can be incredible experiences of God’s presence and grace.
Those persons seem be given an extra measure of grace.

I recall those regular visits to my friend, Andy, during the last weeks of his life. He would look up at me and say, “God has been so very close to me today, Ken. I wish I could find words to describe what this is like.” He was finding such peace in the midst of incredible pain and struggle and I thanked God that he was able to experience God in such powerful ways.

What I normally omit from this story is that I would leave his presence, sit in the car in front of his house and weep at the thought of losing him. But back at church another friend was always there to encourage me and to be the presence of Christ for me. --thus completing the wonderful circle of grace that we experience over and over again in the church.  That’s the gift of community again and I will not take that for granted.

Through God’s generous grace and through each other, we can hear Jesus saying, “Peace, be still!”

June 17, 2012
Mark 4:26-34
Linda Johnson, preaching

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When I was in elementary school we were taught a strange little song about growing things that could very well be right out of today’s gospel lesson.
I suggested to Gayle Sullivan that I begin the sermon by singing it.  She paused for a minute and then said, “Well, if that’s really the way you want to end your ministry here.”

The song, which I will not sing, goes like this: “Oats, peas, beans and barley grow. Oats, peas, beans and barley grow. You, nor I, nor nobody knows how oats, peas, beans and barley grow.”    

According to Jesus, neither do we understand how the Kingdom of God grows. It is pure mystery – God’s mystery.

Jesus is teaching beside the sea. The crowd got so large that he had to get into a boat, where he sat and taught the people in parables. I can’t help but wonder why people sat on a hot hillside to listen to Jesus’ teachings.

I mean, if you think about it, he’s telling weird little stories that he doesn’t even expect everyone to understand.  And the amazing part about his questionable teaching method is that the subject he’s teaching about is nothing less than the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God – the core of his message, the point of it all.  And how does Jesus convey this crucial truth?  He says,

The Kingdom of God is “as if” someone scattered seed on the ground, and then went on about their business until it was harvest time.  The seeds then did what they were supposed to do – grow into the plant hidden inside them.  The farmer doesn’t seem to have much to do with the growth itself.

Then again, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God?”  Well, it is like this teeny, tiny seed that becomes what it is suppose to become – a plant so large that birds can nest in its branches.

What is the Kingdom of God? It is God’s place – God’s time, where and when things are the way God wants them to be. It is the culmination of creation, the perfecting of what God created the earth to become.

We have some great images for the Kingdom of God in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.  The Holy City; the New Jerusalem; the Peaceable Kingdom.  Even nature will be transformed. A tender lamb can lie down beside a lion; a child can play with a snake. There will be no more war.  And one of my favorites, they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.  There will be no more sadness, no more tears.  A big banquet where everyone sits together as equals.

I love the idea of this place – or this time. I look hard for signs of it, signs that good is growing, signs of peace and reconciliation. Signs that humanity is maturing into the people God created us to be. I look for signs and try not to get discouraged by what I see.  It is easy to be discouraged these days, is it not?

I enjoy gardening – not the end results so much as the process. I don’t like to buy plants that are full-grown and already flowering. I like to buy small plants so I can watch them grow. And I love to plant seeds because then you see the real miracle of growth. But I’m also impatient for the growth to begin, so I start watching for signs of growth a few days after planting. Staring at the bare ground does not make my seeds grow faster. Getting frustrated or impatient does not make my seeds grow faster. Worrying that maybe I planted them too deeply and preparing to be disappointed doesn’t make them grow or not grow.  It just makes me less peaceful.   It takes away some of the pleasure of gardening for me.        

Jesus says that the kingdom is like seeds that grow after being planted – we have no idea how, and that, in fact, we have little to do with it.  We might as well just go take a nap since our efforts are not required for the seed to grow to fruition.     So, are we not necessary at all in the growth of the Kingdom?         Is that what Jesus is telling us?

That may seem to be the message of these two parables, but elsewhere Jesus tells us that what we do does matter.  It matters a lot. That we believe and what we believe matters. What we DO with our belief matters. How we treat people matters

It is ironic that this is the lectionary lesson for today, my last sermon at Belmont. This is an issue I continue to work on.  What, exactly, is our responsibility for partnering with God in God’s work of salvation? And what is God’s job alone?  And especially, when might our actions actually do more harm than good?

How do we give ourselves to caring for the needs and hurts of the world as Jesus told us to do, but without falling into despair and depression?  How do we act with passion for what we believe in without judgment or hatred at those who have different passions or beliefs?

It is important to me that we are God’s partners. That this relationship we have – with God and with each other – matters.  

I think when we get into trouble it is because we take on more than our share of the responsibility – and when we take on more than our share of blame – or credit.
It is in thinking that we have THE right understanding and when we try to exercise power over those who don’t see our way.  Or when we get so overwhelmed with responsibility that life becomes dreary.  Or when our well-intended efforts end in anger or bitterness and we end up hurting each other.
Jesus wants us to sit a little looser in the saddle than that. Jesus wants us to take naps -- with the confidence that the Kingdom is growing even while we sleep.  
Jesus proclaims that the kingdom is planted HERE, is AT HAND, and is growing in this world.

As long as I can remember I have heard warnings that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. “What is this world coming to?” people say with a shake of their head.

If we are to believe Jesus, then what the world is coming to is – The Kingdom of God, God’s place and time.  It is coming to be what it was created to be. And it’s becoming is both mystery and gift.

Can you believe that?  And can you believe it deeply enough that you can go about the business of your life with the confidence that God is at work – right here and now – right here in this world – bringing creation to a glorious fulfillment.

There are scriptures that call us to a response of some sort. To live or act differently. I think today’s message is that we should just stop for a minute.  To stop all our franctic busyness. Stop thinking about ourselves for a change – and think about God.


I was given this message one day and it changed everything for me.  Beverly Job and I were walking down Thomasson Hall one day after leaving a meeting. Beverly said, in her quiet calm voice, “Linda, God is really working through you here at Belmont.”


I don’t know if Beverly noticed that the world went still and silent. But it did for me.
God was working through me! It wasn’t about me and whether I was getting it right or not, whether I was doing enough or not.
It was about God. It was about letting God work in and through me.

That may not sound so earth-shattering to you, but it changed everything for me. I relaxed and began to enjoy ministry more. I didn’t fret or worry as much. I took my mistakes and failures into stride. I could just go about my work and do the best I could – and leave the rest to God. It was liberating. Beverly’s words didn’t change WHAT I did, but they did change me.

Our two parables today are not about what we should or shouldn’t do. They are about what God is already doing.


Perhaps the best thing we can do is to live with the confidence of that, with the relaxation of that, with the peace that such faith brings. The parable is asking us to wait for God to do what God is sure to do, and to wait with the non-anxious and carefree attitude which is becoming to the children of God.  It means building our life entirely upon God’s promise and no longer upon our abilities or inabilities, our doing or not doing.
After I had made the decision to retire this year at Annual Conference and actually started the process, I had a kind of panic attack. I couldn’t visualize retirement; I worried about finances and how life would be different. I was afraid of an unknown future. Then, during my Lenten devotional reading, I came across words to guide and hold me through this transition.

They are helping me move into the mystery of God’s future with a sense of peace and trust. I hope to keep them before me every day.  They are from Pam Hawkins’ book, “The Awkward Season: Prayers for Lent”.

Let me share them with you:

Ah, Holy Spirit;
I plant my feet into the soil of the Living God;
I turn my ear to the voice of the calling Christ;
I lean my life into the Wind of Holy Change.

Amen.




SENDNG FORTH

Go forth from this place with the confidence and trust that God is at work bringing creation to fulfillment.   

Be content to live with the mystery of it and be grateful to be part of it.  

Let your life be a joyful witness as you lean into the wind of holy change.

Do Not Lose Heart!
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1
Belmont UMC—June 10, 2012
Ken Edwards, preaching

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“So we do not lose heart!” As I read over the lectionary readings this week, these were the words that kept coming back to me—the words that kept speaking to me. Some might want to analyze why those words kept speaking to me. Could it be that I’m on verge of losing heart, of giving up or losing hope? I don’t think so, but I do believe that those words speak clearly to all of us, who have at one point or another felt like losing heart.

“So we do not lose heart!” Those are the words as they are translated in the New Revised Standard Version. The Common English Bible, which we have been using more and more, translates this phrase, “So we aren’t depressed.” We are familiar with depression in our society as it touches many lives and at many different levels of intensity. Depression causes persons to lose hope, to despair, to give up, to lose motivation, to quit caring deeply about things, to feel that life is futile, to sense utter discouragement or to lose heart.

There are many causes for losing heart. We lose heart because we are afraid and fear wins over other emotions. We lose heart because of circumstances that overwhelm us and we can’t see a way out. We lose heart because we have been faithful to work toward a purpose but cannot see the fruit of our labor. We lose heart when we lose confidence in ourselves, in God, in our abilities, or in the value of our work. We lose heart when we feel small and insignificant in the face of massive global problems that are beamed into our living rooms each night.

I was sent to serve a church that had been losing ground for several years. When I arrived and met with the Staff Parish Relations Committee for the first time, one of the committee members said, “You did not want to come here did you? I can’t imagine anyone wanting to come and serve this church.” Another person said, “Some people here will resent it if you make any changes, but if you don’t change some things we will die.” The church was so demoralized and discouraged by loss that they could not imagine surviving and their discouragement had created dysfunctional patterns that kept them digging the hole of despair ever deeper. My wife and I decided right away that we needed to help the people see the gifts and graces they possessed and we sought ways to encourage and be as positive as we could. It was a couple of years into that appointment before they began to rekindle a strong sense of mission and purpose.

The Apostle Paul has had lots of reasons to lose heart. He writes, “We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we are not crushed. We are confused, but we are not depressed. We are harassed, but we are not abandoned. We are knocked down, but we are not knocked out.” (verses 8 and 9) In verse 1 of chapter 4 Paul writes, “Therefore, we don’t get discouraged.”
I have avoided speaking or writing about General Conference, United Methodism’s chief legislative conference that meets every 4 years. I have avoided it because so many things have been written or said that I couldn’t imagine that I have anything to add to the discussion. Most people agree that the Conference in May was a failure on many levels. Some came away calling the United Methodist Church a “sinking ship.” We were unable to agree on a plan to restructure the church leadership. We were unwilling to remove language from the Book of Discipline which excludes and labels. In that failure we continue to do harm to many of our members and constituents. We were unable to pass legislation that speaks the truth about who we are. Namely, that we are a people who are not likeminded and who can agree to disagree. That remains the truth about who we are in spite our lack of courage to acknowledge it. Frankly, some of us felt like losing heart after General Conference concluded.

Christian writer and blogger, Tony Jones, suggested that all young clergy should leave the denomination in response to our last General Conference. Many of my colleagues have taken issue with his call to leave and let me add my voice to those. Tony wasn’t around during the Civil Rights Movement and he wasn’t in church the day I heard my young pastor speak bravely for the cause of blacks and others who were victims of racial injustice. He was not there when people in the church got up and walked out in anger in the middle of his sermons. And though he may have been discouraged from time to time and he may have felt like losing heart, he kept preaching and speaking the truth and calling us out for our racism. And he did not give up. I am standing here today because of young pastors who did not jump ship when the water was a little rough.

And where would our church be today if a generation of clergy had left when their voices were so desperately needed? We may get discouraged but those who stick around will live to see a better day. I’m confident of that. So we do not lose heart!

We have 4 gifted women clergy on our staff. When I was younger, and to some extent, even now, women clergy have had an uphill climb. District Superintendents would tell them that they could not appoint them—that churches would not accept them. One of my colleagues sat in the church to which she was being appointed, only to hear the DS apologize to the church saying, “I’m sorry but we will have to appoint a woman to your church. We have no one else. It’s the best we can do.”

Of course, they felt like losing heart, but where would the church be if it weren’t for women like Linda Johnson, Pam Hawkins, Heather Harriss, and Sandy Sakarapanee.
They did not give up! And so we do not lose heart!

Former South Africa Bishop, Peter Storey, was planning to be with us last week and he had to cancel his trip to the Untied States. We hope he will make that trip in the future. But I thought I would share one of his stories. Peter Storey was a champion of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He once told a story about how he and Desmond Tutu were nearly executed for their work. An armed guard took them out to a remote sugar cane field. There they were bound for execution. The guard raised his gun toward them. But, the guard did not have the fortitude to do this evil thing, so he lowered his weapon and walked away in shame. Storey and Tutu, upon realizing their deliverance, excitedly returned to their car that had brought them out to the killing field. As they drove back to civilization, Tutu suggested they offer prayers of gratitude for their deliverance. Immediately, he folded his hands, closed his eyes and uttered a prayer of thanksgiving. While eager to join in prayer, Storey was unnerved by Tutu’s actions. Tutu was driving the car at the time.

Where would South Africa be if Peter Storey and Desmond Tutu and a host of other brave women and men had lost heart and abandoned the cause? So we do not lose heart!

What motivated Paul or those early followers to not lose heart, to avoid discouragement when they often faced intense opposition and persecution? For one thing they understood that the kingdom is not about them or their plans. It is about God’s purpose being lived out in the world. And they trusted the grace of God to sustain them and guide them in whatever they did. And they understood the call to be faithful, even against all odds. And they trusted that they were in God’s hands no matter where they were or what they were doing. Paul wrote, “We have this awesome power that comes from God, not from us.” (v. 7) “We do not focus on things that can be seen, but on things that cannot be seen. The things that can be seen do not last, but the things that cannot be seen are eternal.” (v. 18)

We often lose heart when we forget to trust, when we fail to remember that this journey of faith is not so much about us but about God’s dream for our world. I’ve been there many times and so have you. We forget that this journey is about something bigger and beyond ourselves—about something eternal, not temporal.

I read a story of an experienced mountain climber who thought he could anything, and one day he came to a great overhang of rock. He tried several techniques to get himself up and over the massive outcropping, but he could not. He began to lose strength and after some time he realized that he had done all he could. He could go back down and he did not have the strength to go up. He began to think about death, about his family and friends and the things he had hoped to do in his life. He had reached the end of his journey. At the point of complete surrender, he heard a noise above him and then a piece of climbing equipment fell past him on the mountain. He realized that another climber was in trouble somewhere above him. Somehow, not for himself, but for another, he found the strength to pull himself up and over the outcropping to help a fellow climber. We will not lose heart when we remember that there are others counting on us to be faithful. So we will not lose heart.

And we do not lose heart because we have each other. When one gets discouraged, and we will, there will be another in this wonderful community of faith who will come along and encourage, support, and hold out hope to her or him. You may want to look around you this morning at the faces of some of the people who love you and want the best for you. These people, God’s people, will be there when you need them. Aren’t we blessed? So we will not lose heart.