Sermon preached on 2/28/10 at Our Savior for the 3rd Sunday in Lent. Sermon text: Jeremiah 26:8-15
Faith Stands Out
Let me give you an example from my own life. Several years ago I went to the country of Ecuador for a little over a month to learn Spanish better. Now, bear in mind, here in the US, I'm no minority. I can blend in to the crowd if I really want to; I don't look all that different than everybody else. Not so in Ecuador. There was no hiding the big, tall, blond white guy. I looked different than most people. I talked different. Because of this, I'd occasionally get looks from people. I could tell that I was getting a different kind of attention than I was used to. I was standing out.
Really, that's a feeling that we should all be able to relate to, no matter what we look like. That's because we're all Christians. We all have faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin. And faith stands out. It makes us act differently than other people. It makes us speak differently too. That's because we live out our faith. We don't want to follow the sinful ways and words and attitudes of this world; we want to follow our Savior.
And when we live and act and talk differently, it's bound to bring some attention. And that attention won't always be positive. In fact, sometimes it will be downright hostile. We shouldn't be surprised if most people hate us because we're Christians. But at the same time, as Christians we have good news. We're saved! We have a God who loves us personally and immeasurably! Yes, whether we always like it or not, faith stands out. Our faith brings opposition, but it comes with the best news there is.
Standing out like a sore thumb because you're a believer in the one true God is definitely not a new thing. It's been going on since the beginning. (You might remember that Abel's faith stood out from Cain's. Let's just say Cain didn't react well to that.) But in our text, it's Jeremiah the prophet. He definitely stood out for his faith.
If you picture the Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah as always having big crowds of polite, adoring followers, think again. They often had very hostile audiences, probably because they often had very bad news to bring. Prophets spoke for God to the people.
Jeremiah was no different. Just before our text, God told Jeremiah the message he wanted to get to the people, and he specifically told Jeremiah to "tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word." (Jer. 26:2) He wanted to make sure they got the message.
What was the message? The people had to start listening. They had to start following God's laws, obeying the commandments, and listening to the prophets. And if they didn't, God said, they were going down hard. The people, along with their precious city of Jerusalem, would be wiped out. (Jer. 26:4-6)
How do you think they took that message? Not well. Our text tells us that as soon as he'd told them, they shouted at him, "You must die! Why do you prophesy in the Lord's name...?" (Jer. 26:8-9) Jeremiah simply speaks God's message, and a mob scene develops. Jeremiah was living his faith by obeying God and speaking his message, and his faith definitely stood out.
Faith stands out. Your faith is no exception. Like Jeremiah, the words you speak will be guided by your faith. Your faith tells you that you don't go around gossiping about others, you don't tell lies, you don't join in with the offensive language and dirty jokes of others. No, you are a believer and you want your words to reflect that. Besides not saying all those bad things, you'll also show your faith by the good things you speak: your words of encouragement and forgiveness, and the times you specifically share your faith and tell others about Jesus. Your faith stands out with your words.
Your actions are no different. The way you treat others, the way you do your job faithfully, the way you live out your role as husband or wife or parent or child or worker or boss all serve as a testimony of your faith. When you take the time to read the Bible or come to church, people see that. When you help someone else not because of what you'll get in return, but selflessly -- people will see your faith. When you refuse to go along with the sins of this world -- even ones the world doesn't think are wrong -- living together outside of marriage, homosexuality, abortion, your opposition to those things makes your faith stand out. In fact, everything you do is meant to be an expression of your faith in Christ. (1 Cor. 10:31)
Because your faith stands out in your words and actions, that is going to cause a reaction from the people around you. And if you expect that reaction to always be positive, if you expect people to say, "way to go!" when they see your faith...then you're in for a surprise. Our lesson from Philippians today reminded us that there are a lot of enemies of the cross. (Philip. 3:18) A lot of people not only won't agree with your faith; it will make them angry. And they could turn that anger on you.
It might be as small as some eye-rolling over the things you say. It might be calling you a prude or "goody two-shoes" for doing what's right. Of course, it can go farther than that. Speaking out against abortion or homosexuality, for example, can get you labeled an intolerant bigot, or worse. Saying that Christ alone is the only way to heaven might make people think of you as some sort of close-minded religious extremist. In some places, faith in Christ will get you killed.
Friends, we can all be so thankful to our merciful God that we are not under the constant threat of death or imprisonment because of our faith in this country today. God has been very good to us. But the conditions of this sinful world might not always stay so good. And even though we don't face death or imprisonment, we do face attacks on our faith. We have crosses to bear. In fact, when our faith stands out, it is bound to cause a negative reaction to some.
And it hurts. It hurts to be rejected because you believe the truth of the Bible. It hurts to be called names for sticking with what God's Word actually says. It hurts to have friends, or even members of our family shake their heads as they walk away from us and refuse to listen to the truth. It hurts.
You see the temptation we face, right? If showing our faith hurts, we're tempted to hide it. If doing what's right can bring pain and rejection, well then why not do what's wrong? If speaking up for what we believe will cause us problems with those we care about, we're tempted to shut our mouths. We're tempted to cover the light of our faith with a bowl, to try to blend in to that sinful world around us so that, if we're lucky, no one even knows we're a Christian.
The only problem is that hiding our faith is a sin. Living in step with the sinful world only destroys faith and brings God's wrath. Using words that hurt God and others only, in the end, hurts yourself, because it eats away at your faith. That and all sins slowly destroys your faith and throws away your salvation.
I'm sure you can think of examples when you hid your faith, when you tried to blend in to the world. I'm sure you remember taking the easy way out, when speaking the truth of God's Word would've brought pain. I'm sure you remember times when you did not follow your Savior's example, but lived like you were ashamed of him.
Those are serious sins. But we have a God who is seriously merciful. When we see the dirt of those sins on our conscience, and smell their stench on our soul, we look to God for mercy. And you know what, he gives us that mercy!
Jeremiah mentioned God's mercy to the people in our text. He told them, "Reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you." (Jer. 26:13) God did not want to destroy his chosen people like he had threatened. He wanted to save them. Like Jesus in our gospel mentioned he wanted to take the people of Jerusalem and hold onto them like a mother hen with her chicks. (Lk. 13:34) God loves us! He doesn't want us to die in our sins!
That's why Jesus came. Jesus stood out from the crowd of all people of all time, because he was sinless. Jesus' life faced great opposition, as he was hated, arrested, tortured, and killed on a cross. But what mercy of God that he would use the horrible punishment on Jesus to bring wonderful blessings to us. What a merciful God who would trade our sins for Jesus perfection. What a merciful God who would use his Son's death to give us life forever!
And that's what he's done! And that also makes our faith stand out: the good news! The fact that people oppose us and persecute us because we're Christians shouldn't leave us moping around. No! We have reason to rejoice! Let the world rage at us all it wants; it can't touch us! Jesus has wrapped his loving arms around us.
Our sins, our slip-ups, our failure to let our faith stand out -- Jesus and his loving arms and pierced hands and feet are there, ready to forgive. Those times we struggle with temptations -- Jesus' strength was poured out on us in our baptism to stand up against them. Our death, which is the worst thing that any enemy of the cross could ever do to us -- even death means nothing to us, because Jesus rose and gives us eternal life!
Don't you see what great news we have as Christians? Isn't a message you want to share?! God loves you! He's been merciful to you! He's given you life forever! That's why our faith stands out. Our faith reflects God's love for us to those around us. Think about the people in your life, maybe even the people who have opposed you because of your faith. Do they need God's love any less than you do? Of course not! So show it to them! Let your life be a witness. Let your words and actions and all you do point to Christ who has forgiven all your sinful words and actions. Let your life reflect Christ who has rescued you from death.
Your faith stands out. Like it or not, people will not always take kindly to your Christianity. But you've got a Savior who makes every trouble worth it. You've got Jesus who took those troubles onto himself. You've got a Lord who took sin and death away forever. He alone has given you true life. Live it for him.
Posts
