04/04/04
1. I was told it was a
friendly match on a summer’s evening. I said “I’m no good at cricket” but they
were desperate. “Come on it’s only a bit of fun.” And so I went.
No one had told me this match was to take place at a young
offenders institute.
No one had told me that the bowlers were young
men, honed to the peak of physical fitness with the ability to send cricket
balls down the pitch at test match speeds.
I never saw the ball. I stood at the crease
and I felt the ball hit me. Somebody shouted run and I did. That happened three times before, mercifully, I was
clean bowled and the wickets went flying.
Somebody could
have said to me.. “
I think I would have still said.. “Give me the
bat !” Having something in my hand… no matter how ineffective I might be in
using it.. made it easier for me to stand there and face that situation.
Courage is often like that.
To face up to a situation we need to have something to hold on to. What do you
hold on to?
2. (show booklet) These little booklets on which this series of
sermons has been based were produced by Scripture Gift Mission to give away to
people serving in the armed forces. Courage is a word that might be used to
describe what is needed in a war
situation. I have often talked with people who lived through the second world
war, who served in the forces… and who have a much better understanding than I
do of what that sort of courage
means.
But
courage under fire… courage on a battlefield is not the only time courage is
called for. Many of us here may never have to face those sort of situations.
But we will still need courage.
3. Courage can be needed when we hear the
doctor give the results of the tests that have been carried out.
Courage is needed when we feel so betrayed
and let down by someone who we thought we could trust.
Courage is needed if ever we are to trust again.
Courage is needed when despite all our prayers,
all our fasting, what we had feared most still happens, and we think our
prayers have been unanswered.
We need Courage to say to someone we work
with.. “yes I am a member of a church. It does mean a lot to me. Would
you like to know why?”
We need courage to say that knowing Jesus
is the only way to know God as Father..
in a country where to claim that Jesus is “The way, the truth.. the only way to
eternal life…” is to risk being branded as a fundamentalist, intolerant and
bigot.
We need courage to live as disciples of
Jesus in a country where real
commitment to him is viewed with suspicion. “You’re not one of those born again
Christians are you?” – as if there is any other sort!
We need courage to be obedient to God’s
word, the Bible, in a country that
says we are free to make-up our own moral rules for ourselves.
We need courage to choose to live a Christian
lifestyle rather than simply to adopt the values and attitudes and copy the
behaviour of those around us.
We need courage to ask God to show us the truth about ourselves. To
acknowledge that our feelings can
lead us astray, our pride can deceive
us, and our own disobedience can cause
us to wander away from God our heavenly father, and to leave the pathway that leads to life.
We need courage to do what God wants us
to do. Not what other people tells us to do. Not even what other Christians tell us they think we should
do. If Pam and I had done what other Christians told us they thought we should do..
I would never have become a vicar. Some of our best friends advised us NOT to
do it. The vicar of my church advised me not to do it. And now I am a minister
if I did everything that other
Christians tell me I should do.. I would be working 24 hours every day, but I
would be resting all the time as well because people also tell me off for being
too busy.
We need courage to avoid being driven by other
people…instead we need to learn to be led by God.
So - Courage… you need it. I need it. Sermon
title: “What is courage… and where do I
find it?”
4.(show columns) On
the day when Jesus entered
They have stood up to test after test. Storms,
winds, earthquakes even. They are constructed out of huge carved pieces of
solid marble. Each section of marble linked to another by a steel rod. When the
earth moves, the pillars are flexible.. and they can bend without falling.
These pillars are at the front of Shugborough
Hall. They look very similar. In actual fact when you tap them.. sound hollow.
What you see on the outside is just a veneer… a covering of plaster over wood.
These pillars pretend to be the same
as the ones made of stone… but they are not. They are a sham – and can never stand up to the
test of earthquake and they are easily damaged and demolished.
5. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
he was about to face a test greater than any earthquake, to go through an
ordeal that was actually more horrible than even a film like The Passion can fully describe.
His courage,
was not just an outward show. A sham.
On the day when Jesus entered
It is when people have to stand alone that
their courage is really put to the test. It is easier to be brave when
surrounded by a crowd of supporters… but when we are alone, our courage
can melt away.
The courage of Jesus was not the sham courage
that is sometimes seen when we are surrounded by friends and supporters. It was
real courage.
Courage that stood up to the test.
6. Here is something to think about…
There are TWO different KINDS of courage.
One kind depends on circumstances
The other depends on the Holy Spirit.
The first
kind depends on what is around
us.
The second kind depends what is inside us.
The courage that depends on circumstances
means that we are holding on to something outside of us to give us courage… it
like me holding on to a cricket bat, a soldier holding on to a gun, - or taking courage from the fact that we are
surrounded by friends.
The kind of courage that depends on the Holy
Spirit means that we are holding on to the one source of all strength and
perseverance, we are holding on to our relationship with God.. this is the
courage that comes from the INSIDE.
This was the courage of Jesus.. seen as he entered
7. I found myself looking at the bible verses for
today and asking myself,. Did Jesus ever pray any of the passage from the Old
Testament in his conversations with God.
On the night he slept in
I can
lie down and sleep soundly because you Lord, will keep me safe.
And in the morning as he was riding in to
Be
strong and brave. Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord your God.
And I will be there to help you wherever you go.
Did Jesus pray.. “wherever I go.. Father..
even if I go to the cross You will be there to help me.”
As the storm clouds gathered around him, as he
was arrested and publicly humiliated… Did Jesus remember psalm 23… I may walk through valleys as dark as death,
but I won’t be afraid. You are with me.
As he was being beaten and tortured, did he
remember Psalm 46:1
You are
my mighty fortress, always ready to help in times of trouble.
Did he simply focus his mind on the truth that
her knew that he had always known… Father
I know you care for me
8.
I asked the question…
What is
courage.. and where do we find it ?
I think we see in the example of Jesus that
Courage means being led by the Holy Spirit,
completely trusting in the Holy Spirit, knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit
with us.
Courage is found only when we are secure in the knowledge that we live in
relationship with God our heavenly Father.
The bible says that as Jesus waited in the
But Jesus was so secure in his relationship with his heavenly father that he was
able to say.. Father, not my will but
yours be done.
The sort of courage that Jesus had was the
courage of that is the gift of the Holy
Spirit,
the courage
that comes from the inside,
the courage that held on to the truth,
the courage that was rooted in his knowledge
that he was loved and accepted and safe for ever in the care of his heavenly
father
the courage that meant that he was willing to
be led by God, not by the expectations of others.
That is the only way that we will ever find
the courage that we need to face up
to our times of testing.