Sermon: Stand firm in the Lord
From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul
Stand firm in the Lord: 28 February 2010: am: The Very Revd Frank Nelson
- Psalm 27: 1 – 8, 13 - 14
- Genesis 15: 1 - 18
- Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1
- Luke 13: 31 - 35
Stand firm in the Lord . In one way or another the message of today’s readings is contained in these few words from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Stand firm in the Lord. It’s a concept worth contemplating as we continue our journey through Lent. It’s worth thinking about too as we prepare for another onslaught on faith and religion with the visit to New Zealand of Richard Dawkins and his popular slamming of religion. Stand firm in the Lord.
We are offered three different readings this morning. The first, from Genesis, sounds very odd to our ears, and is quite enough to send us spinning into the atheist camp, if that is all we read. So let’s unpack these eighteen verses a bit.
Abram has left home, family and country believing God has called him to go to a new place. He went in good faith; but now, a moment of doubt. Abram was promised a future – not only for himself, but for his off-spring. Yet he has no son of his own, no one to continue his name after his death. In a dream Abram has the courage to question God: What will you give me? In response he is taken outside to look up at the stars. Like the night sky above Tekapo it is impossible to count them. So shall your descendants be, says God. In one of the most faith-filled verses of the bible we are told simply that Abram believed the Lord.
The story goes on. Following ancient Middle Eastern custom Abram offers sacrifices in the form of animals and birds. We can’t delve into the meaning from this distance – enough to hear the rehearsal of the story of Abram, and to understand that this was a sacred moment of promise. Abram is asked to stand firm in his faith in God. In return he is promised both land and off-spring. But they will not come easily. From the writer’s perspective Abram is shown something of the future. As his life unfolds he has to realize that there will be tough times. The promise of God is to stay with Abram.
Some will remember Lyn Anderson’s hit song from 1971 with its chorus I beg your pardon I never promised you a rose garden Along with the sunshine There's got to be a little rain some time It sounds terribly trite – but there is truth in the sentiment. God does not promise a trouble free life. God promises to be with Abram – no matter what. In return God expects Abram to stand firm in the Lord.
Flip over the pages of your Bibles and we find Jesus undergoing a not dissimilar questioning of his mission and purpose in life. Last week we heard of the temptations in the wilderness. Today we hear of a warning from some of the Pharisees. It is dangerous for Jesus to go on to Jerusalem. In his teaching and preaching he has stirred the pot, upset people, made enemies – among them Herod. It would be easy to turn aside, avoid Herod, avoid Jerusalem, avoid trouble. But no, Jesus is determined to do what he has to do. In doing so, we are given one of the most moving, passionate and beautiful prayers in the Bible – Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.
Jerusalem – the city of peace. Both then and now it is anything but a city of peace. We are not used to public lament these days – and the more’s the pity. We turn too quickly to blame, find a scapegoat, someone to sue. It’s always someone else’s fault. The Lamentations of Jeremiah are among the moving and disturbing words set to music our Cathedral Choir sing each Good Friday. For five long chapters the lament over the sacked city of Jerusalem goes on. Five hundred years later it appears the people of the city have not learned much and Jesus’ utterance of the name “Jerusalem” holds all the emotion only someone in deep despair or genuine grief can possibly know.
Yet it is not despair alone. For in this little incident comes the moving image of God as the hen gathering her chicks. Despite all that will happen, God’s love continues. That alone is enough to encourage us to stand firm in the Lord. By his own example Jesus demonstrates what it means to stand firm in the Lord – doing what he knows to be God’s will for him.
Skip on a few decades to the city of Philippi and the first church founded by St Paul on European soil. We have read a few verses of a letter written to encourage people to hold on to their faith in Christ. It does not take much to gather that there is quite a lot of opposition to the Gospel in Philippi. Perhaps being such an important city on the road from the east to Rome, the citizens of the city were opposed to any belief or movement that might threaten their position, their wealth, their trade. Paul’s deep love for the Christians of Philippi is evident in his manner of speaking to them – my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown . Reminding them that their ultimate loyalty is to God, not Caesar, Paul calls on them to stand firm in the Lord.
It is this letter to the Philippians that includes one of the earliest hymns sung in the Christian church. It tells about Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality of God something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Here, in the person and life of Jesus is the one who must be our ultimate example of standing firm in the Lord.
It’s a hard act to follow – but that is our calling as we travel towards the cross in Lent. No turning back say the words of the children’s Sunday School hymn, no turning back. At times it may even seem as if there’s little or no going forward – enough simply to stand firm. Like a swimmer in the surf, with the backwash from the waves sucking one into the sea, the Christian must place her feet firmly on the sand, brace herself against the tide, and stand firm.
Fortunately there is much in the Bible, in our hymns, and in our retelling of the faith that helps us to stand firm in the Lord. True, God never promised us a rose garden. God did promise to be with us wherever we go, even to the ends of the earth. This was the extraordinary experience of Abram. Why should it be any less for us?
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
