February 7, 1999 - LESSON: Ephesians 4:14-16, NRSV
 

SERMON TITLE: Growing Up
(Back to sermons for 1999)    (Back to sermons)


INTRODUCTION:
  1. Hal Brady quotes Dr. Rodney E. Wilmoth, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Omaha, Nebraska, for the following illustration:

    2.  
    1. "A group of 9-and 10-year-old's attended worship one Sunday morning and then each wrote a letter to the minister reflecting on the experience."

      2.  
    2. Here are a few samples of their letters:

      3.  
      1. Ralph, 10. Dear Reverend, I liked your sermon Sunday. Especially when it was finished.

        2.  
      2. Margaret, 10. Dear Reverend, I like to go to church on Sunday because I don't have any choice.

        3.  
      3. Justin, 9. Dear Reverend, Thank you for your sermon Sunday. I will write more when my mother explains to me what you said.

        4.  
      4. Loreen, 9. Dear Reverend, I think more people would come to church if you would move it to Disneyland.

        5.  
    3. Sounds like responses to some of my sermons.

      4.  
  2. What will these nine and ten year old's believe when they grow up and find it necessary to sustain life?

    3.  
    1. What kind of faith, if any, will they possess.

      2.  
    2. How will it help them develop contentment and great joy?
MAIN BODY:
  1. There is a philosophy of life which suggests that children should be allowed to grow up and then they can make their own decision about religion and their spiritual life.

    2.  
    1. So the child grows up.

      2.  
      1. The child grows up physically.

        2.  
        1. Nutrition

          2.  
        2. Exercise

          3.  
      2. The child grows up mentally.

        3.  
        1. Education

          2.  
        2. Imagination

          3.  
        3. Creativity.

          4.  
      3. Our children can make their own decision?

        4.  
        1. Based on What?

          2.  
        2. What!

          3.  
  2. This emptiness that is waiting to be filled is well-described by Fyodor Dostoevski.

    3.  
    1. I read in Homiletics, February 7, 1993, that "Dostoevski, that most outstanding of all modern Russian writers, in his finest novel The Brothers Karamazov [San Francisco: North Point Press, 1990], recognized this condition in the church of his day.

      2.  
      1. In the chapter "The Grand Inquisitor" [249-262], he expresses his feelings in a chilling and terrifying story.

        2.  
      2. The setting: the days of the Spanish Inquisition, in Seville, Spain.

        3.  
        1. Jesus has just returned to earth.

          2.  
        2. He has come to Seville and is walking toward the massive Gothic cathedral in the vast square.

          3.  
        3. A funeral procession is also slowly moving toward the cathedral steps.

          4.  
        4. The only child of a noble citizen has died.

          5.  
        5. Her little casket is being carried to the cathedral.

          6.  
      3. Suddenly, the people see Jesus and they recognize him immediately.

        4.  
        1. He has come back as he promised.

          2.  
        2. Here he is among them now, the one to whom all their prayers and hopes have been directed.

          3.  
        3. He can give new life to this innocent little girl as he did long ago in Palestine.

          4.  
      4. "The people call to him, and he goes to them.

        5.  
        1. They cry out, 'Heal this child!'

          2.  
        2. The mother falls on her knees in front of him. 'Have mercy on me. If you will, you can put new life into my child.'

          3.  
        3. He pauses, then raising both hands high into the air, he cries out to his God, 'Let this child live!'

          4.  
        4. And to the utter amazement of everyone, the child moves, sits up surrounded by all the flowers, smiles and calls out to her mother.

          5.  
        5. The people begin to chant, 'He has come to us! He has come! He has come!'

          6.  
      5. "However, standing in the shadows of the cathedral is the Grand Inquisitor, the powerful cardinal of the church.

        6.  
        1. What he has seen he does not like.

          2.  
        2. He sees Jesus' arrival not as an occasion for rejoicing, but as a threat to his authority.

          3.  
        3. So the cardinal has Jesus arrested and placed in a solitary prison cell.

          4.  
        4. Late that night, the cardinal comes alone to visit his royal prisoner.

          5.  
          1. "'Why have you come?' he demands. 'We no longer have need of you!

            2.  
          2. We arc now in charge of your church.

            3.  
          3. We know how to run it well.

            4.  
          4. Why have you come back to disturb our peace and authority?

            5.  
          5. Leave us now. Do not come back. We have no need of you!'

            6.  
      6. Is this so often where we find ourselves?

        7.  
  3. Our condition confronts us with the one more area of growth that is vital to the child's and the adult's state of wellness, of wholeness.

    4.  
    1. How do we avoid being tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine

      2.  
      1. Doctrine is not restricted to religion.

        2.  
      2. Doctrine is the foundation on which all groups and organizations, and even life is settled.

        3.  
    2. How do we recognize and avoid people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.

      3.  
      1. Scams abound.

        2.  
      2. Do we want to be taken in and used, no!

        3.  
    3. To avoid the false and to choose the true we must no longer be children.

      4.  
      1. Discard childishness.

        2.  
        1. See 1 Corinthians 13:11, NRSV: When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.

          2.  
      2. Retain childlikeness

        3.  
        1. The words of Jesus in Mark 10:15 NRSV: Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."

          2.  
  4. What does it mean to grow up?

    5.  
    1. We are concerned about the community, the whole body,

      2.  
      1. We desire it to be joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped,

        2.  
      2. We want to see each part is working properly,

        3.  
      3. We need the promotion of the body's growth in building itself up in love.

        4.  
  5. How are we to accomplish this growth.

    6.  
    1. 2 Peter 1:5-9, NRSV

      2.  
      1. [5] For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness,

        2.  
      2. and goodness with knowledge, [6]

        3.  
      3. and knowledge with self-control,

        4.  
      4. and self-control with endurance, and

        5.  
      5. endurance with godliness, [7]

        6.  
      6. and godliness with mutual affection, and

        7.  
      7. mutual affection with love. [8]

        8.  
      8. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful

        9.  
      9. Only God in Christ can define these terms and provide the meaning.

        10.  
    2. Romans 12:1-3, 9-18, NRSV

      3.  
      1. Be transformed by the renewing of your minds,

        2.  
      2. So that you may discern what is good and acceptable and perfect.

        3.  
      3. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,

        4.  
      4. 9 Let love be genuine;

        5.  
      5. hate what is evil,

        6.  
      6. hold fast to what is good;

        7.  
      7. 10 love one another with mutual affection;

        8.  
      8. outdo one another in showing honor.

        9.  
      9. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit,

        10.  
      10. 12 Rejoice in hope,

        11.  
      11. be patient in suffering,

        12.  
      12. 13 Contribute to the needs of others;

        13.  
      13. extend hospitality to strangers.

        14.  
      14. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

        15.  
      15. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

        16.  
      16. 16 Live in harmony with one another;

        17.  
      17. do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

        18.  
      18. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.

        19.  
      19. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

        20.  
    3. Only the Holy spirit representing the principles of Christ can teach is the how.

      4.  
    4. Only the Holy Spirit sharing the power of Christ can provide the means.
CONCLUSION:
  1. Without Christ, without the God of Christ we are left like the Cardinal alone with our great cathedral.

    2.  
    1. Dostoevski concludes his story with Jesus looking long and lovingly into the empty eyes of the cardinal...

      2.  
      1. Then, Jesus stands, walks across the cell, and kisses the cardinal lightly on his thin, bloodless lips.

        2.  
      2. Then Jesus walks out of the cell, leaving the cardinal alone with his great cathedral....Homiletics, February 7, 1993.

        3.  
    2. We need him.

      3.  
      1. We need to learn from him

        2.  
      2. We need to emulate him

        3.  
      3. We need to assimilate him.

        4.  
  2. We need the stories of the people in the Bible to help us learn truth from error, right from wrong, blessings and cursing.

    3.  
    1. Read the stories.

      2.  
    2. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

      3.  
    3. It is the one way in which they can grow the spirit

      4.  

      But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.


      (top)     (Back to sermons for 1999)    (Back to sermons)