Stars

A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on November 15, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV, and based on Daniel 12:1-4

The Time of the End:
12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Several weeks ago, we used the metaphor of a sponge to describe the condition of some soggy Christians, who, like a sponge, Sit Soak and Sour.

In a subsequent sermon, Fr. Mark modified this to describe real, active Christians, who:

Sit, Soak and SERVE

Today, we have two more S’s to add to our list.
The fourth S comes from our reading from Hebrews (10:32) today:

"But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,"

How does this suffering occur? By “ sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.” And by “joyfully accept[ing] the plundering of your property,” (vv.33,34).

We have quoted before the verse: All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer – the ESV says ‘will be persecuted’ (2Tim. 3:12). The difficulty comes because (vs.1,2) in the last days … people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

They will not endure sound teaching, “but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2Tim 4:3,4).

Paul exhorts Timothy not to be discouraged by this, but rather to “be sober-minded, [to] endure suffering, [to] do the work of an evangelist, [and thus, to] fulfill [his] ministry.

Paul knew what he was talking about. Almost every time he opened his mouth to share the Gospel, somebody would throw rocks at him, beat him with rods, or start a riot. He knew that the World, the Flesh and The Devil would war against him and his message, and that it would be a fight to the death.

Going on in 2 Tim chapter 4, Paul says that he is ‘already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of [his] departure has come. He proclaims with confidence: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ (v.7) And he is looking forward to his reward: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. “(v.8).

Referencing our reading from Hebrews again:
Paul has endured the suffering, done the will of God, and is looking ahead to receiving what is promised (Heb. 10:35), namely, the crown of Righteousness.

But there is something else promised to him – and us - that comes from our Daniel reading.
Because he has ‘turned many to righteousness’ and because he is wise, he will shine like the brightness of the sky above…like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3).

Think of it! To shine like the stars forever and ever! How wonderful and amazing!

In medieval times, a legend developed that "falling stars' actually fell to earth and became human. This legend is reflected in the movie, Stardust – in which a shooting star falls to earth and becomes a beautiful blond-haired woman, who shines when she is happy, and whose essence can confer renewed youth. CS Lewis also uses the star legend in his Chronicles of Narnia series. The adventuresome party who takes a Voyage on the ship Dawn Treader finds themselves on the “Island of the World's End.” There, the ancient ‘Ramandu’, and his daughter live on this Island where Aslan's Stone Table is preserved until the end.

When the crew of the Dawn Treader expresses consternation over why Ramandu seems to shine, he tells them:

"I am a star at rest...When I set for the last time, decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon, I was carried to this island. I am not so old now as I was then. Every morning a bird brings me a fireberry from the valleys in the Sun, and each fireberry takes away a little of my age. And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday, then I shall take my rising again... and once more tread the great dance. Pg. 180

This is a picturesque treatment of our theme, but I think it does evoke some of the wonder of ‘shining like a star forever’. A little later in Ramandu’s narrative he tells the crew of the ship what they must do in order to un-enchant their mates, who have been put into a deep sleep. They will face great danger, but there is also the promise of Glory:

“Every man that comes with us shall bequeath the title ‘Dawn Treader’ to all his descendants - and when we land at Cair Paravel on the homeward voyage he shall have either gold or land enough to make him rich all his life” ( Pg. 185).

There is suffering ahead, but also the opportunity to Shine forever. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul echoes this heavenly theme, tying it to the Resurrection:

"The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable." (1 Corinthians 15:41-42 NIV)

Now recall Daniel 12:2, 3:
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

In the Resurrection, Shining like the stars forever and ever is the reward for being wise and turning many to righteousness. Even, better, by ‘holding fast to the word of life’ and acting faithfully, the children of God ‘shine like stars in the universe’ now. They (we) become “Luminaries of the Cosmos” (Philippians 2:15, 16). Paul tells the Philippians to hold on “so that in the day of Christ – the Resurrection - [he] may be proud that [he] did not run in vain or labor in vain. He is willing ‘to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of [their] faith (v.17) because of the reward he anticipates when Christ appears.

Now, like Paul, I am eager that every one of us Saints in All Saints Anglican Church should shine ‘like a luminaries of the Cosmos’ – both now and in the Resurrection. How is this to happen? By being faithful in our Christian walk and by ‘turning many to righteousness.”

And how are we to turn many to righteousness? Is it not through helping people to know and love Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? – Through fulfilling the Great Commission – through making disciples of all nations?

Yes it is! Isn’t that Great?! …

Yes – with the small little caveat that most of us Christians don’t know any non-believers.
It’s not that we may not know of some…It’s that we don’t know them well – spend time with them – or go where they go. And that’s generally because the longer we are Christians, the more likely it is that we hang out with other Christians - either because of our personal preference for like-minded, comfortable people like us – or because we are afraid of the influence of Worldlings – (which is not an unreasonable fear.)

We want to be ‘innocent and blameless’ like Paul says, but by segregating ourselves from the world, we don’t ‘turn many to righteousness.’ (God forbid that we don't do this because WE are Worldlings!)

We must have both if we are to receive the reward that Scripture promises. Just being innocent of evil is not enough to cause us to ‘shine like stars forever’. Our righteousness must result in service to the physical and spiritual needs of those in the world who are perishing – so that they may be ‘turned to righteousness”! Remember the third S in our series: ‘SERVE”?

And here, please understand that we’re not interested in a merely selfish reward – but we are striving for the pleasure of God – for knowing the joy of participating with Him in His redemptive purpose in this world – to bring many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to create a People for Himself, and to enjoy that People forever.

This is the GREAT DANCE that Ramandu was talking about: Bringing all things and people into the joy of knowing and serving God.

And this is where we have got to be willing to consider suffering for the Gospel.
In the United States of America, in 2009, so far, we still have great freedom to talk about our Faith. It’s true that there are some limitations: There are some circumstances in which we cannot speak openly. In the future there may be more. But for right now, the biggest threats we face are Inconvenience and Embarrassment.

It’s just too darn much trouble to go out there and spend time with the un-churched. We prefer to have cozy fellowship with each other, to study something nice – and then go home and live as if none of it matters!

Friends, unless they suddenly started going to First Baptist or Christ Temple last week and we don’t know about it, there are still 75,000 people at home this morning in Cabell County alone!
If we are going to be the Body of Christ, if we are really going to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime, - even if we just want our little church to grow, this is UNACCEPTABLE!

We MUST devout ourselves to reaching the lost! Each of us personally MUST do this!
Why? Because each of us will be personally held responsible by the God of Heaven for this!
And because we have something Wonderful to offer! Jesus! Life with God! Eternal Life beginning RIGHT NOW! Resurrection Life! Peace Freedom!

If we’re not willing to suffer a little discomfort or embarrassment for the sake of Christ and our perishing neighbors can we really call ourselves faithful? Can we really expect to Shine Like Stars forever when our efforts here on Earth for Christ are lackluster?

We have simply got to devote more time to personally reaching out to those around us!
We must find ways of developing enough trust with the ‘church-free’ people out there so that they are willing to hear our story and become inspired to want a relationship with God for themselves. This is our job as Christians: to make disciples - to turn many to righteousness!
That is why I feel an urgent and pressing need to focus our attention during Advent on this very thing. While we are meeting together for fellowship and devotions leading up to Christmas, I challenge us to think of ways that we will begin personal outreach to our neighbors – those in our ‘oikos’ or circle of acquaintances.

This includes those who are already Christians but for some reason have no church, those who are completely lost and have never made Christ Lord of their lives - and perhaps harder, those who are 'Church-Free', disillusioned or fed up with 'Churchianity'. Each one of these groups is ripe for discipleship.

I will warn you that this project will require your time. In a culture like ours, busy and hurried by many pressures and demands on our time, it may actually feel like suffering to give up some of your time for the sake of reaching the lost. But we MUST do it! Reaching out to your neighbors will require getting out of your regular routine and patterns so that you can meet and get to know new people.

Friday a week ago, several of us were picking up trash around the Hope House block. While we were chatting among ourselves, a young woman came up and spontaneously engaged us in conversation. She saw what we were doing and connected with us because she had done something similar in her previous town before moving to Huntington two months prior.
She was very pleasant and talkative and volunteered her email and phone number. So we invited her to come over to Hope House during our work day to see what we are doing there.
Had we not gone out of our way to do something that put us out there beyond our regular routine and comfort zone, we would never have met her. Now, we have the opportunity to begin to know her - and possibly help her to foster a relationship with God. And we'll have to continue to go out of our way to follow-up and try to stay connected.

Of course, this is just an example. There are certainly an almost infinite number of ways to meet and engage the people around you. The point is to do it! In the words of Todd Hunter, newly ordained AMIA missionary Bishop, to become a 'Church for Others".

I am personally committed to helping you in whatever way I can to accomplish this mission. I know that Father Mark and Father Peter are as well. If you need help in writing out your testimony, or need some knowledge you don't have, or you would like to have home Eucharists with your neighbors who don’t go to church - or you want to have an outreach prayer group or bible study – you say the word and we'll do whatever we can to help you make it happen. We cannot do it for you, but we can do it with you!

I think if we are really going to reach out we must multiply the impact of our small groups. For the past three years we have met and talked and studied and fellowshipped together,building up one another and learning more about our Faith. But just as the believers in Jerusalem were forcibly thrust out of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 69,70 AD so we too may need to be thrust out of our comfortable little groups in order to accomplish our mission.

During the upcoming Advent season, I ask you to seriously think about and pray about taking the season between Christmas and Lent to 'do something different' for the Lord. To fore go your small group meetings in order to devote more time to developing your own unique outreach to your neighbors.

Let's listen to what the Lord would have for us, making ourselves available to him, offering yourself to Jesus as an instrument of his love so that we may be wise and turn many to righteousness and so shine like Stars forever and ever!
May God help us and give us the Grace we need! AMEN.