Weekly Sermon

February 22, 2002 - "Olympic Faith"

The Reverend Anne Benefield

Geneva Presbyterian Church

Luke 13: 10 - 13 and Acts 3: 1 - 10

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o'clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk." And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Prayer: Open us, Dear Lord, to the healing message of this scripture in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Earlier in Acts we read that the disciples were performing wonders and signs. This is the first actual story of a miracle performed by Jesus' followers following the birth of the church on Pentecost. In some ways it is great to hear the story of a miracle performed by a disciple, it also makes me uncomfortable. Miracles like this one confuse me. I don't ever see miracles like this except perhaps on television, and those are suspect. So I come before you to preach on this miracle with no small trepidation. Why don't we see miracles like the ones in the Bible? I think there is a good reason. The miracle we just read about was a 1st century miracle, but we live in the 21st century. We should be looking for 21st century miracles. There are all kinds of miracles happening all the time, but we are so used to them that we forget they are miracles. In medicine there are miracles of healing every day. In science there are miracles of understanding taking place. In technology there are miracles of productivity happening all the time. Have you heard story of Rebecca Yim? Rebecca is the daughter of Chris, who was the pastor of this church. I'm not good at describing medical situations, but even before birth Rebecca was experiencing seizures. By the time she was 6 years old, she was having hundreds of seizures daily. Medicine couldn't help. Then last year, a week or so after Easter, Ben Carson, the famous pediatric surgeon, performed a hemispherectomy, where they removed the right half of Rebecca's brain. The amazing thing is that when you remove half the brain, the rest of the brain compensates. Rebecca's recovery from the surgery has been incredible. She is back in public school and taking ballet lessons! My favorite story about Rebecca is when she went to a restaurant soon after she was released from the hospital. Her head was shaven and, of course, she had a huge incision. The waitress was taken back and said without thinking, "What happened to you, honey?" Rebecca told the truth. She said, "A miracle!" Even though it took place 2000 years ago, the story of the healing at the Beautiful Gate has something to teach us. It begins with Peter and John going into the Temple for the 3:00 prayers. The disciples did not stop being Jews because of Christ. As a matter of fact, they remained observant Jews and spent a great deal of time at the Temple. From this story, we can see that the first step toward taking part in a miracle is faith-faith practiced through regular worship, prayer, fellowship, and Bible study. You can't miss that message as you read Acts. The early disciples practiced their faith. They practiced their faith like an athlete practices for the game. The Winter Olympics are spellbinding. I've not had a chance to watch much of them but on Thursday night, after everyone else was in bed, I turned on the television to watch the skating. I thought I would just watch for a minute. Two hours later, around mid-night, I was watching Sarah Hughes receive her gold medal. I hadn't moved from the couch. Even during the commercials I stayed put because I didn't want to miss a single moment. What these athletes achieve is marvelous. Yet it shouldn't surprise us. They pour all their energy into practice. I just kept thinking, "What would happen if we put the discipline and love into our faith that a girl like Sarah Hughes puts into her skating?" She defines herself as a skater. In the same way, God calls us to define ourselves as Christians. Being a Christian isn't a weekend hobby. It is a discipline that takes practice, practice, and practice. Peter and John were probably going to pray for the fourth time that day. They probably prayed at 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., noon, and now they were on the way to pray at 3:00 p.m. Olympic athletes wouldn't think of going into a race or a game without training. Church is where we train for our race. It takes worship, study, prayer, and fellowship to have Olympic faith. The next thing that happens in the story is that the lame man asks Peter and John for money. They look intently at him and said, "Look at us." I always read that to mean, "Look at us. Do we look like we have money to give away?" But in the Bible study last Sunday, most people felt like it was something like "Look here. I have something important to say." Either way, the result is that Peter, John, and the man who was lame looked at each other, intently. In some cultures people believe that a person doesn't exist until they are seen. Therefore, they greet each other with the words, "I see you." We may not realize it, but we do the same thing. It starts very early when we play "peek-a-boo." A central tenet of our faith is that in the eyes of Christ every person has dignity and value. First, the man who is lame asked for money. Next, Peter, John, and the man looked into each other's eyes so that they are no longer strangers. Then Peter says, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk." Peter reaches down and raises the healed man. Peter didn't have money, but what he had was much greater. Through the Holy Spirit, he had been given the gift of healing. There were many spiritual gifts that Peter did not have. He generally lacked the spiritual gift of wisdom. There were even times when he didn't seem to have the gift of faith. But it is clear in this story that Peter had the spiritual gift of healing. We, too, have been given spiritual gifts. The important thing is to uncover our gifts so that we can glorify the Lord. On Saturday, March 9, I will be leading a workshop on finding your spiritual gifts. There is a sign up sheet on the kiosk in the Narthex. I encourage you to sign up. In his book Miracle on Boswell Road, John Eades tells a true story that he calls "Rudy's Field of Dreams." Here is that story: Rudy Tucker often was called crazy, but he wasn't really, just slow…He lived alone in a two-room cabin, about fifteen miles from town, and did odd jobs for the local farmers when they needed him…. Life was not glamorous for Rudy, but he got by okay because his neighbors had good hearts and intentions. He couldn't count money, but nobody cheated him, especially Mr. Hargrove at the general store… One night, Rudy put on his best overalls and drove to the Ritz theater at the downtown square, where he saw the movie "Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner. It was a story about a man who built a baseball field in a cornfield in Iowa. 'If you build it, they will come' was a line in the movie that stuck in Rudy's head like a tire in mud. At the movie's end, when thousands of cars were shown driving toward the ballpark so far out in the country, he leapt to his feet and began to clap and cheer until the usher had to come and shine his flashlight on him to calm him down. After that movie, Rudy Tucker was never the same. He started picking up abandoned bricks and putting them in the bed of his truck and taking them home, where he'd unload them out behind his cabin. He knew where every fireplace was left standing where a house had burned down, and he'd go there and take it down brick by brick, using hammer and chisel, and load it on his truck. He tore down old, abandoned brick walls, and after a while, word got around that Rudy would come get any old brick that anyone didn't want… It was Mr. Hargrove who was the first to wonder where Rudy had been. He hadn't seen him in about two whole weeks. Late one Tuesday afternoon he drove out to Rudy's little place to see if he was all right. Driving up the dirt road, he saw Rudy laying bricks using mud from a wheelbarrow as mortar. He pulled up and tooted his horn, but Rudy was so intent with what he was doing, he didn't even stop. Mr. Hargrove got out of his car and had to walk over and touch Rudy on his shoulder to get his attention… Mr. Hargrove asked, "What in the world are you building, Rudy?" 'Oh, I'm building something big! You know what they say, Mr. Hargrove, "If you build it they will come".' Rudy enthusiastically replied. 'Where did you get that, Rudy?' Mr. Hargrove asked… 'I saw that movie and that man said it. So it must be so. That's why I'm building it.' 'What's the 'it', Rudy; what are you building?' Mr. Hargrove gently asked. 'Well, Mr. Hargrove, one day I was at your store and I heard you tell Mrs. Steele that we needed a new church and maybe, if we got one, more folks would start coming. So I'm building a new church, Mr. Hargrove. If you build it, they will come, you know. Besides, if is was right here, I could come to church all the time and wouldn't never run out of gas.' Mr. Hargrove could only stand there is stunned silence. 'Wait, I have something else to show you!' Rudy cheerfully piped up, then went behind a head-high stack of bricks. When Rudy reappeared, he had a huge cross made of railroad ties and was carrying it across his back. Mr. Hargrove looked at Rudy Tucker as he struggled toward him with the heavy timbers. The setting sun behind Rudy made him a shadow figure as he hurried toward Mr. Hargrove. The innocence of it all overwhelmed Mr. Hargrove, and the scene was one of such beauty that he had to choke back tears. 'That's a mighty fine-looking cross, Rudy,' he softly uttered, and Rudy's smile began replacing the fading sun. 'Maybe you're right,' he continued, 'if you build it, they will come. If that's your dream, Rudy, don't give up on it. Maybe someday it will become a reality'… Mr. Hargrove began to tell his customers about Rudy Tucker's dream. At first, they pretty much figured this only proved Rudy was indeed crazy. On Monday, Mr. Ely Sanders, who owned a cement place, said that mud wouldn't hold those bricks together in any kind of wind. Mr. Hargrove agreed, shrugged his shoulders, and said it was a shame that Rudy was too poor to afford mortar for his bricks. Mr. Sanders said maybe the least he could do was tote a few bags up there on Saturday. On Tuesday, Mr. Morley, a retired construction worker, said you had to lay a good foundation and frame a building if you expected it to look decent. Mr. Hargrove agreed and said it might even be a decent thing for a man with time on his hands to do. Mr. Morley said he had a bunch of lumber and tools lying around doing nothing, so he asked for directions to Rudy's and said he might just drop by there on Saturday. Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Tyler, a concrete finisher, heard about Rudy when Mr. Hargrove kindly reminded him of what Christ had said about a house built on a bad foundation. 'Rudy sure could use an expert's help,' Mr. Hargrove said, putting his hands on his hips and staring at Mr. Tyler. It was Thursday when a young couple, new in town, heard about Rudy. They said they could help lay brick; and come Friday, seven men from the church figured that maybe God had sent His vision to Rudy because they had been too self-centered and lazy to listen. 'Guilt sure is an awful thing,' Mr. Hargrove chimed in, and they supposed that Rudy could use some helpers. Saturday morning a small caravan of cars and trucks wound its way up the dirt road to Rudy's little two-room cabin. The next Saturday, following a story in the small local newspaper, a much larger line of cars and trucks traveled up the same road. Saturday after Saturday, more and more people came to help. Before long the church began to take shape. One after another, good people began to donate materials and money and time and talent… One day, as the church neared completion, Rudy sidled up beside Mr. Hargrove and said, 'Mr. Hargrove, I believe I was wrong.' 'Wrong about what?' Mr. Hargrove inquired. 'Well,' Rudy softly said, 'I always thought if you built it, they would come, but that's not true. I know now if they come, they will build it.' Mr. Hargrove nodded his head in agreement. He saw the reality of the church and realized that it was the result of the faith of a simple man that had inspired the others to become smart enough to follow his lead. [John Eades, Miracle on Boswell Road, (Uhrichsville, Ohio: Promise Press, 2000) p. 27-34] There are all kinds of miracles and we have all kinds of gifts to make them happen in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.