A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack on August 7, 2011

at the First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore, Texas.

"Do You Have What It Takes?"

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

Do I have what it takes?

Whenever I hear this question, I am reminded of my years as a Boy Scout. I did all the Boy Scout stuff: knot tying, how to properly use axes and saws, how to build a fire, how to cook meals for my patrol and more. Learning these skills was challenging but doable. I also did a great deal of difficult stuff that tested me physically, mentally and spiritually: strenuous backpacking trips, overnight canoe trips, building wooden foot bridges, earning my lifesaving merit badge, and serving as a patrol leader and eventually as senior patrol leader of my troop.

I learned a great deal about myself: my natural gifts and abilities, my character, my potential, working and living with others in a community. It wasn’t easy. There were those cold winter nights camping in a foot of snow when I ran out of dry, warm socks. My brother Andy and I at summer camp tried to learn how to sail a Sunfish having never sailed anything before outside of the bath tub. Let’s just say I’ll always remember to duck when the boat comes about! Through these adventures, through the pain, suffering and difficulties, I learned that I have what it takes.

Whether we are a man or a woman, a boy or a girl regardless of age, when we seek to learn something new or seek to expand our abilities, skills and knowledge, it takes a lot of hard work and discipline; there is suffering and pain. You don’t always see the results right away, but growth and change bubble to the surface.

In our scripture text today, Peter is writing to Gentile Christians in the five Roman provinces of Asia Minor. These Christian communities living in the late 1^st century CE are coming under heavy persecution from the Roman authorities. Peter offers words of encouragement to these new Christians. He wants them to know that they have what it takes to resist "the fiery ordeal" taking place all around them. And not only that, but because of the suffering they are going through, their faith will grow and be strengthened beyond what they could ever thought or imagine. For it is out of suffering things come which the easy way can never bring.

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop once said, "We grow and mature spiritually through adversity – not when everything is going smoothly…In a time of adversity or trouble, the Christian has the opportunity to know God in a special and personal way". Christian suffering is redemptive. When we experience the loss of someone we love, we suffer from the painful void they leave behind. When we desire to live our lives under God’s authority, we suffer the unpopularity and loneliness Christ once experienced. When we seek things that are of God rather than of the world, we suffer and struggle through the growth and maturity of our souls to reach a new place in our relationship with God.

Peter sees the suffering the Christians of Asia Minor are experiencing. Peter recognizes from his own experience what these new Christians are going through and offers them much needed encouragement.

First, Peter says humble yourselves. It is so easy for us to forget who is ultimately in control of our lives. We are led to believe that we are in control. But we’re not. God is guiding the ship of our lives. We must learn and grow to trust Him.

Second, Peter says to cast our anxiety on Him. God wants to help us handle our problems and burdens because God loves us. Because of this we know that life is not out to break us, but to make us. We can accept any circumstances that come are way because we know that God works all things for good for those who love him. (Romans 8:28).

Third, Peter says discipline yourselves and be alert. In our culture, the word discipline is seen with eyes of suspicion and unease; as if discipline was an evil word. Anyone who has trained to run a 5k or a marathon knows that you need to prepare your body and mind for the stamina needed to run a race of any length. The more you run and work out, despite the pain and suffering, the stronger you become. Focus and consistency are necessary ingredients. The same applies to our faith in Christ. If we don’t examine it, question it, and reflect upon it in prayer and with fellow Christians in Sunday School and Bible study, we remain stagnant, cease to grow, and can easily become the devil’s playground.

Fourth, resist the evil one. Every moment of every day we are constantly bombarded with temptations and desires to turn away from God and do our own thing. And Peter, remembering how hard it is to resist the pull of the evil one on our souls, wants to make sure the Christians of Asia Minor fully rely on their faith and belief like a solid stone wall to protect them from evil.

And last, Peter speaks about the meaning of suffering. It is the promise that Christ will do four key things for each of us who have experienced suffering because of Him.

First, in our suffering we are restored: mind, body and spirit. The Greek word for restores means to set a fracture, like a bone, and to mend. To restore us is to bring our various parts back together as one; to mend our brokenness. Second, in our suffering we are supported. It literally means to construct and lay the foundations. We discover the things that are in us that cannot be shaken; upon which our lives are grounded: a solid and sturdy foundation who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Third, in our suffering we are strengthened. Like the runner, we all know that a body builder cannot build strength and stamina unless he or she is committed and disciplined to put in the time and do the necessary work outs. Lifting weights will give you sore muscles. But the more you work out, the stronger your muscles become. Through pain and suffering, you become strong. When you don’t work your muscles and exercise, you become soft and flabby. You lose strength. You become more susceptible to getting sick or not sleeping well. You deteriorate and become weak. Suffering and pain brings strength to our mind, body and spirit. And fourth, in our suffering we are established.

It takes a lot of time and effort to grow new plants. With new plants you really have to look after them (watering daily, mulching around them, proper nutrients) until they become "established", meaning their root systems have taken hold in the surrounding soil and our growing as they were meant to grow. The Greek word for "established" means to make solid as like granite. When we face suffering and hardship, if we are not established, we will collapse under the pressure. If we are established in Christ, we gain strength of character and can become as strong as bedrock.

Helen Keller was once quoted as saying, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved".

All of us have faced hardship. At some point in our life we have suffered. We have all experienced trials and tribulations of all shapes and sizes. Unless I’ve missed my guess, most of us when in the middle of those hardships and trials may have asked, "God, what are you doing? God, why can’t you just fix this now? Lord, why me? How do I begin again? Do I have what it takes to be successful again, to be somebody to someone again, to love and be loved again?" And in those moments of quiet desperation, suffering, and pain; when we’ve cried out to God our many questions of doubt, frustration and hurt, we discover and experience the very essence of faith and hope.

It’s the faith and hope from God in Christ Jesus that restores, supports, strengthens and establishes us to be the men and women God calls us to be. The Greek poet Aeschylus describes the transformation this way, "In our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart and in our despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

Do you and I have what it takes? I believe we do if we are willing to work at it with God’s guidance. I believe we have what it takes to be the people God has called us to be in this time and place. I see the work of the almighty creator here in this sanctuary today. I see the body of Christ whose members are ready and willing to learn, to experience great adventures and challenges, to take on extraordinary tests of strength and courage. I see a room full of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters who are ready and willing to live life with boldness and daring; dreaming new dreams and visions; desiring to test the limits and boundaries of our current perceptions, practices and traditions to discover what we as Christ’s followers are all about. My friends, the Bible says that "God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." (II Timothy 1:7)

Let us go forward this day embracing our trials and sufferings as restored, supported, strengthened and established Christians, "knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint" (Romans 5:3-5) It is with us wherever we go. This IS the Good News! Alleluia! Amen!