A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

I Believe

John 9:35-41, Preached by Tom Lacey at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, June 11, 2006

A pastor, sensing that God was calling the church to a whole new vision of its future, called the elders together. He presented this new vision with as much energy, conviction and passion as he could muster. After he had finished and sat down, the senior elder called for a vote. All 12 elders voted against the new step, with only the pastor supporting it, 12 to 1. "Pastor, it looks like you will have to think again," said the senior elder. "Would you like to close our meeting in prayer?" So the pastor stood, raised his hand to heaven, and prayed: "LOOOOOOORD!...will you not show these people that this is not MY vision but it is YOUR vision!" At that moment, the sky darkened, thunder rolled, and a streak of lightning burst through the window, incinerated their meeting table and threw the pastor and all the elders to the floor. After a brief silence, as they all got up and dusted themselves off, the senior elder spoke up: "Well now that makes it 12 to 2."

Some people just have a hard time believing. I bet you don’t believe I can read your mind. That’s right. As you are sitting there I am able to read what you are thinking inside of your very impressive cranium. You don’t believe it? Let’s do a test. Matter of fact, not only can I read your minds but I can make you all think the same thought, which of course makes life easier for a mind-reader such as myself. Are you ready? Think of a number from 1 to 10 . . . Multiply that number by 9 . . . If the number is a 2-digit number, add the digits together . . . Now subtract 5 . . . Determine which letter in the alphabet corresponds to the number you ended up with (example: 1=a, 2=b, 3=c, etc.) . . . Think of a country that starts with that letter. . . . Remember the last letter of the name of that country. . . . Think of the name of an animal that starts with that letter. . . . Remember the last letter in the name of that animal. . . . Think of the name of a fruit that starts with that letter. . . . Tell me you're not thinking of a kangaroo eating an orange in Denmark! You believe now, don’t you?

It’s funny about believing. Sometimes it is the easiest thing to do, to believe something is true or believe in something. Other times it is the most difficult. It is so easy to believe your baby is the cutest in the world, even if, well, you’ve seen the baby that mom thinks is so adorable, and the poor little thing looks more like an alien Winston Churchill than the Gerber baby. Then there are times when you want to believe that today is the day when your fortune changes, but the weight of past disappointments presses too hard. Believing is hard when all we have is belief, when hope has disappointed before. We are not good at waiting, but it is precisely this part of belief that is the most important. “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Is. 40.31 So believe, and wait for the best which is yet to come. Hold on to your beliefs. Be strong and full of courage for the Lord will surely answer.

What we want to see today is that believing is seeing what others can not or will not see. It is being an encourager when others are discouraged. It is hoping when others are moping. Believing gives us x-ray vision that lets us see through the physical body of this world and into the spiritual heart of God’s creation. Believing isn’t a matter of brainpower; it’s a matter of soul power. Now not all beliefs are built the same, nor are they equal. Listen to these three beliefs of youngsters, who for the most part have grown out of them. My dad once told me that when the bells rang in church it meant that Jesus noticed some child misbehaving and was getting angry at them. Whenever the bells rang and I was bored or being bad I was convinced that Jesus had noticed that I was not paying attention and was mad at me. So I would immediately sit up and attempt to be on my best behavior. When the bells rang and I knew that I was not misbehaving I always looked around and attempted to find the other child that Jesus was reprimanding. To this day bells still kinda put me on edge. And this one: 'God is always watching' my mother would tell me endlessly as a child. I always wondered how many televisions God would watch simultaneously and did he ever get bored simply watching me washing my teeth, so I would dance around to entertain him so he wouldn't get bored. Finally, at mass, when the congregation said - "Thanks Be to God" I thought they were actually saying - "Thanks Peter God" My father's name is Peter. It bothers me that I never really questioned why everyone thought my dad was God.

Our scripture this morning gives us the easiest and most succinct profession of faith we have. “I believe.” I believe. Can you hear the power in these two words? Say them: I believe. It almost doesn’t matter what you believe. So first of all, believe in at least believing. I encourage you to start with these two words. Simply on their own, they cause us to stand taller. When you say them they will show you the way to a bedrock of courage and conviction. Now of course we want to get beyond this. With these two as your beginning, add on the subject that means the most to you, for example: I believe in love. I believe Jesus is Lord and loves me. I believe in hard work. I believe that I will live sober. I believe in God’s will for me.  The blind man in the story believed that Jesus was the Son of Man, the one coming from God, who was to be Messiah and worshiped. This is where our belief is to be as Christians. As it says in the letter to the Romans, “Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” Rom. 10.9-10 I love this scripture because it expresses a diversity of ways to your belief and faith. It says that the introvert who believes in the heart, but still has trouble with the words for whatever reason, is accepted in her faith. And it says that the one who can stand up and pronounce out loud the Christian faith is of course saved too. We don’t all have to look and sound alike to be called into God’s family in Jesus Christ. We have different gifts but it is the same Spirit that gives us our gifts. Just make sure you use your gifts for God and for good. So don’t be down because your faith isn’t as verbal as other super-Christians. Faith in the heart is to have the love of Christ where it counts. Let your heart tell your story and your belief will save you in times of need and in the age to come.

Today’s world however is not just a world of belief. We live in a world of science as well as a world of belief. Science is different than belief. Beliefs you really can’t prove whether they are true. One person’s belief can be opposite to someone else’s, but there really is no objective way to determine which one is true. That’s why we have done a lot of killing over the last thousands of years in the name of beliefs. But our world is also complex because of science, and it is also good because of science. It’s both, complex and good. You see, science can be an arbiter of conflicting beliefs, which is very good. It’s like having a ref or an umpire decide for us. One person says the sun orbits the earth; another says the earth orbits the sun. And this is a life or death issue. Science can provide a calming answer.

But our world today is also more complex, since sometimes science and beliefs can be in conflict. Evolution or not?  A lot of people in our country want to believe in the Bible and not believe in science. But science really doesn’t work on belief. The fact is we know for certain how old fossils are and how old the earth is. When it comes to the book of Genesis and evolution, no matter how nice it might for the issues of fossils and the almost unimaginable age of the earth to disappear, the truth is the truth. Believing something is true even after objective scientific analysis has returned with conclusive results doesn’t make someone more religious than others who have accepted science’s hard work, just more stuck.  After all, if it’s true, then it’s the truth—and it’s the way God created his creation. We don’t decide these things. God did. We have to adjust to God’s truth in all realms of life, not just the ones that make us feel comfortable. Children should not be taken out of public schools because they teach science and science holds to evolution as a fundamental theory about the origin of species. Denial and anger aren’t healthy responses. Look, the Catholic Church was very upset at Galileo when he wrote that the earth orbited around the sun rather than what it believed had to be true—the sun orbited around the earth. But we have all been able to deal with this significant change in perspective. We have to be able to find a way to make science and belief coexist. God certainly has been able to deal with both.

When the Genesis stories of the creation of the universe, earth, animals and humankind were written, the people believed they were created this way. These were there stories. They of course couldn’t take them as scientific explanations because there was no science at the time. But even back then the historical contradiction that is obvious in the two stories would have been apparent to those who were paying attention. You and I are aware of it: In the first story, Genesis 1, birds, fish, and animals are created before humankind. This is to show the superiority of this final creation, we are at the top of the ever ascending ladder. In the second, Genesis 2, man is created first, then the animals; and Adam names the animals, which expresses his power over them. This also shows the superiority of humankind to the animals. Of course the most important point is that nobody really fit for Adam and so a special creature had to be created straight from Adam, which shows the significance love, companionship, and relationship entail between Adam and Eve, between one’s life and love partner. But so what if the first story starts with animals and ends with human and the second one turns things the other way. We instinctively understand that the message is one and the same. The historical order isn’t the truth. Nobody today or yesterday gets hung up on this because everybody hears the message, the gospel, the truth: God created us special and has a special relationship to us. No science can prove or disprove this. This is belief. The bottom line is this: there is divine truth that science can’t touch and there is belief that science can correct. Let us have faith that is strong enough to accept the truth that comes through the scientific realm. This truth help us know what God’s creation truly is.
          The story is told about a smart young college student who announced to a group of friends one day that he would believe nothing that he could not understand. Another student, who lived on a nearby farm, turned to him and said: “As I was driving into campus today, I passed a field in which some sheep were grazing. Do you believe it?” “Sure,” replied first student. “Not far from the sheep,” the second student said, “some calves were browsing. Do you believe it?” “Yes,” the first student replied. “And not too far down the road a gaggle of geese were feeding. Do you believe it?” the second student said. “I guess so,” said the first student. “Well,” said the second student, “the grass that the sheep ate will turn into wool; the grass that the calves ate will turn into hair; and the grass that the geese ate will turn into feathers. Do you believe this?” “Ummm, ... yes, I do,” the first student said.
“But do you understand it?” “Not really,” the first student said, somewhat puzzled. “You know,” declared the second student, “if you live long enough, you will find that there are a great many things that you will believe without understanding.”

So now believe, and by believing please God. Believe the Lord lives and believe the Lord rewards those who like you have faith. This is a faith you can count on. 

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