Sermon June 22 "Hold On To Jesus"

THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Lectionary 12A

June 22, 2014

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Psalm 69:7-18

Romans 6:1b-11

Matthew 10:24-39

Pastor David Tryggestad

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church

Duluth, Minnesota

As I thought about our Gospel text for today, a song came to my mind. It’s a song that was taught to me by the youth director at another church I was serving at the time. The chorus sings:

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

The songwriter is Steven Curtis Chapman. Some years after he wrote this song, his five-year-old daughter, Maria, was killed in their driveway. Chapman’s teenage son was coming home in their van and evidently the little girl was running out to greet him.

Steven Curtis Chapman knows about the “things that are fleeting . . .”

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me . . .” (Matthew 10:37).

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

A 27-year-old Sudanese woman was recently sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce her Christianity. Prior to her death sentence, she was also sentenced to receive a whipping of 100 lashes for adultery. Her marriage to a Christian man was considered adulterous, as the non-Christian religion of her father insists that she must marry a man of her father’s faith, even though she herself embraces Christianity.

“For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother . . . and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household” (Matthew 10:35).

Congratulations to those among us who ran one of the races during the Grandma’s Marathon weekend! Regardless of distance, each race represents hundreds of hours of training and determination. You are all to be commended. Congratulations and Thank You, too, to those who helped make the weekend a success, especially the thousands of volunteers. Duluth is at its best in showing hospitality to the runners who come from around the world.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith . . . (Hebrews 12:1-2a)

Every Grandma’s Marathon weekend I think of the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire based on the story of the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Eric Liddell of Great Britain was the favorite to win the 100 meter race. He had never lost a 100 meter race. He was also a devout Christian with aspirations of becoming a missionary in China. Liddell famously said, “God made me fast, and when I run I feel his pleasure.” When he learned that the finals for the 100 meters were scheduled for a Sunday—the Sabbath—Liddell refused to run, despite strong pressure from the Prince of Whales and the British Olympic Committee. He felt that to run the race on the Sabbath would be a violation of his Christian convictions. His refusal to run captivated international headlines.

Rather than running, Liddell delivered a sermon at the Scottish Church in Paris, in which he quoted Isaiah 40: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”   

As it turned out, a teammate who had won the gold medal in the 400 meter hurdles was also scheduled to run the 400 meter race the following Thursday. He offered his place to Liddell, who accepted. Though Liddell was a sprinter and 100 meters was his specialty, he surprised the world—and himself—by winning the gold in the 400 meter race.

Shortly before the 400 meter race began, an American handed Liddell a piece of paper on which was written a verse from Scripture: “Those who honor me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30).

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven . . .” (Matthew 10:32).

Eric Liddell went on to become a missionary in China, like his parents before him, and he married a fellow missionary. During WWII, when the Japanese waged war against China, Liddell arranged for his two daughters and his wife, pregnant with the third daughter, to leave China. Liddell stayed behind. His mission was eventually overrun by the Japanese and he was sent to an internment camp, where he continued to teach Bible classes and help with the elderly. When a prisoner exchange was arranged by Winston Churchill between England and Japan, Liddell gave up his opportunity to return to his wife and children, instead offering his place to a pregnant woman. Liddell died in the camp at age 43. He never saw his youngest daughter.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter [and we might add ‘spouse’] more than me is not worthy of me . . .” (Matthew 10:37).

“Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 20:39).

Our prophet Jeremiah knew the cost of holding on to his convictions even in the face of personal suffering and tragedy. At times it seems he would walk away from his convictions if only he could, but he protests that God has enticed him and has overpowered him: “O Lord, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me and you have prevailed” (Jeremiah 20:7a).

Even if he wishes to abdicate his convictions and his commitment to God, he cannot. Jeremiah protests: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9).

That burning fire of Jeremiah is the burning fire of the call and claim of God on our lives. That burning fire prioritizes and directs everything else in our lives. That burning fire brings to light all that is hidden. That burning fire is devotion to Jesus above devotion to anyone or anything else in our lives. That burning fire is what enlightened and emboldened Eric Liddell, not only as a runner but as a missionary. That burning fire is what gave the Sudanese woman sentenced to death the courage to hold to her convictions. That burning fire is what has sustained Steven Curtis Chapman to go on from the devastation of his little daughter’s tragic death to continue to write songs of love and devotion to his Lord.

I will hold on to the hand of my Savior

And I will hold on with all of my might.

I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting

And hold on to Jesus,

I will hold on to Jesus for life.

Our Song of the Day sings similar sentiments:

My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like you. . . .

Nothing compares to the promise I have in you. (“Shout to the Lord,” ELW 821)

Thanks be to God. Amen.