Message 05-13-07
Series: Special
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Title: No Stains, No Learning
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Last week the team you sent to Uganda was worshipping with the community that attends church in Papoli Village. We brought your greetings. We brought the guitar and a new keyboard that came through gifts from our band. And we got to celebrate God’s love with people on the other side of the globe.
I heard a great story that makes me think about our worship time in Papoli.
It took place 3000 miles from here but in the other direction from the way we flew to Uganda. It was in an African-American church in San Francisco. A young man, about 12-13 years old was called on to sing a solo. The way I heard the story, he was “a good two blocks” out of the key set by the organist as he started singing. But as the listener watched the congregation began to encourage the boy calling out their assurance to what he was singing. Then the listener noticed that men in the choir behind the boy were just sitting there, looking to the side, but singing beneath him, encouraging his voice to capture the right key. And ultimately she heard the timid voice grow bolder, more assured and in key.
I don’t use this illustration to suggest that we brought a stronger, healthier sound to the worship we experienced in Papoli. I’m struck by the community gathering with each other to produce a clear expression of the truth. When we’re a little timid about what we have to say about God, it’s great to have a community lending encouragement – saying, we know it too. That’s the truth. Put it out there.
That’s what I believe we were doing out in Papoli, Uganda. We were joining with others believers in the world to express the truth of God.
Where is God? How does God show up? When and how can we see that God cares about the suffering of the people of the planet? When one of us steps forward to say what we believe, it’s great to have the community of faithful standing nearby to encourage us. When we went to Papoli, we were speaking out the truth of God’s presence and love. What we found in Papoli were voices that knew what we were talking about.
I believed therefore I have spoken. I believe therefore I speak. On the wall in my office you’ll find a similar saying to this. I have a framed expression that says, “I believe therefore I act.” I believe therefore I act. It doesn’t matter whether the action is saying something or doing something, like building a school. When I believe there has to be some response, some sign of that in my life.
The thing is that this it doesn’t have to be perfect. We were told that the school building we helped build is the premier primary school in Uganda. This is the best building for elementary-aged children in the country. It didn’t have to be. Some of the money we sent could have been skimmed off. Some of the money could have been used for personal projects of the people, but it wasn’t. The reason the premier primary school is standing in a little bush village in all of Uganda is because a group of men and women of integrity, believers in Jesus, acted both on this side of the ocean and that. It is beautiful.
But suppose we didn’t have the money, suppose we weren’t able to finance the premier school. Suppose the best we could say was that it was clean, dry, with working doors and windows. I believe it would have still been celebrated by the people of Papoli as an act of God. And I believe it would have been an act of God. You see I believe that God also comes alongside of us and sings underneath us as we try to express his truth. I believe that the word of God comes into our voices, under girding our actions, making them stronger than we can make them, but guiding us into an assurance, a stronger voice of our own. God is part of our community. We help each other. We strengthen each other, and God strengthens us as well.
So what does that tells us? It tells us that we don’t have to be afraid. We can make our statement. With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. We can act with first the confidence that the community is on our side. Second that the community will act in support of what we’re doing. When we make our statement of belief – whether it’s the spoken word or some action – the community will get behind it. What does that look like?
Well, there’s a young mom in our church who decided to declare her faith. She told her friends not to buy her birthday gifts for her birthday. Instead she told them to give her a check so that she could build a house for a widow in the village of Papoli. It costs about $500 to build one of the homes that makes a world of difference in the village. The community heard this woman’s voice and they encouraged it. When her birthday came the gifts she received amounted to $3500. Other people were encouraging her. Now I’m not sure that this woman will ever go to Uganda. I don’t think that six months or a year ago I could have coaxed her to actually travel to Uganda, but that didn’t stop her statement of faith. She expressed the desire to build a house and now with a little bit extra that’s needed for each place the $3500 should build not one but six homes.
And so word went to Uganda that money was available to build more homes. We visited one of the grandmothers who is going to receive a new house. The community over there brought her word that a new house was going to be built, but they did more than that. They built her a new hut – a thatched roofed hut that will house her and her six grandchildren until the new house is finished, because the place they’re in is so weak I could push it over probably. The community heard the statement of belief in the voice of the woman in our church and they under girded it by stepping out before the money arrived to build a hut to house the woman. Once the house is finished the hut will become her kitchen.
You see this is how our God works in the world. Paul writes in our scripture today: All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Grace begins flowing. The community joins together. And what does he go on to say?
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
When we were driving to Papoli I noticed an advertisement. It was for a detergent called Omo. The slogan was “No Stains, No Learning.” I liked that. “No Stains. No Learning.” I have seen the signs when I went to Uganda before but I started thinking about them this week.
Essentially what the company is saying is if you don’t let your child get outside and play, your child is not going to learn how the world works. It’s saying, stains on clothes from playing outside are okay… we can take care of the stains, so let your child get outside and play and learn and grow.
I think that speaks to the heart of our Scripture for today. “Though outwardly we are wasting away [or getting “stained by getting out and into it”], yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles [our “stains”] are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
What is seen… you can see the grass stains on kids clothes but those are only temporary. What is unseen… the lessons of life are forever.
No stains. No learning.
If we’re going to live with the Spirit of God we have to get out and play in the world. We need to get out with the Holy Spirit and live life as a Christian. Until we put ourselves in a position where God can really work, we won’t ever find the really interesting part of being a Christian. Until we put ourselves in a position where God can really work, we won’t ever find the really interesting part of being a Christian. Until we not only believe but act, say or do something that expresses that belief, we’re not going to see God at work.
If you’re ever bored with being a Christian, if it ever seems humdrum or not very exciting then you may not getting outside and messing around with God.
You know, we met the king of the tribe, we met members of Ugandan Parliament and we got to see the parliament building, we met the Archbishop of Uganda, the bishop and the archdeacon of the diocese of the Bukadi district. Over 2500 people showed up to celebrate the new school and over 650 children will be attending this school, but for me one of the coolest part of the trip was seeing that hut built by the community for that widow.
It made me feel like someone was singing with me. That’s the way I felt with Ryan and Jeff and Roger. I felt like someone was singing with me making my voice stronger, singing me into key. That’s the way I feel with you all.
I’m going to try to put together $25000 over this next year to build two dormitories so that this can be a boarding school where children can stay and learn and grow. And I’m going to try to put together another $10000 to get a machine that will produce copies because the school can use both of these things – the dorms and the machine to make money to sustain the school. One of the fundamental parts of our involvement in Papoli is that the work doesn’t need us to support it into the future. We expect it to stand on its own, fully built, owned and operated by the community.
Think about what you will say about your belief, about what you believe. What will that look like and will you say it loud enough so that others will be able to help you, to sing along with you? I believe therefore I speak. I believe therefore I act.
Speak. Act. Sing.
