Dr. Dale Miller with High School Seniors, Amelia Lepping and Loren Evola

February 4, 2007

Are We a Non-Prophet Organization?

Jeremiah 1:4-10 

There was a child who was born in Port Huron, Michigan, quite some time ago. He was enrolled in school at the normal time, but withdrew three months later. School officials considered him to be backward. His IQ was estimated to be about 80. He was also a sickly child. Scarlet fever and respiratory infections kept him from going back to school for another two years.

He was going deaf and his emotional health was poor. He was stubborn and withdrawn. But he did like mechanical things. He also liked to play with fire. He burned down his father's barn accidentally. Despite his severe limitations, limitations that would make almost anyone give up on a child; he decided that he'd like to be either a railroad mechanic or a scientist. Port Huron is now quite proud to let the world know this boy grew up there. His name was Thomas Alva Edison.

Scientists say that even the most brilliant and productive of us only use about 5% of the power and capacity of our brains. How do we tap the powers and possibilities within each of us? What holds us back from becoming what we are truly intended to be? What fears do we hold on to that block our ability to fully respond to all of life?

We saw and heard from the youth this morning several interview responses to the question: "What do youth fear the most?" We heard their mostly one-word responses: "Embarrassment;" "Failing;" "Not being liked;" "Not being accepted;" and more.

Jeremiah had a fear, too. He was afraid of public speaking. God called him. God doesn't call Jeremiah for committee work or to organize a stewardship drive. God calls Jeremiah to prophesy to the nations. Jeremiah didn't like the call. His response was, "I'm only a boy." As a boy, God still wanted to use him, but Jeremiah had too many fears that prevented him from responding to God.

This morning I have asked two young ladies to help me with this sermon. First, allow me to call Loren Evola forward.

Loren, we have heard how the students responded about the fears that youth are facing today. How do you think youth overcome their fears?

Loren: Once they figure out what they fear, youth overcome fears in many different ways both positive and negative. Communication is key to overcoming any obstacle that one may encounter. It is important to surround yourself with positive influences. You also need to keep yourself busy with music, physical activity, school, work, and clubs. If in doubt, seek advice. Being surrounded by negative influences could lead to drug and alcohol usage to escape fear. As a congregation, we need to make sure that we are supporting each other and are open to everyone's fears.

All of us here today should be able to resonant with the feelings of these youth. We understand that God commissions all of us. We are called to be a prophetic people. It's all pretty basic. From our baptism we have been commissioned to speak and to act. Whether fidgety, bawling babies, or maturing youth, or confessing adults, our baptism is about being set aside for ministry - faithful discipleship in deed and word.

Let me ask you another question, Loren. Do you think the same things that work for youth in overcoming their fears could also work for adults?

Loren: Yes I think that adults can overcome their fears in similar ways that youth do because they often have comparable fears. I feel like many times they're too caught up in their careers or family life to take time for themselves and revisit a hobby. I also feel like adults are timid to confide in others for guidance and advice, and they feel like they have all of the answers. We will never have all of the answers, so as a congregation we need to make sure not to pass judgment and open our arms to anyone who is fearful and seeking help. We have a lot to teach each other about overcoming our fears.

Thank you, Loren.

If God were to speak to us and give us a vision of our potential for God's Kingdom, what might we use to defeat ourselves before we have even started?

I surely hope that none of our youth will say, "I am only a youth." There was a youth who didn't know the words "I am only." He came up with an idea and turned his parent's garage into a factory, starting his own company. Within a decade and a half, he changed the way the entire world works. His name is Steve Jobs. The company he began in his folks' garage is Apple Computer. Then there is eighteen-year-old Sophie Christiansen, triple European Champion Paralympian Dressage (Horseback Riding). Born with cerebral palsy, what if she had said, "I am only a physically challenged youth?"

We can take those three words, "I am only," and apply them to other areas of our lives, other places and situations where we have tremendous potential to make a difference were it not for those words that destroy. How many possibilities have we canceled? How many opportunities have we lost? How many times have we missed being what God intends us to be because we began our response to God's call with the words, "But God, we are only...?"

Let's get rid of the "I am onlys." We can be anything God calls us to be. God says to Jeremiah, "Do not say, I am only a youth. You must go everywhere I send you and say whatever I command you. Don't be afraid of anyone, because I am with you and I will rescue you."

I am asking Amelia Lepping to join me. "Amelia, God calls us to be a person of grace in the name of Jesus Christ. It is not always easy. How does God help youth live out their faith, even when it is scary to do so?

Amelia: A lot of times it can be very scary to express your faith, especially as a teenager. Some people, not really meaning it in a bad way will say, oh they're to young to understand, and furthermore it's not exactly "cool" for a teenager to express they're faith. But we do have faith and we are not too young to understand it. So in terms of God helping us live out our faith I think we need to first understand that God calls us all in different ways and for different purposes. He will never give us more than we can handle. Think of it like this, God doesn't just type up one letter, make a million copies, and send them to people. God writes a million different letters, or he might just knock on your door, give you a call, or maybe for some of us teenagers send us e-mail. But he gets a hold of us all in different ways. And though it can be scary to live out our faith and do what God asks I think the easiest way to get through it is to simply open that letter, answer the phone, or get the door because once we do we'll find that all the answer needed to guide us are there. So the key is to trust in God, he will guide us and call us all in our own way to live out and express our faith.

This is a good word to hear. God does more than command us to respond. God gives us something to speak about and live out in Jesus Christ. Just as Jeremiah received his prophetic Word when God touches his mouth, so God gives us the Word of Life in Jesus Christ. God also gives us each other as the Body of Christ. Amelia, how does God help youth and adults to live out their faith together?

Amelia: Well there are many ways in everyday life that youth and adults have opportunities to live out their faith together. I personally have seen this most through my work on ASP, or Appalachia Service Project, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with or have at least heard of. This is where youth and adults go down to the Appalachia region and spend a week rebuilding homes, discussing our faith, and getting to know the families of the homes we work on. All of the experiences I have had on ASP have been wonderful and have truly shown me how youth and adults can come together over faith and I would recommend an experience like that to everyone. However, in terms of everyday life you just never know when faith will be expressed but when you least expect it, it will happen.

Thank you, Amelia. We are blessed to have two high school seniors as articulate as these young ladies.

In the early 1960s a scene took place at a Freedom House in Mississippi during the civil rights struggles. A small group of young Christians decided to join the civil rights movement. When they showed up at the Freedom House, they were asked, "Why are you here?" The answer came back in profound simplicity: "Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead." We have been called by God; charged to act and to speak with the Word of God, Jesus Christ. That Word needs to be spoken today by everyone, youth and adults.

To youth imprisoned in cycles of consumeristic conformity, peer pressure, academic pressure, and fear of being unsuccessful in life, there is a word of resurrection in Jesus Christ. To adults trapped in the pursuit of wealth, power and status, there is a word of resurrection in Jesus Christ. As the sign in front of church tells us: "Making a living is different from making a life." God gives us a new life in Jesus Christ.

God also promises to be with us. That's good news. Speaking the Gospel in a world bent upon destruction is dangerous. Jeremiah got prison. Jesus got crucified. We may get our own cross to carry as well. Yet God is always sure to give God's prophets hope. It is the hope of the risen Jesus that gives us the presence we need. Whatever we are called to do by God, we never do alone. We have the presence of God in the presence of each other. That makes all the difference in the world.

One day in an elementary school art class the children were working with clay. One little girl did a nice job of molding a person with wings. She held it up for everyone to see and said, "I made an angel!" Then she took her angel and quickly molded it back into a ball and asked everyone, "Now, what is this?" Most of the kids thought it wasn't much of anything, but one guessed, "A ball?" "Nope," she said, "It's a hiding angel."

The next day was parent's day at the school and the children were showing their parents around the classroom. One little boy passed the bench where that ball of clay from the day before was sitting. He pointed to it and tugged on his mother's sleeve: "You know what that is, Mom? It's a hiding angel!" We can only imagine the mother's reaction.

We have the presence of God in Jesus Christ within us, waiting to be released. We will release this faith when, like Jeremiah, we discover that rather than only a youth, or only a woman, or only an elderly adult, or only an adult without financial security, we can say, "We are the children of God. Before we were born we were set apart for something good and beautiful and true. God has touched us. God has empowered us. God guides us to become what we are really meant to be."

To believe this about ourselves is to open wide the doors of tremendous powers and possibilities. No one would ever have predicted good things from Thomas Edison, but I doubt that the words "I am only" ever came from his lips. Maybe no one would ever predict good things from us, but God intends differently.

As we receive communion this morning, the bread and juice will touch our lips. Once and for all we will remove the words that hold us back. We will never again say to anyone, especially to ourselves, "I am only." Today we say, "We are the children of God."