May 16, 2010, "The Power to Trust"

Acts 16:16-34

Garrison Keillor story from Civil War … “run toward the river, or run toward the smoke” …

Inspiring stories inspire us … I guess that’s why we call them inspiring.

Think of the word “inspire” … literally, to breath in … something is taken into us, and we walk a little taller … we believe that we could do it.

Yesterday, saw the new Robin Hood.
A story a thousand years old.
But it never grows old.
The story of personal courage.
Sacrifice.
To see an injustice and do something about it.
To see a need and fill it.

We love stories like this:

Something gets inside of us, and opens up a possibility.

Acts chapter 16 … inspiring story …

The heart of the story: Paul and Silas trusted God …
And because of their trust,
They put themselves on the line.
They risked everything for the cause.
The chose the jailor rather than themselves.
They ran toward the smoke!

Women’s Bible Study this week – Abraham Maslov’s hierarchy of need … the bottom line, food and water, physical safety … but those shining moments when we put ourselves out for another, for a cause … when we look risk in the face, and say, “Bring it on” … when we run toward the smoke.
Few of us will ever have a moment like Paul and Silas.
But all of us have our moments …
A choice to make:
Run toward the river, or run toward the smoke.

Don’t for a moment doubt your own spirit on this one.
Paul writes to his young friend Timothy,
God did not give us a spirit of cowardice,
But rather a spirit of power and love [2 Timothy 1:7].

The writer to the Hebrews puts it this way:
We are not among those who shrink back [Hebrews 10:39].

We all have depths of courage.
Faith
Hope and love.

It’s all there, in your heart!
You have been brave a thousand times over.
You have made remarkable selfless choices.
You have endured and you have persevered.

Satan tells us we’re cowards.
But we’re not.

Every one of us in this place is brave.
We are fighting the good fight.
We are running the race.

Turn to one another,
Take a hand,
And say to your neighbor:
You are a very brave person!

And then say,
Thank you. You are, too.

It’s as simple as faithfulness to life:
We get up in the morning, go to work and do the best we can.
We read the newspaper in one hand and the Bible in the other.
We think and we pray.
We help others.
We extend a kindly hand.
We put up with difficult people.
We walk on the sunny side of the street.
We apologize when we’re wrong.
We forgive others their debts.

We put on a happy face because that’s our gift to the world.
We try and we try again.
We don’t give up.
We stay in the saddle.

And if we’re bucked off, we hang on to the ear.
Just like the cowboy in the Remington sculpture …

The courage to live.
The faith to hope.
The love to run to the smoke.

I like Emerson’s notion of success:

To laugh
often and much,
to win respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a
redeemed social condition;
to know even one life
has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Amen and Amen!