|
|
THIS IS THE DAY!
A sermon by Rev.
Neville Callam
General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance
First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia
Sunday, May 4, 2008
What
a joy it is for my wife and me to be here sharing in your worship in this place
this morning. We rejoice and we are grateful for this opportunity. We bring you
greetings in the name of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Who ascended into
heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father and mighty – making
intercession for us. And we greet you in the name of the millions of Baptists
around the world forming the fellowship called “The Baptist World Alliance” of
which you are an important part. I wish to say a word of thanks to you for the
important role that you have played in the life of the Baptist World Alliance.
And to assure you of our joy in the partnership that we share and for the
benefits that redound to all of us to the glory of God because of this
partnership.
Perhaps many of you would be familiar with the ways in which you have
contributed to making this alliance a vibrant body for Christ. And we look
forward to this relationship continuing according to the will of the Lord. We
promise you our prayers as you receive a new Senior Pastor. Last evening my wife
and I had the wonderful opportunity to be with your former pastor and his wife.
It was a rich blessing for us and I said to my wife, whatever happens today – to
have been in their company and to have shared like that – is enough for us, and
we agreed.
We
had a great night and today we wish to say to you something that has come to us
with great force over these last days. It’s a thought from Psalm 118, verse 24.
A thought repeated endlessly over the ages, because it is true – “This is the
day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!” And we rejoice
and we are glad because of what God is doing through churches across the world.
Churches – great and small, showing that God is alive and active in human
affairs. Among us Baptists the signs of God’s activity are clear for all to see.
And as I had an opportunity to have some familiarity, gain some familiarity with
the ministry you offer here, I believe you understand what I’m saying.
We
rejoice and we are glad because the good we accomplish is not result of our own
unaided efforts. It is a manifestation of God choosing to be at work with us in
the divine program to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one
head, even Jesus Christ the Lord. So we say “This the day that the Lord has made
and we will rejoice!” We rejoice when we see what God is doing among the people
in Nagaland. As they seek to spread the Gospel in their own country and in
neighboring countries as well. Last December, I was in a delegation that visited
the Baptist Theological College in Pfutsero, Nagaland, in northeastern India.
And there, I met a young man I will never forget. He walked for a week through
the bush in northern India in search of a place where he could be formed for
leadership and service in the church. He had come to faith – he had sensed God’s
call upon him for service in the Christian church. He had heard about the
college in that part of his world and decided, ‘I will find this place and God
will prepare me for the work I must do in my own country.’ Because of security
reasons, I will not name the country. But he went to the school, he arrived at
the gate – and in the limited English he knew, he explained his purpose. The
college authorities took him in, fed him, clothed him, taught him English. Gave
him training after offering a scholarship to him. And when I met him last
December, he was in his final semester, completing his studies, waiting and
anxious to return home to proclaim the Good News of the saving Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
I
left that place and I said, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will
rejoice and be glad in it!” For God is at work in the world! Calling people to
ministry and mission and empowering and enabling them to fulfill their vocation
they have received.
Have
you heard? Have you read about Smyrna? Of course you have – for you have read
Revelation, chapter two. Do you not know? Do you not remember that after the
Ottoman’s socked Constantinople in 1453, renaming it Istanbul, one by one many
local churches began to disappear from the Turkish landscape. In 1998, I
attended a conference in Istanbul, and while there I visited the architectural
wonder called the Haggia Sophia. A marvelous church erected in the sixth
century. What a remarkable place where hundreds of Christians were able to
gather together to worship in the liberty of the Spirit and unaffected by
persecution. Today, it is a museum.
But
have you not heard the story of the Turkish man named Elton Seevick? He went to
Germany to do graduate work and there he encountered the New Testament. And as
he read, he came face to face with Jesus Christ. He felt the call to salvation.
God saved him. He received baptism at the hands of the German Baptists and he
returned home and today he is in Izmir. The site of the ancient Smyrna, carrying
the Baptist banner – leading the community of believers in that place. It has
not been easy for him. His name has appeared on a hit list found on terrorists.
But he holds on – determined to fulfill his calling as a servant of Jesus
Christ. Leading the faithful in their desire to grow in grace and in the
knowledge of God. His work continues to this day. And so we say, “This is the
day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!”
Last
month, I was in New Zealand and in Australia. And while in Australia, I was
introduced to the work of Baptists Care. And through one of the associate bodies
in that organization, Baptist Community Services of New South Wales, which is
lead by a great visionary leader among the Baptist people. Australian Baptists
have utilized state-of-the-art services in support of the elderly. Those needing
institutional care and those who desire to remain in their homes living with a
significant measure of independence. When I heard about the budget that they had
and still have for that ministry – I understood something of the Spirit of
Christ that drives them forward, that motivates them in a mission to express
Christ’s love to the people in their target audience. I came away from the
experience rejoicing in the Lord, and saying, “it spite of all that is going on,
‘This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!’”
I
came away from that experience and I journeyed to Panama to meet with the
leaders of the Baptist community in Latin America. I sat there and listened as
joyfully, they shared all that God is doing among them, leading thousands of
people to the knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ. Often these ministers
serve with little remuneration. But God has given them a challenging vision and
they are deeply committed to the work of human liberation. They want people to
be liberated who walk in darkness and need the light of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. They see people living in bondage and they want them to know the freedom
that comes through Christ Jesus. So that today 13,000 Baptist churches, 1.8
million believers. I heard them, I listened to their story, I saw their joy, I
saw their zeal and I said to myself, “This is the day that the Lord has made, we
will rejoice and be glad in it!”
But I
also went last November to Lamu in Kenya. And I took the opportunity to visit
with the faculty and student body at the Kenya Baptist Theological College. It
was not easy, that day when we stood in a classroom darkened by the absence of
adequate windows and lighting and shared with the students there. It was not
easy when we entered the bamboo, the thatched bamboo building serving as a
dining room and saw what they were eating. It was not easy when we endured the
sight of what is called the library, meant to aid the students in their
preparation. Yet, there they were, loving the Lord Jesus Christ, eager to learn,
waiting to be prepared to become a part the team that God will use to win fellow
Kenyans and people in the neighboring communities for Jesus Christ. They
welcomed us with open arms and open hearts. Joy lit up their faces and burned in
their hearts – to see Baptists from elsewhere coming to identify with them. I
walked away from there and I said to myself, “I have no business to be sad. I
have no business to be disappointed. I saw their faith, and I came to the place
where I could declare yet again, ‘This is the day that the Lord has made, we
will rejoice and be glad in it!’”
You
see my friends, let’s make no mistake about it – God is alive and active in the
world. So when we receive the invitation in Psalm 118 to regard “This day as
God’s day” – do we not receive an invitation to remember the sovereignty of God?
Whatever people may think or say, we should never forget that God is in control
of this world. The sovereign God rules over the universe. But part of the
mystery of divine sovereignty is God’s capacity to make room for human beings
like you and me to exercise our free will. God choose that sovereignty is more
about awesome power displayed through love than about the will to have one’s
way. Without any consideration of the option that people have to choose, and
even to choose badly. God helps us to understand that divine sovereignty is
omnipotence, making room for the week. How can we heed the call to rejoice in
such a day as this? Despite all that disturbs us. The light of Christ is still
shining, and mysteriously the sovereign God is working God’s purpose out. We are
called to rejoice and be glad in the day of God’s creation and providence –
because we believe in the sovereignty of God. But not that alone, we celebrate
the gift of this day, and we recognize it is an occasion for rejoicing. Not
alone because we remember the sovereignty of God, but also because we remember
the grace of God. God’s grace, divine favor showered upon the undeserving.
Because, this is the day that God has made, and by God’s grace we have
been preserved to see it.
God’s
people can regard this day as a day of opportunity. Our gracious God opens doors
for us to achieve God’s purpose and to help make this world a better place.
This is God’s day so we can expect God’s help and sustenance for all who
share in the pilgrimage to the kingdom of Heaven. We are not unaided – we have
the benefit of the grace of the loving God. Because God has made this day, we
can approach today and tomorrow with hope in our hearts. Hope because we have a
sense of what is possible when we go through this day and all the days of our
lives with a God who in and through all things works for good with those who
love God.
And
listen, when we approach each day in this way, we are able like the student in
Pfutsero and Baptist preacher in Izmir to end your hardship for the sake of the
desire to answer God’s call. We are able, like the Baptists of Australia to
develop programs to help others in need. Meet the challenges that they face in
this life. We are able when we approach each day in this way. Like the students
in the Kenya Baptist Theological College to find the capacity to smile. In the
midst of our pain and to keep our eyes fixed on the goal that God in Christ has
set before us. And like the Baptists in Latin America, we are able to focus our
attention on the people of this world who long for liberation. Who need the
knowledge of the saving grace of God and we will not rest until they come into
an encounter with the living Lord.
“This
is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!” For we
recognize the sovereignty of God and we know something of the grace of God. My
friend, do you know of this sovereignty? Do you know of this grace? And are you
able to wake up each day in spite of all of the challenges to rejoice in what
God makes possible? In the name of the One who ascended on high, and makes
intercession for us, I challenge you to make this God your God and to make
everyday like the day about which the Psalmist speaks. To God be glory forever
and ever. Amen.
|
