Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 9/21/14
Read Philippians 1:21-30
In 1878 Wallace Hartley
was born in the town of Colne, England.
His father was the Sunday superintendent as well as the choir master of
a Methodist church in town. There Wallace learned a love for God and a love for
music. Wallace became a wonderful musician himself and even made his living
playing violin. He himself became began leader of a band in Liverpool and where
they played around the area as well as provided entertainment aboard many
ships. In 1912 Hartley was engaged to be married. He had become a quite successful violinist
and planned to settle down in a career of concert performances at home. Hartley
however by contract had one last gig to perform, aboard a new and spectacular
cruise liner like no one else had ever seen before, the RMS Titanic. As we all
know, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, and Hartley never made it back home.
Band members were considered second class citizens aboard the prestigious ship,
and there were no life boats left for them. We hear however from survivors
tales that that as the ship was going down, as people were fleeing for their
lives in lifeboats and while others were falling to their deaths, the band
played to ease the nerves of those around. That band playing as the ship sank
is something that has been depicted in stories and movies for years ever since,
including the 90’s blockbuster Titanic in which there is a scene in which the
band plays and the character of Wallace Hartley himself says to his bandmates,
“Gentlemen it has been a privilege playing with you this evening.”
What about this was a privilege? Hartley was about to
die. He was considered a second class citizen and left behind while hundreds
who were deemed better than him fled for safety. He was only on this boat
because he was contractually required to, he had a concert performance waiting
at home for him when he returned, and worst of all he had a fiancée at home
that he would never get the chance to marry. What about this was a privilege? We expect a privilege to be an honor which
many others do not get the chance to have. We view privilege as something that
makes us better, more comfortable, healthier and wealthier than others. We view
privilege as something that is supposed to make things easy. And yet Wallace
Hartley can teach us a little about privilege, through the way he lived in his
last moments.
This morning we begin a sermon series called “Being Like
Christ.” Throughout the next few weeks
we will be looking through Paul’s letter to the Philippians to see what we can
learn about discipleship, about being like Christ. Before we look at Paul’s
advice for how to be like Christ, how to be a better disciple, we first need to
answer why do we want to be a disciple in the first place? Paul addresses this
question in the first chapter of his letter; which is our lesson for this
morning.
Paul like most Christians understood what his faith in
Christ meant for him personally. He understood the sacrifice made by Jesus
Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. He understood that through
his resurrection, Christ conquered sin and death and offers to us the hope of
eternal life. Finally Paul understood that through faith this hope of eternal
life could become a reality. He knew that in death, he would actually a greater life; a life
nearer to Christ. A life in heaven. As Christians this is a hope that we all
hold on to. That no matter what troubles or turmoil we face in this life here
on Earth, that through Christ we have
the hope of eternal life. This is a truth that gives us great hope in times of
trouble, it often can help the healing process when we lose a loved one. This
hope is central to our faith as Christians….but as Christians do we focus too
much on this hope. Do we miss the wider scope of Jesus teaching and only focus
on what it means for us. Do we become too self-centered even in our faith, that
what truly matters to us is not what is the Lord’s will, but rather what is in
it for us.
This is a problem that we find Paul wrestling with this
morning. He says, “For to me, living is Christ and
dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me;
and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire
is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the
flesh is more necessary for you.” In other words, Paul’s greatest desire is to
be with Christ and he knows that in death, he will be with Christ. At this time Paul is writing to the
Philippians from prison, still awaiting trial and not no knowing whether or not
he will be killed. In the midst of all of this turmoil, Paul recognizes that
death would in fact be joy, for he would be with the Lord. The way he talks it
almost sounds like Paul hopes for death. But Paul also recognizes a conundrum,
a catch-22. Dying and eternal life is a
personal gain, but living for Christ serves the Lord. Paul could wish for death and the personal good news that goes along
with eternal life, or Paul could wish for life, knowing that through the gifts
given to him by the Holy Spirit, there will be fruitful work of service to the
Lord. Paul has to ask himself, am I in it for myself or am I in it for Christ?
This is a question that we must also ask ourselves this
morning. Are we in it for ourselves or are we in it for Christ. Now this can
present a false dichotomy, that if we are in it for Christ then there is no
personal benefit, which we know is not true. However we must ask ourselves what
is our reason for following Christ? What is our motivation for being a
Christian? Do we follow Christ so that we may be saved, or do we follow Christ
because he saves us. I know this sounds knit-picky but there is a difference.
If we are following Christ so that we may be saved, then our motivation for all
that we do is ourselves. We become self-centered, we love others, we love God
in hopes of a future benefit for ourselves. But if we follow God because Christ
saves us, our motivation is then not our own future preservation, but our
motivation becomes gratitude, praise, and true love of God and true love of
others. It is this question that Paul wrestles with, and it is why he says he
wishes to stay, so that he may continue to minister with joy to the people of
Philippi and to all he can.
Paul gets it, and
he tries to explain it to the Philippians saying, “For
he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ,
but of suffering for him as well.” Paul tells the people that as
Christians we are privileged to believe in Jesus Christ, we are privileged to
experience eternal life, but then Paul adds that we are also privileged to
suffer for Christ as well. Now we get back to that question again, how is that
a privilege? This is like Wallace Hartley who was about to lose all of his
hopes and dreams, who was going to lose his life calling it a privilege to play
with the band onboard the Titanic. How
is that a privilege? How is it a privilege for Paul to give his high esteemed
job as a Pharisee and become a lowly servant of Christ? How was it a privilege
for him to be stricken blind on the road to Damascas? How was it a privilege
for him to be writing to these people in Philippi while locked away in jail
potentially facing the end of his life? Sure believing in Christ is a
privilege, sure eternal life is a privilege, but how is suffering for Christ, how
is this call to discipleship a privilege?
Paul teaches us that discipleship is a privilege because
for whereas in death we gain Christ, but in living we get to be with Christ.
More than that however, through discipleship, we in a small way get to be
Christ for the world. Not that we ourselves are Christ, I don’t think anyone of
us are as bold or careless to say something like that, and even with how brash
Paul was, he would never claim to be either. I think this understanding of
discipleship as being Christ in the world is best summed up in the words of one
of the top theologians in the world today, Stanley Hauerwas. When asked in a
video documentary what it means to be Christian, Hauerwas responded, “We are
God’s witness in the world to be a sign that God has not abandoned the world to
sin, that is what I take being Christian to entail.”[1]
When asked where he saw signs of God not abandoning the world Hauerwas replied
God shows he is not abandoning the world through the Lárche movement, an
international organization that builds community around adults with
intellectual disabilities. God shows he is not abandoning the world through the
Catholic Worker, a movement to help the poor and needy but also address the
injustices in the system that continue to oppress the poor. God shows that the
world is not abandoned through people like Martin Luther King who fought for
civil rights through non-violent means. God’s act of not abandoning the world
is seen in those who take time to teach children who have had difficulties
learning to read. According to Hauerwas, God not abandoning the world is seen
through many Christians who through small acts, neighborly acts that help us
discover what Gods’ peace looks like.
This is the privilege
of discipleship; that we are in a small way able to be to the world what Christ
has been to us. That through our actions, the world may recognize that God has
not abandoned us to a world of sin.
Jesus came to Earth and fed the hungry, through organizations like DAWN,
Parkview as well as our own outreach we too can feed the hungry. Jesus healed
the sick, and through efforts like Imagine No Malaria we too can help heal the
sick. Jesus ate and associated with sinners, and we too can show those who have
been rejected those who feel lost that God has not abandoned them. Christ, the
one who gave us all, even suffered for us, and as Paul reminds us we too are
privileged to suffer for Christ. That God so loves us that not only through
believing in him that we may be saved, but that we have been trusted, we have
been giving to carry on the ministry that Christ began in the world. That we
have been given the privilege of taking up our cross and following Christ.
When we truly think
about it, through discipleship are we not nearer to Christ than we could ever
imagine. Sure in death we may rest in Christ in paradise and that will be
greater than anything we ever knew, but we do not need to sit back and wait to
be close to Christ. When we serve the Lord, when we truly take on a life of
discipleship, when we become for the world a sign that God has not abandoned
us, are our crosses not lifted up so that we may dwell in presence of the one
crowned in glory, yet crowned in thorns?
This is the privilege
of discipleship, that through service we may be a beacon to the world, through
service we are able to be nearer to Christ. Maybe this is the privilege that
Wallace Hartley spoke about that fateful night as the Titanic began to sink.
Through his music he was able to bring some level of peace or calm in the midst
of the chaos. It is said that those on the lifeboats could hear the music
playing as the floated away. And to those destined to die with the ship his
music may have brought comfort and hope in their last moments on Earth. Inspired by his faith, Hartley once told a
friend that if he were ever on a ship that sank that the last song he would
play would be the hymn “Nearer, my God to Thee”
Now there is wide speculation of what was played on that fateful night,
most historians agree that the band probably played the popular French song “Song
of Autumn.” However Titanic historian
Philip Gowan recounts one sailor’s account of that evening that at the end it
could be heard a lone violin playing “Nearer, my God to Thee” most certainly
Hartley fulfilling his promise. And how fitting a hymn indeed because in that
moment as Hartley would soon claim the victory eternal life and enter into the
company of heaven with God, and yet in his final moments still serving the Lord
was not Hartley in that moment truly nearer to God. That is a privilege.
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