define courage. He demonstrated it. He acted it out. That was a "gutsy" and creative thing to do in the academic arena. That's one kind of courage, but there is another kind that is even better, and that is the courage that comes from knowing that God is with you.
Some years ago, when an American was visiting the city of Damascus, he went to the famous marketplace on the street called Straight. The marketplace was busy, crowded, teeming with merchants and shoppers and tourists. Into that bustling place came a man riding slowly through the crowd on a bicycle, precariously balancing a basket of oranges on the handle bars. He was bumped accidentally by a porter who was so bent over, carrying a heavy burden, that he had not seen him. The burden dropped, the oranges were scattered, and a bitter altercation broke out between the cyclist and the porter.
Angry words, threats, hostilities were shouted. A crowd gathered to watch what was certain to become a bloody fight. The enraged cyclist moved toward the porter with a clenched fist. But just then, a tattered little man stepped out of the crowd and positioned himself between the adversaries. Then the little man did an amazing thing. He reached out, tenderly took the cyclist's clenched fist in his hands, and gently kissed it! He kissed the fist! A murmur of approval swept over the crowd. They laughed, then they applauded. The antagonists relaxed and hugged each other. And all the people began happily picking up the oranges.
When the little man began to drift away, the American followed him and spoke to him: "What a brave and beautiful thing you did! That was wonderful, but why did you do it? Why did you risk it?"
The little man smiled and answered, "Because I am a Christian! The Spirit of Christ was in me, and he gave me the courage to be a peacemaker. He gave me the courage to do the right thing."
Isn't that a great promise to stand on? Again and again in the Bible, God promises to be with us through the Holy Spirit, to give us comfort and to give us courage.
Third, God Promises to Give Us a Commission— a
Special Job to Do
Remember Margaret Deeney's poem, "Proud Words":
'Tis sweet to hear "I love you"
Beneath a giggling moon;
'Tis fun to hear "You dance well"
To a lilting, swinging tune;
'Tis great to be proposed to
And whisper low, "I do";
But the greatest words in all the world,
"I've got a job for you!"
This is one of God's greatest promises and greatest gifts to us. God says:
I've got a job for you.
You are valuable to me.
There is something special I want you to do.
Take up this torch, take up this ministry, and I will help you.
Late one night in Paris, Albert Schweitzer came home, exhausted and weary, from the university where he was a professor. Hurriedly, he looked through his mail so that he could get to bed. But a magazine with a green cover caught his eye. Feeling drawn to it, he flipped through the pages and suddenly was captivated by an article titled, "The Needs of the Congo Mission," written by Alfred Boegner.
"As I sit here in Africa (Boegner wrote), it is my prayer that the eyes of someone on whom the eye of God has already fallen will read and be awakened to the call and say, 'Here am I.' "
Moved by Boegner's earnest appeal for someone to help him in the Congo, Schweitzer bowed his head and prayed, "My search has ended, I am coming."
Thus awakened, Schweitzer studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg, and in 1913, sailed to French Equatorial Africa, where his first jungle hospital was a chicken coop in Lambaréné.
When he made that decision to answer God's call to become a medical missionary, Albert Schweitzer was. . .
. . . a noted author,
. . . a highly respected musician,
. . . an established theologian,
. . . the pastor of a church,
. . . principal of Saint Thomas Theological College at the University of Strasbourg, and
. . . the greatest living organ interpreter of the works of Bach.
(Pulpit Resource, Oct./Nov./Dec. 1989)
But Schweitzer had felt God calling him to a special job, so he turned his back on the prestige, power, and promise that were his and gave his life to God's work in Africa. The rest is amazing history—all because he heard the call of God and said, "Here am I, Lord, send me." Some could not understand how Albert Schweitzer could leave behind "the good life" in Europe, but somewhere in heaven, God was smiling.
What great promises! On page after page of the Scriptures, God promises to be with us through the Holy Spirit—to give us comfort, courage, and a commission. And as we study the Bible closely, we discover that many other great promises are recorded in the Scriptures—generous and gracious promises from God, promises that we can claim and rely on and trust. But still, the question is: Are we standing on those promises, or are we just sitting on the premises?
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The Promise of God's Love
The Greatest Gift
JOHN 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Bennett Cerf was a respected publisher and author for Random House a few years ago. Because of his keen intellect and warm sense of humor, he was often featured as a panelist on numerous television and radio programs. Some of you will remember seeing him on those early popular TV shows like "What's My Line?" and "I've Got a Secret."
One evening he appeared on an NBC radio program called "Conversation." The panelists on this particular show were asked to spend the entire thirty-minute program that night discussing just one question: "What Are You Most Afraid Of?" The panelists went at it, dialoguing and debating that topic for more than twenty minutes. They talked about a wide range of fears, but finally they decided on the one thing they were most afraid of: "annihilation by the nuclear bomb."
After the panelists had reached that consensus, the moderator, Clifton Fadiman, noticed that Bennett Cerf had been unusually quiet throughout the vigorous discussion. In fact, he hadn't said a word. When prodded, Cerf replied in a humble voice that he had hesitated to answer the question truthfully because he was afraid that his concern would seem so trivial beside the vast issues that others had introduced.
But he went on to say that since the point of the program was to share what you really thought, he might as well admit that what he feared most was "not being loved." Bennett Cerf was a smart and honest man. He knew about the importance of love. And he was right on target that night. For there is nothing more
