Transcript

I want to talk to you this morning about the importance of what you believe. In an effort to be liberal, we have had a tendency to discount the value of a creed. Have you ever felt proud of your broad-mindedness and described your religion with a sentence like this, I don't care about your creed, it is what you do that counts? This morning I would like to help you to see that what you do is largely determined by what you believe. Creed is related to conduct as roots are to a tree. All of life is lived under the direction of and in the control of certain basic convictions. You cannot choose between a faith and no faith, a creed and no creed. Your choice lies in the kind of faith or creed you will live by. You may believe in great truths or half-truths. You may believe in enduring values or you may believe in passing values. You may believe in God the Father Almighty or you may believe that evil and sorrow are destined to control the life of man. Perhaps the decisive factor in your life is your creed. I'm not talking about a formal creed but about the basic convictions of your life. Let me try to illustrate this by telling you about two friends. The first one is not a church member. He is courteous and cordial in dealing with preachers and churches but he has little interest in any church. Some of his friends would say that he is a man who has no faith. He is an efficient businessman with his heart set on making money. He pays a good wage to his employees because he thinks it is profitable. He spends money freely on his family but even in his home you have the feeling that his generosity does not reveal deep affection. He takes little time to be with his family and bless them with his comradeship. He gives them what they want so that he can give himself to his business. I think that it is not unfair to say that in facing any particular situation his first question is, is it profitable? Surely he has a creed. He believes in money. He worships the dollar. I think his creed is false and cheap but his creed directs his life. The other friend I want to tell you about is a preacher. Considering his years, he has done well in the ministry and has been until a few months ago the pastor of a fine little church in one of our cities. He has been troubled about the international situation and feels that probably the church, more than any other institution, can bind nations together in understanding and goodwill. He went to the Board of Missions and asked for a place to serve. Recently he has been sent out to what you might call a God-forsaken community in a distant land. There is no modern sewerage in the town where he now serves. There is no electricity nor gas. I do not want to imply that God cannot go where the public utilities have not already paved the way, nor that he always follows in their train. We think of it as a God-forsaken community because of poverty, ignorance, and distress that is commonplace there. His salary on a mission field is about one half of what it was in the church here. Let me say parenthetically, this is not because the Board of Missions does not favor good salaries. It is because our Methodist people have not begun to match the church's opportunity for world service with adequate world service giving. Living conditions are much more severe for him in a foreign field. Separation from relatives and friends at home is a great trial. Work with inadequate resources is very discouraging. Why would a young preacher leave all the comforts, luxuries, and opportunities in a nice church here in the United States to spend the rest of his life amid the disciplines, inconveniences, and sacrifices of a mission field? It's because of what he believes. It's because of his creed. He believes that God is the father of foreigners as well as Americans. He believes that God needs him for a special field of service. His convictions direct his life. A man's creed not only directs his life. If it is a great creed, it becomes the sustaining force in his life. It becomes the strength which fortifies life for any discipline or adversity. I have seen some men shipwrecked by circumstances that other men have handled with apparent ease. The difference between failure and success in handling such situations is frequently a difference in faith. In the face of temptation, many people fail because they feel they are all alone. They have no help. They are as one person against the whole world. The people who have shown the most impressive gains in the fight against evil are the folk who have been conscious of a presence. The fight for right is not a matter of human strength pitted against the powers of evil. It is a conflict in which man joins forces with the Eternal God for the fulfillment of his purposes. I am thinking of a friend who, like all of us, constantly has to deal with his selfish tendencies. He has been relatively successful in his business life. His success has brought him additional opportunities to make even more money. He is associated with many friends whose good fortune seems to have increased their selfishness and greed. Perhaps the easiest thing for him to do would be to devote all of his resources and all of his time to his business to see how much more money he could make. But this friend is always willing and ready to carry his responsibilities for leadership in his church and in civic affairs and is most generous in his financial support of them. If you ask how he withstands the temptations of prosperity, he would say that it is his faith. He believes that his good fortune is a trust from God. He believes that God matches every man's resources with responsibilities. He said to me on one occasion, I would be ashamed to face my God in prayer at night if I had not tried to show gratitude for my good fortune by rendering some worthy service during the day. His faith in God has become an inner source of power that helps him to be faithful to the disciplines of religious living. Faith also is a channel of strength for handling the disappointments and adversities that are common to all of us. When sorrow comes, do you believe that you have been dealt with unjustly? Do you feel your rights have been ignored? Are you afraid that a superior evil power is defeating you? Such convictions would turn any person to self-pity and despair. Religious faith does not free a man from adversity. The saints as well as sinners encounter sorrows. But religious faith does fortify a man so that he can handle his misfortune adequately. Think of what St. Paul's faith did for him. He wanted to be a preacher. He wanted to stand in the public places of the cities and proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. But powerful ungodly men laid hands on him. They bound him with chains and imprisoned him. They thought they had him out of the way. Wasn't that a good time for the preacher to surrender? He might have said, I tried to serve God, but he would not even deliver me from sinners. What he really said was, thy grace is sufficient for me. And in the letter to the Philippians he wrote, I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a matter of fact, most of the sermons Paul preached in public places were forgotten centuries ago. But his thoughts in a prison cell, scratched with charcoal on a piece of scroll, have been like the breath of life to the Church for generations. Paul's misfortune was more than human strength could have sustained. But by the grace of God it was translated into a benediction, and St. Paul's humiliation in his imprisonment became a badge of honor. The essential elements in St. Paul's faith are as available today as they were in his day. Many of you have known the benedictions of that faith. When sorrow has come, you have not been embittered by it. You have not surrendered to its power. But sustained by an inner presence, you have revealed a quality of fortitude and character that has been splendid. Recently at the General Conference of our Methodist Church in Boston, I saw a small group of German ministers. Their lives are a witness for the faith we are trying to develop and strengthen. All of these German ministers were leaders of congregations in Germany before the war. All of them opposed the ungodly tyranny of their dictator and spoke the truth as they understood the truth, even when they were threatened with imprisonment. When the oppressive power of triumphant evil demanded their silence, they bore a faithful witness for God. All of these pastors were arrested and spent years in Nazi concentration camps. All of them suffered criticism from their loved ones and friends. All of them lost one or more members of their families during the war. Their congregations were scattered. Their churches were destroyed. Their homes were burned. What a time to become cynical. What an opportunity for self-pity. What a background for a surrender. But these men today are telling of their faith in God, of their devotion to their Church, and of their steadfast confidence. Their testimony sounds like the words of the psalmist, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. From these facts I draw two conclusions. First, that the Church must renew its emphasis upon doctrine. I do not mean that we need a revival of sectarianism. We need to deal more with basic, fundamental convictions. We need to be interpreters of truth. Too often today the Church is tempted to be a pressure group, trying to secure certain political actions. I am not unmindful of the value of the Church's dealing with practical problems, and I want its moral force felt in society. But we must see that we cannot cultivate the fruits of Christian living without getting life rooted in Christian convictions. Second, that we should protect the place of the Church in our own life. Too many people today are almost completely absorbed in the battle for bread. Bread is indispensable, but man does not live by bread alone. The decisive battles of our day are not being fought in production plants or in financial centers. The crucial issues of our day are suggested by words like freedom, justice, truth, righteousness. Those words speak not only of the problems of our society, but also of the basic interests of our Church. These interests and purposes of Almighty God are tied up with the happiness of your homes and with satisfactory and successful living. So remember, the Church is your constant ally. The Church is your dependable guide. The Church is your steadfast friend. Take your family today and return to the altars of our God. Let us pray. Father, let thy rich blessings be upon thy Church, that it may be a faithful servant to thy people. Amen.