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NRS Acts 26:22 To this day I have
had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great,
saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: 23 that the Messiah must suffer,
and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light
both to our people and to the Gentiles."
24 While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed,
"You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you
insane!" 25 But Paul
said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking
the sober truth. 26 Indeed
the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am certain
that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a
corner. 27 King Agrippa, do
you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." 28 Agrippa said to Paul, "Are
you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?" 29 Paul replied, "Whether
quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening
to me today might become such as I am-- except for these chains."
John Wesley gave this
sermon on July 25, 1741to a crowd at Oxford. John has graduated from Oxford and
had taken his trip as a missionary across to Georgia where he failed in that endeavor.
During his return he encountered the Moravians and that encounter changed him,
his ministry and his understanding of the Holy Spirit. His new view of
experience with the Holy Spirit was at odds with some of those in Oxford at the
time. The reports are that John was not concerned with the potential hostility
in the crowd as he gave his message. This message was widely published.
In the scripture today
Paul is taken before King Agrippa. King Agrippa was a relative of Herod the
Great and was ruler of all of the lands then considered Israel. Paul was brought
before him in chains and asked to repent of his Christian belief. Not only did
Paul not repent, rather, he tried unsuccessfully to convert King Agrippa and
all of his court. Festus was the governor of Judah, a successor to Pilate. So
we set the stage for this interesting sermon of whether or not we should
convert to Christianity and what exactly does it mean to be a Christian.
I know that all of us
know people who are good people, maybe even great people. Folks that would give
the shirt off their back to assist someone if they were in need of help. But do
good deeds win us a place in heaven or more importantly, do good deeds define
us as Christians? John Wesley in this sermon compares almost with altogether.
There are many almost Christians in the world, apparently in Wesley’s day as
well as ours. So what defines an almost Christian? John Wesley put it this way,
“I did go thus far for many years,
as many of this place can testify; using diligence to eschew all evil, and to
have a conscience void of offence; redeeming the time; buying up every
opportunity of doing all good to all men; constantly and carefully using all
the public and all the private means of grace; endeavouring after a steady
seriousness of behaviour, at all times, and in all places; and, God is my
record, before whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity; having a real design
to serve God; a hearty desire to do his will in all things; to please him who
had called me to "fight the good fight," and to "lay hold of
eternal life." Yet my own conscience beareth me witness in the Holy Ghost,
that all this time I was but almost a Christian.”[i]
What he is saying is that an almost Christian obeys the
Golden Rule, does not steal, does not oppress the poor, or does not act
unjustly in their behavior toward others. That they have truth in what they say
and they are people of justice. Almost Christians love one another and reach
out to assist one another wherever they can. They don’t take God’s name in vain
and abstain from drunkenness and other forms of vice. And an almost Christian
desires to do good wherever they can. They frequent the house of God on Sunday
morning and take part in the covenants of God, approaching the Table of God
without careless disregard for what it stands for. In other words, most of us
fall within this category. We strive to be good people in the world and I know
that you are here this morning because of your desire to be right with God.
James in his writings reminds us though that faith without works is dead. So
what are works but the fruit of our faith? If there is no fruit then there must
be no faith. But the opposite is true if there are good works without faith. We
see the good works and think, look at them, almost a Christian.
So what is there that is different that makes a person
altogether a Disciple of Christ, a child of God and a Christian? Wesley points
out that the first is the love for God. Not just any kind of love, but the deep
convicting intimate love one has for a spouse or for a child. The love for God
is the kind of love that permeates everything within us. We love God with all
heart, soul, mind and strength. With that kind of love we desire nothing less
than to devote our lives to that relationship. Nothing is more sacred, nothing
more important. We spend our lives focused on being the child of God that God
intended from creation and from our birth. For God came into the world and was
crucified for us because of this love.
Second that we learn to love our neighbor as Christ first
loved us. Jesus gave of Himself fully and completely to teach us, show us by
example and then to atone for sin for us on the cross of Golgotha. This kind of
love is exemplified when we love our neighbors, we do not envy, we are not rash
or make hasty judgements and we focus on being servants to those who need the
love of Christ in a human and real way. Paul nailed this kind of love in his
letter to the church of Corinth when he said this kind of love covers all
things, believes all things, hopes all thigs and endures all things.
When we have this kind of faith we do more than believe in
Christ, we endeavor to personify Christ in the world. We learn to walk the walk
of Christ as we share the love of God with others. When we have this kind of
faith, it is more than just believing, it is abiding in the image of Christ on
the cross that we may share in the resurrection of the tomb. Repentance is the
key. It does not mean we walk this walk perfect without sin, rather, it means
that when we sin we ask God to forgive us and redeem us, transform us that we
might not sin again. We work at being servants of the world not because we
desire praise and appreciation but because we have been blessed with the love
of God. It is about following the three rules that John Wesley aspired to live
in his life. To do good in all things, to do no harm and practice the life of a
Christian, reading the Bible daily, praying constantly and participating and
attending to the services of the Church.
We come today in the presence of the Holy Spirit given a
choice between being a good person who is almost a Christian and being the
follower of Christ we are called to be. Is the love of God filling your heart
to the point that it is the central focus of your life? Do you desire to be
part of the creation of God as God intended it? We all struggle with trying to
be the image of Christ in the world. We all struggle with sin and its
debilitating consequences. But we all have hope in the image of Christ on the
cross and the empty tomb that follows.
Wesley said it this way, “The
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who now standeth in the midst of us,
knoweth, that if any man die without this faith and this love, good it were for
him that he had never been born. Awake, then, thou that sleepest, and call upon
thy God: call in the day when he may be found. Let him not rest, till he make
his "goodness to pass before thee;" till he proclaim unto thee the
name of the Lord, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." Let no man
persuade thee, by vain words, to rest short of this prize of thy high calling.
But cry unto him day and night, who, "while we were without strength, died
for the ungodly," until thou knowest in whom thou hast believed, and canst
say, "My Lord, and my God!" Remember, "always to pray, and not
to faint," till thou also canst lift up thy hand unto heaven, and declare
to him that liveth for ever and ever, "Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou
knowest that I love Thee…May we all thus experience what it is to be, not
almost only; but altogether Christians; being justified freely by his grace,
through the redemption that is in Jesus; knowing we have peace with God through
Jesus Christ; rejoicing in hope of the glory of God; and having the love of God
shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us!”[ii]
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