2 Corinthians 5:1-10
“Confidence Through Christ”
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
One of the most painful things that humans often have to live with is a lack of confidence.
This lack of confidence causes us all kinds of troubles.
Early on, it makes it difficult for us to make friends.
We are easily ostrasized.
We feel as if we don’t measure up.
Therefore, many of us feel forced to try and do anything to fit-in.
As youngsters, we might get involved in drugs and alcohol.
We might begin to become accustomed to relying on an array of addictive and very unhealthy behaviors that
follow us into adulthood--causing us not to live up to our potentials.
Many people are painfully shy.
They are literally scared of other human beings.
And this shyness causes many of us not to join in on the fun at picnics and parties.
Some of us decide not to go to Bible study, join the choir, become part of a small group, come to youth
fellowship, or Sunday School.
It stops many of us from approaching the person of the opposite sex whom we are attracted too because we
are just too scared...and our low self-esteem will not allow us to break the ice.
Many of us are literally disabled from our lack of confidence.
We may not have a good body image, therefore we don’t go to the beach with the rest of the crowd...for
fear that others will see us and make fun of us.
We miss out on a lot of fun and a lot of good opportunities do to our lack of confidence...which really
boils down to a form of self-hatred.
What in the world are we so worried about?
Why are we missing out on the abundance that life offers?
What can we do about it?
What is the answer?
Is there an answer?
Because I’ll tell you....
If there is one thing which causes us to miss out....
If there is one thing that gets between us and happiness....
If there is one thing that gets between us and success it is a lack of confidence.
I know because I used to be painfully shy.
And when I say painfully...I mean it hurt.
And I missed out on a lot of friendships, a lot of fun, and wasted a lot of time due to my lack of
confidence.
I’ve read many studies....results from many polls conducted....and they all seem to come up with the same
thing.
The greatest fear that humans face is public speaking!
Lots of people confess that they would rather die than have to get up in front of a group of people and
speak.
We are really afraid of each other aren’t we?
How ridiculous is that?
It’s totally absurd, but many very intellegent people suffer in varying degrees from what the experts label as
agoraphobia or the fear of people.
Could it be that so many of us are so aware of our short-comings--too aware or too caught up in
them--that we actually have convinced ourselves that we aren’t as good as all the other Tom, Jane, and Harry’s in
this world?
Are we so self-absorbed....that we can’t get beyond that ugly picture we paint of ourselves in the mirror?
Why can’t we come to an understanding that we are all in the same boat...we are all on the same
ship....we all have faults....and therefore empathize, realize that others aren’t watching our every move--and
even if they were....what would it matter?
Yeah, I used to be really, really self-absorbed.
I would try to cover it up the best I could.
But of course, the more you try to cover it up, the more of a fool you end up making of yourself!
And the more you try to cover up your mistakes, your shortcomings, your insecurities, the farther and
farther you get from being the person you really are.
I remember the lyrics of a song by the band Pink Floyd...when I was in high school.
It seems like Pink Floyd was all I ever heard when I was in high school.
The song is called: “Comfortably Numb.”
At least I think that’s what it’s called.
Anyway the lyrics go like this:
“This is not who I am...I have become comfortably numb.”
I could always relate to those lyrics in a very personal and painful way.
But, thanks be to God, they mean nothing to me today!
They are just distant memories of a past life...
In our Scripture lesson for this morning, Paul says, “We are always confident....we live by faith and not by
sight....” and again he says, “We are confident.....”
Always confident?
Confident in what?
One thing the Bible tells us that we are to be confident in is that we have a house in heaven.
And this is to be a personal conviction!
We are to be unquestionably convinced of this!
“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house
in heaven, not built by human hands.”
Note the word ‘know’ in the 1st verse.
This conviction is firm and sure.
It is not the kind of conviction that hopes something is true.
It is the conviction of knowledge.
The earthly bodies that we all inhabit are described as tents that house our spirits, our real selves, during
this earthly pilgrimage.
But these tents are ever so frail and temporary.
It’s like, I like camping, but I sure wouldn’t want to do it all the time--forever.
Our bodies go through the wears and tears of life.
They deteriorate and eventually dissolve.
And this even happens to super-models!!!
No one is exempt.
So if our confidence depends on these earthly tents...well....no wonder so many of us suffer from low
self-esteem!
However, the Christian believer never fears, because we are going to recieve a building from God, a
spiritual house made eternal in the heavens.
And this heavenly house lasts forever!
It does not have to suffer wear and tear.
It is not corruptible.
It does not age, fade, deteriorate, or waste away; and we will never have to leave it!
Jesus says to us: “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
Wow, talk about assurance!
God guarantees that we shall recieve immortality.
He guarantees that we shall recieve our immortal houses in heaven, and He guarantees this by the Holy
Spirit!
God has made for us, worked us out, fitted us, fashioned our lives so that when we trust Jesus Christ as
Savior, God puts His presence and power into our bodies and we become immortal and eternal beings!
As believers, we participate in the divine nature.
We become new creations.
We become new people. God creates in us a new self!
The Holy Spirit is God’s deposit or guarantee or pledge that God has given us immortality.
When we recieve Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit enters us and we begin to gain a new confidence that we
didn’t even know existed.
We start to look at things from a different point of view.
We begin to care for others....the welfare of others....more than we worry about what others will think of
us.
The Holy Spirit is our very first installment of heaven....of new life...of self-confidence.
The personal presence of the Holy Spirit gives us the knowledge that we have a house in heaven.
The Holy Spirit stirs up the confidence and courage in us that we need to face this present life.
In this world all people must face such things as pressure, trouble, sorrow, rejection, loss, disease, accidents,
and death.
But, as Christians, the Holy Spirit stirs up in us the courage to face it all!
But how is this?
Again, notice the word ‘know’.
The Holy Spirit enhances our knowledge....
that our present home is the body, but it is temporary and passing.
Therefore, all trials will quickly pass away.
One day, when I was an undergraduate in college and feeling particularly low-- I saw a bumper sticker
fastened on the back of a beat-up van.
It read: “That which shall come to pass, shall pass.”
And it’s true, that was already ten years ago, and I don’t even remember what was bothering me so....
The Holy Spirit also stirs up more and more faith in us as we continue to travel the Christian journey.
This happens as we get to know God’s Word, and see for ourselves that what it has had to say about our
present situations and how we are to deal with them is true!
The Holy Spirit gives us a foretaste of reality....
of what is truly important....
of what heaven is like....
of what God has in store for those of us who believe.
And this gives us great courage!
When we recieve the Holy Spirit here on earth through our second birth we enter the kingdom of God right
here and right now.
We begin to work for God’s kingdom right here and right now.
The most important thing in our lives changes.
We are no longer paralyzed by a lack of self-confidence to live in this world.
We are no longer disabled by our fears.
And this is because the kingdom of heaven has everythng to do with caring and loving others...putting
others above ourselves...trying to make others feel better about themselves....
Therefore, we have no time to bother with the absurd feelings that cause us to shy away from people.
Instead, we become people magnets.....
or magnatized by people....
magnatized for people.
When I was young I used to get the hiccups quite often.
And it was hard to get rid of them.
They were annoying and unpleasant.
One day, when I was about eleven, I started to hiccup....and I thought to myself....I don’t have time for
this....I’m not going to even give these hiccups the time of day!
You know what?
My hiccups disapeared.
Ever since, I have never ever suffered from hiccups.
If they come, I just tell those hiccups that I don’t have time for them, and they go away.
And this is how, we as Christians face our fears.
Our fear of people...our agoraphobia....our shyness....
We don’t have time for this non-sense!
We have important business to do.
God’s business.
Kingdom business.
We have houses built for us by God in heaven.
We have a higher calling.
We have a higher reason to live, to be able to live.
We can’t be bothered with low-self-esteem!
We don’t have time for it!
We have a conviction.
We have a sure knowledge.
We have a Christian state of mind.
And this is created by the Holy Spirit who is within everyone who believes.
So, I will repeat the question I asked earlier.
Is there an answer?
Is there an answer to overcoming our lack of confidence?
Yes there is!!!
Praise the Lord!!!
Yes there is!!!
There is an answer!
Our confidence comes through Christ Jesus our Lord!!!
Amen.
