Message: Peter; Defending the faith in Narnia
Scripture: I Kings 2:2 (Message) 2"I’m about to go the way of all the earth, but you--be strong; show what you’re made of!
Eph 6: 11-18
11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Defending the Faith
I Peter receive an interesting Christmas present: a Sword.
Father Christmas gives each child a gift. “These are tools not toys”
Aslan expected Peter to go and defend the faith against huge odds.
He was scared and felt inadequate, but he went. God sends us but we are not alone.
The White witch is ready for an all out war to hang onto her misguided claim to the kingdom of Narnia. She harnesses all the minions who are at her disposal to fight against the forces of good represented by Aslan. Peter has been outfitted with the sword to lead the army of Aslan against the evil forces of the White witch.
We are given tools not toys as well as described in the scriptures this morning. Look again at Ephesians. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Is there doubt about the task that has been left to us?
II What do we have to defend today?
It is interesting to watch the debate that gets raised each year about what is or isn’t appropriate around Christmas. It get a lot of publicity. Some would like to make it the conservative vs. the liberal, the Christian vs. anyone who isn’t, or just by persons who don’t know any better.
I belive there is an element in our world that is against anything Christian. You have seen it with the attack of the pledge of allegiance, the ten commandments and etc.
Each year cities and schools wrestle with what to do with this time of year, so that we are politically correct for every persuasion…
In John Gibson’s book “The War on Christmas” he share several case studies of places where Christmas is under fire. It talks about a school in Georgia that had a suit declared from the ACLU changing Christmas vacation to Holiday break. In Mustang, OK at Lakehoma elementary in their annual Christmas Pageant where there was a nativity scene, as well as representation of Kwanzaa and Hanukah. This was a one size fits all affair.
Days before the pageant the superintendent issued an order that the nativity scene was to be removed, and there would not be any singing of Silent Night. The Kwanzaa and Hanukah aspects of the program were allowed to remain.
In Plano Texas near Dallas the Thomas Elementary school was getting ready to celebrate its annual winter party, which had replaced the former Christmas party. Goodie bags were shared among the class. Before the bags were distributed pencils with Jesus is the reason for the season and candy canes with the legend of the candy cane were removed as violation the separation of church and state.
You may have heard that Boston was going to have a Holiday tree, but under protest the Mayor and others went back to having a Christmas tree.
There are many instances of where the tradition of Christmas is under scrutiny. Some may seem trivial. I maintain that the law of incrementalism is going on. If we take small enough steps they won’t care, they won’t notice, until its too late.
I believe we need to draw a line somewhere.
III The best kept secret is I am a Christian truth or fiction
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRISTMAS TO AMERICANS
The Barna Research Group poll, conducted for the Lutheran Hour Ministries found that:
37% of adults in the national survey (88% of whom identified themselves as Christian) said the birth of Jesus is the most important aspect of Christmas.
More than 75% of evangelical Christians placed Jesus’ birth as of first importance on Christmas.
Only 32% of those who identified themselves as fundamentalists gave that answer.
Only 29% of Catholics placed Jesus’ birth first.
Only 24% of theological liberals said the birth of Christ made Christmas important for them.
44% of the respondents said family time is the most important part of one of the three most sacred days (along with Good Friday and Easter) on the calendar.
26% of respondents ages 18 to 34 said the birth of Jesus was the most important aspect of Christmas.
39% among respondents 65 and older said the same thing.
Only 3% said presents or parties were the most important part of Christmas. The same percentage that said the best thing about Christmas was getting a paid holiday.
"I guess it demonstrates what preachers have been wringing their hands over for some time: Christ has been evacuated from Christmas," said the Rev. William Willimon, a theologian and Duke University chaplain. "It’s good to know where we are. Christmas has been a co-opted holiday."
"Americans are more likely to correctly recall the significance of April 15 than they are to connect Christmas with the birth of Jesus. As America becomes increasingly anesthetized to Christian principles and practices, it seems only fitting that we have contracted acute amnesia regarding the spiritual significance of December 25," said pollster George Barna.
Barna goes on to say, "Even with all that I know about how secularized our culture has become, I would have thought that more people would say Christmas, the birth of Jesus."
SOURCE: From "Making Room For Christ At Christmas" by Mike Hays. CITATION: www.barna.org
How do I demonstrate my faith? How do people know you are a Christian? Do they know?
I am not advocating getting into someones face about the faith. I am suggesting more specific actions. A cross can indicate you allegiance in the Kingdom of God
What kind of decorations do you put up at Christmas? Is there something Christian, something that identifies that in this house we know that Jesus is the reason for the season? Anne and I have gone simple with a Mary, Joseph and baby nativity scene.
What have I done to advance the faith in Christ’s name? You have been outfitted with the full Armor of God, these are tools they are not toys. There is a real effort to dilute, to take over a tradition by slowly ever so slowly remove the trapping of the season that are Christian.
Anne said it best last year. If you take Christ out of Christmas you end up with mas….
We have nothing to fear because God has given us everything we need to defend the faith in His name. He has given us our Armor and fitted us for battle.
What can you do, today. Declare your allegiance, make a statement in your own decorations, let it be known who is your Lord.
In Narnia there were two sides in the war. Here on earth there are two sides in the battle, let our hearts declare the invisible truth that Jesus resides within and the outward sign that we are willing to demonstrate in a visible way our faith decision. If you haven’t decided where your loyalty resides, please ask Him into your heart today, as we bow our heads…..
