Rev. David Holwick ZK
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey [focuses on fortitude more than on this text]
November 16, 2003
2 Chronicles 32:7-8
FINDING FORTITUDE
I. A time for courage.
A. Veterans' Day was this week. New Jersey has had its heroes:
In 1942, on a black October night in the steaming jungles of
Guadalcanal, the Marine sergeant had single-handedly wiped out a
company of Japanese trying to overrun his position on the
Tenaru River.
With a Colt .45 pistol and two machine guns - one cradled in his arms
after the other was knocked out - he stopped a screaming banzai
attack and held out until dawn, when reinforcements came up.
Nearly a hundred enemy dead were sprawled around his cut-off outpost.
His name was John Basilone, an Italian American from Raritan, New
Jersey.
Basilone was one of the first heroes of World War II, and the first
enlisted Marine to receive the Medal of Honor.
He was brought back to the United States to much acclaim - rallies were
held in his honor and he was given a $5,000 war bond.
He was offered a promotion to second lieutenant but turned it down.
I'm a plain soldier, he said, and I want to stay one.
He could have remained stateside training troops and selling was bonds.
Instead, he said farewell to his new wife and went back overseas.
February, 19, 1945. Iwo Jima.
At the head of another machine gun squad, Basilone led his troops over
the beaches of black sand.
The invasion was ninety minutes old and the Marines were under a
withering fire.
An incoming mortar sounded its eerie warning; then a shattering blast.
Basilone lunged forward in midstride, arms flung over his head.
He and four comrades died in that instant.
On his outstretched left arm was a tattoo: Death before Dishonor!
For his leadership he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Beyond dispute, John Basilone had courage.
Do you? #26097
B. Christian fortitude - inner strength and spiritual courage.
1) Our battle is not against "flesh and blood" but we are at
war with a spiritual enemy.
2) We are not in danger of losing our lives, just our souls.
3) We need to be as courageous as we can be.
II. Don't be a chicken.
A. Common admonition to Bible heroes: "Do not be afraid."
1) God said it to Abraham and Isaac.
2) Moses had to be reminded, even after he had personally
experienced many victories and miracles.
3) Joshua. (famous passage - Joshua 1:9)
a) Israel's fear had kept them in the wilderness for
40 years.
b) Because of their fear they missed God's best.
B. It is a standard component of God's call.
1) "Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife." Mt 1:20
2) "Paul, don't be afraid to keep preaching." Acts 18:9
3) Jesus seems like he spends half his time telling people
not to be afraid.
III. Cowardice is a life-thief.
A. Spiritual cowardice bears a heavy cost.
1) Shakespeare's observation:
"Cowards die many times before their deaths;
the valiant never taste of death but once."
2) We focus obsessively on our circumstances and figure God
can't do anything about it.
3) We avoid necessary risk.
a) Staying in our comfort zone. Judges 6:11-17
1> Gideon's solution to Midianite oppression -
he prepares his wheat in a winepress (deep pit).
2> God's solution - defeat the Midianites with a
token force and Gideon as their head.
3> Gideon's response - do you mean this? Really,
REALLY mean this? (double fleece test)
b) Church members who won't go on mission trips...
4) We lose the courage of our convictions.
a) We allow opposition to silence us.
b) Eventually, we stand for nothing and believe nothing.
5) We lose our inner vision of God and the peace it brings.
B. Sources of spiritual cowardice and fear.
1) Fear of loss.
a) The fear of being an orphan.
b) What are we really afraid of losing, that God can't
provide?
2) Pride, mixed with fear of failure.
a) Billy Graham's first preaching experience.
He prepared two sermons for two nights.
He preached them both the first night and ran out
of material in 10 minutes.
What if Graham had let his pride win, and said,
"I'll never preach again"?
b) Be willing to risk some embarrassment and humiliation.
3) Despair.
a) Comparing where we are, and where we want to be.
b) Why try?
In 1970, a man by the name of Malcolm Muggeridge went to
Calcutta to do a special documentary on Mother Teresa.
Muggeridge worked for BBC-TV and was Europe's Tom Brokaw.
Well, on that fated morning of their meeting (a morning
that would change him the him for the rest of his life)
he met her as she was working out in the streets.
It was a ghetto like he had never seen, with sick and poor
people, amid stench, filth, garbage, and disease.
But what struck Muggeridge more than anything else, even
there in that awful squalor and decadence, was the deep,
warm glow on Mother Teresa's face and love in her eyes.
"Do you do this every day?" he began his interview.
"Oh, yes," she replied, "it is my mission.
It is how I serve and love my Lord."
"How long have you been doing this? How many months?"
"Months?" said Mother Teresa. "Not months, but years.
Maybe eighteen years."
"Eighteen years!" exclaimed Muggeridge. "You've been
working here in these streets for eighteen years?"
"Yes," she said simply and yet joyfully.
"It is my privilege to be here. These are my people.
These are the ones my Lord has given me to love."
"Do you ever get tired?
Do you ever feel like quitting and letting someone else
take over your ministry?
After all, you are beginning to get older."
"Oh, no," she replied, "this is where the Lord wants me,
and this is where I am happy to be.
I feel young when I am here. The Lord is so good to me.
How privileged I am to serve him."
Later, Malcolm Muggeridge said, "I will never forget that
little lady as long as I live.
The face, the glow, the eyes, the love - it was all so
pure and so beautiful.
It was like being in the presence of an angel.
I have not been the same person since.
It is more than I can describe."
By the way, after Malcolm Muggeridge made those comments,
Mother Teresa continued to serve in that sacrificial way
until the end of her life nearly 27 years later.
Obviously, we can't all be Mother Teresa, but you can
have her attitude.
#19116
4) Opposition.
a) We do not live in a world that is friendly to God.
b) If you are timid or afraid to speak up, you won't be
able to represent the character of Christ.
IV. More than a brave face.
A. Fortitude is inner strength that relies on the provision of God.
1) Example: a dissatisfied wife who walks away from an affair
that promises emotional satisfaction, but spiritual
devastation.
2) Fortitude gives us the strength to live in a world of
cancer, disaster, atrocities and temptation.
a) One Christian might hear the words, "The tumor is
malignant," and immediately their faith shatters.
b) A Christian armed with fortitude will know that God
can work even through this.
1> The immediate future may be bleak.
2> But they choose to trust in the ultimate goodness
of God.
B. How to practice fortitude in our daily lives.
1) Gain a God-centered orientation.
a) Keep an eternal perspective.
1> Humans can kill your body - only God can touch
your soul. Luke 12:4-5
b) Meditate on the greatness of God.
2) Stand up for what you believe in.
Wheaton College is in the news for having their first
school-sponsored dance this week.
My dad called me from Florida and said it was on the
front page.
Here, it was on page 2 but had TWO pictures.
Yes, my strict Wheaton College has gone to the dogs...
When I went there, we couldn't dance, go to movies,
play tennis on Sunday or even play cards.
We must have been hyper-spiritual.
But a more vivid memory to me was the tombstone
outside the cafeteria.
No one seemed to know who it was.
Eventually a student did some research.
The grave held James Burr, an ardent abolitionist.
He even went to the South to free some slaves but was
caught and imprisoned.
His dying request was to be buried on Wheaton's campus
because the college accepted both whites and blacks.
The motto of the president, Jonathan Blanchard:
"One man on the side of the right, is a majority."
[1]
a) Hezekiah's speech - the greater power is with us.
3) Build intimacy with God by facing our fears with him.
a) "Perfect love casts out fear."
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon is very closely based on "Finding Fortitude - Discover How To
Navigate Life With a Steadfast Spirit," by Gary Thomas, Discipleship
Journal #130, July-August 2002, page 35.
[1] Taken from personal memory and current newspaper articles. The quote
by Blanchard may not be quite right - it may be closer to
"One with God is a majority."
#19116 "Do You Do This Every Day?" by Rev. Brett Blair, Blair's
Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com;
November 9, 2003.
#26097 "New Jersey's Hero," by Bill D. Ross, adapted by Rev. David
Holwick, http://www.cimorelli.com/pie/heroes/basilone.htm
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://illust.holwick.com
=========================================================================
"Finding Fortitude," Gary Thomas, Discipleship Journal #130, page 35:
I. Courage of soldiers.
A. World War II "BAR" soldier and courage.
B. Christian virtue of fortitude - inner strength and spiritual
courage.
II. Do not be afraid.
A. Common admonition to Bible heroes.
1) Abraham.
2) Isaac.
3) Moses. (even after many victories and miracles)
4) Joshua. (famous passage) Josh 1:9
a) Israel's fear had kept them in the wilderness for forty
years. Because of their fear they missed God's best.
5) Virtually every time God calls someone to do something in
Scripture, he tells them, "Do not be afraid."
a) "Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife."
b) "Paul, don't be afraid to keep preaching."
c) Jesus seems like he spends half his time telling people
not to be afraid.
III. Cowardice is a life-thief.
A. Shakespeare: "Cowards die many times before their deaths; the
valiant never taste of death but once."
B. Spiritual cowardice.
1) We focus obsessively on our circumstances.
2) We lose our inner vision of God.
C. Sources of spiritual cowardice and fear.
1) Fear of loss.
2) Pride, mixed with fear of failure.
3) Despair.
4) Opposition.
a) The timid cannot walk in the character of Christ.
IV. The nature of fortitude.
A. Inner strength that relies on the provision of God.
B. Fear overlooks God's active presence.
V. How to practice fortitude in our daily lives.
A. Meditate on the greatness of God.
1) Gain a God-centered orientation.
B. Be willing to take on risk.
C. Build intimacy with God by facing our fears with him.
