Copyright February 6,  2010 by Geist Christian Church

It is impossible to live in Indianapolis and not know that there is a football game going on today unless, perhaps, you just awakened from a coma.  It is almost impossible to live in the United States and be clueless about today being Super Bowl Sunday.  More people will watch the Super Bowl in America this evening than went out on New Year’s Eve. The world wide viewership will be 1 billion people broadcast in 34 different languages. Some of you will watch in order to see the commercials which are a bargain this year at $2.5 million for a 30 second spot. That’s down a half million dollars from last year.  Makes you want to buy two, doesn’t it?  For us, the most important thing is the Colts are playing the New Orleans Saints and we need to “kill” the saints.[i]

It’s hard to preach against the Saints. It almost feels wrong.  I am confident that most of the pastors in New Orleans titled their sermons this weekend, “When the Saints go marching in!”  The Saints getting to the super bowl, after winning their NFC playoff games in the Super Dome, where we saw those tragic pictures during Katrina, is a great story, a real boost for New Orleans. Because of this many, including President Obama, want the Saints to win.  Fortunately, we've got God on our side.   It says so very clearly in Psalm 116! 

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death to his saints.” Psalm 116: 15.  I’d love to see one of those guys who holds up the poster board signs with John 3:16 hold up instead Psalm 116:15.  

The challenge is “How do you kill a saint?” The history of the church is filled with lots of saints being put to death in lots of different ways. John the Baptist was beheaded and everyone knows our defensive ends will try to take off the head of Drew Brees.  That works. Lots of saints like Joan of Arc were burned.  We hope Peyton and Reggie will burn the Saints secondary.  Saint Vincent was stretched to death on a rack. Maybe the Colts stretch plays work will help the Colts kill the Saints.  St. Bartholomew was skinned alive. Maybe that’s the simplest way to put it.  We want to skin the Saints and bring home another Super Bowl trophy.

The “saint killers” that I want to talk about today have nothing to do with football. There are killers to the spirit and soul which destroy your saintly behavior. While no one here on Super Bowl Sunday wants to admit to being a saint, you are one.

We’ve discussed before that scripture teaches us that saints aren’t football players or special designated persons canonized by the Romans Catholic church. Saints aren't holy dead people in heaven.  “Saints” are those who make up the church, the people gathered together as the faithful ones. Our theme scripture which fits so nicely into this weekend’s sermon is actually translated in the New Revised Version as faithful ones. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.” (Psalm 116:15) NRSV.” The old RSV and the NIV Bible translations each use the word “saints.”  You are the faithful ones. There are some killers out that that can destroy your saints. We can see them by studying the Psalm that gave us this wonderful theme verse on Super Bowl Sunday.

Psalm 116 is a psalm of thanksgiving that was written by someone who had gone through a rough time. It is a part of a group of psalms that talk about deliverance from “death” or “Sheol” or the “pit.”  It might have been the possibility of physical death or something like the death of someone else or a broken relationship or economic struggles. Whatever the challenge, the psalmist “suffered distress and anguish” but once he emerged on the other side, he understood his deliverance to be the work of God. His response is to worship, to offer praise to God. I will …. call on the name of the Lord... in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord,  (Psalm 116: 17a, 18b-19a). The Psalmist is filled with gratitude but his gratitude isn’t private. It’s public, expressed in worship. He stands in the midst of God’s people and declares what God has done. 

Worship is not an individual act done in private. Rather it is done in the presence of God, validated by the saints, by the faithful ones of God’s people. Worship is communal and essential.

It might not surprise you when I say that one of the saint killers is neglect of worship. If you are listening to this message during a worship service, then you may have some relief that you’ve passed the test, but have you? Worship is an essential practice of the Christian faith but more and more, there are some problems with worship. Neglecting worship isn't just skipping worship in order to do something else, like getting ready for a Super Bowl party. You can neglect worship and be present. 

A saint killer can be your motive.  Why did you come to worship this morning?  If you hang around me very long, you know that I ask that question several times a year because your motive for worship is important, a critical component of your spiritual life. Why are you here?

Some of you are here because you think you have to be here, that worship is obligation.  Some of you came this morning because someone made you. There are lots of students who might raise their hand and say, 'That's me.'  One of the men in our congregation told me that he said to his sons, “As long as you put your feet under my table, you go to worship.” I grew up in that kind of household, where worship was considered the responsibility of being a good Christian and the option to skip, even if it was Super Bowl Sunday or there was 6 inches of snow on the ground, just wasn't there. And while that song still sings in my head, I know and believe that those kinds of motives in worship are saint killers because obligation and responsibility do not always lead to authentic worship. 

Look at what the motives were for worship expressed by the psalmist. He says, “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1-2). He states his relationship with God and expresses gratitude.  Then, he claims his salvation, “...when I was in great need, he saved me.” Be at rest once more, O my soul, for he has been good to you.  For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death (Psalm 116: 6b-8a). 

Because he is grateful and saved, what else can he do but worship? This is the way he says it:  “How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,” (Psalm 116:12-14).

Why are you here? When we come to worship, we come to praise God and express our gratitude.  We come to claim our salvation and rejoice that we are saved from death.  And we come to renew our vows, present our offering and offer up the cup of salvation. Anything less hurts the church and kills the saint. Neglecting worship can be a saint killer and it is more than having a weak discipline of regular worship. It can come from having the wrong motives for engaging in worship.

There is another saint killer that is equally deadly. Neglecting the Word. Neglecting the walk. Going your own way. Spiritual innovation is actually a saint killer. This is why it is so important to gather in community beyond worship, to find ways to renew your vows within a community of a small group of people, or as the Psalmist says, “I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,” (Psalm 116:18).

The reality is that most of us don't think very highly of imitating others. In fact, we don't think very highly of imitation at all. We want the real thing and we don't want to be perceived as someone who is trying to act like someone else.  That's not being authentically yourself. It's not being authentic. What we value in our society is being innovative, cutting edge, unique. If you want to make it big, write an article about breaking the mold or a book about being an outlier. It's why Malcolm Gladwell's book by that title, “Outlier,” is such a hit. I thought that was a great book and I like to think of myself as unique.

Truth be told, we are better at imitating others than we are being innovative and the Super Bowl is a big example. Look at the way we've dressed this week? Blue. Everywhere I've gone I've seen Colts gear. Look at the way people will dress up for Super Bowl parties, wearing the colors, falling in line with each other. By nature, we are creatures of conformity and if we are to follow Jesus, we have to be around those who are also following Jesus. We've got to seek out those who are exhibiting a commitment to Christ and understanding the Word. We don’t need to innovate; we need to imitate.

Tony Campolo tells the story of a drunk who was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission in New York. The drunk, Joe, was known throughout the Bowery as the worst kind of wino, a hopeless derelict of a man, living on borrowed time. But following his conversion, everything changed. He became the most caring person that anyone associated with the mission had ever known. He spent his days and nights hanging out at the hall, not balking at even the lowliest job, cleaning up after the drunks when they got sick. He considered nothing too demeaning for him.

One evening when the director of the mission was delivering his evangelistic message to the  crowd of bored men, who were required to worship before they received a meal, one man was truly moved by the message and during the altar call, came forward, knelt down to pray. He began to sob and pray out loud, “Oh Lord, make me like Joe. Oh Lord, make me like Joe. Oh Lord, make me like Joe. The pastor of the mission said to the man, “Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, “Make me like Jesus! The man looked up at the director with a puzzled expression and asked, “Is he like Joe?'[ii]

Throughout his letters Paul cautions against going your own way and encouraged us to imitate fellow Christians. “Be imitators off me, as I am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). And, “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us ( 2 Thessalonians 3:7). And again, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you” ( Philippians 3:17).

You are imitating someone and the question is, have you put yourself in the position to imitate someone who is a follower of Jesus? Who is Joe for you? Who can you look to for encouragement? Who knows what you are going through and helps you grow spiritually?

There is a second question which is just as important? Who is imitating you? Who is watching you, considering you as a role model? You have a sphere of influence which may be in the home, or in the workplace or the neighborhood. What are people learning from you?

It is why we continue to place such an emphasis on finding places to grow spiritually, to understand the Word, to work on your walk, to confirm your life to Christ. We've started a new round of Bible 101 classes which many have found helpful. Our small group pastor Cara Gilger is launching a number of new small groups during the season of Lent, our annual pilgrimage to Easter. I'm preaching on Peter walking alongside Jesus. He demonstrates how important it is to fix your eyes on others who model faith.  Anything less is a saint killer. 

Some of you know that my uncle died last Saturday night and I attended one of those forced family reunions in a little town in Oklahoma. When my cousins are grieving deeply, I am grateful for his life and the occasions during childhood when I had the opportunity to be with him.  He was a man of strong faith and a leader in his church.  It was a quick trip, out on Wednesday afternoon, service on Thursday, back on Friday. I wrote most of this sermon on the plane. During travel, the Holy Spirit is often generous with illustrations and he didn't fail me this time. I needed a good illustration to end this message. It came as I got on the parking lot bus headed to the terminal.

The bus was loaded with people returning home, lots of them wearing Colts gear, and they were getting off at each stop.  Finally, there were only two of us left as we were nearing the exit, headed for the terminal. The driver turned around and said, “Aren't you going to get off?  We've been through the lots twice.” The man said, “You haven't come to my drop, E63 at which point the driver said, “Man, you are on the wrong bus.”  At which point he said something that can't be repeated in this sermon. The driver took us to the terminal and we both got off, the Saint fan first, followed by me.  As I stepped off the bus, I heard the driver laughing and saying out loud, “On the wrong bus. That's a killer.”  I was all the way to security before I got it. “That's a killer, a saint killer” He wasn't on the right bus and that's a saint killer.

So on this Super Bowl weekend, that's the challenge. Get on the right bus. Commit yourself to a regular worship discipline with the right motives of expressing gratitude, claiming your salvation and renewing your vows in the presence of others. Find yourselves a group to journey with, to inspire and be role models for you and for others.  Get on the right bus. Don’t be a saint killer unless of course, you play for the Indianapolis Colts today.