Standing Firm in Faith

Dr. Benjamin Valentín, come up here, Benjamin. We welcome Benjamin. Benjamin is a member of our church, and you always see him sitting there humbly playing the guitar. He blesses us; he is also a great guitarist, a multifaceted man, and he is also a professor at Hamilton Gordon Theological Seminary, right here near Boston, an excellent preacher, theologian, author of books, and a man who loves the Lord very much and has given his talent to serve God.

We are delighted, and I know that many of the graduates and students who are here are glad to see young people like Benjamin giving their intellect to the Lord in order to train pastors and servants of God in different parts of this nation and the world. And this morning we were blessed by the word he is going to preach to us. Although Benjamin speaks Spanish very well, as he will explain to you, he is going to present his sermon in English, and I am going to translate for you, so let us see: how many believe we can pull off that trick and that it will go well? Will you pray for us? Amen. We already rehearsed this morning, so now you are going to get a somewhat better-developed product. So, Benjamin, welcome to the house of the Lord. We rejoice in having you, and thank you for sharing this message with us.

By the way, it is more important that you listen to him than to me.

If you have your Bibles with you, I am going to ask you to turn to the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, chapter 13. I will be reading verses 3 through 9, Matthew 13:3–9. While you are looking for it, let me tell you that this morning I mentioned that my preaching style has been very greatly influenced by the African American preaching style. And I am going to explain why.

When I lived in New York, every so often I would sneak away from my father’s church, where he was the pastor, to go to African American churches and see and hear some of the finest preachers in our nation, who happened to be African American, and I loved their preaching style. And it seems that I went so many times that some of it rubbed off on me too. So today may possibly be a day when you see your pastor get fired up. Amen. Even I am going to catch a little of that African American style.

Matthew 13, verses 3 through 9. I am going to read it in English, and Pastor Miranda will read it in Spanish.

“... And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, ‘Behold, the sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some of the seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it. Some fell on rocky ground, where there was not much soil, and it sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it; but some fell on good soil and bore fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’” Amen. Can we say amen?

If, while I am preaching, you feel the urge to shout amen, or say ouch, that hurts, or applaud, or do anything else you want to do, feel free to do it. Absolutely, it’s quite okay.

It should hardly surprise us that I decided to choose one of Jesus’ parables as the subject of our message. For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by Jesus’ parables. Part of this has to do with the fact that I grew up in a church context in which a narrative style of preaching was favored. So, in that context, the parables were a favorite of many Pentecostal preachers.

Growing up, I heard countless sermons based on Jesus’ parables. Some were very good, others not so good, but that is all right. More recently, however, it has been my vocation as a theological educator—my theological practice, in other words—that has nourished and encouraged my fascination with the parables.

We educators are always looking for creative ways to communicate biblical insights and discoveries, and in that light I have come to appreciate the parables and to see them as creative stories that not only gave memorable expression to Jesus’ teachings, but also made those who heard the parables take responsibility for interpreting them personally. Thus, the parables are fascinating stories that show us this interactive dynamic of preaching, and they show us that they are also a very advantageous form of religious and theological reflection. But I have finally come to the realization nowadays that we often fail—we err—in discovering the deeper and fuller meaning of these stories. To be honest with you, I do not think we even discover their true meaning. We think we have succeeded in understanding them, but in fact we misinterpret them. And this is understandable when we stop and think about it carefully. After all, these stories were told a long time ago, and they were told in a religious and cultural context very different from our own.

Moreover, they were also told in a language entirely different from ours, and therefore it is very difficult for us today to understand, for example, the images and analogies Jesus used to tell these stories. And for these reasons, it is often very difficult for us to understand these stories fully.

The parable of the Good Samaritan is an example of this dynamic. In this parable, we have often tended to interpret the story simply as the story of a good fellow, a nice guy who performed a good deed in his life. And so, in the end, we interpret that story to mean that every now and then we too should do something good for someone. But when we interpret the parable of the Samaritan in this way, we fail to find the deeper, more mysterious meaning of that narrative. We fail to discover that, in this parable, the Lord Jesus was actually striking hard at those religious people who thought that merely living a good religious life simply meant going to the temple, reading the Scriptures, praying, fasting, and paying tithes. And all those things are very, very important... let there be no doubt about that. But what Jesus was saying is that it is not only about doing those things. In addition to that, one must respond, for example, to people who are in need. The Lord was essentially saying, ‘Those who think in that superficial way have missed the mark.’ He was telling them that faith without a concrete expression of love, without concern, without compassion, is irrelevant and is not acceptable in the eyes of God. Faith without works is unacceptable. The Lord was saying, ‘You cannot consider yourself a doer of God’s will and a genuine follower of Jesus Christ if you are not concerned about those who suffer in society.’ And through that parable, the Lord was also saying that the Christian life cannot simply be about a merely inward dimension of holiness, but must also contain an outward, social dimension—an outward expression.

So, as we can see, the parable of the Good Samaritan has a deeper meaning than the one we often assign to it. This parable is not simply about a spontaneous, merely spontaneous act of goodwill, but is a call to a more determined, more deliberate, more responsible spiritual life that must include concern for those who are in need.

Now, Pastor Miranda, in a time like ours, when there is so much suffering because of the social inequalities that exist in the world, when immigrants in our nation are often being mistreated and are not being properly cared for, when many people have to endure violence, we could certainly benefit from reconsidering the element of social justice found in that parable of the Good Samaritan.

But let us return to my original point. The point is that we often fail to find the deeper meaning of Jesus’ parables. This parable of the Good Samaritan is an example of what we are talking about, but we can also see this same thing in the parable of the sower.

In most of the common interpretations we have of this parable of the sower, we take the story’s message superficially and conclude that it means that when the message of the Gospel falls on a receptive heart, it can then bear the proper fruit.

Certainly, that is an important part of the message, but there is more to this story’s original intent. There is a deeper, more important message that the Lord is trying to make us aware of, and in order to arrive at that deeper meaning, it is important to take into consideration the moment and the context in which this story was told. It is also important to take into consideration what was happening around Jesus at the time when He told this story.

Now, in earlier passages of the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel makes it clear that when the Lord told that story of the sower, many of the people in the crowd, and even some of His disciples, were beginning to question their decision to follow Jesus. They were even questioning their decision to follow Him. Some, for example, had already experienced rejection and had also been ridiculed by others because of their decision to follow Jesus. Some had thought that following Jesus would be easy and safe. Instead, they discovered that it was very difficult and risky. Some had even thought that getting others to follow Jesus would be relatively easy, but they also discovered that it was not so easy. Some had hoped that perhaps by then Jesus’ following would be much larger than it was at that time. But many had encountered different forms of resistance and adversity, and they had therefore reached the conclusion that being a follower of Jesus was actually much more difficult than they had anticipated.

So many were asking themselves questions inwardly and had reservations and doubts, and they were asking questions such as these: Why have more people not embraced Jesus’ teachings by this time? Why have these good tidings of the coming Kingdom of God generated so much suspicion and so much opposition from people? And they wondered, should I continue being a follower of Jesus Christ or not?

And so these thoughts were passing through the minds of those in the crowd who were listening to Jesus. And the Lord understood this. And then, what do you think He did? He told them a story. He told them this story of the sower. But why did He tell them this particular story? And what was His purpose in telling this story? The parable of the sower was intended to encourage and spur people on in their journey of faith. The parable of the sower can be understood as a word of encouragement for those who wish to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in difficult times. The main message of this parable is that unexpected things, miraculous things, very good things can happen in our spiritual lives, but for that to happen, we need to remain steadfast in our spiritual calling and continue diligently and patiently. We have to remain steadfast in our Christian calling, persevering and staying focused. We must have the faith of a farmer who sows seeds and then waits to receive a good harvest despite all the possible circumstances that may arise.

How many can say amen in the name of the Lord? The moral of this story is that we should not expect things always to go well for us; we should not expect everything in life to proceed smoothly; we cannot always expect everything to go as we hope or desire. The moral of this story is that when things get hard and rough, when things do not work the way we want them to, when they do not turn out the way we expect, we cannot walk away from the faith. The moral of the story is that when difficulties and obstacles come our way, we must not stop following Jesus. How many say amen? Glory to God. The moral of this message is that we must not allow ourselves to be distracted by what is happening around us or by the frustrations we may encounter along the way. We must keep our eyes on the prize. No matter what difficulties may come, we must remain steadfast and willing to follow Jesus. Despite every possible difficulty, we must carry on with our Christian lives, believing that it will be well worth it in the end. Glory to the Lord. I am preaching well, brothers and sisters; glory to God. Glory to the Lord, amen, good message. Glory to God.

And do you know what, brothers and sisters? We are only warming up. Do not scare me. Despite every possible distraction, we must attend to our spiritual responsibilities. The parable of the sower offers us this truth, both a word of encouragement and a word challenging us to remain steadfast and to be patient in our walk.

Now, I know that Jesus’ disciples needed to hear this message. I know that there were many in the crowd who were looking at Jesus and needed to hear these encouraging stories. And I am also aware that there have been times in past history when the Christian church has needed to hear this message of encouragement. But if there has ever been a time when Christians needed to hang on and hold on to that kind of hope and encouragement, it is now.

Regardless of what people may think, today is not an easy time to be a believer. Sometimes I have heard people say that it is easy to be a Christian today, and perhaps they say this because we are not necessarily being thrown into lions’ dens, or being stoned, or crucified for our Christian beliefs, at least in some parts of the world.

And that is true, but I want to point out that there are other factors today that make being a Christian quite difficult. Sometimes our Christian living is made more difficult by certain social, cultural, and economic factors, and perhaps we do not even realize it. For example, sometimes the hurried, fast-paced lifestyle we live today becomes an obstacle to our spiritual progress. Today we live such fast-paced lives that we often have difficulty slowing down and then appreciating the truly beautiful things and the important things in life.

A recent article in the New York newspaper, the New York Daily News, reported on an experiment conducted by several social agencies. These agencies hired one of the most accomplished violinists of our time, a gentleman named Joshua Bell. Now, this man has played for some of the most famous symphony orchestras of our time. Normally, if one wants to hear this great artist play the violin, one has to pay hundreds of dollars to hear him in a concert hall, but for this particular occasion these social agencies hired this man and took him to one of the busiest train stations in Washington, D.C., to play his music for free all day long. This study, this experiment, was designed to record how the public would react upon seeing this great artist play for free in one of these train stations. Would people recognize him? Would they stop to listen to this beautiful music? Would people take the time to stop for a while and listen, to pause their fast-paced lives to hear even just a tiny bit of that sublime music? Would people perhaps be willing to arrive at work even just a little late in order to hear the great music that was being played?

To the great surprise of the agencies conducting this experiment, this study, although thousands of people passed by where this great violinist was playing, the hidden cameras captured only a handful of people who stopped. The rest of the thousands of people were in such a hurry to get to their workplaces that they could not take the time to enjoy something so beautiful.

And that is what happens to many of us, if we are honest. Our lives can often be so fast-paced, so busy, that we cannot even take the time to enjoy beautiful things and things that are truly important in life. Sometimes we are so preoccupied with simply making a living that we forget to live. And this also happens many times in our spiritual life. Sometimes we are so busy that we forget to tend our spiritual garden, to tend our spiritual lives and our souls.

For example, the rising cost of living can often be another problem now. The rising cost of living makes it necessary for us to work longer hours, more time simply to be able to earn what we need. There have been recent social studies that have found that Americans—and we as well—work longer hours today than have ever been worked before in the entire history of this nation.

A few years ago, a book entitled “The Overworked American” was published, and it provided many statistics concerning this phenomenon and also described the negative implications, the negative consequences, of that kind of lifestyle. And in other cases, it is not necessarily that we are working longer, but that we are spending more time traveling from work to home and vice versa. What do all these things do? They contribute to our living increasingly busy, increasingly fast-paced lives that leave us little time to invest in other things. And this not only affects our ability to stop and listen to sublime violin music, or to spend quality time with the people we love, but it also interferes with our ability to take time to pray, to take time to read the Scriptures, or it gets in the way of our ability to participate in church programs, or to come to church on some Sundays because we have little time, little energy left after our week of working so hard. And so this could also be a problem in our spiritual life.

These factors often get in our way and prevent us from living fruitful Christian lives. But if we are honest, it is not only external factors like the ones we have described that frustrate our spiritual life today; sometimes there are also internal factors, within the church, that make being a Christian in our time increasingly difficult. Preachers attack the evils of our secularized culture, and I have certainly done that many times. But very rarely are we willing to point the finger at ourselves and accept the blame for many of the things we are doing wrong within the church itself.

For example, some of the scandals we have seen in some churches have served to undermine the public’s trust and confidence in the church, and this has often served as an obstacle to the faith of many, both outside and inside the church. And I can point out that it often also seems that the churches called liberal have sometimes lost sight of their prophetic word, while the more conservative evangelical churches seem to have sold their souls to the Republican Party. And this too has served to cool the faith of many.

The truth is that the church should never align itself so closely with a particular political agenda that it loses its ability to be a critical eye.

One of the things I have learned about Jesus in the Scriptures is that he is what I would call an equal-opportunity critic; he treats everyone equally. Yet that is what happens many times, and this has led many people to feel somewhat suspicious of the church and has also negatively affected the faith of many within the church. Apart from these factors I have mentioned, I note that on some occasions the church has forgotten to devote enough attention to preparing disciples. I have often noticed that we have placed greater importance, as we should, on matters related to worship, praise, and things that have more to do with public Christian conduct and the like, but often we have not devoted enough attention to the importance of an in-depth study of the Holy Scriptures, an in-depth study of the convictions of the Christian faith.

I often find that fewer and fewer of us have an adequate understanding of the Scriptures, of the history, for example, of the Christian church, and of the composition, the constitution, of the faith we say we embrace. So we often miss the opportunity to know fully what it means to be a Christian. We come to church and sing, we enter into a superficial emotional high, perhaps we leave church feeling a little better about ourselves, but in reality we lack a grounding in the Holy Scriptures and in the Christian faith, and because of this lack we do not have the roots that can help us be better Christians.

How many say amen—or complain? Now, I teach at a Christian seminary, so I know what I am talking about, and I am speaking from personal experience. One of the things that often frustrates my mind is how it is possible for me to have seminary students in my classes who know very little about the Scriptures or about the very faith they have embraced. And it is not only my seminary; other seminaries as well. And what is my point in saying this? My point is that these students have often been in church for a very long time; therefore, we need to do a better job of preparing Christian disciples.

I raise all these considerations simply to point out the following: there are many factors that can frustrate our spiritual journey. Many things can get in the way of our living strong Christian lives. There are many frustrations, many disappointments, that we can experience as we seek to be faithful to our God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. So the summary of everything that has been said is this: it is not easy to be a follower of Jesus Christ in our time.

I believe that this parable of the sower was intended for times like the ones we are living through. This parable was intended for people who were experiencing frustration in their lives, a crisis in their faith. This parable was cast out to people who were losing faith in their spiritual calling. It was directed at people who were losing sight of the spiritual foundations of their lives. This parable was directed at people who were feeling discouraged by everything happening around them. This parable was cast out to people who were losing their faith, their hope in the continuing relevance of the Gospel. In other words, this parable was cast out and intended for us today. This parable is for you and for me.

How many can say amen to this? Now I am almost reaching the end, but that means that we must now come to a crescendo. The message of the parable is this: the message is, hang on however you can, hold on to your faith, cling to your faith; do not allow anything to frustrate you in your Christian walk so that you lose sight of the highest prize. Do not become so distracted by the things of the world that you forget to tend to the spiritual matters of your life. Do not become so disillusioned with the present that you sacrifice your hope for a better tomorrow. Do not lose sight of God in Christ Jesus, no matter what.

I want to conclude this afternoon by asking each of you, by asking you to look deeply within yourselves, by asking you to reflect on the spiritual condition of your life today. Examine yourselves. Be honest with yourself and ask yourself some questions—for example, what things have you allowed to frustrate your Christian walk? Can you find within yourself the energy to set those things aside and renew your faith? What things keep you from nurturing your spiritual walk? Can you find within yourself the energy to overcome those things and strengthen your walk of faith? What things in your spiritual life do you believe are a little shaky right now? Do you dare to try to improve those areas of your life? Do you feel that your spiritual life is not all it can or could be? Can you find within yourself the energy to be a better Christian? Or perhaps you have not yet entered into a personal relationship with Jesus; would you like to begin doing so today?

And if you think that today’s message has spoken to some part of your being and you would like in some way to restore your spiritual life, this could be a good opportunity for you. If you would like to rededicate yourself to your Christian calling, this could be an opportune occasion for you. If you would like to recommit yourself to continuing to cultivate your spiritual life, this could be a great opportunity for you.

If in some way you see yourself reflected in this story I have told, and you would like to ask the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to come and help you be a better follower of Jesus and have a better life in the faith, I simply ask you to stand wherever you are. You do not necessarily have to come up here to the front; no one needs to go over to you and lay hands on you. This simple act of standing up will be a symbolic expression of your desire to be a better follower of Jesus.

Now, Pastor Miranda, it seems that evidently the vast majority of the congregation has stood up; this is a good sign of things to come. Amen. Move forward in your faith. Move forward in your faith. Move forward in your faith. Do not allow anything to get in your way. I am going to hand the microphone over to Pastor Miranda so that he can pray for all of us. May the Lord bless you. Glory to the Lord. Amen. Amen. Glory to God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

If you have made that decision in your heart to give your life to Jesus, if the Lord has spoken to you in some way, whether by improving a spiritual life that is already underway or simply by beginning a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Lord is calling you today to respond to what you have heard. Do not leave here simply saying, “Well, that was nice; what I heard was very beautiful and very inspiring.” Rather, as we were saying, we must interact with the Word. We must respond; we must interpret it in a personal way. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to give your life to Jesus. I encourage you right now, there in your innermost being, to say, “Lord, I surrender; I give myself to you, and I want you to walk with me, to guide my life, and to be the Lord, the director of the rest of my destiny.”

And those of us who already know the Lord are being called by him to reaffirm our covenant with him. The Lord does not delight in lukewarm people, in casual people; rather, he wants hearts that are completely surrendered to him. So let us take a moment there to reconsecrate our lives to God and say to him, “Lord, I surrender to you. I give myself to you in every way.”