| October 25, 2009
From The First Baptist Church in America pulpit – Providence, Rhode Island “The Power of Good Ideas” (Acts 4:13-21) – Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching
Reformation Sunday at First Baptist is special because it’s also Founder’s Day. We rightly celebrate the founding pastor of The First Baptist Church in America because he had a good idea; an idea whose time had come. And still is. Something brand new in religious history: religious liberty for all instead of a state church, for the health of both. It’s notable that the people who represent sound principles are often common folks, unremarkable, or insignificant. Their only distinction is being the implement of an idea whose time has come.
The Book of Acts describes the impact of Peter and John’s idea. After Jesus died, the disciples were brought to court in Jerusalem and threatened with punishment if they didn't quit preaching his gospel ideas. There’s nothing outstanding about these two. They were Galilean fishermen, of the common class of people. To the dignified aristocrats of society, they seemed like “unlearned and ignorant men” (13). Try to imagine this scene, with the best minds and reputations of Judah on one side and on the other these two working-class fishermen, it's hard to believe that the future belonged to them. But it did. They were way ahead of their day because they were possessed by an idea whose time had come: “We cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard.”
That idea was the Good News of Jesus Christ, and it contained tremendous power, which was to change the entire course of human history. And they were key players in it because they let this powerful notion use them. Goes to show that you don't have to be great to be used by a great concept. By no means was Simon Peter an exceptional man. People call him “Saint” Peter, but when you read the record, you discover that he wasn’t all that saintly. Reluctant at first to even follow Jesus, he was very slow to catch on to his message, which made him on the wrong side of the major issue of Jesus' life, sacrificial saviorhood. So opposed was Peter to Jesus as servant-messiah that Jesus tore into him at Caesarea-Philippi, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” And when Jesus was in his most needy moment, Peter wilted before a young maiden in Caiaphas' courtyard, denying that he ever knew the Lord.
The big fisherman was a long way from a saint. Just a regular guy. Yet he was and is, St. Peter, because he belonged to that tiny group of Jesus' followers, who had the privilege of leading humankind around one of the most crucial corners in history. Undependable Simon became Peter the Rock for one reason: he was an ordinary man who let himself be used by an extraordinary idea, whose time had come. And that was glory enough for one lifetime.
This is true throughout history. Christopher Columbus got the credit for discovering the North American continent. I grew up believing he was a great explorer. But that was before somebody decided to re-write history. Except for the Italians, he’s not so highly thought of in today’s PC. Brown even took his holiday away! What made Columbus great, was what made Peter a Saint -- an idea whose time had come, namely that the world was round, not flat. What a novel theory! But Chris attached himself to it and it was glory enough for one lifetime.
The powers that be don’t cotton to those who disagree. So when Galileo discovered a scientific truth that made the church look bad he was excommunicated. But the modern world has benefited countless ways from the ideas he let use him. Thomas Jefferson wrote the U. S. Constitution because he was possessed by an idea: every person is created equal. Abraham Lincoln held this fractured nation together in our country’s most fractious days, because he embodied an idea: that America cannot survive if it is divided. Martin Luther King, Jr. deservedly won the Nobel Prize because he let himself be used by an idea whose time had come: that all Americans should live by their creed.
But don't let these historical stalwarts stymie you, we’re all used by some idea. Good or bad. This is an inescapable fact. In our lifetime, most of what’s wrong in our world can be traced to those who’re used by bad ideas: Hitler’s, Stalin’s, Mao’s. But it preceded them. Europe was divided because of a bad idea: a king, a pope and the combination of church and state. That directly led to the rise of Roger Williams, the founder of this church and Baptist life in America. Nearly 400 years ago, only one of the original 13 colonies gave birth to a “lively experiment” in religious liberty, because he let himself be used by an idea whose time had come: the separation of Church and state.
Intolerant, narrow-minded religion put Jesus on the cross and that's an idea we can do without. Intoxication is another. Drugs and drunkenness are as old as the legends of Noah and leaves its trail of destruction all across history. This bad idea continues to find representation in multitudes of people. Even worse is selfishness. The main impediment to a meaningful life is self-absorption. It’s broken up homes, ruined friendships, waged wars and every other evil thing we can think of, has sadly been sustained by the idea of selfish greed. How many have let that use them? Being responsible for your own life is a good idea, depending on others to take care of you is not.
For generations, bad ideas have found countless people who would use them. People die off, but the ideas live on! Every newborn will have many ideas walk up to its life-door and knock pleading, “Let me use you in your time.” Ideas are not something you get, but something that gets you. They outlive us by centuries and even millenniums. But they need representatives to give them life.
Currently there are lots of ideas being tossed around. Whether they’re good or bad depends on your perspective, but mostly it’s about votes. Nationalized Health Care, bailing out failed institutions, war in Afghanistan, releasing Gitmo prisoners, Cap & Trade, redistribution of wealth, the White House trying to excommunicate a major news agency – just to name a few. #1 Roger stood for the “separation of church and state.” But #36 is more Madisonian than Nixonian, I stand for the “separation of news and state!”
Even the idea of church has a spotty track record. Church at its best is a place that ought to help us put to use the noble ideas of life. Church is where we learn the Gospel idea that Jesus came to teach us. At church we become aware of something bigger than ourselves, where we learn to serve somebody. There are lots of good ideas out there. But no idea is good unless we let it use us. That goes for health, or family. Education is always a good idea; or it used to be, as long as it’s not indoctrination. When we come to church we shouldn’t leave our minds at home. Jesus taught us to “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves; to love God with our heart, soul, strength and mind.” We sure could use a little more of that today.
Sadly, most people in our society apparently don’t think church is a good idea, if their involvement is an indicator. Yeah a lot of bad things have been done in the name of religion. And that’s led to “throwing out the baby with the wash water,” another bad idea. So there are lots of people who are religious but do not participate in religion. Those of us gathered in this worship on Founder’s Day believe like our founder, that a free church in a free society is a good idea. History has proved that correct. We must be vigilant to continue to stand for religious freedom, because either people could care less about it or even believe it’s a bad idea. And a lot of them are Baptists!
Could anything be more powerful than to espouse a good idea and say, I want to be identified with that? We miss out on life so easily because we keep getting it backwards. Instead of us belonging to it, we prefer to say of many things, this belongs to me. Like the rich fool in Jesus' parable in the Gospel of Luke: “I’ll build bigger barns and say to myself, `take your ease, eat, drink, and get married!'” But Jesus called him a fool, because he let a bad idea possess him.
But to come upon something fine and say of it, not this belongs to me, but I belong to that. That’s what the Bible means by conversion. An idea resisted by the self-righteous. So you don't have to be great to be used by a great idea. But neither can anybody be used by a great idea without also becoming great. Nobody’s a fool who give themselves to what they can’t keep, to gain what they can’t lose! Ideas outlive defeats, but that doesn't matter. That something noble got carried along for a few laps on our shoulders in our time, that's what makes life mean something.
The Son of Man was crucified outside the gates of old Jerusalem one Friday, but the victory didn't for long belong to those who went home to supper after “it was finished.” Because in the end, there is no victory without being used by an idea ahead of its time. Like water is represented by a drop of dew or a river or the ocean, even so good ideas are used by humble people whom history has forgotten but God hasn’t. Even now they “surround us on our pilgrimage.” How valuable your life turns out will be determined by the ideas you let use you.
Well this congregation doesn't need me to rehearse all of the ideas floating around today. What we do need is a fresh vision of the power that's available in those ideas. In every generation the future hinges upon the ideas in the air. Jesus' generation crucified him. But they couldn't damage his cause. Not a nail they drove in his body could pierce it; not a stone they rolled over his tomb could imprison it. This is the basis for hope in any generation: once a great idea has started, nobody can stop it! If you crucify it, you only spread it. If you bury it, you only give it an Easter Day.
It appears to me that in our time it looks more and more like bad ideas are winning out over the good ones. But a greater concern is that in my generation, I should somehow miss being used by the greatest ones. I am haunted by that court scene in old Jerusalem. Though it didn’t seem so at the time, all the educated, well-born, worldly-wise, prosperous people were on the wrong side of the supreme issue of their time!
And on the right side, stood two common men of lowly station, who helped lead humankind around one of the most significant corners ever turned. And who, somewhere out there today, I trust, are grateful for the idea that used them.
Providence Prayers: (Founder’s Day - October 25, 2009) Almighty God, Creator of the world in which we live and builder of the church through which we serve, we bless Thee for the ties of blood, memory, and tradition that link the passing generations together. And for the sheer excitement of being alive at this point in history, when what is vital in the old struggles to connect with what is needed in the new.
We remember with gratitude, our founding fathers of this historic congregation and especially the founding pastor, Roger Williams – the firmness of his wise convictions, the scope of his agile mind, the vision of religious liberty that possessed him, and the lives he touched across the years that led to the birth of this nation. Help us to continue what he began with equal firmness and strength of conviction in our time.
We thank Thee for words of encouragement when our flame burns low; for helpful hands when the load is more than we can bear. Forgive us for enjoying our faith more than we apply it; set us free from the pride that makes acknowledgment of wrong difficult; grant us the grace to back away from earlier positions with the coming of fresh light; keep us at peace in the core of our being, however turbulent the causes we support. Enfold every grieving heart among us with Thy grace; may the stout promises of Thy word embody all who are afraid; and Thy righteous judgment shake the lethargy of all who are “at ease in Zion.”
So conscious of what we lack, remind us in this worship of the value of what we have: Thy blessed forgiveness, the allegiance of millions, the gift of faith that prompts our prayers, so potent, that a speck the “size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.” Through the action of Thy Spirit in our souls may the wonder of life and the joy of living it keep a song on our lips and praise in our hearts. “Lead on O King eternal,” and grant us the courage to follow. Through Christ our Lord...
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