Thursday, June 27, 2013

Change of Heart

Sermon delivered on April 7, 2013

Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

                                                           -Richard Stearns
  

Why should we not…instead of the paltry offerings we make, do something that will    prove that we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of him who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor?”

 
                                                                                    -Lottie Moon

In preparing for this week’s sermon, I did some research into the lives of Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong.  Being a life-long Southern Baptist, I was certainly familiar with their names....the stacks of offering envelopes bearing their names and gracing sanctuaries during Easter and Christmas.  But I confess that, up until now, I was only vaguely familiar with their lives. 

Annie Armstrong (born in Baltimore, Maryland) was a tireless, outspoken, strong-willed leader and was one of the major reasons behind the success of the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU).  She was known to be a prolific letter-writer…which would come in handy in her push for social justice for the poor and oppressed.  Annie accepted Christ at 20 years old and was deeply impacted by the impoverished state of people in industrialized Baltimore – home to poor immigrants and African-Americans.  In later years, it was Annie Armstrong that would suggest that Christmas missions offerings and prayer be dedicated to another like-mind Christian woman – Lottie Moon.

Lottie Moon – born 20 years before Annie Armstrong - died in 1912 at the age of 72.  Affluent, well-educated and only 4 feet 3 inches tall….just like Annie, Lottie was outspoken and strong-willed.  During a time when it was unheard-of for women to enter the mission field, Lottie’s younger sister became a missionary in China.  At age 33, Lottie followed her sister’s path.  However, she was constantly frustrated at the insistence of the SBC that she (like other women) be relegated to classroom teaching instead of being permitted to evangelize alongside her male counterparts.  Like Annie, she was a determined, persistent writer and she used her pen to convince SBC leadership to put her directly in the mission field.  She got her wish, but at first she thought of the Chinese as “heathen” and, to underscore that point, she kept her American clothes as a form of separation between her and them.  Over time, though, her heart was changed and she came to love and respect the Chinese people to whom she ministered…..deeply moved by the overwhelming physical and spiritual needs surrounding her.  When missionary salaries were cut, she shared everything she had to help the poor and starving.  In 1912…the year she died, Lottie weighed only 50 lbs.  She died on a ship going back home for a much-deserved furlough and rest. 

Since 1988, Lottie Moon Christmas offering has raised an astonishing $1.5 billion and finances over half of the annual missions budget for SBC. 

These women had so much in common.  Both were devout Christian women.  Both from well-off Christian families.  Both head-strong, determined and disciplined writers.  But perhaps the most important thing they had in common was the change of heart both women experienced….brought on by the Holy Spirit…using their life experiences as catalysts.

Luke, in his Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts, makes reference to the Holy Spirit over 40 times!  And Acts 2:36 – 47 tells of a time when the Holy Spirit moved in a tremendous way to change the hearts of literally thousands who were in Jerusalem to witness the birth of the first Christian church under Peter’s leadership. 

The Holy Spirit is alive (or at least can be) today just as it was almost 2,000 years ago.  In Acts 2:37, Luke writes that “they were cut to the heart” by the Holy Spirit.  Our prayer should be that our hearts are broken.  Only then will we respond in a way that leads to transformation.


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