Creekside Church Sermon of August 17, 2003 "Have You Amen'd Anything, Lately?" 2 Corinthians 1:18-22	Rev. David Bibbee
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Amen (long "a"). Ah-men. Ah-`men. `Ah-men. Ah-man and ah-man. Aaaaaaa-men! "Amen, brother!" Sing: "Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen." Sing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah amen, amen, hallelujah amen, hallelujah amen," (Praise God From Whom). "I say 'Amen' to that!" And all God's people said, "AMEN!"

This little word, "amen," that we use every Sunday is spoken different ways with different emphases and different intensity by different religious traditions. We aren't terribly attentive to amen. We know it means something.... probably something important. Maybe we used to know but have forgotten, so we simply say it with everyone at the appointed time. It is Sunday "shop talk."

"Amen" is used in some churches more than others. Brethren believe in moderation in all things-- amens included! We behave as though it should be used appropriately, judiciously, sparingly. Compared to more exuberant Christians, we are amen "stingy." Should someone blurt out, "AMEN!" during my sermon, it would be an interruption; a breach worship etiquette. I could lose my place. Worship might be de-railed! In other churches worship is peppered with amens. If the preacher's sermon isn't getting enough of them, he'll request them. He only needs to say the word with a question mark: "Amen???" If that doesn't work he will get more assertive: "Can I have an amen?" It is code for, "Wake up, people!"

We treat amen like a period that ends the sentence. Amen means the prayer is over. You can open your eyes now and go to the next thing in the bulletin. When I was a kid, I used to think our pastor, Rev.Wiley, didn't know the word. His prayers were known for conviction, not brevity. Just when you thought he was winding down and about to seal the deal, he thought of something else to pray about. I squirmed in the pew trying to tell Rev. Wiley telepathically, "Now! Say amen.... now! Come on Ralph, save it for next Sunday... say amen, say it, please!" I prayed that God would whisper in his ear, "That's enough, Ralph."

Today I want to bring this important biblical word out of the closet of mere formality and into our experience. Amen means, "Let it be." "So be it." "That's the way it should be." It comes from a Hebrew verb meaning, "to support," "to be firm," "to be true and reliable," "to trust and believe in." Amen is not a period at the end of a prayer. It is an exclamation mark. When "Amen!" was spoken by the Jews of Jesus' day at the conclusion of a blessing, a prayer, an oath, or a praise to God, it was a way of saying, "Truly! Surely!"

Walking through the geyser fields in Yellowstone National Park in June, we saw fantastic plumes of stream and hot water shooting into the sky, but along the trail we found a tiny one that didn't have a name. It was a hole no bigger than a tennis ball. It spouted no water or steam. It just hissed.... like a teapot loosing the last of its pressure. It seemed funny next to the bravado of the other geysers. But that little hole was connected to a system of underground arteries that linked it to a tremendous thermal reservoir deep in the earth... the same as Old Faithful.

That little four-lettered, two syllabled "amen" is connected to a deep reservoir that binds us together. In Matthew, Jesus often prefaced lessons by saying, "Truly I say to you...." Translated it means, "Amen I say unto you...." "Truly, truly I say to you...." means, "Amen and amen I say to you..." "Amen," is one of the titles of Jesus. In Revelation 3: 14 it says, "And to the angel of the church in Laodecia write: 'THE WORDS OF THE AMEN, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.'"

So then, what does amen have to tell us? First, it has something to say about our PARTICIPATION. Have you noticed the TV commercials there are about the remote control? In another ad a guy is channel surfing. His wife grabs the remote and says she has organized all his favorite shows on a convenient index designed by Comcast so he won't wear his thumb out surfing. "Thanks, honey," he says, and as soon as she's gone his thumb goes back to channel surfing.

The remote lets us take it all in. Celine Dion sings, and we take it in. Barry Bonds hits a home run, and we take it in. Tiger Woods crunches a drive 380 yards, and we take it in. Arnold runs for Governor of California and we take it in. New churches are adding numbers like rabbits. Worship is high-energy, the music is professional, the sermons are smooth and soothing. I heard a woman who attends such a church say, "Its just like television." She's right. You sit down and take it in. The amens are done "for you."

Don't let me hear you call a worshiping congregation the "audience." If you are the audience-- Jan, Marilee, the choir, and I are performers. We do worship for you. The audience, made up of spectators sits there and evaluates: "The choir didn't win any awards for their singing this morning, did they?" or, "That sermon never left the launch pad!"

Worship is our loving response to the love God has lavished upon us. Every "amen" you utter, every prayer you pray, every song you sing, every dollar you give, every hand you raise, we are saying, "Yes, Lord! If there's one thing we believe, it is your love for us! Let it be!"

Relationships aren't one way streets. No one can have one for you. Whenever you utter an amen, you say, "I'm part of all this!" I think of occasions when you have said to me after worship, "I really wanted to say 'Amen!' to something in the service, but didn't." Why didn't you? Would it change anything if I told you that saying "Amen!" in response to the Spirit stirring within you is more biblical than stifling it?" If it feels too awkward say, "I'm invested in this!"

Amen tells us we are participants in the worship and work of God. Amen is also an AFFIRMATION, and we could all use more of this. Everyday we hear people criticizing and condemning. If we can't say something bad about someone, we don't say anything at all. People who work to bring about something good are viewed with cynicism and suspicion. More condemnation than affirmation in the church is a Spirit-killer.

Maybe you heard about the novice who entered a monastery. taking a vow of silence. Once a year he could write a word on the chalkboard in front of the abbot. The first year it was tough, but Word Day finally came around and the he wrote, "The." The second year was much harder, and when Word Day came around and he wrote on the chalkboard, "food." The third year was excruciating. He had so much to say but couldn't, still, he managed to make it through. Word Day came, and he wrote, "stinks." Then the irate abbot said, "That does it-- you're out of here! You've been here three years and all you've done is complain."

Patience isn't one of my virtues. But there are times when impatience is appropriate. I don't like being around people who complain about the church and can't say anything positive it.... whether it be our church or another. Some people seem to be on the lookout for something wrong. It may takes them a while, but they WILL find it, and the whole church is judged by it. I am wary of church-hoppers who want to attend our church because of something they didn't like in their previous church. Experience has shown me that it doesn't take them long to find something to bad-mouth in our church, use it as an excuse to leave, and then give another church a chance.

Don't get me wrong-- should be self-critical and change wherever necessary and possible. But "amen Christians" take the teaching of Paul in 1 Cor. 13 to heart-- "Love does not rejoice in the wrong, but always rejoices in the right."

In our passage from 2 Cor. 1, Paul refers to the promises God has made-- the promise that he is love, the promise of forgiveness, of strength for today and hope for tomorrow, of life eternal. Paul told the Corinthians, "We didn't come saying, 'Maybe, maybe not. We're not too sure about this.' We did offer a glib yes one minute and no the next. God's promises aren't on again, off again. We gave you a clean, strong YES. God's promises are stamped with the "Yes" of Jesus. That's why we preach and pray the great AMEN."

When we say "Amen," we are saying to the world, "We've got more backing us up than our tongues. Jesus is behind our 'Amen.' You can take it to the bank. His word to the world isn't, 'No. Maybe. I doubt it. Can't be done.' His word is 'Yes.'"

"Amen," speaks of our participation, and our need to spread affirmation. Let me just add one more: "Amen" speaks of our need for DEDICATION. I didn't want to tell you this earlier, but whenever people of Jesus' time said the "A" word, they knew it also meant-- "I accept the consequences. Whatever it is I say 'Amen' to, I'm committed to it," or, as someone poetically put it: "Amen tells me what you will stand with until the stars burn themselves out."

We better stop and think before we say it. Are we willing to accept the consequences of praying for peace? Do we want the forgiveness God gives us to be contingent upon the forgiveness we give others-- as in "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors?" In praying for the healing of others, are we willing to be used by God to help make that happen? Oh, be careful what you pray "Amen" to. You are telling God you can be counted upon. You're saying you'll be there. You're saying you'll lay yourself on the line, no matter what. Can you give an "Amen" to that?

I had a vivid dream in which I was sitting alone in the sanctuary of a large church. As I sat in the silence, a woman entered the chancel and began to sing. It was a simple song-- one I didn't recognize. It had no words I could understand. It sounded Latin. She was joined by others who added harmony. I heard voices behind me. I turned and saw another band of singers. The numbers kept growing and the singing grew more intense. In no time, the sanctuary was packed with full throated voices singing what I knew was the most enchanting, mystical, spiritual music I had ever heard or could hope to hear. As I began to wake, I told myself, "Remember the music. When you wake, hum it into a tape recorder. You can't lose this music." When I woke, it was gone.

I think of that dream from time to time, wondering why the music affected me as it did. Not long ago, I came across verses written in the mid-eighteen hundreds by a poet named Adelaide Anne Procter. She had a similar experience, not in a dream but while playing an organ. Its called, "The Lost Chord." Listen to this:

Seated one day at the organ, I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly over the noisy keys.

I do not know what I was playing, or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music, like the sound of a great Amen.

It flooded the crimson twilight like the close of an angel's Psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit with a touch of infinite calm.

It quieted pain and sorrow, like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo form our discordant life.

It linked all perplexed meanings into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence as if it were loathe to cease.

I have sought, but I seek it vainly, that one lost chord divine,
That came from the sound of the organ and entered into mine.

It may be that Death's bright angel will speak in that chord again,--
It may be that only in Heaven I shall hear that grand Amen.

Amen is so much more than a tiny postscript tacked on the end of a prayer. It's a declaration of participation, affirmation, and dedication.

Amen says you can be counted upon to lend your heart and hands and join with the rest of us in ministry.

Amen says you rejoice in the good and are willing to allow the Spirit to put the Yes of Jesus within us.

Amen says you'll stick by what you say, and live for Christ and his church, come what may.

Our little amens tell us the lost chord we have heard only in part, will be the grand Amen to be eternally enjoyed by all who live for Jesus Christ.

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