I recently received a manila envelope full of Jim Munroe’s sermons in the mail. They are not recorded, meaning that reading them is the only way to dig into this man’s deeply insightful train of gospel thought.
For me, his sermon “Stuck” (January 14, 2007) is the stand-out of the whole batch, and I’ve been unable to shake both its imagery and theological acumen. I shared it recently with the Holy Cross Honduras Mission Team last month and also with Holy Cross’ Book Club members, and each group seemed to appreciate it too. Here’s a brilliant excerpt to whet the (theologia crucis) appetite, but the whole thing is really worth reading:
…The core miracle that informs our life in Christ is the experience of a change in human nature. Changing water into wine? A snap. Curing leprosy? Piece of cake. But a turning around in some basic aspect of how we think and feel and speak and act? There’s the miracle that makes God real.
Let me give you an example of why this is such a miracle. Because we’re talking about weddings, I want to describe a phone call I had some time ago. I was speaking to a friend who lives in another city. She said,
‘I knew when I walked down the aisle and saw him at the front of the church that it wasn’t going to work. But I kept walking. My mother told me not to marry him. My sister said it wouldn’t work. But I prayed that he’d change. I prayed that I’d change. I prayed that I’d wake up one morning, and it would all be different. And now I’m stuck. I need more faith.’
You see what I’m saying? We ache to be to be able to turn around in some basic area in how we think and feel and act. We yearn to get unstuck. And we think it’s got to do with mustering up more faith. My friend on the phone cried out for more faith.
And the miracle happens when we realize that this prayer will not be answered. The miracle comes when our own efforts fail in jacking up our own faith. Because it is in the midst of our failure, that we are encountered by a God whom we can trust. The trustworthiness of the love of God turns us around, as our own efforts to do so simple collapse…
(Click here to read the whole thing in Mockingbird’s sermon archives.)
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12 responses to “Jim Munroe Is Stuck”
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If you want to actually hear the man, and are not near Springfield, Mass on a Sunday, check out his fantastic sermon from the Advent's "lenten luncheon preaching series" from 3/31/2004 here:
http://www.adventbirmingham.org/sermons.asp?pn=13&ps=10&numID=1
The sermon closes with an amazing illustration from his own life that I have stolen/used on more than one occasion!
Can someone explain what the miracle actually is? It sounds like the "miracle" is that we stop expecting God to either make any evident difference in our ability to emotionally cope with difficult circumstances, or to act in such a way as to change the circumstances themselves. That's the gospel? You can't see it, but God really does love you? That's good news?
Ken, did you read the sermon in full?
Thanks for this, John. Timely and poignant for me, personally, at the moment.
He is the king of illustrations, and the sweetest singer of songs in the church today.
He is unable not to preach the Gospel and we should all honor him to the tips of our toes.
John, thanks for sharing. What an incredible preacher! This allowed me to stop and pause for a moment to see the miracles God continuously works in my own life.
I particularly liked the following: "the core miracle that informs our life in Christ is the experience of a change in human nature. Changing water into wine? A snap. Curing leprosy? Piece of cake. But a turning around in some basic aspect of how we think and feel and speak and act? There’s the miracle that makes God real."
For me, this is the spontaneity we all talk about in our lives in Christ. This is the true proof that when we think we can do it all on our own, even when we have come to the end of the rope, and we hear that loud, rushed voice within us say "Do it, Just get it over with," we end up hearing the calm, quiet, and steady voice, repeatedly saying "Trust me."
Can't wait to read more of these.
The beauty of this message is that it depends entirely on God really being there, and on being who he says he is. It does not rely on me thinking correctly, even about "grace." In fact, it assumes that I will NOT even understand "grace" until after the fact, each and every time. That is peace like a river.
John, yes, I read the sermon in full, including the lines where Whit says "_You_ can start today . . ., " negating the message of grace, the message that God's power effects miracles (which would not be called miracles if they were more often effected) and placing the burden of change right back on the struggling individual.
We are born in sin, and we struggle to escape it, and inasmuch as we do escape do it we are supposed to thank God, who created us in sin in the first place, for our escape. And inasmuch as we don't escape it we are to blame ourselves.
I'm grateful for the loving spirit of the people like yourselves who post here, but someday somewhere I hope to hear a convincing sermon on the mystery of evil.
They don't call it "the mystery of evil" for nothing. If "My strength is made perfect in weakness" is really true, then personal weakness on every level may be our highest calling. I will never be able to "cope" emotionally with anything, even the good times, thanks be to God.
Thanks for your thoughts Ken and crew. I'm glad some of you found it helpful on a personal level as did I.
Ken, I will keep my ears and eyes open for a good sermon on the "mystery of evil", but, in the meantime, if you get a chance, rent "Red Beard", which does a good job of drawing a distinction between evil people/circumstances and also circumstances that "feel" evil the recipients, but actually turn out to be good. Both sides of life are very real, though I too agree that they are hard to distinguish between. Obviously I'm more interested in the case where the bad turns out to be good, than the case where the bad is actually bad (i.e., evil), but I didn't really realize it consciously until I read your post.
Also, I too got a little uncomfortable with the little quote from Whit, but I don't think the yeastiness of its possible Pelagian tone "negates" the depth and profundity of the entire sermon, though it does (perhaps) taint it.
I would still give this sermon an A+, and I've heard rumblings about an upcoming Mockingbird-hosted preaching seminar/workshop led by Jim and someone else of similar homeletical prowess… (stay tuned)
John, thanks a lot for the recommendation. I'll definitely rent the film.