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[The following message for the moment is delivered by the Reverend Dr. Bruce Wheeler Thielman. Today's sermon is entitled, "Not Dreams, But Drums."] Pray with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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The most awesome of the Apostle Paul's writings is the book of Romans. In the early chapters of that book, he constructs very carefully and beautifully the theological foundation of our faith. Since this is Music Appreciation Sunday here at the church, we might very well say that

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what he does is to weave a marvelous fugue in which all of the melodies of Christian truth are intertwined in a glorious way. He talks, for example, about how all men will be judged, but those who are in Christ Jesus will be declared not guilty and will be free forevermore.

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He talks about that we need have no fear of God, that God, in fact, is our most steadfast friend and that because he is our friend, there is nothing of which we should be afraid. Then he goes on to explain that Christ gives us unlimited access to God so that we have the presence of God, no distant deity, but a God who is with us, closer than our own

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hands and feet. And finally, he explains in these early chapters that this is the foundation of Christian hope and that this hope is absolutely dependable. Then having woven these truths into this fugue, he comes at the beginning of chapter 5 to

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what we might call a coda. Those of you who are familiar with musical terminology will know that a coda is a kind of a summation of that which has come before. And Paul presents a kind of summation, and he presents it in a very interesting way.

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Codas are usually rather loud. They have a lot of drums and trumpets in them. And the affirmations which Paul makes are like that. They're affirmations for drums and trumpets.

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He begins by pointing out that even though all of these good things are ours because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we still are going to confront a lot of troubles. Regardless of whether we are forgiven or unafraid or never alone or filled with hope, none of these things will ensure the fact that we will go through life without any hardship,

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whatever. Faith does not make life easy, but it does make victory in life certain. And then, adding to that theme, he sounds the first note in his coda. He says, "We rejoice in our troubles because they produce in us endurance."

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Actually, the word endurance is used in the Revised Standard Version, but it's a weak translation of what Paul says. To endure means to hang on, to be tenacious, to tolerate, to accept. But the word that Paul uses, "thipsis," is a word which means more than that.

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It's a word which means to fight back, to hit harder. To endure is to grin and bear it. But the word that Paul uses means to grab hold of something and to bend it in such a way that it makes you stronger in your faith.

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So I don't use the word "endure" in the translation. I thought of using the word "perseverance," that's a good word, but I went on and selected the word "fortitude." That's our first coda word, fortitude.

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We rejoice in our hardships because they produce in us, they build up in us fortitude. That you see is not something of dreams. That's something that has about it the role of drums. Now Paul spells out for us the three key principles that are fundamental in developing Christian

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fortitude. And the first one is to recognize that everyone has problems. Everyone has hard times. Remember that the man who wrote these words, Paul, was struck blind on the Damascus Road,

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was beaten five times with 39 lashes each time, was battered about in three shipwrecks and at least one stoning, and was betrayed by those who were to be his friends, people like Demas, who loved this present world too much. Paul knew what it was to be knocked about.

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And he writes to the Corinthians about this, "I have discovered that the harder I am hit, the stronger God is in me." You see, the Apostle Paul is not surprised that even though he's an Apostle, he still has to suffer.

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He does not complain that even though he's the greatest missionary in the history of the church, he still has to know hardship. Not at all. We hear no protest from Paul because he acknowledges that everyone has problems.

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And that's a fundamental truth in the building of fortitude. I don't know what your particular problem might be. Maybe you are dealing with a crushing pain of bereavement. Perhaps it is some illness, maybe terminal in nature.

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Perhaps your boss persecutes you and treats you with no respect. Perhaps you're on the verge of retirement and are anxious about what you're going to do in your retirement months and years. Maybe you're struggling with everything you have to keep your business afloat in these

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difficult and uncertain economic times. Perhaps you've reached the goals that you were seeking and now that you've gotten there, you discover that there's a whole new set of problems confronting you. The fact is, regardless of what our situation in life is, we all have problems.

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Having problems is not being part of a very exclusive group. But it's very important, you see, that we acknowledge that everyone has problems. Because you see, if we don't acknowledge that, then we can very easily slip into the position of thinking that we're the only one with problems and that leads to self-pity.

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And self-pity is dreaming, not drumming. A.J. Cronin, the noted Englishman, was a physician and he developed rather early in his medical career a serious heart condition so that he had to give up his practice. He decided to try to be an author and he rented a cottage in a remote section of northern

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England and there he went to try to put together a novel. And he worked for 12 weeks and he had difficulty with style and he had difficulty with plot and he had difficulty with syntax. Nothing came readily or quickly to him until finally in desperation one day he gave it

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all up, picked up the manuscript, which was quite large at that time, and hurled it toward the fireplace, stopped out of the house to take a walk. As he was walking along, he came to a field from which a farmer was carrying stones. And he said to the farmer, "Why are you moving those stones?"

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And the farmer said, "Well, you see, this is going to be a pasture and I don't want any stones in it." And Cronin looked at the field and he said, "Well, there's an awful lot of stones out there.

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Are you sure that's going to be a pasture?" And the farmer replied, "My grandfather saw a pasture here and at the end of work every day he would come and he would begin to move those stones. And my father came along after him and he knew from the quality of the earth that this

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was going to be a good pasture and so he spent his extra time moving more stones out of this field and I now do the same thing. There is a pasture here and someday we're going to have it." And Cronin thought to himself, "Here is a family that for three generations has been

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working toward the development of this agricultural blessing, a pasture." And he had given up his writing after trying for only 12 weeks. And ashamed, he went back to his little cottage, collected as many of the papers that were still left unburned and sat down and started again.

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And a few months later he produced his first novel, A Hatter's Castle, which was a bestseller and he went on to write great books like The Keys of the Kingdom and The Citadel. What he had discovered, you see, was that everyone has problems and that the important thing to do is recognizing that you're part of that troubled fellowship.

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Give yourself with fortitude to overcoming those problems. Now the second principle that Paul gives to us is this. When we confront our problems or troubles or hardships, we must take charge of them. Do not let them control us.

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You see, we determine our reaction to all the circumstances which we run into. We decide whether we will respond to something with profanity or with poetry. We cannot avoid difficulties, but we can decide how we're going to respond to those difficulties, that we're going to control them and not let them control us.

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To put it in terms of our coda figure again, when you confront problems, you're not supposed to be a kind of wailing woodwind or a crying clarinet or a fluttering flute. Instead of that, let there be the sound of drums. Have you ever seen the Special Olympics?

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The Special Olympics are for handicapped youth and children, mentally and physically handicapped young people. I've been to the Special Olympics in Los Angeles. I've been to the regular Olympics in Los Angeles too.

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I've seen them both. And I want to say to you this morning that I find the Special Olympics to be more inspiring. There are no false starts in the races in the Special Olympics. No one ever cries when they do not win.

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There are people there who are not built to run and yet run with everything they have. There are people participating who cannot jump and yet jump with everything they have. I remember a little fat girl, very fat girl, and she had myopic eyes. So that that finishing line in the race that she was going to run must have looked like

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it was 2,000 miles away. And she started off with the other kids and they quickly passed her. And she went about 20 yards and she became confused. And the people in the crowd began to cheer for her.

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So she kept on going. And two or three more times she stopped. But every time she would stop, the crowd would cheer and on she would go. She was 200 yards from the finish line when the winner crossed that line.

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And in fact, she never got to the line. She ran out of gas 20 yards before the finish line. She couldn't go another step forward and fell into the arms of her friends. But the look on her face was absolutely magnificent.

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She had done everything she could. She did not let that circumstance control her. She controlled it. You see boys running races on crutches.

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You see girls doing the long jump with one artificial leg. You see a blind boy running around a track and finding his directions by listening to the sound of his coach's voice. You watch paraplegic young men in wheelchairs playing basketball and not a single foul was

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committed in the game. I tell you it's a glorious thing to see. And it builds your confidence just to look at the zeal with which these youngsters go at what they're doing.

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It doesn't seem to me that there's much of a trick to doing the long jump when you've got two legs and they're both yours. It doesn't seem to me that it's any special accomplishment or achievement to run for a mile when you can perfectly see where you're going.

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But these kids you see don't have those kinds of abilities. But what enables them to continue and to do what they do, their secret is this, they don't surrender to self-pity. They build their self-esteem.

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They take charge of their troubles. Paul says in this passage that we can rejoice in our hope because it does not disappoint us and will lead us ultimately to glory. Not just dreams, but drums.

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Not being controlled, but keeping control. That's the second principle. Now, the third and the last principle is to follow no other drum major than Jesus Himself. No other drum major than Jesus Himself.

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Dr. Carl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, said on one occasion, "Attitude is more important than facts." What he was saying is the spirit with which you go at something is more important than the thing itself.

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And that's true. And there's no one who lifts your spirits like the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to His drum and to the drumbeat, the cadence that is picked up from Him by His disciples.

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Catch your march to that sound, but don't listen to any other drummers. I've been in groups and you have too. When you've heard people giving what they thought was good counsel, they'll say, "Take care," which of course suggests caution, not confidence.

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They'll say, "Take it easy," which of course suggests ease, not energy and enthusiasm. They'll say, "No way," which means they've surrendered to defeat and given up altogether on determination. They'll say, "I've heard that before," which means that they've surrendered to boredom

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and there is no buoyancy in their lives. People with fortitude are the people who run risks. They're the ones who continue to be committed when the coward is quick. They're the ones who play even when they're so tired they do not think they can play another

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moment. They are the ones who hold onto their zeal in the face of everyone else's cynicism. Now these folks who say things like, "Keep cool," or "Take it easy," or "I've heard that before," I know they're very well-intentioned in what they say, but I would suggest to you

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that they're offering very bad advice because, you see, they are dreamers. They are not drummers. We are to listen to Christ and to Christ as He is echoed in the lives of Christians. That's where we'll hear the beat and that's the beat we're to follow.

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One of the great privileges that I've known in life was to meet on one occasion Risa Stevens, the great mezzo-soprano from the Metropolitan Opera. There are many who say that her performances of Carmen and of Delilah in Saint-Saëns et Delilah are unsurpassed.

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She was surely a great artist. She came to McKeesport to present a recital and I was on the committee to have lunch with her that day to welcome her to that town, which was then still a bustling steel city. And during the course of the luncheon, she told us of how she had always wanted to sing

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and her great goal was to sing on the operatic stage to the glory of God. And she gave everything she had toward reaching that goal, poured herself into it, including all of her money, actually went into debt for very special lessons. Finally she became engaged in a national competition and competitors were eliminated one after

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another across the country until finally there were two people who were up for this award from the Metropolitan Opera. And she gave everything she had to it. And the panel of distinguished judges then retired to assess the two performers and the

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two performers went back to their hotel rooms. Risa Stevens had her friends with her and they went back to the room to await the verdict. And they weren't there very long when the telephone rang and Risa Stevens picked it up and the voice at the other end said, "Ms. Stevens, I'm very sorry, but the committee

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has decided to award the prize to the one who was singing against you." And Risa Stevens began to weep and her friends seeing this and recognizing what words she must have heard began to say things like, "Now, don't let it bother you. You've got a magnificent voice, so you can't sing in grand opera.

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You can still sing in musical comedy. You can still sing in nightclubs. You can still sing in a lot of different…maybe you'll become a vocal coach. Maybe you'd like to become a voice teacher or to enter into some other aspect of music."

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All of these opportunities are still yours. And then there was a knock at the door. She went over and opened it and her teacher was standing there. And he looked at her face and saw the tears.

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He said, "What were the results?" She said, "I lost." He offered not one word of consolation or one word of commiseration. He said, "Your next lesson will be on Monday at 2 o'clock," and turned and walked away.

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Now, Risa Stevens was a Christian. She wanted to sing to the glory of God in grand opera. And so she poured herself into that task beyond any pouring that she'd ever done before. And the rest is history.

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She became one of the great artists of the century. Well that night she presented her recital there in McKeesport and the place was packed and the audience absolutely adored her. They called her back for encore after encore.

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And I heard the whole recital from the wings. And as she would come off between the encores, she would be smiling and she would have some little joke that she would say, something to make a moment or two pass by before she went out and sang another encore.

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All the while thunderous applause. But one time she came back and there was no smile on her face. And when she got just off stage, still quite some distance from where I was standing, she bowed her head and she maintained an attitude of prayer.

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And then she crossed herself. She was a Roman Catholic Christian. And then she turned and went back out on the stage and said to the audience, "I shall sing two more encores.

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And I would ask please, do not respond with applause. Just take these words home." And then she sang, and I've never heard them sung more beautifully, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen."

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And then he's got the whole world in his hands. And the response was tremendous. The hush that filled that place was palpable. And when she walked off that stage, her eyes glistening, I thought to myself, "Thank God

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that she listened to him. If she hadn't, think what she would have missed and the whole world would have missed." That kind of faith has fortitude. It comes from listening to the one drum major.

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And who is that drum major? Paul says it is Christ. He was called from the glories of heaven to the dusty roads of Palestine, and he was dreadfully humbled there, but he had fortitude and stayed.

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He was anointed by John in baptism and heard his father say, "This is my beloved son." But immediately after that, he was driven into the wilderness where he was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights, but he never surrendered. Fortitude.

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He taught the noblest lessons that the world has ever heard, and at the same time watched many people who heard those lessons turn and go off instead to folish those who had nothing to say that was not foolish. But he never gave up.

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There was in him perseverance, determination, fortitude. He built up a circle of friends. And when the moment of greatest challenge came to him, every one of his friends ran away, and yet he stood fast with fortitude.

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He was the world's greatest lover, and the world put him to death in its most loveless way. And even from his cross, in the fortitude of his strength, his commitment, and his faith, he prayed for those who nailed him there.

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And that's the reason he had the victory of Easter, which is the grandest victory in all of human history. He won it for himself, and he won it for all those who are in him, for all those who believe. And it's because of this that more people bow the knee to Jesus this day than any other

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person in the whole telling of this planet's story. He was the one who said, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." He saves us, he invites us, he opens the way for us, and he enables us to say with the

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Apostle Paul, "We rejoice in our sufferings, for they produce in us fortitude." That's the message. Don't dream, drum! Let us pray.

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Our Father, nothing in this world takes the place of fortitude. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not.

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Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Fortitude, determination, these alone and above all else are important.

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Give to us then the strength that is to be in our believing. Challenge us that we might grow in the things of Christ, maturing into that fullness of faith and courage, that drumroll lifestyle which is to characterize us as the disciples of the Prince of Fortitude, in whose name, whose powerful name we pray.

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Amen. [ Silence ]