Collage of Perspectives in Light of Peter Leon's Illness

Driving home: when one member suffers, the whole body suffers with it, and it demands the attention of the whole living organism.

Martin uses the analogy of a suffering body part (arthritic thumb, lumbar condition) to illustrate how one member's suffering affects the whole body, making 1 Corinthians 12:26 relatable.

Now because we, like the Corinthians, are, as a church, a body of Christ, that is a living, pulsing, breathing, feeling organism, verse 26 is true of us. When one member suffers, all the members, suffer with it. Or when one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. I'm sure there are many of you who this morning with me wish that there were a certain member or part of your body that you could have left at home so that you could come to the worship of God without the distraction which that particular part of your body is either, even now, causing as you seek to concentrate upon the pr...

7:52 - 9:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Be real and open-hearted with your pastors, letting love be without hypocrisy and dropping any masks.

Martin recounts his frank conversation with Peter Leon about death, business disposition, and widowhood, illustrating the kind of open-heartedness and reality he desires between pastors and congregants.

when I was there and others, until just this past Friday, when I was with Pete in the intensive care unit at Chilton, it's been my joy to enter in with the other elders to all of the aspects of this trial with an open-faced honesty. I feel free to say this now, though I wouldn't have said it until the tests came back as they did, and we now know what we know of the very solid, optimistic prospects that are before us, that when I went into discipline, when I was with Pete a week ago yesterday, when in early in the morning, desiring to have time alone with him, one of the other pastors was just ...

30:46 - 32:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Be real and open-hearted with your pastors, letting love be without hypocrisy and dropping any masks.

Martin describes embracing and kissing Peter on the cheek in the hospital, using this personal act of affection to illustrate genuine, unhypocritical love that allows for deep connection.

And he knows I love him with a love that is without hypocrisy. And it was that mutual knowledge of the reality of each other's love that provided a climate that made it utterly natural to say let's talk about worst case scenario. Face it. That made it natural for me to walk in that room on Friday, my brother thinking I was on vacation, not expecting a visit from me, though I'd been on the phone with his wife and my son-in-law with me, saw me and wept.

36:17 - 36:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Gain and maintain a good conscience before God and man at any cost, ensuring no unresolved issues would trouble you in times of sudden affliction.

Martin poses a hypothetical scenario of a listener experiencing a sudden seizure, prompting them to consider what unresolved issues with God or man would immediately trouble their conscience, emphasizing the importance of a good conscience.

He said, what a wonderful companion is a good conscience. When out of the blue sky God brings a dark undercoat of a providence light. Let me ask you something. Suppose your leg began to twitch at the new meal today.

46:27 - 46:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It's selfish self-centered people when they get into crunch time they cry like little babies because the whole church doesn't end up at their doorstep ministering to their needs. Well, you're just getting what you've inv…

Martin uses the analogy of a farmer who sows only a few seeds over an acre and then cries at harvest time, to illustrate the folly of those who invest little in the church body but expect much support in times of crisis.

And you're getting your returns. There is a law of God's kingdom in this text that says you reap what you sow. He that sows sparingly sows bountifully shall reap bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9 6 I know in the context it is applied specifically there to benevolence and to generosity in giving but it's a much broader principle that Paul is applying to that specific the farmer that goes out and says he distributes four seeds over a whole acre of ground then he sits in the corner of his field and cries his eyeballs out in harvest time I'm getting four little stalks of corn. You kids say what a silly...

56:21 - 57:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It's selfish self-centered people when they get into crunch time they cry like little babies because the whole church doesn't end up at their doorstep ministering to their needs. Well, you're just getting what you've inv…

Martin shares an anecdote about receiving a fax from a pastor in Scotland who had formed a friendship with Peter Leon, illustrating how Peter's costly involvement in the body led to a rich return of care and prayer from afar.

You're just getting what you sowed folks. That's all. You're just getting what you've sown. And one of the things that has become so clear to me through this whole experience from the top down or the bottom up or from the outside in is that the body is saying let's all stop yay for Pete in Haiti yay for the Leons let's all nobody said a thing the body in terms of these biblical principles in a quiet unobtrusive way they've sowed much seed of love concern involvement with the lives that's been costly but oh the return. It's a convenient thing many of us know that disrupts everything for a week ...

57:47 - 59:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't wait to embrace the person and work of Christ; come to Him now.

Martin recounts Peter Leon weeping and naming specific unbelievers, not for his own pain, but for their lack of Christ, powerfully illustrating the urgency of Peter's exhortation to embrace Christ without delay.

talking about the stuff of special effects and a Bruce Willis and a Harrison Ford and a Sly Stallone and an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie that's all with his latest paramour and slut on his arm you won't come through the fires of God's judgment with any smiles on your face Pete wept and he named the names of some of you sitting here this morning I won't embarrass you by telling you the names that he named but he said oh bastard and he started naming people with tears coming down his cheeks not crying for his own pain or crying for the anticipation of what they may discover in his brain bu...

63:40 - 65:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Don't face life's trials without the presence of Christ, who took the greatest trial for you.

Martin quotes Peter Leon saying, 'Though this hammer has been harmed upon me, it has been padded with the padding of my God, my wife, my pastors, and the people of God,' to illustrate the comfort of Christ's presence in trials, contrasting it with Christ's unpadded suffering.

this is a quote from Pete if you're living for this world these times will crush you these are Pete's words if you have Christ children these are for you especially tell the kids he says if they have Christ they don't need to be afraid of God for such times as these there is no hope for a future without Christ you know what he meant he said tell them don't wait for anything more Christ is before them in the Gospel plead with them to come and to lay hold of the offered saint that's Pete's words to you from his bed today don't wait to embrace the person and work of Christ his second word is don'...

65:05 - 66:34 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Peter's second exhortation is for believers not to face life's trials without Christ's presence. He powerfully contrasts his own suffering, 'padded' by God and the church, with…

Martin shares an anecdote of a nurse telling Peter he'd 'been through hell,' to which Peter replied, 'no, man, I've not been through hell and never will. Someone went through hell for me,' illustrating the comfort of Christ's substitutionary atonement.

In Pete's words, don't face life's trials without the presence of Christ. And the greatest of those trials will be death, judgment, eternity, and hell. One nurse said to Pete, after the procedure that discovered what the problem was and aspirated the abscess, Peter, you've been through hell. He said, no, man.

68:11 - 68:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin reiterates that the sermon is a 'collage' of perspectives, emphasizing that the message's impact is more important than its structure. He urges listeners to take to heart…

Martin describes his sermon as a 'collage' of perspectives, using the artistic metaphor to explain its potentially disjointed structure but emphasizing the overall artistic effect and the importance of the message's reception over its form.

May God grant that these words of exhortation from the church of Christ, from the church of Christ, from his child and our brother, from his bed, may find their mark in our hearts. Well, this has been a collage I put at the top of my notes today, a collage of pastoral perspectives connected with Peter Leon's illness. You know what a collage is? You take a little bit of this kind of wallpaper and a few leaves and other things, and you paste them all together for their overall artistic effect.

70:24 - 70:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Lord up the word in your heart that you might, by the grace of God, stand in the evil day.

Martin recounts Peter Leon spending a night in the hospital 'building walls' out of Bible verses and promises to defend against the enemy's accusations, illustrating the practical value of internalizing scripture for times of trial.

Our hearts are opened. Our mouths are opened. are open. You can't say the same here. Be real. Be open. Our exhortation is get a good conscience. Our exhortation is become a vital part of the body. I close with this simple incident. Pete lay upon his bed awake the first night after he was hospitalized. He said, Pastor, I spent the night building walls. And he said they were walls that even Jerry Greasy would have been proud of. I said, what are you talking about, Pete? You built walls. He said, as I lay awake all night, I'd think of a promise. I'd think of a principle

72:11 - 72:57 Read in full sermon