October 14, 2007

Sermon: "Fight for Right"

Scripture: Luke 10: 17-23

Reverend Larry Gerber

We have been focusing on putting our faith into action these past few weeks. On September 16 we lokked at "Only in the Gospel" where we read stories of things that happened only in the Bible (they could not happen I real lif). The next week, September we looked at "Love takes a Detour" and saw examples of people in real life who became the good Samaritan while others passed by on the other side. The next week, September 30 we looked at life "Through Jesus' Eyes". Jesus looks at the heart of an individual while the average Christian looks the outward appearance of individuals. And, just last week, we talked about small stones making big ripples, or small acts of kindness making for big changes through the ripple erect.

Today I want to spend some time looking at those who fought for the right way of doing things.

The Bible says there are many for whom "the Kingdom of God has come close." Close is not good enough. What is preventing us from experiencing the presence and power of God in our midst? What is it that holds us back from doing the right thing? What is it that makes us fall short of putting our faith in action?

Winston Churchill had just delivered his tremendous "Blood, Sweat and Tears" speech. Harold Nicholson heard it, went home and wrote in his diary: "Winston makes a very short statement, but to the point." (Harold Nicholson, Diaries and Letters 1930-64, ed. Stanley Olson [New York :Atheneum, 1980], 83.)

A newspaper editor in Harrisburg, 35 miles away from Gettysburg, heard Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. He wrote in his paper the next day: "We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they should no more be repeated or thought of."

One of the worst things that can be said of people is that greatness passed by, and they did not recognize it. Yet in the words of Henry David Thoreau:

The morning wind forever blows;
The poem of creation is uninterrupted;
But few are the ears that hear it.

Every one of us here this morning has at one time felt that morning wind blowing by; every one of us has been privy to that uninterrupted poem of creation. Yet how many of our ears have really heard it; how many of our eyes have truly seen it? What is preventing us from seeing the kingdom of God and letting it into our lives?

 Let us look at 4 things that keep us from putting our faith into action: 1) spiritual blindness and deafness; 2) ego, 3) rigidity, and 4)fear

1. blindness and deafness:

 Frantic busy-ness seems to be the natural order of postmodern life. The tasks and tediums that make up our days encourage us to keep our heads down, our eyes on the ground and our ears closed. In an effort to become more specialized, more proficient at completing our daily agendas, we have become nearly blind and deaf to the sights and sounds of the kingdom, as well as the daily activities in our own neighborhood. We often pass by on the other side, or at best, see only the part of the picture that we want to see.

In 1836, in the little village of Rushville, New York, Marcus Whitman heard the call of the kingdom in the West -- a summons to go to those thousands of Native Americans beyond the Mississippi who had never heard the gospel. And so he packed his belongings and, with his new wife Narcissa, set out as a missionary to the Oregon country, where they were destined to become two of the great figures in the history of the Pacific Northwest.

 After looking at the old record books of the Rushville church, the pastor reported about the activities of the church in his annual report: "Nothing of any importance ever happens here. We had one addition to the church this year, but he married one of our finest young women, and now they are both gone" (Eugen M. Austin, The Harvest of Spirit [New York: Abingdon -- Cokesbury Press, 1943], 87.)

A man put his faith into action. He and his new bride went into foreign territory because he heard the call of the Kingdom, unrecognized even by his own minister, who reflecting on the years activities: "Nothing of importance happened here to day. We had on addition to the church, but he married one of our finest?..and now  they are both gone."

In his devotion to head-counting and just keeping things going, this pastor missed the movement of the kingdom within his own congregation. Instead of celebrating the kingdom's arrival in Marcus and Narcissa's lives, he could only grouse that Whitman stole one of his parishioners.

2. Ego: Ken Blanchard says EGO is an acronym for "Edging God Out." At times, we let the kingdom pass us by because the wonder of its greatness threatens our own sense of importance. We do so enjoy ruling our own domains -- no matter how small and insignificant they may appear to others.

In the 1930s, the two greatest physicists of the modern era and the two architects of the golden age of theoretical physics, Paul Dirac and Werner Heisenburg, traveled around the world. They showed up unannounced at the University of Hawaii, and the president of the university told the rest of the story a few months later:

A couple of guys turned up, said they were Heisenburg and Dirac and wanted to give a lecture; but I saw through them and had them shown out.

Faced with a chance to experience even a tiny glimpse into the vast complexities of the universe through the brilliance of two gifted men, this bureaucrat confidently announced, "I saw through them." When we insist too loudly and too proudly that we know best, then greatness passes by. There are many mediocre buildings out there designed by people less concerned with "architecture" than "egotecture."

3. Rigidity: The kingdom doesn't always play by the rules we recognize. Jesus counseled his missionaries to forget about the letter of the law, the preciseness of etiquette, so that they might become flexible enough to extend the Good News to all. Our reaction to a new way to do things is rarely, "Hey, what a great idea!" More common are observations such as: "It will never work," "But we've always done it this way." "This will make things worse, not better."

In one of my favorite "Charlie Brown" comic strips, Lucy is talking to Charlie Brown, who is playing the role of a psychiatrist. Lucy continues to analyze how unfair the world is. She never gets what she wants or hopes or dreams for. It is UNFAIR! She screams from the top of her lungs. Charlie calmly tells her that life is full of ups and downs. That is just the way it is. Lucy responds with an outrange: "I want ups and ups and more ups. I don't want downs". Well???

Our rigidity makes us resent those who see things differently. Rule-benders, short-cut-takers and independent thinkers make us nervous. When Christ offered people the chance to participate in the kingdom, he didn't come with the military might and political power that many expected. Because they could not see a new incarnation of God's love, they let the moment, the kingdom, pass them by.

4. Fear: There are times we know what to do and we know how to do it, but we remain frozen by fear. Fear keeps us immobile while it murders our hopes and nurtures our doubts.

The greatness and glory of God does not always descend like a whirlwind. Sometimes greatness passes by with only a tiny whisper. Someone once asked Albert Schweitzer to name the greatest person alive in the world at that moment. The good doctor, whom many would have named as deserving the honor, replied quietly: "The greatest person alive in the world at this moment is some unknown individual in some obscure place who at this hour has gone in love to be with another person in need."

How many people have stood numb and dumb while greatness passed by? How many people have kept on with their lives without missing a step, without changing their pace, without turning their heads or even turning around, while greatness passed by? Let it not be said of us that we stood in the presence of greatness, in the midst of the kingdom, and disbelieved or were ungrateful.

God has been working through us in a special way this week. You have been asked to keep track of some acts of kindness that you have done this past week and hand them in for a count. Do you think we did 1,000 hours of kindness this past week? Do you think that the world has been made a little better place to live because of what you did for someone in the church, in the community?

How did we do at putting Faith In Action this week? I am going to give you the opportunity to boast a little this morning if you so desire.

Who would like to share a short story of something special that your did, or that your committee did this past week, that made a difference in ones life, in your life. How did it help or change that person, how did it help or change you?

For example, even if you knew that you were at the four way stop sign first, you gestured for the other person to go ahead, because it was obvious that that person thought they were they first. It might be that simple - offering a random act of kindness instead fighting for what is right.

Who will share? I am going to ask the ushers to be ready with microphones????

Thank you for sharing, let us pray that we will continue to consciously put our faith into action without turning a deaf ear or closed eyes; without putting our own ego first, without being rigid; and without fear. Marcus Whitman was called to put his faith into action, the minister saw the loss of two parishioners.

In our scripture this morning:

a) the disciples were pumped, ready for action

 b)wherever they were preaching, healing, serving, demons were cast out

c) the disciples had the power to transform the spiritual dimensions of the world

d)our small acts of compassion are in reaction to Christ's redemptive actions at the cross

There was one (Jesus) who chose 12, but he also spoke to72 in today's scripture: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." That is Jesus talking

All 72 acted in obedience and came back pumped and ready for more action in the name of Jesus, because Jesus saw Satan fall that day that they went out and preached and healed, in His Name???.with heads up and eyes open, with no ego problem, rigidity and fear cast aside??..can we do any less??..let us continue our Faith in Action?..we can, and we will, make a difference.

Let us pray???