That's what All Saint's Sunday is about –
to set aside a Sunday each year to remember and to thank God for all those saints down through the
ages,
whose names may not be recorded in the church history books,
but whose names are certainly written in the Book of Life,
and whose names and faces are recorded in our hearts and our memories.
Again I ask the question, What about you?
What kind of obituary or eulogy are you writing for yourself?
How will you be remembered?
Isaiah 25:6-9
Hebrews 11:1-3, 12:1-2a
All Saints Sunday
O.K., here’s a little test:
As you know, every year Time Magazine picks a “Man of the Year” – it’s a pretty big deal, the face is printed on the cover and articles are written to justify why the editors think this person is “Man of the Year.”
So, can you name the last five people who were chosen “Man of the Year”?
(Can you name any five?”
Each year the Nobel peace prize is awarded to an individual with world-wide attention.
Can you name the last winners of the Nobel peace prize? (Any 5?)
Each year a Miss America is chosen and we all watch eagerly rooting on our favorites and anticipating the judges decision to pick the most perfect, the most talented, the most poised,
the most beautiful young women from the whole pool of thousands all across the country.
So, can you name the last 5 Miss Americas?
Millions of Americans watch and follow college football in the fall – and each year the most outstanding offensive player in the country is awarded a Heisman Trophy.
Can you name the last 5 winners of the Heisman Trophy?
Can you name the last 5 MVP’s from the NFL?
Can you name the last 5 MVP’s from the NBA?
Can you name the last 5 MVP’s from the NHL?
Can you name the last 5 MVP’s from the National Baseball League?
Can you name the winners of the last five World Series?
Can you name the five wealthiest people in the world?
Can you name the five wealthiest people in the country?
A while back, researchers at PBS came up with a list of religious figures who have most influenced Americans in the twentieth century.
Can you name five people who might be on such a list?
Some of the people on the PBS list included:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor murdered by the Nazis;
Mary Baker Eddy, who founded Christian Science;
Mohandas Ghandi, the Indian spiritual leader;
Billy Graham, the American evangelist;
Pope John XXIII, who started Vatican 2;
Martin Luther King, Jr, the pastor and civil rights activist; and
Mother Teresa, who worked among the poor in Calcutta.
(According to PBS , these men and women have influenced our faith and shaped our beliefs as Christians in our lifetime;
but, I wonder if any of those people would be your own personal list.)
Today, along with churches all over the world, we celebrate what we call All Saints Sunday –
a time for us to remember and to hold up those people who have influenced our faith.
While the world bombards us with messages about what is important – wealth, beauty, influence, business acumen, sports stars –
and for the most part, we think we buy into those messages and ideas –
when it comes right down to it, we have a difficult time identifying specific people as “stars” in those fields, don’t we?
But, when I ask you to think about specifically who has influenced your faith – who has helped you to believe what you believe today, you know who would be on that list, don’t you?
And the persons you and I think of will not likely to be on any PBS television special, are they?
But, they have helped us to be believers.
They have enabled us to be persons of faith ourselves.
They are our personal saints.
And, we all have them.
Timothy had his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, and his good friend, Paul.
It is good for us to take time to recall and to remember and to “celebrate” those who have influenced us personally in our faith.
Most of the folks that we remember will never be in any church history book.
There will never be any days of commemoration in the church calendar set aside to honor and remember them.
No, they are really, just ordinary folks like you and me, aren’t they? –
but in the course of seeking to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ,
in striving to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind,
they ended up touching our lives in ways that changed us and had a profound effect on who we are today.
I may not remember any one thing in particular that they taught me, but I do remember them.
Somehow, by their example and witness and faithfulness to the love and grace of God, they made an indelible mark on me.
And what about you?
Who are the ones you remember?
Who are the saints in your life who brought you to this place today so that here you are in church this morning to worship and praise God,
to hear God's word,
and to celebrate God's love?!
That's what this All Saint's Sunday is about –
to set aside a Sunday each year to remember and to thank God for all those saints down through the
ages,
whose names may not be recorded in the church history books,
but whose names are certainly written in the Book of Life,
and whose names and faces are recorded in our hearts and our memories.
Some of them are long gone and long forgotten,
others are more recently departed whom we remember today,
and some of them are still alive and still play a part in our lives.
But the one thing that all these saints have in common is their love for the Lord,
and their willingness to allow God to use them in reaching out to and ministering to others,
allowing the grace, love, compassion, and
generosity of God to shine through them and flow out from them to us and to those around us.
Like a stained glass window depicting the saints of times past,
what makes them a saint is that the light shines through.
And, on this All Saints' Sunday, as we remember the special people in our lives, the question that each one of us must face is,
"Will anyone remember me?
Will I be remembered with fondness and gratitude and thanksgiving on some All Saints' Day 10, 20, 40 years from now?"
Think about this for a minute:
We have encountered lots and lots of people in our lives, haven’t we?
– relatives, friends, colleagues, teachers, neighbors –
lots of people.
Why is it that some of them stand out in our memories,
while so many others are just there?
What makes the difference in how we remember someone?
Matthew gives us a clue:
“The greatest one among you must be your servant. . . . whoever humbles himself will be made great.”
Once again, I’m afraid the church has been so works centered throughout history, that we tend to
associate holiness with achievement.
But when I read in Genesis that we are created in God’s image,
and that God looked upon all God created
and was very pleased,
I don’t see anything there that any of us achieved to gain such favor, do you?
It was simply God s choosing, and that is why Jesus can say so boldly in the Gospel of John:
“You did not choose me, I chose you."
Likewise, we are not removed from sainthood because of anything we might have done against God.
As someone once wrote,
There are no saints without a past,
and there are no sinners without a future.
You see, sinner is NOT the opposite of Saint,
rather they go hand in hand,
and that goes for St. Peter, and St. Paul, and all the saints in Drexel Hill and every where else in the world!
We are not saints because of what we do or don't do. . .
We are not saints because of what we believe or disbelieve. . .
We are saints because God has chosen to take us as part of God's own self.
As the famous Jesuit philosopher,
Tielhard de Chardin once said:
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
If Jesus stands for anything, he stands for the undeniable fact that God has willfully and purposefully
chosen and hallowed the human condition.
An old Zen Master once said,
Before I was enlightened, I chopped wood and carried water,
but now that I m enlightened, I chop wood and carry water. (1)
There is another story about a master who announced to the brothers in the order that a young monk had reached an advanced state of enlightenment.
The news caused a stir in the monastery.
Some of the members found the young monk and asked:
Is it true that you have reached enlightenment?
The young monk replied. “It is.”
They asked, “And how do you feel now?”
The young monk replied, “As miserable as ever.”
I guess you could say, "Saints are people too."
Sainthood does not deny our humanity,
it acknowledges our humanity.
It isn’t what you achieve,
it’s what God has achieved in you that sanctifies you and makes you holy.
Now having said all this, it's also true that we need only watch Fox News or CNN for a few minutes to know that we are fully capable of denying this holiness within us.
We can abuse it and profane it,
we can obscure God s presence within us to where it nearly invisible,
but we cannot make it go away!
The people that I remember, the saints in my life, were people like that!
And I suspect that the people that you remember on this All Saints' Sunday share those same qualities and characteristics.
And so once again we get back to that question, Will I be remembered?
Will you be remembered in the years to come?
And, how will we be remembered?
Doesn't it seem to make sense that if we want to be remembered in the same way that we remember with gratitude and thanksgiving the saints in our lives,
then we need to be developing those same traits and qualities and characteristics that Jesus holds out before us today?
We are called to be loving, kind, compassionate, generous, faithful people.
This is the way God created us to be,
and when we are anything less than that,
we diminish our own lives,
and we diminish the lives of those around us.
But when we live according to God's will,
we end up experiencing life to it's fullest,
and we bring joy and happiness to those around us.
And those are the kind of people that we remember!
I continue to be fascinated by the history of this congregation.
85 years ago some 26 people met to begin a new church here in this new community of Drexel Hill.
They had no way of knowing that in two or three years the bottom would fall out of the economy.
And yet, those folks continued to come together, continued to envision a church –
teaching and practicing the faith in the community.
In the midst of the depression, they continued to dream and to plan –
and within ten years, they acted on their dream by agreeing to finance and build a new building.
What faith that took!
Again, they had no way of knowing that just as construction began the country would begin engagement in a world war that profoundly affected what would happen here over not only the next five years, but over the next twenty as well.
Those folks had to be generous people of vision, faith, commitment, obedience, and dedication to Jesus Christ to do something like that so many years ago.
They were people who were looking not only at the present, but to the future as well.
These are the saints that we remember today.
And some of them are still sitting right here among us!
Again I ask the question, What about you?
What kind of obituary or eulogy are you writing for yourself?
How will you be remembered?
And please don't say, "Maybe next year – then I'll become involved and be more generous and more compassionate."
No, it's either now or never.
The habits of a lifetime do not change overnight.
They are developed and molded every day of our lives.
How do you want to be remembered?
Do you want to be remembered in the same way that we remember those special saints in our own lives?
Well, then, begin living today in a way that puts into practice what Jesus teaches, in a way that follows the example of those special people in our lives.
Let love, compassion, mercy, peace, humility, generosity, graciousness characterize your life.
Take a serious look at yourself and see if you are becoming the person you want to be,
the person God made you to be.
Strive for the qualities that you admire and respect in others so that you, too,
might be numbered among the saints that we honor and thank God for today.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon as a part of their worship service October 30, 2011.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
You Can Live Your Life to the Max - It's a Matter or Ritual
Researchers tell us that there is a universal rhythm to all life.
All life seems to share an internal clock that is in tune with the whole creation –
and in sync with some cosmic clock.
There seems to be a basic human need our whole species has,
that is the need for periodic time of rest – daily and weekly.
We ignore our God created rhythms at our own peril.
We may not fully understand what happens when we stop daily and weekly, and meditate and pray and experience the community of Christ, but we are better for it.
From the Ancient Texts: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
From the Early Church: Revelations 21:1-7
Jesus said I have come that you might have an abundant life – that you might live a full life – that you might live it to the max – being all you were meant to be (which is so much more than you ever thought possible).
Each of us can live a fuller life.
In the weeks past we have seen how:
It’s a matter of choice: and we are exhorted to choose now.
It’s a matter of allegiance: all or nothing.
It’s a matter of finding community.
It’s a matter of focusing on others.
It’s a matter of attitude.
And, today I hope to show how ritual contributes to a fuller, more abundant, life.
Two fairly recent longitudinal studies of the physical and mental health of several populations that reveal several factors that seem to affect people's health.
Two of the findings of these studies were of interest to me:
First: People who go to church regularly are healthier than those who don't go to church regularly; and
Second: People who go to church regularly live longer than those who don't go to church regularly.
From other reading and studies, I had some hunches as to why this may be so.
Aside from pious sermons and preachers' platitudes, there seems to be an outpouring of scientific studies recently, in several different fields of inquiry, that help to answer these questions.
Today, I want to share with you some ideas about the power of ritual – ritual, a virtue that will help you live a better life.
Some of knew my Dog, Ike.
Ike was a Basset Hound who lived with us 7 or 8 years after he retired from the show circuit.
One of these days I am going to elaborate on what I have learned from my dog: the gospel according to reverend Ike. [But that's another sermon.]
One of the things that my dog Ike reminded me of, and what anyone who has ever lived with a pet finds out,
is that all living creatures are governed by an internal clock.
Ike would wake up and want to go outside everyday at about the same time.
And, he usually was not in a position to see a clock.
And, I never taught him to tell time.
But he knew.
And, you know, he is completely oblivious to daylight savings time.
Much to my chagrin, he never knew when we changed the clocks.
And he knew when it was time to go bed.
His sleep at night was different from his naps during the day.
During the day, he may have been lying still with his eyes shut, and from all appearances he was asleep, but he apparently was very alert to all activities around him.
When anyone came into the room, he was up instantly and alert.
But, at night, after he decided it was time to call it a day, it would take dynamite to wake him and get him to move.
He was naturally in tune with a rhythm that was somehow beyond our mechanical timekeeping.
Ike reminded me that scientific studies conclude that all creation – all life on our planet –
all animals, all plants, all mammals, all humans – seem to have an internal clock that is in tune with a certain circadian rhythm.
Researchers at the Center for Biological Timing say that these clocks are endogenous –
they are developed internally somehow.
They seem to be inherited and do not require, or need, any outside influences.
They have shown that animals raised in total darkness, still have biological clocks that are rhythmic in nature.
Think about it.
How does that happen?
All life seems to share an internal clock that is in tune with the whole creation –
and in synch with some cosmic clock.
That may not come as a surprise to those of us who grew up in the church and came to know the story of God creating the universe.
But, for scientific researchers from all kinds of fields – biology, micro-biology, botany, human behavior, and on and on –
for researchers to tell us that there is a universal rhythm to all life,
actually confirms some of what our faith has been telling us.
Not only do we have circadian [or daily] rhythms that we are in tune with.
But we have circannual [or seasonal] rhythms, as well.
And the scientific community knows much less about how these work.
But, work they do.
We seem to be a cyclical people.
We organize our lives around certain rhythms or cycles, don't we?
Some people organize their whole year around a sports season, don't they?
And when something happens, like say, the players go on strike?
and the season is canceled?
We see them get all out of sorts.
Some people used to organize their lives around the television season, remember?
Some people organize their lives around the school season, don't they?
Some people have summer homes, and organize their lives around spending time here and there.
We seem to have a need to create our own rituals that inform and govern how we live.
All of us have daily rituals, don't we?
(Daily rituals that when interrupted, we get all out of sorts.)
One of the basic stories of our faith describes a ritual God used in creating the universe.
You know the story, God created the world in six days.
But, creation is not a six day cycle, is it?
No, it's a seven day cycle, isn't it?
God created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day rested, rejuvenated, enjoyed.
And that is the cycle that we seem to be plugged into.
Indeed, the truth of this has been know from ancient times.
At the beginning of the Hebrew religion, Moses came down from the mountain with the 10 commandments from God.
And the fourth commandment refers to this universal rhythm of life:
Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy....
You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me.
On that day, no one is to work – neither you, nor your children, nor your servants, nor your animals, nor the aliens who live in your country.
This speaks to a basic part of our genetic make up. This speaks to a circannual rhythm of life.
This speaks to a basic need that we have to stop,
to rest,
to contemplate,
to rejuvenate,
to enjoy our surroundings.
Our Granddaddys, and Grandmammas in the faith, recognized this some 5,000 years ago.
And we have been told this all our lives.
And now scientific evidence seems to confirm that this cycle is basic to our existence,
basic to our make up,
basic to our well-being.
Again, the times and seasons mentioned in Ecclesiastes acknowledge the cyclical nature of our lives and our basic need for ritual.
Now, we humans have ingeniously developed a myriad of ways to circumvent our internal clock and the natural circadian rhythms.
We invented the light bulb to extend our day well into the night.
We invented the Eleven O'Clock News and Charlie Rose to override our internal clock
and keep us awake well past our internal clock that governs the shutdown of our bodies and minds for rejuvenation.
We invented the alarm clock to wake us up because we don't trust, or don't hear the internal clock that lets us know its time to awake.
We invented a whole host of activities that occupy our weekend time providing conflict with time allotted for worship and education and spiritual growth.
We work hard at our play all weekend, and face the rest of the week unrefreshed, unrejuvenated, unrested.
We read books,
and listen to tapes,
and revere those who teach us to use our time wisely, and efficiently, so we can get more done.
And we honor those who "work the hardest".
But, the latest health studies confirm what our ancestors in the faith knew all along:
when you ignore the rhythms of the universe,
when you ignore the circadian and circannual rhythms,
when you ignore your basic need for ritualistic sabbath time –
a time we all need for rejuvenation, revitalization, rebirth –
when you ignore a ritualistic day of rest,
you experience burnout,
elevated blood pressure,
heart disease, stroke, cancer, sleep disorder, obesity, autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis –
and a host of other related problems.
There seems to be a basic human need our whole species has,
that is the need for periodic time of rest – daily and weekly.
Now, most of you know this.
And this is where this church is different from a lot of churches.
Most of you are here today because you want to be – most of you are here today because you really would rather not be somewhere else.
I know for a fact, that some of you went through a great deal of pain and trouble and it took a lot of effort to get here.
But you are here.
And the rest of us truly take inspiration from your presence.
Most of you want to be here on Sunday, because it helps you get through the rest of the week, doesn't it?
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy....
Make it a day of rest, dedicated to me.
You will be better for it.
I really don't know if anyone in this room suffers from sleep deprivation.
But, we all have known people, and have read about people who seem to thrive on only 3 or 4 hours of sleep a day, haven't we?
I can't remember what the medical term is for that, but you know what I mean.
Some of you may have seen the recent article in the paper of a recent study of these people. Actually, several longitudinal studies have shown that these people –
who may supplement their 3 hours of nightly sleep with a brief nap or two during the day –
naps usually of only 10 - 20 minutes duration -- these studies show that these people,
for the most part, show no diminished brain processes, no diminished motor skills,
no diminished capacities what-so-ever.
In fact, people who experience this particular sleep pattern are frequently our most brilliant, our most creative, our most talented people.
But, there is one curious finding of these studies. For the most part, these people don't grow old.
For the most part, these people do not live to be 80 and 90 or 100.
Most don't make it into their sixties.
While these people go through their lives as though they were somehow super-charged,
something happens to their bodies that cuts short the expected life span of most mortals.
It is possible to ignore our internal clocks and to silence the circadian rhythm our Creator endowed us with.
But, when we do, we shorten our God-given time and short-circuit our God-given endowments.
Modern scientific evidence tells us what our faith has passed on for centuries, we absolutely need periodic time for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Our bodies and our minds, do in fact experience a rejuvenation during periodic periods of rest:
On a daily basis,
on a weekly basis,
on an annual basis.
We ignore our God created rhythms at our own peril.
We may not fully understand what happens when we stop daily and weekly, and meditate and pray and experience the community of Christ, but we are better for it.
There is healing power in the ritual of observing a sabbath.
There is healing power in the ritual of going to church regularly.
There is healing power in taking time regularly to dwell on things beyond our selves, to cultivate the presence of Christ, to exercise our souls.
Observe the sabbath and keep it holy.
Behold, I make all things new again. ..I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
To anyone who is thirsty, I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it.
Whoever wins the victory will receive this from me: I will be his God, and he will be my child.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, for sure, there is healing power in ritual.
Many of you in this room already know the truth of this.
And the good news for the rest of us, is that we can test this out.
We are better off, unquestionably, unequivocally, and undoubtedly, when we observe a ritual of going to church regularly;
When we observe a ritual of daily quiet time in prayer;
When we observe a ritual of giving thanks to God for all things in our lives.
There is healing power in ritual.
You know it.
God promises it.
Tell the children.
Tell your friends.
Tell everyone you know.
Something powerful is going on here.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service October 23, 2011.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
You Can Live Your Life to the Max - It's A Matter of Attitude
There is tremendous power inherent in our emotions and our attitudes.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you, as by the attitude you bring to life;
not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
What we are about as a Christian community – what Christ Presbyterian Church is about,
is excellent medicine.
References:
From the Ancient Texts: Nehemiah 8:8-12
From the Early Church: Philippians 2:1-5
Have you heard the story about the cranky old grandpa and the Limburger cheese?
The man was a grouch.
He had the usual aches and pains, and a certain amount of impatience and intolerance.
He was cranky just about all the time.
One time, after the traditional Sunday dinner,
after he stretched out on the sofa for his usual not-to-be-disturbed afternoon nap,
after he just started snoring,
his grandson got a clever idea.
He took some Limburger cheese from the refrigerator, crumbled a bit up, and went over the sofa and carefully sprinkled the Limburger cheese on grandpa's mustache under his nose.
Well, it didn't take long for the Limburger cheese to work its magic.
Grandpa awoke with a start, sniffed a bit, made a face, arose from the couch and announced, "Something stinks in here!"
He walked into the kitchen, sniffing all the way, "Something stinks in here!"
He walked into the living room, "Something stinks in here!"
He opened the door and walked onto the front porch, sniffed, and announced to the world, "The whole world stinks!"
Well, the truth is, it was grandpa who stunk.
The problem was right under his own nose.
Now, the fact is, probably 99 times out of 100, when we begin to feel like things stink, the problem is not with the world around us –
the problem is not with other people –
the problem is with ourselves: our attitude!
So much of our life is determined by our attitude, isn't it?
So much of what happens to us depends upon the attitude we have:
our attitudes toward each other,
our attitude toward life itself,
our attitude toward ourselves.
What the sages of the ages knew, and what we are proving to be true through scientific studies and visionary thinkers, is that our attitude actually does affect our life – even our health – even our death.
A very ancient saying collected in Proverbs 23:7 is "What a person thinks is what he really is."
It is true: People who expect the worse, always find it.
And: People who expect the best, find it, as well.
You know the truth of this, don't you?
You know a sour-puss or two, don't you?
You know someone who is always griping about her [or his] situation –
someone who is always looking for something wrong,
something to grouse about?
Well, they usually find it, don't they?
You also know someone who is always positive and enthusiastic about things, don't you?
Someone who is always finding something good – even in disaster or personal embarrassment.
And they usually find it, don't they?
It is true: People who expect the worse, always find it.
And: People who expect the best, find it, as well.
The fact of the matter is that attitude is even more important than facts.
Victor Frankl tells his personal experience of standing under the glaring lights of the Gestapo court in a Nazi concentration camp.
Soldiers striped him of every earthly possession. They took his clothes,
They took his watch,
They even took his wedding ring.
He said, as he stood there naked,
his entire body shaved,
he was totally destitute –
except for one thing, he says.
He realized at that moment, he still had the power to choose his own attitude.
And that was something no one could ever take away from him.
Someone observed that our life is determined by 10% of what happens to you,
and 90% of how you react to what happens to you.
Recent research shows the truth of this.
Your attitude is actually more important than facts, or circumstances,
or what others say,
or your past,
or your education,
or even your money.
One writer observes: "Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you, as by the attitude you bring to life;
not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Circumstances and situations do color life,
but you have been given the mind to chose what the color shall be."
Stories to illustrate this abound from people in this congregation.
At the risk of embarrassing someone, or leaving out someone, I will tell you of someone who is not in this congregation.
I have told about Iris before.
Iris was standing on the corner waiting for the light to turn green so she could cross the street to do her shopping.
When, all of a sudden a big truck passed by and just at the intersection it had a blow out.
A huge chunk of the tire broke off and flew the air and hit Iris –
who was just standing there.
She was knocked to the ground.
The accident broke her hip and left her confined to a room in a nursing home for the rest of her life.
The outlook was bleak for anyone.
After several days in the hospital, she was to sent a nursing home and told that this would be where she would spend the rest of her days.
When she was visited, she was in a great deal of pain,
but she managed a great smile and wondered aloud, "Well, I wonder what God has for me to do here."
She knew, as many of you know, nothing in this life can happen to you, but what with God's help you can come out on top.
Work by Norman Cousins, Hans Selye,
John Schindler, Dale Singer, Thomas Allen,
Bernie Siegal, and a host of others provide data to support the idea that there is tremendous power inherent in our emotions and our attitudes.
There is a whole field of therapy, pioneered at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, that effectively and conclusively proves this basic principle:
The way you feel does not so much affect the way you think,
as it is that your thoughts, your attitude, governs the way you feel.
Your mood is a result of the way you think.
When you think right, you feel right.
When you think right, you feel right.
Some 2,000 years ago, Paul could write to the Philippians: "This is the secret I have learned so that anywhere, at anytime, I am content....
I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me."
Today, we have hard evidence that things like love, hope, faith, laughter, joy, confidence, and the will to live have therapeutic value.
Laughter is good medicine, as the ancient saying goes.
A joyful heart is excellent medicine.
What we are about as a Christian community – what Christ Presbyterian Church is about,
is excellent medicine.
As I have alluded to earlier, I am intrigued by the results of two recent studies.
One at the University of Minnesota, tracking the health of several thousand people over a period of 30 years, or so,
and another that correlated information from several individual studies of different populations of several thousand over the course of 40 years, or so.
To me, two of the findings of this research show that:
People who go to church regularly live longer than those that don't, and
People who go to church regularly are healthier than those that don't.
When you look at all of the literature available today,
and weigh all the evidence,
two of the most powerful forces that affect people for either good or bad – are fear and faith.
Indeed, most people acknowledge fear as a leading cause of ill health and coping difficulties.
One researcher says that many people suffer from a malady he calls the "CDT's" -- cares, difficulties, and troubles.
Many people are actually sick, or below par, he writes, because of an impenetrable blanket of gloom resting on their minds.
In fact, most people agree that fear lies at the basis of many maladies,
and fear may be the most powerful force affecting people's physical and mental health.
But, recent studies show that faith is even more powerful than fear –
and that faith can even overcome fear.
Now, I'm not talking about philosophical concepts. I'm not talking about Christian Science.
I'm not talking about superstition.
I am talking about hard facts.
I am talking about personal experiences.
I am talking about fundamental Christian truth.
Our Christian faith is more powerful than any fear.
You know the truth of this.
Many of you can tell stories about this.
One person was especially fearful of a medical procedure she was to endure the next day.
She shared her dread with me.
When I saw her after the procedure, she told me about the experience and described the dreaded machine in some detail.
When I asked her how long she was inside the machine, her reply was "about 4 1/2". I thought "4 1/2"? 4 1/2 what? 4 1/2 minutes? 4 1/2 hours?
That was some test!
What could she mean, "4 1/2"?
She said, "I repeated the 23rd Psalm about 4 1/2 times and it was over."
That's how she overcame her fear of that particular procedure.
Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, considered faith to be very important to mental and physical well-being.
He wrote:
Among my patients in the second half of life –
that is to say, over 35 –
there has not been one
whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
It is safe to say, he goes on, that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.
Our religious outlook – the unique attitude we have when we face the world we live in,
and deal with all of life's uncertainties.
A researcher with the National Institute of Mental Health did a study that concluded that "religion was highly beneficial – beneficial in more than 80% of the cases found in psychiatric research."
He writes,
"We discovered the exact opposite of what was commonly taught to psychiatrists and what still pervades the mental health culture....
Church attendance, prayer, and the social support available in church were frequently found to be significant positive factors in helping patients with mental or physical health problems....
Religious people who live out their faith are more likely to say they are enjoying life,
that they like their work, their marriage, their family."
Church attendance, prayer, and the social support available in church were frequently found to be significant positive factors in helping patients with mental or physical health problems....
One preacher wrote: "The causes of health, as the causes of sickness, are very many, but among the forces which will tend to keep us in good health will be a faith which is extended to a real expectation of God's goodness in every department of our being.
That will bring us either actual health,
or a greater power of triumphing over ill-health,
and either of these is a great blessing.
Moreover, when we triumph in the way I have described over ill-health, the result is, in fact, that our health is somewhat better than if we were merely passive in the grip of our disease;
because owing to the exaltation of mind there is a real access of vitality which tends to combat disease itself."
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this appears to be true.
And the great thing is, that you can test it out for yourself.
Paul wrote to his good friend, Timothy,
"For God has not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, of love, and of sound mind."
I really believe, that most of us do not fully realize just what our faith can do for us.
In his Sermon On the Mount, Jesus promised his disciples three things:
they would be entirely fearless,
they would be absurdly happy,
and they would get into trouble.
Well, they did get into trouble,
and found, to their surprise, that they were not afraid.
They were absurdly happy, for they laughed over their own troubles and cried only over other peoples' troubles.
Jesus said, "I've said all these things that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
In Nehemiah we read, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
In Acts we read, "In him we live and move and have our being."
In Philippians we read, "Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ."
Now, here's the secret – the secret that some of you know –
the secret that we need to get to others –
When you act according to this kind of attitude.
When you live it.
When you speak it.
When you think it.
When you are it!
The joy of the Lord will indeed be your strength.
When you believe, as Jesus said, the joy of the Lord is in you,
you have everything necessary to face whatever life deals you –
you will have the wisdom and the courage and the faith to face anything.
And you will be known for your enthusiasm.
The Greek work entheos means "God in you" – or "Full of God."
And, friends, your attitude of enthusiasm will contain the power to work miracles in your life.
If you don't believe me, Try it!
And all the people went off to eat and drink and give shares away and begin to enjoy themselves,
since they understood the meaning of what had been proclaimed to them.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon as a part their worship service Sunday, October 16, 2011.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you, as by the attitude you bring to life;
not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
What we are about as a Christian community – what Christ Presbyterian Church is about,
is excellent medicine.
References:
From the Ancient Texts: Nehemiah 8:8-12
From the Early Church: Philippians 2:1-5
Have you heard the story about the cranky old grandpa and the Limburger cheese?
The man was a grouch.
He had the usual aches and pains, and a certain amount of impatience and intolerance.
He was cranky just about all the time.
One time, after the traditional Sunday dinner,
after he stretched out on the sofa for his usual not-to-be-disturbed afternoon nap,
after he just started snoring,
his grandson got a clever idea.
He took some Limburger cheese from the refrigerator, crumbled a bit up, and went over the sofa and carefully sprinkled the Limburger cheese on grandpa's mustache under his nose.
Well, it didn't take long for the Limburger cheese to work its magic.
Grandpa awoke with a start, sniffed a bit, made a face, arose from the couch and announced, "Something stinks in here!"
He walked into the kitchen, sniffing all the way, "Something stinks in here!"
He walked into the living room, "Something stinks in here!"
He opened the door and walked onto the front porch, sniffed, and announced to the world, "The whole world stinks!"
Well, the truth is, it was grandpa who stunk.
The problem was right under his own nose.
Now, the fact is, probably 99 times out of 100, when we begin to feel like things stink, the problem is not with the world around us –
the problem is not with other people –
the problem is with ourselves: our attitude!
So much of our life is determined by our attitude, isn't it?
So much of what happens to us depends upon the attitude we have:
our attitudes toward each other,
our attitude toward life itself,
our attitude toward ourselves.
What the sages of the ages knew, and what we are proving to be true through scientific studies and visionary thinkers, is that our attitude actually does affect our life – even our health – even our death.
A very ancient saying collected in Proverbs 23:7 is "What a person thinks is what he really is."
It is true: People who expect the worse, always find it.
And: People who expect the best, find it, as well.
You know the truth of this, don't you?
You know a sour-puss or two, don't you?
You know someone who is always griping about her [or his] situation –
someone who is always looking for something wrong,
something to grouse about?
Well, they usually find it, don't they?
You also know someone who is always positive and enthusiastic about things, don't you?
Someone who is always finding something good – even in disaster or personal embarrassment.
And they usually find it, don't they?
It is true: People who expect the worse, always find it.
And: People who expect the best, find it, as well.
The fact of the matter is that attitude is even more important than facts.
Victor Frankl tells his personal experience of standing under the glaring lights of the Gestapo court in a Nazi concentration camp.
Soldiers striped him of every earthly possession. They took his clothes,
They took his watch,
They even took his wedding ring.
He said, as he stood there naked,
his entire body shaved,
he was totally destitute –
except for one thing, he says.
He realized at that moment, he still had the power to choose his own attitude.
And that was something no one could ever take away from him.
Someone observed that our life is determined by 10% of what happens to you,
and 90% of how you react to what happens to you.
Recent research shows the truth of this.
Your attitude is actually more important than facts, or circumstances,
or what others say,
or your past,
or your education,
or even your money.
One writer observes: "Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you, as by the attitude you bring to life;
not so much by what happens to you, as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Circumstances and situations do color life,
but you have been given the mind to chose what the color shall be."
Stories to illustrate this abound from people in this congregation.
At the risk of embarrassing someone, or leaving out someone, I will tell you of someone who is not in this congregation.
I have told about Iris before.
Iris was standing on the corner waiting for the light to turn green so she could cross the street to do her shopping.
When, all of a sudden a big truck passed by and just at the intersection it had a blow out.
A huge chunk of the tire broke off and flew the air and hit Iris –
who was just standing there.
She was knocked to the ground.
The accident broke her hip and left her confined to a room in a nursing home for the rest of her life.
The outlook was bleak for anyone.
After several days in the hospital, she was to sent a nursing home and told that this would be where she would spend the rest of her days.
When she was visited, she was in a great deal of pain,
but she managed a great smile and wondered aloud, "Well, I wonder what God has for me to do here."
She knew, as many of you know, nothing in this life can happen to you, but what with God's help you can come out on top.
Work by Norman Cousins, Hans Selye,
John Schindler, Dale Singer, Thomas Allen,
Bernie Siegal, and a host of others provide data to support the idea that there is tremendous power inherent in our emotions and our attitudes.
There is a whole field of therapy, pioneered at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, that effectively and conclusively proves this basic principle:
The way you feel does not so much affect the way you think,
as it is that your thoughts, your attitude, governs the way you feel.
Your mood is a result of the way you think.
When you think right, you feel right.
When you think right, you feel right.
Some 2,000 years ago, Paul could write to the Philippians: "This is the secret I have learned so that anywhere, at anytime, I am content....
I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me."
Today, we have hard evidence that things like love, hope, faith, laughter, joy, confidence, and the will to live have therapeutic value.
Laughter is good medicine, as the ancient saying goes.
A joyful heart is excellent medicine.
What we are about as a Christian community – what Christ Presbyterian Church is about,
is excellent medicine.
As I have alluded to earlier, I am intrigued by the results of two recent studies.
One at the University of Minnesota, tracking the health of several thousand people over a period of 30 years, or so,
and another that correlated information from several individual studies of different populations of several thousand over the course of 40 years, or so.
To me, two of the findings of this research show that:
People who go to church regularly live longer than those that don't, and
People who go to church regularly are healthier than those that don't.
When you look at all of the literature available today,
and weigh all the evidence,
two of the most powerful forces that affect people for either good or bad – are fear and faith.
Indeed, most people acknowledge fear as a leading cause of ill health and coping difficulties.
One researcher says that many people suffer from a malady he calls the "CDT's" -- cares, difficulties, and troubles.
Many people are actually sick, or below par, he writes, because of an impenetrable blanket of gloom resting on their minds.
In fact, most people agree that fear lies at the basis of many maladies,
and fear may be the most powerful force affecting people's physical and mental health.
But, recent studies show that faith is even more powerful than fear –
and that faith can even overcome fear.
Now, I'm not talking about philosophical concepts. I'm not talking about Christian Science.
I'm not talking about superstition.
I am talking about hard facts.
I am talking about personal experiences.
I am talking about fundamental Christian truth.
Our Christian faith is more powerful than any fear.
You know the truth of this.
Many of you can tell stories about this.
One person was especially fearful of a medical procedure she was to endure the next day.
She shared her dread with me.
When I saw her after the procedure, she told me about the experience and described the dreaded machine in some detail.
When I asked her how long she was inside the machine, her reply was "about 4 1/2". I thought "4 1/2"? 4 1/2 what? 4 1/2 minutes? 4 1/2 hours?
That was some test!
What could she mean, "4 1/2"?
She said, "I repeated the 23rd Psalm about 4 1/2 times and it was over."
That's how she overcame her fear of that particular procedure.
Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist, considered faith to be very important to mental and physical well-being.
He wrote:
Among my patients in the second half of life –
that is to say, over 35 –
there has not been one
whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.
It is safe to say, he goes on, that every one of them fell ill because he had lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.
Our religious outlook – the unique attitude we have when we face the world we live in,
and deal with all of life's uncertainties.
A researcher with the National Institute of Mental Health did a study that concluded that "religion was highly beneficial – beneficial in more than 80% of the cases found in psychiatric research."
He writes,
"We discovered the exact opposite of what was commonly taught to psychiatrists and what still pervades the mental health culture....
Church attendance, prayer, and the social support available in church were frequently found to be significant positive factors in helping patients with mental or physical health problems....
Religious people who live out their faith are more likely to say they are enjoying life,
that they like their work, their marriage, their family."
Church attendance, prayer, and the social support available in church were frequently found to be significant positive factors in helping patients with mental or physical health problems....
One preacher wrote: "The causes of health, as the causes of sickness, are very many, but among the forces which will tend to keep us in good health will be a faith which is extended to a real expectation of God's goodness in every department of our being.
That will bring us either actual health,
or a greater power of triumphing over ill-health,
and either of these is a great blessing.
Moreover, when we triumph in the way I have described over ill-health, the result is, in fact, that our health is somewhat better than if we were merely passive in the grip of our disease;
because owing to the exaltation of mind there is a real access of vitality which tends to combat disease itself."
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this appears to be true.
And the great thing is, that you can test it out for yourself.
Paul wrote to his good friend, Timothy,
"For God has not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, of love, and of sound mind."
I really believe, that most of us do not fully realize just what our faith can do for us.
In his Sermon On the Mount, Jesus promised his disciples three things:
they would be entirely fearless,
they would be absurdly happy,
and they would get into trouble.
Well, they did get into trouble,
and found, to their surprise, that they were not afraid.
They were absurdly happy, for they laughed over their own troubles and cried only over other peoples' troubles.
Jesus said, "I've said all these things that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."
In Nehemiah we read, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."
In Acts we read, "In him we live and move and have our being."
In Philippians we read, "Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ."
Now, here's the secret – the secret that some of you know –
the secret that we need to get to others –
When you act according to this kind of attitude.
When you live it.
When you speak it.
When you think it.
When you are it!
The joy of the Lord will indeed be your strength.
When you believe, as Jesus said, the joy of the Lord is in you,
you have everything necessary to face whatever life deals you –
you will have the wisdom and the courage and the faith to face anything.
And you will be known for your enthusiasm.
The Greek work entheos means "God in you" – or "Full of God."
And, friends, your attitude of enthusiasm will contain the power to work miracles in your life.
If you don't believe me, Try it!
And all the people went off to eat and drink and give shares away and begin to enjoy themselves,
since they understood the meaning of what had been proclaimed to them.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon as a part their worship service Sunday, October 16, 2011.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
You Can Live Your Life to the Max - It's A Matter of Focusing On Others
A full life, an abundant life, "is measured not by longevity or wealth or honors or power."
No, a full life is measured by service, "by the degree to which we've helped others."
When you purposely seek out ways of being of service for another,
not only does the other feel the benefit of your service,
but you reap great reward – experiencing inner peace and joy and healing power and eternal life.
Leviticus 18:1-5,19:17-18
Luke 10:25-37
A lot of people are spending a lot of money and a lot of energy to try and sell us on various ideas of what the good life is, aren't they?
I remember when they promised the good life just by using the correct lard-substitute in your cooking – don't you?
In fact, it seems that everyone bought in to that particular promise,
and we all used the phrase in our everyday lives: "Now you're cooking with Crisco."
And, the good life was tied to being paged in the lobby of a grand hotel in Havana, and smoking the right cigarette. Remember?
"Call for Philip Morris."
And then, there were the penguins.
Remember the penguins?
I think I was an adult before I knew that penguins didn't coo.
They did on the radio and in the magazine ads. Remember, the male voice said: "Smoke" and the penguins said, "Cools." "Smoke Cools."
Then the good life got tied up with driving the right kind of car,
wearing the right kind of clothes,
hiding B.O.
and smelling certain kind of ways,
even using the right kind of shampoo.
I suppose it has always been this way.
There have always been snake oil salesmen of some kind –
able to make a living because some people are always looking for a way to alleviate their perceived predicament –
seeking the good life,
seeking relief from misery and pain and suffering.
Unfortunately for all of us consumers of snake oil, the alluring promises always turn out to be false. And so it has always been.
Remember Hadacol?
Hadacol promised relief from just about whatever ailed you.
And, of course you all remember why it was called Hadacol (Edith?): they had this stuff and were getting ready to bottle it to sell,
and they had t' call it something.
But, alas, the promises of Hadacol were false, weren't they?
As are all the promises of magic elixir that claim to fix things and make life better for you.
We've learned to be wary, haven't we?
And yet – we continue to hope –
for a pill or something for a quick fix –
for prince charming,
or for an angel of mercy,
or for John Bersford Tipton,
or to win the lottery,
or for Ed McMahan to show up on your doorstep,
or for a miracle that could bring back the way things used to be,
or for a messiah to lead us into the land of the future.
And it is this hope that makes it easy for us to be suckered.
On the one hand we are wary and cynical about any promise,
and on the other hand we are gullible and an easy mark.
And so it was some two thousand years ago when a student of the scriptures came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?"
We remember John said that Jesus came that we might live life more fully, abundantly, to the max.
So the question for each of us is, "What do you mean?"
"How?"
"What are we do to have an abundant life? –
to have a full life? –
to have eternal life?"
And Jesus was right to the point, "Well, what do the scriptures say?"
"What do the scriptures say you are to do in order to live life to the fullest,
and truly know abundant living, to have eternal life?
What does it say in the Holy book?
And how do you understand what it says?"
Well, the Bible scholar didn't have to think very hard, he knew,
"Right here in Deuteronomy, it says 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.'
And right here in Leviticus, it says, 'Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.'"
Jesus said, "That's right! That's it!
That's the secret to eternal life.
That's the secret to knowing how to really live an abundant life – a full life – a max life.
That's what you have to do."
And he went on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate that "loving your neighbors" means doing as the Samaritan did to whoever is hurting,
whoever is wounded,
whoever is in need of something we can give.
When coming upon the wounded, hurting, needy man alongside the road,
the Samaritan knew that there was absolutely nothing more important for him to do that day,
but to stop and care for the stranger.
And, Jesus said, the Samaritan – not the Priest or the Levite –
the Samaritan knew the meaning of living life to the fullest, abundantly, eternally.
Now listen closely, like the Bible Student, we've heard these words before, haven't we?
Many of you memorized these words long ago in Sunday School.
But, like the Bible Student, we are skeptical of the promise, aren't we?
Like the Bible Student, many of us would like to ask "How can we have eternal life?
How can we know more abundant living?
How can we live life to the fullest?" –
as if we didn't want to believe the words we know so well.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind. And love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.
Do unto others as you would them do unto you.
Some in this room may remember that I have talked about Greg Anderson before.
Greg Anderson is a cancer survivor.
Greg Anderson was given just 30 days to live after the discovery of metastatic lung cancer.
Some 16 years after this diagnosis, Greg Anderson published a book entitled:
The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness: Feel, Think, and Live Better Than You Ever Thought Possible.
One of the chapters of his book deals with today’s subject matter.
He writes that there are actual healing and therapeutic powers that can be tapped by living your life for others – by focusing on being of service to others.
It worked for him.
And he has seen it work for others.
There are practical – as well as philosophical or theological – benefits for focusing, as Jesus described, on the need of another.
He writes that we only really begin to come alive when we start caring for others –
when we start focusing our attention on another.
“There is magic in this law," he says.
"When we serve with depth and sincerity,
we get a glimpse of the essential quality of who we really can become." (169) [A glimpse of Eternal life. A glimpse of Abundant life.]
Everyone in this room knows how this works.
You are sitting alone, lost in self-doubt or mired in self-pity.
Your troubles seem to overwhelm you.
And the phone rings.
It's a friend who's really in need.
Without a conscious thought, you break out of your self-imposed shell of isolation.
You listen.
Perhaps you give words of assurance.
You serve.
When you put the phone down, who feels better?
The friend does, we hope.
But we do, too! don't we?
And when we reflect on what just happened,
we understand more clearly who we really are,
and what we have to offer others.
"The best way we can fulfill – in fact, the only way of fulfilling – our highest potential," Greg Anderson writes, "is through service to others."
[Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.]
He reminds us, that a full life, an abundant life, "is measured not by longevity or wealth or honors or power."
No, a full life is measured by service, "by the degree to which we've helped others."
Toward the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin wrote that he owed his happiness and success in life to the philosophy he formulated as a young man and with which he tried to guide his life: "The most acceptable service to God is doing good to man."
And, of course, we all know people who throughout their life showed great skill in accumulating riches and power, and who at the end of their life span, counted themselves as failures.
One author, writing about her search through many spiritual and philosophical writings searching for meaning and truth – eternal life – wrote: "It felt as though they led me up a huge flight of stairs to a giant cathedral inside my mind.
But once I reached the top of the stairs, the door to the church was locked."
Then, finally, she found the key that opened the door to the church – to eternal life.
She writes, "The key, very simply, is other people." [A lot of people pay a lot of money to hear Marianne Williamson say these things in front of huge crowds in auditoriums all over the country.]
But that's it!
She speaks the truth!
It's what Greg Anderson calls the Law of Purpose Through Service.
It’s what Jesus calls the full life, the abundant life.
We find our purpose with others.
[Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.]
Our life takes on fuller dimensions, Greg Anderson writes, when “we make a habit of helping others,
so that the helping becomes for us a natural way of expressing compassion.
The law challenges us to live out life's greatest equation: in Emerson's words, 'You cannot sincerely help another without helping yourself.'"
He wants us to understand that it is a two way street: "We fulfill our purpose through serving the next person."
And the reward?
He continues, "We enhance our own life through that service.
Note the order: first we serve, then we are enriched. It's a wonderful covenant."
"The law's promise compels us to choose to let our compassion for others come forth in a spontaneous manner because it is our deepest and best nature to do so."
There is a movement afoot, maybe you have read the bumper sticker, to "Practice Random Acts of Kindness".
Through the practice of spontaneous random acts of kindness every day we overcome meanness and cynicism and impersonalization and other demons we experience too much of in modern day living.
When you put a coin in the parking meter of someone you don't know.
When you pay the bridge toll of the person behind you.
When you place a neighbor's newspaper on the front porch so it won't get wet.
When you mow another's lawn, or shovel the snow from her walk.
When you give a coupon to a total stranger in the grocery store.
Or tickets to total strangers at the ballgame.
When you take soup [or pasta] to a shut-in.
Waking up in the morning asking "what can I do today for someone in need?
Making answer in the evening to the question, "what have I done today that's kind?"
Acts of kindness randomly expressed and practiced on a daily basis, are good for your soul.
And lead to what Greg Anderson calls "Wellness", what Jesus calls eternal life,
what John calls abundant life,
what I call a max life.
When you purposely seek out ways of being of service for another,
not only does the other feel the benefit of your service,
but you reap great reward – experiencing inner peace and joy and healing power and eternal life.
We are reminded, what many of you here today already know, there are countless ways to serve.
I know some of our church spent countless hours over many years involved in Meals on Wheels (which actually was started in this church!).
There's the Needlework Guild – one of the very first benevolence societies in this country!
There's Dorcas – whose sole purpose is service for others – and many of you know the joys that you receive when you come together to work to fulfill a need of someone you will never meet.
There's the Contact Telephone Line providing anonymous help for real hurting people.
You can visit a shut-in.
You can take a meal to a friend who is sick.
You can give someone flowers from your garden.
You can telephone someone and give them a lift.
You can send a card with a note of encouragement.
You can acknowledge a birthday – anonymously?
The list goes on and on and on.
The possibilities are endless.
Deliberate service to others,
and random acts of kindness:
two ways to exercise a life for others, the Law of Purpose Through Service.
It is a powerful law.
It is a powerful principal.
It is a powerful promise.
You help another.
You help yourself.
You find meaning in life.
Your satisfaction soars.
You are happier.
You are healthier.
Your life is more fulfilling.
Your life is more abundant.
Your life is enriched.
You know eternal life.
Amen and amen!
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon during the regular worship service, Sunday, October 9, 2011.
No, a full life is measured by service, "by the degree to which we've helped others."
When you purposely seek out ways of being of service for another,
not only does the other feel the benefit of your service,
but you reap great reward – experiencing inner peace and joy and healing power and eternal life.
Leviticus 18:1-5,19:17-18
Luke 10:25-37
A lot of people are spending a lot of money and a lot of energy to try and sell us on various ideas of what the good life is, aren't they?
I remember when they promised the good life just by using the correct lard-substitute in your cooking – don't you?
In fact, it seems that everyone bought in to that particular promise,
and we all used the phrase in our everyday lives: "Now you're cooking with Crisco."
And, the good life was tied to being paged in the lobby of a grand hotel in Havana, and smoking the right cigarette. Remember?
"Call for Philip Morris."
And then, there were the penguins.
Remember the penguins?
I think I was an adult before I knew that penguins didn't coo.
They did on the radio and in the magazine ads. Remember, the male voice said: "Smoke" and the penguins said, "Cools." "Smoke Cools."
Then the good life got tied up with driving the right kind of car,
wearing the right kind of clothes,
hiding B.O.
and smelling certain kind of ways,
even using the right kind of shampoo.
I suppose it has always been this way.
There have always been snake oil salesmen of some kind –
able to make a living because some people are always looking for a way to alleviate their perceived predicament –
seeking the good life,
seeking relief from misery and pain and suffering.
Unfortunately for all of us consumers of snake oil, the alluring promises always turn out to be false. And so it has always been.
Remember Hadacol?
Hadacol promised relief from just about whatever ailed you.
And, of course you all remember why it was called Hadacol (Edith?): they had this stuff and were getting ready to bottle it to sell,
and they had t' call it something.
But, alas, the promises of Hadacol were false, weren't they?
As are all the promises of magic elixir that claim to fix things and make life better for you.
We've learned to be wary, haven't we?
And yet – we continue to hope –
for a pill or something for a quick fix –
for prince charming,
or for an angel of mercy,
or for John Bersford Tipton,
or to win the lottery,
or for Ed McMahan to show up on your doorstep,
or for a miracle that could bring back the way things used to be,
or for a messiah to lead us into the land of the future.
And it is this hope that makes it easy for us to be suckered.
On the one hand we are wary and cynical about any promise,
and on the other hand we are gullible and an easy mark.
And so it was some two thousand years ago when a student of the scriptures came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?"
We remember John said that Jesus came that we might live life more fully, abundantly, to the max.
So the question for each of us is, "What do you mean?"
"How?"
"What are we do to have an abundant life? –
to have a full life? –
to have eternal life?"
And Jesus was right to the point, "Well, what do the scriptures say?"
"What do the scriptures say you are to do in order to live life to the fullest,
and truly know abundant living, to have eternal life?
What does it say in the Holy book?
And how do you understand what it says?"
Well, the Bible scholar didn't have to think very hard, he knew,
"Right here in Deuteronomy, it says 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.'
And right here in Leviticus, it says, 'Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.'"
Jesus said, "That's right! That's it!
That's the secret to eternal life.
That's the secret to knowing how to really live an abundant life – a full life – a max life.
That's what you have to do."
And he went on to tell the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate that "loving your neighbors" means doing as the Samaritan did to whoever is hurting,
whoever is wounded,
whoever is in need of something we can give.
When coming upon the wounded, hurting, needy man alongside the road,
the Samaritan knew that there was absolutely nothing more important for him to do that day,
but to stop and care for the stranger.
And, Jesus said, the Samaritan – not the Priest or the Levite –
the Samaritan knew the meaning of living life to the fullest, abundantly, eternally.
Now listen closely, like the Bible Student, we've heard these words before, haven't we?
Many of you memorized these words long ago in Sunday School.
But, like the Bible Student, we are skeptical of the promise, aren't we?
Like the Bible Student, many of us would like to ask "How can we have eternal life?
How can we know more abundant living?
How can we live life to the fullest?" –
as if we didn't want to believe the words we know so well.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and all your mind. And love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.
Do unto others as you would them do unto you.
Some in this room may remember that I have talked about Greg Anderson before.
Greg Anderson is a cancer survivor.
Greg Anderson was given just 30 days to live after the discovery of metastatic lung cancer.
Some 16 years after this diagnosis, Greg Anderson published a book entitled:
The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness: Feel, Think, and Live Better Than You Ever Thought Possible.
One of the chapters of his book deals with today’s subject matter.
He writes that there are actual healing and therapeutic powers that can be tapped by living your life for others – by focusing on being of service to others.
It worked for him.
And he has seen it work for others.
There are practical – as well as philosophical or theological – benefits for focusing, as Jesus described, on the need of another.
He writes that we only really begin to come alive when we start caring for others –
when we start focusing our attention on another.
“There is magic in this law," he says.
"When we serve with depth and sincerity,
we get a glimpse of the essential quality of who we really can become." (169) [A glimpse of Eternal life. A glimpse of Abundant life.]
Everyone in this room knows how this works.
You are sitting alone, lost in self-doubt or mired in self-pity.
Your troubles seem to overwhelm you.
And the phone rings.
It's a friend who's really in need.
Without a conscious thought, you break out of your self-imposed shell of isolation.
You listen.
Perhaps you give words of assurance.
You serve.
When you put the phone down, who feels better?
The friend does, we hope.
But we do, too! don't we?
And when we reflect on what just happened,
we understand more clearly who we really are,
and what we have to offer others.
"The best way we can fulfill – in fact, the only way of fulfilling – our highest potential," Greg Anderson writes, "is through service to others."
[Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.]
He reminds us, that a full life, an abundant life, "is measured not by longevity or wealth or honors or power."
No, a full life is measured by service, "by the degree to which we've helped others."
Toward the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin wrote that he owed his happiness and success in life to the philosophy he formulated as a young man and with which he tried to guide his life: "The most acceptable service to God is doing good to man."
And, of course, we all know people who throughout their life showed great skill in accumulating riches and power, and who at the end of their life span, counted themselves as failures.
One author, writing about her search through many spiritual and philosophical writings searching for meaning and truth – eternal life – wrote: "It felt as though they led me up a huge flight of stairs to a giant cathedral inside my mind.
But once I reached the top of the stairs, the door to the church was locked."
Then, finally, she found the key that opened the door to the church – to eternal life.
She writes, "The key, very simply, is other people." [A lot of people pay a lot of money to hear Marianne Williamson say these things in front of huge crowds in auditoriums all over the country.]
But that's it!
She speaks the truth!
It's what Greg Anderson calls the Law of Purpose Through Service.
It’s what Jesus calls the full life, the abundant life.
We find our purpose with others.
[Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.]
Our life takes on fuller dimensions, Greg Anderson writes, when “we make a habit of helping others,
so that the helping becomes for us a natural way of expressing compassion.
The law challenges us to live out life's greatest equation: in Emerson's words, 'You cannot sincerely help another without helping yourself.'"
He wants us to understand that it is a two way street: "We fulfill our purpose through serving the next person."
And the reward?
He continues, "We enhance our own life through that service.
Note the order: first we serve, then we are enriched. It's a wonderful covenant."
"The law's promise compels us to choose to let our compassion for others come forth in a spontaneous manner because it is our deepest and best nature to do so."
There is a movement afoot, maybe you have read the bumper sticker, to "Practice Random Acts of Kindness".
Through the practice of spontaneous random acts of kindness every day we overcome meanness and cynicism and impersonalization and other demons we experience too much of in modern day living.
When you put a coin in the parking meter of someone you don't know.
When you pay the bridge toll of the person behind you.
When you place a neighbor's newspaper on the front porch so it won't get wet.
When you mow another's lawn, or shovel the snow from her walk.
When you give a coupon to a total stranger in the grocery store.
Or tickets to total strangers at the ballgame.
When you take soup [or pasta] to a shut-in.
Waking up in the morning asking "what can I do today for someone in need?
Making answer in the evening to the question, "what have I done today that's kind?"
Acts of kindness randomly expressed and practiced on a daily basis, are good for your soul.
And lead to what Greg Anderson calls "Wellness", what Jesus calls eternal life,
what John calls abundant life,
what I call a max life.
When you purposely seek out ways of being of service for another,
not only does the other feel the benefit of your service,
but you reap great reward – experiencing inner peace and joy and healing power and eternal life.
We are reminded, what many of you here today already know, there are countless ways to serve.
I know some of our church spent countless hours over many years involved in Meals on Wheels (which actually was started in this church!).
There's the Needlework Guild – one of the very first benevolence societies in this country!
There's Dorcas – whose sole purpose is service for others – and many of you know the joys that you receive when you come together to work to fulfill a need of someone you will never meet.
There's the Contact Telephone Line providing anonymous help for real hurting people.
You can visit a shut-in.
You can take a meal to a friend who is sick.
You can give someone flowers from your garden.
You can telephone someone and give them a lift.
You can send a card with a note of encouragement.
You can acknowledge a birthday – anonymously?
The list goes on and on and on.
The possibilities are endless.
Deliberate service to others,
and random acts of kindness:
two ways to exercise a life for others, the Law of Purpose Through Service.
It is a powerful law.
It is a powerful principal.
It is a powerful promise.
You help another.
You help yourself.
You find meaning in life.
Your satisfaction soars.
You are happier.
You are healthier.
Your life is more fulfilling.
Your life is more abundant.
Your life is enriched.
You know eternal life.
Amen and amen!
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard this sermon during the regular worship service, Sunday, October 9, 2011.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
An Invitation to the Table
It is in community with other believers that we come to live an abundant life,
a full life, a max-life.
Once again, it doesn't matter where you've been, or what you may have said,
or what you may have done --
it doesn't matter what your life may have been like,
it doesn't matter what your life may be like,
you are invited to this table
to participate in this most sacred of times.
Today is world communion Sunday.
Today Christians are gathering all over the world in each inhabited continent, to celebrate the Lord's Supper and recall our kin-ship and remember the reason for our being -- the kin-dom of God.
On this one day, more Christians will gather around a communion table than any other day in the year!
As the day began in London, Christians gathered to celebrate communion,
as the day sets in the West tonight, it dawns in Korea
and we come on this day around the largest and longest communion table ever imagined.
As you know, there are many ways of doing communion.
The bread takes many forms and shapes according to custom and culture.
The cup is filled with all sorts of drink from fermented wine to sweetened grape juice.
Some churches expect folks to come forward and physically stand at the table to take the elements from the pastor or other appointed server.
Others pass the elements around like we do.
Some celebrate communion each and every Sunday.
Some celebrate communion once each month.
Others celebrate communion four or five times a year.
But, we all believe that this table signifies something significant, of utmost importance to our faith.
In every single Presbyterian church in the world you find the communion table in a prominent spot. While the reformer zealots trashed the Catholic cathedrals and churches and stripped them of all trappings and ikons, the communion table was left -- along with the baptismal font -- as signs of their importance to us.
It is a physical representation of our theology:
we are family, and each Sunday we gather around the table.
It needs to sit out front --
never to be shunted aside or moved back out of the way.
It is a sign of kin-dom of God.
Today's Gospel Lesson is the familiar story of the king who prepared a big wedding banquet for his son, but when the time arrived to begin the feast, not one of the invited guests was there.
The outraged king ordered his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone they could find. This they did until "the wedding hall was filled with guests" (Mt. 22:10).
Like all the other Gospel parables, this story has meaning for us today only to the extent that we understand what it meant to Jesus' original audience.
Many of today's leading Scripture scholars tell us that there are nuances present in today's parable which clearly suggest that the invited guests did not actually refuse the king's invitation.
The invitees merely found excuses for coming late.
The feast was to begin in late afternoon and run until late that night -- and frequently for days on end.
Consequently, the invited guests decided that rather than cancel or postpone their scheduled business, and previous appointments,they would attend to it in the daylight hours and then join the celebration sometime after dark.
In their view, the party could await their presence for a few hours;
but in the king's view this was one party that could not wait.
The "Kingdom of God," Jesus says, "is like that." Our presence is requested urgently!
The Kingdom of God is now!
Jesus seeks to inspire an attitude of immediacy in our response to His invitation to enter into the Kingdom.
Like the invited guests in the parable, we tend to put the invitation to one side, and assign a higher priority to other urgent business.
You may have heard the story about a hunting dog that was so very proud of his ability as a runner. One day, a rabbit he was chasing got away.
Well, this evoked a great deal of ridicule from the other dogs in the kennel because of all the boasting he had done.
Still, he had a ready explanation for his defeat.
He said, "You must remember that the rabbit was running for his life, while I was only running for my dinner."
Jesus is asking us to come in haste to the banquet of life He has prepared for us.
It's as though He is saying, "Run for your life.
There isn't a moment to lose.
Join in the gala celebration now --
the festival of life that flows from the Good News of a loving, gracious God who will never abandon you!"
In finding our way into the Kingdom Festival, it seems that our biggest problem is recognizing our Divine Host when we see Him.
We need to open our eyes to Jesus' presence in terms of the way the New Testament reports it.
If Jesus were to be physically born into this world today, what do you think?
would the event occur within the boundaries of a rich and powerful nation,
on the estate of a prestigious and wealthy family, and in a way that would make it easy for the vast resources of the media to acquaint us with the news?
Or would it likely be ...
A child would be born in some third world country into a tribe of poor, uneducated parents.
He would grow up under a government that would not acknowledge His right to citizenship.
During His entire lifetime He would travel no more than fifty miles from the little village of His birth,
and would spend most of that lifetime simply following His father's trade --
a hunter, perhaps, or a primitive farmer.
Toward the end, He would begin to gather a few followers together, talking about things that sounded so dangerous to the authorities that the police would finally move to arrest Him,
at which point His following would collapse and His friends would run for their lives and try to hide from the authorities.
After a short time in prison and a rigged trial He would be shot by prison guards as an enemy of the state.
Well, this was precisely the kind of circumstance into which Jesus was born, isn't it?
Think of those first-century persons who were being asked to believe that the Son of God was born of a humble girl in a cow stall;
that His parents became refugees;
that He was branded a criminal;
that, as He listened to the cry "Crucify Him",
He was viciously beaten and spat upon.
You remember that our Divine Host who invites us to His festival of life gives us specific instructions on how we are to recognize Him today.
"You will see Me most clearly," He says, "in the faces of those brothers and sisters
whose demands on your love and compassion are hardest to meet.
You will see Me most clearly in the faces of your brothers and sisters whom you find hardest to love."
You know, the early church understood that Jesus loved banquets.
Real blowout, big-time, guzzle-and-gulp-it-down feasts.
Not for Jesus would there be any plastic-plated deli trays or cheesy cheese logs.
No rubbery chicken-ala-king or dry sheet cakes.
Only the king’s own prime rib, steaks,
and veal chops are feasible feastible material.
Vast quantities and succulent quality:
a true feast is above and beyond the experiences and expectations encountered everyday.
Who could possibly even imagine turning down such an invitation?
How could anyone not want to show up?
There is an interesting custom among the Navajo people after a baby is born.
They celebrate the baby’s first laugh.
They believe that the soul enters the body soon after birth.
A baby’s laugh is a sign that the soul has become attached to the body.
So, "When a baby laughs for the first time, the person who made the baby laugh hosts a party. They buy candy for the guests, and during the celebration, small pieces of rock candy are placed in a woven basket.
The baby gives pieces of the candy to each of the guests.
It's believed by doing this, the baby will grow up to be generous and giving.”
One Biblical scholar notes that God’s first command is, in Genesis 2:16 (the creation account of Genesis 2 is older than that of Genesis 1): Eat the food of the Garden.
And God’s last command can be found in Revelation 22:17: Drink of the Water of Life.
The Bible begins with eat.
The Bible ends with drink.
And everything in between is a banquet.
Friends, this table is for you and me.
You and I have been invited to the feast.
God is the host.
So, what kind of guest will you be?
Will you show up?
Will you show up to life?
Will you celebrate laughter -- your soul that ties you to others in the kin-dom of God?
It is at this table that each of us finds meaning to Jesus' words:
I have come that you might live your life to the fullest -- abundantly -- to the max.
Jesus told this parable of the wedding feast to remind us that each one of us -- good or bad -- is invited to the feast that has been prepared.
Once again, it doesn't matter where you've been, or what you may have said,
or what you may have done --
it doesn't matter what your life may have been like,
it doesn't matter what your life may be like,
you are invited to this table
to participate in this most sacred of times.
It is in community with other believers that we come to live an abundant life,
a full life,
a max-life.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard these words during a worship service on World Communion Sunday, October 2, 2011.
a full life, a max-life.
Once again, it doesn't matter where you've been, or what you may have said,
or what you may have done --
it doesn't matter what your life may have been like,
it doesn't matter what your life may be like,
you are invited to this table
to participate in this most sacred of times.
Today is world communion Sunday.
Today Christians are gathering all over the world in each inhabited continent, to celebrate the Lord's Supper and recall our kin-ship and remember the reason for our being -- the kin-dom of God.
On this one day, more Christians will gather around a communion table than any other day in the year!
As the day began in London, Christians gathered to celebrate communion,
as the day sets in the West tonight, it dawns in Korea
and we come on this day around the largest and longest communion table ever imagined.
As you know, there are many ways of doing communion.
The bread takes many forms and shapes according to custom and culture.
The cup is filled with all sorts of drink from fermented wine to sweetened grape juice.
Some churches expect folks to come forward and physically stand at the table to take the elements from the pastor or other appointed server.
Others pass the elements around like we do.
Some celebrate communion each and every Sunday.
Some celebrate communion once each month.
Others celebrate communion four or five times a year.
But, we all believe that this table signifies something significant, of utmost importance to our faith.
In every single Presbyterian church in the world you find the communion table in a prominent spot. While the reformer zealots trashed the Catholic cathedrals and churches and stripped them of all trappings and ikons, the communion table was left -- along with the baptismal font -- as signs of their importance to us.
It is a physical representation of our theology:
we are family, and each Sunday we gather around the table.
It needs to sit out front --
never to be shunted aside or moved back out of the way.
It is a sign of kin-dom of God.
Today's Gospel Lesson is the familiar story of the king who prepared a big wedding banquet for his son, but when the time arrived to begin the feast, not one of the invited guests was there.
The outraged king ordered his servants to go out into the streets and invite everyone they could find. This they did until "the wedding hall was filled with guests" (Mt. 22:10).
Like all the other Gospel parables, this story has meaning for us today only to the extent that we understand what it meant to Jesus' original audience.
Many of today's leading Scripture scholars tell us that there are nuances present in today's parable which clearly suggest that the invited guests did not actually refuse the king's invitation.
The invitees merely found excuses for coming late.
The feast was to begin in late afternoon and run until late that night -- and frequently for days on end.
Consequently, the invited guests decided that rather than cancel or postpone their scheduled business, and previous appointments,they would attend to it in the daylight hours and then join the celebration sometime after dark.
In their view, the party could await their presence for a few hours;
but in the king's view this was one party that could not wait.
The "Kingdom of God," Jesus says, "is like that." Our presence is requested urgently!
The Kingdom of God is now!
Jesus seeks to inspire an attitude of immediacy in our response to His invitation to enter into the Kingdom.
Like the invited guests in the parable, we tend to put the invitation to one side, and assign a higher priority to other urgent business.
You may have heard the story about a hunting dog that was so very proud of his ability as a runner. One day, a rabbit he was chasing got away.
Well, this evoked a great deal of ridicule from the other dogs in the kennel because of all the boasting he had done.
Still, he had a ready explanation for his defeat.
He said, "You must remember that the rabbit was running for his life, while I was only running for my dinner."
Jesus is asking us to come in haste to the banquet of life He has prepared for us.
It's as though He is saying, "Run for your life.
There isn't a moment to lose.
Join in the gala celebration now --
the festival of life that flows from the Good News of a loving, gracious God who will never abandon you!"
In finding our way into the Kingdom Festival, it seems that our biggest problem is recognizing our Divine Host when we see Him.
We need to open our eyes to Jesus' presence in terms of the way the New Testament reports it.
If Jesus were to be physically born into this world today, what do you think?
would the event occur within the boundaries of a rich and powerful nation,
on the estate of a prestigious and wealthy family, and in a way that would make it easy for the vast resources of the media to acquaint us with the news?
Or would it likely be ...
A child would be born in some third world country into a tribe of poor, uneducated parents.
He would grow up under a government that would not acknowledge His right to citizenship.
During His entire lifetime He would travel no more than fifty miles from the little village of His birth,
and would spend most of that lifetime simply following His father's trade --
a hunter, perhaps, or a primitive farmer.
Toward the end, He would begin to gather a few followers together, talking about things that sounded so dangerous to the authorities that the police would finally move to arrest Him,
at which point His following would collapse and His friends would run for their lives and try to hide from the authorities.
After a short time in prison and a rigged trial He would be shot by prison guards as an enemy of the state.
Well, this was precisely the kind of circumstance into which Jesus was born, isn't it?
Think of those first-century persons who were being asked to believe that the Son of God was born of a humble girl in a cow stall;
that His parents became refugees;
that He was branded a criminal;
that, as He listened to the cry "Crucify Him",
He was viciously beaten and spat upon.
You remember that our Divine Host who invites us to His festival of life gives us specific instructions on how we are to recognize Him today.
"You will see Me most clearly," He says, "in the faces of those brothers and sisters
whose demands on your love and compassion are hardest to meet.
You will see Me most clearly in the faces of your brothers and sisters whom you find hardest to love."
You know, the early church understood that Jesus loved banquets.
Real blowout, big-time, guzzle-and-gulp-it-down feasts.
Not for Jesus would there be any plastic-plated deli trays or cheesy cheese logs.
No rubbery chicken-ala-king or dry sheet cakes.
Only the king’s own prime rib, steaks,
and veal chops are feasible feastible material.
Vast quantities and succulent quality:
a true feast is above and beyond the experiences and expectations encountered everyday.
Who could possibly even imagine turning down such an invitation?
How could anyone not want to show up?
There is an interesting custom among the Navajo people after a baby is born.
They celebrate the baby’s first laugh.
They believe that the soul enters the body soon after birth.
A baby’s laugh is a sign that the soul has become attached to the body.
So, "When a baby laughs for the first time, the person who made the baby laugh hosts a party. They buy candy for the guests, and during the celebration, small pieces of rock candy are placed in a woven basket.
The baby gives pieces of the candy to each of the guests.
It's believed by doing this, the baby will grow up to be generous and giving.”
One Biblical scholar notes that God’s first command is, in Genesis 2:16 (the creation account of Genesis 2 is older than that of Genesis 1): Eat the food of the Garden.
And God’s last command can be found in Revelation 22:17: Drink of the Water of Life.
The Bible begins with eat.
The Bible ends with drink.
And everything in between is a banquet.
Friends, this table is for you and me.
You and I have been invited to the feast.
God is the host.
So, what kind of guest will you be?
Will you show up?
Will you show up to life?
Will you celebrate laughter -- your soul that ties you to others in the kin-dom of God?
It is at this table that each of us finds meaning to Jesus' words:
I have come that you might live your life to the fullest -- abundantly -- to the max.
Jesus told this parable of the wedding feast to remind us that each one of us -- good or bad -- is invited to the feast that has been prepared.
Once again, it doesn't matter where you've been, or what you may have said,
or what you may have done --
it doesn't matter what your life may have been like,
it doesn't matter what your life may be like,
you are invited to this table
to participate in this most sacred of times.
It is in community with other believers that we come to live an abundant life,
a full life,
a max-life.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard these words during a worship service on World Communion Sunday, October 2, 2011.
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