6-23-2013 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

 

CHRISTIANITY 101: KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING

  There was a time when our nation’s economy was booming, hope sprung eternal, and American ingenuity took a back seat to no one.  Along those lines, allow me to give you a little quiz designed to take you back to what we might call the good old days.  For example, who was the innovator who opened the very first drive-in gas station?  The very first drive-in gas station was opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1913 by the Gulf Oil Company. 

  What was the first city to use the dreaded parking meter?  The first parking meters were used in Oklahoma City in July of 1935.  Where was the first drive-in restaurant?  The first drive-in restaurant was Royce Hailey’s Pig Stand, opened in Dallas, Texas in 1921.  Where was the world’s first three-color traffic light installed?  It was installed in Detroit, Michigan in 1919.  What car had the distinction of being General Motors’ one hundred millionth car built in the United States?  It was a 1966 Olds Tornado.  They don’t even make Oldsmobiles anymore. 

  Where and when was the first drive-in movie theater opened?  It was opened in Camden, New Jersey in 1933.  What was the lowest priced American car on record?  It was the 1925 Ford Model T, and it cost a grand total of two hundred and sixty dollars.  What automaker’s first logo incorporated the Jewish Star of David?  That would be the Dodge.  And finally, what car was designed on the back of a Northwest Airlines airsickness bag, and released on April Fools’ Day in 1970?  That would be the A.M.C. Gremlin.  How appropriate is that?

  Alas, times have changed.  The American economy is not what it once was, and people are having a harder and harder time simply making ends meet.  Hope no longer springs eternal, and drug abuse, suicide rates, and depression are on the rise.  It’s not like it was in the good old days any more.

  A man named George Packer is the author of a new book entitled, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America.  He notes that if you were born in 1960, or shortly thereafter, you have spent your entire life in what he calls the “vertigo” of the unwinding of America.  In other words, you have watched structures that had been in place since before your birth collapse like pillars of salt across a vast and tumultuous landscape.  Some of the more obvious collapses he mentions are the farms of the Carolina Piedmont, the factories of the Mahoning Valley, Florida subdivisions, and California schools.  Some of the less obvious collapses he mentions are ethics in Washington D.C. and integrity on the New York Stock Exchange…along with morals and manners and simple human decency.  As Packer puts it, “The norms that made the old institutions useful began to unwind, and the leaders abandoned their posts.”

  No one knows exactly when the unwinding of America began – when the coil that held Americans together in a secure and sometimes stifling grip – began to give way.  Yet the unwinding did occur, and the country we all know and love…somehow became irretrievably different.  Packer then cites a number of human interest stories in an attempt to prove his point.

  Tammy Thomas was born in Youngstown, Ohio to a drug-addled mother.  Raised by her grandmother, she managed to graduate from college and to land a job in an electric factory.  Then Youngstown began to unwind all around her.  Street gangs emerged, violence increased, and homes were foreclosed by banks.  Businesses collapsed, the population declined, and hope became quite scarce.  Tammy Thomas had the values of hard work, saving money, and planning ahead instilled within her – all those quintessentially American values that are supposed to guarantee success in life – yet it all went up in a puff of smoke.  Her hopes, her dreams, and her job quickly vanished in the vertigo of the unwinding of America.

  Dean Price grew up in North Carolina; the son of a tobacco farmer.  His journey reflects the unwinding of America, too.  He lost land, business partners, and a restaurant chain he tried to begin.  Dean Price reflects on the impact of what he calls “big box” stores that come in and wipe out small local businesses.  He says, “If you think about it, the people who ran the hardware store, the shoe store, and the little family restaurant that used to be here…they were the fabric of the community.  They were the leaders.  They were the Little League baseball coaches, they were the town council members, and they were the people everyone looked up to.  Not anymore.  We’ve lost that now.”

  George Packer convincingly describes the unwinding of America.  Yet perhaps he vividly illustrates a dire situation without illuminating it.  In other words, he tells us what’s gone wrong, but he doesn’t really tell us what we can do about it.  Perhaps we don’t need illustrations so much as we need illumination.  What can be done to stem the tide of the unwinding of America?  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

   A number of weeks ago we noted how – each and every day – we make decisions that move us closer to a life of virtue, or closer to a life of ruin.  Though the past may be written in stone, the future is more like wet cement…pliable, soft, and ready to be shaped by the decisions we make.  Our goal is to develop a more godly life narrative.  Our goal is to discover what it means to live a life of virtue.  Our goal is to seek to discern where our deep happiness may truly be found.

  We suggested that our deepest happiness is found in the kingdom of God.  We noted that the kingdom of God is not just something we hope to attain in the future.  As Jesus clearly stated, the kingdom of God is also a very present reality.  Thus, the kingdom of God of which we speak is not a place.  The kingdom of God of which we speak is an interactive relationship with God…an interactive relationship that brings us peace of heart and mind.

  We noted how many of us will not even consider a more godly life narrative – many of us will not even begin to seek out an interactive relationship with God – until we encounter a drought in life…until we come up against something that we cannot control.  So what we did was consider a social problem that appears to be beyond human resolution: bullying in the classroom.  We postulated that while we may not be able to resolve all the social ills that surround us, God is able to resolve the un-resolvable.  What we need to do is recognize that fact, and be open to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit.  That, my friends, is where our own transformation truly begins.

  Then we wrestled in turn with overcoming anger, lust, lying and the law of reciprocity.  We took a stab at defeating vainglory, avarice, worry and judgmentalism.  The theory behind such an endeavor is that abiding in the kingdom of God is different than abiding in the kingdom of this world.  Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I get more?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I do without?”  Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I find myself?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I lose myself?”  Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I win friends and influence people?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I truly love God?”  Ladies and gentlemen, there is a profound difference between abiding in the kingdom of this world…and abiding in the kingdom of God.

  For those of you who’ve been paying attention in this series of sermons, you know that what we’ve really been doing is dissecting the Sermon on the Mount.  In today’s gospel lesson, we encounter the grand finale.  Jesus tells us to enter by the narrow gate, to beware of false prophets, that not everyone who calls upon him will enter the kingdom of heaven, and to hear his words and do them.  What Jesus is really talking about here is forming a relationship with God.

  As we’ve seen so far, there are a lot of false narratives out there about God and the Christian faith.  Perhaps there is no bigger false narrative out there than this: How does one attain eternal life?  The answer most commonly given is this: To attain eternal life, one must believe in Jesus Christ. 

  Now that would not be a false narrative if we acted like we really knew what it means to believe.  The problem is that not everyone knows what it really means to believe in Jesus Christ.  You see, belief is more than mere mental assent.  For example, I believe there’s a sun, but that doesn’t really impact the way I live my life.  I believe gasoline’s too expensive, but that doesn’t seem to affect my character.  I believe that at the end of this sermon someone’s going to tell me that I completely missed the mark, but has no bearing on what I try to say.  To believe in Jesus Christ is more than to merely assent to his existence.  To believe in Jesus Christ is to actively seek to form a relationship with him.

  Dr. James Bryan Smith, author of The Good and Beautiful Life, states that he believes that people who are close to Christ and his kingdom are the exception, not the rule.  In fact, he estimates that only 10% of Christians are actively trying to develop their relationship with God on a daily basis.  Why?  Too many people don’t really know what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.  They believe things like prayer, Bible study and worship are merely add-ons practiced by zealous and over-achieving Christians.  Those kinds of things are seen more as luxuries than they are as necessities.

  Perhaps the only way to nurture one’s relationship with Christ is to set one’s heart and mind on the kingdom of God.  And the only way to accomplish that is to work at it daily…not just for one hour a week or whenever we have the time.  Those of you who attend here regularly know the secret to forming a relationship with God.  The secret to forming a relationship with God is found in the seven covenants of a disciple of Jesus Christ.  You know: Worship regularly, pray daily, study diligently, live faithfully, serve joyously, give generously…and witness boldly.  The seven covenants are not mere add-ons for zealous Christians.  They are not mere luxuries for over-achievers.  They are absolute necessities for building a relationship with God.

  Let me try to show you what I mean.  There was a time when Americans did not have gas or electricity available in their homes at the flick of a switch or the turn of a dial.  To warm the house or to heat up water, someone had to get up and start a fire.  Then, throughout the day, someone had to stoke the flames.  Someone had to pile on fresh logs.  If they didn’t, the fire went out.  Someone had to invest a lot of time and energy to keep the home fires burning. 

  Could we go so far as to say that our spiritual lives are a lot like that?  Perhaps we need to begin each and every day in devotion to God.  Perhaps we need to pause at various times during the day to lift a prayer or two to God.  And perhaps we should go to sleep at night with the Lord’s Prayer on our lips.  It’s not that God requires this of us.  Rather, it’s that we are weak.  We have a tendency to relapse.  We get so caught up in the moment that we forget who we’re supposed to be on the inside.  Worship, prayer and daily devotions are how we keep our spiritual home fires burning.  For when one neglects a fire, it tends to flicker out.

  So what on earth does this have to do with the unwinding of America?  What on earth does this have to do with collapsing economies, increased violence, and the influx of despair?  I think it has everything to do with those things.  Because forming a relationship with God completely transforms who and what we essentially become.

  Think about it.  A Christian could not move his entire business production overseas because he could never devastate his community like that.  A Christian could not harm another human being because he knows that he must love his neighbor as he loves himself.  A Christian could not step on another human being in an effort to get ahead because she would see that person in a whole new light.  A Christian could not take from the system because Christians see themselves as givers, not takers.  A Christian could not hoard their possessions unto themselves because Christians are not consumers; they are producers. 

  I could go on and on, I suppose.  But do you see what we’ve accomplished in just a few simple statements?  By forming a relationship with God we’ve already eliminated violence, pride, vanity, entitlement, avarice and greed.  So you see, faith in God has to do with more than squeezing a few wretched souls into heaven.  It has to do with transforming the very world in which we live.

  I know, I know, I’m just a lowly preacher.  What do I know?  You know what they say about preachers, don’t you?  They’re heavenly minded, but of no earthly good.  Honestly, though, I think Jesus himself would say that if you can find a better way to draw near to God – or even a better way to run the world – by all means, take it!  So keep the home fires burning.  You’ll find that it transforms you, and in the process…it just might transform the world, as well.  Amen.

 

06-09-2013 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

 

CHRISTIANITY 101: A DEGREE IN CONDEMNATION ENGINEERING

  Are you aware of any young men or young women who have left the institutional church?  Do you wonder why the church doesn’t seem to have the enormous children’s choirs it once had?  Do you wonder why drug usage, depression and suicide rates are on the rise, while morality and decency seem to be on the decline?  Does your heart break as watch your own children fail to raise your grandchildren in the church, even though you were very faithful about raising your children in the church?  And if any of the aforementioned scenarios is true with you, do you feel as though this is something that someone should try to do something about?  Or, do you think we should simply stand idly by and watch…as the world charts a path to destruction?  What do you think?

  The fact of the matter is: the Christian Church is not what it once was.  People are leaving the institutional church in droves.  What’s more, over 71% of those who leave the church these days do so before they reach the age of thirty.  Perhaps the question now is: What might we learn if we took the time to listen to their stories?  What might we learn if we considered the church from a younger person’s point of view?

  A researcher by the name of David Kinnamon has taken the time to listen to what young people are saying about the church these days.  In a book called, unChristian, he made the profound point that to young people today, the church is known more for what it stands against…than it is known for what it stands for.  In a more recent book called, You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith, Kinnamon outlines six basic concerns that young people seen to have about the church today.  They are:

1.      The church is perceived as being overprotective.  By that, they mean that the church seems to be more concerned about itself that it is about anything else.

2.      Their experience of church is typically rather shallow.  They tend not to know the “whys” or the “wherefores” of what it is we believe.

3.      They believe the church is anti-science.  It is inconsistent with – or antagonistic toward – modern scientific thought.

4.      They believe the church is exclusive in that they often have to choose between their faith and their friends. 

5.      They perceive the church to be repressive sexually, and that when it comes right down to it, the church is more concerned about rules and regulations than it is about anything else.

6.      The church is doubtless in that it simply will not deal with the genuine questions they have.  The church, in their minds, fails to leave room for divergent opinion.

  Please don’t misunderstand me here.  I am not insinuating that these concerns are all legitimate and that we need to rush out and change who and what we’ve been for 2000 years just to win back a few wayfaring souls.  I am simply saying that these are the concerns that young people seem to have.  Kinnamon then proposes three specific categories of young people who – greatly disturbed by these issues – choose to leave the church.  Using biblical terminology, Kinnamon calls them Nomads, Prodigals, and Exiles.  Now this is not to say that each individual who leaves the church doesn’t have his or her own unique story.  Still, he believes the basic categories of young people who choose to leave the church are Nomads, Prodigals and Exiles.

 Nomads are young adults who walk away from church involvement, but still consider themselves to be Christian.  They simply believe that personal involvement in a community of faith is optional.  Perhaps the importance of faith has faded a bit for the Nomad.  These are people who could also be described as being spiritual but not religious.  They want to be relatively close to God, but they don’t necessarily want to be close to you or to me…especially me!

  Exiles are young adults who are still invested in their Christian faith, but feel lost or stuck between church and culture.  They’re skeptical of institutions, but are not wholly disengaged from them.  They sense God moving outside the walls of the church.  They’re not completely disillusioned with religion…they’re simply frustrated with shallow expressions of religion.          In other words, they need the Christians they encounter on a daily basis to be genuine.

  Then there are the Prodigals.  Prodigals are young adults who have lost their faith and no longer describe themselves as Christian.  They often feel varying levels of resentment toward Christianity in general…and toward Christians in specific.  They have vowed not to return to the church and have – in their minds – moved beyond the confines of Christianity.  They genuinely believe they have found a better way.

  What do you think?  Can we learn anything from the concerns today’s young people express about the church?  Or should we simply abandon them and leave them to their own devices?  Do we reach out to them with love and compassion, or do we spurn them with disdain and judgmentalism?  I think you know how this is going to come out in the end.  In any case, keep that thought in mind as we move on.

  A number of weeks ago, we noted how – each and every day – we make decisions that move us closer to a life of virtue, or closer to a life of ruin.  Though the past may be written in stone, the future is more like wet cement…pliable, soft, and ready to be shaped by the decisions we make.  Our goal is to develop a more godly life narrative.  Our goal is to discover what it means to live a life of virtue.  Our goal is to seek to discern where our deep happiness may truly be found.

  We suggested that our deepest happiness is found in the kingdom of God.  We noted that the kingdom of God is not just something we hope to attain in the future.  As Jesus clearly stated, the kingdom of God is also a very present reality.  Thus, the kingdom of God of which we speak is not a place.  The kingdom of God of which we speak is an interactive relationship with God…an interactive relationship that brings us peace of heart and mind.

  We noted how many of us will not even consider a more godly life narrative – many of us will not even begin to seek out an interactive relationship with God – until we encounter a drought in life…until we come up against something that we cannot control.  So what we did was consider a social problem that appears to be beyond human resolution: bullying in the classroom.  We postulated that while we may not be able to resolve all the social ills that surround us, God is able to resolve the un-resolvable.  What we need to do is recognize that fact, and be open to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit.  That, my friends, is where our own transformation truly begins.

  Then we wrestled in turn with overcoming anger, lust, lying, and the law of reciprocity.  We took a stab at defeating vainglory, avarice and worry.  The theory behind such an endeavor is that abiding in the kingdom of God is different than abiding in the kingdom of this world.  Those who abide in this world ask, “How can I get more?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I do without?”  Those who abide in the world ask, “How can I find myself?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I lose myself?”  Those who abide in the world ask, “How can I win friends and influence people?”  Those who abide in the kingdom ask, “How can I truly love God?”  Ladies and gentlemen, there is a profound difference between abiding in the kingdom of this world and abiding in the kingdom of God. 

  Today our goal is to overcome judgmentalism.  Let’s be honest here.  There is a measure of judgmentalism in all of us.  How do most of us respond to pierced noses, pierced tongues, pierced eyebrows or pierced…you fill in the blank?  How do most of us respond to tattoos on every body part imaginable, or hair that’s been dyed a bright shade of pink?  How do most of us respond to those who walk around town all day, talking or texting on their cell phones, but lack the resources to feed their families?  How do most of us respond to Nomads, Exiles and Prodigals when they leave the church and then live pain-filled lives replete with drug abuse, depression and meaninglessness?  What many of us would really like to do is tell them off and straighten them out with our wealth of wisdom on the folly of their ways.  Ah, perhaps there’s a measure of judgmentalism in all of us.

  Judging another person has to do with making a negative assessment of them…without standing in solidarity with them.  Thus, when we judge someone, we are criticizing them, but not as a caring friend who simply wants to help.  So what is the difference between constructive criticism and judgmentalism?  Perhaps the difference lies in the heart of the assessor.

  You see, there are two primary reasons why we come to judge another human being.  Number one, we feel as though we have a deep-seated need to fix them; and number two, it also tends to make us feel better about ourselves.  Dr. James Bryan Smith calls this condemnation engineering in a book called The Good and Beautiful Life.  I think a lot of us have a degree in condemnation engineering.  We know just what we should say to set those around us who displease us right – be it a stranger, be it a spouse, or be it a child – as if it was somehow our job to set them straight.  The main problem here is that condemnation engineering – in spite of our noble intentions – tends not to be terribly well received.  Nobody likes to be criticized.

  Jesus addresses this issue in the first passage we read from the gospel according to Matthew.    He says, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

  Jesus is using hyperbole here…or is he?  Typically we do not see ourselves as being nearly as sinful as those we aim to engineer.  To that I say: Think of this.  When we evaluate our own sinfulness – or perceived lack thereof – basic theology teaches us not to compare ourselves to our neighbors.  We tend to feel pretty good about ourselves when we do that.  Instead, we are to compare ourselves to none other than Jesus Christ.  And when we do that, we don’t seem so high and mighty any more.  Perhaps there is a log in our own eye that keeps us from seeing clearly, and that log…is judgmentalism.  As Mother Teresa once put it, “When you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  And as Philo of Alexandria once put it, “Be kind to everyone, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” 

  Perhaps that’s why Jesus went on to address judgmentalism in greater detail.  In the second passage we read from Matthew, Jesus adds, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  Perhaps therein lies the answer to our judgmentalism.  Perhaps the answer is found in the simple words: ask, seek and knock.

  Here’s the point.  The first thing we need to do when we really want to help someone else…is pray for them.  Yet in that regard, I think of one of my favorite descriptions of prayer.  It has been said that prayer does not change God; prayer changes us.  Thus, when we actually begin to pray for someone else, our hearts tend to shift to consider that person’s own well-being.  It is almost impossible to pray for someone and to not begin to feel compassion for him or for her.  So the first thing we do is invite God into the situation.  In the process, we come to feel less critical, and more compassionate.  What’s more, we then come to have the wisdom of God at our disposal.  Praying for another person can bring us to see many a situation in a whole new light.

  Jesus then says we are to seek and to knock.  In other words, we need to be persistent in our prayer.  God seems so often to require persistence in prayer.  Perhaps that’s because persistence in prayer is not a sign of a lack of faith, but rather, persistence in prayer is a sign of the depth of our commitment.  What’s more, persistence gives prayer more time to change not God…but us.  Thus, we show our love for another human being by praying for them, and by letting that person know that he or she is not alone.

  Our world is becoming more and more filled with church dropouts all the time.  In the meantime, drug usage, depression and suicide rates are on the rise.  You see, the problem with leaving God behind and abandoning the community of faith is that it quickly dissipates any semblance of hope.  Perhaps there is no hope apart from God.  I mean, can one really find hope at the end of a needle, or at the mouth of a bottle, or in a bigger bank account?  Those kinds of hope tend not to last…and need to be replenished time and time again because they never seem to satisfy. 

  God is the source of our greatest hope because – as I’ve said before – the kingdom of God is never in trouble.  Don’t you think the dropouts could use a dose of God?  Don’t you think the Nomads, the Exiles and the Prodigals would benefit from the community of faith?  And don’t you think praying for them just might be the best place to start?

  One of the biggest criticisms those who leave the church have is that Christians are not genuine.  They feel as if Christians do not live the life of faith they claim to profess.  Perhaps eliminating judgmentalism is the first step on the way to reflecting a genuine faith.  So I beg of you: Do not exercise your degree in condemnation engineering.  Pray for those who need it.  Pray persistently for those who need it.  And then, do whatever it is you have to do…to stand by their side.  Amen.

 

06-02-2013 Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Jensen

 

CHRISIANITY 101: THE GOSPEL OF WHAT IF

  Some of the most devout and faithful people I have ever encountered are church secretaries.  They tend to be loyal, dedicated and true.  But they are human, and when they make a mistake – in the church bulletin, for example – their blunders become fodder for exploitation.  Listen now to a few of the more noteworthy church bulletin bloopers inadvertently made by devout and faithful secretaries of the church.

-          At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be, “What is Hell?”  Come early and listen to our choir practice.

-          The peacemaking conference, originally scheduled to take place today, has been cancelled due to a conflict.

-          This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Jones to please come forward…and lay and egg on the altar.

-          Thursday at 5:00 p.m. there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club.  All those wishing to become Little Mothers, please see the pastor in his office.

-          For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

-          The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.

-          The rosebud on the altar is in honor of the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Reverend and Mrs. Belzer.

-          The ladies of the congregation have cast off clothing of all kinds.  They may be seen this afternoon in the fellowship hall.

-          Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale.  It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house.  Don’t forget to bring your husbands!

-          And last but not least, “Don’t let worry kill you.  Let the church help.”

  It’s that last bulletin blooper that I want to talk about today because the fact of the matter is: we worry all the time.  We worry about whether or not we’ll be able to pass all our final exams in school.  We worry about whether this girl or that guy will like us.  We worry about whether or not our kids will get into the right college.  And if they do, we worry about whether or not they’ll be able to pay back all that incredibly crushing debt.  We worry about that medical procedure we had to endure because the doctor found a spot that shouldn’t be there.  We worry about whether or not our savings accounts will last through our retirement years.  We worry about how we’ll survive after the loss of a husband or a wife to whom we’d been married for over fifty years.

  We really do have a lot to worry about, don’t we?  What’s more, it’s my theory that we come by worry naturally.  We tend to abide by the gospel of, “What if?”  What if this happens, or what if that happens?  What will I do then?  For example, both of my parents were raised on farms in Iowa.  They instilled within me what I call an old-fashioned Midwestern work ethic.  Yet they also instilled what I call an old-fashioned Midwestern pessimism.  What does that mean?

  Think of this.  If you grew up on a farm, you were dependent upon the weather.  Good weather meant a bumper crop and ample food for the year.  Bad weather meant a poor crop and a long, hard winter ahead.  Here’s where my theory comes into play.  My parents tended to always expect the worst.  You see, when you always expect the worst, you’re never disappointed.  Sometimes, you’re even pleasantly surprised.  Pessimism – and the worry it entails – thus becomes a coping mechanism.  It becomes a coping mechanism for those whose livelihood is dependent upon something as precarious as the weather.  Thus, one’s personal narrative comes to be what might be called, “The Gospel of What If.”  Keep that thought in mind as we move on.

  A number of weeks ago, we noted how – each and every day – we make decisions that move us closer to a life of virtue, or closer to a life of ruin.  Though the past may be written in stone, the future is more like wet cement…pliable, soft, and ready to be shaped by the decisions we make.  Our goal is to develop a more godly life narrative.  Our goal is to discover what it means to live a life of virtue.  Our goal is to seek to discern where our deep happiness may truly be found.

  We suggested that our deepest happiness is found in the kingdom of God.  We noted that the kingdom of God is not just something we hope to attain in the future.  As Jesus clearly stated, the kingdom of God is also a very present reality.  Thus, the kingdom of God of which we speak is not a place.  The kingdom of God of which we speak is an interactive relationship with God…an interactive relationship that brings us peace of heart and mind.

  We noted how many of us will not even consider a more godly life narrative – many of us will not even begin to seek out an interactive relationship with God – until we encounter a drought in life…until we come up against something that we cannot control.  So what we did was consider a social problem that appears to be beyond human resolution: bullying in the classroom.  We postulated that while we may not be able to resolve all the social ills that surround us, God is able to resolve the un-resolvable.  What we need to do is recognize that fact, and be open to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit.  That, my friends, is where our own transformation truly begins.

  Then we got a bit more specific as to how we actually build an interactive relationship with God.  The first thing we aimed at was conquering anger.  We contrasted anger with Sabbath rest.  Anger is a result of our need to control; Sabbath teaches us to trust in God’s strength.  Anger is a result of the narrative that we need to be perfect; Sabbath reminds us that we are forgiven.  Anger is a result of our fear that God has somehow lost sight of us; Sabbath ensures us that God is watching over us at all times.

  Our subsequent goal was to overcome lust.  In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick, “Only by a stronger passion can evil passions be expelled,” and, “A soul unoccupied by positive devotion is sure to be occupied by spiritual demons.”  What we sought was what we called the expulsive power of a new affection.  We determined that if our new affection was, in fact, the kingdom of God…then lust would simply lose its grip on us.  Thus, perhaps the solution to our problem here is prayer.

  The next thing we aimed at overcoming was lying.  What we determined was that as we move further and further into kingdom living – as our hearts become more and more transformed into the likeness and image of Christ – what we need to do is use our tongues to bless and encourage, rather than to harm or humiliate.  We need to learn to build up, rather than tear down.  In short, we use our tongues to speak words that bestow the grace of God upon others.  While that means, on the one hand, that we do not lie…it also means that our general tone is one of compassion, hope and kindness.

  Then we talked about learning to live above the law of reciprocity.  The law of reciprocity, of course, is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  Yet as Gandhi once put it, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth makes the whole world blind and toothless.”  Jesus proposed a better way.  He taught us to trust that God – in spite of the odds – can somehow turn that which is evil into good.  Why do we believe this?  Because our new kingdom narrative assures us that the kingdom of God is never in trouble.

  Then we tackled the sin of vainglory.  Vainglory, of course, is defined as the need to have others think well of us.  It’s a little like pride, but a bit more specific.  The secret to conquering vain-glory is to recognize that in the kingdom of God, we are not playing to an audience of many.  We are playing to an audience of One; and that One…is God.

  Finally, we considered the sin of avarice.  Avarice is a little like greed in that it has to do with excessive desire, yet avarice is more specifically defined as greed for money or for possessions.  We noted how kingdom economics have to do with simplicity.  In other words, that which we spend, and that which we aim to possess, should have more to do with our genuine need than it does with our insatiable desire.  If that were to actually become the case with us, we might finally come to understand the true meaning of generosity.

  Today our goal is to try to overcome worry.  Worry is defined as a disproportionate level of concern based upon an inappropriate measure of fear.  Unchecked levels of worry can actually cause health problems, impact relationships, and sap the joy right out of life.  What’s more, if we were to ask Jesus his opinion on worry, I think he’d tell us that it also represents a lack of faith in God.

  Consider the passage we read from the gospel according to Matthew.  There Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life – what you will eat or what you will drink – or about your body; what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”  Later he adds, “Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your span of life?  So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

  The point here, I think, is that worry keeps us focused on our own limited resources.  Faith refocuses our attention onto God’s abundant resources.  Perhaps this is why Jesus seems to indicate that worry has no place in the kingdom of God.  Worry happens when we sit on the thrones of our lives.  Worry flourishes when we reside in the kingdom of this world...and not in the kingdom of God.

  A late 20^th century spiritual writer by the name of Henri Nouwen addresses the statement Jesus made here in a book called, Making All Things New.  He writes:

Jesus does not respond to our worry-filled way of living by saying that we should not be busy with worldly affairs.  He does not try to pull us away from the many events, activities, and people that make up our lives.  He does not tell us that what we do is unimportant, or valueless, or useless.  Nor does he suggest that we should withdraw from our involvements and live quiet, restful lives removed from the struggles of the world.

 

Jesus’ response to our worry-filled lives is really quite different.  He asks us to shift the point of gravity – to relocate the center of our attention – and to change our priorities.  Jesus wants us to move from the many things to the one necessary thing.  It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to abandon our multi-faceted world.  Rather, he wants us to live in it, but to live in it firmly rooted in the center of all things.

 

Jesus does not speak about a change of activities, a change of contacts, or even a change of pace.  He speaks about a change of heart.  This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to remain the same.  This is the true meaning of Jesus’ words, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”  What counts is where our hearts are.  When we worry, we have our hearts in the wrong place.  Jesus asks us to move our hearts to the center, where all of the other things fall into place.

  So just exactly how do we move our hearts to the center so everything else can fall into place?  Just exactly what might our lives look like if we took Jesus’ advice?  I think Dr. Kent M. Keith paints an intriguing picture in a book called, Ten Paradoxical Commandments.  He writes:

1.      People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.  Love them anyway.

2.      If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.  Do good anyway.

3.      If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.  Succeed anyway.

4.      The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.  Do good anyway.

5.      Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.  Be honest and frank anyway.

6.      The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.  Think big anyway.

7.      People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.  Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

8.      What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.  Build anyway.

9.      People really need help, but may attack you if you help them.  Help people anyway.

10.  Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.  Give the world the best you have anyway.

  Mother Teresa added a line to the Ten Paradoxical Commandments in a prayer simply called, “Mother Teresa’s Prayer.”  She wrote: “In the final analysis, it’s between you and God.  It was never between you and anyone else anyway.”  That’s how we overcome worry, and that’s how we move beyond “The Gospel of What If.”  We come to realize that in the final analysis, it’s between us and God.  It was never meant to be between us and anyone else anyway.  Amen.