ONE MORE THING
Several years ago, our oldest son, Rob, took the SAT and the ACT tests before he went off to college. The scores he achieved were higher than the scores my wife or I achieved when we were in high school. Upon learning that fact, Rob boldly pronounced himself to be the smartest member of the family…much to the chagrin of his younger brother and sister.
Not long after that, we all went to visit my wife’s family in Iowa. The day we returned to Meadville, we were packing all our suitcases in the back of my truck. Now we knew they fit because I’d managed to squeeze them all in the back of the truck on the way out. In any case, Rob took charge of the packing. Yet somehow, he couldn’t seem to make them all fit. Finally, our daughter Mariah said, “Dad, will you please come pack the suitcases? The smartest member of the family can’t seem to figure it out.” She’s always been very good at biting sarcasm.
That story is actually indicative of the recent data on Intelligence Quotients and Creativity Quotients. Researchers at Duke University examined IQ tests of 1.7 million fifth, sixth, and seventh graders between 1981 and 2010. What they discovered is that IQs have increased by an average of three points per decade. Thus, theoretically, the current generation should have IQs that are about 20 points higher than their grandparents. That explains why Rob had higher test scores that my wife and I, I suppose.
On the other hand, The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking indicates that the creative ability of American children has been trending downward over the last 20 years. This test examines a child’s ability to come up with original ideas and put them into practice. Call it a CQ, or, Creativity Quotient. Perhaps that explains why Rob couldn’t seem to figure out how to pack the luggage in the back of the truck.
The data seems to indicate that while Americans are growing smarter, they’re becoming less creative. IQ test scores are up while CQ test scores are down. The question I have for you now is: “How are our SQ test scores doing?” If IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient and CQ stands for Creativity Quotient…then SQ stands for Spiritual Quotient. It’s a term I thought I made up for this sermon, but when I looked it up, I found that there actually is such a thing. Yet the typical SQ test has little or nothing to do with Christianity. They advertize palm reading on those websites, for crying out loud.
Thus, allow me give you my own unsubstantiated theory. One’s Spiritual Quotient tends to be inversely proportional to one’s worldly savvy. In other words, the more one seems to be in tune with the ways of the world, the less one tends to be in tune with the ways of God.
I think a man named Graham Standish would agree with my theory. Graham Standish is an adjunct professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and is a contributing author to an organization called The Alban Institute. In a recent article addressing the decline of the mainline church, Standish wrote:
Many denominations, churches, pastors, and members have become mired in a series of worthless arguments in their attempts to diagnose why mainline denominations and churches are in decline. Too many in the mainline church think the problem has to do with theological position, style of worship or the availability of programs. So they say the decline is the result of churches being too liberal or too conservative, or the decline is due to our worship being too traditional. They say we don’t meet enough of people’s needs and we need to offer more programs.
Ladies and gentlemen, such conclusions are the result of burgeoning Intelligence Quotients and declining Spiritual Quotients. In other words, we truly believe we can figure things out for ourselves. Who needs God when we’re as smart as we are these days? Graham Standish calls this belief rational functionalism. What is rational functionalism? Rational functionalism is the belief that we can uncover all the mysteries of God and life through rational thought and disciplined investigation. Rational functionalism ignores the possibility of spiritual experiences and miraculous events. Rational functionalism actually has very little use for God. And therein lies the problem.
Consider Mary in the passage we read from the gospel according to Luke. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and says to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Then in verse 29, Luke adds, “She was much perplexed by his words…and pondered in her heart what sort of greeting this might be.” Perhaps a better description of Mary’s response would be this: “She was terrified beyond measure, and trembled at the sight of an angel in her room.”
In any case, the angel Gabriel describes what’s about to happen to her. She will conceive and bear a child, and that child will be called the Son of God. Not having a husband, Mary wonders how this will be. Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit of God will overshadow her. Then he even tells her how her kinswoman, Elizabeth, is about to bear a son as well. Gabriel concludes by saying, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” To which Mary then replies, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
Let it be with me according to your word. No more profound words have ever been spoken. I think of that famous line from Miracle on 34th Street: “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.” Mary simply says, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
Ladies and gentlemen, that’s my job in a nutshell. Every single sermon I preach is basically aimed at increasing faith. Every single sermon I preach is aimed at getting you to say to God, “Let it be with me according to your word.” It’s the exact opposite of rational functionalism. And it will greatly enhance your Spiritual Quotient.
You see, I don’t think faith in Jesus Christ is just meant to get us into heaven when we die. I truly believe that faith in Jesus Christ can solve all the world’s problems. How different the world would be if everyone loved their neighbors as they love themselves. How different the world would be if people would only say, “Let it be with me according to your word.” We should leave room for spiritual experiences. We should leave room for miracles. We should leave room for God to speak and move and act by way of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps the question now is, “How do we leave that room?” How do we leave room for God to speak and move and act? Abraham Heschel addresses that issue in his book, God in Search of Man. Listen to what he has to say:
To sense the presence of God, one must learn to be present to God. Presence is not a concept, but a situation. To understand love, it is not enough to read tales about it. One must be involved in love to understand love. One must be inspired to understand inspiration. Just as we cannot test thinking without thinking, we cannot sense holiness without being holy. Presence is not disclosed to those who are unattached.
“We cannot sense holiness without being holy,” and “Presence is not disclosed to those who are unattached.” Holiness and attachment: those seem like worthwhile goals for us, do they not? Perhaps the question now is, “How do we find them?”
That’s what we were attempting to do in the sermon series, The Seven Covenants of a Disciple of Jesus Christ. I began the first sermon by making the case that Christ’s Great Commission, as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, is the reason for the church’s existence in the first place. The church is called to make disciples. Yet it the church is ever going to make disciples, the people who habituate the church…must first become disciples themselves. That’s what the seven covenants of a disciple of Jesus Christ were all about.
The seven covenants of a disciple of Jesus Christ are as follows: worship regularly, pray daily, study diligently, live faithfully, serve joyously, give generously…and witness boldly. The first sermon delved a little more deeply into the first covenant: worship regularly. We said in essence that it was Jesus’ custom to worship, and it should be ours, as well. Yet we should come to worship expecting God to speak, to move, and to act. That’s what keeps our faith from being a mile wide and an inch deep.
Then we examined the second covenant: pray daily. There we saw that we are called to share our hurts, our sorrows, and our joys with God. God listens to us in compassion and love…much like we do when our children come to us. And when we do that what we discover is that by praying, we learn how to pray.
Then we examined the third covenant: study diligently. We learned that God is responsible for the Scriptures in a revelatory way, not just in an informational way. The Bible is how God reveals God’s self to us. It’s something we absolutely, positively never could have come up with on our own. What’s more, we learned that you’ve got to read the textbook if you’re going to take the course.
Then we examined the fourth covenant: live faithfully. We learned about orthopraxis, or, right practice. People tend to pass judgment on Christianity by the way they see Christians living their lives. It is absolutely imperative that we set a good example.
Then we examined the fifth covenant: serve joyously. We learned that God calls each of us to ministry. God calls each of us to an occupation or to a task that God believes we are uniquely qualified to do. Just don’t forget that how you serve is every bit as important as who you serve. Attitude is everything.
Then we examined the sixth covenant: give generously. We learned that it’s our responsibility to form the framework of a world that is the unique dwelling place of the Immortal God. Thus, Christians in important secular environments have a responsibility to see to it that what’s done with the goods of the world is done as God would have it done. We must never take that charge lightly.
Finally, we examined the seventh covenant: witness boldly. We learned that the first step to witnessing boldly is to stop complaining. Yet the fact of the matter is, we encounter situations all the time where we realize that if family, friends or neighbors just had a little faith in God, a lot of their problems would be resolved. We need to be bold enough to invite them to share in our own life of faith. We need to stop being so blasted afraid of rejection.
But there’s one more thing. The seven covenants of a disciple of Jesus Christ aren’t just about raising up disciples within the church in order to raise up disciples outside the church. The seven covenants will also aid you in your quest for holiness…and will necessarily draw you closer to God.
So you see, there is something in it for us. Are you feeling unbelievable stress in your job on a daily basis? Maybe it’s because you don’t have your priorities in order. The seven covenants could help. Do you feel an emptiness deep inside that you can’t quite put your finger on but that you know is very real? Maybe it’s because you’ve drifted away from God. The seven covenants could help. Do you feel as if your life has no meaning, and that you’re wandering around on this earth without purpose? Maybe it’s because you’ve lost sight of God. The seven covenants could help.
The seven covenants of a disciple of Jesus Christ have become the vision statement for the First Presbyterian Church of Meadville. But there’s something in it for you as well. Take them home with you. Post them in a highly visible place. Live them to the best of your ability. Then, like Mary before us, we just might find ourselves saying to God, “Let it be with me according to your word.” And suddenly…the world won’t seem like such a bad place after all. Amen.
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