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"Life's Best Medication" Sermon Preached By Rev. Richard E. Stetler - September 15, 2002 Exodus 14:19-31; Matthew 18:21-35
Like any
wound, the process of healing started the moment the terrorists had
completed their assignments. The subsurface tissue of our nation
began to regenerate as rescue vehicles carried their precious cargo
to the emergency rooms of every hospital for miles. Cranes, dump
trucks, engineers and contractors moved in as the next layer of
tissue began to heal. Communities gathered around those who had
lost loved ones, money poured in for support, college education
funds were established and support groups everywhere sprang to
life. The
stories of average people have never been told to the extent that
they were last Wednesday. If there was ever any question about the
identity of this country, it should not be in doubt any longer.
America needed to have a day when our ears and eyes could be washed
out by stories illustrating who we are. We needed to experience all
of it because so many of us become saturated by news events that
are more suitable for those who thrive on tabloid sensationalism. Be not
mistaken, we have a lot of faults. No one questions that we make a
lot of errors in our judgment. For one day, however, the people
responsible for what we see and hear in our news portrayed the image
of America accurately and balanced. This
morning I would like to talk about one of the contributing factors
that hastened the healing of our country's psyche. The element that
has enhanced the mending of our soul is disguised like the leaven
for the loaf. It is an ingredient that would not be recognized by
everyone. As we look at this vital quality that promotes healing,
we will see that what has helped America to get back on her feet can
also focus our lives on what is vital to our personal mental,
physical and spiritual health. What I am about to describe is
life's best medicine for everything that hurts. One day Peter came to Jesus and said, "Master, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Should I do it seven times?" "No, not seven times," Jesus answered, "but seventy times seven because this is the way it is in the Kingdom of heaven." Countless
people understand Jesus' teaching as passive, as an attitude that lacks
courage. Forgiveness can easily be interpreted as someone saying, "You
have brought tragedy into my life. Yes, I was hurt; in fact, I was
devastated. But, I forgive you." Statements like this appear to
communicate that the other person is being relieved of the
responsibility for what they have done. By simply "turning the other
cheek," the perpetrators of "anti-life behavior" may possibly go on to
replicate their crimes against humanity again and again. The truth is
that such people will remain unchanged until the day they choose to live
differently. Healing never starts with the bee that stings. When the
honey bee leaves part of its anatomy in its perceived enemy, it dies.
Nothing will ever change this outcome. Forgiveness is the best
medication for the one who was stung. This is how our nation is
healing. This is how we heal. When
understood, forgiveness causes us to shift our focus from the hurt to
getting up, moving on, and coming to the aid of others who were also
knocked down. Forgiveness is the way we have been wired by our
Creator whether we believe in it or not. We always find life far more
rewarding when we cooperate with how we were designed. Any other
behavior will have us swimming against the current that flows through
us. It is
absolutely pointless for any of us to allow someone's callous disregard
for human life to bring us to their level of response. Jesus taught and
demonstrated a new understanding while hanging on a cross. When asked
about forgiveness, Jesus said, "Not seven times, but seventy times seven
because this is the way it is in the Kingdom of heaven."
What we saw
last Wednesday was testimony after testimony of how Americans have
lifted their focus from revenge to caring for each other. This response
was given immediately. We are the ones who have to heal. The people who
continue to make visible their anti-life doctrines will eventually learn
that what they sow, they will one day reap.
Regardless of what the terrorists believe, no human being can awaken
every morning proud of themselves for murdering innocent people.
That is not the way God made us. Such people may act jubilantly in
public as they defiantly wave their weapons, but it is when they are
alone that their nightmares will come. None of us ever escapes who
we are. This is why divine justice is so exact. When we cannot let
go of something, it controls us. Eventually it will create in us
someone we were never designed to be. About ten
years ago, there were a number of churches in the south that were
deliberately destroyed by arsonists. The practice was so wide spread
that Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company dropped their coverage of church
buildings. Our church at Capitol Hill was one of them. We had to find a
new insurance carrier. In the
aftermath of the fires, many of the congregations gathered in the ruins
of their churches to celebrate that no one had been hurt. Each vowed
that, with God's help, they would build again. And they did. Nothing
would be gained by staring at the ashes and nursing bitterness over who
had done this. Holding on to resentment would not reverse what
happened. They immediately mobilized themselves to build again. This
is who we are. This is how God created us. Healing always begins from
the inside and moves outward. One of the
arsonists was caught by the police. His story is so typical of what
happens when people cannot let go of hurt. By nurturing his personal
resentment, he did something he would never have done the year before.
The sad
saga began immediately following the death of the arsonist's father. The
minister who conducted the memorial service preached about Hell and
damnation. His words condemned the deceased man for his decadent
life-style and then launched into a message designed "to save" those who
still had time "to accept Christ." Believe it or not, there are a lot
of pastors out there who still exploit people during their most
vulnerable moments to "win souls" through the use of fear. The
deceased man's son left that service enraged that the minister had dared
to judge the character of his father. He spent weeks thinking about how
he could strike back. He took his cues from the headlines that mentioned
churches being burned throughout the South. Figuring he could get even
while shifting blame to other arsonists, he retaliated against that
minister with a match. He talked
openly about his bitterness to friends and expressed joy over the
destruction of the church. It was one of those listeners who provided
the police with a suspect who had "probable cause." A search of his
residence led officers to evidence that connected him to the crime. Long
before the judge sentenced him, he had been living in a prison of his
own design. When Jesus
said, "Forgive seventy times seven, because this is the way it is in the
Kingdom of heaven," what must such an environment be like? Jesus was so
secure with himself and with his relationship with God that absolutely
no one could prevent him from living in heaven while still in his
physical form.
He invited
us to follow him. Consider his circumstances and then ask yourself,
"Could I follow him?" One of his chosen followers betrayed him with a
kiss. His best friends abandoned him after his arrest. The disciple
upon whom he said he would build his church denied him three times.
There may have been moments when he experienced the absence of God, but
his love for those who could not see never wavered. Jesus could say,
"because this is the way it is in the Kingdom of heaven" because he
lived there every day. Can we follow him? Dr. Herbert
Miller tells of a painful episode with his daughter. Dr. Miller is a
psychiatrist. He faced a challenge when his daughter began dating a
person completely alien to her value system. The young man radiated a
toxic, rebellious behavior. He was developing habits that would lead to
ill-health and expensive addictions. He was rude, had no tolerance for
differing opinions and had an explosive temperament toward authority
figures. Dr. Miller
took a long walk with his daughter and tried to share his insights about
her choice of boyfriends. In spite of his skill in communicating, all
she heard was his disapproval. She said, Dad, I am 18. I am no longer your little girl. I appreciate your concern but I cannot allow you to tell me what I should do with my life. You know better than anyone else that it doesn't work that way. This is my life and when I want your advice, I will come to you and ask for it. The things you tell your clients -- save it for them. I don't need it. From now on, the subject of my relationship with Jimmy is not something that I want to discuss. Have I made myself clear? He said,
"Perfectly." He knew she was right. He agonized nevertheless. Dr.
Miller and his wife had reared her well. She was confident,
self-assertive and she knew how to go after what she wanted. What she
lacked was experience with her heart when it came to men whose fragile,
insecure nature made her feel vitally alive and needed. She was in love
with being needed for the first time in her life. Dr. Miller wrote, "My abilities were worthless when I tried to use them on someone who was not seeking what I have to offer. My sense of inadequacy was overwhelming when the person I could not help was my own daughter. I found myself empathizing with God who knows our every need, but if we do not come seeking, there is little that even the creator of the universe can do but wait. That is what I did." About six
months after their discussion, Jimmy was killed attempting to rob a
liquor store. In searching his apartment, the police found drugs and
pornography. Alecia was devastated. So much had focused for her within
a very short time. She ran to her father who had been waiting eagerly
with the love he had never stopped giving her. His arms were wide. All
she said was, "Oh Daddy!". He held her while she cried and cried.
Healing started immediately. Having a
forgiving spirit always allows others to be who they are, even when
staying there is painful. Dr. Miller illustrated that. Other people
must find their way when they are ready to understand. We were created
in God's image. When we learn that our form of justice will not work,
God waits for us with a better idea. Dr. Miller wrote that these
moments with his daughter caused him to age both physically and
spiritually. When the episode was behind them, he grew younger and
wiser. This past
week we have seen the best side of America through the experiences of
our own people. What we have seen in them, we also have within
ourselves. We have to remember to use these qualities everyday. This
is who we are. We only change this identity when we allow others to
convince us that we are someone else.
Remember
Jesus said, "No not seven times, but seventy times seven, because this
is the way it is in the Kingdom of heaven." Jesus would not have
taught forgiveness if living this way is impossible to achieve.
When we experience forgiveness every moment, we will be taking life's
best medicine. We can expect healing, happiness and health for the rest
of our lives. Who of us would want anything less? THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER We thank you, O God, for your mercy and
patience. We cannot live a day without experiencing the limitations of
our faith. We have flashes of thoughtfulness alongside moments of
insensitivity. We become excited over the areas of our growth, while
knowing how polarized we can become over the tyranny of little things.
We enjoy celebrating our faith when life blesses us, while masking the
moments when we are lonely, frustrated or hurt. Lead us to understand
that we crawl, walk and then run. Enable us to remain patient with
ourselves. Help us remember that you are not yet finished with us. It
is in our trusting you that hindsight blesses us with understanding. It
is in our forgiving that we are set free. Thank you, Lord, for blessing
us with such abilities. Amen. THE PASTORAL PRAYER Loving God, we thank
that as we find ourselves reaching toward you, we always find you
reaching back to us. Maybe your presence comes in a particular hymn
that we sing, a hymn that brings back memories we had almost forgotten.
Perhaps you come to us in the words of an anthem, a prayer, a sermon, or
thoughts that enter our minds from a place we know not. Jesus gave us the
imagery of the vine and the branches. He told us that the branches only
remained nourished when they remain connected to the vine. Even though
we may find numerous reasons to go about life without you, we thank you
that we are here. Enable us this week,
O God, to consider one task that will become our sole responsibility as
we go about our living among others. This week, help us to remove the
sting from some judgment we have been carrying. This week, enable us to
surrender into your care some ancient hurt that has been molding and
shaping us ever since it happened. This week, may we instantly forgive
those who have not learned how to care, how to communicate well, or how
to enjoy anything. This week, may we learn to give greater depth to what
it means to be a friend. And at the end of this week, may we quietly
vow to live this way for one more week. We pray these thoughts through
the spirit of Jesus, who taught us to say when we pray . . .
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