"Detours Are Not Always Necessary"

Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – September 23, 2012

Centenary United Methodist Church\

Psalm 1; James 3:1-12

    One of the marvels of being alive in the 21st century is that we have at our disposal countless conveniences that our parents and grandparents never dreamed would be possible.  For example, when people traveled anywhere in the world during an earlier time, they relied on road maps to find the best way to their desired destination.  Most gasoline stations carried a rack full of them.

    I can remember my dad unfolding one of these maps that opened like a small accordion.  He was not the most patient person when it came to folding them up again.  Once I remember him throwing an open road map to us kids in the back seat and saying, “See if you can fold the blame thing while I drive.”

    Today, we have very sophisticated GPS devices that are being installed in new cars. Those letters stand for Global Positioning System.  Who would have thought that one day we would have a device to help us navigate by orbiting satellites?  

    However, while they are precise within three feet of our location, they are not always accurate in the directions they provide.  Once, my device guided me incorrectly on a street in Washington, D. C. because it had not been programmed that at a certain time in the afternoon, some streets become one-way. When I turned, I was facing three lanes of traffic coming at me. 

    If we do not have such a device, we can log on to Google Maps that allow drivers to see all the roads and some landmarks that can offer guidance.  When I am driving in Bermuda, I often count the number of roads before my turn because as you know, the names of the streets are always posted on the wrong side of the road from the direction we are driving.  Even people who were born in Bermuda miss their turns occasionally.

    However, even with remarkable ways of getting directions to our destination, it is not always easy to find our way because of countless distractions.  We encounter everything from insufficient signage to very complicated road conditions.  

    Lois and I were headed for a big box store called Price Rite located in one of Bermuda’s jam-packed industrial sites.  Since we had never been there, finding it was quite an adventure.  The road is in terrible condition, there were a number of forks in the road and confusing store fronts on the right.  We also encountered a container truck that scared us to death.  It took up the entire road. When we finally arrived, we found eight parking slots in front of the store. The store was filled with everything anyone could want but getting to it took a lot of concentration. 

    With this rather lengthy introduction to my message, I want to talk about the guidance for our spiritual journey provided by the author of James. The author skillfully provided his readers with a unique verbal portrait of how to navigate through the maze we call life.  He said this: 

Those of you that are wise in your understanding of life can make visible the values you have discovered by sharing them in a spirit of humility.  This wisdom comes from God so it is pure.  You will not get lost.  Your shared wisdom will be peaceful, gentle and friendly. It will remain full of compassion and your good deeds will produce remarkable results.  You will be free from distractions and hypocrisy.  You will change the direction of countless lives because of the seeds you plant in peace.  (James 3:13, 17-18)

    What James is giving us is a map toward a very particular destination, one maintaining our peace while being surrounded by every distraction and detour imaginable. The question we need to ask ourselves is why is it so difficult for us to follow these rather distinct directions filled with attitude-landmarks?  We do not have to take all the detours that life offers us even though many of them appear very attractive and enticing.

    Last week’s message was about the words we select when we communicate. Words are nothing but verbal symbols.  However, they often reveal what is happening inside of us.  When we are at peace in spite of what is happening in our personal world, our words will reveal that peace.  This is what James’ road map is teaching us. 

    Our destination is not Heaven as many of us might assume.  Such an idea makes Heaven look like a parcel of real estate.  The idea of Heaven can also communicate a belief in a unique destination.  Yet, it is neither a place nor a destination.  Jesus demonstrated that living in The Kingdom of God transforms the state of our inner world, a process latter described in Paul’s letter to the Romans.  (Romans 12:2f)   When our spirits are directed by love, when our life’s energies are always flowing away from us, we are always bringing change to our circumstances as we evolve as spirit-beings.

    One of the observations many of us have made throughout our lives is that people of all levels of society and education appear to have been born pre-wired with very specific talents and predispositions.  

    I recall a young boy in our son’s kindergarten class named Theodore Jennifer.  His name stayed with me because I saw what he could do.  During a PTA meeting, all the children had their art work display.  We saw everything from stick figures to drawings that were typical of that age group.

    Then there were Theodore’s drawings.  His horses were impeccable.  He added perspective and shading to his casual work astounding the teaching staff.  The young man never knew he had a gift.  He assumed everyone could create on paper what was in their imagination. He had never had an art lesson in his life.  This was a natural talent on display.

    Many times we find one or two talents and pursue them later in life as we make our living.  Some of them we stumble on by accident because of an interest we have. We feel naturally drawn to some interest whether in business, in the skills necessary for the construction of buildings, or in one of the numerous helping professions. When people develop their abilities in the direction of an interest they have, success is not far away.

    However, there are numerous pitfalls to the journey. We find it curious the number of extremely talented people that have become alcoholics, drug addicts, or that fall victim to greed, or that abandoned their sound business plans and take high percentage risks appeasing their competitive nature.  Life can easily become very complicated for them because of all the forks in the road, the detours and the handsome, attractive distractions that appear on both sides of their path. 

    The writer of James was describing how to avoid such pitfalls when people pursue their interest by superimposing on their interest a guidance system driven by their inner world where loving responses are in charge.

    A grade school girl decided one summer to set up a lemonade stand.  She found the right location and paid her friends a dollar per day to wait on customers.  She was skilled at marketing.  She gave samples away before charging 50-cents a glass.  For an additional 50-cents, people could buy a homemade cookie.  She was flooded with clients because she used real lemons and natural ingredients. Everyone in her community was supporting her.  Her products satisfied the thirst and hunger of countless people that needed relief from their yard work.

    When people went on holiday, they invited her to water their plants both indoors and outdoors. She was asked to feed their pets.  When she faced new clients, she would show up with a clipboard and take careful notes on how much water and when to water.  She noted the time when pets were to be fed and the quantity of food they were to be given.  She had natural organizational skills. 

    When she graduated from college, she and a group of friends from her church traveled to a rural part of Brazil to work on a mission project.  She went to a place that was called The Dump and to her chagrin, she found entire families scavenging through the debris in order to survive.  They were searching for anything they could salvage and sell.  They were collecting stale bread and other food items that the more affluent families had discarded. This image made an indelible impression.  

    She took pictures and when she returned she asked her father for a listing of all the business associates he knew.  She invited all of them to celebrate her father’s birthday and most of them were available and they came. She said, “I invited all of you here for a secondary reason.  She told her story in 15 minutes along with a powerful slide presentation that she had put together herself.  Her natural organization abilities were being guided by her loving responses.

    She said, “I am going back there to build a clinic for these people and I want your help.”  When her dad’s network of birthday guests got working on her project, she had T.V. coverage, articles in the Washington Post and more than enough financial resources to get started. 

    Some of the business people had contacts in Brazil -- people knew well what was happening at The Dump.  Her dream became a reality.  Her compound became a hub for Doctors Without Borders.  Several major pharmaceutical companies sent monthly shipments of free medications.  The Agency for International Development in the U.S. created a modest food distribution center there.  Jesus once said, “You will be able to order this mountain to be cast into the sea and it will be done.”  Perhaps we now can understand the reality of which he spoke.  

    We may think that these are sensational stories that happen for only a few, but that is not true.  The problem with societies the world over is that they feed themselves with a steady diet of murders, car-bombings, angry mobs burning flags, politicians stretching the truth, and the elderly being scammed by people wanting their life-savings.  The menu of such events is quite extensive.  These issues capture our attention and overshadow the efforts of people who are following the guidance provided by James.

    James was describing what it is like to live in Heaven without leaving the earth.  He gave us a road map when he wrote:

Your shared wisdom will be peaceful, gentle and friendly. It will remain full of compassion and your good deeds will produce remarkable results.  You will be free from distractions and hypocrisy.  You will change the direction of many lives because of the seeds you plant in peace.  (James 3:17-18)

    Most of us know what happens so often among many young actors, actresses, musicians and professional athletes who become instant multi-millionaires. They have everything the physical world offers but remain unaware of the navigational system that James had condensed into a few simple words. 

    In fact, such instant celebrities may not be aware that their spirits drive every decision and response in their lives.  Left alone, their ability to serve and love can be overshadowed by the detours caused by their perception that life is all about them because now they have arrived on the world’s stage.  Now, they have become a household name!  Mastering the art of living, however, has to do with the quality of our thoughts and emotions when our energy is flowing away from us. 

    James offered a verbal compass that provides guidance applicable for each individual’s inner world.  When that guidance system is operating with efficiency, people will navigate through their outer world with a peaceful spirit that is filled with thanksgiving.  We can live in a chaotic world and still enjoy the beauty and peace that God intended us to experience while sowing our seeds in the gardens of others.