"Jesus Taught Us How To Play The Game"


Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – January 13, 2013

Centenary United Methodist Church

Isaiah 43:1-7; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

 

    Our lesson opens this morning with John the Baptist’s preaching.   His listeners were so captivated by John’s message and the passion with which he delivered it that they thought he might be the Messiah foretold by the prophets.  John quickly dispelled such rumors and provided his listeners with a description of what they could expect from the Messiah when he does come.

    Eugene Peterson’s translation of this passage put John’s words into shirtsleeve English.

I am baptizing you here in the river.  The main character in this drama, to whom I am a mere stage hand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.  He is going to clean house – make a clean sweep of your lives.  He will place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he will put out with the trash to be burned.  (Luke 3:16-17)

    Peterson has an interesting way with words.  His translations in many cases help people to have a better understanding of what they are reading.  John’s words provided an accurate description of what Jesus brought into the world.  Jesus eventually did provide a clear path for people to follow by teaching them what is important in life and what could be discarded.

    Last week, we mentioned how Jesus described his purpose for being in ministry: “I came into this world for one purpose and that purpose was to speak about the truth.  (John 18:37)  John the Baptist described that truth in this manner: “He is going to clean house – make a clean sweep of your lives.  He will place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he will put out with the trash to be burned.”

    This morning we are going to discuss how this process works, particularly when a lot of people are not paying attention or they do not know what Jesus taught. When we were younger, we heard people say, “He’s just sowing his wild oats.  All young men do that.  They eventually do grow up.”  “She’s going through those late adolescent years when young girls’ lives are being driven by raging hormones.  She’ll be okay.”  Unless someone teaches young people the rules for living a wholesome life, they are not aware that their early choices often create the habits that govern the rest of their lives.  There are rules for life that produce fabulous results.

    Last year I was observing a group of women playing dominoes during one of our Ecumenical Teas.  When I noticed that a woman was stuck and could not play any of her tiles, I pointed out where she had several moves available to her. She looked up at me, smiled and said, “We are playing by different rules.”  Everyone at her table laughed.  They were having a wonderful time and no one really cared who won or lost.

    Many people are not aware of the rules of life when they begin playing increasingly more important roles that contribute to their future.  When they are surrounded by a loving environment and are reared in a home where love is abundantly present, they learn what is important and what is not. Love fashions our lives when we are busy with the process of growing up.

    One afternoon when our daughter came home from middle school, she decided to make chocolate chip cookies for the family.  She mixed together all the ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla, salt, and semisweet chips. When she pulled the first pan out of the oven, she asked me to look at her cookies.  Something was wrong.  The cookies looked like flat three inch ponds with floating brown icebergs.

    When I asked if she had followed the recipe, she said, “Not exactly.  The recipe called for baking soda and the only thing I could find in the cupboard was baking powder.”  We ate the cookies anyway.  She learned the importance of following the rules if she wanted a desired outcome.  

    John was telling his listeners that the Messiah would “ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within them, changing them from the inside out.”  Is that an accurate description of what happens to people?  You bet it is when we follow where our love and compassion take us. 

    The problem we have today is that people are no longer being exposed to the guidance that Jesus’ compass provides.  There was a time when faith informed our culture. Years ago, the church was one of the most important buildings in Bermuda’s various parishes. Most of the decision-makers in our government were church members.  Families always knew where they would be on Sunday mornings.  Today, that is not the case. What are people using for a compass?

    Each person, whether they believe so or not, is equipped with a spirit that needs to be nurtured and fed.  Jesus provided the path for generous, compassionate living. Our spirits help us to recognize beauty in nature, the compassionate attitudes of others, opportunities to explore, the wonder of developing our potential and the experience of confidence that comes from feeling the presence of God every step along our journey.  All behavior is symbolic of what is guiding us.

    Do we ever wonder why people are drawn to experiment with marijuana, cocaine, PCP and a host of other illegal substances?  Almost every morning in the Gazette, there is an article featuring someone who was arrested for having alcohol in their system that exceeds all acceptable limits. A recent study in the U.S. has revealed that 14 million women between the ages of 18 and 26 are engaging in binge drinking.  What does this behavior symbolize?

    One of my classmates from our college days spent some time with us some years ago.   He was so grateful for our hospitality that he gave us an ounce of something called, Acapulco Gold.  During those years, this was some of the most expensive marijuana on the market.  We accepted the gift because he was expressing his gratitude by giving us something that he valued. I must hasten to add that Lois and I have never experimented with any drugs. 

    I asked Bob why he smoked marijuana.  He said, “To escape for a while.  I use it to feel good, to be at peace, happy and carefree. Dick, if I could get away with it, I would get stoned everyday.  Life is painful for me and marijuana helps me to pull away from that pain even if it is only for a little while.” 

    Today, the symptoms are everywhere as people attempt to feed a hunger that they do not know they have.  People have lost sight of the path that helps them to navigate through life safely and confidently.  Ignorance of that path has created a Band-Aid approach to coping with life’s never ending issues that come up for all of us.

    Evangelists, however, are everywhere but they do not belong to The Body of Christ.   They are employed by pharmaceutical companies.  They claim to have the answer for every ailment and symptom that enters our bodies.   After listening to their gospel-like testimonies filled with promising images by attractive actors, we even hear the come to Jesus tag line, “Ask your doctor if our product is right for you.” 

    People take medications to sleep, to mask the pain in their joints, to stabilize their emotions, to pull themselves out of depression, to rid their bloodstream of harmful LDL cholesterol, to lose weight – the lists go on and on.  Where were all these diseases, syndromes and afflictions 50 years ago?   Many of these issues were once dealt with by skills of spirit.

    Our bodies are a print out of what is happening inside of us.  When our spirits experience life as an adventure filled with barriers that actually strengthen us when we overcome them, the chances are good that we are also happy and filled with gratitude.  We have learned the purpose of the challenging experiences we encounter.    

    John the Baptist said, “The one who is coming after me will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.  He will place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he will put out with the trash to be burned.”

    What Jesus brought was a path for living that offers creative guidance for every man, woman and child on earth.  Those who discover that compass and follow it, climb the highest mountain peaks, achieve the greatest satisfaction with life, continue their evolution of spirit and learn that barriers in their path can be cast into the sea.  

    Those that choose to follow that path have learned that anger can be replaced with patience and peace.  Blaming others for unhappiness can be replaced by the acceptance of circumstances over which we have little control.  Inconsolable grieving over losses can be overcome by letter go and trusting God for the outcome of all things.  We have been taught never to allow anything in the material world to gain control over the quality of our thoughts, emotions and spirit.  If Jesus could face a cross, we certainly can successfully face the challenges that confront us.  

    The people that ignore the spiritual realities that govern life or that never learned that such realities exist, cannot prevent the consequences of their ignorance from impacting their lives.  It is no wonder why medication has filled the vacuum caused by people that feel there is no other place to turn. A pill to lose weight appears to be a much better solution than taking responsibility for what and how much people eat.

    One day a very handsome young man came to my office with a woman whom he had met at a bar.  They wanted me to do their wedding ceremony.  Their story was interesting.  He was an electrician that owned his own company.  He had six trucks and crews in the field.  He was wealthy and confessed to being a playboy that had been intimate with over one hundred women.  And, yes, he kept the count.  He had everything that a number of young, wealthy singles dream of having including a yacht and several homes in beach communities. 

    He dropped a verbal bomb during our meeting.  He had been near the point of taking his own life because he felt empty and alone. He began revealing the fears in his inner world to the woman who was tending the bar.  Interestingly enough, she was a Christian who found that talking to people from behind the bar became a perfect mission field.  Countless men flirted with her and tried to pick her up.  However, she had the ability to listen to their needs and send them back to their wives and children by assuring them that there is no greener pasture better than what they already have.  

    During our meeting Mike said,

Susan gave me back my life by teaching me how to experience and express love. I had never had that.  I was always seeking gratification.  My life was always about me. My new responses have healed me. I never knew who I was until Susan introduced me to the guy that lived inside my body.

    During the process of putting him on the path Jesus’ taught, Susan realized that she had fallen in love with the new Mike.

    Regardless of what anyone personally believes, life is a required spiritual journey for all human beings.   The fact that we have free will does not give us the right to choose the curriculum.   We will either learn the rules of living through joy and gratitude or we will learn those rules through pain and suffering. We will either embrace life as it comes or we will constantly try to escape from being victimized by it.   

    Those who use the compass Jesus provided will know joy and peace.  Those that never had the compass will take a little longer until they learn that everything they needed to experience a remarkable life was already inside of them since birth.   We Christians are blessed that we know this and we are blessed to be a sent people to “Go into all the world and make disciples.”  This is who we are and this is what disciples do.