"Our Hope In The BIG PICTURE"


Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – December 1, 2013

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 122; Isaiah 2:1-5

 

    Each Advent season I try to focus my messages around the themes represented by each Advent candle.  This morning, our first lighted candle symbolizes Hope. We often use the word hope to describe some possibility that we want to happen.  We say things like, “I hope that your family will have a wonderful 2014!”  “I hope that soon the medical community will find a cure for cancer.”   “I hope that our economy will improve.”

    It is very easy for us to grow discouraged when what we hope for does not occur.  However, our hope has to be much larger than looking forward to the fulfillment of some dream.  A more meaningful description of hope is our having total confidence that God’s creation is unfolding as it was designed to do.  In other words, we trust the BIG PICTURE of creation that began 14 billion years ago.

    Life will always provide each of us with a number of moments that evoke uncertainty. However, understanding the BIG PICTURE can help us get through them.  There have been scores of people during my ministry that had a grasp of the BIG PICTURE.  Each of them had bypassed getting stuck by holding on to something they could not change.

    I once visited a parishioner that had just delivered a baby girl whose spirit left her young body as soon as she was born.  The woman surprised me with her response.  She said, “Dick, the only way I can get through this is to understanding that Sarah’s spirit tried to enter our lives through her new vehicle that she discovered was incapable of being driven out of the showroom.”  She was not being flip or cavalier when she said this.  It came from her understanding of life where not everything we hope for happens. 

    This was her way of dealing with something over which she had no control. She did not overly analyze the event or seek to blame anyone. In fact, she let go of it almost as soon as she left the hospital.  The 12th century poet Rumi said, “Do not grieve over what did not happen.  The outcome wished for could have created a path of sustained sadness and despair.” 

    Another example also came from one of my parishioners.  His company downsized and had eliminated his division from their core business.  Mike was out of work for eight months.  He did not become trapped by feelings that another job would be impossible to find.

    I was returning from the post office one afternoon when the two of us met. I asked him how he was doing.  He said, “Great!  This break has given me a lot of time to find the right environment where I can hang my hat.  So far, I haven’t found anything I liked.  Searching for the right place has been fun and very enlightening.  I have learned not to settle for a job just because of the size of the paycheck but because I know this is something that I will really enjoy doing.”  I must hasten to add that Mike had invested half his salary for eight years so he had no immediate financial concerns.

    In our lesson today, Isaiah knew that he had a vision of a day that he would never live to see.  His understanding was grounded in the fact that nothing can prevent God’s will from unfolding.  He had a vision that sustained that hope.  Israel would face many trials, tribulations and thoughts of being abandoned, but the prophet knew that one day the differences between enemies would be settled.  Swords and spears would be transformed into more useful instruments.  (Isaiah 2:4)

    Think of what has happened in more recent years.  How many of us that lived through World War II ever thought that one day we would be driving Mitsubishi and Toyota cars or driving BMWs, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen cars?  The governments of Japan and Germany wanted to control the nations of Europe and the Americas.   Now, we are trading partners. 

    When Jesus began preaching, he also had knowledge of the BIG PICTURE.  The population of the world would come and go for twenty centuries before people would begin in earnest to internalize his thoughts. His message of “love your neighbor” has not found a home in everyone, but like a seed that needs time to germinate, it is happening. 

    Today, very different cultures are hurtling toward each other with increased acceleration and the result of this giant mixing bowl is beyond human control. With trade, the Internet and cell phones with language applications, communication with the world’s population is instantaneous.  For those of us who are people watchers, this process is the greatest show on earth.  It is exciting to watch what is happening right before our eyes.

    Wealthy Chinese and Russians are buying properties in Canada and the United States at record levels.  When couples fall in love, age, skin color and ethnicity are no longer barriers to marriage.  Societies have begun to circle their wagons in zero tolerance of those who verbally insult people that were once marginalized because of their ethnicity.  There is more work that needs to be done in these areas, but today fewer people are winking at racial and sexual slurs.

    This incremental growth of the Kingdom consciousness is what Jesus was describing when he said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like this:  A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the entire batch of dough rises.” (Matthew 13:33)  Jesus also described this same growth pattern when he used the germination of a tiny mustard seed. (Mark 3:31f)  The BIG PICTURE is dawning from the smallest acts of kindness and compassion.        

    We live in a time where religious worship services are dwindling in popularity.  Churches are fading from the landscape as religious practices increasingly appear irrelevant to the minds of the younger generations.  While religious authorities worry about this, think again about the impact of a small packet of yeast that causes an entire batch of dough to rise.

    Nations that were once at war with each other have become allies that respond immediately when rogue nations threaten countries that cannot defend themselves. Just recently, former enemies joined forces to come to the aid of the Philippines after a category 5 hurricane destroyed countless lives and property.   We have learned that there is only one way to live.  Compassionate life-styles have been increasing with each new generation.

    Critics of this line of thinking may say, “Yes, but people will forget who Jesus was and is.  At a risk of sounding heretical, does this really matter?  Many Christians believe that our mission is to enable others to make Jesus central in their lives.  What does this mean beyond personalizing what he taught by living it?  Jesus told his followers, “Go make disciples” and that is still happening.   

    More and more people world-wide have found the value of living what Jesus taught even though the knowledge of its source may remain obscure or even unknown.  If people think this interpretation is heresy, they are missing the symbolism of the yeast becoming lost in the dough.  They could also be missing the unfolding of God’s will in a way they did not foresee or anticipate.

    The Kingdom of God is about compassionate attitudes and serving one another. Nations that are trading partners are serving one another.  The companies that are paving Bermuda’s roads are serving one another.  The people that pick up trash twice a week are serving one another.  Just because we do not celebrate these occurrences in our churches does not dilute the impact Jesus’ message is still having all over the world. This is the hope that we are celebrating.

    If there was ever a time to be hopeful, it is right now.   In most areas of our society major changes in human consciousness continue to take place.  There is little that will turn back the clock on the gains that have been made in countless areas of human endeavor. We clearly see this from medicine to a more refined understanding of our role in developing a world community.   

    In the United States, for example, there was a time when the white man slaughtered herds of buffalo for sport allowing the bodies of these animals to decay.  This was the sacred animal of the Native Americans.  The buffalo were almost extinct. People have awakened to the value of other life forms.   Today, there are more buffalo roaming the plains than at any other time in history.

    David Wingate has devoted his life to protecting our national bird, the cahow.  These birds were once thought to be extinct but David almost singlehandedly has brought them back.  He once commented, “If you are going to play God, you have to put in the hours that God does.”

    There is no question that manipulative, irresponsible and violent personalities are still among us; but the only place they are growing is in media headlines.  People will learn either through joy or pain that there is only one way to live that consistently works.  If they do not, they will be left behind spiritually, emotionally and economically by those who understand that compassionate attitudes and behavior are the fundamental building blocks that will cause life to thrive in the future.  We have to remember that there are over seven billion people in the world, of which the ignorant and the uninformed make up a miniscule minority. 

    No matter how difficult life is for us, human consciousness is moving toward the brighter day that the prophetic visionaries knew would come.  God created us with only one way to live that will work consistently in every culture.  That one way is to serve one another in everything that we do.  The Candle of this Hope lights the way to our world’s future.