|
“If
We Had One Gift To Give…” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – July 3,
2016 Centenary United Methodist Church
Psalm 103:1-14; Luke 10:25-37
A week ago, our son told me of an experience he had at a local
Honda dealership where we had taken our lawn mower for a tune up. The
technician took time to explain everything that he had done to repair
the mower. In the midst of
his explanation, the mechanic's phone rang at his work station.
He ignored it.
Finally, he helped Steve load the mower into his car.
As Steve was driving home, he realized the power of kindness in
building customer loyalty. The title of my message this morning is an issue that is well
worth considering more often than we do.
If we had one talent, one
attribute, one skill of spirit that we could develop that would
infinitely improve the world for those around us, what would that be?
Most likely, the answer would surface if we looked no further
than following the Golden Rule.
We should treat everyone the way we would like to be treated.
This is so simple, yet the
lesson is missed by most people. We
are always impressed by someone's kindness and thoughtfulness even if we
do not know the person very well. The front page of last Tuesday's
Royal Gazette had the banner
headline, "Thank You, Bermuda!"
The story supporting those words came from sailors who recently
experienced a life and death drama at sea.
A Chinese fishing boat experienced a fuel explosion.
The entire boat instantly became engulfed in flames.
Everyone threw themselves overboard from where they stood in the
boat. There was no time to
send a distress call or put on a life jacket. Try to imagine being in the ocean, your boat is sending up black,
fuel-fed plumes of smoke as it is sinking and no one knows that you are
in trouble. The dozen or so men
were in the water for hours.
A passing container ship happened to notice the smoke and
eventually came across the bobbing heads of survivors.
An immediate rescue was initiated.
None of them had heard of the island of Bermuda but what they
discovered had to remind them of all the magical images of Shangri-La,
that legendary place located in the Chinese Kun Lun mountains. The men
were greeted with kindness of every sort, e.g., a place to stay where
food, clothing and other essentials were readily available.
Our government stepped up to help secure their passports that had
gone down with their vessel. Dozens of Good Samaritans
came in the form of students from BHS, restaurants, the Salvation Army
and numerous other groups.
Kindness became the universal
language that is understood by most people that experience it. Ironically, The Good
Samaritan is our Scripture lesson for this morning. All the defining
images of kindness in Jesus' parable were part of the story of the
rescued Chinese sailors.
What inspired this parable was a question from a teacher of the Hebrew
Law, "What must I do to receive eternal life?"
(Luke 10:25-37) In response, Jesus told the story of a dying man who had been
badly beaten by robbers.
Two religious men walked past the wounded man without the slightest
impulse to render assistance.
Finally, a Samaritan stopped and became generous in his
compassion. Jesus asked the teacher, "Who among the three became
a neighbor to the wounded
man? The teacher answered, "The one who was kind to him."
Jesus responded, "You will find what you are seeking by going
into the world and doing the same to everyone you meet."
(Luke 10:36f) This parable sends a very powerful message that is supported by
numerous other teachings of Jesus.
His words made the claim that few other beliefs matter when our
spirits give away expressions of kindness on a daily basis.
Sincere and authentic kindness rids our spirits of thoughts and
emotions that serve no creative purpose.
Throughout my ministry, I have thought how different our Sunday
school experience would have been for children had they been taught
character skills, qualities of spirit, attitudes toward others, and
maintaining self-control. (Galatians
5:22) A lot of time was spent teaching children about Noah and the
flood, Daniel in the Lion's Den, Joseph being sold as a slave, Moses
telling Pharaoh to "Let God's people go," the Parables of Jesus, and the
meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection. If we would have trained children in the art of being kind, we
would have taught them how to keep their energy flowing in the direction
of accepting others just as they are, of encouraging others and of
refusing to argue because of a need to be right.
Kindness would have taught them how to support others as each of
them makes their own way in life.
Jesus may have been
teaching that eternity is a continuation of our energy flow. Our
exposure to this knowledge was a lot like what we learned before we
joined church at the age of twelve.
It was a lot of information for which many of us have little
use. As we were maturing into adulthood, would we ever use all these
theological beliefs and stories of Methodist history to guide our lives?
As a preacher's son, I could have cared less. For me it was like
taking classes entitled Boring
101 & 102. Nothing appeared
applicable to where I was in life. Think about this:
Contrast what you have learned
about your faith from teachers with
the results that come from being
kind to others at each opportunity to do so.
It should not surprise us why living by
the Golden Rule is also
included in the teachings of each of the world's great religions. For a number of years, our family vacationed in Arizona where
Lois' parents spent the winter months. We encountered many seniors that
had shoe boxes filled with bottles of vitamin and mineral supplements
and prescription medications for regulating
blood pressure, cholesterol, arthritis and a host of maladies we
associate with the aging process. We were probably looking at hundreds
of dollars worth of bottled
promises. In those days, we learned that seniors had come to realize that
they were closing in on their final sunset years.
They were trying to squeeze out of life as many new days as they
could get. The process of
aging was possibly creating the same anxieties that caused the teacher
of the Law to ask, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Many seniors had become disciples of over-the-counter
life-extenders. Lois and I heard discussions about controlling our
intake of carbohydrates, watching our sugar levels and exercising every
day. We
were also surrounded with magazines filled with the latest health tips
about green tea, garlic and esoteric herbs grown in China, India and
Tibet. One Sunday we went to brunch after church at a place called The
Old Country Buffet.
After hearing all this talk about how supplements, exercise and eating
sensibly would grant us a healthy
extension of life, this all-you-can-eat restaurant setting is where
the rubber hits the road.
The freshly baked sticky buns and cinnamon rolls filled the air with aromas that would shatter the dining disciplines of even the most resolute disciples of healthy eating habits. The line of senior patrons seeking to enter the restaurant, eager to eat their weight in food, extended into the parking lot. We watched as the staff of the restaurant began transitioning
from brunch to the dinner menu. The Eggs Benedict, Belgian
waffles, French toast, sausage and bacon surrendered to sliced ham,
prime rib, home-style fried chicken, real mashed potatoes and gravy.
In checking with the waitress, we learned that customers could literally
stay at their table all day without paying another cent. Needless
to say, we left the restaurant in the early afternoon feeling like we
needed to check into any available Intensive Care Unit.
How quickly we discovered that
learning all kinds of information about the health of our bodies had
little value if we could not apply it during our more vulnerable
moments. If
there was only one gift that we could give to the world, what would we
give? Is it possible that
kindness would fit neatly into every circumstance? When the teacher of the Law asked, "What must I do to receive
eternal life?" Jesus said, Theologians through the ages have delivered a completely
different message to Christians.
It is a message that has divided us from other people. Christians
have been taught what Jesus did for us when he died on the cross for
our sins. Further, we
were taught that this belief was essential for our salvation.
Jesus never taught this.
When
we look at, listen to and feel what is happening in the world today, the
one ingredient that appears to be missing from the parade of current
events is what we have been discussing this morning -- extending
kindness toward one another.
It should not matter how other
people behave. Other people
will always have their own agendas.
They are marching to the drumbeat of another drummer. What we need to advertise is how kindness fuels the direction of our lives. Kindness is what the world needs to see, hear and feel. Let us all try living this way for one week. You may become so happy that you ask yourself why has it taken so long for me to discover the magic of kindness. When extended, kindness heals both the giver and the receiver. |