Let the Artist Keep Painting”


Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – June 26, 2016

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; Luke 9:51-56

    Our first lesson today was from the book of Psalms.  Listen again to the plea of the psalmist in the first two verses:  "I cry aloud to God; I cry aloud, and he hears me.  In times of trouble I pray to the Lord; all night long I lift my hands in prayer, but I cannot find comfort." 

    One of the most common temptations that comes to countless people is to seek reassurance when life takes them into uncharted water.  What causes us to choose unproductive responses that produce worry, anxiety and stress, particularly when we call ourselves, "people of faith?"  The psalmist wanted God to remove the emotional response that the author, himself, had chosen.

    The miracle for which we often pray is seldom the one that arrives.  All of us know that every storm-swept sea has a day when that same body of water looks like glass. Threatening weather always passes and nature returns to the consistency of its seasons.  Why do we forget so easily that change is the only constant reality in our physical world?  Too often we get stuck by anticipating the arrival of the approaching storm clouds.  We find miracles, not in answered prayers, but in the way people live their lives during tumultuous events.

    Lois and I were visiting a couple living in Pinehurst, North Carolina.  The husband had stage four bladder cancer.  When we saw him, we knew that our visit with him would be the last.  He had lost half his body weight and his strength was failing.  In spite of his condition, he became quite insistent that he become our tour-guide.  We took the pair around Pinehurst so he could show us some of their favorite haunts and golf courses.

    Not long after our visit, we received word that our friend had died.  Think about this:  They had their dream retirement home exactly where they wanted it.  Both were avid golf enthusiasts and had settled in one of the golf capitals of the world. They both had worked hard as they looked forward to these years and suddenly their retirement was interrupted because two physicians had misdiagnosed her husband's condition.

    Ann decided not to get stuck by circumstances that she could not change.  She gave herself plenty of time to mourn and adjust to the loss of her playmate of many years.  While she was adjusting during the year that followed, a high school classmate called whom she had dated during those years.  He had heard about her husband's death and shared with her that his wife had died.

    Ann received a friendship ring from him before the two went their separate ways following graduation. One of the first things that she told him during their conversation was that she still had that ring.  He asked if he could see her.  She said, "It has been such a long time. I would love to see you."  He was the pilot of his own jet aircraft and made his way to see her from Asheville Regional Airport.  They began seeing each other and today the two are happily married.

    Many people would say that this turn of events was a miracle.  Was it?  A miracle that was made visible had more to do with the way Ann had chosen to live her entire life.  Her spirit anticipated that the Artist had more work to do on her canvas.  She had no idea that her life would take the fairytale twist that it did.

    The quality of Ann's life depended on who she had become, not because God answered her prayers and not because her new husband represented her salvation from loneliness.  She had not asked God for anything.  She remained grateful for the many years that she and her husband were together.  She was the miracle, not the outcome of having a new spouse in her life. 

    What is interesting about miracles is that we are the ones that assign that label to some extraordinary event that we have personalized.  So often miracles happen, not because of the magical appearance of some remarkable outcome, but because people have allowed the Artist to keep putting more designs on their canvas.  Instead of crying, "Why did this have to happen to us?" and plunging into despair, Ann said, "I will play the hand of cards that life has dealt."  She was always an extremely positive, gregarious spirit who knew how skillfully to surf the tides of change.   

    Our Gospel lesson today has an interesting illustration that is very typical of the way a number of people respond when they encounter resistance.   Jesus' cousins, James and John, had been sent ahead to a village to secure a night's lodging for Jesus and the others. For whatever reason, the Samaritan villagers rejected their request.  While reporting their findings to Jesus, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?"  (Luke 9:54)

      Jesus became the living miracle on this occasion.  He took no offense at the rejection by the Samaritan villagers.  He corrected his disciples' thinking about the matter as he and his disciples went on to the next village.  Miracles become more visible because of the quality of the energy we display when life presents us with a mountain to climb.   

    Had Jesus responded in an equally hostile manner as James and John, the entire Jesus-narrative would have been different.  His savior status would have been greatly compromised if not totally diminished.  There is a story in the second book of Kings where one of the early prophets was reported to have behaved in just the opposite way from what Jesus would later teach his listeners.  

    As Elisha was leaving Jericho on his way to Bethel, a group of boys made fun of his bald head.  They shouted, "Get out of here baldy!" Elisha glared at them in anger and cursed them in the name of God.  The Bible says, "Two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces."  (2 Kings 2:23f)  Certainly a story like this would not raise the bar for anyone attempting to understand the nature God.  There was no miracle being made visible during this drama.

    We associate miracles with seemingly supernatural events. We think in terms of Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea, of Lazarus being raised from the dead, of ten lepers being healed of their disease or of Jesus showing himself to people after he died on a cross. While these are important events that reportedly took place in our faith tradition, miracles are far more than paranormal interruptions in the flow of events.    

    We are creators of miracles when we realize that every experience, be it planned or completely unscheduled, has no meaning until we assign one to it.  We have the ability of dealing with circumstances peacefully when the same experience could easily break the spirits of those that interpret all barriers as one horrible injustice after another. 

    The wise wait to see what else the Artist may have in mind.  Such a spirit as this represents what a miracle looks like. They have shed their animal nature of hostility while being threatened and decided instead to display the qualities of being angels-in-the-flesh.

     We live in a generation where instant gratification is readily available to most of us.  Prior generations were seasoned pros at dealing with losses, life-reversals and death.  There were no other alternatives for them but to deal with everything that showed up in their lives.  Our great-grandparents did not have massive grocery stores, shopping malls, easy access to airports and instant communication with people living anywhere in the world. 

    Think of the miraculous medical procedures that we have available today.  Yesterday, I received a call from a couple that was in the congregation of my first church.  They plan to visit Centenary in July.  Their son's wife had stage four cancer in many of her internal organs, her heart and brain. At the Maryland University Hospital, she underwent a stem cell implant and today she is cancer-free.  A friend in my last church has a new heart. I have two titanium hips.  Think of what tomorrow will bring. Such incredible advancements have come because we are miracle workers ourselves.

    Even though a number of people are chronic complainers about everything, western societies are miracles.   Like bee hives of activity, most people are doing their part in serving one another in some capacity as Jesus taught his followers.  While all of us experience life somewhat differently, for the most part, we cooperate with each other to create a society that most of us enjoy. 

      God cannot give to us anymore than what we have and we cannot use what we never took the time to develop.  God could easily say to each of us, "You are the miracle workers.  Look within yourselves for the temporary fixes that many of you desire."  Most of what we desire are temporary fixes because all of us will eventually leave our physical forms when our dream here has ended.

    Jesus taught his listeners that they would create even greater things than what they saw him do.  (John 14:12)  He was absolutely correct. He knew greater things would come as a result of how God created us to be.  Jesus could not have created hospitals, cars, universities, space stations, computers and cell phones.   

    Those of us that have thought about how our species is designed have come to the realization that the key to understanding life depends on our interpretation of what is happening. The one aspect of life that we can control is how we greet the teachable moments that come simply by living in our physical forms.

    Helen Steiner Rice could not have explained our message this morning any more beautifully then when she wrote a poem containing these words:

Together, you and God stand at life's crossroads and view what you think is the end, but God has a much bigger vision and tells you, "It's only a bend.  For the road goes on and is smoother.  And the pause in the song is a rest.  The part that's unsung and unfinished is the sweetest, the richest and the best." So rest and relax and grow stronger.  Let go and let God share your load. Your life is not finished or ended.  You've just come to a bend in the road.

    Another way of saying this is to keep moving forward the best way that we have learned how to do.  Try not to become stuck when faced with a detour.  The Artist may have a few more items to add to your canvas as your futures unfold. 

    Bring a response of peace and patience to every episode that shows up in your path. These two skills of spirit can form the foundation upon which to continue building a miraculous life.  You are already a living miracle. When we live this way, others notice.  When others act on what they see, the Kingdom of God here on earth expands a little more