“Use
Your Spiritual Software” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – October
30, 2016 Centenary United Methodist Church
Psalm 119:137-144; Luke 19:1-10 One of the insights that comes to me almost monthly is how
uninformed I am about the accelerated pace of technology. I know enough
to get by with my personal computer but I do not know how to use the
machine to its fullest potential.
Several sermons ago some of you may recall my episode in the
airport when I needed to call our son.
Pay phones are almost non-existent so I borrowed a cell phone
from another passenger. Not
only did I not know how to turn it on, but I needed to be taught how to
dial the telephone number.
The man's wife shot me a look that communicated, "Under what rock do you
live?" There is a television commercial that featured a junior high boy
and girl that had come to visit their grandparents.
As soon as the children were greeted on the front porch, the
grandmother handed her lap top to her granddaughter and said, "None of
this works. Come on
inside." This brief encounter can be duplicated over and over again in
most of our lives.
Computers frustrate many of us and the odd thing is that young people
know more about these things than we do. Most of us have our own stories
of how computers have become an
invasive species intruding themselves into our lives to stay. Knowledge, however, is power.
We are seeing people that have their airline boarding passes on
their cell phones. We are watching people pay for a cup of coffee by
holding their cell phone near the cashier's device.
In a number of churches, some
people never put anything into the offering plate because once a month
their offering is electronically transferred.
Some of us can remember pulling our car onto the shoulder and
opening up large road maps because we had missed a turn off. Today, when
people click on an application, their cell phone becomes a global
positioning system. Our
daughter has chosen to listen to a male voice with an Australian accent
as he gives her instructions for driving to an unfamiliar destination.
Life is becoming far less complicated for a lot of people because
they have acquired knowledge on how to use these devices. This morning, I would like to suggest that using
applications from our
spiritual
software can equally make our
lives less complicated.
What spirituality and computer-technology have in common is that both of
them are completely impersonal.
Neither one of them cares
whether we learn about them or not.
What we do know from being around people is that some of them are
very skillful in using their knowledge while others have little or no
skills. Their activities,
moods and attitudes reveal what side of
the ledger they are on.
Why are children so eager to get their hands on a cell phone and
learn as many applications as they can but not so eager to learn what
has the power to propel them toward success everywhere they go?
Perhaps no one is teaching them. Think of how the world would
change if mastering spiritual
software was a requirement for moving beyond grade school. The family was the primary classroom for teaching how to use
spiritual software. Even to
casual observers, many children today are growing up in families that
are very different from the ones of their grandparents.
In many cases both parents are
working. Children have nannies and preschool. The picture of a family
eating around the table together each evening is a vanishing reality.
Many children have no memory of the values or training that was available to their grandparents. In many instances receiving an education about self-discipline, boundaries and common courtesies never happens within a loving environment where such characteristics were modeled. When the Church had a powerful influence in the lives of people,
individuals never questioned the existence of their
spiritual software.
Today, the values expressed by people are all over the spectrum
of human behavior. People
engage in behavior today that was unthinkable years ago. Luke's Gospel this morning may provide an answer for what is
needed everywhere. This episode began when Jesus stood at the base of a
sycamore tree. He looked up
and saw the chief tax collector, Zacchaeus, sitting among the branches.
He said, "Hurry down, Zacchaeus, I want to visit with you today."
(Luke 19:5) We can only imagine what happened during their time together.
Here was a man that was a product of his society.
Because of his profession, others had labeled him as an
outcast.
More than likely he never
attended services at the Temple. No one would have made him feel
welcome. He may have known nothing about his
spiritual software because
well-trained Hebrews were trained to be obedient to the Laws of Moses. Let us speculate about what Jesus could have said that would
abruptly change the direction of Zacchaeus' life.
Upon entering his home, Jesus might have said:
You have a
remarkably beautiful home.
Just look at these one-of-a-kind marble pieces from Rome, Athens and
Alexandria. You have excellent taste in art, Zacchaeus.
These things must mean a lot to you.
Your gardens . . .
they are beautiful!
God has freely given to you many talents and abilities,
Zacchaeus, yet you have built a wall around your home preventing your
neighbors from sharing in your passion for things of beauty. Tell me,
are you happy? What is it
that you do to give back to God's children? What Jesus
taught throughout his ministry was helping people to develop a spiritual
identity that is free from attachments to the things of this world.
He could have reminded Zacchaeus that King Solomon had one
thousand wives and mistresses.
(I Kings 11:3) Jesus
could have reminded him that Solomon had more wealth than anyone in the
ancient world. (I Kings 10:11f) Jesus could have gone on to say:
Have you ever found
it strange that our former King, as great as he was, had everything that
this world has to offer and yet he was sad for most of his life?
He once wrote: 'You work and worry your way through life, and
what do you have to show for it?
As long as you live, everything you do brings nothing but worry
and heartache. Even at
night your mind cannot rest.
Life is useless.'
(Ecclesiastes 2:22f) Do you
ever feel like that, Zacchaeus? Jesus
knew that
spiritual software with all its many applications
was missing from the lives of most people.
He knew that spirit controls the major components of
life that have to do with peace, happiness, gentleness, empathy,
generosity and sharing. These
are some of the applications. Each
time we use one, our spirits come alive with
magnetism that others find
hard to resist liking. All Jesus needed to say is that these life-qualities work for
everyone while they are alive.
Then Jesus went on to say: They will also work for you when
it comes to the time when you leave this life.
All of them are rooted in loving energies that
are identical to the qualities of God.
Wealth, fame,
prestige and even wisdom only work in this world.
Such things will be of no use to you when you return to the
Creator in whose image you were formed. Why not learn to use now what
makes life a compelling adventure anywhere you go throughout eternity? Zacchaeus was so touched and inspired by what Jesus was teaching
that he responded, "Listen to me, Jesus.
After hearing what you have told me, I will give half of my
wealth to the poor and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back
four times as much as I collected." (Luke 19:8)
What Zacchaeus had just committed to doing was reversing his
energy flow from me, me, me
to we. This reversal caused
Jesus to say, "As a result of your choice, Zacchaeus,
salvation has come to you."
(Luke 19:9) This was the theme that unfolded for Charles Dickens when he
wrote his famous Christmas Carol
in just six weeks.
Ebenezer Scrooge reversed his
energy flow from me to
we after which the world of
this miserly old man was never the same. Ebenezer could laugh again.
He could be generous, helpful and kind again.
Isn't this what salvation
really looks like? We become spiritually free from fear, worry, anxiety, stress,
brooding over hurt feelings and always feeling victimized. Such feelings
fade when we begin using our
spiritual software along with all its rich and
fruit-bearing applications.
Zacchaeus had become united to the often silent, invisible part
of himself that he never knew existed.
Jesus was teaching how
salvation from this world's
woes can work for anyone.
He came to teach people how to live abundantly.
He was teaching
salvation just as he had done with Nicodemus long before he died on
a cross. (John 3:3) All that Zacchaeus needed for his life to be redirected was to
spend one afternoon with a teacher that understood the power of
spiritual software that was
capable of totally transforming his life. The reality is that there are not many
technicians available to
people. With the voice of the
Church no longer dominant in western cultures as it once was and
with the rapid changes happening within the family structure, the
responsibility of finding and using our
spiritual software is often
ours alone to discover. The world appears to be out of control.
Any student of history knows
that the world has always been this way. Jesus engaged in the ministry
of teaching people how to live in it. This is why he asked his followers
to go into the world and teach others how to be at peace while living in
the midst of chaos. By accessing the many applications of your spiritual software, you can be that teacher in every environment where you find yourself. |