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“Recognizing
Kindred Spirits” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – May 7,
2017 Centenary United Methodist Church
Psalm 25:1-10; John 10:1-10
Have you noticed how fixated people are with their use of titles
and labels? Titles and labels
cause people to lump others into specific categories.
For instance, the widely used word
Millennials is used to define
people born between 1982 and 2004. All of us are more familiar with the
title of Baby Boomers. My age
grouping was never assigned a name. This label of Millennials
comes with stereotypes of behavior. They are young people who may be
still living with their parents, who spend nearly every waking hour
staring at their cell phones, who move from job to job to earn a few
dollars more and who are liberal
in their political choices. In spite of the fact that these judgments are both unfair and
untrue, the same can be said for other categories of people as well.
Western societies generalize this way with titles and labels
dealing with race, economic levels, sexual orientation, various levels
of intelligence, athletic ability, and excelling in a talent when
children have not yet reached adolescence. Several months ago I watched an eleven year old play the piano
like Beethoven and he spoke to other adults with theconfidence of a
seasoned speaker. A good number of people, however, find deep personal satisfaction
and status coming from a title. Somehow the name
Dick does not capture the
same imagination and recognition
that might be achieved by placing
The Reverend Doctor in front of the name
Richard.
Honestly, would such a title
change the Dick Stetler you have come to know?
If so, that is your issue; I have never had a problem with my
nickname as the only definition for my identity. We have a category in the Frequently what happens after the Annual Conference has
successfully voted on these candidates, the next day a number of them
can be seen wearing a clerical collar with a black blouse or shirt. They
could hardly wait to adorn themselves with the symbols of a new
identity. To some people,
titles mean a lot. In our lesson this morning, Jesus is teaching his disciples a
lesson of life by telling them a simple children's story in the form of
a parable. Jesus called himself
a gate and
the good shepherd as well as
one whose voice
his sheep would instantly
recognize. Jesus also labeled
seductive people as thieves
or robbers, because of their ability to infiltrate and surround the
sheep with distractions that might try to lead the sheep astray. His
disciples knew the relationship that a shepherd has with his sheep.
Sheep cannot be led astray.
A curious outcome after hearing this story is that the disciples
did not understand what Jesus was teaching. They asked Jesus to explain.
Jesus knew that 200
sheep belonging to a half dozen shepherds could be put into the
same gated community to
graze. Each shepherd knows
that when it is time to return to their home, he calls his sheep.
In doing so, he will only capture the attention of his sheep.
The others will not even look up. Each shepherd's sheep will exit
through a gate that has been opened for them. Was Jesus really talking about voice recognition? Was he referring to his disciples as sheep? No--none of the above. Jesus was referencing spiritually aware people that have become Jesus' disciples. They recognize each other as kindred spirits because of the spirit by which each has chosen to live. (John 13:35) Their spirits represent and communicate a presence that could easily be given many titles and labels, none of which would be accurate. There is evidence that the disciples finally understood the meaning of his parable. Recently, I listened to an interview with Robin Li, who is the
48-year old co-founder of a search engine internet company in mainland Robin had a dream of serving the entire population of For years, other high tech companies have tried to lure Robin
away from his China-dream, but because of his commitment to make his
batch of dough to rise, he
has paid no attention to these
seductive voices. He has
remained focused on his purpose and goal. He also wants to excite young people to become as dedicated as he
is to making their own dream to come true.
Even though his humble commitment has little to do with wealth,
Robin has a net worth of ten billion dollars, making him the seventh
wealthiest person in He is so down-to-earth
that if you were talking to him, it would be like talking to your next
door neighbor. His wealth
has not distracted him from being a warm, caring and compassionate
person who has a child-like enthusiasm for serving his people.
This and other qualities have made Robin a
kindred spirit of Jesus.
Like Jesus, Robin has harnessed his inner energy to create a form
by using his intuition and imagination.
The forms that Jesus was
creating came into being by his leading people to discover and develop
a new life by helping
individuals to harness their dormant potential.
Such beings can be found everywhere in the world. They often do not
appear with a religious tint
to their glow so they may go unrecognized by those looking for a
cookie-cutter mold. Many evening news programs continue to end their broadcasts with
heart-warming stories. Last week, there was the story of a 14-year boy
that founded a group called FROGS.
This group is made up of late elementary and junior high school
students who serve food to indigent students their own age. His mother said that ever since he was a child, he became
concerned about the number of children in poor families who were eating
one meal a day because of their school's lunch program.
He is now living his dream.
He is surrounded by lots of students who want to wear the FROGS
t-shirts as they serve food to their peers.
This young boy is bright,
articulate and his mission has attracted the attention of a number of
corporate sponsors. His
entire county has a chapter of FROGS in schools that offer an early
supper before students go home. To date, the program has served over a
half million meals since its beginning. Taylor Rosenthal is another 14-year old who has acted on his
dream. He personally raised
one hundred thousand dollars to create a prototype of a vending machine
that dispenses medical supplies.
His comment was, "What would a 14-year old do with thirty million
dollars?" He would not
listen to the seductive voices
that could have easily distracted him and possibly ruined his life.
He was more interested in
developing his potential by fulfilling his dream of placing his vending
machines in parks, stadiums, schools and businesses.
At the moment, he has this
market all to himself. Stories like these are taking place everywhere.
There is a young man that has the attention of
top drawer physicists because
of his work on nuclear fusion, a technology that has to do with
generating energy. If this
science is perfected, these units could supply an unlimited source of
inexpensive energy. We
could say "good-bye" to our utility companies as well as to natural gas,
oil and coal. There is a retired physician who was a world-renown surgeon as
well as a Doctor of Internal Medicine. He set up a modest practice in a
rural community in The nearest medical facility is over an hour's drive from his
town. He charges $25 for an
office visit.
Single-handedly, he has brought the cost of health care down to
extremely reasonable levels in his community.
He has placed a large poster-size mission statement on the wall
that says, "Enter at your own risk!
I no longer carry malpractice insurance and have passed on the
savings to you." What do all these people have in common? Their dreams for serving
humanity have grown from their imaginations.
These people have seen a
need in society and each has acted on creating solutions.
It is not just solutions that they create; it is the spirit with
which they deliver their solutions. There is no title, label or
adjective that describes them.
Kindred spirits is a
description that gets as close as we can to describing the presence they
represent. (Matthew 7:16) The Apostle Paul once wrote, "It is not I who live but
the Christ in me that does
the work." (Galatians
2:20).
Paul was describing the
source of creative energy.
He was not making a reference to Jesus, a man he never met during
his lifetime. Civilization has advanced because of the work of
kindred spirits. They have
become society's visionaries, spiritual leaders, creators, artists,
teachers and innovators. All
of them have become artists
in their own professions.
There
can be little doubt in the minds of those who recognize these people
that God is silently and invisibly working through countless individuals
that are charting the destiny of humanity by the solutions they create.
They are the entrepreneurs who are
paving the highway that will
take us into the future. What is most interesting is that most of us cannot see God
working because the guardians of
our news focus our attention day after day on images of a medical
doctor being dragged off a United Airlines' flight or destructive young
people fist fighting in The news commentators do not want any of us to miss something
highly questionable that was said by a high profile personality. They
gather their panels of experts that analyze and scrutinize everything by
sharing their opinions. Even the
Royal Gazette has gotten into the fray by borrowing political
cartoons from various news organizations that feature politics in the In the midst of the
world's tumultuous playground, where people engage in the same
themes that have cycled historically for thousands of years,
kindred spirits continue to
create. Others are doing what they feel compelled to do from listening
to other voices. Our world is better because of the presence of
kindred spirits living among
us.
We need to pause and examine
what creates our spiritual blindness.
Instead of defining ourselves by
the cues coming from the noise in the world, we need to focus on what
the creators are giving to us by their results and solutions.
Better yet, we need to join their chorus and become creators of
good news ourselves.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER Eternal, faithful and ever
present God, we confess that we have much to learn in understanding the
art of living. We would like to remove the pain our loved ones
experience while knowing that we cannot. We want to teach them how
to escape the hurdles, tears and failures of life while neglecting to
remember the skills we developed from our struggles. Inspire us to lead
by example, to teach by a consistency of spirit, and to encourage others
by our accepting them as they are. May we find comfort and peace
by knowing that your love allows our mistakes to dissolve on
the sands of your
understanding.
Amen. PASTORAL PRAYER Eternal God, thank you for the oasis of
peace we have at Centenary while living in the midst of so much that
stimulates our senses. As we enter our house of worship, it seems
as though we constantly need to be reminded who we are. Everything
around us attempts to define us a customer, a client, a consumer, a
success or failure.
It is
comforting to remember that we are your children when life’s reversals
pull us into the valley of
uncertainty. It is comforting to sense your presence when we fear
our beliefs and faith are not strong enough to still the storms that
rage. Give us guidance, O God, to carry our
energy with peace, to shoulder our perceived burdens with confidence and
to enter moments of uncertainty with unwavering trust. Thank you
for your support when we enter fragile moments. Give us an
experience that will change our thinking when we give energy to the
notion that we have a
perfect right to hold on
to painful memories and hurt feelings. Help us to remember
that, as your children, we do not need to be weighed down by issues in
our past that we cannot change. As we move into our tomorrows, may we
keep vigilant on where and how to be helpful to others. Inspire us to
forget labels, judgments and differences. Teach us how to extend
ourselves so that the angel within us becomes visible. Through us,
inspire those around us to learn that we are all citizens of one world
and loved equally by you. We pray these thoughts through the
spirit of Jesus, who taught us to say when we pray . . . |