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“Being Among
the Chose People” Sermon
Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – November 17, 2019
Centenary United Methodist Church Isaiah
12; Luke 21:5-19 Our lesson this morning contains a remarkable litany of issues
that people have had to face since the beginning of recorded history.
In fact, Jesus' listing was so accurate that his words appear to
describe what is happening in the headlines of many of our daily
newspapers. With social media
being what it is, communication of world news has become instantaneous.
An earthquake can occur in northern China. There
are the annual scorched earth fires in California.
Now and then there is a killer typhoon in the Pacific islands or
a Hurricane Humberto which recently wreaked havoc on our island. News of
such events has become so normal that nothing surprises us
anymore. Even a mass
shooting only stays in our news for a couple of weeks and then people
move on to the next events.
Most of us have gotten used to sudden and rapid changes in our lives. A day came when Jesus and his disciples were
walking together. The group
began to admire the beauty of a temple they encountered.
Like he did so often, Jesus seized the moment to teach a lesson.
He reminded them that change is
the only permanent aspect of creation.
He told them that a day will come when the temple that they found
so magnificent will be in ruins. Jesus was teaching that in spite of all the
changes that occur, there is nothing of which they need to be afraid.
God is in charge
of creation, not earth-shattering events.
Have many of us gotten this message or have we grown complacent
and indifferent to personal tragedies that come at us almost as daily
occurrences? Such events have become part of our weekly landscape. In our recent memory, we recall when Christians of
every persuasion mourned with Roman Catholics when parts of the famed
Notre-Dame Cathedral burned in Paris, France on April 15 of this year.
The construction of this
well-known Cathedral was started in 1163 CE and was completed centuries
later in 1395 CE. Just
months ago, people were moved to tears with the loss. The response to this destruction was immediate.
Millions of dollars came pouring in from all over the world.
Workers cleaned up the debris as soon as it was safe to enter the
ruins and began the process of rebuilding.
Today, most people have moved on to the point where they may
question if the date of last April is accurate.
The fire seemed to have happened a long time ago. As the disciples listened to Jesus, they were
thinking that he was talking about the end of the world. Immediately,
they became concerned about the date when these events would occur.
Jesus was not talking about the end of the world.
He was describing what life is like given the unpredictability of
natural disasters and how people behave when they are unhappy. What is
happening currently in Hong Kong is a reminder of what Jesus was
referencing. Even the Body of Christ turned its back on Jesus' teachings during the Inquisition and the Reformation. The latter rebellion even had the word protest in the name given to the Protestant movement. Jesus knew that there will never be a level playing field for everyone in the world that will give them the happiness they expect. Even among most politicians today, they completely
miss what Jesus was teaching.
We cannot budget enough financial resources to solve social
problems and expect such issues to be fixed to everyone's satisfaction.
Jesus was teaching how to
remain at peace when such events occur.
He said, "Do not be afraid when you hear of wars and
revolutions." (Luke 21:9)
If we want to ease the unhappiness of our lives, we have to change our
attitude about what is happening.
This transformation can only happen individually.
Jesus said, "Make up your minds right now not to
worry about defending yourselves." (Luke 21:14) He understood the nature
of people and how history is evolving very slowly.
Every war and every change in governmental leadership will not
change the spirit of all the people. Jesus knew that history will continue to
repeat itself until each individual begins to take responsibility
for their own happiness.
Our tendency is to hold other people accountable for how
we feel and think.
When we think about what we are doing to ourselves, such an attitude is
absolutely ridiculous. What was Jesus teaching when our experience of
fear is such a natural response? Once there was a man who walked a considerable
distance each morning to purchase food for his family. Every day he
passed the towering walls of a religious compound where monks lived.
He wondered what life was like for those who have shut out the
hardships of the world. "It
must nice," he thought, "to enjoy three healthy meals every day in an
environment where people care for each other." One morning during his daily ritual, the man
encountered a priest outside the walls of his cloistered community.
He interrupted his walk and asked the priest what life was like
where he lived. The priest
responded: We are not saints as you may think.
We are like you in most respects.
We fall down but we have learned that we must get up.
On the other side of our walls, we are encouraging each other not
to give up but to get up. After hearing the priest's response, that man had a great deal to
think about as he continued his walk. Once the man understood the
priest's words, a light went on in his mind. The man broke into a
smile. With the help of the priest, he concluded that God's mercy and
patience knows that we all fall down but God's Will is that we
get up. He then began to realize that his journey was only
a drudgery because that is the way he chose to feel and think about it.
His daily journey was transformed when he understood that he was the
cause of his own unhappiness.
By changing his attitude to one of a privilege rather than
a chore, he was getting up. After all, he was going to buy
food to feed his family. Further,
he realized that God has wired all of us with the ability to get
up each time we fall down. However, not everyone has gotten this
message. They feel that
they have been victimized by an insensitive society. They feel that it
is impossible to get up. When we hear stories about God's Chosen People,
just who are these people?
Does God favor some people over everyone else?
No, that is an inaccurate interpretation.
We become the chosen people when we decide not to
put our faith and trust in the treasures of this world. (Matthew
6:19) The world is never going to change. This is not a
horrible and pessimistic conclusion. There
are an infinite number of good reasons why the world will not change in
spite of what we believe, think, or try to do.
It is we who must change by following through on what Jesus
taught: Make up your mind right now that you are not here
to fix the constantly changing world. The world is perfectly all
right just as it is. You are here to understand your fears and to rise
above them. Stop being your own worst enemy!
(Luke 21:18) Years ago, I met an
interesting couple who asked me to perform their marriage ceremony.
Both of them had highly energized personalities. As soon as they
referred to themselves as "Army Brats," I knew why they carried
themselves with such high energy. They were a fascinating study
of what constant change can create in people. When given the choice
to sink or swim in the midst of constant and profound change --
Thailand, Germany, and the Philippines -- they had decided to swim long
before they met each other. It took years for each of them to
understand that the homework that needed to be done was
theirs to complete. One of them said, "When
dad's orders came, I thought that my death would be easier to accept
than being pulled out of high school in the beginning of my senior
year." The other one commented:
Each time my dad
received his new orders that required leaving where we were, I cried and
cried. It was not fair! I was always forced to leave my
friends. But now I have friends all over the world.
Both of us have become free from most of the things to which many
people attach themselves. We were never allowed to cling to anything.
Both of us had been making ourselves miserable until we learned that we
had a choice to sink or swim.
Both of us chose to swim and then we met teach other. Once people learn to rise above
their fears, they trade their negative emotions for attitudes that will
serve them. They fall
down but they get up. Such people become the chosen people
because they are the ones who seek possibilities, solutions, and new,
creative ways of dealing with what appears to be the-end-of-their-world.
What was ending is not their world; what had ended was fear. Fear tells
many travelers that they had reached a dead-end.
The chosen people trust that what they are approaching is
a sharp bend which they could not see from their present vantage point.
People who
choose understanding and acceptance when they greet what is coming up
for them, are the ones who see more clearly.
They are the chosen people who are here to teach others
how and why to get up when they fall down instead of nursing the growth
of their fears. Jesus
wanted all of us to become role models for what we are teaching.
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Gracious and loving
God, we have come to know the compelling results that come when we hear
and say the words please and
thank you.
As we gather this morning, gratitude fills our minds and spirits
that we have the privilege to enter our worship experience.
These moments have a way of cleansing our thoughts and purifying
our desires. These moments
often challenge us into thinking more clearly about our responses to
life, our trust in you, and our faith that each day will present us with
opportunities to serve others.
We thank you for your guidance, for your healing presence, and
for allowing us to be a light to others in this world.
Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
Eternal
God, we are so grateful for these moments together.
There are moments when our worship experience reminds us of our
identity as your sons and daughters.
The worship experience often reminds us of our need to reframe
our attitudes so that others are served by what we have become.
Each of
us often find stretch marks
in our consciousness when we try what we have never tried, when we take
challenging steps of faith that we have never taken, or when we face
insecurity and uncertainty with skills that we seldom use. Thank you,
God, for the life and teachings of Jesus, whose testimony about another
world inspires us to live more confidently in this world.
Thank you for the timeless values he pointed to. Thank you
for what happens to us when we have the courage to hold on to those
values in the midst of today's overwhelming challenges.
Inspire us to make
peace our collective response in all matters. Let us truly make Christ
the ruler over our lives rather than anything else in our world. All of
us have only one life to perfect during the testing that comes with
daily living. We pray that the end result will always be a profound
sense of community where love for one another reigns. We pray these
thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say
when we pray . . . |