“What Do We Want From Religion”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – July 7, 2019

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 30; 2 Kings 5:1-14

 

    Today we are going to examine a beautiful Old Testament story.  This passage has a lot of qualities to it that could easily apply to people today.  A Syrian general had gotten leprosy and had learned that a prophet in Samaria may possess the ability to cure him.  General Naaman made immediate arrangements to travel to Samaria.  He was filled with expectations that a cure might be found for his dreaded skin disease.

    When he arrived, he became extremely disappointed by his experience.   Not only did the prophet not come out to greet him, but instead, Elisha sent one of his servants to do the honors.   That servant told the general to take a bath seven times in the Jordan River. 

    Naaman was furious!  His expectation was that Elisha would come out to greet him, pray to his god, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and heal him. (2 Kings 5:11) 

    How often does this happen to us? How many times were we disappointed by the prophets who occupied the pulpit during our lifetime?  What expectations do we have while sitting in our pews on Sunday morning?  Do we really expect to pick up some tidbit of truth that might improve our attitudes, help us creatively deal with a demon with whom we are wrestling, or give us an entirely different horizon toward which to walk? 

    Naaman was a pagan but he knew enough about religious healing rituals to imagine what he was about to experience. When none of that happened, the general questioned Elisha's servant:

Take seven baths in the Jordan River? We have two beautiful rivers in Damascus.  I could have taken seven baths in my own rivers. (2 Kings 5:12)

    There is plenty on the landscape of our lives for us to doubt if our attending church should remain a priority.  If we attend week after week and all we hear is the same old message of love, love, love, or even worse, something political, we may conclude why bother?  Yet, as soon as we need a marriage ceremony, a funeral service, or a baptism, we know where the church is located. Naaman needed a healing so he went to Samaria.

    Many people have gotten used to renewing their spirits on the golf course, by heading to the beach for a picnic with the family, by heading for a day on their boat, or completing chores around the house that they procrastinated on getting done.  Besides, what can anyone really do with another sermon?  We can become very cynical about attending church services once a week.   

    No matter what style of worship is preferred, people appear to want a message that nourishes their spirits.  Naaman wanted a healing to take home with him.  Extensive studies have shown that even the most polished, profound sermons have a shelf-life in our memories of between the end of the service and getting into our cars to leave. Many people that were tested were unable to recall even one hymn that was sung during the service.  The advertising industry tells us that the attention span of today's average person can be measured in seconds.  

    Naaman concluded that it was a total waste of time to visit Elisha because the prophet gave him nothing.  The general was about to leave when his servants intervened by saying:

Sir, had the prophet told you to do something difficult, you would have gladly done it.  Why not do as he said and see what happens? You may be cured. (2 Kings 5:13)

    No doubt Naaman rolled his eyes and went into the Jordan River seven times. Miracle of miracles, he was cured.  How did this happen?  Rather than receiving healing from Elisha, this great general had to follow through on what he was told to do.

    When we conclude that church attendance has become irrelevant to our lives, what remains in our personal world that will continue to remind us of God's presence and likewise remind us what Jesus told us about how to live in our world?  When we remove a source of remembering the world of spirit, what fills the vacuum?  The symptoms of spiritual malnutrition show up in our attitudes and behaviors.

    The compass that once subconsciously gave our lives direction no longer can. The levels of our skills of kindness, compassion, and patience begin to fade. Such skills of spirit are often replaced by fault-finding and assigning blame.  Being able to forgive others no longer appears as readily during the heat of an argument when angry passions are being displayed.

    None of this is intentional, but it happens when living in God's Kingdom is no longer remembered as being one of life's options.  Jesus used the Kingdom of God because the Jews were used to such a symbol.  What Jesus was offering the world was a lifestyle where attitudes and choices were motivated by love. 

    Being in church once reminded people who God created them to be. For people who were once faithful in attending church, that voice has been silenced.  Pastors can no longer remind people from their pulpits to bathe seven times in the Jordan River, e.g. to polish their generosity, their patience, and their sensitivities to the needs of others whose pains are seldom visible or shared.

    One of the mistakes that people make is the belief that religion must give them something of substance that will change the direction of their lives.  The real question that we need to ask ourselves is what are we doing to make life an exciting adventure?  Elisha and Jesus gave nothing to anyone.  Both of them only pointed to what people could do to find healing to their spirits. If church attendance is missing, what is reminding us that we are responsible for the quality and substance of our lives?

    For the people who gave up on church, it does not take long before they realize that the material world starts immediately filling the vacuum by fashioning them in its image.  There is no greater illustration than to see what the absence of God's presence is doing to the people of the world.  Just look at the current quality of the politics in the United States. "In God we Trust" is a slogan printed on some American currency.  Is that statement really speaking to the consciousness of many Americans?

    The battle lines of bitterness have been drawn in a fashion unlike anything most Americans have ever experienced.   This same condition is also present in Hong Kong, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and so many South American cultures. People are not happy with their lives.  People look to their governments for healing.  People examine this mirage as though it has the power to help them to find fulfillment, to feel complete, and to be filled with a love for being productive.  Where is their consciousness of God's presence in their lives?

    Today, people are more inclined to seek guidance from their political affiliations than they are to living in the Kingdom of God.  They are seeking what the world cannot give. Just look at the hostility and rudeness among many Americans because of guidance they have been receiving.  Some of their responses are filled with hate.  Would a true God-consciousness and hate exist in the same spirit?  Hardly!

    Naaman was looking for a healing from Elisha.  He did not get that healing! What his servant reminded Naaman to do was to follow-through on what Elisha's servant had told him to do.  Naaman had to take responsibility for his decisions, his attitude, and his behavior.  He had to bathe seven times in the Jordan River.

    When there are no longer any spiritual references coming from the Gospels, the world clearly points to all kinds of wonderful gospels that will never work.  The world cannot offer and instill skills of spirit.  The world cannot offer peace-of-mind. The world cannot give self-initiative to people that have been trained to believe that they are entitled to what others have without producing the same results with their choices.  Really?

    When our inner world is no longer being nourished, we can easily feel that we are being marginalized and ignored by society.  The truth is that society does not care one bit if we succeed or fall through the cracks.  A successful life will not happen by listening to the gospels of the world.  Jesus once taught, "Not everyone will be convinced that my lessons will work for them." (Matthew 7:13f)

    Just think of how the Scriptures arrived to get to us in the 21st Century. How did papyrus scrolls survive through years of savage wars, the Dark Ages, the early martyrs who were killed because they dared to create manuscripts in the common language of people, and the courage of some people like Eugene Peterson who have translated the sacred texts into shirtsleeve English?  In spite of the Bible's struggle to survive, how many people today take the time to study what it says?  

    Jesus dedicated his life to teach people how to live in this world with enthusiasm, optimism, and creative dreams. No more saviors are on the way.  If people do not use what they already have, why would they respond to someone else? God is allowing us to experience life on whatever level of awareness we have developed. 

    For those of us who have the pearl of great price, more will be given.  For those who do not use it, even the little that they have will be lost because of their neglect. (Matthew 13:12) No matter where we are on the scales of spiritual growth, God still loves each of us equally. 

    It is our responsibility to build our lives by developing our imaginations and using our life-energies to leave the world a better place before we graduate to the next chapter. Even God cannot do that for us. Accomplishing this ourselves is why God gave us the gift of living in our temporary forms.  Regardless of what we believe or do not believe, we are the ones who must live with the results.

     

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

Loving God, we thank you for creating us with the potential to radiate the qualities of your spirit.  We admit that there are moments in life that cause us to question the strength of our faith. The challenges of life often cause us to hide your gifts of spirit under the basket of our fears.  This morning, lead us apart from the world that is constantly changing.  Help us to find peace that comes from knowing that we live in your Kingdom now. Encourage us to hunger for an even deeper understanding of our lives. Inspire us to look at all of life's challenges as our personal trainers for growth.  Amen.

      

PASTORAL PRAYER

Merciful and always loving God, we thank you for the abundance of your presence each time we gather as a community of faith.  There are times when life overwhelms us.  There are moments when our spiritual cups need filling. Yet, there are other times when our lives are filled with gratitude for our families, our relationships, for the abundance of our personal freedoms, and the smiles of children. 

Open our eyes to how truth was slowly dawning in human history through a baby born in a stable and by verbal seeds sown by the carpenter that baby grew up to be.  Even though many of his listeners were mystified by what they saw and heard, they knew enough to pass on the stories of the Master until the moment they reached our ears and helped to shape our lives. We may never see your creative brush stokes as they are taking place.  We can only view them through hindsight with the eyes of faith.   Help us to understand, O God, that we only keep what we give away.  Help us to stand forth confidently during the darkest periods of our lives knowing that you created us to be the light that illuminates not only our darkness, but also the paths of others.

Thank you for guiding us to be at Centenary during this time of our lives.  Together and individually, enable our fellowship to become like a magnet that attracts others who want more out of life than what they now understand.  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, who taught us to say when we pray . . . .