“Different Strokes For Different Folks”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – January 26, 2020

Centenary United Methodist Church

Psalm 27:1, 4-9; I Corinthians 1:10-17

 

    In our lesson for today, the Apostle Paul was dealing with the timeless reality that there are "different strokes for different folks."  In our passage, he was writing to one of the congregations that he founded.  A family member of that congregation had confided to Paul that people were quarreling over the trustworthiness of the truth that was being spoken by various congregational leaders.  People were doing what they do today.  They were choosing sides on who had the authority to speak for God.  

    This morning we are going to explore how God inspires people who are vastly different in their attitudes, their perceptions, their motivations, and their vocational goals.

    Paul wrote to his congregation and said, "Let me put it to you this way:  each one of you says something different.  One says, 'We follow Paul'; another says, 'we follow Apollos,' someone else says, 'we follow Peter,' and still another says, 'we follow Jesus.'  (I Corinthians 1:12)

    How did such quarreling happen when Jesus's primary teaching was, "Love one another as I have loved you"? (John 13:34) The answer is that there are different strokes for different folks. The following was the source of those different strokes. 

    The people who claimed Paul as their divine messenger were mainly Greeks and other Gentiles.  Paul's message was one of spiritual freedom.  This teaching effectively put an end to a person's need to be obedient to the Laws of Moses.  However, some of the new converts were using spiritual freedom to justify all kinds of self-indulgent behaviors.  Nothing was off-limits because Jesus had saved them by his death on the cross.

    The second group claimed Apollos as their divine messenger.  He was a Jew from Alexandria, a city that was well-known for its intellectual diversity. The Buddhists from India had established a large colony there.  The Buddhist priests had a message that paralleled the teachings of Jesus. Apollos was articulate, very likeable, and he knew the Old Testament scrolls very well.  His words appealed to those that agreed that Jesus' teachings were a philosophy for living that came with a specific set of ethical attitudes. 

    The third group claimed Peter as the divine messenger.  The followers of Peter were Jews.  They believed that Jesus' followers must remain loyal to a number of the traditions, rituals, and dietary laws prescribed by the Laws of Moses. Peter had a difficult time breaking free from his Jewish heritage and traditions. (Acts 11:8f)

    The final group claimed Jesus as their divine messenger.  This group of people felt they were being faithful to a greater source of truth than what was being spoken by the other three vocal leaders in the congregation.  

    The key issue that separates people from being on the same level of awareness is how they choose to filter their preferences.  We readily recognize this today.  People do not care for the same music, the same authors, the same vocations, the same worlds to explore with their imaginations, or the same humor that makes them laugh.  

    We are not wired to be inspired by the same source. One of the best descriptions of this filtering process was by Benjamin Franklin, the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.  He wrote:

When you assemble a number of people in order to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those people all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their provincial interests and their selfish points-of-view.

    We have learned how these filters have played a major role throughout church-history.  During our lives, many of us have encountered Born-Again-Christians, people who speak in tongues, people who worship a fixed interpretation of the Bible, and people who lay claim to how God has baptized them with the Holy Spirit. 

    Like Paul, a number of people want everyone to subscribe to their point-of-view or have the same way that they express their spirituality, but those desires will always be frustrated by human preferences.  People separate themselves into political parties, different Protestant denominations, and factions within the Roman Catholic Church.

    Is there a universal way that God communicates to people?  The obvious answer is "No." Inspiration can come when a flood of spiritual energy is recognized by the flickering spirit within a person.  Jesus recognized that some people understand the origin of their inspiration while other people have little or no interest in matters of spirit.  This lack of curiosity causes them to remain blind to its existence.  (Matthew 19:16-22)

    A revelation can come when people are busy doing something else.  Moses had one of these moments when he was fleeing Egypt after killing an Egyptian. (Exodus 2:11-15) During his journey, he came upon a bush that only appeared to be burning.  When he paused to look at it, suddenly God spoke to him.  Moses life was never the same as it was.

    Jesus may not have been seeking anything when he went into the Jordan River to be baptized by his cousin John.  Suddenly, God spoke to him. His experience was so intense and unnerving that he left his family, his trade as a carpenter, and spent time fasting to figure out what had just happened. Throughout history, we find inspiration coming to people in a variety of forms. 

    In 1741, George Frideric Handel was deep in financial debt due to a number of musical failures.  A friend, Charles Jennens, reached out to his friend.  Jennens gave Handel a musical score that Charles composed that was based on the Bible.  A shaft of light pierced Handel's mind that inspired him to create The Messiah.  The inspiration was so dramatic that Handel completed his timeless work in just 24 days.

    It may come as a surprise to many people that the famous prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. . . " was not written by St. Francis. The prayer was only attributed to St. Francis because in 1927 the prayer was found on the back of a likeness of the saint.  However, the prayer was not found in any written material that St. Francis left behind. No one knows the author.  Does the authorship really matter?  No.

    What is it about that prayer that resonates with people to such an extent that it has remained for years as a source of inspiration? It is even included in our hymnal on page 481. For that matter, what caused people to save material that later became the Four Gospels, or to save a number of letters written by Paul? Just think, Paul wrote one hand written letter to address issues occurring in each of the churches for which he felt some responsibility.  We have many of them in the Bible.

    Words can become vehicles that truly inspire people to become more than they ever thought they would be.  However, something happens when inspiration strikes a chord with someone that has nothing to do with words. Anything can cause people to awaken spiritually when their mind and emotions are ready to receive.

    Two business men, who were participants in a convention, were walking one afternoon in Sequoia National Park in California.  After walking in silence for some time, the one said, "Can you imagine that these giant Redwood trees were as tall as we are when Jesus was teaching his disciples?"  The other man said, "That is interesting.  I have been trying to calculate how many Redwood decks we could build on houses with the lumber from just one of these trees."  How can people be so far apart in their perception of these giant Redwood trees?

    People have different preferences. Clearly there will always be different stokes for different folks.  Jesus understood this.  (Matthew 13:3b-9) If there ever comes a time when everyone is prepared to receive inspiration in the same way, it will come in the distant future.

    Regardless of a person's understanding, some spiritual-driver, that remains invisible to their five senses, has been guiding their responses, creating attitudes of optimism or pessimism, inspiring new visions of prosperity and creativity, or fears that feed the growth of their lack of understanding toward life and others. What people think about and choose to feel expands throughout their lives. The Law of Consequences will continue to play a major role in shaping people's attitudes regardless of their spiritual depth.

    Perhaps, with the passage of time, people will learn that they have abilities that are identical to those of our Creator. (Romans 12:2) When this recognition occurs, the creature and the Creator are joined in a very unique manner.  This recognition is what inspired Siddhartha, Lao Tsu, Confucius, Jesus, Mohammed, Mozart, Handel, Archimedes, DaVinci, and many other visionaries.  God has never left people without visionaries such as these who sense the vast potential of our species and provide guidance that will lead them into their future.

    What eventually happens to the unfolding of everyone's life is the recognition that not all strokes produce happiness, prosperity, and peace of mind. Just because a door is available does not mean that everyone seeks it, and those who find it may not have the desire to open it.  Those who choose to open the door and enter, will find that their lives become dramatically transformed by what they find. 

    These are the people who have mastered both the material and the spiritual worlds.  They often become the visionaries who feed their peers with what will nourish the spirit that often remains invisible for most people.  What remains visible are the results that are created by such beings.

    God remains infinitely patient with each of us.  We have free will to choose what works for us and what does not. God never says, "My way or the highway."  Divine patience is infinitely more developed than our own. At the end of our lives, each of us will understand our divinity.  While Jesus was teaching, his message was that we do not have to wait until our deaths to make this discovery.  We can experience that life right now.  Those who achieve this understanding will thrive.  Those who are not quite there are still in a growth pattern that will eventually lead to their understanding.  Clearly there are different strokes for different folks. Where are we?

     

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

Loving God, our faith traditions have always guided us to understand that you created us in your image.   We thank you for the privilege it is to participate in your creation.  We are still learning, refining, and evolving our skills of spirit.  When our skills of spirit falter and the light within us grows dim, we thank you for helping us to realize that we are still students.  Never stop reminding us to be gentle with ourselves. We want to thrive in our diversity and yet remain unified in making your love visible through what we do.  Amen.

 

PASTORAL PRAYER

Loving God, how grateful we are that we can share moments of quiet and peacefulness as we direct our thoughts toward you.  You know our thoughts long before we open ourselves to your loving presence.   In spite of your infinite, all knowing nature, it is helpful for us to talk to you from time to time. 

As the drama of our lives continues, there is no way of stopping the chain of events that comes up for us.  Sometimes that means looking forward to surgery. Sometimes that means watching those we love face challenging experiences while we feel helpless in reducing the burdens they carry. Sometimes that means dealing with the routine of our jobs, our marriages, and our family experiences.  Sometimes that means pondering our response toward people whose choices in their past have put them in very challenging economic circumstances.   

As each of us strives to make your presence visible, help us to recall the words of Paul that remind us that "Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, humility, and self- control." When all appears dark, inspire us to light our match in gratitude for the presence of such qualities in our lives.  In spite of our outward circumstances, we have so much for which to be grateful.  Guide our thoughts, inspire us to hold fast to our values and grant us the courage to walk toward tomorrow with optimism and enthusiasm. We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . .