Defining Moments
Sermon
Defining Moments
First Lesson Sermons For Advent/Christmas/Epiphany
Throughout the Bible God caused defining moments in order to prepare leadership to begin new chapters in salvation history. When any person is confronted with this sort of event, it is usually the time when one's deepest values come in conflict with life situations. These circumstances give each of us the opportunity to choose a path. Over the years the cumulative effect of these decisions form character. There is no doubt that we are each the sum total of our personal decisions.
To every man there openeth
a way and ways and a way.
The high soul treads the highway,
the low soul gropes the low,
and in between on the misty flat
the rest drift to and fro.1
There are choices that challenge us in a deeper way by asking us to choose between two or more ideals in which we deeply believe. Character is formed in these situations because we commit ourselves to irreversible courses of action that shape us personally and professionally. These defining moments uncover things in us that have been hidden, and we discover things about ourselves and reveal them to others. It is in these times that we discover whether we will live up to our personal ideals or only pay lip service to them. Here we discover something in a very painful way -- we discover who we really are.
This has happened to all of God's leaders. For example, Abraham had his defining moment when he heard the voice of God calling him from the security of Ur to the insecurity of the life of a nomad. Can you imagine the conversations that took place in that home and the explanations to the extended family? Abraham obviously spoke very forcefully and convincingly to those who would make this trek with him. Through his decision God began his work of salvation.
We see how Joseph, best-loved son of his father but hated by his older brothers, was sold into slavery. He was brought into Potiphar's household as a servant and soon proved so trustworthy that he was put in charge of his entire house. Only a short time passed until Potiphar's wife repeatedly tempted Joseph to have an affair with her. This was his defining moment. When he refused her, she falsely accused Joseph and he was sent to prison. His decision planted the seeds that produced the exodus.
What about Moses, who faced his defining moment before the burning bush? He very reluctantly gave up the security and obscurity of a shepherd's life to face Pharaoh, and to herd a bunch of grumbling slaves to freedom with Pharaoh's armies in hot pursuit. The defining moment of Moses led to the birth of a new nation.
Of course, Jesus is the ultimate example of facing life's defining moments. After his baptism, he was taken into the wilderness and for forty days and nights struggled with his mission. The author of his defining moment was the devil himself. Only after Jesus faced Satan and made his choice clear did the devil leave him. This was the defining moment that began the ministry of Jesus and changed the world forever.
Jesus had a way of producing defining moments for the disciples as he called each of them to follow him. The first ones to face this were Simon and his brother Andrew, whom Jesus called as they were fishing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Farther along the lake Jesus found the sons of Zebedee, James and John, mending nets in their boat. He called them and they immediately left their boat and their father and followed him. The defining moments and the responses of these disciples, as well as the others, have had an impact on history that continues to this day.
Modern history has taken turns that seem improbable due to the response of individuals to their defining moments. We will never forget the day or the event when Rosa Parks, an African-American domestic worker, refused to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. This event occurred on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Parks, prior to her arrest on this occasion, had observed the quiet strength of her mother and grandmother. She had tried unsuccessfully to register to vote and had experienced public humiliation when bus drivers insisted that blacks pay at the front, then enter by the back door to sit in the back of the bus. In fact, sometimes the drivers would take the fare, then shut the door and drive off, leaving Rosa or other blacks standing there. This continuing mistreatment, not only of herself, but also of the black race in countless ways, culminated in producing the defining moment for Rosa Parks. After this incident, a 382-day bus boycott eventually led to the desegregation of the city's buses. Rosa Parks is known as "the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," but she has said that she would like for people to know that her faith in God, her religious convictions, and her church helped give her the strength to meet her defining moments with courage, which in turn ignited the national civil rights movement and changed the social fabric of America.
My good friend, Senator Max Cleland, has faced and continues to face more defining moments than any of us can ever imagine. Max says in his book, Strong at the Broken Places, that as a child and adolescent he was intent on testing his limits, so it was natural for him to become a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army through ROTC. After college and graduate school, he volunteered for Vietnam in 1967. While there on active duty, an exploding grenade cost him both legs and his right arm. His first defining moment came on the battlefield before being evacuated -- he decided that he wanted to live. Max's story not only involves extreme physical and mental anguish, but turns on the fact that he made a key inner discovery. As he has often said, "After all human effort is spent, another source of strength is available." Max continues to face defining moments that, in his words, "help me become strong at the broken places." Through his public service, both volunteer and elected, Max has made a difference in the quality of life for Georgians, and now, as a United States senator, all Americans.
Now we come to look at our scripture for the third Sunday of Epiphany. The story of Jonah shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that God chooses to use reluctant people to do his work. Jonah definitely did not volunteer to go to witness to the people of Nineveh. The story has several unusual twists and turns and the bottom line seems to be that if at first you don't respond correctly to your defining moment, you'll meet it again and again!
Jonah had successfully lived under the radar of public recognition all of his life, and he liked it that way. He was satisfied with a small vision and little responsibility, virtually no pressure. There is safety in smallness of vision and narrowness of mind and heart, and he had found it. Then God interrupted this narrow rut and presented to Jonah a series of defining moments that challenged him to leave his comfort zone. Actually, that is an understatement of how Jonah felt about the whole situation. However, these challenges revealed much about Jonah and about God, as well. All of Jonah's presuppositions concerning life were challenged by his call from God. He was stretched between two value systems. He never expected to have his comfort area and his narrow lifestyle interrupted by God's demand that he catch the vision of a larger world.
Jonah was basically working with rural people and he sincerely believed that God had always been partial to rural people. The entire Hebrew Bible reflects this belief. Life began in a rural setting (the Garden of Eden), and cities were cesspools of evil (Sodom and Gomorrah). Had not all the prophets spoken against the cities and then retreated to the countryside for rest and spiritual reflection? Not only was Nineveh urban, but also it was not even in Israel. It was the greatest of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire located on the left bank of the Tigris River in northeastern Mesopotamia (known today as Iraq). Jonah thought God was a tribal deity, limited to Israel. How could God possibly be concerned about the Assyrians? Why should God or Jonah care about them?
Jonah's God was too small, his vision was too limited, and his heart was too cold and hard to get involved in this operation. So he did the only thing he knew to do -- he ran away! He assumed that if he could get out of God's territory, he would escape the claims of God and avoid this defining moment. His method of doing this was to take the next boat to Tarshish, the Timbuktu of the ancient world. You know the story. In his absolute defiance, his determined disobedience to the command of God, Jonah ran to the nearest boat dock (Joppa) and bought a ticket to the farthest place it would sail. The interesting thing is that Jonah was found sleeping through a raging storm that frightened even seasoned sailors. When confronted by the captain, Jonah told them that the Lord was punishing him for his disobedience and for them to throw him overboard, and the storm would subside. However, the heathen sailors had more compassion for Jonah than he had shown for the Ninevites and continued to try to row the boat to safety. Finally, they did throw him overboard, and immediately the sea calmed. They were so fearful of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Perhaps this was their defining moment!
So this is how Jonah found himself in the stomach of the great fish for three days and three nights. The Lord dealt with Jonah and finally commanded the fish to throw Jonah up on dry land. We don't know how much time elapsed before the Lord gave Jonah instructions once again to go and preach to the Ninevites. He told Jonah what to say as he preached, and to Jonah's surprise and dismay, the people of Nineveh believed, called a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. The king, when he heard of this, arose from his throne, threw off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. How could Jonah ever have imagined this turn of events? The king even issued a proclamation that called on all his people to fast, put on sackcloth, and call on God earnestly, that each might turn from his wicked and violent ways. When God saw their deeds, he relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. This king took his duties seriously and heard the word of the Lord. He met his defining moment with amazing haste and solidarity. Everyone repented except Jonah. He was disgusted and irate with God for being gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. What a pitiful man Jonah turned out to be -- whining at God because he blessed his preaching, allowing him to be the vessel that delivered the message of God's displeasure with the people of Nineveh and, therefore, the instrument of their revival and survival. He was so upset that he begged God to let him die. If there had been a comedy network in the day of Jonah, some comedian could have had a wonderful time with this story, pretending to be Jonah. I'll leave it to your imagination to complete that scene.
At first, this seems to be a strange story to have as a lectionary reading for Epiphany. At closer inspection, the spirit of Epiphany shines throughout the story. It has been suggested that this is the John 3:16 passage of the Old Testament. This story makes it clear that God is always eager to save a heathen people and that in the heart of the heathen there is always the possibility of response and repentance to God's message (v. 5). Jonah did not have the spirit of Epiphany but it is clear that God can hit straight with a crooked stick. He accomplishes his purposes even when we fail the defining-moment test.
Now we come to the time when we must decide what this means to us today. It is time to look at our lives and think about how God would grade us on our response to personal defining moments. Remember that King David, with all his wonderful qualities, failed one particular defining moment when he lusted after Bathsheba (and acted upon that lust). There was no turning back after the deed was done. There is no escape from logical consequences.
Do you remember the scene from the movie, Titanic, when the captain was confronted and strongly urged by the owners of the vessel on her maiden voyage to accelerate the speed and compromise on safety standards? He failed his defining moment miserably when he succumbed to their badgering and called for "full speed ahead." Other ships in the area began to radio warnings of wandering icebergs, and one ship, the Californian, tried twice to radio the Titanic, but was cut off because, after all, wealthy Americans had messages they needed to radio to the states. The result is now on the big screen for all the world to view the horror and loss of life. Over 1,500 souls were drowned under the icy waves. A defining moment affecting countless lives of families and friends of the victims was ignored in the midst of pressure from the rich and famous.
What about your personal life? What about your family life, your business life? Defining moments are sometimes as insignificant as signing your name to a half-truth, or skimming just a little off the top of a bank deposit, or calling home to say you were detained at the office when you were really somewhere else. You can provide your own scenario from your daily activities. Like Jonah, we often try to run away from our defining moments, but these times have a way of becoming like the television reruns -- we see them over and over, and it is not always a pretty scene.
Churches also have defining moments. There is probably not a pastor alive who has not witnessed or been a part of a church which just completely failed the defining moment test. Individual churches have decisions to make concerning issues that are soul-wrenching. For example, during the time that Rosa Parks faced her defining moment, there were churches in Alabama that also had to face this issue. History shows that any pastor of a downtown church in any city in Alabama who preached racial inclusiveness faced persecution from his congregation and each was systematically replaced over a short period of time. These churches failed the test -- they completely ignored the Biblical admonition to love one another; that there is no difference in God's eyes of Jew or Greek, black or white, male or female. Whoever heard of Epiphany in a situation like segregation?
My dear friend, Jimmy Allen, has written a book that will tear at your heart. The Burden of a Secret is his sharing of his personal grief and the grief of his family concerning the disease that took the life of his daughter-in-law and baby grandsons. Lydia had been given tainted blood during the delivery of their first child and given this information when the second baby became gravely ill and was diagnosed as having AIDS. Lydia and three-year-old Matt also tested positive. Only the father, Scott, was free of the virus. At the time, Scott was the associate pastor of a church in Colorado, and shortly after telling his parents the shocking news, he also informed his pastor. The pastor asked for Scott's resignation on the spot, and though Scott did not agree, he later found a letter on his desk "accepting" his resignation. The majority of the governing body of the church agreed and simply accepted his resignation. The excuse for this action may be that this was so early in the AIDS epidemic that people were hysterical concerning it. This was the fall of 1985 and not much was known except that it was a deadly and contagious disease.
This church (and I am sure that there have been others) completely and utterly failed its defining moment. The AIDS epidemic, like the segregation issue, has provided the church with unusual opportunities to express loving compassion and to be the Christ figure to victims and their families. Dr. Allen expresses this eloquently in the book: "The church is at its best when it escapes the captivity of its culture, and strips down to the basic task of loving, serving, and sharing the mystery of God's presence with hurting people."2
We need to understand, especially at this Epiphany season, that it is the season to proclaim the glad tidings of God to all those who need to hear. People are hurting in so many ways. People are called upon to carry enormous burdens, and they desperately need help. They need to experience the touch of God as expressed through the church and through individuals. We must proclaim the gospel to all people by all means possible. We must be willing to reach out to offer a healing touch not only to people who are dying of a physical illness, but also to those whose souls are in jeopardy. We do not need to be judge and jury, ready to condemn people. What the world needs more than anything is the loving, compassionate, healing touch that can only come through the love of Christ dwelling in each of us. Jimmy Allen says that he and his family, though they found little help in the church, experienced the support of friends, the love of family, and the grace of God.
Imagine that your church is facing one of these defining moments. What do you think the outcome will be? Will your church pass or fail?
Now think about yourself and your own personal defining moments. What will your "report card" reveal? Will you pass or fail? Will you be like the poet, Robert Frost, in the last verse of the poem, "The Road Not Taken," when he says:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
And now to each of you, both as individuals and as members of a corporate body, listen to the words of Jesus calling us to our defining moment, saying, "Come, follow me."
____________
1. John Oxenham, William Barclay Study Daily Bible: Mark (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Second Edition, 1956), p. 10.
2. Jimmy Allen, Burden of a Secret (Nashville: Moorings, 1995), p. 210.
To every man there openeth
a way and ways and a way.
The high soul treads the highway,
the low soul gropes the low,
and in between on the misty flat
the rest drift to and fro.1
There are choices that challenge us in a deeper way by asking us to choose between two or more ideals in which we deeply believe. Character is formed in these situations because we commit ourselves to irreversible courses of action that shape us personally and professionally. These defining moments uncover things in us that have been hidden, and we discover things about ourselves and reveal them to others. It is in these times that we discover whether we will live up to our personal ideals or only pay lip service to them. Here we discover something in a very painful way -- we discover who we really are.
This has happened to all of God's leaders. For example, Abraham had his defining moment when he heard the voice of God calling him from the security of Ur to the insecurity of the life of a nomad. Can you imagine the conversations that took place in that home and the explanations to the extended family? Abraham obviously spoke very forcefully and convincingly to those who would make this trek with him. Through his decision God began his work of salvation.
We see how Joseph, best-loved son of his father but hated by his older brothers, was sold into slavery. He was brought into Potiphar's household as a servant and soon proved so trustworthy that he was put in charge of his entire house. Only a short time passed until Potiphar's wife repeatedly tempted Joseph to have an affair with her. This was his defining moment. When he refused her, she falsely accused Joseph and he was sent to prison. His decision planted the seeds that produced the exodus.
What about Moses, who faced his defining moment before the burning bush? He very reluctantly gave up the security and obscurity of a shepherd's life to face Pharaoh, and to herd a bunch of grumbling slaves to freedom with Pharaoh's armies in hot pursuit. The defining moment of Moses led to the birth of a new nation.
Of course, Jesus is the ultimate example of facing life's defining moments. After his baptism, he was taken into the wilderness and for forty days and nights struggled with his mission. The author of his defining moment was the devil himself. Only after Jesus faced Satan and made his choice clear did the devil leave him. This was the defining moment that began the ministry of Jesus and changed the world forever.
Jesus had a way of producing defining moments for the disciples as he called each of them to follow him. The first ones to face this were Simon and his brother Andrew, whom Jesus called as they were fishing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Farther along the lake Jesus found the sons of Zebedee, James and John, mending nets in their boat. He called them and they immediately left their boat and their father and followed him. The defining moments and the responses of these disciples, as well as the others, have had an impact on history that continues to this day.
Modern history has taken turns that seem improbable due to the response of individuals to their defining moments. We will never forget the day or the event when Rosa Parks, an African-American domestic worker, refused to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. This event occurred on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. Mrs. Parks, prior to her arrest on this occasion, had observed the quiet strength of her mother and grandmother. She had tried unsuccessfully to register to vote and had experienced public humiliation when bus drivers insisted that blacks pay at the front, then enter by the back door to sit in the back of the bus. In fact, sometimes the drivers would take the fare, then shut the door and drive off, leaving Rosa or other blacks standing there. This continuing mistreatment, not only of herself, but also of the black race in countless ways, culminated in producing the defining moment for Rosa Parks. After this incident, a 382-day bus boycott eventually led to the desegregation of the city's buses. Rosa Parks is known as "the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," but she has said that she would like for people to know that her faith in God, her religious convictions, and her church helped give her the strength to meet her defining moments with courage, which in turn ignited the national civil rights movement and changed the social fabric of America.
My good friend, Senator Max Cleland, has faced and continues to face more defining moments than any of us can ever imagine. Max says in his book, Strong at the Broken Places, that as a child and adolescent he was intent on testing his limits, so it was natural for him to become a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army through ROTC. After college and graduate school, he volunteered for Vietnam in 1967. While there on active duty, an exploding grenade cost him both legs and his right arm. His first defining moment came on the battlefield before being evacuated -- he decided that he wanted to live. Max's story not only involves extreme physical and mental anguish, but turns on the fact that he made a key inner discovery. As he has often said, "After all human effort is spent, another source of strength is available." Max continues to face defining moments that, in his words, "help me become strong at the broken places." Through his public service, both volunteer and elected, Max has made a difference in the quality of life for Georgians, and now, as a United States senator, all Americans.
Now we come to look at our scripture for the third Sunday of Epiphany. The story of Jonah shows beyond the shadow of a doubt that God chooses to use reluctant people to do his work. Jonah definitely did not volunteer to go to witness to the people of Nineveh. The story has several unusual twists and turns and the bottom line seems to be that if at first you don't respond correctly to your defining moment, you'll meet it again and again!
Jonah had successfully lived under the radar of public recognition all of his life, and he liked it that way. He was satisfied with a small vision and little responsibility, virtually no pressure. There is safety in smallness of vision and narrowness of mind and heart, and he had found it. Then God interrupted this narrow rut and presented to Jonah a series of defining moments that challenged him to leave his comfort zone. Actually, that is an understatement of how Jonah felt about the whole situation. However, these challenges revealed much about Jonah and about God, as well. All of Jonah's presuppositions concerning life were challenged by his call from God. He was stretched between two value systems. He never expected to have his comfort area and his narrow lifestyle interrupted by God's demand that he catch the vision of a larger world.
Jonah was basically working with rural people and he sincerely believed that God had always been partial to rural people. The entire Hebrew Bible reflects this belief. Life began in a rural setting (the Garden of Eden), and cities were cesspools of evil (Sodom and Gomorrah). Had not all the prophets spoken against the cities and then retreated to the countryside for rest and spiritual reflection? Not only was Nineveh urban, but also it was not even in Israel. It was the greatest of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire located on the left bank of the Tigris River in northeastern Mesopotamia (known today as Iraq). Jonah thought God was a tribal deity, limited to Israel. How could God possibly be concerned about the Assyrians? Why should God or Jonah care about them?
Jonah's God was too small, his vision was too limited, and his heart was too cold and hard to get involved in this operation. So he did the only thing he knew to do -- he ran away! He assumed that if he could get out of God's territory, he would escape the claims of God and avoid this defining moment. His method of doing this was to take the next boat to Tarshish, the Timbuktu of the ancient world. You know the story. In his absolute defiance, his determined disobedience to the command of God, Jonah ran to the nearest boat dock (Joppa) and bought a ticket to the farthest place it would sail. The interesting thing is that Jonah was found sleeping through a raging storm that frightened even seasoned sailors. When confronted by the captain, Jonah told them that the Lord was punishing him for his disobedience and for them to throw him overboard, and the storm would subside. However, the heathen sailors had more compassion for Jonah than he had shown for the Ninevites and continued to try to row the boat to safety. Finally, they did throw him overboard, and immediately the sea calmed. They were so fearful of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. Perhaps this was their defining moment!
So this is how Jonah found himself in the stomach of the great fish for three days and three nights. The Lord dealt with Jonah and finally commanded the fish to throw Jonah up on dry land. We don't know how much time elapsed before the Lord gave Jonah instructions once again to go and preach to the Ninevites. He told Jonah what to say as he preached, and to Jonah's surprise and dismay, the people of Nineveh believed, called a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. The king, when he heard of this, arose from his throne, threw off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. How could Jonah ever have imagined this turn of events? The king even issued a proclamation that called on all his people to fast, put on sackcloth, and call on God earnestly, that each might turn from his wicked and violent ways. When God saw their deeds, he relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. This king took his duties seriously and heard the word of the Lord. He met his defining moment with amazing haste and solidarity. Everyone repented except Jonah. He was disgusted and irate with God for being gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. What a pitiful man Jonah turned out to be -- whining at God because he blessed his preaching, allowing him to be the vessel that delivered the message of God's displeasure with the people of Nineveh and, therefore, the instrument of their revival and survival. He was so upset that he begged God to let him die. If there had been a comedy network in the day of Jonah, some comedian could have had a wonderful time with this story, pretending to be Jonah. I'll leave it to your imagination to complete that scene.
At first, this seems to be a strange story to have as a lectionary reading for Epiphany. At closer inspection, the spirit of Epiphany shines throughout the story. It has been suggested that this is the John 3:16 passage of the Old Testament. This story makes it clear that God is always eager to save a heathen people and that in the heart of the heathen there is always the possibility of response and repentance to God's message (v. 5). Jonah did not have the spirit of Epiphany but it is clear that God can hit straight with a crooked stick. He accomplishes his purposes even when we fail the defining-moment test.
Now we come to the time when we must decide what this means to us today. It is time to look at our lives and think about how God would grade us on our response to personal defining moments. Remember that King David, with all his wonderful qualities, failed one particular defining moment when he lusted after Bathsheba (and acted upon that lust). There was no turning back after the deed was done. There is no escape from logical consequences.
Do you remember the scene from the movie, Titanic, when the captain was confronted and strongly urged by the owners of the vessel on her maiden voyage to accelerate the speed and compromise on safety standards? He failed his defining moment miserably when he succumbed to their badgering and called for "full speed ahead." Other ships in the area began to radio warnings of wandering icebergs, and one ship, the Californian, tried twice to radio the Titanic, but was cut off because, after all, wealthy Americans had messages they needed to radio to the states. The result is now on the big screen for all the world to view the horror and loss of life. Over 1,500 souls were drowned under the icy waves. A defining moment affecting countless lives of families and friends of the victims was ignored in the midst of pressure from the rich and famous.
What about your personal life? What about your family life, your business life? Defining moments are sometimes as insignificant as signing your name to a half-truth, or skimming just a little off the top of a bank deposit, or calling home to say you were detained at the office when you were really somewhere else. You can provide your own scenario from your daily activities. Like Jonah, we often try to run away from our defining moments, but these times have a way of becoming like the television reruns -- we see them over and over, and it is not always a pretty scene.
Churches also have defining moments. There is probably not a pastor alive who has not witnessed or been a part of a church which just completely failed the defining moment test. Individual churches have decisions to make concerning issues that are soul-wrenching. For example, during the time that Rosa Parks faced her defining moment, there were churches in Alabama that also had to face this issue. History shows that any pastor of a downtown church in any city in Alabama who preached racial inclusiveness faced persecution from his congregation and each was systematically replaced over a short period of time. These churches failed the test -- they completely ignored the Biblical admonition to love one another; that there is no difference in God's eyes of Jew or Greek, black or white, male or female. Whoever heard of Epiphany in a situation like segregation?
My dear friend, Jimmy Allen, has written a book that will tear at your heart. The Burden of a Secret is his sharing of his personal grief and the grief of his family concerning the disease that took the life of his daughter-in-law and baby grandsons. Lydia had been given tainted blood during the delivery of their first child and given this information when the second baby became gravely ill and was diagnosed as having AIDS. Lydia and three-year-old Matt also tested positive. Only the father, Scott, was free of the virus. At the time, Scott was the associate pastor of a church in Colorado, and shortly after telling his parents the shocking news, he also informed his pastor. The pastor asked for Scott's resignation on the spot, and though Scott did not agree, he later found a letter on his desk "accepting" his resignation. The majority of the governing body of the church agreed and simply accepted his resignation. The excuse for this action may be that this was so early in the AIDS epidemic that people were hysterical concerning it. This was the fall of 1985 and not much was known except that it was a deadly and contagious disease.
This church (and I am sure that there have been others) completely and utterly failed its defining moment. The AIDS epidemic, like the segregation issue, has provided the church with unusual opportunities to express loving compassion and to be the Christ figure to victims and their families. Dr. Allen expresses this eloquently in the book: "The church is at its best when it escapes the captivity of its culture, and strips down to the basic task of loving, serving, and sharing the mystery of God's presence with hurting people."2
We need to understand, especially at this Epiphany season, that it is the season to proclaim the glad tidings of God to all those who need to hear. People are hurting in so many ways. People are called upon to carry enormous burdens, and they desperately need help. They need to experience the touch of God as expressed through the church and through individuals. We must proclaim the gospel to all people by all means possible. We must be willing to reach out to offer a healing touch not only to people who are dying of a physical illness, but also to those whose souls are in jeopardy. We do not need to be judge and jury, ready to condemn people. What the world needs more than anything is the loving, compassionate, healing touch that can only come through the love of Christ dwelling in each of us. Jimmy Allen says that he and his family, though they found little help in the church, experienced the support of friends, the love of family, and the grace of God.
Imagine that your church is facing one of these defining moments. What do you think the outcome will be? Will your church pass or fail?
Now think about yourself and your own personal defining moments. What will your "report card" reveal? Will you pass or fail? Will you be like the poet, Robert Frost, in the last verse of the poem, "The Road Not Taken," when he says:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
And now to each of you, both as individuals and as members of a corporate body, listen to the words of Jesus calling us to our defining moment, saying, "Come, follow me."
____________
1. John Oxenham, William Barclay Study Daily Bible: Mark (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, Second Edition, 1956), p. 10.
2. Jimmy Allen, Burden of a Secret (Nashville: Moorings, 1995), p. 210.
