Let George Do It
Sermon
MONEY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Can The Rich Be Righteous; Can The Righteous Be Rich?
Many will remember the decade of the '60s in America. I confess I remember it well, as I spent a good part of it in New York City as a minister - first in Flatbush in Brooklyn, then in Manhattan in East Harlem, working with Puerto Ricans and with blacks extending into the South Bronx and Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.
It was a heady decade. I remember hearing Malcolm X speak to our small group of eight or ten white ministers in Bedford Stuyvesant, unleashing his brilliant, caustic, and sometimes erroneous criticism of white Americans. I remember the Civil Rights protest marches and the student takeovers of colleges and universities and of my own Union Theological Seminary. I remember Woodstock and the Woodstock generation, back--to--the--earth communes, the flower children, Vietnam, and the massive rush to Washington of young intellectuals and idealists determined to bring in a new reality in American society by way of federal and statehouse politics and legislation.
I especially remember Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and Peter, Paul, and Mary's "Blowin' In The Wind" - "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind." If the poets and musicians dreamed of a fairer, freer America, the practical idealists dreamed of laws and bureaucracies which would usher in the America of their dreams.
Theodore White, author and opinion maker, who was especially close to the Kennedys and other liberals of that decade, became gradually disenchanted with the role of big government to produce the great society. He wrote, "Somewhere in the decades of upheaval came a wrong turning." Dr. White, a man who had believed the best about politics and politicians, became disillusioned.
Commenting on the goals of liberalism, he wrote: "They had set out to free everyone and had created a nation of dependents instead." And on the federal budget he wrote: "... no one, absolutely no one, can control the budget of the United States - not the President, not the OMB, not Congress" (quoted in Healing America, Richard Cornuelle, p. 125).
White was on target when he talked about dependents. Richard Cornuelle remarks in his book, Healing America, that "half the Federal budget is now spent for benefits to individuals and two--thirds of those benefits are not linked to financial need" (p. 118). And lest we think much of this can be laid at the feet of big--spending, liberal Democrats, we are to be reminded, says Cornuelle, that the Reagan administration set three records: the biggest tax cut, the biggest tax increase, and the biggest deficit.
In his book, The Federal Bulldozer, Martin Anderson claimed that federal housing programs had destroyed more homes than they had built. Economist Thomas Sowell said, "The total amount of money the government spends on its many antipoverty efforts is three times what would be required to lift every man, woman, and child in America above the official poverty line simply by sending money to the poor" (ibid., p. 86).
On and on the story goes of the federal government taking care of us by spending $200,000 to study speech patterns in Philadelphia, $50,000 to create a taste for chili in rats, $27,000 to find out why inmates want to escape from prison, and $113,417 asking women if they preferred children's clothing that did not require ironing.
To say it another way, once proudly independent, self--sufficient, community--cooperative Americans had a massive postwar shift in mentality. Instead of saying as we had said for so long, that we as individuals, businesses, churches, schools, and communities can handle it ourselves - instead of that, we all said in a massive voice, "Let George do it." And the most obvious "George" at hand was the federal government.
In a microcosm of the country, a similar mood has invaded the church. Our members and friends, many of whom may be over--busy and over--scheduled, increasingly say, when it comes to the work of the church, "Let George do it." Even when it comes to teaching and serving and helping, many church members retreat to their private paradises, shrug their shoulders, and say, "Let George do it."
The only problem is we are running out of "Georges." The only problem is the church, unlike the federal government, does not have the power to tax under the threat of law, fines, and imprisonment. The only problem is the church is largely a volunteer organization, with many of its vital functions dependent on volunteers - volunteers in the work force, volunteers in the form of men working extraordinarily long hours, volunteers increasingly retreating from the discouragements of labyrinthine and outdated church organization and tired, top--heavy bureaucracy.
"Let George do it" has become a danger signal not only to the life and health of the country, but to the life and health of the church. "Let George do it" has become a slogan of evasion, escapism, and despair, indicating many are giving up on the larger, nobler cause.
"Let George do it"? The scripture says, "No," and gives the antidote to this malady.
I.
The first antidote suggested by Paul, the great apostle, is a radical change of thinking.
The early Christians were accused by their opponents as those who came to "turn the world upside down." To be sure, they did cause a paradigm shift, a revolution in the way people perceived reality.
That was driven home forcefully to me when I first visited Greece in 1982. We had gone to the many historic sites - sites I had studied about for years. It was one fantastic experience after another as I stood in places recalling the events occurring there which had changed the course of history.
But one location surprised me - the location of the ancient Oracle of Delphi. We had climbed the fabled mountainside religious sanctuary, passing the ruins of shops, the partially restored treasury of the Athenians, and the ruins of other treasuries, for Delphi was a prosperous religious site.
It was when we were standing at the eastern entrance of the ruins of the Temple of Apollo that the guide asked us to look to the larger stone altar just to our left. That, she said, was donated by the citizens of the island of Chios. Animal sacrifices were offered there for eight centuries, until the Christian Emperor Theodosius forbade them in 397 A.D.
I was standing in the very presence of a radical change of thinking. If once animals of all sizes had been slain and their blood offered to Apollo on that altar, now the altar had been devoid of blood for sixteen centuries. No longer were the smoking carcasses of dead animals to be the symbol of devotion to Apollo. Now, says the Apostle Paul in this startling letter to the Romans, now the sacrifice to God is to be living. And we are to be the sacrifices -ourselves, our bodies and minds, our souls and talents and energies - we are to be not the dead sacrifice, but the living sacrifice.
No longer are we even allowed to say, "Let George do it," to the animals. No longer can we transfer our dedication and devotion to an external act of offering an animal's blood in place of our own. In fact, no longer could we offer anyone else's faith or sacrifice. We could no longer buy our way into the presence of deity. A grandmother's or grandfather's faith will not cover for us, nor will a mother's or father's.
Instead, says Paul, I beseech you by the mercies of God to offer yourselves to God as a living, active, energetic, devoted sacrifice. This is one time and place when a substitute will not do. "George" cannot do it for us. We have to appear personally before Almighty God.
We have subtle ways of evading this responsibility. Some of us hide behind a smokescreen of business or pleasure. Some of us claim we cannot help ourselves, we are only doing what we are programmed to do by our genetics and environment. Others of us claim that the generation in which we were raised really did not allow for such thinking. Still others claim that the religious notions of Paul are out of step with the times. If living sacrifice is to be offered, "Let George do it," we say.
In the companion verse, Paul warns against such thinking. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed, said Paul. Phillips' translation puts it this way, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its own mold, instead be remolded from within by the mind of God."
Another version speaks against allowing ourselves to be overtaken by the fleeting fashions of the times. Without doubt the fashion and clothing industry, along with textiles and advertising, depend on fleeting fashions for their success. They ardently hope we will grow discontent with last year's latest vogue.
That might be good for fashion, but it is not good for religion. God and his values remain constant. God and his demands upon us remain eternal. And God, through his inspired apostle, says we need a radical change in thinking. No substitution or animal sacrifice will do. No evasive shrug of irresponsibility will suffice. No other "George," be they parents or grandparents, will suffice.
Instead, you are to be transformed. You are to offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. George cannot do it for you.
II.
If we need a radical change in the way we think, we also need a radical change in the way we act.
In this famous letter to the Roman Christians, Paul displays his customary way of addressing the problems of the church. For the first eleven chapters he has been speaking of theory and theology, but in chapter twelve, he begins a new approach with a big "therefore." Therefore, since all the forgoing theology is basic to our faith, you should do thus and so. For Paul, like Jesus and the prophets before him, ethics must follow faith, and practice must follow theory. Paul totally agreed with Jesus, who lamented about those who said, "Lord, Lord," but never did anything he asked them to do.
And what is the radical change we need in the way we act? We need, says Paul, to take responsibility for the church - this church. As individual members with diverse gifts, we need to think of the church as a body - the body of Christ. The only way the body can be balanced and healthy and functioning properly, said Paul, is for each member and each group of members to contribute their best talents and abilities for the good of the whole. It will not do to evade responsibility by saying, "Let George do it."
Let's go back to the larger body of American society for a moment. One of the most overlooked factors in American life is the voluntary sector - the voluntary charitable agencies and associations - literally thousands of them. From the American Red Cross, to the agencies of the United Way and Community Chests, to volunteer fire departments (in New York State, volunteer fire departments outnumber paid ones, nine to one!), to service clubs, to hospitals, to colleges and universities - America has been blessed by people who faced up to challenges and problems and said let's do something about them. And they did, in a massive way.
Now, of course, we are plagued by the tendency of many Americans to evade responsibility for the community and society. Not only is the government encroaching more and more upon the private, voluntary sector, more and more private citizens seem to be retreating into their private world paradises.
One economist observed during the Great Depression of the '30s, people were writing about solutions to the problems and were proposing ways in which the country and economy could be saved. Today, in marked contrast, the books seem to concentrate more on how our private fortunes can be maintained when the country and economy collapse.
The macrocosm of the country is reflected in the microcosm of the church. Many Christians, expecting the demise of the church, concern themselves with the salvation of their own souls. They watch religious television, read a religious book or two, listen to religious music occasionally on Sunday morning, drop in to hear a favorite preacher here and there, and regularly are heard to pray, "God, bless me and my wife Sue, my son John, and his wife Jane; us four and no more."
Many American Christians have adopted for themselves the lonesome religious cowboy motif, riding off into the sunset toward their favorite boat or condo or golf course, grandly singing, "My God and I go through the fields together," while all around us are children and youth growing up to be blatantly materialistic, foulmouthed, dirty--minded, and violent beyond belief. Do these children and youth need moral, spiritual, and ethical guidance? "Let George do it," they say with a nonchalant flip of the hand as they relax in their private paradise, hoping by the grace of God the whole thing doesn't collapse before they die.
But notice the radical change in action Paul commands. No escapist pride is allowed where we think ourselves too important or too rich or too powerful or too busy to help build up the body of Christ. Nor are we to think conversely that we are too small or too weak or too poor or too untalented to give to the good of all. All of us have a gift to contribute, a gift "George" cannot give as we can.
Note further, how Paul advises positive, encouraging contributions, gifts which build up the church, the body of Christ, rather than tear it own. When people adopt evasive, escapist attitudes they often become negative and hypercritical. It is a way of rationalizing their evasion of responsibility. They try to excuse themselves from involvement by pointing out how bad things are. If only they had another minister, if only the choir would sing my favorite three songs over and over again, if only the organ weren't so loud or so soft, if only they would bring the children into the service more, or less, if only the sermon were less biblical or more biblical, if only the church would stop asking for money but would give more to help the needy - on and on it goes, and where it stops, nobody knows - the death ballads of negativity and hypercriticism.
And do you know why many of these same people evade responsibility in the church? They are afraid they will be subject to the same corrosive acids of criticism and negativity they have been dispensing. "Let George do it," they say. "We'll be the armchair critics, the Monday morning quarterbacks." And so they are, and so the church languishes from people smug and self--righteous in their criticism and downright hateful in comments about church leaders, totally lacking in the responsible, loving participation which Paul and Jesus command.
In the larger society, "Adam Smith" (George J. W. Goodman), in his book Paper Money, urged the importance of the restoration of a sense of community. Think of it! In a book about money, he called for "social cohesion, solidarity, personal intimacy, emotional depth, moral commitment, continuity in time, a vision of man in his wholeness rather than in one of his roles."
And Richard Cornuelle picks up on that theme, saying, "A good society is not so much the result of grand designs and bold decisions." Instead, says Cornuelle, it is the result of "millions upon millions of small caring acts, repeated day after day, until direct mutual action becomes second nature and to see a problem is to begin to wonder how best to act on it" (op. cit., p. 196).
If that is true of the larger society, how much more is it true of the church? We need hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers doing hundreds upon hundreds of loving, charitable acts to build up the body of Christ.
Dear friends, it is not up to "George" to do it. It is up to you and to me!
Prayer
Eternal God, who in love created the universe as a testimony to your steadfast Word, and who has brought us forth upon the earth to share in creativity and to respond in love to your loving, we tremble in awe before the majesty of the world. These feeble hearts and quivering lips can only stammer with praise before power incomprehensible, before beauty intoxicating and delirious, before minuteness and delicacy the tiniest child's innocent hand could crush were it not for the ongoing, shimmering fecundity of all life. Loving Father, progenitor of all that lives and moves and breathes, in you we have our being, and we worship you.
We confess, even amid our awe and protestations of wonder, that we often grow weary of the world. Old before our time, we lose hope and close our eyes to the possibilities of the new day. Worn down by relationships of constant friction and conflict, we lose heart, and cast about with longing eyes for our salvation, our promise of a better life.
Come to us then, Lord God of mercy, and speak to these frail bodies and wearied minds, that our lives might be made new. Infuse our hearts with energy from above, that those rare, splendid moments of earth's life may not elude us forever.
Help us in our discipleship, too, we pray. Some of us, recruited long ago for your Kingdom's cause, have turned aside to lesser things and baser pursuits. In the time of ordeal, we have denied you, and in the time of success and pleasure, forgotten you. By your mercy, draw us to yourself again by the Spirit's tether, so that we know you again and come to our true selves.
Grant us courage to take our stand beside Jesus, our Master, never being ashamed to confess him and his noble cause in the world. Let our cowardice in justice and righteousness be replaced by fortitude and constancy. Let our fear of ridicule in the cause of integrity be replaced by confidence and forthrightness. We present ourselves for service, O Lord. Train us anew to be your soldiers of truth and love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It was a heady decade. I remember hearing Malcolm X speak to our small group of eight or ten white ministers in Bedford Stuyvesant, unleashing his brilliant, caustic, and sometimes erroneous criticism of white Americans. I remember the Civil Rights protest marches and the student takeovers of colleges and universities and of my own Union Theological Seminary. I remember Woodstock and the Woodstock generation, back--to--the--earth communes, the flower children, Vietnam, and the massive rush to Washington of young intellectuals and idealists determined to bring in a new reality in American society by way of federal and statehouse politics and legislation.
I especially remember Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and Peter, Paul, and Mary's "Blowin' In The Wind" - "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind." If the poets and musicians dreamed of a fairer, freer America, the practical idealists dreamed of laws and bureaucracies which would usher in the America of their dreams.
Theodore White, author and opinion maker, who was especially close to the Kennedys and other liberals of that decade, became gradually disenchanted with the role of big government to produce the great society. He wrote, "Somewhere in the decades of upheaval came a wrong turning." Dr. White, a man who had believed the best about politics and politicians, became disillusioned.
Commenting on the goals of liberalism, he wrote: "They had set out to free everyone and had created a nation of dependents instead." And on the federal budget he wrote: "... no one, absolutely no one, can control the budget of the United States - not the President, not the OMB, not Congress" (quoted in Healing America, Richard Cornuelle, p. 125).
White was on target when he talked about dependents. Richard Cornuelle remarks in his book, Healing America, that "half the Federal budget is now spent for benefits to individuals and two--thirds of those benefits are not linked to financial need" (p. 118). And lest we think much of this can be laid at the feet of big--spending, liberal Democrats, we are to be reminded, says Cornuelle, that the Reagan administration set three records: the biggest tax cut, the biggest tax increase, and the biggest deficit.
In his book, The Federal Bulldozer, Martin Anderson claimed that federal housing programs had destroyed more homes than they had built. Economist Thomas Sowell said, "The total amount of money the government spends on its many antipoverty efforts is three times what would be required to lift every man, woman, and child in America above the official poverty line simply by sending money to the poor" (ibid., p. 86).
On and on the story goes of the federal government taking care of us by spending $200,000 to study speech patterns in Philadelphia, $50,000 to create a taste for chili in rats, $27,000 to find out why inmates want to escape from prison, and $113,417 asking women if they preferred children's clothing that did not require ironing.
To say it another way, once proudly independent, self--sufficient, community--cooperative Americans had a massive postwar shift in mentality. Instead of saying as we had said for so long, that we as individuals, businesses, churches, schools, and communities can handle it ourselves - instead of that, we all said in a massive voice, "Let George do it." And the most obvious "George" at hand was the federal government.
In a microcosm of the country, a similar mood has invaded the church. Our members and friends, many of whom may be over--busy and over--scheduled, increasingly say, when it comes to the work of the church, "Let George do it." Even when it comes to teaching and serving and helping, many church members retreat to their private paradises, shrug their shoulders, and say, "Let George do it."
The only problem is we are running out of "Georges." The only problem is the church, unlike the federal government, does not have the power to tax under the threat of law, fines, and imprisonment. The only problem is the church is largely a volunteer organization, with many of its vital functions dependent on volunteers - volunteers in the work force, volunteers in the form of men working extraordinarily long hours, volunteers increasingly retreating from the discouragements of labyrinthine and outdated church organization and tired, top--heavy bureaucracy.
"Let George do it" has become a danger signal not only to the life and health of the country, but to the life and health of the church. "Let George do it" has become a slogan of evasion, escapism, and despair, indicating many are giving up on the larger, nobler cause.
"Let George do it"? The scripture says, "No," and gives the antidote to this malady.
I.
The first antidote suggested by Paul, the great apostle, is a radical change of thinking.
The early Christians were accused by their opponents as those who came to "turn the world upside down." To be sure, they did cause a paradigm shift, a revolution in the way people perceived reality.
That was driven home forcefully to me when I first visited Greece in 1982. We had gone to the many historic sites - sites I had studied about for years. It was one fantastic experience after another as I stood in places recalling the events occurring there which had changed the course of history.
But one location surprised me - the location of the ancient Oracle of Delphi. We had climbed the fabled mountainside religious sanctuary, passing the ruins of shops, the partially restored treasury of the Athenians, and the ruins of other treasuries, for Delphi was a prosperous religious site.
It was when we were standing at the eastern entrance of the ruins of the Temple of Apollo that the guide asked us to look to the larger stone altar just to our left. That, she said, was donated by the citizens of the island of Chios. Animal sacrifices were offered there for eight centuries, until the Christian Emperor Theodosius forbade them in 397 A.D.
I was standing in the very presence of a radical change of thinking. If once animals of all sizes had been slain and their blood offered to Apollo on that altar, now the altar had been devoid of blood for sixteen centuries. No longer were the smoking carcasses of dead animals to be the symbol of devotion to Apollo. Now, says the Apostle Paul in this startling letter to the Romans, now the sacrifice to God is to be living. And we are to be the sacrifices -ourselves, our bodies and minds, our souls and talents and energies - we are to be not the dead sacrifice, but the living sacrifice.
No longer are we even allowed to say, "Let George do it," to the animals. No longer can we transfer our dedication and devotion to an external act of offering an animal's blood in place of our own. In fact, no longer could we offer anyone else's faith or sacrifice. We could no longer buy our way into the presence of deity. A grandmother's or grandfather's faith will not cover for us, nor will a mother's or father's.
Instead, says Paul, I beseech you by the mercies of God to offer yourselves to God as a living, active, energetic, devoted sacrifice. This is one time and place when a substitute will not do. "George" cannot do it for us. We have to appear personally before Almighty God.
We have subtle ways of evading this responsibility. Some of us hide behind a smokescreen of business or pleasure. Some of us claim we cannot help ourselves, we are only doing what we are programmed to do by our genetics and environment. Others of us claim that the generation in which we were raised really did not allow for such thinking. Still others claim that the religious notions of Paul are out of step with the times. If living sacrifice is to be offered, "Let George do it," we say.
In the companion verse, Paul warns against such thinking. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed, said Paul. Phillips' translation puts it this way, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its own mold, instead be remolded from within by the mind of God."
Another version speaks against allowing ourselves to be overtaken by the fleeting fashions of the times. Without doubt the fashion and clothing industry, along with textiles and advertising, depend on fleeting fashions for their success. They ardently hope we will grow discontent with last year's latest vogue.
That might be good for fashion, but it is not good for religion. God and his values remain constant. God and his demands upon us remain eternal. And God, through his inspired apostle, says we need a radical change in thinking. No substitution or animal sacrifice will do. No evasive shrug of irresponsibility will suffice. No other "George," be they parents or grandparents, will suffice.
Instead, you are to be transformed. You are to offer yourself to God as a living sacrifice. George cannot do it for you.
II.
If we need a radical change in the way we think, we also need a radical change in the way we act.
In this famous letter to the Roman Christians, Paul displays his customary way of addressing the problems of the church. For the first eleven chapters he has been speaking of theory and theology, but in chapter twelve, he begins a new approach with a big "therefore." Therefore, since all the forgoing theology is basic to our faith, you should do thus and so. For Paul, like Jesus and the prophets before him, ethics must follow faith, and practice must follow theory. Paul totally agreed with Jesus, who lamented about those who said, "Lord, Lord," but never did anything he asked them to do.
And what is the radical change we need in the way we act? We need, says Paul, to take responsibility for the church - this church. As individual members with diverse gifts, we need to think of the church as a body - the body of Christ. The only way the body can be balanced and healthy and functioning properly, said Paul, is for each member and each group of members to contribute their best talents and abilities for the good of the whole. It will not do to evade responsibility by saying, "Let George do it."
Let's go back to the larger body of American society for a moment. One of the most overlooked factors in American life is the voluntary sector - the voluntary charitable agencies and associations - literally thousands of them. From the American Red Cross, to the agencies of the United Way and Community Chests, to volunteer fire departments (in New York State, volunteer fire departments outnumber paid ones, nine to one!), to service clubs, to hospitals, to colleges and universities - America has been blessed by people who faced up to challenges and problems and said let's do something about them. And they did, in a massive way.
Now, of course, we are plagued by the tendency of many Americans to evade responsibility for the community and society. Not only is the government encroaching more and more upon the private, voluntary sector, more and more private citizens seem to be retreating into their private world paradises.
One economist observed during the Great Depression of the '30s, people were writing about solutions to the problems and were proposing ways in which the country and economy could be saved. Today, in marked contrast, the books seem to concentrate more on how our private fortunes can be maintained when the country and economy collapse.
The macrocosm of the country is reflected in the microcosm of the church. Many Christians, expecting the demise of the church, concern themselves with the salvation of their own souls. They watch religious television, read a religious book or two, listen to religious music occasionally on Sunday morning, drop in to hear a favorite preacher here and there, and regularly are heard to pray, "God, bless me and my wife Sue, my son John, and his wife Jane; us four and no more."
Many American Christians have adopted for themselves the lonesome religious cowboy motif, riding off into the sunset toward their favorite boat or condo or golf course, grandly singing, "My God and I go through the fields together," while all around us are children and youth growing up to be blatantly materialistic, foulmouthed, dirty--minded, and violent beyond belief. Do these children and youth need moral, spiritual, and ethical guidance? "Let George do it," they say with a nonchalant flip of the hand as they relax in their private paradise, hoping by the grace of God the whole thing doesn't collapse before they die.
But notice the radical change in action Paul commands. No escapist pride is allowed where we think ourselves too important or too rich or too powerful or too busy to help build up the body of Christ. Nor are we to think conversely that we are too small or too weak or too poor or too untalented to give to the good of all. All of us have a gift to contribute, a gift "George" cannot give as we can.
Note further, how Paul advises positive, encouraging contributions, gifts which build up the church, the body of Christ, rather than tear it own. When people adopt evasive, escapist attitudes they often become negative and hypercritical. It is a way of rationalizing their evasion of responsibility. They try to excuse themselves from involvement by pointing out how bad things are. If only they had another minister, if only the choir would sing my favorite three songs over and over again, if only the organ weren't so loud or so soft, if only they would bring the children into the service more, or less, if only the sermon were less biblical or more biblical, if only the church would stop asking for money but would give more to help the needy - on and on it goes, and where it stops, nobody knows - the death ballads of negativity and hypercriticism.
And do you know why many of these same people evade responsibility in the church? They are afraid they will be subject to the same corrosive acids of criticism and negativity they have been dispensing. "Let George do it," they say. "We'll be the armchair critics, the Monday morning quarterbacks." And so they are, and so the church languishes from people smug and self--righteous in their criticism and downright hateful in comments about church leaders, totally lacking in the responsible, loving participation which Paul and Jesus command.
In the larger society, "Adam Smith" (George J. W. Goodman), in his book Paper Money, urged the importance of the restoration of a sense of community. Think of it! In a book about money, he called for "social cohesion, solidarity, personal intimacy, emotional depth, moral commitment, continuity in time, a vision of man in his wholeness rather than in one of his roles."
And Richard Cornuelle picks up on that theme, saying, "A good society is not so much the result of grand designs and bold decisions." Instead, says Cornuelle, it is the result of "millions upon millions of small caring acts, repeated day after day, until direct mutual action becomes second nature and to see a problem is to begin to wonder how best to act on it" (op. cit., p. 196).
If that is true of the larger society, how much more is it true of the church? We need hundreds upon hundreds of volunteers doing hundreds upon hundreds of loving, charitable acts to build up the body of Christ.
Dear friends, it is not up to "George" to do it. It is up to you and to me!
Prayer
Eternal God, who in love created the universe as a testimony to your steadfast Word, and who has brought us forth upon the earth to share in creativity and to respond in love to your loving, we tremble in awe before the majesty of the world. These feeble hearts and quivering lips can only stammer with praise before power incomprehensible, before beauty intoxicating and delirious, before minuteness and delicacy the tiniest child's innocent hand could crush were it not for the ongoing, shimmering fecundity of all life. Loving Father, progenitor of all that lives and moves and breathes, in you we have our being, and we worship you.
We confess, even amid our awe and protestations of wonder, that we often grow weary of the world. Old before our time, we lose hope and close our eyes to the possibilities of the new day. Worn down by relationships of constant friction and conflict, we lose heart, and cast about with longing eyes for our salvation, our promise of a better life.
Come to us then, Lord God of mercy, and speak to these frail bodies and wearied minds, that our lives might be made new. Infuse our hearts with energy from above, that those rare, splendid moments of earth's life may not elude us forever.
Help us in our discipleship, too, we pray. Some of us, recruited long ago for your Kingdom's cause, have turned aside to lesser things and baser pursuits. In the time of ordeal, we have denied you, and in the time of success and pleasure, forgotten you. By your mercy, draw us to yourself again by the Spirit's tether, so that we know you again and come to our true selves.
Grant us courage to take our stand beside Jesus, our Master, never being ashamed to confess him and his noble cause in the world. Let our cowardice in justice and righteousness be replaced by fortitude and constancy. Let our fear of ridicule in the cause of integrity be replaced by confidence and forthrightness. We present ourselves for service, O Lord. Train us anew to be your soldiers of truth and love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
