Second Sunday In Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 (C, E); Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 (RC)
Abram (later Abraham) is promised a covenant relationship with and by God. If we look beyond the ancient concept of sacrifice, we see that Abraham has heard himself called by God into a service which God will therefore sustain. In a sermon, I find no better theme than that suggested by Walter Russell Bowie who wrote in his exposition of this passage in Interpreter's Bible, that this passage turned his mind to another passage in Hebrews 11:8: "By faith, Abraham, when he was called ... went out." That's an excellent theme: When God calls us, we can trust in God's faithful support, and we can safely go out.
Lesson 2: Philippians 3:17--4:1 (C, RC, E)
Paul urges certain people in the Church at Philippi to imitate him. We won't bother ourselves here about the appropriateness of that kind of counsel. Certainly you and I can urge others to imitate Paul. Whether Paul meant that or, as some critics prefer to think, Paul was actually urging imitation of Jesus, it's clear that the main point here is that anyone who claims to be a Christian must validate that claim by living in a certain way. Ultimately, Paul taught that Jesus will see that our mortal bodies which are lowly, and of little value given the aging process, will be transformed into bodies like that of the glorified Jesus.
In preaching, we have here the injunction that we are to avoid bad habits which misuse our bodies, giving ourselves over to the many forms of dissipation so easily accessible, and we are to cultivate self-discipline in the way we live.
Gospel: Luke 13:31-35 (C); Luke 13:(22-30) 31-35 (E)
Some of my readers may have experienced a sad love affair. To love someone only to find that love is not returned must be a terrible life experience. I remember the story told by one author of a family in Scotland whose young son had fallen into bad company. As much as he was loved at home, the boy was spending much of his time in pubs, avoiding school, and generally heading for destruction. The young fellow paid no attention to his parents' efforts to save him from his obvious fate. One evening the boy stumbled home, went through the living room where his parents were sitting, without a greeting, staggered up the stairs, fell on his bed, and was soon asleep. The parents sat before the fire in their small fireplace for a while, not speaking, each lost in thought. At last, the mother got up and climbed the stairs. Dad sat for a time, then followed her. As he passed his son's room, he saw the boy's mother lean over and gently kiss her sleeping son. When she saw her husband, she explained, "He won't let me do that when he's awake."
Unrequited love. Is that how God sometimes feels towards us? Is God like that mother, never giving up, always loving, yet having no way to force us to be other than we choose to be?
Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 (RC)
(See The Transfiguration Of Our Lord.)
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Step Out"
Text: Genesis 15:1
Theme: I love something former long distance runner Steve Prefontaine once said: "If you can't win, make the one ahead of you break the record." Those of you who are competitive in any sport -- and I don't think God would disapprove so long as we do so with good sportsmanship -- will understand that motto. In this life, we are called to gather ourselves for some kind of strenuous undertaking, depending on several factors. These, of course, include our physical and mental gifts and limitations, our opportunities, our sense of mission in life. But I believe everyone of us has something we are to do, usually something scary if we only knew, and I believe God intends to help us draw on our own inner strengths, as well as upon whatever resources God may choose to add to those we already have.
1. We all have a mission. Maybe that's too strong a word for some life vocations, but if our vocational undertaking is what we're able to do, if it is done with courage and sincerity, if it is done with integrity, we can pursue it with complete self-confidence. I don't care whether a person is cut out to be a CEO, a minister, a carpenter, a furnace repair man, a nurse, a teacher, a garbage collector -- if it is what one knows in his or her heart of hearts is right, then step out and be assured God will want to help. I say "want to help" because God can, in fact, only help if we are open to that help.
2. Be prepared for difficult times. Important goals don't come easily. They shouldn't. They're not supposed to. You'll remember the classic story of the weekend golfer who watched one of the pros knocking balls off the practice tee 300 yards with no mistakes. He said, "I sure wish I could hit a ball like that." "I doubt that," the busy pro replied. "No, seriously, I'd give anything to hit like you do," the watcher insisted. "Okay," the pro said. "You come out here every morning and hit balls for two hours. When your hands are so sore you have to go in and put band-aids on the blisters, you come back out and hit more balls. You stay here all afternoon, then you come back the next morning and do it all over again. You do that for the next three years. Then, just maybe, you'll be able to hit the ball like I do, because that's how I learned."
I recall as a preacher a conversation I had with some classmates in seminary. I actually said (I'm ashamed to admit), "I hope to be at my very best as a preacher by the time I have preached ten times." Well, I was then appointed to a student church. At the end of about my fourth or fifth month, an elderly retired preacher in my congregation, said to me: "Carver, I think you're doing a fine job here." As I prepared some modest reply, he finished the sentence with this: "After all, preaching isn't everything." After that, I began going to my church late at night, preaching to an empty sanctuary and a new tape recorder. Then, I began actually listening to myself. I recall a visit from a friend a few weeks later, a man who rarely attended church. I played one of my sermons for him since he had never heard me preach. In the middle of it, I looked over and he was asleep. Needless to say, I was many sermons away from adequate preaching, and many a long walk on the verge of tears still stood between me and any really acceptable sermons. I realize we all think we're pretty good from the beginning. I have yet to hear any very good sermons from someone who hasn't paid a terrible price to master the art.
3. God helps us. Through prayer, and through a sense of serving others, resources which at times seem downright mysterious, seem to operate in us, and we find ourselves amazingly able to do things we might have thought impossible. This for two reasons. One, we are supplied already with capabilities we seldom realize, and second, God keeps the promise made to Abraham, that we will be enabled to do what we are here to do.
Title: "Be The Best You Can Be"
Text: Philippians 3:17--4:1
Theme: We've all heard that slogan, and it's a pretty good summons: Be the best you can be. It's what Paul was urging in this passage. To imitate Paul is a tall order, given what Paul finally managed in his life. It might be worthwhile to look at the life of that great man.
1. Paul had courage. That's an indispensable quality if we're to face life fully. It may refer to physical courage. Paul certainly had that. However, not everyone has physical capacities to make it wise to be foolhardy. I was an admirer of Audie Murphy, America's most decorated soldier. He held every medal given by the United States government for bravery in combat, as well as three foreign decorations for bravery. But I could never have brought myself to do anything like that. But there are other forms of courage, including moral courage. I look at courage as an effort of the will. If a person isn't scared in the face of some risk, then to face it is something other than courage. To face it when you are afraid, that's courage. A good illustration might be found in the book Red Badge Of Courage.
2. Paul had kindness. That's the hallmark of a Christian: kindness. It's how we treat people in all situations. A few years ago, there was a major emphasis on the importance of "honesty" in personal relationships. I heard a Ph.D. psychologist describe any effort to be kind at the expense of brutal honesty as weakness. Tell her how awful her dress looks, for goodness sakes. Tell the kid what an awful swing he has with the bat. How else are people going to know, for goodness sakes? But a Christian finds a way to be honest when it counts, yet is always kind in the process. That still leaves plenty of room for direct talk.
3. Paul had determination. Maybe my dad would have called that stick-to-itiveness. By this I mean that once he decided he should do something, he persevered until it was done. This meant people could depend on Paul. They always knew that if he promised something, it would be done.
4. Paul had faith. One need only read the book of Acts, or Second Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24-28. Paul was willing to run all sorts of risks because of his assurance that God was with him. There's a wonderful scene in the third Indiana Jones movie where Jones' father had been shot, and the only antidote which can save his life is across a wide, incredibly deep chasm. He has some notes which indicate that there is a bridge across the chasm, but when he tries to find it there is nothing there. Still, according to his father's notes, it is there, carefully camouflaged. So Indiana Jones closes his eyes and steps out into space. Lo, there was the bridge just as his father promised. If you are using video clips, this one could be powerful.
Title: "Choose Life"
Text: Luke 13:31-35
Theme: I can decide how to respond when someone loves me, or when life presents to me an opportunity to love. Leo Buscaglia wrote: "I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say 'No, I won't do it ...' " This is so true. It isn't only in response to being loved. It's larger than that. I have the power to decide what I will do with life as it comes to me. I can brood, and feel sorry, and feel lost or betrayed. Or, I can stand up and choose to be the man God equipped me to be. There will be disappointments along the way. There will be rejections, failures, injuries. But while it may not be my fault if something unpleasant happens to me, it is my fault if I allow it to damage me. Eugene O'Neill wrote: "None of us can heal the things that life has done to us. They're done before we can realize what's being done, and then they make you do things all of your life until these things are constantly coming between you and what you'd like to be. And in that way you seem to lose yourself forever."
What has this to do with our text? The text brings to my mind the entire matter of rejection. Just as Jesus felt rejected by the people he loved, so we will have to accept the same painful experience at times. Not everyone feels this the same way. I know one or two people whom it's hard to reject because they keep coming back as though nothing has happened. Whether that's courage or stupidity or unbreakable love I can't say. I also know people who are easily hurt by any sign of rejection. The point is, we must know ourselves and realize that nine times out of ten the rejection was unintentional.
1. Rejection always hurts. It has seemed to me that the pain of having his love rejected may have hurt Jesus even more than the physical pain of the crucifixion. Likewise, most of us soon discover in life that rejection leaves a scar. My little grandson just played briefly in a soccer game. It was an "All Star" game and he was supposedly one of those. But he stood on the sidelines most of the game. Later, the coach called to apologize, saying he guessed he was too intent on winning. But that "apology" had the opposite effect. It told Corey the coach didn't think he was good enough. No apology is good enough to offset the original rejection.
2. If we wish to practice love, we must be careful about rejecting people. That doesn't mean we always respond as others wish us to. It's the sad way of the world that sometimes one person loves another in a romantic way, and that love is not reciprocated. That's one of those things we can't control. We can, however, decide how to deflect such amorous approaches. In our vocations, in our friendship relationships, in our sporting activities, we all must expect to suffer -- and to hand out -- occasional rejection. Most men can recall the days when the neighborhood kids chose up sides for the ball game, and we were chosen last. As we grow, we learn, however, to do these necessary things as gently as possible. When my daughter was small, she had a book with a title The Club Against Nancy. It was about some girls who formed a club for the express purpose of rejecting poor Nancy. Of course it had a happy ending with a moral, but it pointed out the way in which we can inflict real and lasting hurt on someone by such action.
3. The most effective antidote is forgiveness. I suppose it's human to fantasize revenge for a while. Only the saints are completely free of that. But as long as we can refuse to act out such inclinations, and as long as we can bring ourselves to a point of forgiving the offender, we can make our way through life intact as a person.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Phil Jackson, coach of the world champion Chicago Bulls of the NBA, tells that when he first became coach, his nine-year-old son begged to meet Michael Jordan. The boy had posters in his room, and read everything he could about the famous player. Finally, the boy was allowed to attend a practice and Jordan introduced himself to the boy. Afterward, the boy said to his dad: "What do I do now? I've already achieved my life's goal."
____________
"In the spring of 1953, I had left my job at Lawrenceville to be a full-time writer in New York, and it was that fall, with my third novel failing to come to life for me -- the possibility, at least, of a life in Christ, with Christ, and, on some fine day conceivably, even a life for Christ, if I could ever find out what such a life involved, could find somewhere in myself courage enough, faith enough, craziness and grace enough, to undertake the living of it."
-- Frederick Buechner in Now & Then
____________
In a small town in Pennsylvania there was a Baptist church, one of whose members was a terrible trial for the pastor. The man was constantly critical of the pastor, and caused problems wherever he went. But one day the man went into the Continental army of General George Washington. The day came when the troublemaker was found to have betrayed the army and, apprehended, was sentenced to hang. The Baptist pastor, hearing of this, walked seventy miles to Washington's headquarters. Washington received the pastor who made an impassioned plea for the convicted man's life. After reviewing the circumstances, Washington said to the pastor: "I'm impressed that you have walked all this way to make an appeal for your friend. Nonetheless, I cannot pardon the man. His crime requires that he be executed." "Friend?" the pastor replied. "But General, he is not my friend. He is my enemy." Washington, startled, queried the pastor who told of his constant problems with the man. "But you came this far to plead for the life of your enemy? Then I will pardon him, for your sake."
-- told by Bishop Gerald Kennedy
____________
I know of a young man who was raised in a fine church, attended somewhat regularly, but along about his college years he quit. He said that frankly, the Christian faith just didn't do much for him, and frankly, he found church rather boring. Oh yes, it was probably all true. Fine for those who like that sort of thing, or who need it. But "not for me." In other words, for this fellow, Christianity was an intellectual thing. However, he reported that one night as he was struggling with some internal issues, he went for a walk and happened by his church. The door was unlocked, the church was empty, he went into the sanctuary and took a seat. Although the place was dark, moonlight entered through a skylight and gently washed over a brass cross on the altar table. At first this young man said he merely stared at that cross. But as he did -- these are his words -- "It was like a Roman candle went off in my head." He continued: "All of a sudden, I realized that Jesus died for me. I knew he had died for everyone else, but just now it got through to me that he had suffered horrible pain and humiliation and rejection just for me. He died for me so that I could find my way to God and to God's love and power." He said that joy and peace flooded through him. Finally, he said, "I knew that nothing I had ever done could prevent God from receiving and loving me."
____________
Dr. T. Glynn Williams when Associate Director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center told Bruce Larson that he doesn't believe people are created to be safe, and if there is no risk and danger in one's life, we will create it. He said he sees this as a constructive urge, not a destructive one. He contended that the need for risk and danger is universal to all humans. Deprived of danger, we have a deep need to create some or, as Larson put the matter, put ourselves where "interesting things can happen."
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 27 -- "The Lord is my light and my salvation."
Prayer Of The Day
Eternal God, for the promise of forgiveness for our wrongs, and of new life in Christ, we are most grateful. As we stumble at times, falling short, impulsively saying hurtful words to others, even those we love, doing things which in our best moments we know to be wrong, often blinding ourselves to our own faults while exaggerating in our minds the faults of others, we come to you now in penitence and pray for forgiveness. We also pray for enlightenment, that we might see ourselves more clearly, and become more like you created us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Lesson 1: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 (C, E); Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 (RC)
Abram (later Abraham) is promised a covenant relationship with and by God. If we look beyond the ancient concept of sacrifice, we see that Abraham has heard himself called by God into a service which God will therefore sustain. In a sermon, I find no better theme than that suggested by Walter Russell Bowie who wrote in his exposition of this passage in Interpreter's Bible, that this passage turned his mind to another passage in Hebrews 11:8: "By faith, Abraham, when he was called ... went out." That's an excellent theme: When God calls us, we can trust in God's faithful support, and we can safely go out.
Lesson 2: Philippians 3:17--4:1 (C, RC, E)
Paul urges certain people in the Church at Philippi to imitate him. We won't bother ourselves here about the appropriateness of that kind of counsel. Certainly you and I can urge others to imitate Paul. Whether Paul meant that or, as some critics prefer to think, Paul was actually urging imitation of Jesus, it's clear that the main point here is that anyone who claims to be a Christian must validate that claim by living in a certain way. Ultimately, Paul taught that Jesus will see that our mortal bodies which are lowly, and of little value given the aging process, will be transformed into bodies like that of the glorified Jesus.
In preaching, we have here the injunction that we are to avoid bad habits which misuse our bodies, giving ourselves over to the many forms of dissipation so easily accessible, and we are to cultivate self-discipline in the way we live.
Gospel: Luke 13:31-35 (C); Luke 13:(22-30) 31-35 (E)
Some of my readers may have experienced a sad love affair. To love someone only to find that love is not returned must be a terrible life experience. I remember the story told by one author of a family in Scotland whose young son had fallen into bad company. As much as he was loved at home, the boy was spending much of his time in pubs, avoiding school, and generally heading for destruction. The young fellow paid no attention to his parents' efforts to save him from his obvious fate. One evening the boy stumbled home, went through the living room where his parents were sitting, without a greeting, staggered up the stairs, fell on his bed, and was soon asleep. The parents sat before the fire in their small fireplace for a while, not speaking, each lost in thought. At last, the mother got up and climbed the stairs. Dad sat for a time, then followed her. As he passed his son's room, he saw the boy's mother lean over and gently kiss her sleeping son. When she saw her husband, she explained, "He won't let me do that when he's awake."
Unrequited love. Is that how God sometimes feels towards us? Is God like that mother, never giving up, always loving, yet having no way to force us to be other than we choose to be?
Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 (RC)
(See The Transfiguration Of Our Lord.)
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "Step Out"
Text: Genesis 15:1
Theme: I love something former long distance runner Steve Prefontaine once said: "If you can't win, make the one ahead of you break the record." Those of you who are competitive in any sport -- and I don't think God would disapprove so long as we do so with good sportsmanship -- will understand that motto. In this life, we are called to gather ourselves for some kind of strenuous undertaking, depending on several factors. These, of course, include our physical and mental gifts and limitations, our opportunities, our sense of mission in life. But I believe everyone of us has something we are to do, usually something scary if we only knew, and I believe God intends to help us draw on our own inner strengths, as well as upon whatever resources God may choose to add to those we already have.
1. We all have a mission. Maybe that's too strong a word for some life vocations, but if our vocational undertaking is what we're able to do, if it is done with courage and sincerity, if it is done with integrity, we can pursue it with complete self-confidence. I don't care whether a person is cut out to be a CEO, a minister, a carpenter, a furnace repair man, a nurse, a teacher, a garbage collector -- if it is what one knows in his or her heart of hearts is right, then step out and be assured God will want to help. I say "want to help" because God can, in fact, only help if we are open to that help.
2. Be prepared for difficult times. Important goals don't come easily. They shouldn't. They're not supposed to. You'll remember the classic story of the weekend golfer who watched one of the pros knocking balls off the practice tee 300 yards with no mistakes. He said, "I sure wish I could hit a ball like that." "I doubt that," the busy pro replied. "No, seriously, I'd give anything to hit like you do," the watcher insisted. "Okay," the pro said. "You come out here every morning and hit balls for two hours. When your hands are so sore you have to go in and put band-aids on the blisters, you come back out and hit more balls. You stay here all afternoon, then you come back the next morning and do it all over again. You do that for the next three years. Then, just maybe, you'll be able to hit the ball like I do, because that's how I learned."
I recall as a preacher a conversation I had with some classmates in seminary. I actually said (I'm ashamed to admit), "I hope to be at my very best as a preacher by the time I have preached ten times." Well, I was then appointed to a student church. At the end of about my fourth or fifth month, an elderly retired preacher in my congregation, said to me: "Carver, I think you're doing a fine job here." As I prepared some modest reply, he finished the sentence with this: "After all, preaching isn't everything." After that, I began going to my church late at night, preaching to an empty sanctuary and a new tape recorder. Then, I began actually listening to myself. I recall a visit from a friend a few weeks later, a man who rarely attended church. I played one of my sermons for him since he had never heard me preach. In the middle of it, I looked over and he was asleep. Needless to say, I was many sermons away from adequate preaching, and many a long walk on the verge of tears still stood between me and any really acceptable sermons. I realize we all think we're pretty good from the beginning. I have yet to hear any very good sermons from someone who hasn't paid a terrible price to master the art.
3. God helps us. Through prayer, and through a sense of serving others, resources which at times seem downright mysterious, seem to operate in us, and we find ourselves amazingly able to do things we might have thought impossible. This for two reasons. One, we are supplied already with capabilities we seldom realize, and second, God keeps the promise made to Abraham, that we will be enabled to do what we are here to do.
Title: "Be The Best You Can Be"
Text: Philippians 3:17--4:1
Theme: We've all heard that slogan, and it's a pretty good summons: Be the best you can be. It's what Paul was urging in this passage. To imitate Paul is a tall order, given what Paul finally managed in his life. It might be worthwhile to look at the life of that great man.
1. Paul had courage. That's an indispensable quality if we're to face life fully. It may refer to physical courage. Paul certainly had that. However, not everyone has physical capacities to make it wise to be foolhardy. I was an admirer of Audie Murphy, America's most decorated soldier. He held every medal given by the United States government for bravery in combat, as well as three foreign decorations for bravery. But I could never have brought myself to do anything like that. But there are other forms of courage, including moral courage. I look at courage as an effort of the will. If a person isn't scared in the face of some risk, then to face it is something other than courage. To face it when you are afraid, that's courage. A good illustration might be found in the book Red Badge Of Courage.
2. Paul had kindness. That's the hallmark of a Christian: kindness. It's how we treat people in all situations. A few years ago, there was a major emphasis on the importance of "honesty" in personal relationships. I heard a Ph.D. psychologist describe any effort to be kind at the expense of brutal honesty as weakness. Tell her how awful her dress looks, for goodness sakes. Tell the kid what an awful swing he has with the bat. How else are people going to know, for goodness sakes? But a Christian finds a way to be honest when it counts, yet is always kind in the process. That still leaves plenty of room for direct talk.
3. Paul had determination. Maybe my dad would have called that stick-to-itiveness. By this I mean that once he decided he should do something, he persevered until it was done. This meant people could depend on Paul. They always knew that if he promised something, it would be done.
4. Paul had faith. One need only read the book of Acts, or Second Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24-28. Paul was willing to run all sorts of risks because of his assurance that God was with him. There's a wonderful scene in the third Indiana Jones movie where Jones' father had been shot, and the only antidote which can save his life is across a wide, incredibly deep chasm. He has some notes which indicate that there is a bridge across the chasm, but when he tries to find it there is nothing there. Still, according to his father's notes, it is there, carefully camouflaged. So Indiana Jones closes his eyes and steps out into space. Lo, there was the bridge just as his father promised. If you are using video clips, this one could be powerful.
Title: "Choose Life"
Text: Luke 13:31-35
Theme: I can decide how to respond when someone loves me, or when life presents to me an opportunity to love. Leo Buscaglia wrote: "I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say 'No, I won't do it ...' " This is so true. It isn't only in response to being loved. It's larger than that. I have the power to decide what I will do with life as it comes to me. I can brood, and feel sorry, and feel lost or betrayed. Or, I can stand up and choose to be the man God equipped me to be. There will be disappointments along the way. There will be rejections, failures, injuries. But while it may not be my fault if something unpleasant happens to me, it is my fault if I allow it to damage me. Eugene O'Neill wrote: "None of us can heal the things that life has done to us. They're done before we can realize what's being done, and then they make you do things all of your life until these things are constantly coming between you and what you'd like to be. And in that way you seem to lose yourself forever."
What has this to do with our text? The text brings to my mind the entire matter of rejection. Just as Jesus felt rejected by the people he loved, so we will have to accept the same painful experience at times. Not everyone feels this the same way. I know one or two people whom it's hard to reject because they keep coming back as though nothing has happened. Whether that's courage or stupidity or unbreakable love I can't say. I also know people who are easily hurt by any sign of rejection. The point is, we must know ourselves and realize that nine times out of ten the rejection was unintentional.
1. Rejection always hurts. It has seemed to me that the pain of having his love rejected may have hurt Jesus even more than the physical pain of the crucifixion. Likewise, most of us soon discover in life that rejection leaves a scar. My little grandson just played briefly in a soccer game. It was an "All Star" game and he was supposedly one of those. But he stood on the sidelines most of the game. Later, the coach called to apologize, saying he guessed he was too intent on winning. But that "apology" had the opposite effect. It told Corey the coach didn't think he was good enough. No apology is good enough to offset the original rejection.
2. If we wish to practice love, we must be careful about rejecting people. That doesn't mean we always respond as others wish us to. It's the sad way of the world that sometimes one person loves another in a romantic way, and that love is not reciprocated. That's one of those things we can't control. We can, however, decide how to deflect such amorous approaches. In our vocations, in our friendship relationships, in our sporting activities, we all must expect to suffer -- and to hand out -- occasional rejection. Most men can recall the days when the neighborhood kids chose up sides for the ball game, and we were chosen last. As we grow, we learn, however, to do these necessary things as gently as possible. When my daughter was small, she had a book with a title The Club Against Nancy. It was about some girls who formed a club for the express purpose of rejecting poor Nancy. Of course it had a happy ending with a moral, but it pointed out the way in which we can inflict real and lasting hurt on someone by such action.
3. The most effective antidote is forgiveness. I suppose it's human to fantasize revenge for a while. Only the saints are completely free of that. But as long as we can refuse to act out such inclinations, and as long as we can bring ourselves to a point of forgiving the offender, we can make our way through life intact as a person.
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Phil Jackson, coach of the world champion Chicago Bulls of the NBA, tells that when he first became coach, his nine-year-old son begged to meet Michael Jordan. The boy had posters in his room, and read everything he could about the famous player. Finally, the boy was allowed to attend a practice and Jordan introduced himself to the boy. Afterward, the boy said to his dad: "What do I do now? I've already achieved my life's goal."
____________
"In the spring of 1953, I had left my job at Lawrenceville to be a full-time writer in New York, and it was that fall, with my third novel failing to come to life for me -- the possibility, at least, of a life in Christ, with Christ, and, on some fine day conceivably, even a life for Christ, if I could ever find out what such a life involved, could find somewhere in myself courage enough, faith enough, craziness and grace enough, to undertake the living of it."
-- Frederick Buechner in Now & Then
____________
In a small town in Pennsylvania there was a Baptist church, one of whose members was a terrible trial for the pastor. The man was constantly critical of the pastor, and caused problems wherever he went. But one day the man went into the Continental army of General George Washington. The day came when the troublemaker was found to have betrayed the army and, apprehended, was sentenced to hang. The Baptist pastor, hearing of this, walked seventy miles to Washington's headquarters. Washington received the pastor who made an impassioned plea for the convicted man's life. After reviewing the circumstances, Washington said to the pastor: "I'm impressed that you have walked all this way to make an appeal for your friend. Nonetheless, I cannot pardon the man. His crime requires that he be executed." "Friend?" the pastor replied. "But General, he is not my friend. He is my enemy." Washington, startled, queried the pastor who told of his constant problems with the man. "But you came this far to plead for the life of your enemy? Then I will pardon him, for your sake."
-- told by Bishop Gerald Kennedy
____________
I know of a young man who was raised in a fine church, attended somewhat regularly, but along about his college years he quit. He said that frankly, the Christian faith just didn't do much for him, and frankly, he found church rather boring. Oh yes, it was probably all true. Fine for those who like that sort of thing, or who need it. But "not for me." In other words, for this fellow, Christianity was an intellectual thing. However, he reported that one night as he was struggling with some internal issues, he went for a walk and happened by his church. The door was unlocked, the church was empty, he went into the sanctuary and took a seat. Although the place was dark, moonlight entered through a skylight and gently washed over a brass cross on the altar table. At first this young man said he merely stared at that cross. But as he did -- these are his words -- "It was like a Roman candle went off in my head." He continued: "All of a sudden, I realized that Jesus died for me. I knew he had died for everyone else, but just now it got through to me that he had suffered horrible pain and humiliation and rejection just for me. He died for me so that I could find my way to God and to God's love and power." He said that joy and peace flooded through him. Finally, he said, "I knew that nothing I had ever done could prevent God from receiving and loving me."
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Dr. T. Glynn Williams when Associate Director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center told Bruce Larson that he doesn't believe people are created to be safe, and if there is no risk and danger in one's life, we will create it. He said he sees this as a constructive urge, not a destructive one. He contended that the need for risk and danger is universal to all humans. Deprived of danger, we have a deep need to create some or, as Larson put the matter, put ourselves where "interesting things can happen."
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Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 27 -- "The Lord is my light and my salvation."
Prayer Of The Day
Eternal God, for the promise of forgiveness for our wrongs, and of new life in Christ, we are most grateful. As we stumble at times, falling short, impulsively saying hurtful words to others, even those we love, doing things which in our best moments we know to be wrong, often blinding ourselves to our own faults while exaggerating in our minds the faults of others, we come to you now in penitence and pray for forgiveness. We also pray for enlightenment, that we might see ourselves more clearly, and become more like you created us to be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
