Trinity Sunday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VI, Cycle C
Object:
COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 (C); Proverbs 8:22-31 (RC)
Wisdom was, according to ancient belief, an entity which was more than the sum total of human wise knowledge. In some ways it constituted a semi-independent power. As Bernhard Anderson explained, Wisdom was "the agent of God's creation and the intermediary between God and the world ... For the Christian Church, the wisdom movement came to its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Paul identified Wisdom with Christ...." So here we have the identification of that which we might now conceive to be the forerunner of Christ as the companion of God at the outset of creation. In preaching I would try to avoid being too high flown and would, if using this passage, think in terms of the intimate association of Jesus Christ with God from the beginning of time. In fact, I would probably couple this passage with the lesson from Romans where we will read that through Christ we are set free from the wrath of God through God's free grace.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 6:1-8 (E)
(See Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany.)
Lesson 2: Romans 5:1-5 (C, RC)
It's amazing to me that Paul was able to pack so much power into so few words. First, he summarizes the basic emphasis of his theology by promising that through Jesus Christ we receive God's grace. By drawing on the total of our knowledge of Paul's writings, we also know several things about this promise. It is free. I don't have to earn God's grace. In fact, by definition, it is a gift which is undeserved. This means my efforts to achieve excellent moral conduct must result from my gratitude for this gift, not from some neurotic hope that I can placate God and thus earn divine favor. We're all familiar with Martin Luther's anxiety-stricken effort to earn this favor until he realized it cannot be earned. It doesn't need to be earned. This is the realization that finally set Luther free from what otherwise might very well have been suicide. We also know that the desired effect this grace is to have on us is to win our love and to release in us our full capacity to give love. As Paul wrote elsewhere, if I have not love I am nothing.
Then Paul goes on to acknowledge the universality of human suffering, and to give us the only hopeful interpretation of the reality of suffering which makes any sense: "Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."
There are at least two important preaching themes here. The first is the promise of God's love to "anyone here this morning" no matter how far one may have felt from God. It implies that God is always near, always hearing the lonely wanderer's prayer, always doing everything possible to win that person's allegiance while respecting one's freedom to accept or reject. It is the "Hound Of Heaven" always close to us, pursuing us, desiring our turning, our responding embrace.
The other sermon possibility is the explanation which Paul gives of suffering. This would offer a fine three point sermon outline with the three points being (1) Endurance, (2) Character, (3) Hope.
Lesson 2: Revelation 4:1-11 (E)
Vivid figures of speech abound in John's writing. We do know the four animals probably symbolize the writers of the Gospels who see all truth. I must admit my own discomfort with many interpretations of the book of Revelation since it came without an instruction book. Clearly, though, John was urging complete and total obeisance to the Lord.
Gospel: John 16:12-15 (C, RC); John 16:(5-11) 12-15 (E)
The Spirit, according to this promise, will tell us all truth. We need to be careful here. Just this past week I had lunch with a friend who recently spent a weekend with some distant relatives, one of whom is a member of a very conservative church. As we could have predicted, they soon fell into a religious discussion which, in turn, became argumentative. My friend's report went something like this: "She insisted that unless one believes exactly as her church teaches, they can't be called a Christian." He asked her what she thinks of Methodists. After a thoughtful pause, she replied, "They are misguided." My friend's final observation was that his relative had changed churches a couple times, and always quickly changed her theology to fit the new church, thereafter insisting that it was the only truth.
Frankly, I'm always uncomfortable with people who know "Truth," if by that they mean that any mortal can make that claim to the exclusion of another point of view. As one seventeenth century writer put the matter, "I had rather see coming toward me a whole regiment with drawn swords, than one lone Calvinist convinced he is doing the will of God." Don't misunderstand. I believe that claims for the Lordship of Jesus are true. I believe that the Holy Spirit works in our lives, that Jesus died for our sins, that God is love. But these and other truths about the faith are subject to some variety of interpretation, hence the variety of churches in America. Best that I speak of what is "true for me."
In a sermon on this text, my emphasis would be on the promise that when I am confronted with a dilemma in my life, some difficult decision in my work, for instance, or some misunderstanding with a friend, or a moral quandary, then through prayer, I believe the Holy Spirit will help me decide what is the right thing to do. My theology may be different from your theology. No matter. After all, we have different personalities, differing backgrounds, went to different schools, hobnob with different friends, and have had different life experiences. So we aren't going to see things quite alike. I believe that what God wants from you and me is that we be faithful to what has become our truth, that we live by it and, when the time comes, die by it. I also believe that the Holy Spirit wants us to learn some growing understanding of "Truth." I knew one young man who dropped out of seminary after a few months on the grounds that between himself, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, he could know all he needed to know in order to effectively pastor a church. I don't know what happened to him, but I suspect he is preaching with little knowledge of church history, systematic theology, biblical background, counseling skills, religions of the world, and several other necessary insights. I also suspect he simply lacked the fortitude to engage in a few years of disciplined study.
This also applies to the sincere church lay person. Truth comes through prayer and Bible reading. But it is amplified and informed by study, discussion, and application along with other people so that we can chide and challenge each other in love to the glory of God.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "No Price To Pay"
Text: Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5
Theme: We do not have to earn God's favor. However, in subtle ways, many of us grow up with the idea that God's love may wane if we are not good. I suppose Mother, for all her love, showed a bit of natural pique when we were naughty and we, being little tykes at the time, didn't yet understand the working of love. So we supposed -- wrongly in most cases -- that Mother didn't love us as much now that we have disobeyed a family rule. Consequences which seem painful to us sometimes resulted in well-run families, and we usually ended up deciding it would be wise not to do that again. Now that is a desirable state of affairs in a loving family. It's how we become civilized human beings. But it is not an exact parallel to the gospel scenario. In fact, whereas Mother is or was a mortal, capable of her own sin, God is not. God's understanding of us and God's patience with us is eternal (my mother's was almost that great, I now realize).
So, we have a tendency to grow up and decide the best way to stay on God's side is to be good. We may also arrive at the suspicion that when we are not good, God will punish us. Soon, we are back to the old superstition which Job faced, the belief that when bad things happen to us, it must be a result of something wrong which we have done. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
1. God does not punish us. If that were the case, we would all be in trouble, and once we discovered the inter-relationship of wrong doing to bad things happening, we would all be good. However, our "goodness" would not be the kind of goodness which results from love and from kindness. It would be the self-serving goodness which thereby (we would hope) spares us all unpleasant life experiences. But Grace means God's love never wavers no matter how we act.
2. God does have hopes for us. Like a loving mother, God wants all his children to amount to something. But like a loving mother, he does this with encouragement, by holding out to us expectations which are high but not beyond our capacities. He hopes we will respond out of love, not guilt or self-interest.
3. There are, however, negative consequences to wrongdoing. Guilt is one. Broken relationships are another. Still others are lost reputation, health problems, both physical and emotional, missed opportunities because people don't trust and respect one. Hurting Mother with her dashed hopes is a painful price. Having one's daughter or son discover what kind of person their wayward parent has become is another.
4. There are also rewards. God doesn't coerce or bribe us with rewards. The world, however, does compensate the lofty values of the totally good person. Some of these are the reverse of the above penalties. And one of the best rewards comes at the end of a worthy life, when one can look back happily upon the way he or she has lived.
Title: "Suffering And The Blessings Of God"
Text: Romans 5:1-5
Theme: As suggested, the version of this passage to be found in The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament offers a worthy sermon outline: Suffering produces:
1. Endurance. We all must face many demands on our inner resources as we go through life. Perhaps we remember Winston Churchill's speech before a school where he was the featured speaker. I suppose he was preceded by several wordy guests. When it was time for Churchill to speak, he looked out upon his expectant audience. Then he gave one of the best motivational, not to mention mercifully brief speeches in recorded history. He said to the waiting young people: "Never, never, never give up." That was it. But to emulate that fine prescription for a successful life requires a lot of endurance, and that comes from courageously facing life's demands until one has developed endurance.
2. Character. This is one product of the endurance gained by manfully (or womanfully?) facing whatever life throws at you. Those who have read Stephen Ambrose's books about World War II recently will have noted that Ambrose's judgment is that America won that war against Nazi tyranny and Japanese cruelty because the typical young American soldier, while in most cases not a hero in the highest sense, stood his ground without flinching, did what he had to do, showed the necessary courage, and won out over the forces of darkness then threatening the world. That took character.
3. Hope. My favorite of the many definitions of hope is this one: "The belief that something good is about to happen." When a person has developed the self-confidence which comes of having faced life's dangers and disasters with courage, and with faith in God's support, has learned that he can win out over dark forces, this breeds hope in the human heart, the belief that with faithful effort, good things will at last take place.
Title: "The Truth Will Set Us Free"
Text: John 16:12-15
Theme: The Holy Spirit gives us the truth. What we must do is decide what is meant by Truth. I think Jesus meant that the Holy Spirit will confirm us in the love of God and the presence of God in our lives. I don't, however, think this can mean that the Holy Spirit gives us answers to all our perplexing problems. I have a friend whose son insists his dad is "going to hell" unless he agrees with his son's theology. This breaks my friend's heart to hear. How can you make someone believe something he doesn't believe? That's nonsense. There's no love in that. If we are ever to win someone to our point of view, that point of view must not only make sense, it must also grow out of love and respect for the other person's right to form his or her own religious beliefs. I can't believe God would create us with this incredible variety of personalities, likes and dislikes, ethnic and cultural characteristics, our differing life experiences and childhood training, then ask us all to believe the same things in the same way. That simply isn't possible. If someone thinks there is some single basic Truth in the sense of interpretations of the Bible, of theological formulations, which everyone has to believe in order to be a good Christian that sounds like sheer nonsense to me. God respects us too much for that.
1. The Truth which the Holy Spirit communicates is the love of God for each of us. Beyond that affirmation there are many variations on Truth. Certainly, there are some truths on which I think we will all agree: Jesus is the son of God, we are all created to live in harmonious brother/sisterhood, God has a purpose which includes roles for each of us, and God wants us to live by the rules of life revealed by Jesus. But when it comes to defining some of those rules, there are differences of opinion resulting from the fact that apart from the Bible and apart from our own inward perceptions of truth, there simply is no final authority. My dear friend and pastor doesn't think Mary was a virgin in the definition we currently use. So be it. He's still a good Christian.
2. We do feel a sense of rightness when we pray. Provided, that is, we are devotedly being faithful to what we believe in our hearts to be right. However, a true Christian as I understand the definition, respects another person's right to live by a differing sense of what is right. I would, of course, argue that this is true only if love is the guiding principle.
3. The Holy Spirit does lead us through darkness. "I do not ask to see the distant scene. One step enough for me." So wrote a hymn writer. The point here is that I am to do what I am coming to believe to be right in any situation. If I am guided by love for others, and if I am living by the moral principles which I know in my heart to be right, I will surely make right decisions, and God will use those decisions for the best interests of others and of me. Paul said this: "All things work for good for those who love God, who are called...."
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
"We worship God in different ways,
A layman says, intent to please.
It matters not what forms we use,
So long as we are on our knees."
"A haughty cleric makes reply
In unctuous words which go like this:
'You worship Him in your way,
I'll worship Him in His."
-- Saint Hereticus
"The hippos feeble steps may err
In compassing material ends,
While the True Church need never stir
To gather in its dividends."
-- T. S. Eliot, comparing the Church to "The Hippopotamus"
__________
Keith Miller, wanting to point out how people react variously in similar situations, used two examples. First, he wrote the numeral "9" on a blackboard, then under it, the numeral "8." He asked a minister in the group to do something with that. The minister drew a line under the numbers, then placed a 1 beneath. Then he asked a businessman to do something with the same numbers. That man drew a line, then placed "72" beneath. One had subtracted, the other had multiplied. It made a 7200 percent difference.
Miller then told of two men, one a westerner, the other a visitor from New York. They were driving across a desert when they suddenly saw a huge boulder rolling toward their car. The New Yorker yelled a warning and jumped in the back seat. The westerner just smiled, as the tumbleweed brushed their car and blew on by. In other words, our attitudes and our experiences determine how we will respond to a given situation.
____________
A New Yorker cartoon shows a man changing a car tire in the rain. He says to his children in the car: "Don't you understand? This is life. This is what is happening. You can't switch to another channel."
____________
If You Think You Are Beaten
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you will lose you are lost;
For out in this world you will find
That success begins with a fellow who will;
It's all in the state of the mind.
Full many a race is lost
E'er ever a step is run.
And many a coward fails
E'er ever his work is begun.
Think big and your deeds will rise;
Think small and you'll fall behind;
Think that you can and you will;
It's all in the state of the mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You have to think high to rise;
You have to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go to
The fastest and strongest man.
But soon or late the one who wins
Is the one who thinks that he can.
-- Author unknown
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 8 -- "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic."
Prayer Of The Day
Oh joyous day, Oh joyous day! Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus! Amen.
Lesson 1: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 (C); Proverbs 8:22-31 (RC)
Wisdom was, according to ancient belief, an entity which was more than the sum total of human wise knowledge. In some ways it constituted a semi-independent power. As Bernhard Anderson explained, Wisdom was "the agent of God's creation and the intermediary between God and the world ... For the Christian Church, the wisdom movement came to its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Paul identified Wisdom with Christ...." So here we have the identification of that which we might now conceive to be the forerunner of Christ as the companion of God at the outset of creation. In preaching I would try to avoid being too high flown and would, if using this passage, think in terms of the intimate association of Jesus Christ with God from the beginning of time. In fact, I would probably couple this passage with the lesson from Romans where we will read that through Christ we are set free from the wrath of God through God's free grace.
Lesson 1: Isaiah 6:1-8 (E)
(See Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany.)
Lesson 2: Romans 5:1-5 (C, RC)
It's amazing to me that Paul was able to pack so much power into so few words. First, he summarizes the basic emphasis of his theology by promising that through Jesus Christ we receive God's grace. By drawing on the total of our knowledge of Paul's writings, we also know several things about this promise. It is free. I don't have to earn God's grace. In fact, by definition, it is a gift which is undeserved. This means my efforts to achieve excellent moral conduct must result from my gratitude for this gift, not from some neurotic hope that I can placate God and thus earn divine favor. We're all familiar with Martin Luther's anxiety-stricken effort to earn this favor until he realized it cannot be earned. It doesn't need to be earned. This is the realization that finally set Luther free from what otherwise might very well have been suicide. We also know that the desired effect this grace is to have on us is to win our love and to release in us our full capacity to give love. As Paul wrote elsewhere, if I have not love I am nothing.
Then Paul goes on to acknowledge the universality of human suffering, and to give us the only hopeful interpretation of the reality of suffering which makes any sense: "Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."
There are at least two important preaching themes here. The first is the promise of God's love to "anyone here this morning" no matter how far one may have felt from God. It implies that God is always near, always hearing the lonely wanderer's prayer, always doing everything possible to win that person's allegiance while respecting one's freedom to accept or reject. It is the "Hound Of Heaven" always close to us, pursuing us, desiring our turning, our responding embrace.
The other sermon possibility is the explanation which Paul gives of suffering. This would offer a fine three point sermon outline with the three points being (1) Endurance, (2) Character, (3) Hope.
Lesson 2: Revelation 4:1-11 (E)
Vivid figures of speech abound in John's writing. We do know the four animals probably symbolize the writers of the Gospels who see all truth. I must admit my own discomfort with many interpretations of the book of Revelation since it came without an instruction book. Clearly, though, John was urging complete and total obeisance to the Lord.
Gospel: John 16:12-15 (C, RC); John 16:(5-11) 12-15 (E)
The Spirit, according to this promise, will tell us all truth. We need to be careful here. Just this past week I had lunch with a friend who recently spent a weekend with some distant relatives, one of whom is a member of a very conservative church. As we could have predicted, they soon fell into a religious discussion which, in turn, became argumentative. My friend's report went something like this: "She insisted that unless one believes exactly as her church teaches, they can't be called a Christian." He asked her what she thinks of Methodists. After a thoughtful pause, she replied, "They are misguided." My friend's final observation was that his relative had changed churches a couple times, and always quickly changed her theology to fit the new church, thereafter insisting that it was the only truth.
Frankly, I'm always uncomfortable with people who know "Truth," if by that they mean that any mortal can make that claim to the exclusion of another point of view. As one seventeenth century writer put the matter, "I had rather see coming toward me a whole regiment with drawn swords, than one lone Calvinist convinced he is doing the will of God." Don't misunderstand. I believe that claims for the Lordship of Jesus are true. I believe that the Holy Spirit works in our lives, that Jesus died for our sins, that God is love. But these and other truths about the faith are subject to some variety of interpretation, hence the variety of churches in America. Best that I speak of what is "true for me."
In a sermon on this text, my emphasis would be on the promise that when I am confronted with a dilemma in my life, some difficult decision in my work, for instance, or some misunderstanding with a friend, or a moral quandary, then through prayer, I believe the Holy Spirit will help me decide what is the right thing to do. My theology may be different from your theology. No matter. After all, we have different personalities, differing backgrounds, went to different schools, hobnob with different friends, and have had different life experiences. So we aren't going to see things quite alike. I believe that what God wants from you and me is that we be faithful to what has become our truth, that we live by it and, when the time comes, die by it. I also believe that the Holy Spirit wants us to learn some growing understanding of "Truth." I knew one young man who dropped out of seminary after a few months on the grounds that between himself, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, he could know all he needed to know in order to effectively pastor a church. I don't know what happened to him, but I suspect he is preaching with little knowledge of church history, systematic theology, biblical background, counseling skills, religions of the world, and several other necessary insights. I also suspect he simply lacked the fortitude to engage in a few years of disciplined study.
This also applies to the sincere church lay person. Truth comes through prayer and Bible reading. But it is amplified and informed by study, discussion, and application along with other people so that we can chide and challenge each other in love to the glory of God.
SERMON SUGGESTIONS
Title: "No Price To Pay"
Text: Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5
Theme: We do not have to earn God's favor. However, in subtle ways, many of us grow up with the idea that God's love may wane if we are not good. I suppose Mother, for all her love, showed a bit of natural pique when we were naughty and we, being little tykes at the time, didn't yet understand the working of love. So we supposed -- wrongly in most cases -- that Mother didn't love us as much now that we have disobeyed a family rule. Consequences which seem painful to us sometimes resulted in well-run families, and we usually ended up deciding it would be wise not to do that again. Now that is a desirable state of affairs in a loving family. It's how we become civilized human beings. But it is not an exact parallel to the gospel scenario. In fact, whereas Mother is or was a mortal, capable of her own sin, God is not. God's understanding of us and God's patience with us is eternal (my mother's was almost that great, I now realize).
So, we have a tendency to grow up and decide the best way to stay on God's side is to be good. We may also arrive at the suspicion that when we are not good, God will punish us. Soon, we are back to the old superstition which Job faced, the belief that when bad things happen to us, it must be a result of something wrong which we have done. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
1. God does not punish us. If that were the case, we would all be in trouble, and once we discovered the inter-relationship of wrong doing to bad things happening, we would all be good. However, our "goodness" would not be the kind of goodness which results from love and from kindness. It would be the self-serving goodness which thereby (we would hope) spares us all unpleasant life experiences. But Grace means God's love never wavers no matter how we act.
2. God does have hopes for us. Like a loving mother, God wants all his children to amount to something. But like a loving mother, he does this with encouragement, by holding out to us expectations which are high but not beyond our capacities. He hopes we will respond out of love, not guilt or self-interest.
3. There are, however, negative consequences to wrongdoing. Guilt is one. Broken relationships are another. Still others are lost reputation, health problems, both physical and emotional, missed opportunities because people don't trust and respect one. Hurting Mother with her dashed hopes is a painful price. Having one's daughter or son discover what kind of person their wayward parent has become is another.
4. There are also rewards. God doesn't coerce or bribe us with rewards. The world, however, does compensate the lofty values of the totally good person. Some of these are the reverse of the above penalties. And one of the best rewards comes at the end of a worthy life, when one can look back happily upon the way he or she has lived.
Title: "Suffering And The Blessings Of God"
Text: Romans 5:1-5
Theme: As suggested, the version of this passage to be found in The Revised Standard Version of the New Testament offers a worthy sermon outline: Suffering produces:
1. Endurance. We all must face many demands on our inner resources as we go through life. Perhaps we remember Winston Churchill's speech before a school where he was the featured speaker. I suppose he was preceded by several wordy guests. When it was time for Churchill to speak, he looked out upon his expectant audience. Then he gave one of the best motivational, not to mention mercifully brief speeches in recorded history. He said to the waiting young people: "Never, never, never give up." That was it. But to emulate that fine prescription for a successful life requires a lot of endurance, and that comes from courageously facing life's demands until one has developed endurance.
2. Character. This is one product of the endurance gained by manfully (or womanfully?) facing whatever life throws at you. Those who have read Stephen Ambrose's books about World War II recently will have noted that Ambrose's judgment is that America won that war against Nazi tyranny and Japanese cruelty because the typical young American soldier, while in most cases not a hero in the highest sense, stood his ground without flinching, did what he had to do, showed the necessary courage, and won out over the forces of darkness then threatening the world. That took character.
3. Hope. My favorite of the many definitions of hope is this one: "The belief that something good is about to happen." When a person has developed the self-confidence which comes of having faced life's dangers and disasters with courage, and with faith in God's support, has learned that he can win out over dark forces, this breeds hope in the human heart, the belief that with faithful effort, good things will at last take place.
Title: "The Truth Will Set Us Free"
Text: John 16:12-15
Theme: The Holy Spirit gives us the truth. What we must do is decide what is meant by Truth. I think Jesus meant that the Holy Spirit will confirm us in the love of God and the presence of God in our lives. I don't, however, think this can mean that the Holy Spirit gives us answers to all our perplexing problems. I have a friend whose son insists his dad is "going to hell" unless he agrees with his son's theology. This breaks my friend's heart to hear. How can you make someone believe something he doesn't believe? That's nonsense. There's no love in that. If we are ever to win someone to our point of view, that point of view must not only make sense, it must also grow out of love and respect for the other person's right to form his or her own religious beliefs. I can't believe God would create us with this incredible variety of personalities, likes and dislikes, ethnic and cultural characteristics, our differing life experiences and childhood training, then ask us all to believe the same things in the same way. That simply isn't possible. If someone thinks there is some single basic Truth in the sense of interpretations of the Bible, of theological formulations, which everyone has to believe in order to be a good Christian that sounds like sheer nonsense to me. God respects us too much for that.
1. The Truth which the Holy Spirit communicates is the love of God for each of us. Beyond that affirmation there are many variations on Truth. Certainly, there are some truths on which I think we will all agree: Jesus is the son of God, we are all created to live in harmonious brother/sisterhood, God has a purpose which includes roles for each of us, and God wants us to live by the rules of life revealed by Jesus. But when it comes to defining some of those rules, there are differences of opinion resulting from the fact that apart from the Bible and apart from our own inward perceptions of truth, there simply is no final authority. My dear friend and pastor doesn't think Mary was a virgin in the definition we currently use. So be it. He's still a good Christian.
2. We do feel a sense of rightness when we pray. Provided, that is, we are devotedly being faithful to what we believe in our hearts to be right. However, a true Christian as I understand the definition, respects another person's right to live by a differing sense of what is right. I would, of course, argue that this is true only if love is the guiding principle.
3. The Holy Spirit does lead us through darkness. "I do not ask to see the distant scene. One step enough for me." So wrote a hymn writer. The point here is that I am to do what I am coming to believe to be right in any situation. If I am guided by love for others, and if I am living by the moral principles which I know in my heart to be right, I will surely make right decisions, and God will use those decisions for the best interests of others and of me. Paul said this: "All things work for good for those who love God, who are called...."
ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS
"We worship God in different ways,
A layman says, intent to please.
It matters not what forms we use,
So long as we are on our knees."
"A haughty cleric makes reply
In unctuous words which go like this:
'You worship Him in your way,
I'll worship Him in His."
-- Saint Hereticus
"The hippos feeble steps may err
In compassing material ends,
While the True Church need never stir
To gather in its dividends."
-- T. S. Eliot, comparing the Church to "The Hippopotamus"
__________
Keith Miller, wanting to point out how people react variously in similar situations, used two examples. First, he wrote the numeral "9" on a blackboard, then under it, the numeral "8." He asked a minister in the group to do something with that. The minister drew a line under the numbers, then placed a 1 beneath. Then he asked a businessman to do something with the same numbers. That man drew a line, then placed "72" beneath. One had subtracted, the other had multiplied. It made a 7200 percent difference.
Miller then told of two men, one a westerner, the other a visitor from New York. They were driving across a desert when they suddenly saw a huge boulder rolling toward their car. The New Yorker yelled a warning and jumped in the back seat. The westerner just smiled, as the tumbleweed brushed their car and blew on by. In other words, our attitudes and our experiences determine how we will respond to a given situation.
____________
A New Yorker cartoon shows a man changing a car tire in the rain. He says to his children in the car: "Don't you understand? This is life. This is what is happening. You can't switch to another channel."
____________
If You Think You Are Beaten
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you will lose you are lost;
For out in this world you will find
That success begins with a fellow who will;
It's all in the state of the mind.
Full many a race is lost
E'er ever a step is run.
And many a coward fails
E'er ever his work is begun.
Think big and your deeds will rise;
Think small and you'll fall behind;
Think that you can and you will;
It's all in the state of the mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You have to think high to rise;
You have to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go to
The fastest and strongest man.
But soon or late the one who wins
Is the one who thinks that he can.
-- Author unknown
____________
Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 8 -- "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic."
Prayer Of The Day
Oh joyous day, Oh joyous day! Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus! Amen.
