The World's Still Point
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
For Sundays In Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany
Just this past week I received an e-mail from a gentleman I do not know. He was obviously sending this e-mail out to a long list of people. In essence his message was that I should go to a web site he listed and read the essay there about abortion. At one point in his e-mail he wrote the following:
Remember, abortion is not just a political issue. It is very much a religious one. It drives straight to the heart of our beliefs. I am going to do everything possible to tell believers about this essay and I ask for your help also.
Now my point this morning is not to talk about abortion. This morning, rather, I would like us to focus on a sentence in this marvelous first letter of John, imbedded in the fifth chapter, verses 4 and 5:
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
What the author, called "the Elder" in one of the other little letters of John, writes here affirms that what has the ability to bring victory over evil is faith, and not just some generic faith in the goodness of humanity or the inevitability of social improvement. Rather the Elder writes that this faith is centered in the person of Jesus Christ.
How strange it is that in the course of our lives we easily allow that which is not central to become in fact central in our time and emotions and expenditure of energy.
Surely you have heard the story of the young sailor on board a small ship that was sailing the ocean. The captain asked him to take the helm while he took a brief nap. It was in the middle of the night and the stars were shining brightly. "All you need to do," explained the captain, "is follow the North Star," which he carefully pointed out to the young man. "Do you think you can do it?" said the captain. "Yes, sir!" said the sailor proudly. "You can count on me." And he put his hands on the big wheel and the captain disappeared below.
Several hours later the captain woke up from his nap and came up to the helm. Glancing at the sky he knew immediately that something was wrong. "Hey, sailor. What are you doing? Why aren't we headed toward the North Star?"
"Oh," said the sailor, puzzled at the captain's amazement. "We passed that an hour ago!"
The captain knew that the only reliable point in the midst of the wind and the waves, the only steady point in the world of confusion and emotions and guess-work over direction and currents and relationships, was the Polar Star, the North Star. To stray from that star was to stray off course, period.
Did you ever notice that what thrills and confuses, excites and mystifies, inspires and challenges someone who is new to the Christian faith is not all the traditions and morals and commandments about which we often spend so much time arguing. What grabs the attention of new Christians is Jesus.
I have noted in my own life that it is so easy to get caught up in all sorts of very important matters of life and church and theology. I find all that stimulating and it has a way of consuming one and making one think one is doing something very important.
But I have also noticed that when I focus on Jesus, interest turns to awe and stimulation is replaced by inspiration.
T. S. Eliot wrote of the search for "the still point of the turning world." The Old Testament from the beginning to the end affirms that there can be no other center of our lives than God. From the beginning of the New Testament to the end we read a witness to the fact that Jesus provides a face and a way to know God.
Those who have grown up with Jesus can easily forget that without Jesus there would be no Christian faith and no center and no peace. We would still be trying to find a way to get an unpredictable, punitive God off our back with sacrifices and laws.
How critical it is for us to remember to focus on our common commitment to God known in Jesus, rather than on the very important, but still secondary issues that commitment to the Lord leads us to grapple with, such as war and peace, abortion, homosexuality, welfare, and a host of other vital issues of our time.
If we are to avoid more wars, then we as Christians must gently argue about how best to do it, but keep our eyes on Jesus. We must put our shoulder to the wheel and work for peace at home, at school, at work, at play, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We must struggle against racism and greed and immorality as we understand them, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
The writer of a commentary on 1 John wrote this: "If Christ occupies the center at which faith comes into focus, then other things, however important, do not."1
Mother Teresa was speaking to a group of people who had come from around the world to see her and her work. When she asked for questions, one person from a religious order asked, "How is it that your religious order is gaining members by the thousands and most of our orders are losing members?"
Without hesitating, Mother Teresa answered, "I give them Jesus."
"Yes, I know," pursued the woman. "But take habits, for example. Do your women object to wearing habits? And how do you set up the rules of your order?"
"I give them Jesus," Mother Teresa replied.
"Yes, I know, Mother, but can you be more specific?"
"I give them Jesus," she repeated.
"Mother," went on the questioner, "we are so very much aware of your fine work. I want to know about something else ..."
Mother Teresa said quietly, "I give them Jesus. There is nothing else."
Mother Teresa was able to stay focused on "the least of these" and was able to inspire others to do the same because, while she was not afraid to speak out on matters of policy and root causes, she had a center. She had a still point.
A good question for us this week might be this: What is our still point around which everything else turns in our life? Is it our anger over violence? Is it our anger over the youth of today ... or the adults? Is it our upward mobility and the stock market? Is it our health?
"Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also." I do believe Jesus uttered those words, did he not! And if our heart is set on anything -- anything -- that can die or rust or be taken away, then we are living on a fragile foundation.
God whom we know in Jesus is the only foundation that will never shake and never fall or fail. So I think it might be a good thing to focus on the Polar Star, to spend some time with Jesus.
The world's still point. Still.
____________
1. The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII, p. 437.
Remember, abortion is not just a political issue. It is very much a religious one. It drives straight to the heart of our beliefs. I am going to do everything possible to tell believers about this essay and I ask for your help also.
Now my point this morning is not to talk about abortion. This morning, rather, I would like us to focus on a sentence in this marvelous first letter of John, imbedded in the fifth chapter, verses 4 and 5:
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
What the author, called "the Elder" in one of the other little letters of John, writes here affirms that what has the ability to bring victory over evil is faith, and not just some generic faith in the goodness of humanity or the inevitability of social improvement. Rather the Elder writes that this faith is centered in the person of Jesus Christ.
How strange it is that in the course of our lives we easily allow that which is not central to become in fact central in our time and emotions and expenditure of energy.
Surely you have heard the story of the young sailor on board a small ship that was sailing the ocean. The captain asked him to take the helm while he took a brief nap. It was in the middle of the night and the stars were shining brightly. "All you need to do," explained the captain, "is follow the North Star," which he carefully pointed out to the young man. "Do you think you can do it?" said the captain. "Yes, sir!" said the sailor proudly. "You can count on me." And he put his hands on the big wheel and the captain disappeared below.
Several hours later the captain woke up from his nap and came up to the helm. Glancing at the sky he knew immediately that something was wrong. "Hey, sailor. What are you doing? Why aren't we headed toward the North Star?"
"Oh," said the sailor, puzzled at the captain's amazement. "We passed that an hour ago!"
The captain knew that the only reliable point in the midst of the wind and the waves, the only steady point in the world of confusion and emotions and guess-work over direction and currents and relationships, was the Polar Star, the North Star. To stray from that star was to stray off course, period.
Did you ever notice that what thrills and confuses, excites and mystifies, inspires and challenges someone who is new to the Christian faith is not all the traditions and morals and commandments about which we often spend so much time arguing. What grabs the attention of new Christians is Jesus.
I have noted in my own life that it is so easy to get caught up in all sorts of very important matters of life and church and theology. I find all that stimulating and it has a way of consuming one and making one think one is doing something very important.
But I have also noticed that when I focus on Jesus, interest turns to awe and stimulation is replaced by inspiration.
T. S. Eliot wrote of the search for "the still point of the turning world." The Old Testament from the beginning to the end affirms that there can be no other center of our lives than God. From the beginning of the New Testament to the end we read a witness to the fact that Jesus provides a face and a way to know God.
Those who have grown up with Jesus can easily forget that without Jesus there would be no Christian faith and no center and no peace. We would still be trying to find a way to get an unpredictable, punitive God off our back with sacrifices and laws.
How critical it is for us to remember to focus on our common commitment to God known in Jesus, rather than on the very important, but still secondary issues that commitment to the Lord leads us to grapple with, such as war and peace, abortion, homosexuality, welfare, and a host of other vital issues of our time.
If we are to avoid more wars, then we as Christians must gently argue about how best to do it, but keep our eyes on Jesus. We must put our shoulder to the wheel and work for peace at home, at school, at work, at play, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus. We must struggle against racism and greed and immorality as we understand them, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
The writer of a commentary on 1 John wrote this: "If Christ occupies the center at which faith comes into focus, then other things, however important, do not."1
Mother Teresa was speaking to a group of people who had come from around the world to see her and her work. When she asked for questions, one person from a religious order asked, "How is it that your religious order is gaining members by the thousands and most of our orders are losing members?"
Without hesitating, Mother Teresa answered, "I give them Jesus."
"Yes, I know," pursued the woman. "But take habits, for example. Do your women object to wearing habits? And how do you set up the rules of your order?"
"I give them Jesus," Mother Teresa replied.
"Yes, I know, Mother, but can you be more specific?"
"I give them Jesus," she repeated.
"Mother," went on the questioner, "we are so very much aware of your fine work. I want to know about something else ..."
Mother Teresa said quietly, "I give them Jesus. There is nothing else."
Mother Teresa was able to stay focused on "the least of these" and was able to inspire others to do the same because, while she was not afraid to speak out on matters of policy and root causes, she had a center. She had a still point.
A good question for us this week might be this: What is our still point around which everything else turns in our life? Is it our anger over violence? Is it our anger over the youth of today ... or the adults? Is it our upward mobility and the stock market? Is it our health?
"Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also." I do believe Jesus uttered those words, did he not! And if our heart is set on anything -- anything -- that can die or rust or be taken away, then we are living on a fragile foundation.
God whom we know in Jesus is the only foundation that will never shake and never fall or fail. So I think it might be a good thing to focus on the Polar Star, to spend some time with Jesus.
The world's still point. Still.
____________
1. The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII, p. 437.
