A New Year, A New Plan

This was the message I presented for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas, 5 January 2003, at Tompkins Corners UMC.  The Scriptures for this Sunday were Jeremiah 31: 7 – 14, Ephesians 1: 3 – 14, and John 1: (1 – 9), 10 – 18.

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It is interesting that we start off each year in January. Now, that may seem like a confusing statement but consider that we start off each new school year in September; that the United States government starts its fiscal year in November and there are many companies whose fiscal year starts in July. In fact, prior to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in the late 18^th century, many western countries celebrated the New Year on April 1^st. The change in the celebration from April 1^st to January 1^st led to the beginning of “April Fool’s Day” but that is a story more suited for that time of the year rather than today.

January is a good time to celebrate the beginning of the New Year as it gets its name from the Roman god Janus. Janus had the ability to look forwards and backwards at the same time and so was in an excellent position to see where he had been and where he was going. It is perhaps because of this that we spend much of the first days of January predicting what the New Year will bring.

But predictions can be fickle and dangerous things. We often do not want to know what the future brings because it may not be what we want to hear. If you will allow me the moment to make a personal observation, our political process is based on that very fear. There are things that must be done but no one is willing to say what must be said for the fear of being defeated in the coming election. You need only recall Walter Mondale’s statement during his acceptance speech in 1980 that taxes would have to be raised and George H. Bush’s bold statement to “read my lips” in 1992 to understand why politicians are leery of making bold statements. The firestorm that arose from each of those statements were contributing factors in both men being defeated, Mondale by Ronald Reagan and Bush by Clinton. When it comes to politicians telling the truth, the American public, to paraphrase Jack Nicholson yelling at Tom Cruise in the movie “A Few Good Men”, “We don’t want the truth!”

But lest you think that being afraid of hearing the truth is a trait limited to only our country or the 21^st century, consider what happened to Jeremiah, the author of the Old Testament book from which our first reading for today was taken. Jeremiah was first summoned by God to be a prophet at a very young age but it was a task that he quickly grew to dislike, and it is easy to see why.

One of his first sermons scoffed at the bogus, superficial religiosity of the people who deluded themselves by believing that merely ambling about the Temple insured God’s blessing. (Jeremiah 7: 2 – 15)  He then denounced the king’s lavish spending when the people had nothing. (Jeremiah 22: 13 – 19)  And when the powers that be tried to silence him, he dictated a thundering indictment, a reading that was interrupted when the king seized the scroll, shredded it with his knife and threw it in the fire. (Jeremiah 36: 4 – 32)  Then when the Babylonian army surrounded the city of Jerusalem, Jeremiah had the gall to announce, in a speech wholly lacking in patriotism, that the Babylonian army was a pawn of God, instruments of God’s judgement on the unrepentant city. (Jeremiah 38: 1 – 6)  For this, in what amounted to the proverbial final straw, Jeremiah barely escaped with his life and was thrown into a cistern. For telling the truth, Jeremiah was rewarded with a prison sentence.

If we are not afraid to look into the future, we are still limited by what we know. Any vision that we have of the future is based on what we know about things today. Consider if you will the following predictions:

1. Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859 — “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”
2. Western Union internal memo, 1876 — “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”
3. David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920′s — “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?”
4. 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard’s revolutionary rocket work — “Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.”
5. H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927 — “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
6. Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in “Gone With The Wind” — “I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.”
7. Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 — “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
8. Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949 –”Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
9. Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962 — “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
10. A Yale Univ. management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service, “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.” Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.
11. “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’” — Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak’s personal computer

Each of those statements was made and based on what the individual knew at that time and how they saw that information being utilized. But there have been visions of the future that have proven to be successful. Jules Verne’s visions of men walking on the moon or traveling under the oceans came about because he chose to think beyond the capabilities of his time. We can only wonder and perhaps hope that the world that Gene Roddenberry outlined in Star Trek is an accurate description of the future. But we know for those visions to be the ones that come true we must think in a different way. Consider if you will the following statements:

“If I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can’t do this.” — Spencer Silver on work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads

So it is that we look to the future. We dare not speak what we feel is the truth because it is something that people will not accept, especially if the truth is negative in nature. We cannot begin to think about the future because we don’t know what resources might be available or what technologies might be there that aren’t here today.

But we have the words of John written some two thousand years ago. John makes it very clear in today’s Gospel reading that Jesus was a part of this world long before we ever were and he will be a part of this world long after we have departed. We have been given through Christ, as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, a gift, and a chance to understand beyond what the world can give us.

Paul also speaks of what the future holds for us. But we must also know that the future as Paul describes will be of no value unless we act upon it here on earth. Being a Christian is about being different, setting out on an adventure of discipleship, holiness, service and love. Jesus did not come to a town with a simple three-step message that invited people to be saved; his preaching focused on whom you invited to dinner, being a family, turning the other cheek. His preaching looked at what you did for others.

Jeremiah was not simply a prophet of gloom and doom. The things that he spoke about were the things that cause God to question the validity of the people’s beliefs. He challenged people to hear the words of God and put them into practice.

The words we read in this morning’s first reading were words of hope and promise for the future. Jeremiah was the only prophet who spoke and wrote of the promise of Jesus as the hope and promise for the future. But for the future to come true we must not only hear the words of God, we must act upon them.

As we begin this New Year, we must look to the future. We cannot spend time looking back at past and wondering what if had we done this or not done that. That wastes our time and results in nothing.

I hope that you received the questionnaire that was given out last week at church or through the mail this week. We would like to have them back next week so that the results can be looked at and examined. What is your vision of the church for the coming years? How will we make that vision come true? When Robert Kennedy ran for President in 1968, he was fond of quoting George Bernard Shaw, “You see things; and say `why? ` But I dream of things that never were and say `why not? `”

Our congregational hymn for this morning tells us that not only has God been our help in ages past but that he is also our hope for years to come. We have the chance to put into actions the words and hopes that have been expressed in the Gospels and through the prophets of the past. Knowing that God will be with us as we begin this New Year, it becomes easy to decide and develop the new plan that will help us to make the hope and promise more than just words.

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Hearing God Call

This is the message I presented on the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, 19 January 2003, at Tompkins Corners UMC. The Scriptures were 1 Samuel 3: 1- 10 (11 – 20), 1 Corinthians 6: 12- 20, and John 1: 43 – 51.

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Throughout the years I have had the chance to hear or know about a number of children’s sermons. One sermon that I would like to have heard involved the senior pastor at one of the churches in Memphis. This particular pastor had an aversion to doing children’s sermons, preferring to let his associate pastor or the Director of Christian Education do them. But he was forced into doing a children’s sermon one Sunday because he found out that the children didn’t know who he was or what he did each Sunday. Unfortunately, because of a previous commitment I did not get to be there for that momentous occasion.

But, of all the children’s sermons that I have heard, the best one came on Laity Sunday in 1992. When I came to this particular church, Laity Sunday was an occasion for the regular pastor to take the Sunday off and have the lay speaker do everything from the opening announcements to the closing benediction. All in all, it was not really fair to the congregation or to the lay speaker.

When I took on this particular assignment in 1991, I wanted to involve the entire laity in the service. Based on the success of the 1991 service, we sought to replicate it in 1992. For the children’s sermon that year, I wanted Kathy Mugge to do it. Kathy was a young, active mother in the church and a language teacher in the local Catholic school system. Because she was a teacher, many in the congregation wanted her to teach the junior high kids during Sunday school. They could not understand why she would refuse to do so. Some were even very nasty in response to her refusal.

But her refusal was based on sound reasoning and supported by the pastor. She worked with that same age group all week long and she was entitled to time off from teaching in order to enjoy the meaning of Sunday herself. We find many times that people in a church congregation think that because someone is good at something or does something every day, that they are automatically willing to take on that task for the church on Sunday. It does not always work out that way because they do not get a chance to recharge or enjoy the meaning of Sunday. If someone wants to do something for the church that is in line with what they do every day, then let them; but do not force them.

Were it not for the fact that the message that I was presenting that Sunday included the passage from Samuel that we read this morning, I would not have even approached Kathy about doing the children’s sermon for me. But I explained what I had in mind and she readily agreed to do so. Once the children had gathered on the altar, she greeted them with “Guten haben, mein herren and mein damen.” She continued in German, encouraging the children to wave to their mothers and fathers. Because I was seated behind the children, I could not see their faces and that is something I have always regretted. For I could not see the bewilderment or confusion that surely was on their faces. But through her coaching and the use of German words that are the root of common English words, the children quickly understood what it was she was saying. Her message still rings true today, that while God may speak to us clearly and distinctly, we are not always able to understand what he is saying. Like Samuel, we hear God calling but do not always recognize that it is He who is doing so.

It is hard to describe how one hears God. Often times, we think and are told that such encounters must be like Paul’s on the road to Damascus or Moses’ with the burning bush. Even today there are those who will say that unless there is thunder and lightning or other similar events taking place, at least in your mind, then our encounter with God is limited and invalid.

We should not try to justify or question someone else’s calling. But we should make sure that we hear the calling that is meant for us. The church in Corinth struggled with division among its members, division created by how each group was identified and how it interpreted the Gospel message. The Corinthians interpreted the message in terms of the person delivering the message rather than through Jesus Christ. Paul’s words for today were meant to show that you could not interpret the Gospel in a way that simply justified what you wanted to do. Rather, in following the Gospel, you choose a different path.

We might be tempted to just write off this problem, saying that it was a young church, still in a growing stage of life. But it is something that we still do today. Society today tends to exalt dynamic leaders, especially those who are engaging Christian speakers or vibrant, charismatic spiritual leaders. Our identification belongs with Jesus Christ and His message, not with the messenger.

God uses sinful people. (From Connections, #123 – January 2003, Barbara Wendland)

From what we read in the Bible it seems quite clear that God calls people who are far from sinless. Look at Moses. While the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, he murdered a man and fled to avoid being caught. Look at David, too. Scripture shows God calling him “a man after my own heart,” yet he blatantly committed adultery. Not only that, he schemed to have Bathsheba’s husband killed in battle, to get him out of the way. And we read about David publicly exposing himself in a way that onlookers criticized and that we would consider indecent if not criminal.

We’d reject some that God has called

Many leaders chosen by God in more recent times are also well known to have had far less than perfect records of behavior. John Wesley, for example, had a questionable history of relationships with women. Martin Luther King’s sexual behavior was evidently far from admirable. Yet someone whose behavior was known to be similar to either of these men’s would be unacceptable in the ordained ministry of many of today’s churches. And we could name many other outstanding Christian leaders who were called by God but whose behavior wasn’t perfect.

God doesn’t require perfection

Countless examples make clear that God calls and uses imperfect people to carry out the ministries God wants done. That’s fortunate, isn’t it, because if perfection were a requirement for being called by God and accepting the call, then none of us would qualify. In fact, God would have a very severe shortage of people to use as leaders.

Can we justify being more selective than God? That question isn’t as easy to answer as it may seem, because in today’s institutionalized church and especially in today’s litigious society, we probably must have standards for who we will let represent the church and who we won’t. Still, we need to keep asking, “Can we legitimately reject someone whom God has called?”

So the question is how do we hear God’s call? Will it be with thunder and lightning and voices calling down from heaven, as it was for Paul. Or will it be from a burning bush that is never consumed, as it was for Moses? I think not.

The way in which we encounter God is going to be one we least expect. Like the disciples, God is likely to come up to us in the form of a passing stranger or a close friend. It was that way throughout Jesus’ entire ministry. Though the crowds that grew around him were enough to tell people that He was entering the city, he never encouraged such announcements. He did not send in advance teams to rent out the local amphitheater. More often, his work and ministry was done quietly and humbly.

God’s call to each one of us, more often than not, will have us to do something for others. That’s what makes it so difficult to hear the call and even more difficult to answer it. Look at the twelve who were first called. To each of the twelve chosen to be a disciple, Jesus simply said, “Follow me.”

It could not have been very practical to just get up, leave their present jobs and families behind. To follow Jesus at that time was a very risky venture. Times were tough and this man from Nazareth was asking them to leave everything and work for him, not knowing if they would get paid for their efforts. Better to stay where they were, doing what they knew best and eke out a living as best as they could. And though we know what the disciples did, we never hear what they wives and families said or what they thought.

But, Jesus was the one they were expecting. Philip and Andrew both knew that the Messiah was coming and what they saw told them that Jesus was perhaps that person. Only Nathaniel was initially skeptical, citing the common belief of the time that Nazareth was not a place from which great persons came. But as we read, when the evidence was put forth, even Nathaniel believed.

Following God requires faith and commitment. If we have the faith to believe and we make the commitment, we can do anything. Ask Noah or Samuel or any of the earlier disciples what faith meant to them. Ask the early circuit riders of the Methodist Church in America what commitment to the program meant. Could they have survived the weeks traveling from town to town, in all types of weather, were it not for their own faith or their commitment to the Gospel message? Where would this church be were it not for those early circuit riders?

Francis Asbury, the first Bishop of our church, made it a point to emphasize the physical struggles that these early preachers would have to endure. He didn’t want someone whose commitment was weak or whose faith was not the strongest. He wasn’t looking for someone who was in it for personal glory, for there was none to be given back then. Glory and fame would come later, if at all.

Just as then, our own encounters with God today will come through those moments where our service is needed the most. An atheist is said to have proclaimed, in what must have surely been a shock to his or her friends, that they met Christ in Calcutta after observing Mother Teresa move about quietly, taking care of those in need, without fanfare or announcement. For Mother Teresa, service was more than praying about the outcome. Service was helping those in need because it was a completion of Matthew 25: 31 – 46, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was naked and you clothed me; I was homeless and you took me in.”

So how will we hear God’s call? Will it be from someone in need whom we choose to walk right by? Will it be from someone hungry whom we choose not to feed? Will we miss the cry of those who cry out for peace and justice simply because it is not the politically correct thing to do at this time? Will it come from some soul who seeks to find peace and solitude in a world of darkness and trouble but whose cries are muffled by the disagreements between people?

Will we be like the Corinthians, following leaders more interested in their own agenda rather than the true message of the Gospel? Will we be at first skeptical that God would even speak to us here at Tompkins Corners?

This much is certain; God’s call to us will come in a way that we do not expect; He will ask us to do something we don’t think we can do. And each person’s call will be as different as the person receiving it will. It is will also be hard to say how many opportunities we will be given to hear God’s call for service. But each encounter that we have with someone may be that occasion when choosing to speak to us.

In his book A Walk Across America, Peter Jenkins described his journey from Alfred University in upstate New York through North Carolina and Alabama to New Orleans. Along the way, he had a chance to attend an old-fashion church revival in Mobile, Alabama. There it became clear that what he would find on his journey was his own salvation and the answers he was looking for in his search for the truth. But he also found that what he was looking for was not found at the revival; rather, it was at the revival that he discovered that he had met the Holy Spirit through the quiet lives of people he had encountered during his time walking down the Appalachians. It was at the revival that he began to understand how the presence of the Holy Spirit provides the strength and support needed when encountering many great difficulties.

There is the old evangelist’s song about Jesus calling. He does not call loud and strong but softly and sweetly; it is a call that does not go away easily. And just God kept calling on Samuel, so too will he keep calling on each one of us until we answer that call. We have the opportunity to answer God’s call; shouldn’t we do so?

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