The comedian Ron White tells about the time he was in the middle of a flight and one of the airliner’s engines blew out. The man sitting next to him asked nervously, “How far do you think we can fly on just one engine?” Ron replied, “All the way to the crash site.”
Although I doubt his reply gave much comfort, it did illustrate a point. There’s just some things that are completely out of our control. So don’t worry about it. The reply also illustrates another point – our life is finite. However, I would like to take an exception to this point. We are going to live infinitely, just not in this form. I realize this is my personal faith statement based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. But it is my prayer that more people will come to realize this is a faith statement that we should all be saying. We all cling to life – and that’s fine. But as Christians, we must remember to focus on the prize – the prize of everlasting life with God. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” So don’t worry about life. Whatever comes, comes. The important thing to remember is to stay focused on the prize – faith in God and in Jesus Christ. Everything else will take care of itself. Besides, what’s a hundred years compared to infinity? This is a story I once heard, not sure of the source, but it makes a
great point: A man was walking through the woods enjoying nature. By his own statement, he was a “devout atheist.” So as he walked through woods, he could hear the stream gurgling, the birds singing, the wind whispering through the trees. “All of this” he thought, “is perfectly explainable by science.” Suddenly a large brown bear appeared in front of him. The bear looked him over and started to charge. The man knew he had had it. This was surely the end. A few feet from him, the bear leapt into the air, claws out, teeth ready to devour the man. The man cried out, “O God! Save me!” As soon as he said it, the stream stopped running, the birds became silent and the wind stopped. The bear was suddenly suspended in midair – claws still held out and jaws wide open. The heavens opened and a voice came from beyond the clouds, “So now you choose to believe in me?” The man said, “Lord, I was wrong all this time. Please save me by turning this bear into a Christian.” God, always ready to forgive, said, “So be it.” After God had proclaimed this, the stream began to run, the birds returned to singing and the wind moved once more. The bear landed in front of the man by just one or two feet. The bear was kneeling, paws held together in thoughtful prayer. The bear said, “In the name of Jesus, please bless this food that I am about to partake…” Do you pray to God only in times of trouble? Or do you make prayer a regular part of your life? Something to think about. Tradition – we all have traditions. The problem, as Jesus is pointing out in our passage this Sunday, is sometimes we add on to the tradition so it becomes twisted from its original intent. In Jesus’ time, the dietary laws had become so interpreted that the whole meaning of the Torah had been twisted around into a bunch of meaningless prohibitions. Unfortunately for us, we’re still doing it.
Not too long ago in this country, there were several churches in which a person could not receive communion unless they had attended so many Sunday School classes or church events. It got to be such a tradition that the person was required to present a card which had been signed at the communion table – hand in your card, get it approved and you received your bread and cup. Our church founders, Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone said this tradition was ludicrous. So now, in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) all are welcome at the table. No restrictions. So now we have a new tradition. I would encourage you to look at all of the traditions in your life. Are they good traditions? Or are they traditions which should be done away with? I have a tradition of hanging on to some things because “I might use that again some day” or “Maybe I can use that for something else.” In the case of my grandfather’s hand tools, it’s a good tradition (or at least I believe it is.) In the case of some old plastic shelving, it’s a stupid tradition - time to go home and throw that junk out. What’s your set of traditions? Are you doing things just because you’ve always done it that way? If so, maybe it’s time to listen to Jesus and throw out some “junk.” It’s been a hard week out on the highway. There has been one delay or another on I-70 each day this week. The bad thing is it delays me in getting to the church. The good thing is the delays have given me extra time to think and reflect. As I was sitting today (basically parked) under the Noland Road bridge, it occurred to me that all of us need some time each day to pause, reflect and pray. Maybe we can all start a new program at Countryside. We’ll call it “PRP” – Pause, Reflect and Pray.
I encourage you to give it a try while I’m out here sitting on the highway. I plan on starting this week. Sure beats honking the horn… This Sunday we will discuss being a “doer” instead of just a “hearer.” I was thinking about this and realized I’ve fallen into a trap. Each time I go to the cardiologist, she very patiently sits down with me, discusses my diet and emphasizes my lack of exercise. I very carefully listen - then go home and do what I want. I justify this by saying I’m getting plenty of exercise by jumping to conclusions, running in circles and jogging my memory on a constant basis. Of course, we all know I’m kidding myself. I’m listening, but I’m not doing.
The writer of James says that “faith without works is dead.” A lot of our churches are experiencing a type of slow death. Why? The vast majority of the congregation says in effect, “I hear what you’re saying, but I’m too busy, or I’m too tired, or I’m too old.” So the church eventually grinds to a halt. Then when visitors come, they leave saying, “That church is dead. They just don’t know it.” Like my cardiologist visit, if I don’t do something, I will die sooner than I want. At Countryside, you have a group of people who are doing a lot of things. You also have a group that isn’t doing much. I believe I am doing a pretty fair job at getting various things done in the church. So even though I’ve got plenty of room for improvement in my physical life, I believe I’m in good standing in my church life. Where do you stand? In the group that’s doing a lot or in the group that just sits in worship once a week and that’s it? As the Letter of James says, “Be a doer, not a hearer.” |
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This blog consists of reflections written by the minister each week for the Sunday bulletin. We hope that you enjoy the musings! Archives
January 2020
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