Sunday, September 17, 2023

“The Fork” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14)

It is not often that the late, great catcher for the New York Yankees is a spiritual master, but Yogi Berra was a great one . . . at least for me.  Some of Yogi’s greatest wisdom:

“You can observe a lot by just watching.”

“Love is the most important thing in the world,

but baseball is pretty good, too.”

There’s some pretty good wisdom in those quotes.  Though he butchered the English language, he made some pretty good points for all of us to think about.

This is the last sermon that I will share with all of you at Joliet Christian Church.  It might seem strange that I begin with witticisms from an old baseball player.  Yet . . . he says what needs to be said.  For example, he said this: “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

And so here we are.  At the finish line of my being the pastor of Joliet Christian Church—fifteen years almost to the day . . . it is over . . . or is it?  Another famous quote of Yogi Berra was: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Of course, if you know your Robert Frost, you’ll know that Yogi is referring to that famous poem, The Road Less Traveled.  The poem is about a traveler who comes upon a fork in the road.  On one side is the well-worn road traveled by many; the other is a road that few travel and it is in great disrepair—weeds and growth obscuring the road.  There the traveler must decide—which way to go.  The way that everyone goes . . . down the well-worn road, or the road that is in disarray and less traveled.   In the end the traveler chooses the “road less traveled”.  Frost writes:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

I guess he never pictured it like Yogi.  Yogi says pick it up!

 

 And so, I did on my spiritual journey many years ago.  I picked up the fork and it has made all of the difference.

 

Ministry came as an afterthought for me.  In elementary school I was assigned the task of writing about three things I would want to be when I grew up.  The first two were easy . . . an officer in the Air Force to follow in my father’s footsteps, and a schoolteacher.  A teacher who worked with students who had disabilities primarily because of two of my siblings having disabilities.

 

As I said, the first two were easy.  That third one was difficult.  I wracked my mind for hours trying to figure out something I would want to be when I grew up.  Finally, my mother suggested that I put down the first thing that came to mind. Well, I don’t know where my 11-year-old brain was when “minister” popped up, but that is what I put down for the teacher.  Imagine her surprise when she saw that!  If she could see me now at the end of 43 years of being a minister.  I was far from ministerial material then and some would even say now.

 

I picked up that fork.  In fact it was during my senior year of college as I was finishing up my bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology and being a fairly typical 20-something year old male enjoying college life . . . maybe a little too much.  That was the year that the minister of my home church encouraged me to apply for seminary.  All my friends and family thought I was crazy . . . me, a minister!

 

They probably weren’t as surprised as I was then three years later I graduated seminary and was ordained into the ministry earning the right and privilege of being addressed as a “reverend”.  Newly ordained the road towards ministry laid before me.  Once again there was a fork in the road.  I picked it up.  Me, the irreverent reverend!

 

Since then, I have served churches of all sizes, temperaments, and theologies—seven congregations ranging in size of 150 on Sunday morning to around 20.  In that time Dana and I have served congregations we have had four children and raised them to be good people, seen some of them get married, and been blessed with a bunch of wonderful, beautiful grandchildren.  It has been an adventure . . . a trip, or as the Grateful Dead sang: “What a long, strange trip its been.”  All because I picked up that fork!

 

Now on the brink of retirement—with growing and perfecting 20/20 hindsight—I can assuredly say that I am humbled and grateful for it all.  To those who are here and to those before you, I say, thank you!

 

The Beatles called it a “long and winding road.”  The Grateful Dead called it “a long, strange trip.”  Robert Frost alluded to it as a choice between two roads.  And Yogi Berra said, “take it”.  The writer of Ecclesiastes—our reading for this morning—would say, “So it is . . . a time for everything.”  They would all be right.

 

The story of Ecclesiastes is about a person seeking the great truth about life—what makes life worth living.  The person seeks answers like we all do—is it in great wealth and all that wealth can provide—the good times of wine, women, and song?  Maybe it is in education—learning all there is to learn—becoming wise.  Maybe it is family, children, and all the trappings of domestic life?  Maybe.  But as fun as it was the person did not find what he was looking for.

 

No, it was only when he turned to God that he found satisfaction.  Turned to that relationship—that intimate relationship with God—that he found what he was looking for.  That relationship is grounded in love.  Love for God.  Love for one another.  That is the goal of life.  That is what defines a person.  That is the gain from the toil of life.  This is what Jesus preached over and over—love God—love one another.  There is no greater goal than this for one’s life.

 

Looking back, I know that the writer of Ecclesiastes is right.  Life is a long and winding road . . . a long, strange trip . . . filled with all sorts of forks . . . and if we are going to truly live it to its fullest, we have to pick up the fork.

 

 So, what have I learned after 43 years of ministry?  What stories could I share that will impart all the wisdom I have accumulated?

 

Is it the time I dropped a man in the baptistry, nearly drowning him as he panic, flailing away, while I declared him baptized in the “name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”?

 

Is it the time that the elderly church organist fell asleep while I was preaching, hitting her head on the keyboard making the pipes of the organ squawk?

 

Maybe it was the time I did a children’s sermon and one little tyke decided to share that his father had stayed home that morning to drink beer and watch football much to the embarrassment of his mother.

 

Possibly it was the time I told a joke during the sermon and ten minutes later a member of the choir started laughing, interrupting the sermon, because he finally understood the joke.

 

Could it be the funeral procession that got lost going to the cemetery, drove all around the town in a long line, and finally having to pull into a gas station to get directions.  And yes, the funeral director was a male.  Or the time I accidentally locked the hearse at the cemetery before we had gotten the coffin out for the graveside service.  Someone had to drive back to town to get the keys.  I was never allowed to touch anything in the hearse again.

 

Maybe the time when one of the ladies of the Christian Women’s Fellowship approached me at a funeral dinner to let me know that the “barn door” was open.  Then she left me wondering if I had done the whole funeral with my pants zipper down.  It did feel breezy and might explain why the congregation was smiling throughout the service.

 

Needless to say, there was much I learned on my ministerial journey.  Some was painful.  Some eye-opening.  Sone quite humorous.  All of it lessons.  Central to it all was the same fundamental foundation of faith—relationships built on love.  Love of God.  Love of others.

 

Constantly through my journey of ministry I was and will continue to be reminded of this fundamental truth.  It is relationships that matter . . . relationships that gets the job done.  This is a fundamental truth we have known since kindergarten . . . at least according to Unitarian minister and author Robert Fulghum.  Fulghum writes: “When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”

 

“Hold hands and stick together.”

 

It all comes down to relationships—with God and others.  That is the great truth I have learned from 43 years of ministry.  Love.  Loving God.  Loving others.  This is the greatest commandment according to Jesus.  It all boils down to that.  He spent his lifetime preaching, teaching, and living that truth to show us the way.

 

In some shape or form we have all spent our lifetimes searching for that which is the truth of what it means to live.  We are no different than the writer of Ecclesiastes.  And like the writer, the older we get, the clearer that truth and meaning is revealed to us.  In time it all comes down to love.

 

That’s the big secret.  Known, but unknown to all of us.  The life and purpose of a Christian . . . of a follower of Jesus . . . is to love.  Plain and simple.  Everything we do . . . everything that we say . . . is to be based on love.  Love is the key.  It is the key to the Kingdom of God.  Jesus told us this.  Jesus showed us this.

 

Unfortunately, we live in a world that does not love itself.  Just look at it.   Does this world look as if it loves . . . loves itself . . . loves others?  We have a long way to go.  A long and winding road . . . a long, strange trip.  But there is a fork in the road.

 

The choice is ours.

 

I would urge us all to pick up the fork.  Choose the way of love, for it is truly the only way.  Start with yourself—love yourself.  If you cannot love yourself, you can never love another.  Love God.  Work on that relationship.  Love others because you are loved.  Love will change us.  Love will change the world.  You do realize that our sacred book, the Bible, is a love story.  Thus, our lives should be too.

 

So that’s it.  Those are the great truths I have to share.  Though I am retiring from the active ministry, my journey does not end here.  No, the journey continues down that winding road.  It continues to the day I die.  It does for all of us.  Thus, it is that I will continue to strive to love as Jesus loved.  I will pick up the forks I come upon on my journey.  And I urge you to also do so.  Don’t be afraid to love and go forth into the world looking both ways, holding hands, and sticking together.

 

As Bob Hope used to sing at the end of his shows: “Thanks for the memories.  Awfully glad I met you.  Cheerio and toodle-oo.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.”  As the writer of Ecclesiastes writes:

 

There is a time for everything,

And a season for everything . . .

I know that everything God does will endure forever,

Nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away from it.

God does it so people will fear him.

 

Love.

 

The journey continues . . . may we all embrace it.  Thank you all for the love and support, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad.  Thank you for 15 years . . . it has made a difference.  Blessings to all.  Amen.


 

Sunday, September 10, 2023

“Wake Up” (Romans 13:8-14)

And the sign said “Long-haired freaky people

need not apply”

So I tucked my hair up under my hat

And I went in to ask him why

He said “You look like a fine upstanding young man

I think you’ll do”

So I took off my hat, I said “Imagine that

Huh! Me workin’ for you!”

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin’ out the scenery

Breakin’ my mind

Do this, don’t do that

Can’t you read the sign?

 

Recognize the song?  Signs was a hit in 1971 by the Canadian rock group, Five Man Electrical Band.  It was their greatest hit as a band that many would consider to be a “one hit wonder”.  Coming out in the turbulent 1970s, the song sort of summarized what that generation felt was taking place across the nation and world.  You remember the 70s . . . the Viet Nam War, the hippie movement, civil rights, Watergate, President Nixon resigning the presidency, the Cold War—they were anxious and turbulent times.  Lots of tension.  The song points out this tension.

 

There have always been “signs”.  In the Gospels, Jesus speaks a lot about signs . . . there are always “signs” for every generation says Jesus.  Remember this one from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verses 25 through 28: “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

 

We live in anxious times.  We live in tense times . . . divisive times.  The prophets cry out that “the end is near”.  They wave their “signs” and point to the evidence found in the world we live in.  I imagine all of us have at one time or another thought that the end is coming over the years.  We look around and we see the “signs” or at least we should see the “signs”.  They are all around us.

 

As the Apostle Paul continues his discourse in his letter to the congregation in Rome, his hope is that they see the “signs” around them and if not . . . well, then, they need to wake up!  “The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.”  Paul is telling the congregation that it is time to wake up and get down to business . . . get down to the business of kingdom building.  The time has come . . . get to work!

 

One of the most difficult challenges that the “church” and faithful have always faced is that of complacency.  Too often the “church” and the faithful become complacent because we have already accomplished the goal . . . we have been baptized, secured God’s grace, hit the jackpot, reserved our place in the kingdom, have the golden insurance policy.  We have it made.  What more is needed?  But we forget that simply because we are baptized—that we are saved, that the work is not done.  We can’t take it easy.  There is lots to be done.

 

So, wake up!  There is still lots to be done.

 

Which brings up another struggle for the “church” and the faithful . . . urgency.  That loss of urgency may be because of complacency.  As we read of the start of the “church” one of the foundational components of was its sense of urgency.  From the words of Jesus and the “signs” around them they truly believed that they were on a deadline to get business done . . . the end was near.  Thus, there was a sense of urgency in all that the early church and faithful went about doing.  And we have lost that.

 

The “signs” have always been there . . . always around us.  Yet we have no urgency in our faith . . . no urgency in our churches.  Is it because that which the “signs” have always pointed to has not happened?  Is that why there is complacency?  Well, it doesn’t matter.  Jesus told his followers to stay awake . . . to be alert . . . to be prepared . . . because it could happen at any time.  Jesus said, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36, NIV)

 

As it was then, so it is today.  Paul’s admonishment to “wake up” echoes across the generations of the faithful . . . yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  Wake up and get to work.

 

Maybe this has happened to you.  On Friday morning I was deep into LaLa Land . . . I was sawing logs with the best of them when the alarm went off.  At first, I thought it was a part of my dream . . . a pleasant noise.  So, I ignored it.  The second time it went off . . . well, I realized that it was not a dream and I literally jump straight up out of bed in a panic.  Friday was a busy day for me as I had a whole lot of stuff that I needed to get done . . . important stuff.  Despite my grogginess I willed my body to get moving thanks to the awareness of what I needed to get done.  But, boy, did that bed feel good . . .

 

The apostle is attempting to wake up the groggy congregation . . . attempting to wake us all up.  He wants the faithful—the followers of Jesus—to wake up and get to work.  What is the “work” that he wants everyone to get to?  Well . . . the business of love.  Paul wants everyone to open our eyes, ears, minds, souls and every other part of our identity.  To become aware of the world around us.  To recognize the signs.  To do something and that something is love.  To practice the kind of love that Jesus modeled.  A love of acceptance . . . a grace-full love . . . a love that builds and does not tear down.  As Jesus said, this is number one—love.

 

So . . . wake up!  There is still time and much to do.  With God all things are possible.  So, wake up!

 

Now whether you agree or not with how I understand the Apostle Paul’s words this morning, one thing we can appreciate is that it is always good to be reminded.  Reminded not to put off what we can do and accomplish today because you never know, tomorrow might be too late.  Love is what we are called to do and be about as the followers of Jesus.  Paul tells us this morning: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  And do this, understanding the present time . . .”

 

The time is now . . .

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin’ out the scenery

Breakin’ my mind

Do this, don’t do that

Can’t you read the sign?

 

The time has come . . . wake up!  Amen.