When my children were born, I was born again. I saw the
whole of life through new eyes…their eyes! From the day I saw my own face
reflected in their pupils I began to look at the world as they might see it. I
noticed things I hadn't noticed for years because they were just there … always had been … always
would be. But I also began to see things I had never seen before, the way you
see things that you've never seen in your own home town until you have a guest
come to visit, the way that you see things about your own family you've never
seen until you bring that special someone to meet them … all because
you're looking through their eyes and not just your own.
When my kids were small, we would be
driving down the highway, and I would spy, oh, a cow standing out in the
pasture. "Cow!" I would shout, pointing like
some big game hunter leading a safari back in the bush. "Look at the
cow!" They would jump awake in their car seats, their little heads would
turn, and they would look - about a half mile past the cow. Now I'd seen a lot
of cows. One cow is pretty much the same as the next, but I wanted them to see
it, really see it. I wanted them to get the thrill of the cow - the size of the
beast, yet - the serenity, the brown and white splashes of color, the twitchy
ears, the swishy tail, the baleful gaze - the whole
amazing cow experience! Of course, I did this with sheep, too, and birds,
flowers and rivers, trees, old pickup trucks, an occasional mail box, just
about everything I saw. I tell you, I was filled with wonder! I was beside
myself with awe! However, it did not seem to impress them much, and before long
they were thoroughly unimpressed with cows or anything else I tried to
spotlight for them.
That's the way it is, I suppose. We
are surrounded by God's miracles and wonders so frequently, so constantly, that
we've become immune to them. We don't even see them any more, even when someone
is jumping up and down and shouting at us, trying to get us to pay attention
for a change.
I attended a worship service the
last time I was at my seminary, and I heard an inspiring sermon, but the pastor
must have used the word AWESOME! a good twenty-five or
thirty times. I expected him at any moment to pull pom-poms from his pockets
and wave them in our faces to convince us how AWESOME! God is. He was working
so hard to get us excited about life and faith and church. And I understand,
believe me. But I have to admit, sometimes we
preachers go a little over the top because we feel obligated to stir up some of
the spiritual excitement we feel.
I'm reminded of a colleague a few
years ago who told me he was trying to wean himself from the word
"special." He kept making announcements in his church about the
"special" picnic today and the "special" worship next
Sunday and the "special" ministry on Thursday nights and the
"special" Sunday School classes every week,
even the "special" coffee time after the morning service. He said,
"It finally dawned on me, if everything's special, nothing is special any
more." Well, that's just my point today. Everything is
special, but that's why we take it for granted.
Sometimes, to counteract our apathy we
try to fake it till we make it. I
like what Eugene Peterson says about this:
I grew up in a church that emphasized extraordinary experience - it was the
church of miracles, ecstasy, epiphanies, and a great deal of manipulation in
order to promote those kind of experiences. As a result, the Christian life
became a kind of scrapbook of extraordinary experiences. I knew I didn't want
to go in that direction. That approach to the Christian life doesn't produce
mature people.
I couldn't agree with him more. If
you have to manufacture a dramatic encounter with God once a week, sooner or later
you will have to fake it. Worship becomes entertainment … an emotional
roller coaster … and only the high-exciting-happy-times count as moments
of spiritual significance. It can get pretty silly. To be sure, the Bible
suggests people have extraordinary experiences of God's presence from time to
time. There are occasional spectacular miracles. There are moments of stunning
insight. There are certainly those times where we feel God closer than at other
times in our lives. But those spectacular glories happen at God's discretion,
and not on our demand. They don't even happen to everybody, and certainly not
all the time, and certainly not on schedule for one hour a week - or an hour
and fifteen minutes on communion Sundays…if John is checking his watch.
What's more, the hard times … the sad times … the pains and uphill
climbs … and even our confused wanderings in the wilderness can also be
times of spiritual significance as we discover ourselves and discover deep
within the God who is with us through it all. But what I want to celebrate with
you today is the glory of ordinary, because our scripture readings
suggests something to us about the spiritual significance of everyday, normal
life under the care of Christ, our Shepherd.
Each of the gospels has a different way
of describing just what it is that Jesus came here to do. In Matthew,
Jesus is the new Moses who brings a new revelation from God and calls everyone
to join the new synagogue, which he nicknames the ecclesia, the
"called out," the "called together," or, as it's usually
translated, the "church." For Luke, Jesus comes with a message
of forgiveness for everyone who repents and trusts in God, for men and women,
for prostitutes and Pharisees, for tax-collectors and priests, for Jews and
Samaritans, for rich and poor, for eunuchs and Gentiles, everybody. Mark
sees Jesus as the Messiah who has come to suffer for us and lead his followers
to glory if we are willing to suffer with him and carry our crosses for the
sake of others. But of all of them, I like John's picture the best. In John
the word for salvation, the word that contains everything Jesus came to do and
demonstrate and bestow and accomplish for us is the word "life."
That's it. LIFE!
Well, what's the big deal? What's so
"special" about that? We all have life, don't we? Don't we? Or could
it be that what Jesus brings us is the capacity to see life for what it is?
Could it be that Jesus opens our eyes to the pervasive presence of God in every
moment and every place? Is that what it means to be born again, to have our
eyes opened and see life as God intends it to be? Is it possible he brings us
the power to overcome all those things that try to strangle the life out of us
and leave us with a bare and boring existence as mass consumers or addicts of
the latest fad to come down the road? Does he mean that he comes to give us a
life that matters, that means something for all eternity? In John, the life that
Jesus brings is eternal and it is abundant. Jesus brings us a rich life …
filled with the wonder of God's constant care. We seem to want to focus our
attention on the spectacular until we are reduced to spiritual thrill-seeking.
But we should focus our spiritual attention to the basic stuff of life that every
one of us receives at birth … built into our existence as a grace-gift of
God.
Have you ever been to a monastery or an
abbey or some such spiritual community? When our family vacationed in
Stop here for a moment and take a deep
breath with me. I really mean
it. Breathe in deeply and let it out
slowly. You see what I mean? The air we breathe. Isn't it special? Isn’t
it a miracle? Isn’t it gift of God? But do we thank God for the air, the
water, the earth, the fire? If that made
you uncomfortable you’re really going to hate this…turn, and look
your neighbor in the eye. No, really…do it. It won’t kill you. Look at each other and see. See him. Behold
her. There is the glory of God right before your eyes. You have God to thank
for your family, your friends, your beloved community. Think of the work God
has given you to do, how it adds to our society. Consider the beauty of an
ordinary sunset or the solace of a good night's rest. Thank God for the gift of
life … every moment … every experience. I'm only going to say this
once: isn't God AWESOME!?
Paul Woodruff contends that one of
the things missing from our society these days is a genuine sense of reverence.
He recalls Plato's story of Protagoras, who says:
Whenever they gathered into groups (early human beings) would do wrong to each
other, because they did not yet have the knowledge of how to form society. As a
result, they would scatter again and perish. And so Zeus, fearing that our
whole species would be wiped out, sent Hermes to bring reverence and justice to
human beings in order that these two would adorn society and bind people
together in friendship.
According to Greek mythology,
Prometheus brought humanity fire and technology. But, Woodruff suggests, "Zeus
recognized that technology alone, without virtue, is no defense against mutual
destruction." All you have to do is look at the headlines from
Reverence cuts across cultures and
religions. It is less about faith than about power: an honest grasp of our
finitude and limitations … recognition of that which is greater than we
… humility in the face of that which transcends us … and the
respect for one another which flows from reverence. Reverence keeps us from
abusing power or abusing one another as if we were the center of the universe.
Reverence is a recognition of the holiness of every
life … the sacredness of each other. Reverence leads us to treat all
people with respect and to be civil in our social discourse. Woodruff argues it
is a virtue essential to the survival of any human society. He suggests that we
do not lack reverence altogether, we have simply become unaware of it, and are
therefore at risk of diminishing our lives. And ironically, irreverence has
become a higher value in our society than reverence and is often praised.
Woodruff quotes Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming:"
Turning and turning in the widening sky
the falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world”
Listen to that second line one more
time…"The falcon cannot hear the falconer." But
Jesus, the "Good Shepherd," says, "My sheep hear my voice. I
know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28).
Now I am no farmer, but I do know that
sheep are not particularly bright. Those who know tell me that a sheep is dumber
than a cow. They have to be tended, taken care of, because they are almost defenseless.
They make mistakes…they wander off into danger … they are mostly
oblivious to what's happening around them. Does that sound like anyone you
know? We, too, can be like sheep. We
need constant care. And God gives us care: a good earth for forage…a
flock to belong to…a good life - if we will choose it … live it …
see it for the holy gift it is.
I think of the well known prayer of
Thomas Merton, which models this humble reverence and faith:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of
me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am
actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact
please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I
will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you
will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore
will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face
my perils alone.
The Lord is our Shepherd. So I urge you
today: have some reverence for your own life. Notice the basic blessings of
your journey as you go. Listen each moment for the voice of Christ calling you
into life - eternal, abundant, LIFE! Treat the people around you for the holy
souls they are, every, every one of them. And thank God with every breath you
take. Amen.
May we pray?
Gracious God, forgive us our selfish, irreverent ways, always demanding more
from you while ignoring the wondrous beauty and ample gifts with which you have
already surrounded us. Teach us reverence. Teach us gratitude. Teach us how to
see you in each other. And we will trust in you, our Shepherd, to lead us into
LIFE…abundant and everlasting. Amen.
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa