Easter 6 2011
May 29, 2011
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Jeremiah 1:1-4 & 2:1-4,Ps. 37:1-10; II Timothy 4 1-14; Luke 18:9-14)
St. Christopher’s Episcopal
Church, High Point, NC
MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF
ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR
REDEEMER AMEN
Many
of you have seen this visual aid in other places. It is used a lot by time management
instructors. General business classes
will sometimes use it along with other ‘self help’ type programs. I don’t know if Purpose Driven Life or
Purpose Driven Church use this specific image but it works well for any
of those.
When
I was pulling this all together I looked for a container to hold the
stones. I found the measuring cup was
perfect — and since we are talking about discovering a recipe for our lives,
the measuring cup is appropriate.
Basically
these small red stones represent the less important activities of our
lives. Notice I did not say unimportant
but less important. These are the things
which will not a have a large impact if not done. In fact, one decision criteria I find helpful
is to ask “will this make a difference a year from now?” I need to mow the lawn for example but
whether it gets done on Wednesday or Thursday will not make a difference a year
from now. But visiting a lonely person
could have an impact which lasts a long time.
The
white in the bottom of the container represents those parts of our lives over
which we have less influence. Again
notice I said less influence and not no
influence. But there are things we do
which we need to do and which are influenced by factors beyond our
control. Obviously our
work. Could be doctor’s
appointments over which we can influence the precise timing but not the need
for them.
The
balls represent the most important things in our lives over which we have
influence. How much time I spend with
our grandchildren is something I can influence and which is extremely important
to me. I mentioned that one guide in
differentiating the LESS important tasks is to ask “whether they will matter a
year from now”. A good guide for
determining the most important ones is how I will feel if they are not
done. I hurt when a couple weeks go by
without playing with the grandchildren.
That is an important activity for me.
BUT, I often go a couple weeks BECAUSE ..... that will become more obvious in a moment.
So,
what most of us do is fill a major part of our lives with activities we THINK
we cannot influence or change. Then, we
do all those little things which are important ... but maybe not critical. And we discover there is not time for the
really important things.
On
the other hand if we put in the important things first, and then the less important .... SURPRISE!
Everything fits!
I
like this image and I think it works well for our lives. Of course the most important step is to
determine what is most important in our lives.
I had an aunt who, looking back, felt that having an extremely clean
house was right at the top of the list.
Not having fun family times – because they could have messed up the
house. I doubt she ever thought things
through in this manner, she was one of my favorite
aunts – a wonderful person.
One
of the most preached about passages in all of scripture is today’s reading from
the book of Acts. And specifically about
Paul’s comment that they were worshiping an unknown god. Allow me for this purpose to define “worshiping”
as doing what that power desires. So you
could say my aunt “worshiped” a clean house.
Many people “worship” their jobs, their careers. Many people “worship” money and will do
whatever is necessary to gain it.
Actually what most people are “worshiping” is not really money but
influence and importance. They will do
anything to gain influence and importance in the eyes of other people.
And
that’s where this visual aid falls apart.
You see, most people make a choice – not a conscious choice but a choice
and put the most important things in line first. The difficulty is that few of us have made
conscious choices about what is most important in our lives. And if we honestly, sincerely, and privately
evaluate our choices we discover how low God is on the list. God is one of the little red stones that fits in sometimes ... but not always. And even when God does fit into our lives it
is as one of many.
PLEASE
hear me saying “our”. I am talking about
all of us including me.
Our
challenge is how to raise up God to a more important
position. What fascinating about that is
in some ways, not all but some, it will not mean
large changes in schedules. Instead it
means a change in our outlook.
Several
years ago I came to the conclusion that a church should be different from other
civic organizations. Those other
organizations may be great, even wonderful – and many are but a church should
be different. When a Christian is
volunteering at a Habitat build it should be for a different reason than an “ethical
atheist” volunteers. The ethical atheist
is simply trying to make the world a better place and this is fine. But a Christian is trying to serve God by
making the world a better place. The
difference is almost entirely within the person. The people who occupy the Habitat house will
not know if the house was built from a Christian perspective or an atheistic
perspective. But we, the volunteers,
will know.
When
a church .... and remember
the church is the people not the buildings or institution .... so when Christian people serve at the homeless shelter or
trim the bushes around the building it should be to serve God. If we are doing it so the institution we
belong to looks better — then it is about our ego. If we do it so God’s glory shows through,
then it is about God.
How
hard, how very hard it is to make that differentiation!! How often we say something is to “God’s glory”
as a catch phrase and not sincerely.
This
is one of the things unchurched people say over and over again ---- that
churches don’t feel any different than any other organization. One of the areas for research during my
extended study time this summer will be those people who consider themselves
part of a church but almost never attend.
I strongly suspect I will find the same answer: There is nothing at the
church different from the rest of the world.
How
sad. ...... Can you not hear God crying?
The
key for us as individuals and for the group of people known as Christians is
NOT to going running off to a monastery for the rest of our lives. The key is NOT necessarily to attend a
worship service every day, or even to pray for an hour a day. Each of those may be appropriate for some people
but not required of everyone.
Instead
the key is to change how we look at things .... at activities. The
key is not to necessarily change what we do ... although that will happen ...
but rather to change how we do it.
When
I was supervising the engineering office one of the engineers was a devoted
Christian. We disagreed on theology but
agreed on how important it was to live as a Christian. We discussed what that meant in our job of
designing and building water lines, sewer lines, roads. Eventually we came to the understanding that
how we designed the sewer line was not all that important to God as long as it
worked. What did matter and mattered
deeply to us as Christians, was how we treated the people along the sewer line’s
path. Maybe we could not avoid tearing
down the tree the woman planted when her child died — but we could be sensitive
and sympathetic.
When
we do go to the doctor’s appointment and the person behind us is on a walker
... do we hold the door simply because our mother taught us to do that? Or do we hold the door because a child of God
needs the assistance? ..... Go ahead, give it a try. Hold the door BECAUSE a child of God needs
assistance. Hold the door in joy and
gladness that we have the OPPORTUNITY to serve God by serving one of God’s
children. Try it. You will find it very different.
Most
of us spend an enormous amount of time in our cars. Most of us use that time for
.... well most of us waste that time. ..... Let
me stop here for a moment and comment on the importance of having ‘down time’. Time when you just chill out. Time when nothing else is
happening. That can be essential
and is not wasted time.
That
said most of us waste the time in our cars.
Be safe! That is first on the
list but would some inspirational music help you stay focused on God? What about not cursing the red light but
praying during that time? Be glad you
were given an extra moment for prayer? I
don’t do that well, but I try!
All
of those are examples of changing HOW we live without changing what activities
we do. That’s important because many of
the LESS important things are things we have to do at some time. Still this image should also encourage us to
also consider what activities we do and how they fit into our schedules ..... our priorities.
Generally
our lives with God can be divided into three phases and we should seek to be
active in all three. The first phase is
usually called worship but that is too restricting a word so I will use “being
in relationship with God”. It is the
equivalent of spending quality time with someone you love. It includes worship services but also prayer
time and just plain “being”.
Second
is learning ... what have we learned about God, and our relationship with God,
this week?
Third
is ‘doing’. What have we done this week
we would be proud to tell God about?
My
prayer for you this summer, and for me, is that we all can learn what choices
we have made, and change those priorities to be more God centered.
AMEN
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CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)