"Spfff It Out"
A sermon
delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
July 29, 2012
at Gordonsville
Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
Romans 12:11a-b
Matthew 5: 13-16
Let
us pray,
Help us to see
despite our eyes
Help us to think
outside our minds
Help us to be
more than our lives
For your eyes show us the way
Your mind knows the truth
Your being is the life.
Amen.
We
continue our study of the "Marks of a True Christian" from Paul's
letter to the Romans 12. So far we've looked at " 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is
evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual
affection; outdo one another in showing honor." This morning we take a
look at verse 11, which says, "Do not lag in zeal, be
ardent in spirit." There are two parts, but we'll take a look at them
together because they are really close in meaning. To partner with this verse I
chose a familiar passage, like last week, from the Sermon on the Mount, in
Matthew's Gospel 5:13-16.
3 “You are
the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be
restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled
under foot.
14 “You are
the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No
one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the
lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same
way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father in heaven. [1]
Before we start, I'd
like to look at the words of our verse for this morning. Two words stand out
because we rarely use them in our every day speech. One is "zeal" and
the other is "ardent." Zeal is a little more familiar. The dictionary
says that zeal is "eagerness and ardent interest in the pursuit of
something." And there is that other word, "ardent," right in
there. Now in the dictionary "ardent" is "characterized by
warmth of feeling typically expressed in eager zealous support or activity"
[2] And there
is that word zeal, in zealous. Do you see why I kept this verse together
intact? They are both talking about the same idea. The dictionary gave similar
synonyms for both: fervor, fiery, hot. The Greek Root word for the word
translated as ardent is the verb "leo," which means to boil.
Literally "leontes" which is translated in the NRSV as ardent means
boiling over as if out of control.
Again here is mirror time. We hold
this description of a "True Christian" up before our face and do we see ourselves?
Are we inspired, and eager, and excited, and thrilled, and energized, and
animated, and on fire, or are we instead "the frozen chosen?" If you
are anything like me you are a little bit skeptical of religious fervor. I
don't wonder why that is, because there is a lot of fake fervor out there, or
at least it seems that way because many people "caught up" in it look
the same. Whether they talk really breathy, or they hold their hands up in
strange ways, or their eyes look just a little bit spacey, or they have a smile
that is so strong it just doesn't look real. Joel Osteen comes to mind; he
seems to do all of those at one time. It seems strange to me that if they use a
word like fire to describe it there would be so much uniformity because fire is
something wild, and free, and original, and above all alive. Like they say just
because there is smoke, doesn't mean there is real fire. We are called to be
zealous and ardent though, and I want to talk this morning about how that fire
can be ignited within us, how it already is, how we are created to be naturally
full of such fire, but how so much around us seems to "shhh out the
fire."
We've talked at length over the past
couple months about the things that make being a Christian difficult, the
things in this world that seem to make everything we do so very hard. What are
the things that really stifle our fires. The third verse of "This Little
Light of Mine" as I we sang together during the children's time is,
"don't let Satan, shhhh it out, I'm going to let it shine". What are
the things in this world that blow out our fire? What grinds our gears? What
robs us of our enthusiasm and our fervor? What are our barriers to having an
ardent spirit for service? And then how do we get past it?
A couple of years ago when I became
a candidate for ministry at a Presbytery meeting, there was a big push for
growth of churches. They had this expert who had grown churches all over the
country come and talk. He spoke about many strategies and gave a good talk, but
the one point he kept making is that all churches have a candle of the spirit,
and that candle could be extinguished, and then would die. Before I got up to
be examined the Presbytery was working through some business. There was a
disagreement about where money was going to come from, where it was going to
go, and where cuts would need to be made. You would be amazed at the stuff that
people were saying. My dad and I just kept looking at each other, remembering
the talk from earlier, and would make like we were blowing out a candle.
Shhhhh. When I was finally brought before the Presbytery to be examined, a man
asked a good question of me, a tough question, and as I was about to answer it,
he was told that the question could not be asked. The procedure was not right,
and it took the place positive dialogue. Shhhhhh. It happens. How many times
are we so overcome with the process that the object is forever missed? This is
one of those things that turns people off and drains us of our energy. These
little things get to us.
Sometimes the things are bigger
though, the wind blowing out the candle seems a hurricane. This week was filled
with so many to me, things that just frustrate me. One of the things that get
me is the way that everything is a crisis of the moment, the way that the media
and our culture raises the level of things to a point where there are only two
sides, for and against, and real thought is lost in the balance. Shhhhhh. I mean this week you couldn't eat a chicken
sandwich without it being a political statement, Shhhhh, kids couldn't have a
batman birthday party without being deemed insensitive, Shhhhhh, we couldn't
mourn the loss of American lives without debates over firearms, Shhhhhhhh, or speculation
whether the gunman was a conservative nutjob or a liberal bullied victim,
Shhhhhhh. We couldn't watch the Olympic Opening ceremonies without controversy
over the U.S. uniforms being made in China, Shhhhh, or whether there was enough
security, Shhhhhh, and whether saying
there wasn't was a political misstep, Shhhhhh, or whether business owners
deserve credit for what they create, Shhhhhh. The cynicism comes out, doesn't
it. I voiced my frustration, and all I heard back was, "well it's and
election year, what do you expect? That's cynicism. A snuffed out spirit is one
that has grown cynical, believing that nothing matters, nothing can be done
anyway, so why bother, nothing you do matters because nothing matters.
I don't bring this up for any
political reason, but rather to illustrate more of our cynicism. A former
student of mine had posted some stat on his facebook page that showed how
Barack Obama had kept 72% of his campaign promises, which didn't count when he
compromised with Republicans. It becomes an interesting stat when that isn't
taken into account. I mean why else wouldn't you keep a promise? Again, but I don't
bring this up to dump on the President, but to make a point. My former student
thought 72% was good, and was arguing so, and he's like 24 and supposedly
idealistic and progressive. I called him out on it, saying that means he lied
like 28% of the time. He said it was probably good for a president, that Bush
was much worse. I'm sure he was, but is that our qualifying line? Have our
standards dropped so low? Why? Cynicism, Shhhhhhhh! Oh don't worry, all
politicians lie. Why? A person with an ardent spirit would demand more, and be
more ourselves. Being cynical is much safe, though, than being on fire. You
don't need to have an opinion. You don't need to care. You don't need to do
anything because hey it doesn't matter.
Ok so we're up against all of that.
How do we get through it? I've heard a term lately, referring to folks who have
a religious identity. It is people of faith. There is where we must start.
Faith is the cure for the common cynic because it is the opposite. A cynic, one
who's light is completely out doesn't believe anything matters, sometimes they
can go so far as to believe nothing really exists, but faith that things matter
is a place to start. And faith can build from there. Then add to that faith,
faith in a God who created all things, one God who is timeless, infinite, and
omnipotent, in control of all things, and that adds something. Faith that, that
God still exists providing for the world, and is involved in history, and that
adds something. Then add faith that, that God loved us so much He became human,
lived with us, suffered with us as us, died on the cross for us, and rose,
reigning on high, and that the Spirit of God lives within us sustaining us, strengthening
us, lighting the fire within us, faith in that kind of a world does something
to us, or it should if realized and experienced. That has to be the place to
start for Christians because in that kind of world the fire is lit for us. We
are created and redeemed and we have a fire that is set within us to share.
So now how do we share it without it
being ssssshhhhed out? Faith in the providence of God can help us get beyond
the major squabbling in the world. We can get beyond the results and the
dreamed of ends and focus instead on the means. We can love, rather than
demonize, because we won't be working towards an agenda. We'll have God to work
it out beyond what we are called to grasp. From here I see two important pieces
in the puzzle to sustain the fire. One is call and the other is gratitude.
Call is an important piece of the
puzzle because we are all very different, and we were all created for something
different. We are each given unique gifts. We are each given unique strengths.
We are each given unique talents. We are each given unique interests. We're all
simply unique. Call is about figuring out why you are the way you are, and then
applying that to the service of God in some way, your way. What is your way?
One of the problems in our society that I see is that there is a great push for
standardization of things: processes, paths, people, as if there were only one
way of doing things, and if you don't do it that way you don't fit. Schools are
set up that way. It's frustrating, as a teacher. I see so many talented kids, who
aren't talented in everything get lost because they don't fit. They are a
square peg and the round holed paths we have created for them are too binding.
So we drug them with ritalin and other drugs to try to soften their edges
rather than trying to find their skills and help them find their place, their
unique place.
It happens all the time and it's not
just kids. It's churches, too. How many things do we do in church because it's
the church way to do things? How many talents do you have that don't quite seem
to fit? We have sign-ups for certain jobs: nursery, fellowship, lay-readers,
greeters, ushers, places in the choir or the bell choir, fledgling programs for
our children, waiting in the wings, what do you have that we haven't thought of
yet? What can you bring that isn't on a sign-up sheet. Bring it we need it.
Figure out what you are called to do, and do it. You'll find that if you are
working within your call, the fire, the eagerness, the ardor of your spirit
will be burning out of control.
Instead we do what is expected of
us, the safe, the path that has already been paved, the row that has already
been plowed. Sure it's safer, but it is an extinguished fire waiting to happen.
Life is one of those things that is so precious. It's got to be lived, and the
way to find life is to live the life you were meant for.
A friend of mine, Jerry King, has
begun a mural in the nursery. I can't wait for you all to see it, but the theme
we came up with was that God has created
us each for something, and that something will be different. He wrote the
caption, "When God meant you, he meant something, not nothing, not
everything, but something." It will depict characters from the Bible, and
you will notice that no two characters are doing the same thing. But you got to
wonder, how many people after Moses went looking for God in a burning bush, how
many people hung out on the beach at the Red Sea, waiting for it to part again,
the first time it rained after Noah and the family got off the boat, how many
folks were building arks, like people have bomb shelters today, what did the
guy that Darius threw in the Lion's den after Daniel think? How many people
missed out on Jesus because they were looking for another Earthly king like
David? How many people are waiting in Bethlehem for Jesus to come again? How
many people are waiting in buildings with pews, and steeples, and pulpits, stained
glass, organs, choirs expecting the Spirit to enliven them because of those
trappings of church? Shhhhhh, unless the church is the people. People burning
with the fire of created purpose, called to specific service it is an
extinguished flame.
Right now Renee Bloom is in Haiti.
She is experiencing things we cannot even imagine. Hard work, poverty, disease,
orphans, despair, danger, pain. She'll experience all of that. But in a few
weeks she will come talk to us and tell us about it all, and I want you to look
at the Spirit, the ardor, the zeal that will be boiling over within her because
she was called, and is fulfilling that call, and will continue to be called
when she gets back. One thing about being called by an infinite God, is that
calls continually happen. "When God meant you he meant something, not
nothing, not everything, but something." Find your something.
And then the last as I said is
gratitude. Be thankful. Be thankful for the gifts and talents and call that you
have, rather than constantly looking at others with longing. Jerry is painting
the mural and I'm in awe of his talent, I know I don't have that talent, I'm
thankful for his talent, this church is being blessed with his talent. Renee is
doing her mission trip, it's great. Maybe your mission is not so far from home.
Maybe it is your job and career, maybe it's raising your kids, maybe it is
smiling at the person you pass as you enter the Food Lion, maybe it's Feed My
Sheep, maybe it's not. Maybe it's teaching Sunday School, maybe it's giving a
kid a hug or a smile, maybe it's sending a card, maybe it's creating your own
program that is you, maybe it's huge, maybe it's small, maybe it's international,
global, maybe its within your own
family. All shapes and sizes, all are important, all can fill you with the fire
if you are thankful for the existence you have been given.
I'm not sure if this is the only way
to keep a fire going. I know that God can do all things, and that means all is
possible. But faith, call, and gratitude, can sure open lives up to becoming Spirit
led. That holy breath, that fire can fill us, and will sustain us, holding our
light out for all the world to see, a great beacon of light, a candle of hope,
that can transform a cynical world of darkness, for darkness flees from the
light, having no power whatsoever. Thanks be to God, Amen.
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