Getting the word out.
Rally Day
Occasional Sermons
Rally Day
There are any number of reasons for us to bring our children to church. One reason could be labeled socio-religious. This reason is essentially a practical one. It goes to the perpetuation of our religion. If succeeding generations are not churched, the church will, obviously, erode, and erode eventually into non-existence. There is added urgency to this reason at the present time, because in this nation at least, in fact the succeeding generations are not churched. They have actually been dubbed “the unchurched;” and, in fact, the church is eroding. At any rate, the Bible recognizes this reason. We heard it recognized in our Old Testament lesson from the book of Deuteronomy. Moses had led the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage to the border of the Promised Land. Now on his deathbed, he charged them, their children, and their children’s children to observe the law he had given them. And why? Because the people of Israel were entering the Promised Land to become a religious nation, and to become a religious nation the succeeding generations had to observe the law. Then there is a reason to bring our children to church that could be labeled personal. It goes to the welfare of our children. What better way to promote the welfare of our children then by giving them a set of convictions from which to operate in life? I deal with the so-called “unchurched” on a regular basis. There are exceptions, of course, but my experience is that they are not given, in the absence of a set of religious convictions, a set of secular convictions. They are given very little in the way of convictions at all. What convictions they form are impressionistic and unexamined – usually derived from the pseudo-wisdom of popular culture. And let’s face it: people of all ages need convictions. Convictions give people understanding, purpose, direction, and motivation. Again, the Bible recognizes this reason. We heard it recognized in our Psalter lesson. It is recognized too throughout the Bible’s wisdom tradition. The way the Bible states it is that if you teach a child to follow in God’s way -- right from wrong, left from right – you teach a child the means to sound living. And the set of convictions our children will be given have to do not only with this life, but with eternal life. Our children will hear eternal life proclaimed again and again in church, for indeed it is the very crux of the gospel; it is the meaning and import of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And if our children are convicted of eternal life, they will never be lost to fear, despair, and senselessness. They will be given the basis for courage, optimism, and hope. And of course, the Bible recognizes this reason. We heard it recognized in this morning’s epistle lesson from the book of Romans. In Paul’s immortal words, “I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing to the glory about to be revealed to us.” Paul realizes, of course, that a set of convictions from which to operate in this life are not enough, for the sufferings in this life are too great. But too, Paul realizes, the sufferings in this life will be overcome by eternal life. Yes, there are any number of reasons for us to bring our children to church, and indeed, they are all good ones. But they aren’t the best one. The best one has to do with truth. We come to church, we practice this religion, not necessarily because we believe that this church or this religion is in perfect accord with truth. As Paul reminds us in the book of Galatians, “all things are imprisoned under the power of sin,” and they are: even this church and this religion. But we come to church because we believe in the God that stands above this church and this religion is in perfect accord with truth. He is the truth to which the whole cosmos accedes -- to which all history has acceded, and to which the future will accede. He is the truth which is inviolable, try as we might in our pride to violate it. And if we don’t take our children to church they will not be exposed to it this truth. They will not be able to learn it. They will not be able to affirm it. They will not be able to defend it. And they will not be able to live it. And this truth is the highest thing there is. It is higher than the perpetuation of our religion. Our religion should not be perpetuated, in fact, if it does not align with this truth. It is higher than our personal welfare, indeed our welfare may well be sacrificed for it, and sacrificed rightly. And this truth can not be assimilated instantaneously . It can only be assimilated slowly, in time – week by week, year by year. There are no shortcuts. This is one lesson life has taught me. There are no shortcuts. In grief, every tear must be cried. In a journey, every step must be taken. In an accomplishment, every effort must be made. And for children to assimilate this truth, we must bring them to church. In this morning’s gospel lesson, Jesus on the heels of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem entered the temple precincts. What he saw there enraged him. It was like some crass and boisterous carnival. Salesmen and money changers were hawking their wares, crowds were bargaining for their offerings. And so he overturned their tables and dispersed them; and crying with all the zeal of the first prophet to utter these words, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you are making it a den of robbers.” And what was the upshot of this scene? The chief priests and scribes were indignant, but the children cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna!” The children, even in these circumstances recognized the truth. For some reason, children have this facility. They can recognize the truth. In can only be the way God made them. And so let us give our children that truth. Amen.
When my father’s cancer returned, as the doctors assured us it would, it returned with a vengeance. The doctors told us that treatment was useless and would only prolong his suffering. And so, a grim wait ensued. No one, including my father, wanted to acknowledge his impending death, so no one did. It wasn’t so much that we were trying to avoid facing reality. It was more that we were all struggling so hard with reality, all in such fragile and precarious shape, that and no one wanted to risk exacerbating the other’s grief. But then the silence was finally broken. The phone rang at my house one evening much later than it usually rings. It was my father. “I think my time has about come,” he said, “and there are some things I need to talk to you about.” My father had retired to Wisconsin, and so I made some hasty preparations for the care of my children, got into the car, and left straight away. The three hour trip took me closer to two. I wasn’t sure how much time he had. I made it to his bedside, though. And he talked to me. And I listened. I can’t say that I always listened to father. As a teenager, I had all the answers myself. I listened when it suited me. As a young adult I was consumed with my own life. I listened when I had the time. But there at his deathbed, I listened. I listened like I’ve never listened before. And it was because I learned then and there what only experience can teach – that the charge of the dying to the living is a sacred charge. I have often wondered since why this is. I think it is because when someone is dying, you appreciate most fully all you received from him and how much you owe him. And then you realize that it’s really how much you have received from God and how much you owe him. And in that experience you feel very surely God’s grace, and you want more than anything to respond to it. This is why I think that the charge of the dying to the living is sacred. So I listened, and I obeyed. It was like that at the death of Moses. Moses had heeded God’s call and commission at the burning bush. He had rescued his people from Egyptian slavery. He had led them through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments. And he had delivered them to the border of the Promised Land. He had hoped to bring them into the Promised Land, but the Lord informed him that his time had now come. And so Moses gathered his people together and made that sacred charge from the dying to the living. And what was that charge? We heard some of it in this morning’s Old Testament lesson. Moses charged his people to teach their children the word of God. And they listened. And they obeyed. And they recorded that charge so that the faithful in coming generations would too listen and obey. But even as we recommit ourselves this Rally Day to do so, we may wonder why? Why was this charge so important? Moses went on to explain why. He explained that each and every day of our lives, the way of blessing and the way of curse is set before us. And of course he absolutely is right. There is not one day that is not a day for us to decide between the way of blessing and the way of curse – in the words we speak, or fail to speak; in the action we take or fail to take, in the duty we meet, or fail to meet; in the sacrifice we make or fail to make; in the fear we overcome or fail to overcome; in what we give or fail to give, in the love we share or fail to share. Each and every day is a day to decide -- for our own sake, for the sake of those around us, and for the sake of the larger word. This is the way that the Lord has ordered our life, and it is the way we make the Lord’s difference in our lives or we do not. And how can our children decide between the way of blessing and the way of curse if we do not teach our children the word of the Lord? The answer is simple. They can’t. If we do not teach our children the word of the Lord then we choose for them the way of curse. This is why Moses’ charge was so important. Another school year is now before us. There is so much we want our children to learn. We want them to learn the academic curriculum, of course, and at the highest and most intensive level possible. And then there are sports, and music, and all the rest of it. And this is well and good. Education is a privilege and the necessary precondition for human development. But if our children do not learn the word of God and learn to decide wisely between the way of blessing and curse, they risk gaining the world and losing their souls. Our children will learn everything except the most important thing. In our gospel lesson, Jesus’ ministry was by this time nearing its end. The excitement his ministry had generated was mounting. He had become a public sensation, gathering enthusiastic crowds wherever he went. Yet for disciples there was a brooding sense of foreboding, as if the higher the excitement rose the closer Jesus was coming to his death. They could not escape a latent tension and anxiety. But no one else picked up on this – certainly not the parents who kept crowding Jesus with their children, asking him to lay his hand on them. But this under the circumstances only served to get on the disciples nerves, and so they sent the parents away. But Jesus rebuked his disciples. “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Jesus then and there added children to those he had declared would become the heirs of the kingdom of heaven -- the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure, and the peacemakers. This is because Jesus knew the hearts of children. He knew their innocence, their openness, their sympathy, their vulnerability, their intuition, their willingness to believe. He knew those hearts would be inclined to receive him and to love him. And so he wanted them to come to him. But the children can’t come to him if we don’t take them to him. It is ours to decide between the way of blessing and the way of curse. Amen.
In the beginning; on that very first day, there were but primordial waters - dark and turbulent. And God said, “Let there be light!” and the primordial waters were enlightened. On the second day God said, “Let there be a dome to stand amidst the waters; a dome to hold them at bay!” and the sky appeared. On the third day, God said, “Let the dry land appear, and let it put forth vegetation!” and earth was girded with all manner of plant life. On the fourth day, God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night!” and the sun and the moon appeared. On the fifth day, God said, “Let the waters and the sky swarm with life!” and the fish and the birds appeared. On the sixth day, God said, “Now let the dry land swarm with life,” and the animals appeared. And there was one more thing that God said on that sixth day. God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness,” and we appeared. Now, much can be taken from these immortal words, but one thing clearly stands out. God is a God who speaks things into reality. Now, you might puzzle at this -- that God is a God who speaks things into reality. But you shouldn’t really scratch your head too hard. If you really think about, it’s not that hard to grasp, especially for we who are made in God’s image and likeness. Because we speak things into reality too. Think about the call of Jeremiah, which you just heard read. God called Jeremiah when the whole world was at war. Rather than confound you with details of the ancient conflict between the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, and the Egyptian Empire, there is a more recent and familiar time to which it can be compared. Think of World War II. The whole world was indeed at war. Hitler’s first two conquests of Austria and Czechoslovakia Hitler were bloodless, but thereafter, as the Bible puts it, "bloodshed followed bloodshed." Hitler invaded Poland, bringing Britain and France into the war. Then he invaded Denmark and Norway and France and Belgium and Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Then it was North Africa and Greece and Yugoslavia. And then finally, the Soviet Union. And this was just the half of it. The United States declared war upon Japan after that day that would live in infamy, that day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Thereafter Germany declared war on the United States. So you see, the whole world was indeed at war. Looking back on it, it is possible to get some handle on it. But it’s hard to imagine how overwhelming it must have been in its unfolding. To state that the world situation was complicated is the understatement of the century. The world situation at the time of God’s call to Jeremiah was every bit as complicated. Perhaps more. The words of his call reflect that. And God called to Jeremiah. “I have appointed you a prophet to all the nations.” And what was Jeremiah’s reply? “I am just a lad. I have nothing to say.” Now you can’t really blame him. He was just a lad. He was perhaps fourteen years old. Imagine some random fourteen year old addressing the world situation during World War II. So you can’t really blame him. But God blamed him. What was God’s reply to Jeremiah? God said, “Don’t you say that you’re just a lad, that you have nothing to say. Don’t you speak that into reality. ” So, as I said, it shouldn’t be that hard to grasp. God speaks things into reality, and we do too. And God, in Jeremiah’s case, was right. Of course he was. He’s God. Jeremiah might have been young. He might have been inexperienced. But God had seen something in him, something that Jeremiah was too young and inexperienced to see, something that’s far rarer than it should be - God saw moral clarity -- the ability, regardless of the complexity, to see the good from the bad; to see what’s right and what’s wrong. And after God turned him around, Jeremiah spoke that moral clarity into reality. To that complicated world situation, his words were the wisest and truest and best of all the words to sound. The bottom line is this. Everyone. And I mean everyone. God. His prophets. His people. We all speak things into reality. In fact, it shouldn’t be hard to grasp at all. A Roman Centurion grasped it for crying out loud: “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” But, you may press, so we all speak things into reality. But how does that work? It has to do with the fact that what you speak is your intention, and what you intend you enact. But more important than how it works is the fact that it does. It works. It works for good, and it works for ill. I am only a lad. I have nothing to say. It’s not my problem. I’ll never forgive him. I don’t really care. I don’t fit in. It’s not worth my effort. I can’t handle it. I’ll never get better. It’s not my responsibility. I can’t make a difference. I don’t have the strength. I am washed up. Existence is bad business. Life is not worth living. All those things you can speak into reality. And all these things you can speak into reality too. I will make God’s difference in this world today. I will keep faith in son Jesus Christ just as he kept faith in his Father. I will be his disciple in ways that will make him proud of me. I will make every person I come into contact today better for it. I will try harder. I will do better. I will make sacrifices to honor the sacrifices made for me. I will stop fearing those who are different from me. I will treat myself and all others as those created in God’s image and likeness. I will speak the truth. I will defend the downtrodden. Above all, I will love. And since it’s Rally Day, let’s speak these words into reality too. I will grow in God’s word. I will be mentor, guide, example, and friend to the children and youth of this church as they endeavor to grow in God’s word. I will be there for all the young people out there seeking in these troubling and difficult times that which is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent. I will make God known to future generations. Amen.
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