Creekside Church Sermon of August 31, 1997 "Minding Your Afters " James 1:17-27	Rev. David Bibbee
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[RESPONSES: God; Showing up; Attitude; Praise; Fellowship; Bringing the children to sing from the pews; Having a place to worship in; Seeking forgiveness.]

You've all given some thoughtful answers. Now let me say what I think is the most important part of worship. The end. The significance of any worship experience is ultimately judged not by what happens while it's going on, but by what it does in our lives after the benediction has been spoken and the pews have been vacated.

A writer named Kenny Crouse reminds me of this truth from a piece called "Minding Your Afters." To improve the quality of our lives he says we should spend less time in the thrill of peak experiences and instead focus more on what happens afterward. "Mind your afters," he says, "after Christmas, after Easter, after while, after school, after the ball is over, after life, after death." In all the important events of life, what matters most is not just "Were you there? What did you think? or Did you like it?" But, "Now that it's over, what will you do?" After the wedding will you work on the marriage? After the child is born, will you be a loving parent? After baptism will you daily endeavor to follow Jesus? And after worship is over, will the message translate to life? The most important part of worship is the end.

This concern lies at the heart of the little letter of James. This epistle isn't heavy on theology or doctrine. In comparison to other New Testament writings it doesn't even mention Jesus all that much. James reads more like a New Testament version of Proverbs. It's loaded with pithy, pointed ethical teachings on how the Christian life should look. The central certainty James proclaims is that the word of God was not given just to be heard, but acted upon. "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only," or, as one translation I like puts it, "Don't let the word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear." He is saying that real religion extends our reach. It stretches us to visit the widows and orphans, the homeless and lovelessþanyone who is in need.

James wants to impress upon us the fact that Christianity isn't a theoretical, but an applied science. The quote at the head of your bulletin says, "After all is said and done, more is said than done." There is a good reason. Talk is easier than action. We like to wrestle with big ideas. Speculate about lofty thoughts. Think for a moment about how we evaluate what happens on Sunday morning. Was the music inspiring? Was the sermon interesting? Did the Preacher make us think? But is this really the final good and goal of worship?

We hear God's word proclaimed and say, "My, isn't that interesting? Isn't the idea of God interesting? Isn't it interesting to apply God to the international scene, to politics, to economics, the environment, or family relations? Well, it may be interesting, but an interesting God doesn't amount to much. A merely interesting God is an inconsequential God, incapable of moving us from theory to the thick of life.

When Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for your persecutors." can you hear him following it with, "Do you agree with this?" "It's more blessed to give than receive. What do you have to say about that?" "The greatest of all shall be the servant of all. Does this sound reasonable to you?" Jesus didn't come to form discussion groups to engage people in dialog about the human condition. He came to do something about the human condition. The word is spoken. The word is heard. But the word must be done. If we stop at listening and reflection, we've deceived ourselves, James says. Like someone said:

Faith without ethical consequences is a lie. Good works must necessarily follow faith. God does not need our sacrifices, but God has, nevertheless, appointed a representative to receive them, namely our neighbor.

Worship is not just something to be reflected upon, a subject for chat over coffee much as it is an encounter which calls for a response. Maybe you heard about the signs posted at the gate of heaven. One had a directional arrow that said "The Kingdom of Heaven." Next to it was a sign for scholars pointing the other direction. It read "Discussions about the Kingdom of Heaven." "Don't be deceived," James warns us. The difference between hearing and doing is the difference between a cheap imitation and the real article.

The applied Gospel lived out in concrete ways in our daily lives provides the window through which the world sees what Christianity is all about. We mind the after of hearing by doing, and it has another benefit. People are enabled to see beyond the act to heaven.

There was a new preacher trying to find his way around town. He stopped a boy and asked where he could find the post office. Thanking the boy for the directions he said, "Come to church on Sunday, and I'll tell you how to get to heaven." With a surprised expression, the boy answered, "How can you tell me how to get to heaven if you can't even find the post office?" How will we point the way, and even more describe the experience of heaven.

James speaks of the gifts of heaven cascading down as a river of light from God whose character never changes, whose desires never waver, whose purpose never ceases, whose love never ends. This changeless, steadfast God created us and seeks to recreate us by the word of truth. In so doing, we are the first fruits of creation, the joy and crown of what God has made. As we live out of the generosity of God in our lives with others, and as we express God's perfect gifts in the lives of others, we are getting a sneak previewþlittle glimpses of what we shall experience in heaven. Living a religion that is pure, undefiled, real, and practices what it preaches, offers a foretaste of what awaits us and brings a presence and purpose into the sometimes dark days of our lives.

I saw heaven twice this week. The streets weren't gold. The gates weren't pearly white. There was no harp music. I was visiting Joan Risden. Just days ago she was near death. Unresponsive. She is still very frail, and faced with so many physical limitations that could easily leave her despondent. But she said something so simple that was so full of grace. "Tell your daughter I've been praying for her." A woman who can do so little, in her spiritual offering, gave so much. I was flooded with a profound appreciation of what that moment meant.

The second glimpse came on the same day. This time it was from Walter Harroff who spoke of being a recipient of a first fruits ministry. "The people of the church need to know what an absolute blessing they are. Without a doubt, they are the most wonderful people I've ever encountered. I've never seen anything like them. When I was so sick, they visited me, fed me, prayed for me, cared for me. I just can't describe what it's been like." Walter's difficulty is tied to the fact that he experienced something heavenlyþthe will Jesus spoke of on earth as it is in heaven, the perfect gifts that come to us momentarily here, which we shall breathe hereafter.

The stories of how we've been touched by doers of the word are meaningful and many. I have one to share with you that shows how a compassionate act, the doing of the Word, can transform a life. Hal Manwarring had a hard life growing up, but his fortunes changed as he grew. He was a good athlete and student. He married, had a lovely family, a great job, and a beautiful home. It was a pleasant dream. Then came the nightmare. He was afflicted with a progressive disease that attacked his motor nerves.

With special equipment he could drive to and from work, and to a degree, he kept his health and optimism because of fourteen steps. That's how many steps he had to climb between the garage and the kitchen. The steps were his gauge to life. When the day came he could no longer lift one foot up and drag the other fourteen times, he would admit defeat and die.

The years passed. He kept on working and climbing, but inside he was a miserable, disillusioned cripple who held onto his sanity, wife and job because of fourteen steps. The older he got the more disillusioned he became, feeling like he was the only one in the world who was suffering.

One morning, getting down the steps had been especially difficult, and he dreaded the thought of climbing them at days end. On the way home, he met hard rain and gusty winds. Then a tire blew. He was stranded on a lonely road, unable to change the tire. A short distance ahead was a house. He started the car and slowly thumped down the road and up a drive. The lights in the house were on. Hal honked the horn. A little girl stood at the door. He rolled down the window, explained that he couldn't fix the flat because of his handicap, and moments later, the little girl and an old man came out in raincoats against the driving rain, and offered a cheerful greeting.

The odd couple began to work. Hal felt a little sorry for them, but also a little impatient. They were working so slow. Slowly the car tilted. "Here Grandpa." The girl would say as she handed him the tools. When they finally finished, the old man said, "This is a bad night for car trouble, but you're all set now." "Thanks, how much do I owe you?" "Nothing! Cynthia said that you are handicapped. Glad to help. I know you'd do the same for me." Hal held out a bill. "No, I like to pay my way." But the man made no effort to take it. Then the girl stepped close to the window and quietly said, "He can't see it."

Hal froze. A blind man and a child fumbling in the cold rain to change his tire. They said goodnight, but he sat in the car and pondered, realizing his self-pity and indifference to others. He prayed for them and for himself. He was so shaken and humbled, and the words of Jesus came to mindþ"Whatever you wish people would do to you, do so to them." Hal wrote, "Now I not only climb fourteen steps a day, but in my small way, I try to help others."

Be doers of the word, not hearers only. It's easy to listen and talk and confuse it with the real thing. Be doers of the word and not hearers only. The world rightly judges us on the basis of how we follow our words with our deeds. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.

Let me share something which our church consultant, Steve Clapp, shared with the Discernment Committee. He told of churches working through the same process we are to make a decision about the location and future form of our ministry. He said, "Like you, they work hard at studying and discussing the issues and alternatives, and then when it comes down to deciding a direction, three out of four churches decide not to do anything and go on as before."

We are not judged by what we believe, but by what we Do with what we believe. The giver of every good and perfect gift brings us forth by the word of truth to be first fruits who reach out in Christ's name to help and heal...to open the curtain of heaven just enough to let the light of God's love shine upon this earth.

The worth of worship is not the intake, what we get from it, but the output, how we grow from it and give to others. So once more we're at the end of a sermon. Next will come the last hymn, then the benediction, and then the most important part, the end. So let's make it a point to mind our afters, for it is after worship is over that the service really starts.

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