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Creekside Church
Sermon of February
24, 2008
"The
Medium of the Master"
John
15:9-11
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Rev.
David Bibbee
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A
magician got a job performing on a cruise ship. The pay was good,
but he had a problem that didn't have an easy solution. There was
a parrot on board that saw the show every week and soon knew the tricks.
In the middle of the performance the parrot would squawk: "Look,
it's not the same hat… he's hiding the flowers under the table.
There's a rabbit under there, too… Hey, why are all the cards
the Ace of Spades?" He wanted to choke the blabber-mouthed bird,
but he couldn't do that because it was the captain's parrot.
One day the
ship sank, and the magician found himself clinging to a board in
the middle of the ocean. At the other end sat the parrot. They silently
stared at each other for several hours. Finally the parrot broke
the silence and squawked, "Okay, I give up. What did you do
with the boat?"
No one likes
tattletales. Maybe a playmate, your brother or sister was a "transgression
spy" who got pleasure from informing parents or teachers of
your misdemeanors. "I'm gonna' tell what you did. You're gonna'
be in trou-BUL!" Whether the little snitches turned you in
to make you look bad or themselves look good didn't matter. A special
scorn is reserved for children and adults who squeal on the indiscretions
of others. No one likes tattle-tales.
However, when
it comes to revealing information about us, it is not primarily
other people who do it. We tattle on ourselves. Every day bears
testimony to the kind of people we are and want to become. Everything
we do is a witness to the story our lives are telling.
Consider the
ways you reveal yourself -- You tell on yourself by the way you
dress and carry yourself in public. You tell on yourself by the
kind of car you drive and the pre-sets on the radio. You tell on
yourself by content of your heart and the contents of your grocery
cart. You tell on yourself by the books you read and the programs
you watch. You tell on yourself by the things that make you laugh
and cry and get angry. You tell on yourself by the things you "indulge
in" and the pursuits you "refrain from" doing. You
do it by deciding who and what gets your time and money. You do
it by your voting record and the causes you endorse. You do it by
what you say you believe and how you act (or don't act), upon that
belief. You tell on yourself by the way you treat your family, fellow
Christians; the well to do and the down-and-out.
Put all these
things together and you have something called, character. Every
thought, every word, every act paints a portrait of character..
Character reveals the content of the heart and sets boundaries on
how we act and do not act.
Tom owns and
operates a fishing camp in Ontario where I vacation. He's a thorough-bread
Canadian outdoorsman about my age, with a great sense of humor,
progressive political views, and sharp insight into human nature.
He counts on two fingers the times he has been to church in the
past decade. He has no quarrel with Christianity. It is the behavior
of people who call themselves Christians that repels him.
He told a story
about some fishermen from Texas who were recent guests. They were
lawyers and executives with cash to burn and a vocabulary that would
embarrass a merchant marine. As Tom fixed dinner they fortified
themselves with spirits not of the holy vintage. The more they drank
the louder they got. Tom overheard tales of sexual conquests of
their secretaries and tawdry trysts to Mexico they kept secret from
their wives.
As they sat
to eat, one of them asked, "Whose turn is it to pray?"
Tom couldn't believe what he heard. Unable to keep quiet, Tom asked,
"Do you guys see any inconsistency here? Why you are praying?"
"Because we're Christians, damn it!" one of them replied.
Later that evening three of these forward Christian soldiers cornered
Tom and told him why and how to be saved. So much for advancing
the cause of Christ! They confirmed Tom's perception of Christians.
If these guys were representative of what Christianity does to a
person, he would be something else.
Character is
the gauge of identity, but it's a casualty of our culture. The brilliant
records of baseball's biggest stars will have asterisks by them
because of steroid use. Indiana University shelled out $750,000
for its basketball coach's resignation because of alleged NCAA recruiting
violations-- for the second time. Trailers made in Elkhart house
Hurricane Katrina victims. The occupants are getting sick, and FEMA
assured them it wasn't from formaldehyde. Pressure was put on FEMA,
and last week the agency said, "It looks like the units are
contaminated, after all."
As someone noted:
"The measure of a person's character is what he would do if
he knew he would never be found out." Do you behave the same
way out of town as in town? Is the you your family sees the same
you your church sees? "Character is the total of thousands
of small daily strivings to live up to the best that is in us,"
says Arthur Trudeau. " Character is the final decision to reject
whatever is demeaning to oneself or to others and with confidence
and honesty to choose the right."
Let's be careful,
people. We tattle on ourselves every day in a myriad of ways that
shows the world our true character. Jesus said:
"If you
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish,
and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved
me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments,
you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments
and abide in his love." (John 15: 7-10).
The worse thing
that can happen in our relationship with God is for hardening of
arteries to set in. When vessels become constricted the flow of
life-giving blood is diminished. Unless it is opened, the vessel
calcifies. "Let not your hearts be hardened," the Bible
says.
A potter cannot
shape a hard lump of clay into anything useful. God cannot shape
hearts that have turned to stone. Look again to the Prayer of St.
Iranaeus-- "Offer him your heart, soft and tractable."
Being tractable means being easily led, taught, or controlled. Being
tractable means letting go of hard, rigid ideas about how you should
be and instead, be pliable, malleable, and receptive to the shape
into which God desires to mold you.
Our text suggests
that character cannot be constructed apart from God. Character building
is contingent upon "abiding." To get the thrust of this
passage let's back up to verse 1 for Jesus' commentary on connections.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Branches
that don't bear fruit are taken away. Branches that bear fruit are
pruned in order to bear more fruit."
When Jesus told
the disciples to "abide in him," He meant more than, "Stick
around," or "Don't forget to call." Abiding implies
a close, intimate bond. A branch cannot bear fruit minus its connected
to the vine. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus
said.
I recall the
start of a fishing trip years ago when I was all rigged and ready
to get on the lake. I left the pier, opened the throttle and sped
away. Looking back I saw the resort owner and a person in our party
waving their arms and jumping up and down. It was certainly an enthusiastic
bon voyage. I waved back and kept going. I didn't get far. The outboard
bucked and sputtered and stopped. From a quarter mile away I heard
laughter. I looked behind the seat and saw why. In my haste to leave
I forgot the gas tank.
"Abide
in me," Jesus said. When people make service calls about a
household device isn't working, there is a question that every electrician
and computer technician asks after all other trouble-shooting solutions
have been tried. "Sir… is your computer plugged in?"
If something is meant to be plugged in and isn't, it won't work.
It's as simple as that!
The renowned
historian and Christian, Arnold Toynbee observed a theme that is
repeated over the centuries. History has been marked by twenty-one
extraordinary civilizations of which our Western one is most recent.
Of the twenty-one, fourteen have faded into antiquity. Those that
remain are bound to do the same… including ours. Cracks in
the foundation are clearly visible. Toynbee noted that none of the
ancient civilizations were toppled by outside forces. They collapsed
from within.
These cultures
made great achievements, but none reconciled themselves to the unchanging
truth that religion and not civilization is the principle business
of the human race. Neither military muscle nor the machinery of
government can trump the power found in connection with God. When
culture looses its connection we become confident of our status.
We fail to notice that our branches have turned brown and brittle.
Character is
cumulative whether it's individual or communal. Christian character
is built "one act at a time" and is inspired by abiding
in Jesus. Apart from him, we can do nothing.
Three practices
have been identified that reveal the character of every person.
Number one, what do we have time for? We ask ourselves if the things
that get our attention and the relationships we form have eternal
significance. We nourish the connection with Jesus by spending time
with scripture-not to just tickle the intellect but to soften the
heart so it will be tractable. We invest our time with those whom
Jesus invested his time -- the lonely, the sick and those sick and
tired of life the way it is, the grieving and broken hearted. We
do things for those who cannot return the favor.
Number two,
how do we spend our wealth? Do the goods we enjoy come at the expense
of the poor in countries where the goods are made? Do we spend our
wealth on projects that help people, or do we spend it on what keeps
us comfortable and entertained? Does God and the goals of the Kingdom
get the first cut off the top, or the leftovers after we've paid
for more pressing matters? Is wealth a tool to better the lives
of others and change the world, or a hindrance to spiritual growth
and God's desire for your life?
And three, what
do we allow to interrupt us? Are you ruled by your Palm Pilot? Does
your "things to do" list have room for the unexpected?
Many of Jesus' encounters with people in the gospels were unplanned.
His intimate interactions with individuals came while going from
one place to another. A woman touched the hem of his coat as he
moved through a crowd. A blind man beside the road called to him
as Jesus left town. The disciples got fed up with people bringing
their kids for Jesus to bless. They acted like Barney Fife -- "Go
on…just get moving people… get out of here! Can't you
see the man is busy?" Jesus didn't "leave room" for
interruptions. His ministry was all about responding to interruptions.
Think of your
interruptions this week. Were there some that you're glad you allowed?
Are there ones you now wish you had made but didn't? Did you allow
anything unimportant to get in the way of something that mattered?
Did God come to you dressed incognito in the presence of another's
need? Did you make room?
The world would
be better with fewer characters and more people with character.
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