A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Have You Looked Up Lately?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, July 20, 2008

Paddy and Murphy are flying the 10:30 Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow to Dublin. As they come in over the East Coast of Ireland, Paddy says, “Sheeeezzz, will ye look at how short dat runway is?" "You're not kiddin', Paddy," replies Murphy. "Dis is gonna be one a' de trickiest landings you're ever gonna see," says Paddy. "You're not kiddin', Paddy," replies Murphy. "Right, Murphy. When I give de signal, ye put de engines in reverse," says Paddy. "Right, I'll be doing dat," replies Murphy. "And den ye put de flaps down straight away," says Paddy. "Right, I'll be doing dat, too," replies Murphy. "And den ye stamp on dem brakes as hard as ye can," continues Paddy. "Dat’s for sure," replies Murphy. "And den ye pray to de Mother Mary with all a' your soul" says Paddy. "I be doing dat already," replies Murphy. 

So they approach the runway with Paddy and Murphy full of nerves and sweaty palms. As soon as the wheels hit the ground, Murphy puts the engines in reverse, puts the flaps down, stamps on the brakes, praying to Mother Mary with all of his soul. Amid roaring engines, squealing of tires and lots of smoke, the plane screeches to a halt inches from the end of the runway, much to the relief of Paddy and Murphy and everyone on board. As they sit in the cockpit regaining their composure, Paddy looks out the front window and says to Murphy, "Dat has gotta be de shortest bloomin'  runway I have ever seen in me whole life." "T’is true, Paddy,” says Murphy looking out the side window. “But would you look at how wide it is." When you look up you’re supposed to really take a look.

Our text is about seeing what is truly there, and not just as we might wish or might feel it. Now you’re going to get the idea that I am against dreaming or envisioning what you want or what you hope will come to pass, and instead be realistic about what is happening. In fact the opposite is true. Too often we are caught in a net of negativity, and so when we look we only see and feel the burden or the pain of the situation. Almost everything requires interpretation. This is why Jesus has to “interpret” or explain correctly his actions for the Pharisees. They see Beezebul in his actions, but that is looking at Jesus’exorcisms wrongly, after all the head of the demons would certainly not be sabotaging his own minions. So Jesus tells them to look again, “Look again. It’s the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come to you.” Look and see. Don’t turn your head away from the truth. Find the strength to see those in front of you as they really are. Have the courage to change when the “facts” of your life and the truth of this life demand it. The Lord has many more good things planned for those willing to walk his way. As Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not.”

What we want to see this morning is that it is time to look up and see.

And when you see, then act. In Saint Louis a few years ago a woman noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic of her home. Since there were only a few, she made no effort to deal with them. Over the summer the bees continued to fly in and out the attic vent while the woman remained unconcerned, unaware of the growing city of bees that was taking up residence just above her ceiling. The whole attic became a hive, and the ceiling of the second-floor bedroom finally caved in under the weight of hundreds of pounds of honey and thousands of angry bees. While the woman escaped serious injury, she was unable to repair the damage of her accumulated neglect. We must not neglect to face the truth. Don’t deny what is there. Living an illusion is not doing the Lord’s work. God is with those who seek what is God’s, and nothing that is a lie comes from the Lord.

There are two things we need to look up for in our lives. We look up for inspiration and we look up for instruction, for the truth. Up in Wisconsin I went jogging several times, not really far, only two and a half miles, but up and down some hills along the way, and in some sand. It was a bit windy up there for stretch of days, and so I went out on one of those days. Now I thought I was running the first half mostly against the wind, and I was doing well. What I realized after fairly fast on the way out was that I hadn’t really understood the swirling effect of the strong breezes, about 25 miles per hour. I had actually been running more or less with the wind. The way back proved much tougher. Cameron had come along with me—on his bike—and as we headed into the hilly section of the jog I was getting quite tired. My legs were feeling very heavy, and my breathing was coming harder, and that was going down the big hill. Now I had to climb up it. But this hill is broken into two parts and it’s apt to fool you because just when you think you’ve reached the top, you see that there are really two more smaller hills still ahead and a slow incline as you make your way to them. I didn’t want to give up, especially with my son next to me, and talking to me like there wasn’t a problem in the world. As I jogged up to meet the next two little hills feeling completely winded, I looked up and in the distance I saw the stop sign standing at the corner of this long difficult street and the shorter easier one which when I took a right turn on to it would lead me quickly home. I said to myself that I will make it to that sign—I will make it to that sign. I made it all the way home without stopping, because I looked up and believed.

We need to look up for inspiration. We need to look to Christ as the one who inspires us in the right direction and with the right desires. One stressful day, Eric Fellman and his daughter set out late in the afternoon to do a little fishing. As he backed the boat into the water, Fellman realized that he had forgotten to unhook part of the trailer from the boat. The boat tipped over and began to fill with water. As Fellman jumped out of the car to survey the situation, he accidentally hit the electric lock, locking his keys inside the still-running car. Everything was a mess! Most of the live bait had escaped into the lake, the boat was almost full of water, and their lunches were effectively drowned. Eric's natural instinct was to get very angry and throw a fit. That's certainly what his daughter was expecting. But suddenly, he wondered what Jesus would do in his place. He realized that Jesus must have faced a similar situation when he ran into the fishermen who had just come in from a disappointing night of fishing. Although they had given up for the day, Jesus convinced them to go out again. And, of course, they caught a whole boatload of fish. With this thought inspiring his mind, Fellman figured out how to pop open a window and unlock his car. Then he proceeded to unhitch the boat. Although they only had three minnows left for baiting their hooks, Eric and his daughter set out to fish. Within minutes, Eric got a tug on his line. Twenty minutes later, after a fierce tug of war, he reeled in a gargantuan largemouth bass. His daughter was ecstatic. And all the excitement and good memories never would have happened if Eric Fellman hadn't consciously decided to look to Christ for inspiration.

Some people might live by the poor guiding principle that if it feels good then do it. The truth is life worth living is often about challenges and hurdles signifying everything. If we did only what felt good to us we would be physical, mental, moral and spiritual wrecks. Nobody wants to have to struggle along under so many burdens that you can only see one foot in front of your nose. But the things worth having in life require effort, and they require looking up to see you through. We fight the struggle in order to find the inspiration. So get inspired. Feed the fire. Let the Spirit in. Beware of anything in life that requires no commitment on your part and therefore no inspiration. You are probably dealing with only a partial truth, an easy assumption, and a dead end road.

We also need to look up for instruction, for the truth, which means we can’t only be willing to go by what we feel or what we want to be the truth. We have to learn things and grow in knowledge and faith. We can’t always go by our opinion or gut instinct. Nor can we just hope things turn out well. We need to get out of ourselves, seek the truth, and follow its lead. An instructor in a dog training workshop in Salt Lake City tells his clients that a dog's disposition can be tested by the owner. If the owner will fall down and pretend to be hurt, a dog with a bad temper will tend to bite him. But a good dog will show concern and may even lick the fallen owner's face. Susan Matice’s dogs attended the class, so she decided to test them afterward. While eating pizza in her living room, she stood up, clutched her heart, screamed and fell to the floor. Her two dogs looked at her, looked at each other, then raced to the coffee table for her pizza. Now that’s seeing the truth of the matter.

For about a year and a half Camille was a member of our church. At the age of 28 she was involved in a car accident in which she was hit and suffered damage to her chest and breast. She underwent surgeries and recovered, but ten years later they found she had breast cancer. She had more surgery, and chemo, radiation, and then experimental treatments. She and her dad John fought and fought. They refused to give up. I visited with her and her father and his wife at their home and in the hospital. They had tried just about everything, and Camille was getting much, much weaker after four years of this battle. But neither she nor her dad nor any of the family friends would say anything about her not making it.

She was in Boca Community hospital again and so I went to see her. I entered her room. She was seemingly asleep in her bed. She looked very ill, and late in her struggle. Instead of waking her, I walked to the window and stood there looking out at the view of Boca Raton it afforded me. I then heard a little stir and Camille’s weak voice say, “I’m not going to make it, am I?” She had looked up and had seen her future. Camille died a week later. But during that week, she was able to be truly with her dad, step mom, and friends. She wasn’t taken from them by “surprise.” By looking up and facing the truth Camille was freed to live her final days honestly, gracefully, and powerfully with her loving family.

There are inconvenient truths that are nonetheless true. Even when it is inconvenient, the truth is much better than falsehood. The fact is we do not run this world. We are not captain. The Lord our God is the ruler yet, and the captain of this vessel. So look up to see who is in charge and then let the Lord lead. Get inspired so that you can confront what needs to be confronted. Run the course and carry the load. And remember: Look up.

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