A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Creator as … Life-Preserver

Psalm 107, Preached by Tom Lacey at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, August 20, 2006

A father, passing by his son's bedroom, was astonished to see the bed was nicely made, and everything was picked up. Then, he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow. It was addressed, "Dad." With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter, with trembling hands. "Dear, Dad. It is with sorrow that I'm writing this. I had to elope with my new girlfriend, because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Stacy. She is so nice, but I knew you would not approve of her, with all of her piercings, tattoos, her tight Motorcycle clothes, and being so much older than me. But it's not only the passion, Dad. She's pregnant. Stacy says we will be very happy in the commune, where we’ll grow our own vegetables and cut wood for fire and share everything with everybody. We have a dream of many more children. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for her disease. So far I haven’t been infected.  Don't worry Dad, I'm 15, I know how to take care of myself. Someday, I'm sure we'll be back to visit, so you can get to know your many grandchildren. Love, your son, John.

P.S. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tim's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than the school report that's on my desk. Call me when it’s safe to come home.

Do you think it’s ever going to be safe for him to come home? Now I doubt he’s in any mortal danger, though Johnny here would have been much better off just getting better grades in the first place, but he’s taking a chance. When it comes down to it, what parents want first and foremost from their teenaged kids is survival, actual, physical survival. When you walk into Ruby Tuesdays at Mizner Park, in the entrance is a photo and plaque in remembrance of three teenaged girls killed in an accident here in Boca about ten years ago. There is nothing more tragic and heart-rending than a car accident in which a bunch of kids piled in, driver lost control and lives were lost. As parents, pastors, teachers, and friends of the family, we seek to preserve the lives of young people, and help them to a bigger, better day.

What we want to see this morning is God has the same interest, in all of us. We are to “choose life.” God has placed before us life and prosperity, death and adversity. We are to set our minds on loving the Lord our God and holding fast to him, so that the Lord can preserve our lives. It’s not an easy job, especially since it seems that people do the opposite of what’s right for them. I mean, sometimes we just don’t know how not to get ourselves into trouble. This young guy was a new clerk in the produce department of a supermarket. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted. Finally he said, “I’ll have to go back and talk to the manager.” He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him. When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, “There’s some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?” Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, “And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be all right?” Relieved, the manager said, “That would be fine.” Later in the day, he congratulates the boy on his quick thinking and asks him where he’s from. The boy says “I’m from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women.” “My wife is from Toronto,” the manager replies, To which the boy says, “Oh, what team does she play for?”

Of course there are more serious things than opening mouth and sticking foot therein. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse’s 11th annual survey of teens and parents finds that half of teens who attend parties say alcohol, drugs or both are available, but 80% of parents believe their teens attend substance-free parties. Center chairman Joseph Califano says, “(Parents) have no sense of how awash their teens’ world is in alcohol and drugs. There is a terrible disconnect.” This is serious. The article’s recommendation tells parents to “Be nosy and stay engaged.” USA Today, August 17, 2006   It takes concerted and continual concern and effort to keep children on the path set for them. It may be that our children will fight against us and the way we impose our will on them, but this is exactly what is needed. We are to be their light, in a dim world in which the wrong choice stands so near and may have ultimate consequences. So stick close by your children. Let them know you are there by showing them again and again what you value and believe in.  Listen: An expedition of naturalists was seeking interesting specimens. They discovered one on the sheer face of a precipice. There was no way to get down to it and no way to get up to it. Calling to a boy who was helping his father in a nearby field, they asked him to let them put a rope around him and lower him over the edge so that he could get the plant for them. He was not very enthusiastic; under their urging, however, he agreed to go on one condition: "I will do it if my father holds the rope." The trust is there, even if our kids fight against it.

Our trust in God ought to be the same. God doesn’t just create our lives and leave them to chance. The Lord gives us life, supports us, changes us, and preserves us. As Scripture says, “The Lord will preserve you from all evil; he will preserve your life.” Ps. 121.7 Faith includes seeing God as our life-preserver. Heck, if you’re a boater, you know you can buy foam life vests, neoprene vests, nylon life jackets, inflatable personal flotation devices. My gosh, there are even dog life vests, which is a good thing, since they have been known to save our lives. Mary Bruecker tells the story of Jake, her sister’s dog. Barbara found him near death, in a snowstorm, abandoned near a roadside exit. He had been abused, and was overly trained because he never disobeyed. Barbie lives in a mountainous area of Colorado, where in the summer the mountain animals suffered, became hungry and would come down from the mountains in search of food. One summer day, the two were outside when a huge mountain lion appeared. Barbie screamed, “Come on, Jake!” over and over again as she ran toward the house. She screamed in vain. For the first time, Jake refused to obey. He stayed to protect his master, but the cougar killed him and dragged him away. She had saved Jake years before, and now it was Jake who saved her. There are so many stories like that concerning dogs, and cats, and even some birds. I don’t think any with fish or turtles.

If we care this much about our lives, and our dogs do, you know that God must also. And this is God’s promise, that in Christ, life will always regain the upper hand. We will face death, but in Christ we will not be defeated, for “(t)hose who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me, will never die.” Jn. 11.25 The creator is more powerful than anything within his creation. Death did not make us; the word of life did. God’s being is to overcome what is not with what shall be. “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” said Jesus. Mt. 22.32 This just reinforces our Psalm reading this morning. God is unwilling to let the lost, the imprisoned, the sailor, the sinner perish. If we call upon God, the Lord will deliver us from our distress. But we have to give God a chance to be the Lord of our lives. Believe God has a vested interest in how you make out. Let the Lord step up to the plate for you.   

Mark Frost is the author of Grand Slam, a book that looks at the life of Bobby Jones, the golfer. Jones, the only golfer to win all four majors in a calendar year, would later succumb to a spinal disease, syringomyelia. It was a slow death. By the time he died at age 69 on December 18, 1971, he had battled the disease for 23 years. He had lost his ability to walk, but it was a gradual decline in which he went first to a cane, then a leg brace before settling down in a wheelchair. Jones was once asked if there was a cure for the disease. “Oh sure,” Jones replied. “My word, man, what is it?” asked his friend, thinking that perhaps a new remedy had been discovered. “Death,” Jones said. Jones accepted his fate, and when confronted by friends who mourned his condition, he simply said that in life, as in golf, “you play the ball where it lies.” That is true in golf, at least for those who don’t cheat, but Bobby Jones was no theologian. Though he seemed to find some solace in death’s power to defeat disease, he nonetheless forgot that this isn’t our game to play. It’s God’s, and God doesn’t lose, not a single hole, not a single soul.

For many people, to worry about others is for worriers, not winners. And it’s true that God is an unimaginably creative force, whereas just caring for others, saving them, delivering them, helping them, seems to be only the minor leagues when compared to ruling the world. But somehow God has managed to take both with equal seriousness. In fact, when it comes down to it, we look back and admire as the greatest people those who did the most for others, who preserved what is good and delivered those who were in need. In this, they imitated the Lord God, who preserves us whom he creates.

June 24, 1859. Henri Dunant is atop a hill overlooking the plain of Solferino, where Napoleon’s troops prepare to battle the Austrians and Dunant has a perfect view. The two armies crash into each other. The injured scream, cannons boom, horses break free to dash about the field. Henri Dunant had not come for battle; the banker was there to talk with Napoleon about a financial transaction between the Swiss and the French. But battle was what he saw. But it was what he saw once he entered a small town to which the injured soldiers have fled seeking care that changed his life. He spends days in the village, tending the soldiers and comforting them. It is the beginning of the rest of his life. Henri Dunant lost his successful banking career and all his worldly possessions and died as a virtual unknown in an obscure poorhouse. But we remember Henri today because he was the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (in 1901). We also remember him because of the movement he founded—the Red Cross.

You don’t have to be a Henri Dunant to be on God’s side. Few are, but many can do what matters much. So, lend a hand. Give to the poor. Care for the young. Look after the elderly. Read to the blind. Plant a garden. Start a church nursery school. To the grieving, make a meal. To the lost, bring some light. To the teenager, be compassionate but stick to what is right. And let us set our minds on God, loving the Lord and sticking to him who preserves us in life, in death, and for life eternal.

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