A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .
Look Out!
Luke 3:1-9, Preached by Tom Lacey at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, December 10, 2006
A couple of weeks before Christmas, a father in Phoenix telephoned his adult son in New York. He said, “Johnny, your mother and I have been married for 40 years, and I just wanted to call and tell you that we’ve decided to get a divorce.” His son was aghast. He said, “Dad, that’s terrible! Don’t you and Mother do a thing until I’ve had a chance to come and talk to you. I’ll be on the next plane to Phoenix!” They hung up, and the son called his sister in Chicago. He said, “Sis, Dad just called. He told me that he and Mom are getting a divorce.” His sister said, “Like heck they are! I’ll meet you in Phoenix, and we’ll talk some sense into them.” She hung up and immediately telephoned her father. She said, “Dad, Johnny just called and told me that you and Mom have decided to get a divorce. Don’t you do a thing until I’ve had a chance to talk with you. I’ll be on the next plane to Phoenix.” Her father hung up, turned to his wife, and said, “Honey, both kids are going to be home for Christmas, and they’re paying their own way!”
Things aren’t always the way they appear, are they? You’ve got to look out and look closer to see what’s really happening. We could be minding our own business and still not be going exactly in the right direction. Like the older Florida fella who was driving on the highway; his cell phone rings. Answering, his wife warns him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on 95. Please be careful!" I'll try," says Herman, "but it's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!" Poor Herman.
This may only be a story, but come on, doesn’t life at times have this “going against the flow” quality to it. It seems we are the proverbial trout trying to make his way upstream, the current running against us, rocks piled high in our way, and if you happen to make it around the rocks, and you’re all happy and flying out of the water to get where you’re headed faster, look out, ‘cause there might be a huge grizzly standing right in your way. What is the cause of this upstream syndrome more than anything else? It’s when we do things only for ourselves. When we only count on ourselves and discount others, we face an upstream struggle. It may make sense at first and even feel like freedom, but sooner or later we run out of steam. Scripture tells us like it is: “There is no power but of God.” Rom 13.1 When we live for ourselves, we have no God power in us. But there is a second reason why life’s challenges will overwhelm us. Life is an uphill battle if we don’t direct our strength in the direction of a higher good. We need God as our power, and we need God as our purpose. When we aim ourselves in the Lord’s direction, it’s like driving down the highway behind a couple of the big trucks. All the air and wind is moving with us and for us. And the gas mileage is much better. For those who are willing to live aimed toward God, the Lord says, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Rom. 9.25 So stop going at it alone. Get snagged in God’s net. Tap into something bigger and better than me, myself, and I.
What we want to see this morning is that the most difficult thing in life is keeping yourself afloat by your own strength. The easiest thing is not to stay afloat at all and just sort of float away. The best choice is to take the life jacket offered, climb aboard, and work as a crew member.
Back during World War II, four young American soldiers who had been on the front lines of battle for some time, were sent back away from the fighting to a small French village for a little R & R. When they arrived safely in the village, they suddenly realized that it was Christmas Eve. They began to discuss how they would like to spend Christmas. One of the soldiers said, “You know, as we were coming into town earlier today, I noticed an orphanage on the outskirts of the village. Why don’t we go there in the morning and take some Christmas joy to those children?” The others liked the idea and the more they talked about it, the more excited they became. So they went out and bought all kinds of toys and candy and clothing, food and books and games, and early the next morning, they showed up at the front door of the orphanage with wonderful Christmas presents for all the children. The orphanage director was pleased and all the children were delighted as they opened their gifts. All the children, that is, except for one little girl who stood quietly off to the side. She appeared to be 5 or 6 years old and her face looked so very sad. One of the American soldiers noticed that she was not participating, and he asked the orphanage director about the little girl. “Oh, bless her heart,” said the director, “We just got her last week. Both of her parents were killed in a car wreck. There was no one to take her in, so we brought her here.” The soldier went over to the little girl and gently said to her, “It’s Christmas morning and we have wonderful Christmas presents here… toys, clothes, candy, food, books, puzzles. Which would you like? What do you want most for Christmas?” “I want,” the little girl said, “somebody to hold me.”
There is no doubt that when you take the time to save someone else, the other life you save shall be your own.
What is the main difference between a religious person and someone who doesn’t have religion? It’s that the one is satisfied with minding his own business. Now true, this is credited with being a virtue. “Keep yourself out of trouble, mind your own business.” Good advice, at certain times. But when an entire life is set in the cement of minding one’s own business, what a puny perspective that ends up being. Now, where is the heart and mind of the religious person, the Christian person? John the Baptist says it is doing one thing: Prepare the way of the Lord. We can’t look out for just our own business, nor for only our family’s success. It’s not enough to build a business up from the ground up and see it flourish and call that the point of one’s life. John tells you to take this vocation thing all the way and don’t stop until you find yourself busy at the most important work of each and every human life: preparing God’s way. In the light of this call, all other activities pale. So take another look at yourself if need be. The Baptist’s voice cries out to each of us. Rise to the challenge. Find your way to preparing God’s way. Dedicate yourself to a devotion of God’s choosing. Get on the team. You don’t have to do it alone. Pray for God’s power to help you when times are tough. Believe in God’s purpose when the way is dim. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other high in the mountains. The mountain people invaded the lowlanders one day, and as part of their plundering of the people, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them back up into the mountains. The lowlanders didn’t know how to climb the mountain. They didn’t know any of the trails that the mountain people used, and they didn’t know where to find the mountain people or how to track them in the steep terrain. Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring the baby home. The men tried first one method of climbing and then another. They tried one trail and then another. After several days of effort, however, they had climbed only several hundred feet. Feeling hopeless and helpless, the lowlander men decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below. As they were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby’s mother walking toward them. They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn’t figured out how to climb. And then they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be? One man greeted her and said, “We couldn’t climb this mountain. How did you do this when we, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn’t do it?” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “It wasn’t your baby.”
It’s amazing what we are willing to do if we really take it upon ourselves to claim it as our responsibility. Most people have a tough time taking responsibility for their own lives or someone else’s. If things go wrong it’s someone else’s fault. The devil made me do it; it’s genetic; or my parents were this way. I know someone who blamed his mom for his own bad investments because she didn’t teach him how to invest wisely. Now we aren’t all like this. I am marrying a couple next year who came in off the street, so to speak. The groom has an interesting and I think a useful set of criteria by which he judged whether or not his bride was the right one. He said she had to pass three tests in his mind. First, did she have long-time friends? This showed commitment. Second, did she have a career? This showed an ability to focus and reach for higher goals. And third, did she like animals? This showed she had a heart. Actually, in his case, she didn’t like animals, but fortunately for them she came to like his dog. I never heard about her criteria for her man. As far as I heard, he had to have a hot body, which as a fireman, he passed. So they’re happy. This reminds me of the old Good Housekeeping article “Six ways to learn everything you ever need to know about a man before you decide to marry him”: Watch him drive in heavy traffic. Play tennis with him. Listen to him talk to his mother when he doesn’t know you’re listening. See how he treats those who serve him (waiters, maids). Notice what he’s willing to spend his money to buy. Look at his friends. And if you still can’t make up your mind, then look at his shoes. A man who keeps his shoes in good repair generally tends to the rest of his life, too.
The Baptist tells us that not only are we responsible for ourselves, but we are responsible to make things easier for God. But if you think about it, these aren’t that far apart. Make your life into a mess, and there’s no room for God. Keep your life in order and the potential is there to bear good fruit for God. Recently, I heard about a strange friendship between the former head of the NAACP and the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. They met debating each other, many years ago. The Klansman taunted the black man and called him names. The black man responded that nothing the Klansman could do would make him hate him. He responded instead with love. Over a period of many years, the Klansman would call the black man and say, “Hello, nigger.” But in 1991, he called and said, “Hello, brother.” He went on to tell his friend that he had left the Klan, had accepted Christ, and was called to preach the gospel, and that his conversion was due to the example of the black man returning hatred with love. Today, they share a pulpit and together preach God’s love. Robert M. Bowman, “A call to repentance”
It’s amazing what we can do when we take responsibility for not just ourselves, but for God and good. Prepare the way of the Lord. Rise to the full height of your spiritual stature. Let God’s power be the source of your strength and let God be the direction you travel.
Return to Sermons (table of contents)
Return to Homepage of the Congregational Church of Boca Raton