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A Sermon from the First Congregational Church of Bellingham Finding the Way A Sermon from the First Congregational Church of Bellingham Finding the Way A Sermon from the First Congregational Church of Bellingham Finding the Way A Sermon from the First Congregational Church of Bellingham Finding the Way I invite all of you to listen in this morning as I take this opportunity to address our high school
seniors. We are delighted to have you and your families with us this morning so we may take this
opportunity to recognize your accomplishments as you graduate from high school, celebrating this
transition, as you prepare to move forward into the next stage of your lives. We are relieved that despite the recent tragedies amongst high
schoolers, of which we are all
too aware, you are here. We cannot celebrate your graduation without acknowledging the sorrow
of those families who will never see their children graduate, acknowledging the inescapable grief of
being a teenager in this country in 1999, and acknowledging our outrage at a culture which nurtures
violence, drinking, and fast cars. We concede the grief from which we cannot protect you, grief
intricately woven through all of life. But we don't want to stay there, for along side the mourning,
there is much to celebrate in attaining the goal of a hard earned diploma. I want to take this opportunity to let you know, you are important to us. We have watched
you, many of you from the time we could hold you in our arms, as you have grown into incredible
young men and women. We have participated in your baptisms and confirmations, supported you as
Joy Jesters, in Youth Sundays, and on Mission Trips. We have shared our faith with you in church
school classes and youth groups. We have delighted in your gifts and skills which you have shared
with us and the wider community. We are so proud of you, we will always be proud of you. Whether
you have been a part of this church for one year or eighteen, we want you to remember we are family,
this church will always be a welcoming home for you. As you leave high school for whatever comes
next, our prayers for God's blessings, and our love, go with you on your journey. And of course a
little advice. Mary Schmich writes: "advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past
from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's
worth." (1) You have probably heard Schmich's wisdom for life on the radio, after making the rounds of the
Internet, Baz Luhrmann recorded it with a musical background and it has recently becoming one of
the most requested songs around the country. I like her advice which begins: "Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The
long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice
has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice
now." She continues, "Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will
not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20
years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how
much possibility lies before you and how fabulous you really look. You are not as fat as you
imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as
trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are
apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on
some idle Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you. Sing. Don't be reckless with
other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. . . .
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me
how. Keep your old love letters, throwaway your old bank statements. Stretch. . . . Enjoy
your body. . . . Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest
instrument you'll ever own." I like Schmich's words of wisdom, although I wonder if they were written more for my
generation than yours. They ring true to me, as I look back to when I was your age, but she has left
something out. In her advice on relationships, money, and life she has neglected the spiritual. We are all spiritual beings on an earthly quest, which isn't complete unless we pay attention
to our spirituality, our relationship with God. While the majority of people in our corner of the world
seek spiritual nourishment in all kinds of places, I happen to believe that a faith community is an
important place to remind us who we are and whose we are, and to support each other in our faith
journey. It is within the faith community we are reminded of the Christ within us, when we forget that
for ourselves. Perhaps in our Nike culture the church's world of mystery and meaning, risk and
relationship seems silly or out of step. Yet a recent study found those who attend church live longer
than those who don't. (2) Go to church, it's a healthy thing to do, as is reading the comics before the
obituaries. Admittedly religion is always a mixed blessing. "Wherever religion exists, we can be sure that
someone is tying to use the gods to dominate, frighten or oppress someone else." (3) Or as a letter to the editor in yesterday's newspaper indicated: "Historically, we have killed
in the name of God, abused each other to teach obedience to God, and condemned each other even
within our own walls because we don't like the carpet color. No wonder Christianity is portrayed as
illogical, illegal or insane."(4) Christianity can be oppressive, or it may be freeing. Here we seek to have an appreciation for
the diversity of life, for the uniqueness of each individual created in God's image, for the breadth and
variety of how that uniqueness is lived out, seeking to accept the amazing spectrum of differences
humanity represents. And yet too often we fall short of our goal, appearing more ridiculous, or
judgmental, than we would wish. As a community of faith we are made extraordinary only by the one
we follow. "To be a disciple means not to emulate or mimic Jesus but to follow in the 'way' is to live in
our time the same way Jesus lived - as a sign and servant of the domain of God."(5) "Jesus tells the confused disciples facing their own time of transition, "Do not let your hearts be
troubled . . . I will take you to myself." I am the way is not a set of directions to follow. It is an
assurance, opening to us a new way, an intimate way, of knowing God. This is a comforting text -
comforting to the anxious, comforting to the grieving, the seeking, the doubting, to those in
transition, to all of us. It is a beautiful text. "Beautiful, that is, until you sit next to a Hindu in class, fall in love with a Jew, marry a
Muslim, or are spiritually restored by the practice of Zen Buddhism. Then it is not so beautiful to read
the words, 'no one comes to the Father except through me.' Then the text becomes disturbing,
perhaps even embarrassing."(6) At the very least, this text becomes challenging to us in a time of
interfaith dialogue and a worldwide quest for peace which will fall to your generation, as it has fallen
to every generation since Jesus walked in Galilee. What is the way of Jesus? At its most basic, it is the way of love. It is the way of accepting
people of different traditions who become examples of faith, without requiring they change their faith,
as Jesus did with the Samaritans, the Roman soldier, the Syrophoenecian woman. Over and over
again in John's gospel Jesus says he himself is not of importance. What is important is that through
Jesus we see God, that is Jesus' way. It is as if Jesus is a window to God. We each have a window within us - a soul - that opens to God. Some of ours are dusty. Some
are so covered with dirt we can't see much of anything through them, we have almost forgotten there
is light shining in from beyond and within. Jesus had a window so clean, it would have made Windex
proud. To look at Jesus is almost like seeing no window at all, it is seeing beyond Jesus to God.
"Whoever has seen me has seen God," Jesus told his disciples. And Phillip asked, "What does God look like? . . . Show us God, and we will be satisfied,"
he says. And Jesus patiently replies "Have I been with you all this time, and still you don't know me?
. . . Everything I do shows you God." What does God look like? What does the good Samaritan look like? What does compassion
look like? What does healing look like? What does acceptance of those pushed aside and rejected by
society look like? What does the face of love look like? "Show us God, and we will be satisfied." "Be satisfied, then, for I take you," Jesus said, "onto myself. Where I am, there you will be
also. I am the way and the way will lead you to truth and life." Jesus' promise carries a commission and the commission implies a promise. The one who
sends goes with those who are sent, and the one who commands to love, empowers us to love. And
the reverse is also true. The one who loves expects us to love others, and the one who abides with
us expects us to live in truth. Paul Tillich, one of the great theologians of our church described how to know if you are
indeed headed in the way: "Distrust every claim for truth where you do not see truth united with love;" says
Tillich, "and
be certain that you are of the truth. Truth has taken hold of you only when love has taken
hold of you, and has started to make you free from yourselves."(7) You are setting off on a journey to discover who you are, separate from your families. This
may mean you wander from the faith of your family, for there are many roads to God, but you can
never find yourself separate from God. Within you is that window filled with light. When you find
yourself, the light comes shining through for all to see. How do we find the way? How will we know were to go? What if we take the wrong turn?
Jesus says, "Philip, David, Rachel, Meagan, Matthew, Heather, Jaime, Tyler, Jens, Marshall, Chrissy
. . . . I will take you to myself. I will take you, and you will find truth, and the truth will set you free.
Just remember to wear sunscreen." Amen. 1. Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune. Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen). From the CD
Something for Everybody by Baz Luhrmann
2. The Bellingham Herald, April 26, 1999 reporting on Religious Involvement and U.S. Adult
Mortality to be published in the May "Demography" magazine.
3. Harvey Cox. Many Mansions or One Way? The Crisis of Interfaith Dialogue in The Christian
Century. August 17-24, 1998, pp. 731-735.
4. Stan Shroeder. Letters to the Editor The Bellingham Herald, May 1, 1999
5. Cox
6. Dan Chambers. Take You to Myself. A sermon from First Congregational Church of Berkeley,
May 6, 1996.
7. Paul Tillich. What is Truth? From the New Being. 1955
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