It has been said that
the only thing that remains constant in life is that life always changes.
If you think things in life are finally in order right now, just wait—for
things will change! Change is the way life is. The minute you think you
finally have everything all sorted out;
everything under control
things change. I know this to be so true in my own family. About four
and one half years ago Dad was well-settled in his condominium in Newport
News, about 12 miles from our parsonage in Poquoson. He had been there
five years since he moved there from Florida to be near us about a year
following the death of my mother. But that morning in March he was taking
out the last load of trash before getting in the car to attend the funeral
of his brother, my uncle, in Ohio. He somehow stepped off the curb right
at the drain cutaway, lost his balance, landed face-first on the pavement
and broke his neck. It was indeed a very close call. He was in intensive
care for two weeks, underwent rehabilitation, wore a neck brace for six
months, resided for awhile in assisted living, then returned to his
condominium with his brother, my uncle, staying with him for several
weeks. Dad has not driven a car since then.
You see, I thought we
finally had everything in order. Life had changed in a big way for us all
but it was manageable. But life has a way of never staying manageable,
does it? It happens in my family’s life and it happens with you. Just
as soon as you think you finally have everything under control, things
change.
Jesus describes two men
who went to the temple to pray. The first is a religious man, a spiritual
leader of the community who boldly stood before God and prayed,
God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves,
rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week;
I give a tenth of all my income.
Now there’s somebody who believes he has everything under control. He
has kept his hands clean. He faithfully follows all the religious laws
and requirements. He has followed all the rules. He has gotten
everything right. Here is somebody who believes he can handle anything.
Then the other man, the tax collector, offers his prayer—standing far off,
he doesn’t even look up but speaks so humbly, is so downcast and defeated
that he beats on his chest as if to punish himself and says,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner!
Here is someone almost defeated by life; one who knows he has gotten
it all wrong, he knows his hands are dirty, he may well have broken all
the rules; he is so overwhelmed and feels so out of control that he simply
cannot handle anything anymore. Then Jesus said,
I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather
than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who
humble themselves will be exalted.
You see, Jesus says
that as soon as you feel you have everything under control you are no
longer depending on God, you are depending on you. Jesus says the minute
you feel that you have kept your hands so clean, you have followed all the
rules, you have gotten everything right—you are setting yourself up for a
big fall. Jesus says as soon as you get everything all figured out and
find a very comfortable, safe place to be in life where nothing ever
changes, things change. When thing change, when bad things happen, when
you suddenly loose all the control you thought you had, when you suddenly
realize you can’t handle it, you know in the end you got it all wrong.
Richard Lischer, the
professor of preaching at by far the finest seminary in the country, Duke
Divinity School, has written a book about his first parish. Open
Secrets is the account of his very first pastoral experiences at a
tiny Lutheran Church in the small farming and steel mill community of New
Cana, Illinois in the late 60’s and early 70’s. In his book Dr. Lischer
relates an encounter he had one evening with a senior neighboring pastor
named Cecil Johnson. Cece, as Dr. Lischer and his other friends called
him, served the Lutheran congregation in nearby Cherry Grove. They had
previously spent much meaningful time together with other area Lutheran
pastors who met regularly for Bible study, communion, and sharing of
common pastoral concerns. Cece stopped by the parsonage one evening for a
visit. As they shared pie and coffee together it was not long before the
conversation drifted to what was bothering him. He missed his wife
terribly. Geneva had died of heart failure not long before—just shortly
before the Lischer’s became his neighbors. As her health declined he
cared for her needs lovingly and faithfully. But his grief over her heath
was not all that was on his heart that night. It had come to him recently
that during the time of her illness as he tended to her needs so
faithfully one thing now tears at his soul. He said,
Once Geneva got sick, I could not bring myself to pray with
her.
Now they had read the Bible and prayed together just about every day
of their married life. As a matter of fact, he is absolutely convinced
that is exactly what held them together for more than 42 years. But that
night the burden of that memory was more than he could bear.
I had spent hours and days on end with her, he said,
but something had shut down in me. It was as if I were the one dying…I
never consciously decided not to pray. I was so dead it never
occurred to me…what good is the charade of being good old Pastor Cece, the
beloved sage of Cherry Grove, if at the time it mattered most I
couldn’t break through to the light?…When I most needed to be a pastor, I
failed. What good is it, if I couldn’t use it myself?
As they sipped coffee together his host said to him,
I understand you, Cecil. You think the whole practice of the
gospel has let you down because you let it down…Pardon me for
saying it, friend, but you do ten to be the hero of all your stories.
Enter Cecil (standing alone). But here we are, the two of us, having this
conversation. I am trying to be a good listener, but I can’t possibly
understand what is going on through your head. And how can I even imagine
what you had with Geneva? All I know is that forgiveness was meant to be
practiced but it was never meant to be practiced alone. When we can’t do
it, like you seem to think you can’t, there are others around us doing it
on our behalf. On your behalf…You see,
Cecil Stem Johnson, we have these sentences we say to one another,
even when we can’t get to the bottom of their meaning. Like, ‘I forgive
you all your sins in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ We even have
gestures that go with the words, Cece, like this one.
As Dr. Lischer offered
the holy sign of absolution so familiar in the Lutheran tradition
they shared, Cece received it like a child caught in a Big Fib. As Dr.
Lischer describes it, you see, he had concocted this long story about how,
because he couldn’t do one thing, God could not possibly do
another.
The minute you figure
you have it all under control, you are caught up so short in life. Just
when you finally have everything in order things change. When things
change you cannot change the circumstances, you cannot change another
person, you can only change you. Sisters and brothers, you can’t handle
it. That’s what the tax collector knew deep in his heart. That’s what
Cece finally had to admit.
You can get so fooled
by life, can’t you? You strive so hard to live life so well, you try so
hard to get life right. It’s awfully difficult to resist the temptation to
confidently declare that you have indeed worked very hard to stand in
God’s presence and be counted among the faithful. It’s so easy to feel
that your relationship to God is all up to you. Then Jesus tells you a
story and in that story you hear your Lord tell you to get off your high
horse. You are not in control here, God is. You did not first choose
God, God chose you. The Old Testament prophet Joel makes it so clear this
morning. Any relationship you have at all, any life you have is not of
your own doing, it is a gift—the gift of a gracious and loving God who
freely grants relationship, love, and life to all who stand far off, don’t
even look up, but go home justified.
Jesus said,
All who exalt themselves will be humbled
But all who humble themselves will be exalted
No, you can’t change circumstances. You can’t change other people. You
can only change you. If you can only change you be the one who knows
yourself well enough that you can only really say to God, “Be merciful to
me, a sinner.” And then listen, listen, for then you just might overhear
your Lord say about you,
I tell you, this one went home justified.
