Paul says,
…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is
just,
whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
Ordinarily
the last place one would ever look for these things is on television!
But there is apparently one program on television that emulates
these qualities. As a matter of fact, that may well be
the main reason it is number one in its time slot.
ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition adopts
a family deeply caught up in difficulties of health or unfortunate life
circumstances and gives them a completely renovated, brand new home in
seven days. Part of the drama, of course, is the speed
with which they accomplish the construction. But the
real drama, and the real key to its popularity, is the moment when the
result is revealed and the tears and hugs of those who receive a great
gift are met by the tears and hugs of those who labored to give it to
them. It is rare for anything on television to make
that which is honorable, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise the
purpose of its programming, let alone find commercial success with it!
From the
beginning of this sermon series I have suggested that the Bible says we
need an extreme home makeover and the church can give you one.
We need one because you and I have made a world that is exactly the
opposite of this vision Paul expresses in his letter to the Philippians.
The world we have made for ourselves has pushed aside the life
given to us by God. The life we have made for
ourselves has spread throughout creation like a contagious disease.
In the culture in which we live it is
whatever is deceptive, whatever the latest
scandal, whatever is
excessive, whatever is fashionable, whatever the passing pleasure
of
the moment, whatever is popular, whatever is mediocre, whatever
gets applause—
that’s what we think about day after day. Just like
the Hebrews at the foot of the mountain who were on the verge of
experiencing the holy but instead reached for their gold rings fashioned
into their own god, we settle for the familiar, the close-at-hand, and the
manageable.
We need to
be transformed. We need a big change.
That’s why God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.
By his suffering, death, and resurrection God begins again the
process of divine transformation in us. Initiated at
our baptism, God works in us a big change that reorients our lives toward
our full restoration. You see, God made us originally
exactly as Paul describes us. All of these good things
are planted deep in our hearts from the very beginning but we have
submerged them and displaced them by these other things.
God initiated that change and begins that restoration in us at our
baptism. It is the church that can help us maintain
it. Although God may work this marvel in you and in
your children with the barest of attention on your part, its optimum
effect, its deepest experience requires lifetime home maintenance.
Just as your home needs careful attention to detail on a regular
basis to keep it in its original condition, so you and your family need to
pay careful attention to things of God for your life to be restored to its
original creation.
Lifetime
home maintenance for your soul requires disinfectant—you must limit your
exposure to the things of the world. At the same time
lifetime home maintenance for your soul requires you to be exposed to the
things of God on a regular basis. You need to take
advantage of those moments and occasions available to you to experience
the life of God. In the church we discover and share
that life in so many ways: prayer, holy Scripture,
worship, and deeds of mercy and justice. In each of
these ways we are doing so much more than simply exposing ourselves to
better things than what we usually experience in the world.
It is no secret how infecting it is for us to frequent the ways of
the world and how powerful that exposure is in its negative effects on us.
But to be exposed to the things of God is so much more than simply
a matter of exposure to the right things that positively affect human
lives. Exposure to divine things affects us so much
more positively than contact with worldly things can ever affect us
negatively. That’s because any power the things of the
world may have at all comes to its ultimate defeat at the cross of Christ
by the power of the resurrection. The efficacious
power of divine things restored in us by the grace of God is far beyond
whatever effect our mere proximity to them may benefit us.
In other words,
when you heard the Bible read or hear the Word
preached this
morning, its effect on your soul goes far beyond the benefit you
would otherwise receive by simply choosing to listen to good
words instead of bad for a change;
what you experience in church
today goes far beyond the benefit you
would otherwise receive by simply exposing yourself to a more
positive environment;
when you share in the sacrament of Holy Baptism and Holy
Communion in the church you are exposing yourself to the power
of the grace of God working its wonders in your life, restoring
you
to the way God made you in the beginning.
The church
calls these things of God “means of grace.” These
experiences are the very conduits by which God can restore in you that
peace of God of which Paul speaks. In our tradition
these are gifts of God that are open to all of us regardless of our age or
station in life. For example, the Sacrament of Holy Communion in our
church is not restricted by faith, belief, age, or ability.
Anyone can come to the table of the Lord in our church and is
welcomed to do so. We encourage our children, even the
youngest of children, to share in this special moment with their Lord.
Often the tasting of bread and drinking of juice is one of the most
intriguing and, therefore, most educationally and
spiritually formative moments in their young worship life.
After all, John Wesley, the founder of the movement in eighteenth
century
England
that became our
United
Methodist
Church
, believed that one could come to faith for
the very first time while sharing in the Lord’s Supper!
It is not a moment in the church when you need to have achieved a
certain level of knowledge or holiness in order to partake.
Our former
Bishop Joe Pennel tells the story of his first appointment at
Enville
Church
in
Tennessee
. Bob, a faithful member
of that congregation, never went to communion—he came to church, he just
remained in his pew following the invitation. Young
Rev. Pennel asked him the same question his predecessors had surely asked
him before, “Why don’t you come to communion?” “Not
good enough,” he replied. The young preacher in his
first appointment did not know what to say to him. On
the next communion Sunday Carnie, who ushered every Sunday at
Enville
Church
, leaned over and whispered in Bob’s ear as
he was directing those on his pew to the communion rail.
Bob got up, went down the aisle, and took communion!
Rev. Pennel asked Carnie what in the world he had said to Bob.
Carnie replied, “You can go, Bob…its for sinners!”
We who are
baptized are blessed by the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ are
being restored every day to the life in which we were originally created.
It’s God’s gift to us that happens in us every day, whether we
reach out to God or not. But if we make ourselves
available to God,
if we expose ourselves to those moments and experiences of grace,
if we make sure our homes and our families frequent the occasions
of the holy,
if we practice lifetime home maintenance,
there is no end to what God can do with us.
According
to the latest report of Center for Disease Control the flu season is ripe
upon us. Have you gotten your flu shot yet?
Studies of those who are vaccinated each year find that the serum
is most effective for children, and the least effective for the eldest of
us. You are better off with the vaccine than without,
but the elderly simply have more to deal with in the face of an infection
given their limitations of health and age. There is an
interesting thing about the spread of the flu. Clinics
and emergency rooms have noticed that it starts with 3 and 4 year old
children. They seem to be the first infected and then
it begins to spread to all age groups. It starts with
the children. A remarkable study has revealed that
where children are vaccinated against the flu, the entire population in
that community benefit from a much lower infection rate for that entire
season. When the children are vaccinated the death
rate among the elderly goes down.
[National Public Radio Morning Edition,
October 5, 2005]
It starts with the children. If you vaccinate them,
there’s more of a hope for the rest of us.
While you’re doing your
home maintenance chores this flu season, disinfecting doorknobs and
washing your children’s hands fifty times a day trying to limit their
exposure to infection, don’t forget to expose them to the things of God.
When you do, those spiritual antibodies of grace that God created
in them before they were born can have a real chance to grow a healthy
soul. Where healthy souls grow, life is restored.
Where life is restored, the world and all of creation can once
again experience and know whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing,
whatever is commendable, excellence and worthy of praise.
