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Sermons at St. John’s Presbyterian Church When is the Second Coming? Have You Had Breakfast? Then
Wash Your Bowl! Transcribed from the sermon preached November 18, 2007 The
Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor St. John’s Presbyterian Church 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705 Telephone 510-845-6830 Fax 510-845-6837 office@stjohns.presbychurch.net http://www.stjohns.presbychurch.net Scripture Readings: 2 Thess 3:6-13, Luke 21:5-19 One
morning the student comes to his Zen master and asks the key to
enlightenment. The master responds, “Have
you had breakfast?” “Yes,” says the
student. “Then wash your bowls.” We
could easily exchange the word “enlightenment” with “kingdom of God.” Last week we heard Jesus say that the
Kingdom of God is within you, or among you.
This week he says don’t be too impressed with the jewels of the temple,
soon enough they will fall down. Keep
in mind that Luke is recording these words after the temple has fallen, and
fellow followers of Christ are wondering if Jesus" return is imminent, and
if they can persevere if it isn't. On
the other hand, Jesus says not to stress about the end times, or try to amp
people up by preaching about it. What
will happen in the future will be stressful enough: no point in adding to the
stress with our anxiety, or getting all prepared only to then run out of
patience. It
seems there has always been an abundance of folks who think they can read the
signs, which spell out the end of the world.
A large group of Christians are convinced that the temple needs to be
rebuilt in Jerusalem, and then Jesus will come again. So Christians in Texas are busy breeding perfect red heifers for
sacrifice in Jerusalem, and whole groups of Christians are supporting Israeli
land grabbing in Palestine. The irony
is that in their view, the Jews they support unconditionally now, will be
thrown into a lake of burning sulfur for all eternity once their Jesus comes. But
rather than pick on our fellow bone headed Christians, I think we can take
wisdom from this mornings passages by looking at a balance between planning and
working for the future, and the patience and grace to live and work joyously in
the present tense. It can be tempting
to draw on material pomp and circumstance, to have the latest technological
jewels, or a jewel of an organ or sanctuary.
Another temptation is to sell the idea that we are in the special end
time. The material won’t last, and
trials will come, but our biggest trial is always this very moment. And regardless of whether we are in the
presence of jewels or cosmic flashes of light, this moment and this place are
sacred. I
have to make a confession that I often hope and look for the big things to work
toward. Peace in Palestine and Israel,
the end of third world debt and poverty.
This vision fits into the liberal end times scenario, with us as God’s
helpers ushering in the new heaven and new earth. If we just do this or that
sacred act, peace will fall into place.
I
have a much tougher time with those things that don’t seem to usher in
anything…things like going through the mail, or deciding which part of our book
of order applies to minister x in situation y or z, or dealing with the
building crisis of the week. Part
of my frustration from such tasks may come rather from my ineptitude. When it comes to fixing things, for
instance, I tend to follow the Dave Barry steps to fixing a household problem:
1. Read the entire sports section of the newspaper, thus giving the problem a
chance to go away on its own. 2. Wrapping the problem with duct tape. or 3.
Spraying the problem with a product called “WD-40”. As a
minister fresh out of seminary and not far removed from the Peace Corps, I
wanted to spend all money and effort on mission and justice. Concern over building drove me crazy. In my internship church the ladies had a knock
down, drag out over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. I thought, they are worried about the color
of carpet, and children are dying of starvation. I
saw all the big beautiful American churches as vain, like the pompous guy who
goes up to the front and prays, “Thank God I am not like that poor sinner with
that small, crummy little church across town.” One
of my favorite lines in our book of Order comes from the reformation era, which
sought to bring faith back down to basics.
It says we are to “Shun Ostentation,” which means we are to avoid
glamour and show, pomp and circumstance.
No need to act like the Pope or the Wizard of Oz with a great ominous
building and smoke and mirrors for worship.
Sooner or later these pillars and stained glass and organ will crumble.
Come out from behind the curtain. Take
off the robes, ties and stoles, put away the fancy silver. By the Grace of God,
come as you are and simply worship the immortal, invisible, God only wise. But
eventually we discover that duct tape and WD-40 only go so far, and then we
need to get some real work done. And
part of being good stewards is doing quality work that will last a while. It means foresight, making investments and
planning for the future. Work,
virtually all work is part of our sacred calling, a way of living the Kingdom
of God in the present tense. Rob Bell,
in his book the Velvet Elvis mentions how he played in a punk band, and
often, when folks discovered he was a minister they asked if it was a Christian
band. He said, “I always found that
question a bit odd. When you meet a
plumber, do you ask her if she is a Christian plumber?” He goes on, “My understanding is that to be
Christian is to do whatever it is that you do with great passion and
devotion. We throw ourselves in to our
work because everything is sacred. I
love how Paul put it in Colossians: 'Whatever you do, whether in word or deed,
do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.'
He is teaching people to live as Christians, and then whatever they do
will be sacred, holy work…It is impossible for a Christian to have a secular
job. If you follow Jesus and you are
doing what you are doing in Jesus name, then it is no longer secular work; it’s
sacred. You are there; God is
there. The difference is our awareness." This
I think is the point to be made by Jesus concerning the temple. Certainly the sanctuary is wonderful and
beautiful, dedicated to the glory of God, and we ought to care for it with
foresight and sound investment, but we ought not let ourselves get fooled into
thinking other places and other work are not filled with the sacred Spirit of
God. Washing feet and washing latrines
are as sacred as lighting candles or making communion goblets. The same thing goes for time. There may come a time of crisis that calls
for brave acts and heroism, we may even hope to be a part of them, but that
ought not detract from basic acts of work and loving kindness wherever we find
ourselves living and working. Martin
Luther King Jr., talks about living into your sacred calling with a group of
Junior High school students (What is Your Life’s Blueprint? Barratt Junior
High, Philadelphia. Oct. 26, 1967) “When
you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty
called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don't just set out to
do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the
unborn couldn't do it any better. If
it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo
painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music... Sweep streets
like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of
heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper
who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a
shrub in the valley. Be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. So I
am not going to try and sell you the idea that we are the grandest, most
amazing church, or that I know how the end times will play out before us, and
therefore you should join this church and follow me. But I will tell you that God is alive and the kingdom is real,
both in this church and in your daily life, in your work and play and
family. Together we will encourage one
another to be faithful, through the doldrums and the storms; we will sing and
work and serve together, knowing that whether we live or whether we die,
whether we rise or whether we fall, we do so to the Glory of the God of grace
and peace who lives and reigns forever and ever. |