Exodus 17:1-7

Philippians 2:1-13

Matthew 21:23-32

NUCC

Pentecost 19

September 25, 2005

Confirmation Covenant Sunday

            Today I think of what it means to have “faith under construction.”  Today four young people are committing themselves to a period of intense study and growth in the Christian faith.  On Thursday a group of us committed ourselves to eight weeks of discovery, sharing and learning as we “unwrap” the gifts God has given each of us, no matter how humble those gifts may seem to us.  This afternoon we will celebrate the life of a woman, Irmie Stucki, who recognized the gifts in so many of us and helped us to grow in our faith.  Irmie affirmed the building blocks of faith in each of us and encouraged us to constantly be “under construction.”

            Today we also remember those who are once again reeling from the destructive force of a hurricane.  As I have witnessed the great pilgrimage out of places like Houston, Galveston, and, again, New Orleans, I could not help but reflect on our Old Testament Lesson this morning and the great pilgrimage which took place as the Hebrew people made their way, fleeing from slavery in Egypt and struggling, step by step, toward the Promised Land of Israel.  On some of the newscasts we heard people grumbling and complaining about the lack of gas.  In the Bible lesson from Exodus we read about people grumbling and complaining about the lack of water.   In both cases we observe that people do learn and do grow, whether it is in a water-logged hurricane or a drought-inflicted desert.

            Today our three scripture lessons help us to understand what it means to follow in God’s path and grow in faith, no matter what.  Today we can get a better sense of what it means to follow Jesus Christ in this 21^st century.  Each of our lessons can help us:

1.         Exodus 17

            Here we join the Hebrew people on the way to the Promised Land.  As it says, they journeyed “in stages.”  They were in the wilderness for forty years.  In the process they grew into God’s people.  It didn’t happen all at once.  Today we find them at a low point.  They are tired and thirsty and cranky.  But God was good and Moses was God’s agent.  God brought them water.

            Do you ever get cranky and ornery?  Do you even complain?  I do!  I do hope that I have grown a bit in my faith.  Like the Hebrew people in the wilderness I have had to learn to trust God.  Sometimes I still get cranky, but I know that God does provide, and I try to keep the faith.  At our “Unwrapping” session Thursday night each of us was challenged to chart out our faith on a timeline.  We wrote down our high points and our low points, our moments of decision and our moments of doubt.  And then we shared with one another ---- learning what we have in common and what is unique to each of us as a child of God and follower of Christ.  We also remembered people in our lives who inspired us and molded our faith.  For many of us here today a humble little woman named Irmie Stucki would be at the head of the list.

2.         Philippians 2

            What is the chief piece of advice that Paul gives his friends in Philippians 2?  Be humble.  Don’t try to get all the glory for yourself.  Don’t lift yourself up at the expense of others.  Instead, see the good in others and lift them up.

            In the city of Philippi and other cities of those years people were striving for honors and acclaim.  At the top of the heap was the emperor.  Caesar Augustus had been proclaimed at his death to be divine.  He had united the Mediterranean world into one empire under the so-called “Pax Romana.”  As we read our scripture lesson this morning we discover that Paul recommends a very different way of living for Christians.  He urges:  “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.”

            That is not easy to do.  Give up my ambition?  Well, not ambition, but selfish ambition.  Have no desire to be on top?  Well, not on top as the world see it ---- but on the top as God sees it.  Build one another up.  Support one another.  Live in community.  That is what Paul encourages.  If we do this, then we will find true joy.

            Again, I think that is what our friend Irmie was doing.  Many people have told me that she complimented them and told them they were loved.  How many of us thought we were Irmie’s best friend?  How many times did Irmie turn down a gift?  Not out of false modesty, but rather out of true Christian humility.

            That is what Paul is encouraging when he writes his own letter of encouragement to his friends in Philippi.  He does so even while he is in prison.

            This is the lesson a fellow named Ruben “Hurricane” Carter learned while he himself was in prison.  He was a professional boxer at the top of his form when he was arrested and falsely convicted of killing people in a bar in Patterson, New Jersey.  He was angry and even arrogant.  But then he was befriended by a young man named Lesra, who encouraged him and supported him.  After a while Lesra himself was feeling pretty down and low.  At that time his new friend “Hurricane” wrote him letters of encouragement and support.  In the end Carter was freed and the once illiterate Lesra went on the college and became a lawyer.  “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”  That is what Paul wrote.  But that is also what Lesra put into practice.

            It seems that the natural inclination of this world is to walk over others to get to the top.  Some people like the author Ayn Rand even hold this up as the ultimate virtue.  She would dismiss our friend Paul as a fool.  A fool he may have been, a fool for Christ.  I would like to become such a fool.  The good news is that it can happen.

3.         Matthew 21

            In our Gospel lesson this morning Jesus tells about two sons.  A man asked the first son to do the chores.  The son refused, but later he changed his mind and did them.  The man asked his second son and asked him to do the chores.  The second son said, “Sure Dad.”  But he never did them.

            What do we learn from this little story?  Well, first of all we parents might chuckle about our own children.  We had two daughters like that.  The point Jesus was driving home was the difference between those of us who spout a nice religious line, but fail to live up to it.  We are, to use the term, hypocrites.   Jesus made this criticism of the religious establishment of his day.  A bunch of people who said one thing and did another.

            I would certainly trust the person who acts on her faith rather than just speaking about it.  Morna D. Hooker puts it this way:  “What we believe is revealed in the way we behave.”  We don’t act out of a bunch of oughts and shoulds as much as we do out of central sense of being loved by God and wanting to share that love.  If we believe God loves us and forgives us then we will want to share that love and forgiveness.  It just flows naturally. 

            And I would certainly want to give people time.  Each of us needs the time to reflect and consider what is important in our lives.  Some of us may come to affirm our faith at a young age.  Others of us may struggle and strain, but through that struggle and strain we come to a stronger faith and a more resilient faith.

              Each of us, at one time or another, needs a second chance.  A second chance and a third chance and a fourth chance is what Jesus gives to us.  Those of us who have gone through the Confirmation process know for certain that we had a lot of growing and maturing and understanding to do after our confirmation years.  We are still growing and maturing in the faith.  That is one reason why we offer groups such as “Unwrapping Our Gifts,” ----- to help in that life-long process.

            It can take a lifetime.  In fact all through our lives God works in us and through us, and hopefully we respond to that invitation.  We may start out grumbling and complaining like the Hebrew people in the desert.  We may face all sorts of difficulties, just like Paul, who suffered sickness, ship wreck, imprisonment, and other problems.  But if we stick with a man named Jesus and a Savior we call the Christ, we will be able to exult in joy, knowing that God is at work in us, one building block at a time.

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This didn't get into the sermon:

Morna D. Hooker (professor emeritus at Cambridge):

Christians in the modern world are faced with innumerable ethical dilemmas, which multiply each year with advances in science and medicine.  We cannot expect to find read-made answers to these modern-day questions in the Bible!  We may be grateful that Paul, in his ethical teaching, always went back to the first principles.  In effect, he is saying, “This is the gospel. This is what God is like.  This is what God has done for you, and this is what God expects you to be like.  Work out what that means for yourself!  If we are to do that, then we, too, need to go back to first principles, to ask, What is the Christlike thing for us as a Christian community, for us as individual Christians, to be doing?  How do we respond, in obedience to what God has done?

            The answers to these questions are not necessarily easy!  In any particular ethical dilemma, we may well find Christians sincerely supporting opposite viewpoints. If someone is apparently in an irreversible coma, is it more “worthy of the gospel” to preserve life by continuing the treatment or to allow the patient to die?  When a tyrant like Hitler arises, is it right to resort to war in order to put a stop to his atrocities?  What is the Christlike approach to using fetal tissue in medical research, in order to prevent disease?  How does one balance the advantages and disadvantages to societies and environment when “development” seems to clash with “conservation”?  In seeking to answer these questions, we may not always make the right choice.  What is important is that we should approach all such problems in humility (not thinking we know the answers) and in love, looking to the interests of others, and not seeking to exploit what we consider to be our rights.  (The New Interpreter’s Bible, XI, pp. 516-517)