The Blessing of Serving
Preached at Hanover Street Presbyterian Church
On June 27, 2004
By the Rev. Thomas C. Davis, III, Ph.D.
Texts:
Isaiah 6: 1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am. Send me!"
1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
Luke 9: 57-62
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Sermon Text
"Bowling Alone"--that was the name of a ground breaking book published some years ago by a sociology professor named Robert Putnam. He observed that that fewer people in American now join associations than used to. Not only are fewer volunteering for charitable organizations. Even fewer are joining recreational associations, such as bowling leagues; thus, the title of his book. So, churches are not alone in bemoaning the difficulty of finding new members. All kinds of voluntary associations of all kinds are experiencing the same problem: How to persuade people to give of their time and talents?
Nobody yet has figured out why this radical change in American society has occurred. There are some hunches, though. The workplace has become much more competitive and demanding. Women and men are working. Jobs are less secure, so people have to work harder just to stay employed, and when they do get home from work, they're pooped and want to tune out. Many do so by watching TV. In a typical American home, the television is on seven hours a day. The average American will have watched seven to ten years of television by the time he or she turns seventy. Imagine how the volunteer associations of any community would benefit if Americans' got their TV. addiction under control and cut down from seven hours a day to two. Why, the savings per person would be 1825 hours a year, or seventy-six days! Seventy six days that people now think they don't have would be freed up for getting together, communicating with each other in person, maybe bowling together, or devoting themselves to some organization that is striving to make the world a little better place.
Well, I'm not going to be able to nail down the cause of our withering volunteerism. If the Putnam couldn't do that, I surely can't. However, since I do talk with a lot of people in my work, I'd venture to say that the answer is not that people these days are morally inferior to their parents or grandparents, that is, less concerned with the welfare of others. I don't think that people have become more selfish, but I do think that they have become more harried by the demands of modern life, and that they're reacting to that strain by tuning out, instead of trying to change the factors which have harried them. Of course, changing those factors would require a lot of work, not only the individual work of changing personal habits (like watching less TV.) but also the corporate work of allying with others to change our society's priorities; and harried people don't want more work, they want less. O that's the vicious circle we're in. Strain makes us tune out, and tuning out just makes the situation worse, because it reduces the possibility that we might change the things that produce the strain in the first place.
Scripture helps us recognize that no matter how bad things seem to us in our own place and time, things have been far worse in other places and times. If you think Iraq is bad, read what was happening to the prophet Jeremiah when his society was crumbling. Scripture gives us the consolation of a larger perspective. The prophet Isaiah lived in a morally corrupt society, and he recognized that he himself had become corrupted. "I am a person of unclean lips," he confessed. "And I live among a people of unclean lips." Some people react to shame and disgust by tuning out, by trying to ignore what's happening all around them, and to themselves. Some tune out with drugs or alcohol. Some tune out by watching TV. or a computer screen. But Isaiah did not tune out, because he had had a vision of God; and in that vision, God had told him that his imperfection didn't matter. There was important work for Isaiah to do, and God would make him ready for it. Now, Isaiah could have tuned out God's call, like old Jonah who ran in the opposite direction. He could have, but he didn't. He answered, "Here I am. Send me!"
If you have ever had the privilege of attending a commissioning service at the Presbyterian General Assembly to send off missionaries, you know that that Isaiah text is a favorite. "Here I am; send me!" It's so inspiring to see Presbyterians young and old answering the call of God, leaving their homes and families, to perform overseas ministries of teaching and preaching and healing. Despite the inspiring glow of such high "missionary" callings, we need to keep in mind that most Christian vocations are far humbler. God sends far more disciples into work that isn't exotic at all, but rather, common, and often tedious.
In your bulletin today you'll find a long list of organizations for which members and friends of Hanover volunteer their time and talents. (I did my best to include all of Hanover's involvements, but you may think of some I overlooked, so I would be pleased to list more.) You'll notice that some of the organizations are religious, and some are not. I dare say that some of the good works which Christians do, they do not think of as responses to a divine calling. Sometimes people volunteer not from a religious motivation, like old Isaiah; but just because helping other people makes them feel good. And it does, of course. Sharing our time and talents gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of worthwhileness, a significant connection with others (so that we're less likely to be lonely); and it brings us the joy of doing something well which we wanted to do, instead of had to do. Yes, serving is a blessing, and not just to the servers or those served. Serving is a blessing to God. Jesus taught his disciples not to overlook the divine importance of even the smallest of kindnesses, kindnesses that may not ordinarily be associated with religious devotion. "When did we see you hungry or thirsty, or homeless and take you in, or naked and clothe you? Or, when did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?" ask the ready and the willing. And Jesus replies to them: "Inasmuch as you have done this to even one of the least of my brothers or sisters, you have done it to me."
Of course, not all who hear the good news of Jesus are ready and willing to follow his demanding example of service. That's what our reading from Luke tells us. Discipleship is costly, and eager followers had better count the cost before they start down Jesus' path. Just as he had no more home in this world anymore, the closer he got to the cross, so his disciples must be willing to prize nothing more highly than following him, not even home and kin. It's easy enough to say we're ready and willing to serve like that, but following through on the promise takes a lot more gumption and endurance than we realize. That's why Jesus said: Once you've put your hand on the plow, better not look back to reconsider. Keep your eye on the plow, and move on!
How could such a costly way of life possibly be a joyful life, a blessed life? That seems foolish to people who don't know Jesus. But to those who do know him, who have his spirit inside of them, the joy of being as close to God as he was far outweighs the costs of serving sacrificially, as he did. Paul, who had been beat up and run out of town many a time put it this way, as he wrote to the Philippians from his prison cell: "I have come to consider all the social advantages that I had as disadvantages. Not only that, but I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much garbage if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him." (Philippians 3: 8ff).
Our Creator has given each of us at least one spiritual gift, and the privilege of sharing that gift, and experiencing the joy of sharing. None of us can say: It's no use. I have no gift to share. This just isn't so. Every one of us, from the youngest to the oldest, has at least one precious gift to put to work in the community of souls that makes up our small part of God's dawning kingdom. Every person's gift counts. This isn't true because scripture says it. Scripture says it because Paul observed it to be so, and wrote down what he saw. Every person's gift, no matter how small, is important. Or, put another way, every gift not used leaves the community poorer.
