|
LINKS TO THE SERMONS |
|
|
“What Do These Stones Mean?”
The anniversary went by with hardly any notice at all; one of the defining moments of the Twentieth century, fifty years ago this month, October 4, 1957. A new word came into our vocabularies and is permanently engraved there because the new word forced us to face up to the new realities of a new age. The word was “Sputnik.” It was only about the size of a basketball and weighed about three pounds. All it did was beep. I was one of those teenagers who looked up in wonder at the October skies to see the first man-made object ever to be launched into orbit around the earth. The problem is that it wasn’t done by us but by the Russians, forcing a whole new evaluation of ourselves, our role in the world and our sense of invincibility. America had come out of the greatest war of all time, by many accounts, single-handedly won by us. We were enjoying a time of unprecedented prosperity. Fully half of the industrial production in the world was being done in the United States. Business was booming; families were booming; the church was booming. Americans were the best at everything and we knew it. We invented everything from television to the atomic bomb, and we would certainly be the first to put satellites into space. But we weren’t. It was our arch enemy, the Soviet Union. Sputnik marked the beginning of the space race, the founding of NASA, and the solidification of the Cold War as our focus of attention for the rest of the century. It also marked the beginning of the end of our national innocence. 1957 was the beginning of the sixties, which ended in 1972 with our departure from Vietnam and the resignation of Richard Nixon. Most of us didn’t feel the full force of the sixties until 1964 with the arrival of the Beatles. But, it was in 1957 when John Lenin met a young Paul McCartney at a church gathering in Liverpool. 1957 would also mark the end of our certainty about morality, the beginning of the end of Ozzie and Harriet in favor of the Simpsons with Archie Bunker in between. It was helped along by the fact that 1957 was the year that The Pill was introduced, effectively removing our parent’s number one argument for abstinence. In 1957 the Surgeon General announced a definitive link between smoking and lung cancer destroying the illusion that all the things we Americans loved and did a lot weren’t necessarily good. And, the Little Rock school integration, federal troops called out to get nine teenagers into a high school. The event exploded the illusion that we were a nation of liberty and justice for all and that prosperity was available to all equally. Beeping over our heads during all that was that three pound basketball reminding us that not only were we not in control on the ground but the Russians owned space. If any day in history can be fairly identified as a day when the world changed forever, one of those days would have to be October 4th, 1957. Yet, the day went by almost without mention – perhaps because three quarters of Americans don’t remember 1957 and time has rendered that little satellite almost ludicrous. We’ve walked on the moon. We put a condo in space where people live for months at a time. And we share that space with the Russians. It’s hard to get very excited about the anniversary of Sputnik with all the space junk that is now orbiting the earth – enough satellites to bounce your cell phone calls off of any where in the world. It is up to the people who remember to make sure that the event that changed the world called Sputnik remains as part of the corporate memory of a nation. One of the mistakes made by societies or individuals is to live life indifferent to or oblivious of their past. The ancient Hebrews were determined that it not happen. They used to put down a pile of stones to mark significant moments in their history, or significant encounters with their God. They would serve as reminders and when younger generations came along that didn’t know of the event, they would see the stones and ask what they meant and the tradition would be passed. The events of their history defined them as a people and gave them a trajectory for plotting a future. I’ve been thinking about all this since we here are coming up to our 120th anniversary celebration. The invitations went into the mail this week. We stand on the shoulders of giants, some of whom are still among us, we are calling them living legends. The world has changed a bit since 1887. Not only were there no satellites, there were no cars, no airplanes and no I- pods. But, there was the great commission, needs to be addressed, ministry to be done in the name of the living Lord, and that grand tradition must be honored and shared to give us trajectory and assurance for the new ministry to the new world we are part of. The pivotal story for the Hebrews is the story of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery and their entry into the Promised Land. It is mentioned in every creed, celebrated in every religious ceremony and every holy meal. It’s the way God introduces himself to the next generation of the descendents of Abraham; “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who led your fathers and mothers out of the land of Egypt and into the new land that flows with milk and honey.” And they listened – because of the unspoken promise, “Just as I delivered your forbears, as I parted the sea for them, fed them manna from heaven and fought for them to gain the land you know posses – just as I was there for them, I will be there for you. A firm knowledge of our past gives us the assurance to march boldly into the unknown future; If God is for us who can stand against us. This church has served in this community for 120 years and now we stand at the vanguard of a new era in discipleship ministry. We can’t imagine what shape it will take or what sacrifices will be called for but we know the one who calls us to it and our history tells us that he is faithful. As the song goes, “I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds the future, and I know who holds my hand.” The other mistake people make in regard to the past is almost the opposite but just as deadly. Perhaps even worse than living unaware of the past is living in the past; the past cannot be preserved; life moves relentlessly forward. What ever else the past is, it is gone. We have the present in which to be faithful and a future to imagine and shape. Nobody cares about launching another Sputnik. We don’t even know the names of our astronaughts like we used to and space shuttle launches are so commonplace that they aren’t even televised any more. Now the space shuttles are getting old and we are asking what’s next. That’s what the church must do, honor our past and be guided and encouraged by it but always with an eye to the future. It’s true of individual Christians too. At our anniversary celebration we will recognize those who have been members of our church for 50 years or more. Did you know that we have eighty members who are over eighty? Your glorious history of discipleship in this church is to be honored and celebrated but not retreated to. It matters not how long you have been a disciple or how old you are the question remains, what is God calling you to be and do now and in the future of this great church. As Geoff Peters said two weeks ago, “If God was through with you, you’d be through.” Since you are still living and breathing on this planet, God still has work for you; maybe not the same work as before when the world was different and your energy was different but work nonetheless – work of prayer, financial support of new ministries, encouragement of new disciples out of your vast backlog of history confirming God’s faithfulness to those who will boldly go where our Lord leads. This church and many of its people have a long and glorious past but that isn’t where we live, and it certainly isn’t where we are headed. The call of Christ is always to follow and always into the unknown future. It’s not easy. That’s why Jesus gave us this parable of the new wine. It’s hard for old institutions and old people to embrace the new. We are always going to say the old was better. And maybe it was but it doesn’t matter because it’s gone. What we have is the now, laden with possibility, the vast unknown territory of the future, and the God who has been our help, our rock, our strong foundation in ages past and is calling to us to claim the future for the kingdom. You can go on line and hear a recording of the beeping noise of the Sputnik as it crossed the October skies of 1957. It’s pretty scratchy and not very interesting. If you tune your ears you can also hear the music of the spheres that engaged the imaginations of our forbears through the ages and called them to claim the future which we now inhabit, and hearing that same melody we resolve to move faithfully into our future claiming it in the name of the same Christ in whose power we also live and move and have our being. What do these stones mean? The young ones would ask the elders and the old ones would tell them the story, but not just as disconnected history – always with an eye to the future. The God who has done these great things in our past is still our God and will walk with us into the vast unknown, and into more momentous events which will require that we put down more piles of stones to encourage future generations to ask, “What do these stones mean?” And, do you know what the Russians did this year? - took a sub under the polar ice cap and planted a flag in the bottom if the ocean at the North Pole. So, when the ice all melts and drilling is possible they will have staked their claim. Future generations of geological engineers will no doubt ask, “What does this flag mean?” They have no interest in redoing Sputnik but the spirit of Sputnik emboldens them for the future. May the Spirit it of the living Christ so embolden the church. As always if you would like a DVD of a service please contact the church office
|
|
.................................................................................... Friends | |