June 11, 2005
Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time to
laugh and a time to cry. Laughter is sometimes the best medicine, it
can defuse the tension of a moment, it can help us to take a break from
the troubles we have been having, and it helps us find creative
distance from a problem we cannot find a solution to. Yet we also know
there are times not to laugh: making fun of someone, using humor to
disguise prejudice, bursting out in the middle of someone’s
presentation. In the case before us, as we wonder if the right time for
Sarah to laugh was, let us examine the circumstances. Abraham welcomes
three strangers in from the hostile desert, to sit in the shade and to
provide food and water. This is a normal practice, those who travel are
dependent on the generosity of strangers, and the desert rule bound all
people to provide hospitality to strangers. So far so good, nothing out
of the ordinary has happened. But that was about to change. One of the
strangers tells Abraham that his wife will conceive a child. Now, given
that they had been trying to have children all these years, given that
Sarah was considered beyond child-bearing age, it seems understandable
that this proclamation, Sarah will conceive, seemed pretty ridiculous.
After all, the reality of the situation was it would have to be a
miracle for her to have children. So she laughed. How ridiculous!
Before we judge Sarah too harshly, we might want to
check out how we accept or laugh at the possibility that God will use
us. We might think we are too old, or too young, too rich or too poor,
we don’t have the right skills, or the right talents and we
don’t have what it takes to be in God’s service. We might
think we do not have enough time, or the right job, to be of service.
And this criticism of our own abilities may bleed into our community
life. We might not think this church is big enough, or have enough
resources, or have the right resources to do what God wants us to do.
And so when we study the word, when we feel the call of God, often we
will dismiss it because it seems too great of a task, and say
“What was God thinking, anyway?”
I have been listening to a CD about a workshop that
was presented at a conference I attended last month. There were just
too many interesting topics I was interested in and so I did not get to
all the presentations I wanted to, so I just ordered a few CDs of those
I wanted to go to but couldn’t. The CD is on the topic of how to
include children with special needs in the life of your Sunday school.
In her presentation, the parent who is on staff of a large church in
Orange County gave her advice and guidance about how to include those
with special needs, in the life of the church, her daughter has been
living with Down’s Syndrome but wanted to participate in Sunday
school, and so Mom found a church that was willing to take on this
ministry. Since I have a special needs daughter, I am interested in
this topic both personally as well as professionally. One of the
stories she tells is of when her church went through the Purpose Driven Life materials.
One of the parents shared this thought with her, “I have
discovered why God has created my daughter with Autism. It is to teach
me and those who go to school with her, those in her Sunday school with
her, patience and understanding.” This father’s words hit
me with great force and as I thought of my own daughter, I laughed and
thought, “Susy sure tests my patience and understanding”.
But as I reflected a bit longer, I realized that I laughed because I
was uncomfortable about how many times I did show patience or
understanding, only impatience and frustration.
As I reflected even further, I realized that God
was delivering me a message, to see that I am being taught a great
lesson by Susy, which has indeed helped me to be more patient with
others, and I have found that I have a new appreciation for all the
lessons I have learned from her.
What about you?
Are those who you are easily frustrated with, those
you lose patience with? Those who you dismiss as burrs under your
saddle, irritating the heck out of you? Maybe it is those drivers who
talk on cell phones, maybe it is those liberals, or those
conservatives, maybe it is those co-workers who you would rather just
walk the other way. You might laugh but God is helping you to learn in
all relationships even those that get under your skin. In fact those
relationships are exactly the ones that can teach us the most about the
world and how God wants us to act. Instead of laughing at others, for
their limitations, and their ways of irritating us, we need to laugh at
ourselves and recognize all the ways we have simply dismissed those who
are different from us.
God calls us to be laborers in the vineyard, to
bring in the harvest that Jesus has brought to fruition. God does not
call us to judge which fruit is worthy, but only to bring it in.
This means not wishing for different people to come
into our lives, but to ask God for guidance to understand who we are to
minister to, and who is ministering to us.
Jesus tells us the harvest is ready, all we have to
do is bring them in. A practical way of looking at this is seeing our
mission to be both world wide and right here in Walnut.
We are called by God, even though we might laugh at
that, to bring the good news to our neighbors and those who are our
brothers and sisters throughout the nations of the world. This work is
easy if we listen to God, because Jesus promises us that the harvest is
plentiful. Jesus does not say, there are only a few fruits, so all you
must compete to win these few to the gospel. Jesus does not say, you
need to be anxious and worried over the future of your church, Jesus
does not say, you need to earn your righteousness by being a laborer
for my kingdom, No Jesus says the harvest is plentiful, there is enough
to go around, and like the feeding of the 5,000, there is enough and
more left over.
With God anything is possible, without God all
seems impossible.
That is not to say, there will be only smooth
sailing ahead. Rather, Jesus tells us to be wise as serpents, and
gentle as doves. One theologian put it this way:
I suggest that this is what acting out forgiveness
in the world looks like: it looks like knowing that you are dealing
with dangerous people, who are more than likely to be deeply
destabilized by your innocence and because of that to seek to lynch
you. You forgive them by living with them with the twin attitudes of
the wisdom of the serpent, knowing very exactly how to slither away to
avoid being trampled on when danger is around, but the innocence of
doves, who do not think ill of those whom they are seeking to forgive,
nor are in any sort of rivalry with, but are able to give themselves
“sacrificially” as it were to the addicts, having the power
to make of it the best show they can. (James Alison, ch. 3 of On Being Liked).
Now I know I have gotten this far without even
mentioning our theme of worship today, Choir Appreciation Day. But I
think it parallels with our lesson for today. First, often when we are
asked would you like to join the choir, we will laugh, and say
something like, “Only if you want someone to sing solo, so low
you can’t hear me”, and simply dismiss the invitation. But,
I think we miss the opportunity if we judge ourselves unworthy or even
unwilling to sing. Singing has a way of transforming us, to be able to
reach down inside and find a new way of expressing our faith and of
reaching others for Christ. Music has a way of touching people not just
those who listen but those who sing, music help us become whole, and
holy. Second, music has a rich heritage in worship; we are carrying on
in the great tradition of music as an expression of our praise, our
sorrow, our uncertainty, our zeal. Music touches the soul and helps
give voice to the emotions and questions of our hearts.
Lastly, music takes work. It does mean sacrificing
an extra hour of sleep, to practice. It does mean that we feel some
pressure to do well, it does mean working on a piece of music that
seems strange or too hard or whatever, and finding that someone else
was touched by a particular composition. It also means staying in touch
with our humbleness, of recognizing our limitations, and understanding
that sacred music is not all about performance it is all about giving
our best to God -- flat notes or missed beats included. It means being
forgiven on those rare occasions that a piece might embarrass us.
So today, as we give our appreciation for the gift
of music, we have the opportunity to ask how is God calling me? And how
have I answered? Have I simply laughed at the very idea of being in the
choir, or serving in the church? Have I openly embraced new directions
for my life as led by God, or do I leave my message from God
unanswered? Have I answered but quickly become discouraged by
those who laugh at me, or do I persevere, depending on God to give me
all the strength and wisdom that I will need to serve him? And do you
put so many restrictions on God, on what you can do, and forget with
God all things are possible?
It is my hope that we will be able to laugh at our
past mistakes, repent of those sins against our brothers and sisters,
and then be able to move ahead with renewed energy and life as we serve
God together. All in favor say, AMEN!
