September 7, 2003
Rally Sunday
Well, HIP HOORAY its Rally Sunday!
Aren’t you all excited?
You know the strangest thing happens when you
mention Rally Sunday. People are not sure what we do, and what it is
all about.
We know what a pep rally is: bonfires and
cheerleaders, wearing the school colors, banners proclaiming dominance
over your opponent.
But that’s not really what a church rally is
all about, is it? We don’t muster up all our energy to fight the
Baptists and the Presbyterians? I am certainly not up here to lead you
in the cheers, and I am not sure if the fire marshal would allow a
bonfire, especially with how hot and dry it has been.
I know what a car rally is, where people who have
really neat cars bring them all together and compare notes on what
engines they have or what kind of paint they used for the sleek look
they achieved. They may even have trophies for the Best of Show.
But that is not what a church rally is all about,
is it? To bring all our good looking cars to church, throw open the
hood, ooh and aah at the great upholstery and polished chrome? We
certainly do not give awards out to the best looking, the best in its
class or the best of show here.
We might know what it means to rally the troops, or
rally from behind, or hold up our rally monkeys, but what exactly do we
do on Rally Sunday?
I looked to my Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible and found no help, apparently rally is not
found in the Bible. So I turned to Webster’s instead and found
this definition: Rally means, to call together for a common purpose, to
unite in an effort for a common cause, to recover abruptly from a set
back or disadvantage , to show sudden improvement in health or spirits.
First God calls us together for a common purpose.
Proverbs says it this way: The rich and the poor meet together; the
Lord is maker of them all.
God calls each one of you, by name, and brings you
to exactly this point in time in this particular place for a common
purpose. It is important that we recognize our common humanity with
others, and not be caught up in trying to determine who is worthy and
who is not. As a church, we need to fling wide the doors of our hearts
and minds so we join our hearts with those who have also been called by
God. The letter of James warns the early Christians to not welcome only
those who help finance the ministry in terms of generous gifts and
tithes, but also they should welcome the poor, the undeserved, those
who did not have two coins to rub together.
Story of a wealthy man whose daughter was getting
married and her father determined that her wedding would be the finest
the land had ever seen. The food and the entertainment would be lavish.
Several miles away lived a fine shoemaker who was
not only skilled at making shoes but he was very wise. People from all
over would flock to him for advice. One day he received an invitation
to the finest wedding feast in the land. He had no fancy clothes to
wear but he decided to wear what he had anyway, "No matter,"
he thought to himself, "I will wear what I have. After all, is a
goat just because he has a beard?"
The night before Yossi left there was a rainstorm
and the road to the city of the wedding was muddy, but the shoemaker
carefully made his way along side the road, but just as he entered the
city, a carriage carrying important guests sped by him and splashed mud
all over him. "Oh, my," thought Yossi, "I have made a
mess of myself now."
The host of the wedding feast stood at the door to
his estate welcoming the dignitaries as they arrived, and out of the
corner of his eye he saw a man with mud all over him. "A
Beggar!" he thought to himself. How dare he, so he called his
servants to escort this person out of the estate. The deed was done
before Yossi could offer any explanation. Yossi was disappointed in the
rashness of the host’s actions, but he remembered one of his
customers was a fine tailor who worked nearby. So he went and
explained. Not long after Yossi approached the site of the feast again,
this time cleaned up and wearing the finest clothes. The host greeted
him enthusiastically; pleased that the wise shoemaker had graced his
daughter’s wedding feast. The host had reserved a seat at the
head table, right next to the bride and groom, and he seated Yossi in
the place of honor.
The feast began with a toast, and all lifted up
their glasses of fine red wine and then drank from them--all except
Yossi, who pulled his trousers away from his waist and poured the wine
down his pants. A few people gasped, but after all this was the wise
Yossi, so no one said a word. The meal continued in similar fashion.
Yossi poured the chicken soup into his boot, and carefully spooned peas
into his hat. Finally, Yossi placed cabbage balls into his pockets of
his coat and squashed them. No one knew what to say or do. Of course,
some of the children tried to imitate him, which irritated their
parents.
The host finally had enough when Yossi held up a
piece of apple strudel, smiled and mashed it against his chest.
"What are you doing?" he shouted. " I invited you here
to honor my daughter. You are known for your wisdom, but you are acting
like a madman".
"Oh," said Yossi. "I have been
teaching you ever since we started eating. You see, I was that man you
threw out earlier. You thought I was a Beggar because of the way I was
dressed. When I returned, dressed in clothes of a rich man, you treated
me with honor and respect. It seems you didn’t really want me
here at all. You just wanted my clothes. So I am feeding my
clothes."And with that, he poured a cup of tea into his pocket.
"Drink well, my coat," he said. And then he left.*
As those called by God we need to be careful of
those who show up muddy and tattered, they may be wise messengers from
God.
So Rally Day means to be called together by God,
and second, we are to unite in an effort for a common cause. Proverbs
hints at what this effort is, share our bread with the poor. James uses
the law of the scripture to love your neighbor as yourself, show mercy
and do good works. We are not to show any partiality.
Thirdly we gather for Rally Sunday to recover
abruptly from a setback or disadvantage. This week we will remember the
tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. While I was in Washington D.C. last month, I
took the Metro over to the Pentagon, and found the wall where the plane
had hit. I said a prayer and was moved to tears even though the wall
has been repaired and no evidence of the tragedy remains. As a nation
we have had to rally back from those terrible events. And that has not
been the end to the violence that continues to set us back, war and
terrorism still continues to threaten lives all over the earth. But I
saw the evidence of how far we have come since that dreadful day when
the blackout hit the east coast. I sat in my parents living room in
Massachusetts and watched the reports of people who had been stranded
in New York City, and I was amazed. There were very few reports of
looting, and people who could not get home, simply slept on benches, on
the steps of buildings, in parks and all around New York, without fear.
If this blackout had happened prior to Sept. 11, I am sure the looting
and the violence would of been severe. But people had learned to
recover and to serve one another, to hold one another up.
Lastly on Rally Day we show a sudden improvement in
health and spirits. I know the summer vacation I enjoyed for the last
few weeks did help restore my health. And I can see by the attendance
that many of you spent time vacationing as well. Now is the time to
bring all that wonderful spirit of health and fun to the work of the
church. It is time to work together for God’s kingdom. It is time
to put away our anger over what is not possible and work with God who
makes all things possible. It is time to break down the walls of
resentment and build up one another. It is time to put down our
prejudice and pick up the hands of those who may look different from
ourselves, who may not do things the way we think they should be done,
who may not speak the same language, but who have the same Creator, we
need to rally together. Will this be the year in the life of the church
when great things in the name of Jesus our Lord will be a part of our
church? Will this be the year that our faith will be
lifted up to a higher level?
I know it is possible because with God all things
are possible!
-----
*(The Wise
Shoemaker-adapted from an Elijah tale and the story by Syd Lieberman)
