Top American Values: #4 Health and Fitness 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 A Sermon Preached by Becky Sechrist on 1/28/07 I’ve been thinking about how to address this sermon topic this week. I’ve been thinking about it in all those down moments. While I was lifting weights, while I was walking my dog, while I was waiting for my soup to warm up. I also thought about it while hurtling down the highway at 65 mph, late for my next meeting. Oh, and while I was popping popcorn. During the Sundays of Epiphany, we are exploring the results of custom research by GfK. In 2005, they determined the top 10 American Values, and we are looking at the top seven, in ascending order. Stable Relationships, Justice, Friendship, Health and Fitness today, and then Freedom, Family and Honesty.
Being a disciple of Jesus had to have been hard. Taking leave from your work, moving unpredictably around the countryside. Fearing the authorities, both Jewish and Roman, and being challenged to think about God, humanity, and your role in the world in a whole different way.
(Scripture: Revelation 1:4-8) Usually when I begin to talk about the book of Revelation, or read scripture from it, peoples eyes begin to glaze over. Some of you looked glazed before I read the scripture, so I’m not sure this morning is a fair test, but . . . What most people know about the book of Revelation is its weird, scary imagery. We’ve been told that it is a prediction of the end times, but as we read it, we get lost in the symbolism and imagery and end up finding the whole experience unhelpful. The book of Revelation is both a letter and a revelation, an image. John, of Patmos, is imprisoned, probably for his Christian beliefs. While living in his imprisonment area, he has a vision from God.
The story of Mary and Martha is one of the more well-known stories of the Bible, like the story of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan, the story which this immediately follows, by the way. And I don’t know if this ever happens to men, but I can tell you that if you are a woman and you’ve attended enough women’s retreats, you will eventually spend some time talking about the Martha and Mary story. You’ll be asked to indicate which one you identify with, and the vast majority of the women in the room will identify with Martha. And since Martha is scolded by Jesus, the whole thing ends up deteriorating, with the Martha-identified women commenting that if Martha hadn’t been cooking and preparing, how did Jesus think that dinner was going to get on the table?
Jesus is invited to dinner by a Pharisee, and takes the opportunity to offer some advice to those gathered around. First, he offers some advice on how to be a good guest. Dinner was often an event in Jesus day, and guests would gather, reclining around a cushion in groups of 3 or so. The closer to the center of the room you were, the more important you were. Don’t risk disgrace, Jesus advises, begin by reclining at some far away place, and let your host elevate you to a better position. Don’t start in the center, only to be moved further out. The advise wasn’t unique to Jesus, it was pretty common advice for his day. The kind of thing you’d see in a column from Miss Manners or an answer from Dear Abby on how best to handle a dinner engagement.
The theme for our congregation this year is “Finding Our Way.” And we are spending time in each of the liturgical seasons looking at various ways in which we do that. This fall, until Advent, we are examining the parables found in the gospel of Luke. Through these parables, we get stories about Jesus and his teachings, but as we listen to “HiStory” we hope to find ways to make that Our story as well. Most of the parables that Jesus tells are either about the Kindom of God (the kindom of God is like a mustard seed . . . ) or they are lessons in behavior (there was a father who had two sons . . . ). In fact, the parables right before this one in the gospel of Luke include some of the most well-known.
As many of you already know, I grew up in a small town. We were the “odd family” since we did not farm for a living, but it was a wonderful place to grow up. I knew all my neighbors, and they knew me. I also know the problems with communities. They are made up of imperfect people, and so they are also imperfect. Not everyone served as a positive role model, and not everyone behaved in the ways you’d like in a community. But we were still a community. Now I find that I prefer living in large urban areas, but even as I live in cities, I find that communities form. In each of the places I have lived, I’ve known the people around me, and they have been that same mixture of good and imperfect that I found growing up. Jesus also lived in a community of people.
You’re probably a little confused by this week’s reading. We’ve been reading from the parables of Luke this fall, as we finish the season of Pentecost. You probably know that the season of Advent comes before Christmas, and I know that you know that Christmas is coming up!
It seems that people have been asking for signs from God ever since there was a relationship between God and human beings. In the creation story at the very beginning of Genesis, we read, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the domes of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.’” In the wilderness, the people asked Moses for a sign. And they asked again, and again, never quite sure that God was still in their midst. During the time of the judges, before there were kings, Gilead looked for a sign to confirm that God was calling him into leadership. Kings dreamed important dreams and had people in the employ of the court to interpret those dreams.
When he died in April of 1976, Howard Hughes was the wealthiest man in the world. Even kind accounts of Hughes called him eccentric, and he was well known for his early film, Hell’s Angels. Not because the film was so great, and not even because of its introduction of Jean Harlow to the film world. He was known for the film because it took him 3 years to film it, and it cost $3.8 million. That’s in 1930. It was years before he made a profit. He had 84 planes, and the film involved lots of scenes of the planes in the air. With each viewing of the footage, though, he was unsatisfied. He wanted the viewer to be aware of how fast those planes were going, but against the clear California sky, they looked pretty, but not fast.
This text from the Gospel of John is used frequently in funerals and memorial services. The words are ones of comfort, especially v. 2 where Jesus tells his followers, “In God’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” It is part of a much larger section in John known as the “Farewell Discourse.” John has gathered with his followers, he has washed their feet, Judas has left them, but Jesus has not been arrested. For four chapters, Jesus talks to his disciples about what is to come, encourages them to continue his work, and offers them words of comfort, promise, and hope.
There is an old joke, so old that I have not seen it in a round of e-mails that I can remember. It goes like this:
There are only two things to worry about. Either you are healthy or you are sick. If you are healthy, there is nothing to worry about. If you are sick, there are only two things to worry about. Either you will get better or you’ll die. If you get better, there is nothing to worry about. If you die, there are only two things to worry about. Either you will go to heaven or go to hell. If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about. And if you go to hell, you’ll be having such a good time with all of your friends that there will be nothing to worry about.
A Resurrection People
You may be surprised that I chose this passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans from today’s lectionary readings. Paul is not the most sympathetic character in the New Testament, and he often gets a bad rap in progressive theology circles. But I have gained some sympathy for Paul over the years, and I think that some of his writings are worth redeeming. Particularly in this case, where I happen to agree with the point he is trying to make.
When the church solidified what was in the Bible, they included 4 accounts of Jesus’ life. The four gospels had some similar stories and some widely divergent ones. But the church leaders were loathe to choose only one, recognizing that each had something important to say. I think they hoped that the legacy they would leave to us was a larger picture of the truth without getting bogged down in the exact details.
Good Samaritan United Methodist Church is part of the reconciling movement.
We welcome and affirm all persons regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race,
or socioeconomic background. We seek to reconcile any differences that divide us.
Our Mission: We CARE--We are a Christian Community of Acceptance,
Reaching out to others and Engaging members in vital ministry.
