May 5, 2002
A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma
"Peak Season
for Suicide"-- that was the headline on the front page of the Akron Beacon
Journal on April 22nd. And the subtitle was: "More People Kill Themselves at
This Time of Year Than Any Other." Maybe some of you saw the headline. Maybe
some of you read the article. It was an eye-opener.
These are the gruesome statistics:
1. Last year nearly 30,000 people took their lives. We think homicide is rampant in our society, i.e. people killing people. Suicide is even more rampant. Last year there were 13,000 more suicides than homicides.
2. The next statistic is even more distressing: last year 730,000 attempted suicide. That's mindboggling, isn't it? 730,000 tried to take their lives.
3. The final statistic is equally distressing: 3,900 young people committed suicide last year -- that is 3,900 young people from ages 15-24 attempted to take their lives. In other words, 3,900 of the people that we think have the most to live for took their own lives. That is the third leading cause of death in that age category.
Why do so many attempt suicide? Why do so many commit suicide? The writer of the article attempts to explain by quoting the words of a woman who attempted suicide but now has her life back on course. This woman, whose name is Beth Wood, says that she was convinced that "nobody would miss me because I turned into such a worthless person." In other words, she thought she didn't matter to anyone and her life had no meaning.
Our Gospel reading today has a word that describes this woman's feelings. The word is "orphan." An orphan is one who is alone. An orphan has no mother, no father, no one to depend on, no one to watch over them. An orphan is one who feels adrift in the universe. They feel that their life has no meaning. When Jesus announced to his disciples that he was going to die, they had all those feelings. They felt like orphans. They felt so worthless that they despaired of life itself and one of them even took his own life.
But Jesus tells them how they can overcome this sense of worthlessness, this feeling of being orphans. He shares with them the two things that they need to do in order to work through their feelings and realize how deeply loved they are. The first thing he asks them to do is to believe in him. The second thing he asks them to do is love. It's that simple: believe and love.
What does it mean "to believe"? That's a word we've used a lot in catechism over the last two years. To believe in something is more than just acknowledging that something is true. To believe is to rely on something. Believing is trusting that God can do what God says he can do. It is totally relying on God's promises. In this instance in John 14 it means trusting in the promise that Jesus' death means life for us. He says to his disciples that he is going ahead to prepare a place for them. His death will mean eternal life for them.
One thing that a person contemplating suicide has trouble doing is seeing that they have a future. In their distress and pain they have trouble seeing beyond the present moment. Jesus says to his disciples: don't focus on your distress and pain, focus on me. No matter how it appears at the moment, in me you have a future. In me you have life. Hold on. Things will get better.
The second thing Jesus asks them to do is to love. He says, "Love me and keep my commandments." Many centuries ago Martin Luther put it this way: Our faith should be active in love. What kind of love is Jesus talking about? Jesus uses the word agape. It means doing what is in the best interest of the other person. It means loving another person even when they are at their most unlovable. It is the kind of love God has for us. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, "God shows his love for us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." (5:8)
Now certainly love involves affection and feelings. We need that kind of love, too. But love at its greatest and the kind of love Jesus is talking about is love that works for the best interests of the other even when at the moment we may not have loving feelings. I see a great outpouring of that kind of love every year on every Thursday in our adult catechism guides. They have fond feelings for these kids, but everyone of them is just as busy as you and I are. They don't really need one more thing to do, but they do it because they want the best for these kids. They love these kids when they are lovable and they continue to love them even when they are unlovable. And Jesus makes a promise to people who will love in this sacrificial kind of way. He says: "I will pray the Father and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth." In other words, those who will love in this sacrificial way release the power of the Holy Spirit into their hearts. They have Jesus himself present in them through the power of the Holy Spirit.
That's the agenda for every Christian: we are called to believe that in Jesus we have a glorious future and we are called to love others as he loved. And when we do this we release the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives and into the world. I guess it comes down to this. Every day we have a very real choice. We can say: "I am worthless. No one would miss me. People would be better off without me." Or we can say, "I will believe what Jesus says: in him I have a future. I will love others and I will trust his promise that he will pour the power of his Spirit into my life."
Each year I have an interview with each of the young people who are going to be confirmed. In preparation I ask them to think about five different questions. Most of the questions encourage them to reflect on what it means that they are now affirming for themselves the vows their parents affirmed at their Baptism. And one of the questions asks them to write some words of appreciation for the people who have supported them through two years of catechism instruction, especially their small group adult guides.
I want to share part of one of those responses with you. I'm not going to identify the person who wrote it or the person it was written to. But the response speaks directly to what we are trying to do in our catechism program: create people who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and people who seek to love as he loved.
Here is what one catechism student had to say to his/her adult guide: "I can't tell you enough how much you have influenced me. If I could be anyone right now, it would have to be you. My dream is to become addicted to Christ. ... I thank you so much for taking the time to drive all the way from your house to the church every Thursday. I've had a lot of fun with you the past two years learning and exploring with you. I hope I will turn out to be just as good a person as you are. Thanks."
I think that pretty much lays out the choice we are talking about today. We can choose to be addicted to Christ or we can choose to be addicted to the ways of the world. Addiction to the ways of the world means addiction to selfishness. It means addiction to money, materialism, success at any cost, sex, alcohol, drugs. We all know the list. All of these things ultimately leave us empty and fill us with despair and we will be of little worth to anyone.
Or we can choose to be addicted to Christ, which means believing wholeheartedly in his promises and loving as he loved. When we do this we release the power of the Spirit into our lives and we live a life that makes a difference.
Today and every day we are faced with this question: God in Christ has chosen us, will we choose him?
copyright 2001 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma