July 7, 2002
A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma
It was June 16th, 1998. It was the second day of my journey to Israel. I remember being very grateful to have the opportunity to spend more than a month there. My prayer when setting out went something like this: "Thanks, God, for the opportunity to be able to take this trip. I want to serve you on this trip in any way I can." In retrospect, the prayer was one of those that belongs under the category of "be careful what you pray for, you may get it." Immediately after the plane took off on our long trans-Atlantic flight to Frankfurt, Germany, I was presented with the opportunity I was praying for.
I had an aisle seat right next to an elderly German woman. In the seats in back of us were her daughter and little granddaughter. I would say that the granddaughter was maybe three or four years old. This elderly woman asked me if I would please exchange seats with her so that she would have easier access to her granddaughter and could help here daughter in that way. I'm embarrassed to share with you how I responded. My rational mind went quickly to work trying to figure every possible reason for not surrendering my seat: "I hate sitting in the middle seat and having to climb over someone to got to the bathroom. I don't want to be crammed between two people while I'm flying for hours and hours across the ocean. Besides, I reserved this seat six months ago so that I would not be put into that kind of a situation. This small little service could not be something that God was asking me to do. Surely he had some grander sort of service in mind." To make a long story short, I did not surrender my seat.
Certainly it wasn't a mortal sin, and I certainly have expressed my sorrow and guilt over it a number of times and I know God is a forgiving God and always gives us other opportunities to serve and learn from our mistakes. But it is indicative of the nature of human beings, even those who have been touched by the grace of God. We continue to fight the battle with our sinful nature. The Apostle Paul expresses it aptly: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15)
Not long ago I read a survey by the New York Times that said that 73% of Americans believe that people are basically good. If we really believe that, how is it possible that human beings would hijack two airplanes and fly them into the World Trade Towers? Certainly the witness of the Apostle Paul and the whole of scripture is that we are sinners. We certainly were created good, but something happened that warped our nature. We are selfish. We are curved in on ourselves. It is our tendency to make decisions that are selfish in nature as I did on that plane. Without the help of God we live lives that are essentially self-serving.
Even the U.S. constitution is a witness to our self-centeredness. The Constitution recognizes the principle that those who govern have a tendency to act in their own self-interest. The people responsible for composing the Constitution were deeply aware of this. Alexander Hamilton wrote, "People love power." And Benjamin Franklin asserted that "people are driven by ambition and avarice." The American system of separation of powers was framed to counteract this selfishness. Building in checks and balances is one of the ways we counteract sin and selfishness.
But it is but a partial solution, for only a power beyond us can provide the energy to fight the battle of good and evil that goes on within us. The Apostle Paul cries out, "Wretched man that I am who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24) And he answers, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25) Then we enter into the eighth chapter of Romans, certainly one of the most beautiful in all of scripture, where Paul tells us that God in Christ has taken the burden of our sin upon himself and there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) Because of Christ, we stand as innocent before the Father. A new Spirit is released into us that enable us to fight the battle against sin and enables to lead a new style of life.
I experienced this grace in a new way at our Via de Cristo Men's retreat last weekend. Most of you are acquainted with Via de Cristo. It is a wonderful experience that I would commend to anybody, but if you are one of the leaders it requires a tremendous investment of energy. By the time the fourth day rolled around I was hitting the wall. Three days of interaction with others is pretty draining for an introvert like myself. You are asking yourself all the same questions that the pilgrims on the retreat are: Who am I? How does God feel about me? What is my purpose?
As I sat on the couch in the discussion room amidst a large group of people, I was asking myself some questions about my own worth: "Jesus do you really love me? How could you love me? Could you just give me some sign so that I can endure in what I'm supposed to be doing here? I'm tired of feeling alone and worthless. Could you just provide some small miracle?"
And there was an answer. I'm not saying that I heard an audible voice or that the heavens opened. But there was this overwhelming feeling that came over me. It felt like it came from Jesus himself. I had this clear sense that he was totally exasperated with me.
How do you translate feeling into words? If I put it into words, it would be something like this: "John, what do you want me to do for you that I haven't done? I love you so much. Why can't you realize that? I saved you from a home where you probably would never have heard about my love and grace. I placed you in a church where you had many mothers and fathers in the faith to nurture you. I made you a pastor in my church. You are my representative to these people. I provided you with a wonderful education. You have a wonderful wife. Your children have turned out to be beautiful people. I've given you this wonderful dynamic church. I've given you spiritual experiences that many people have never had. I died for you on a cross. How can you ask me if I love you?"
Well, there are some moments in which you are just better off keeping your mouth shut, and I did. As wonderful as our country is and as wonderful as our form of government is and as wonderful as the gift of freedom is, only the grace of God will enable us to live the lives we ought and to use these things as we ought. Without God's grace given us through Jesus Christ, we will use our freedom to serve ourselves. And that is not what freedom is all about. True freedom is the freedom to serve others and be the people God means us to be.
The events of 9/11 have awakened some people to the nature of true freedom and made them reflect on the importance of faith. This was captured beautifully by a man named James E. Adams in a little devotional called "Do I Want to 'Return to Normal?":
"When we are urged after a brief time to respond to some shocking experience of loss or pain by getting back to our routines, going about business as usual, 'returning to normal', doesn't that advice seem somewhat shallow and a little contradictory?
"Certainly, insofar as what is good, wholesome and life-enhancing for ourselves and others in our routines, we want to affirm, and even celebrate, as we get back to such life-enhancing activities with renewed vigor.
"But was everything--or even most things--in your daily routines before a disaster wholesome and life-enhancing for yourself and others? I assure you I can make no such claim. Indeed, the stronger and longer-lasting the shock waves after a disaster, the more I feel the need to re-examine and re-evaluate fundamental assumptions about what is 'normal' in my life.
"Should I go back to my pattern of thinking only of meeting my own needs when I make my decisions?
"Should I go back to my habits of shopping for and buying things I don't really need, may not really want, and strongly doubt will make me happier?
"Should I go back to my pattern of mostly trusting myself, my family, my nation for my security and satisfaction rather than looking first to God?
"Should more prayer, meditation and time spent in God's presence be normal for me, at least as normal as breakfast, daily exercise or favorite TV programs?
"Should I go back to planning only for a long retirement or should the stark possibility of my death tomorrow--and the fragility of all life--become a normal part of my reflection today and every day?
"Should I go back to supporting politicians and policies that seem intent above all else on keeping the price of gas artificially low here compared to elsewhere?
"Should I go back to buying tee shirts and tennis shoes based only on the highest value/lowest cost or should I always consider such factors as whether the workers were paid justly or labored in a safe workplaces?
"Should I go back to my normal eating and drinking habits or should I establish some new norms--including some regular patterns of fasting?
"The question is not whether my life will return to 'normal' if I survive a disaster. It will--that's what we do because we are creatures of daily habits and routines. Rather, the question is, what is the 'normal' I want to make my own?"
copyright 2001 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma