“From ‘Uh-Oh’ to ‘Ah-Hah!’: Attention”

“From ‘Uh-Oh’ to ‘Ah-Hah!’: Attention”

RUMC Second Sunday in Advent 2010

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

 (Isn’t that just like the government?  They sit up there at that state house and make decisions with hardly a thought of how much it will disrupt our lives.  It’s SO frustrating!)

 All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.

(singing:  I’ll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me.  Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree….)  

He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

(Oh!  I have to remember to wrap that gift for Rebecca.  I KNOW she’s going to have that baby this week!)   

While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

 (Shoot!  I think I forgot to write down the confirmation number for our hotel stay in Cedar Rapids.  Uh Oh!  I don’t even think I remember the name of the hotel.  What do I do now?)

Does that seem familiar to you?  We’ve all been there haven’t we?  We have all had days when we have been so distracted, tuned out, or busy that we can’t even attend to even the little things in life, let alone the big things.  Doctors Call that ADD Attention Deficit Disorder.  It has been described as part of your brain is going 10 miles an hour, and the other part is going 100 miles an hour.  It would be like nailing one foot to the floor and running a marathon . . .  around and around and around.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not making light of a serious problem.  In fact, I think ADD might be more prevalent than we ever imagined.  Not as a medical diagnosis, but as a spiritual diagnosis.  Spiritual ADD.

Though not medically recognized I think Spiritual ADD is very real.

Spiritual ADD is fundamentally an inability to take the time to attend to the things that matter most to us.  It might be described as the spirit trying to go 10 miles an hour while the rest of you is going 100 miles an hour.  We do this because we live in a 100 mile an hour world.

·         When the speed limit is 55 MPH how fast do you drive?  If was 65 how fast would you drive?  Never fast enough is it.

·         What kind of restaurants are the biggest in the world?  Fast food?

·         Why are commercials customarily 30 seconds?  Because that’s all the longer we can pay attention.

·         Have you ever sat at your computer that processes information at the speed of 1 GHz per second, and complained that it was too slow?

Why are we like this?  Because we live in a 100 mile an hour, 1 gigahertz per second, microwavable, fast food world.  We expect our spirituality to work the same way.  And it simply doesn’t!

Another symptom of Spiritual ADD is a lack of attention.  We attend, but we don’t pay attention.  Your bodies might be here but your minds are somewhere else

·         Do you remember what I preached about 2 weeks ago?  If not that could be a commentary on my preaching, or it could be a sign that your attention was pulled too many different ways. (By the way, I had to look it up too- so I include myself in this Spiritual ADD)  I preached about our need to be generous and burned the money at the beginning of the sermon.

·         When you get home do you remember the prayer concerns that have been shared?  People share their deep hurts and hopes and we forget them!  Why?  Because we are attending but not paying attention.

·         Do you remember the Bible passage from your devotions this morning or yesterday?  Isn’t that supposed to stick with us so we can meditate on it and our lives revolve around it?  But often they seem to bounce off like a ping pong ball.

This is one of the reasons Christians are accused of being hypocrites.  We show up . . .  we attend, but we don’t pay attention, and our lives are not changed.  Technically I suppose it is hypocrisy. Mostly it is just sad.

Our ADD spirituality, characterized by the frenzy of our activity, by an inability to pay attention to that which is really important.  Spiritual ADD drains us of the joy of salvation. That which is supposed to fill us with hope frankly drains us dry.  Call it burn-out, call it exhaustion, call it dropping out.  Call it what you will- it feels as though we have been abandoned by God.

Into the midst of that comes John the Baptist. The camel hair wearing. Locust eating, freaky cousin of Jesus.  He almost comes out of nowhere shouting “prepare the way.  Repent.”    John’s job was to get people’s attention.  Just as God had been trying with varying success to get our attention since creation went awry.  God had used floods, and fires, judges and kings and prophets and teachers.  Miracles and threats.  Sure people would pay attention for a while, but then the spiritual ADD would take over. Kind of a spiritual amnesia.  And they would be right back where they started.

Here comes John the Baptist.  He says “STOP!”  Well, not exactly but that is the spirit of what this wild man from Galilee says.  He says “STOP.  STOP waiting because the promised one is at hand.  STOP running around at 100 miles an hour or you’ll miss him. Stop doing religion and live faithfully.   STOP For God sake STOP.  For your sake STOP.  Just STOP.

Last Spring I did that.  I’ll admit that I slipped back into my busy crazy mode recently, but this sermon has pulled me back.  The stop sign was a line by John Ortberg.   There is nothing in the spiritual life can be done in a hurry. Let me say that again slowly . . . there is nothing . . . nothing in the spiritual life that can be done in a hurry.

When a child has ADD they often give them Ritalin or a related drug.  The odd thing is that Ritalin is a stimulant.  Exactly the opposite that you would think to give a child like that.  If I took Ritalin I would bounce off the walls.  When a child with ADD takes it, it synchronizes that 100 mile an hour side of their brain and the 10 mile an hour side. 

Today I want to prescribe some spiritual Ritalin for you. I can’t think of a better gift for a people so busy and pulled so many different directions.  I can’t think of a better gift for a people who have trouble focusing on the spiritual things of life.   I can’t think of a better prescription for a people suffering from Spiritual ADD.   My prescription is just as counterintuitive as Ritalin.  It runs directly against common sense.  My prescription is STOP.

My prescription for a busy life is STOP.

My prescription for a frenzied life is STOP.

My prescription for a “packed too full” “How can I pack 5 more things into my day” life is STOP.  STOP RIGHT HERE.  STOP RIGHT NOW. 

STOP trying to be all things to all people and be the best you can be for God.

STOP trying to be the perfect holiday host and just be a guest in the heart of God.

STOP attending to church and be attentive to the word of God as we proclaim it and teach it.

I know it is scary; but just STOP.  I suspect that you will realize, as I did, that the blur you saw out of the corner of your eye just might be Jesus. 

Last spring when I did this.  John the Baptist would have included me in the brood of vipers.  I just knew I was way too important to slow down, and I had the to-do list as long as my arm to prove it.  After a week my to-do list “I stopped driving myself crazy, to attend to what God was doing in my life and in the life of those around me”  You know what?  And after a week my to-do list was shorter than it was when I started. 

Though I have slipped a little (OK more than just a little) this fall.  I am committed to going back.  I quit!  Right here and now, LET’S QUIT!

Let’s quit running around like we are the most important people in the world.

Let’s quit doing things just because someone else thinks we should. 

Let’s quit reading the Bible with distracted minds. 

Let’s quit spending our worship time thinking about all the things we should have done.

Let’s quit our frenzied pseudo-lives and distracted Para-Spirituality.

Right now.  Let’s just quit and leave out Spiritual ADD behind.

My prescription:  STOP everything and call God right now.  Just STOP.  For your own well being and your relationship with God I prescribe that you just stop.  The nice thing is you can take this prescription as often as needed.  You can’t overdose. 

Many of us enter Advent and the Christmas season with a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs and instead of singing an angel song we groan ‘Uh-Oh.’

Advent should not be a season of Uh Oh.  Advent should be a time of moving from the HO HUM of our daily lives to the ‘Ah-Hah!’ of realizing that life and the world will never be the same.

I know you are saying ‘Uh-Oh’ right now.  I can’t stop.  I have too much to be done.  I can’t give up my self-importance.  Because I really am important.  I can’t give up my spiritual ADD.  Because I kind of like not paying much attention.

But, trust me.  Try it, and I pray that as Christmas Morning dawns, and the Christ child cries, you will see the dawning of new life.   And instead of crying Uh-Oh’ you’ll be shouting ‘Ah-Hah!’

AMEN

(I think I can do that.  I wonder if anyone else will?)