Saturday, November 17, 2018

The saints that get us through the day 11/18/2018 FUMC

Life is hard.
Will you indulge a couple of stories from my week? Mind you I am not complaining. The point is that I know that some of you had weeks like mine or even harder. And if not this last week, someday you will have one of those weeks.
My week included 2 trips to urgent care, a trip to the University of Iowa Hospital, parts of 2 days at St. Anthony’s with Robyn, and nursing Noah through a stomach virus. (Robyn and I had a deal when we had kids. I would take care of the kids if they were bleeding, she would do it if they were sick to their stomachs… because I can hardly do that. But I did that night.) Because of that, there was extra laundry, and there were several trips to Walgreens. Then there was trying to fit in a trip to Ames and a trip to Cedar Rapids. And an emergency call to the ER to be with a family as they airlifted someone to Des Moines. That’s not even counting all the events of my normal week.
As I said, I’m not complaining but simply illustrating that life really is hard. Life is hard even during an ordinary week. You know exactly what I mean. Then there are those times that test the strongest of us; deaths, job losses, moves, divorces, fires, accidents, sickness, war and more.
So how do we make it through the average days let alone the harder than average?
You know, we don’t do it alone. You know of course that God is with us every minute of every day. God walks in front of us always making a way. God walks beside of us guarding our steps. God walks behind us just in case we get knocked down and must be picked up again. God is with us. That is important.
I want to point out today, however, that most often God conveys that power and presence through people. Robyn is fond of saying that God sends people into our lives for a reason or a season. Those people God sends are our saints.
God works in the people around us to help us in any number of ways. In my case, a few examples have been my dad teaching me the power of gentleness and generosity. My mom taught me about serving others. My Aunt Esther gave me an appreciation for the little things in nature. Dwight and Linda Vogel taught me what it means to be partners in ministry with my spouse, they encouraged me in my call and taught me so much about life and ministry. My grandma taught me the very important lesson that even though bleu cheese dressing smells like gym socks, it takes great.
These are all saints in my life. Some are living, some are not.  Either way, these are the people who walk with me each and every day as I journey through life.
My list could go on and on, but I want to focus on 4 saints who have special messages to help us get through the day.

I want to start with St. Francis of Assisi. He was born in 1181 or early 1182 to a French noblewoman and a very successful Italian silk merchant. He was baptized with the name “Giovani.” From an early age, however, perhaps because of his mother’s French heritage or because the father loved all things French, he was called Francisco; thus Francis.
Francis was spoiled rotten, but he had a deep compassion for the poor. So deep, in fact, that he started selling his father's merchandise and giving the proceeds to the poor until his father had him arrested and thrown the cellar. While his father was gone, his mother released him, and he found refuge with a nearby priest. His father eventually took him to court suing him for restitution and Francis rejected his father, his inheritance, and all worldly trappings of success. To Francis, though, it was more than a rejection of culture and family.
Francis is known for two things. First, his connection to creation. There I a story that, while Walking along the road with some companions, he stopped and started preaching to the birds. The birds gathered around him and not one of them left until he was done preaching. Another story tells of a village being threatened by a wolf. Francis is said to have persuaded the wolf to stop attacking the locals if they agreed to feed him. He also made a deal with the local dogs to leave the wolf alone.
You may also know that when Francis rejected the culture, for a while he rejected the expectation of wearing clothing. And there were times when he was found stark naked preaching to the animals in the forest. Fear not I have no intention of modeling my life after that part of his life. That is not where I'm going with this.
The other thing Francis is known for is his deep personal connection to the poor He gave up all his inheritance. He wore rough clothing and begged for alms in the streets. Early on he was begging for stones which he carried to a falling down country church to fix it up. In his 20’s others noticed his Christlike lifestyle and began following his example. That was the beginning of the Order of Friars Minor, also known as the Franciscans. They took an oath of poverty in order to identify with the poorest of the poor and made it their mission to care for those who had nothing. Although they have been accused of idealizing poverty and idolizing the lack of material goods, for Francis it was not about not having material goods. Really, it was about believing that we are all connected and interconnected and believing that until all had enough, he should not have more than he needed. The Franciscans have grown to about 30,000 strong in communities all over the world living out these values of caring for creation and caring for the poor.
As I have Read stories of the life of Saint Francis and some of his writings I’ve come to see that these two seemingly very different things, care for creation and care for the poor, both emerged from Francis’ strong sense of his place in the world. He believed that we are interconnected, interdependent, and intertwined in a sacred community which includes both creation and each other
In short Saint Francis keeps me honest about myself. I am not at the center of everyone else’s universe. I am not even the center of my little corner of the universe. Life is not all about me. We are all brothers and sisters in God's big heart. Bird and beggar, wolf and wealthy merchants, Koala and Kings, porcupines and Popes and indeed all of creation is woven together in God's loving heart. My bad week or difficult day, in the grand scheme of the interconnectedness of all creation is a small thing. If I get out of my own pity,
·         I realize that I am connected to those folks in California who are desperately waiting to find loved ones and dealing with the loss of every earthly possession they ever had.
·         I am connected to the family with whom I sat as we watched the helicopter take off Thursday with a beloved wife of over 50 years laying in the back.
·         I am connected the homeless man we can see in any city in our country.
·         I am connected to brothers and sisters in scary places like North Korea, and Somalia, and the Palestinian territory.
·         I am connected to people and creatures of all kinds in all places because we are all part of the beautiful tapestry of love created by our infinitely loving God. Francis reminds me that life is not all about me. That helps me to get through the day.

The second Saint of the day teaches me a very different lesson. Daniel reminds me of the importance of doing the right thing for the right reason… period
Daniel lived in Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar during Israel’s sixth century BC exile. If you remember the story, the King was tricked into making a law that no one could pray unless they were praying to the King. Daniel, being a faithful follower of the one true God was not about to pray to the King. Each day he opened his windows to the East and prayed to God. Those who were out to get Daniel brought this to the attention of the King who had no choice but to punish Daniel. The punishment was being thrown to the Lions. Still, even given a second chance, Daniel refused to compromise his principles in favor of his own safety or comfort.
Then comes the story that we read this morning about Daniel being thrown in the Lion’s den, God closing the mouth of the lion, and Daniel emerging unharmed. Daniel was committed to doing the right thing no matter what. Earlier in the story, we see that he stuck to his kosher diet no matter what. He prayed to God no matter what. He stood firm on his faith and did the right thing no matter what.
One of the ways that life is hard is having to make hundreds of decisions today. We don't think about most of them. Daniel teaches that each of those decisions is an opportunity to live as disciples of Jesus Christ…or not. Each of those decisions is an opportunity to witness to the difference God makes in our lives… or not. When we are criticized or mocked or persecuted for doing the right thing for the right reasons we have an opportunity to stand up for what is right… or not. Every one of those decisions is important, whether our life depends on it or not, whether our friendships depend on it or not, whether our popularity depends on it or not, whether our career success depends on it or not, God calls us to do the right thing for the right reason even if it's hard.
Sometimes doing the right thing is the very thing that makes life hard.  However, knowing that I am, to the best if my abilities, doing the right thing every day is a key to making it through the day.

The last Saint I want to share with you today is one whom some of you may have known and met at one time. In fact, I understand he was here and I can imagine him preaching from this pulpit.
 Bishop Reuben Job was born in a sod house in Tappen, North Dakota in the thirties. He grew up poor but happy. Along the way, his mother and grandmother particularly instilled in him a deep abiding spirituality.
He started out working the family farm, but in his twenties went to college and started serving churches. He was ordained at the age of 32. In the following years, he was a mentor to many. He shared his quiet love for God as a pastor, chaplain, superintendent, and world editor of the upper room before being elected bishop and landing in Iowa.
I remember an ordinands retreat with Bishop Job. I remember a quiet but powerful meeting with clergy couples at the conference office. I remember Bishop job standing up for us when a superintendent got a little full of himself and threatened to assign Robyn and me to opposite corners of the state. I remember his preaching that was less preaching and more wooing us into love with God. I remember bishop job telling us with a broken voice that since the day he took office as Bishop there hadn’t been one day without a lawsuit hanging over his head. But most of all I remember his hands. Bishop Job ordained me as a deacon and elder and his hands seemed as heavy as bricks as they lay on my head. It was a reminder of the weight of the vows I was taking, but also a reminder of the strength of God in my life.
When his book 3 SIMPLE RULES was released, he summed up the way I knew him. He was a man who never wanted to do harm. I never knew him to intentionally harm anyone. Even when he called the President of Westmar College a liar, he did it gently more like swatting a child on the rear end to get them to move along rather than slapping someone on the face.
I Knew him to do much good. We have commented many times that annual conference has never been as much fun or as interesting as it was when Bishop Job was here.
But most importantly he taught by word and deed, and every encounter I had with him the importance of staying in love with God. I haven’t always done that to my satisfaction. But how else can we get through the day beside staying in love with God and staying in the knowledge of God’s love for us? No matter what happens today, NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God… so stay in love with God.

There are so many people who have taught me one thing or another about getting through the day as a faithful disciple, but St Francis, Daniel, and Bishop Job are three great representatives.
Francis- remember your place in creation.
Daniel- always do the right thing for the right reasons
Bishop Job- stay in love with God.
Who are the saints who have taught you to get through the day? Who are the saints by who’s teaching you live day in a day out? I am going to give thanks for these saints, but before I pray I would like to hear the names of some of the saints who have taught you some of the most important lessons about getting through the day.







No comments:

Post a Comment