"I NEVER SET OUT TO BE A PASTOR"
May 5, 2002
I never set out to be
a pastor. I
had my heart set on getting a Master’s degree in Counseling and
going into a private or group counseling practice.
In fact, I had reached
the halfway point in my study for that when God said, “I want you to go into
ministry for me.”
I
had been preparing for one thing, when suddenly God called me to
abruptly change course and
prepare for something completely different.
Y’know, a lot of what
we do on a day-to-day basis takes preparation of some kind. For
many of us, coffee helps us prepare to
take charge of the day ahead. Some
of us choose prayer as a way to prepare for our day. And, if you’re like me and many
others, you
need coffee AND prayer to take charge of the day. Even getting here, in
the pew, right now, took preparation. Think
of how you prepared to get here this morning…Waking up, getting dressed, eating,
and arranging transportation. None of us could have
arrived here today without a key of some sort…Your house keys, your car keys, the bus
driver’s keys to the bus…Or
even the key to this building!
Larry and I go through
that every time we come to the church building or the office…“I hope you have your house keys.”“Yes,
dear…I have my house keys.”“Car keys?”…… “Got ‘em.”We’re always
assuming that each other has The
keys it takes to get us here.We haven’t been locked out yet, but
we’ve come close a couple of times!
Just like being here
in the pew took preparation, being
a follower of Christ takes preparation as well. One of Jesus’ ultimate concerns is
that all of us have the key to
enter the Kingdom of God. Who knew it would take
a key to get into the Kingdom of God? I thought Walt Disney was the only one
who gave out keys to the Kingdom! The concept of the
Kingdom of God is loaded with meaning. It’s
something that means different things to all of us. The
two most misunderstood meanings of
the Kingdom of God are that it means either The
end of the earth…(you
know, “Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand!”) or
that it means heaven.
The accurate
translation of the phrase “The Kingdom of God,” though, means “living with God as the ruler of
our lives.” The
Kingdom of God doesn’t mean heaven, and it doesn’t mean getting into heaven. Entering
the Kingdom of God simply means fully living
with God as the ruler of our lives. Now there are many
ways to show that God is the ruler of our lives. Lots of people have the idea That
hanging a cross or touching holy water is the way to show God as ruler of
their lives. And others believe
that praying
a specifed number of times a day, Or
wearing a “What Would Jesus Do” bracelet is the way to show that God is the
ruler of their lives. But these aren’t the
only ways—or even the best ways— To show that God is the ruler of our
lives.
The
Pharisees, who were the religious rulers in Jesus’ day, would think that these are ideal ways to show that God is the
ruler of our lives. They believed that the
way to live with God as the ruler of their lives Was by doing things like wearing
religious paraphernalia, praying
a specified number of times a day, following the right ritual, or
observing the right Law. This way of thinking
and living was a
source of great irritation and frustration for Jesus. Jesus believed differently. Jesus taught that the
Key to the Kingdom isn’t
“What Would Jesus Do” jewelry, But DOING What Jesus Would Do. Maybe the letters shouldn’t be WWJD, but WJWD—“What Jesus Would
Do.”
Entering the Kingdom of God—accepting
and living like God is the ruler of our lives—can be summed up in one word,and
it’s the word that sums up my own sense of calling and what all us Christians are called
COMPASSION. Very simply,
compassion is this:>Seeing someone’s need, and
then acting from a desire to see that their need is met. Seeing someone’s need, then acting to meet
their need.
Y’see, the Key to the
Kingdom of God isn’t wearing the right thing
or saying the right thing. The
Key to the Kingdom is what Jesus—and, for that matter, as Spike Lee—said:Do
the right thing. Now, I’m not saying
that salvation depends on our doing good deeds. Contrary
to what some of us have been taught, God
isn’t a big scorekeeper keeping a list. The only people I know who keep
score are >Umpires
and Santa Claus! What I’m talking about
is living
a life of compassion.
A little boy wanted to
meet God. It was a long trip to where God was,
so he packed his suitcase with
cookies and root beer, and he started his journey. When he had gone about
three blocks, he
met an old man who was sitting in the park watching some pigeons. The boy sat down next
to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink of root
beer when he noticed That
the old man looked hungry. So the little boy
offered the man a cookie. The old man gratefully
accepted it and smiled at him. His smile was so pleasant that the boy
wanted to see it again, so
he offered the man some root beer. Again, the man smiled
at the boy. The boy was delighted to see
such a bright smile! The
two of them sat in the park all afternoon, eating and smiling, Yet they
never said a word. As it grew dark, the
boy realized how tired he was. He got up to leave, but after he had
taken only a few steps, he
turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. The old man
gave him his biggest smile ever! > When the boy got home
a short time later, his mother was surprised at the look
of joy on his face. She asked him, “What did you do today
that made you so happy?” The boy said, “I had
lunch with God…And you know what? He’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!” > Meanwhile, the old
man, also beaming with joy, had returned home. His son was stunned to see him so
joyously happy he asked, “Dad,
what did you do today to make you so happy?”
The old man said, “I had cookies and root beer in the park with God today…. And y’know what? He’s much younger than I expected!”
I’d like for us to ask
ourselves a question right now…How do we Christians at MCC of Greater
St. Louis do
the right thing?….How do we live out compassion?….How do we
care for what Jesus called “the
least of these?”…. We believe that we
live out compassion by participating
in the AIDS and breast cancer walks, having toy, food and clothing drives, and
teaching classes on recovering from homophobic religion. And Jesus himself
would agree that these
are indeed excellent ways to do the right thing and live out
compassion.
But
Jesus also challenges us to always be finding New
ways to show compassion. Think for a minute
about where we are right now, in this building. If we were to go outside right now and
look in any direction, What would we see? Would we see a green light and someone walking their dog? We might see those
things. But
we would also see fine,
historic houses in the same neighborhood
as boarded up buildings…Prosperity
just down the street from scarcity…Able
people living next door to un-able people…Someone’s need is
compassion waiting to happen.
For
example….There’s a Methodist Church
In
Shawnee Mission, Kansas, that sits in
a neighborhood just like ours:boarded-up buildings across the street
from banks, and Well-kept
yards around the corner from lots Overgrown with weeds. That Methodist church
saw these things. They also saw an elementary school
with one
of the poorest reading scores in the state. The church “adopted” the school and
its young students, And
every day of the week churchgoers sit with those Children and tutor them in reading
skills. Folks, THAT’S
compassion.
And the good news is
that there are many other ways to show it:Passing someone here in the foyer, noticing
that she’s crying, and stopping to listen to her…Offering your talent as a cook and
feeding a group of unemployed people who
may need food…Offering a willing ear
and your compassionate presence to a man who’s just ended a long-term
relationship. Folks,
that’s comPASsion.
And
the good news gets even BETTER, because The
possibilities for us to show compassion are endless! Folks, when we act
like Jesus acts, we don’t just show compassion. When we act like Jesus acts, we ARE
compassion. We
may see someone’s need. We may even notice that several folks in the church have the
same need. And
we may even have an idea about how to meet that need! But, unless we take action…Unless we ARE compassion…Their
need goes unmet, and
the idea we hadis
just something inside us that gives us a warm-fuzzy feeling.
COMPASSION
ISN’T COMPASSION UNTIL
WE SHOW IT.
Now that we understand
compassion as the Key to the Kingdom of God, what are we gonna do with it? Throughout
this coming week…In your neighborhood…at your job…Or among
your friends or family of choice…. What
needs will you see? What needs will you respond to? What will you do with your
key to the kingdom—your compassion?
Amen and God Bless.
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