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Sermon Archive - November 22, 1998
Pastor Danielson
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Luke 23:33-43
I am sure you have observed that, since the beginning of this program year, I
have consistently tried to involve the children in the worship hour; usually
by way of a brief childrens' message and, on at least two occasions, by asking
them to participate in the sermon itself. Last Sunday's Stewardship Sermon
being the most recent example. This morning's sermon begins with an interactive
demonstration for children and adults.
Required: a table, a one-gallon pitcher or other see-through container,
about a dozen fist-sized rocks, a bucket of gravel, a bucket of sand and a
pitcher of water).
I'm going to give children and adults a "pop quiz." Take out a one-gallon
glass pitcher. Now produce about a dozen egg-sized rocks and carefully place
them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar is filled to the top and no
more rocks can fit inside, ask your people):
"Is this jar full?" Most likely everyone will say, "Yes."
"Really?"
Now reach under the table and pull out a bucket of gravel. Then dump some
gravel in and shake the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down
into the spaces between the big rocks. Now smile and ask your people once
more:
"Is the jar full?" By now the congregation will be onto you.
One of them is likely to answer, "Probably not!"
"Good!"
Reach under the table and bring out a bucket of sand. Start dumping the sand
in, and it will penetrate the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel.
Once more ask the question,
"Is this jar full?" The congregation will
probably shout, "No!" Once again say,
"Good!"
Then grab a pitcher of water and begin to pour it in until the jar is filled
to the brim. Now look up at the congregation and ask:
"What is the point I am trying to make with this demonstration?"
Someone will probably say something like, "You can always cram more into
life." Or "There's always enough time and opportunity." Politely reject those
applications in favor of this truth:
If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all.
I do not have first hand knowledge of the fact, but I have read and heard that
the phrase, "The main thing." has struck a responsive chord in the business
community ---replacing the worn out phrase "thinking outside the box" and even
the popular phrase, "the bottom line." Is that true? If it is, I believe that
one of the reasons this metaphor "the main thing" has struck such a responsive
chord is that it is, as I understand it, a way of pleading for decision making
that is better both from a business perspective and a moral perspective.
What are the "big rocks" or "main things" of life? What are the big rocks in your
life that could and should become a "main thing" if not "the main thing?"
- a project that you always wanted to accomplish?
- a distant place you have wanted to travel to?
- more time with your loved ones?
- continuing education?
- preparation for retirement?
- lending support to a great cause?
Again, the point of the demonstration is that you had better remember to put
these big rocks into your life first or you'll never get them in at all.
What is "the main thing", if the main thing is to keep "the main thing" the
main thing? I don't think I'll try to run that by you again. Trust me, it
makes sense within the context of Christian discipleship.
Our Scripture lesson for this morning reminds us that the biggest rock, or
"the main thing," that any of us must fit fully into our lives is. . . "to
trust in God's promise to forgive and to save and to live and love in the
bright light of that promise!"
It was only because Jesus kept "the main thing" the main thing that he could
love his enemies---even on the cross; forgive those who put him there---even
on the cross; reach out to someone in need---even on the cross. Jesus put the
rocks in the jar first and the "little stuff" last. He kept "the main thing"
the main thing ---even on the cross.
George Buttrick would be on my "Top Ten" list of 20th-century preachers. In
one of his favorite stories, he tells of coming one day upon a farmer who had
just rescued a lost sheep. When Buttrick asked how the sheep got lost, the
farmer replied, "They just nibble themselves lost." "They go," he explained,
"from one little tuft of grass to another, until at last they've lost their
way."
That's what happens in life, isn't it? Unless we make decisions, real
judgments, about what are the big rocks, the medium-sized rocks, the pebbles
and the sand, we nibble away at life until it's gone and we have no idea where
it went. The judgments we make about what "main rocks" to put in first
determine what kind of lives we live.
What is "the main thing," if the main thing is to keep "the main thing" the
main thing?
Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, in anticipation of the beginning of
Advent, just a week from today. On this Christ the King Sunday, what sort of
king do we expect?
H. Richard Niebuhr described a subject or member of "Christ the King's"
kingdom this way:
"He who has become a citizen of the true kingdom of Christ, or of the
invisible church, is free. He does good, executes justice, he loves his
neighbor, he has public spirit, not because he is constrained by external laws
and sanctions, but because he is no longer concerned about himself and can
love goodness for its own sake." (H. Richard Niebuhr, The reign of God in
America (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1937).
We have many traditions and ideas about who Christ is and why he came into the
world. As we look ahead to Christmas, we treasure the Christmas story of the
baby Jesus, born "the King of Angels." We treasure the images of the gentle
Shepherd and the adult Jesus' triumphant entry into the Holy City as "King of
Kings." In all of this, we need to be careful. Our traditions and our ideas of
who Christ ought to be, and what Christ ought to do, can blind us to the kind
of kingdom he truly ushers in and the kind of King he really is. God does not
rule with a scepter; he rules from a cross.
The main thing then, is to keep the biggest rocks, the Christ-centered tasks
that inspire us, as our "main things." And, first and last, the Cross of
Christ, "THE main thing" itself that saves us.
AMEN. I SAY AGAIN ---"AMEN!"
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