Reformation Sunday

Reformation, Media

Larry V. Smoose

A team of archeologists gathered to open the inner vaults of one of Egypt’s pyramids.  Based upon other excavations, they had a fairly good idea of what they would find – typical pyramid inventory.   They were wrong.

As they traveled through the unexplored, untouched and unknown world of antiquity, they uncovered a scene totally unexpected.  The pyramid’s largest chamber was staged more like a family parlor than a morgue.  Tables were adored with urns and dried flowers.  Pictures were hung on the walls.  A dining table was set with alabaster goblets.  Several scrolls leaned against the sarcophagus.  The whole room had an eerie feel of Starbucks meets Barnes and Nobles at Forest Lawn.

Equally mysterious was a perfectly preserved line of hieroglyphics sketched across the front wall.  Scholars were summoned to decipher the ancient writings as the archeologists wondered what truth might be revealed or mystery uncovered.  When the words of the long-departed Pharaoh were finally decoded, loosely translated it read, “Oh, for the good old days.” 

When Russ Whitnah or WFIL shared that story with me, I thought to myself – some things never change.  Nostalgia, then, as well as now, dies hard.  But were the good old days really that good?  Back in 1900:

• One home in seven had a bathtub
• One home in 13 had a telephone
• Life expectancy was 47 years old
• 6% of adults had a high school diploma
• There were only 8000 automobiles in the entire country

Fifty years later, when Reformation was founded:

• The median salary in Pennsylvania was $2850 and only 2.4% of the population made over $10,000.  So gas at 25 cents was still expensive
• Polio was epidemic
• Communism was a threatening power, Russia launched Sputnik, and at school we were practicing air raid drills in case of nuclear attack.
• Speaking of school, I actually did walk about 1.5 miles to grade school and about 2.5 miles to high school. 
• Our family had one car and in the late fifties we got our first TV – a small black and white screen.
• Life expectancy was now about 72 and the three or four toys you would get for Christmas might include a schwinn one speed bike but more likely would be the new match box cars, a Frisbee, and for girls the just created Barbie or Betsy Wetsy doll.

Churches like to reminisce too. Congregations love to talk about things in the past, smoothing off the harsh edges, forgetting difficulties and challenges and creating a mythically wonderful time.  The pastors who preached with the passion of Paul and had the wisdom of Solomon.  The church workers who had dedication and energy of Martha and the piety of Mary.  The era when everyone was going to church. 

The truth is, God has never been overly impressed by the way things were.  God’s message has always been in the future tense.  Jeremiah proclaims that God is doing a new thing – making a new covenant – not like the old one, which God’s people broke.  When Jesus tries to talk to the Pharisees about the new thing God is doing through his ministry, they keep going back to the past – to Abraham.  But God’s message has always been in the future tense. 

Other than a pile of rocks at the Red Sea to remind Israel of God’s faithfulness or a cross on Calvary to remind us of the price of our redemption, the Bible is filled with signposts pointing us forward, upward and onward – not backward.  And so today, we want to celebrate this pile of rocks (go to area in front of chancel) that faithful members of Reformation set here as a signpost of God’s presence here in this community of Media.  They correctly recognized that the value is not in the rocks of the wall, but THE ROCK who is Christ our Lord and whose empty cross is a reminder not only of the price paid for our salvation, but of the living Lord who goes with us into the future and calls us to follow the example of Paul and saints past, running the race with perseverance. 

This race of which we are a part is more like a marathon than it is a sprint and it is more a relay race than it is an individual event.  I say marathon rather than sprint, because this life in Christ, this ministry of helping the world to become the way that God wants it to be, is a lifelong endeavor.  It is not about what God will do for us – God has already done it – God has given us life, has redeemed us in Christ, and has blessed us in ways beyond counting.   Our life in Christ is about what we do for God – how we respond to God’s love and grace.  And, like physical exercise, a life-long commitment to practicing our faith makes our life is better, longer and healthier.  It’s a marathon worth running.

It is like a relay race more than an individual event because God’s work will not be completed in our lifetime.  You and I have been handed the baton from parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, going all the way back to Peter and Paul, Martha and Mary and all the disciples.  In a relay race you have three responsibilities – get the baton and hold it tightly for your leg of the race --   Run your leg of the race as well as you can – and pass the baton successfully to the next runner.  Each is important. 

At the Beijing Olympics, Lauren William and Tyson Gay – runners on the women’s 4 x 100 and the men’s 4 x 100 relay teams dropped the baton.  It was unbelievable – for in that moment, each team lost the opportunity to win the race.  A lifetime of work, training, and preparation not just for them – but for those who had carried the baton in the earlier legs and for those who were expecting to get the baton from them – was over. 

But as great as that disappointment was – and for some it will be their only opportunity to compete for an Olympic gold medal – it was still only one race, one part of their life.  What I am concerned about is a sense that the church has lost sight of the critical importance of passing the baton.  It is such a momentary fragment moment of the race, that we can forget its importance.  But every time a congregation is closed; every time a young person drifts away after confirmation; every time members lose their focus on mission; we are dropping that baton. 

Maybe the church has not done a good enough job of telling the truth about what it is doing.  The fact is, Herb Lusk left professional football because life in the church was more exciting and had more opportunity – but we keep trying to promote sports to our kids and at least part of the expense is their church life.  Don’t get me wrong, I like sports and they teach our children many good things, but I believe they have become so demanding in our lives, that the good they provide is beginning to force parents into compromises when it comes to passing on the faith. 

That’s why I am always delighted to see our children and youth in church because I know how important it is.  And I want them to know what a thrilling responsibility it is to be in a race as significant as the work of the Kingdom of God – lives are changed, society and our community benefits by what we do – It is the church that has established colleges and universities, developed hospitals and orphanages, welcomed refugees, feed the hungry, led the fight against discrimination.   It continues today, as Reformation established a nursery school when it was still a novel idea; and was one of the first to have a before and after school program for working parents.  We are helping build colleges and support education in Tanzania, we are helping AIDS orphans through Stand for Africa and I could list many other efforts in our ministry.

Did you know that professional athletes have some of the shortest life expectancy? Meantime, recent studies show that people who are active and have on-going participation in a faith community are more content, more generous, healthier, live longer and volunteer more than those who are not part of a faith community.  That’s how God works, blessing us and others when we participate in the ministry God has put before us. 

I don’t say this because I am worried about Christianity – God will always raise up those who are committed to running the race, and the end will be God’s victory over all the forces that oppose him.  I say this because the wonder and joy of God’s kingdom is in running the race.  It provides meaning and purpose in life found nowhere else.  The joy of memories we have from the past are the evidence of that, the friendships established and the ministries developed, the goals accomplished are proof of the satisfaction of our life in Christ.  But the race that matters is the one we are running now – the memories and relationships of the future are in the moments we live now and the best days are the ones still ahead.

Luther understood that reality when he said, “This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteous; it is not being but becoming; it is not rest but exercise; we are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it is going on. . .”   The on-going, forward-looking, ever-new and always exciting opportunities to be the church are the ones we are moving toward and creating as we go.  So rejoicing in what we have done, but with our eyes always gazing toward God’s future, let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us – not cheering from the sidelines, but running with our children and grandchildren, teaching them some of the old hymns of the past and singing with them the new praise songs they teach us;  bringing them to Sunday School and modeling for them lives of service, generosity and devotion; all in response toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.