 Rev. Scott A. Harmon |
Old
Tapes and New Rules
Sermon:
Scripture: |
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A few years ago, I was asked to officiate at a wedding taking place at a community member’s cabin. The location was about an hour and a half out of town, and the day was beautiful. Those two things combined to make it a perfect occasion to ride my motorcycle to the ceremony. In the Upper Peninsula when you have a good summer day, you take advantage of it. The
wedding was a splendid occasion and all went well. As the time
came to head home, I traded a suit coat for my leather jacket,
and black dress shoes for riding boots. Around my neck was a
cross and clerical collar, and under my arm a helmet. I was
ready to go. Coming
down the drive towards my bike, a group had formed outside to
smoke a few cigarettes. They had noticed the bike and were
talking around it. As I approached, confused looks crossed
around the circle. We talked about bikes for a few minutes,
the bikes they rode, the year of mine, and the great day it
was for a ride—the kind of stuff folks who ride bikes talk
about. Then, after a few minutes, one finally blurted out what
I suspect they all were thinking: “I’ve just never seen a
pastor ride a motorcycle before.” It was said with genuine
warmth, and I shot back a smile: “We’ll, wouldn’t this
world be a better place if more of us did?” We all agreed
and wished one another well. I
remember those moments because I was able to witness to my
faith simply by being who I was. No special pre-thought words
or calculated moves. Simply by being who God created me to be,
and by doing what God gave me a love for, turned out to be the
most authentic way to witness to “whose” I was. We
all like to think we know what’s going on. We know who’s
impacting us, and who we’re having an effect on. If I do
“this,” it will result in “that.” But you know, God
doesn’t always work that way. There are times when he uses
us, and we don’t have the foggiest idea that we are part of
what he is doing. Have you ever had the experience of a person
coming up to you and saying, “I was watching when
you…(fill in the blank)” or “I was listening when you
stood up and said… I was thinking the same thing, but
couldn’t bring myself to speak up. You really encouraged me
as I saw how you handled the situation.” John
Wesley (whose busts and pictures now adorn the parlor)
recognized how important it is that we model Christian
discipleship for one another. It was so important to him that
he organized the original Methodists into small groups that
met outside the Sunday morning worship time. He
called them “classes.” They were groups where the early
Methodists could grow not only in faith but, most importantly,
in practice. I’m
sure any one of us could read a book on how to dance the
Salsa. But it wouldn’t be until we got on the floor with
someone beside us, heard the music and saw others doing it,
that it would truly become dancing. It’s only when you trip
over your own feet and your partner catches you that the real
dance has begun. I
remember working one summer loading and unloading lumber. By
the truck-full, 12-foot cedar tent poles came in and we would
unload them by hand. Every day it was tiring, but on hot days
it was exhausting. When one of our crew was worn out, the
others kept him going. We made jokes, laughed, talked about
what was for dinner—anything to keep him standing and
moving. It never failed that the next day, after some rest,
that very man would be the one keeping someone else going. It
was our job not just to individually unload lumber but, as a
crew, to keep one another going. Tonight’s
reading is from Isaiah 43. Israel has grown tired. As a
nation, she’s failed to follow Yahweh. Yet God continues to
use her. She’s still part of what he has planned. Isaiah
calls her “God’s blind and deaf servant.” She no longer
listens for his voice. She no longer sees what he is doing in
her. But God says the following:
The
title tonight is “Old Tapes and New Rules.” We all have
old tapes running in our heads telling us just how the world
should be. “You’re bad if you do this.” “You’re good
if you do that.” “You’ll be in trouble if you don’t
please so-and–so.” Oprah, Dr. Phil and others have made a
good living for themselves—not to mention done a lot of
good—by helping people break free of their old tapes and
hang ups. But
here, Israel has failed. Through the years she has really
messed things up. For this whole chapter, Isaiah has been
laying it out. But even in her failure and self-doubt, God is
still there. His nature didn’t change. Those old messages on
our tapes say: “If I’m good, God will love me. If I do the
right thing, God will care about me. And if I’m bad, I
won’t be loved anymore.” But here God is saying: “Oh
Israel, you fail to recognize it, but I have never left
you.” Isaiah
tells Israel: “Not only has God never left, he is still
here, despite all that you have done. Despite everything,
I’m doing a new thing, something you never expected. I’m
going to take care of your sins, because that’s what I
do.” God is marking a new era, a time of restoration and
forgiveness. Imagine
what the world would be like if everyone had an experience
with God where they knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God
had spoken to them. Imagine if they heard God saying: “My
love for you goes beyond any response you can make: I can’t
love you more no matter how good you are, and nothing you do
will make me love you less. You may not understand it fully
now, but I love you completely.” Do you think that kind of
message from God would have the power to change lives? To
change people? You better believe it would! One day Jesus was resting at his place in
Capernaum. There
were a lot of folks all around. Some people brought a friend
who was paralyzed. When Jesus saw what they had done for their
friend and how important it was to them that he meet Jesus, he
said to him: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Some
theologically astute individuals—folks who knew their Old
Testament—were in the crowd listening, and they said:
“That’s blasphemy! No one can forgive sins but God.” At
once Jesus knew the discussion they were having among
themselves. Listen to what he said: At
once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing
these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why
do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier,
to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to
say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that
you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you,
stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood
up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of
them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,
“We have never seen anything like this!”
(Mark
2:8-12) They praised God for this new thing he was
doing. Raising up “people custom made, that they might
declare his praise.” (check out verse 21) Is that not who,
back in Isaiah, God said he had made especially for himself? An
Olympic runner was once interviewed and asked the secret of
his success. His response has a lot of meaning for what
we’re talking about here: “The only way to win a race is to forget all previous victories which
would give you false pride, and all the former failures which
would give you false fears. Each race is a new
beginning. Pressing on to the finish tape that day is all
that’s important.” As
we prepare to join together in communion, I invite you to
think of what new thing God might be doing in you, what he
might already be leading you toward in your life. What
victories is he challenging you to let go of before moving on?
What past failures or false fears is he saying don’t matter
anymore? Are there things preventing us from accepting the
restoration and full forgiveness in God that Christ offers? Jesus came that we might experience all that God is doing. For every Christian, each Sunday is a little Easter, a new beginning, an affirmation that God is doing a new thing. And Jesus is leading the way. He invites us to come and join him at his table….
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