MUMC Sermon-04/16/2006

Does any of this really matter? Seriously. The beautiful music, the beautiful prayers, the beautiful story; does any of it matter for the living of your days? You know how I’m going to answer that question, that’s no great surprise, but knowing that I want to give you permission to be honest. In the privacy of your heart and mind try to answer the question for yourself. Does it matter?

Let me tell you why I want you to answer the question for yourself. About a month ago a couple in our church left an envelope for me containing an article they found interesting. It was taken from the USA Today and the headline read, “Not heard from the pulpit.”[1] In it the author laments the fact that many preachers in America today speak regularly about morality, especially with regard to sexuality, Christmas greetings, and institution building, while neglecting to preach about the basics: honesty, fidelity, humility, sharing wealth, sharing power, and sacrifice.

The results, the author contends, have been disastrous. Let me give you some examples. On the day in 2004 when former Enron CEO Ken Lay appeared in federal court on charges of fraud, conspiracy and false statements, he began his day in prayer at the chapel of First Methodist Church in Houston, TX. There Lay was a frequent attendee, Sunday School teacher, and the Lay Leader. His pastor accompanied him when he turned himself in to the authorities. This leads the author of the article to ask, “How had Lay gotten so ethically challenged?” And he points out that the church’s Sunday School offerings included opportunities for self-improvement, but nothing on sacrificial giving or courageous honesty in a world growing accustomed to deceit.

WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers had similar troubles. When he began to feel the heat of scandal, Ebbers stood before his friends at Easthaven Baptist Church in Brookhaven, Miss., and declared, “I just want you to know you aren’t going to church with a crook.” A federal jury disagreed and convicted him of fraud. Again the author asks, “How could a dedicated Sunday School teacher have gotten so off track? And again he points out that the Easthaven Church mission statement is about the institution’s growth potential, not about living decent lives.

These two incidents reminded me of another. About five years ago, FBI agent Robert Hanssen was arrested for selling secrets to the Russians. His case was touted as the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history. Interestingly, news sources reported that he was a classic church-going dad, driving an old Volkswagen van. People described him as a helpful neighbor with a wife and six typical kids. He espoused conservative Christian values. One neighbor commented that he “went to church every Sunday – if that means anything.”[2]

“If that means anything.” Do you remember the question I asked earlier: Does any of this really matter? Does it mean anything?

Let’s be fair. No one could have known the hearts and minds of these men; we have a hard enough time knowing our own hearts and minds. The last thing we want to do here this morning is judge them, but their stories are a helpful launching point to another story—our story. It’s not a stretch to add to the list of Ken Lay, Bernard Ebbers, Robert Hanssen the name Javier Viera, or your name for that matter. When I hear their stories I don’t rush to judge them as much as I rush to ask, “Could anyone accuse me in the same manner?” After all, what better cover than minister? And you? What better cover than a good, church-going, God-loving Christian?

Earlier in the service Bruce read for us these words from the apostle Paul: “If you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.” That is a brilliant, direct and simple piece of advice. That’s the point of this day. I could stand here and give you a theological treatise on the meaning of the resurrection, and that has some merit; but I can’t imagine a message more important than this one from Paul. “Act like it! Live the resurrection!”

This simple, direct message explains why this morning and every Sunday we offer worship with great care, and encourage one another to brood upon the content of our lives, and to do this with courage and fortitude. To act and to live as if this story and this hour we’re spending together matters means knowing who is home deep within. It means committing ourselves to a kind of living that requires the virtues of honesty and humility, sacrifice and fidelity, sharing wealth and sharing power. It means being committed day in and day out to creating a world that is more just, more peaceful, more beautiful, more consistent with the compassion, mercy, and love of Jesus.

J.S. Bach, whose glorious music has filled our sanctuary this morning, wrote the music he did because he was convinced that this matters. As a matter of fact, he believed that if the human heart could be stirred by the beauty of music, perhaps the men, women and children who heard it would seek beauty elsewhere in their lives. He believed that beautiful music could be a small part of inspiring persons to live beautiful lives. He might say, “If you believe this is beautiful, then act like it! Live like it! Create beauty wherever you are.”

Isn’t that what happened in our Old Testament lesson? The prophet Ezekiel saw a valley of dried bones. From his point of view it was a valley of death and place without hope. Yet God saw things differently. Where Ezekiel saw death and despair, God saw the promise of life; new life and great potential. What was to the human eye a valley of dry bones became in the eyes of God a scene of beauty and splendor and promise.

I have no doubt that God sees the same way here today. Look around. Do you see a valley of dry bones or do you see the promise and potential of God’s new world? As you look around, do you see people who are participating in an activity that ultimately doesn’t matter very much or do you see a community of people who just might do something amazing for the sake of love in this world? Do you see apathy or do you see a gathering of artists who will go from this place to create a more beautiful, holy world in which to live?

When the women left the tomb on the morning they went looking for Jesus, Mark tells us that they were ‘dumbfounded’, ‘beside themselves’, ‘amazed’ and ‘afraid’. Maybe we should be too. If Christ has his way with us there is no telling what we might do and what that will require. And that’s terrifying. But imagine if we moved beyond our fear or reservation or even skepticism and actually lived his message of love, compassion and justice. Imagine if we acted as if his resurrection mattered. Imagine if tomorrow when you start your day you say to yourself, “I’m going to live the Resurrection” and then went about your day fully aware as to how you might be a loving, merciful, sacrificial presence everywhere you go. Imagine living your tomorrow as if what we’re doing here now really mattered; as if the world depended on what takes place here this morning. If you do that, I think you’ll discover it actually does.

[1]Tom Ehrich. “Not heard from the pulpit” USA Today, March 13, 2006, p. 13A.

[2] Stephen Bauman. “Bare Facts” A sermon preached at Christ Church, NYC 9 April 2006.