Messiah Church – ELCA

A couple of Sundays ago I spoke of an elderly woman named Eleanor Martin, a resident of a nursing home that I often visited back in college. I spoke of her love of literature and her ability to inspire me with her joy in the midst of crosses. I mentioned that she loved poetry and could recite so many from memory. Here’s one that she shared with me and one, which I have committed to memory – and remember often. It’s by one of the grandfathers of American poetry, Walt Whitman. It is a poem entitled When I Heard he learn’d Astronomer.

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

When the proof, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams,

to add, divide, and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured

with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

            I’ve recited this beautiful piece of poetry to myself a number of times over the past week because it’s a message that I’ve needed to hear. You see Whitman was aware that in so many ways the real danger in life is to be so caught up in trying to understand the world that we fail to see the beauty – the real, infinite, and Divine beauty in the world around us. It isn’t wrong to look at the stars and to add, divide, and measure them, but when that quest to understand so overwhelms us that we lose sight of the sheer wonder of it all, the vastness and glory of a beautiful night sky, when this happens we miss something glorious – the chance to sit in the mysterious presence of God.

            There are moments when I am guilty of this penchant to add, divide and measure. There are those moments when I look at my wife Melissa and ask the questions of every married person (questions I am sure she ponders when looking at me). What is she thinking? Why is she the way she is? What do I need to do or be for this relationship to grow? Now I don’t think I’d be accused of over-thinking relationships, but I do think that often I miss the moments of just looking at my partner, of looking in perfect silence and being grateful for the Divine beauty that resides within her and every human, of being grateful for the presence of God in her and in our marriage.

How often I spend my time with my children in a directive mode. Do this! Eat your food. Put on your pajamas and go to bed. Stop fighting!. I am guilty, I think, of looking at my children only to add, divide and measure them. Isn’t it even more important to once in awhile just watch them and glory in their little lives, and be grateful for the Divine beauty that resides within them?

And certainly I am guilty of over-analyzing when it comes to this parish community. I spend so much of my time and thoughtful energy thinking about the next step on our journey, the next program and bigger picture and long-range plan. Pastors have a natural inclination to do this, to add, divide and measure their communities of faith and their ideas about God. What pastors (myself included) do not do well is simply affirming the Divine beauty that resides within each parish community.

            In the end I suppose what Walt Whitman is trying to say is what Jesus in the gospels is trying to teach – that we don’t have to have everything all figured out and life isn’t about having all the answers. Sometimes it’s enough just to look at this life we’ve been given, and people we have been given to love…and to be grateful. That’s it, just be grateful! Maybe tonight I’ll do as Whitman suggests – I’ll revel in my spouse and be grateful for my children and pray with a full heart for the people of Messiah Church and somewhere this evening –

I’ll rise and glide out; I’ll wander off by myself

In the mystical moist night air, and from time to time,

Look up in perfect silence at the stars.

One day a young father was shopping in a crowded super-market. His three-year old son was with him. The little boy was riding in the grocery cart and he was misbehaving terribly and causing all kinds of problems.

Every time the father would put something into the cart, the little boy would grab it and throw it back out. If the cart went close to the shelves, the three-year old boy would just rake stuff off onto the floor. At one point, the little boy crawled out of the cart and ran down the aisle knocking over every display he could get his hands on, with his father in hot pursuit.

People who were in the store at the time could hear the father saying out loud over and over: Just be patient, Tommy. It won’t be much longer Tommy.

It’ll be O.K., Tommy. Be calm, Tommy. Hang in there, Tommy.

Finally, a distinguished looking woman came up to the man and she said: I just want to compliment you. I’ve been watching you and I want you to know that I admire you and the remarkable patience you have with little Tommy.

O, but Lady, the man said. You don’t understand. His name is Michael. I’m Tommy!

            It’s a cute story but one with a remarkable point – if there is ever to be change in others, we must concentrate on change within ourselves first. It is what I refer to as the first principle of the gospel challenge – Jesus was always, always preaching the need for metanoia – a Greek word that simply means to turn around in the other direction. Jesus meant that each person needed to turn around and not wait for others. Metanoia was a personal event, and metanoia was a decision that each person had to make, and mostly metanoia had to begin with the one standing before Jesus. That’s why Jesus spoke about not speaking of the splinter in your neighbor’s eye until you removed the plank from your own; why he reprimanded the Pharisees for their attitudes of judgment; why he made personal demands like come and follow me – and stand up and live – and go and sin no more. For Jesus it always began with the individual. In short, metanoia starts with me!

            This is I think the hardest lesson of life to learn. Every day we watch the news and complain about the thoughtlessness and wastefulness of corporations like BP – and certainly it is right to hold them accountable – but what is even more challenging is to examine our own thoughtlessness and wastefulness when it comes to the world around us. Do we consume in extravagant ways? Do we care for the world around us? Do we waste food, and fuel and water? Every day we judge our celebrities for shallow lifestyles- and while it is not wrong to have strong opinions, it’s even more challenging to look at our own lives. Are we faithful to our spouses? Do we balance our lives in healthy ways? Do we control our own egos? Every day we condemn the violence in the world – and we should be aware of violence – but we should be even more aware of the violence in our lives. Do we use violent language? Do we exercise forgiveness? Are we working for peace in our families and relationships?

            Jesus was concerned with metanoia – turning around in the other direction. Metanoia is a personal decision that each of us needs to make every day. Metanoia is not first about others.  Metanoia begins with me.

  I spent the day with my daughter last week and we ended up at Orton Park on a lovely late spring evening. After Rachel spent the better part of 30 minutes swinging on the playground, she wandered off to pick dandelions – not the fresh, yellow blooming ones mind you – but the white puffy dandelions that have gone to seed. She brought one to me and held out this weed, this thing that I so devoutly eliminate from my own lawn. She handed it to me and said: It’s so pretty daddy, isn’t it? She reminded me of a poem.

He was just a little boy, On the week’s first day.

Wandering home from Sunday School, and dawdling on the way.

He scuffed his shoes into the grass; He even found a caterpillar.

He found a fluffy milkweed pod, And blew out all the filler.

A bird’s nest in a tree overhead, So wisely placed up high,

Was just another wonder, That caught his eager eye.

A neighbor watched his zigzag course, And hailed him from the lawn;

And asked him where he’d been that day And what was going on.

“I’ve been to Bible School”, he said And he turned a piece of sod.

He picked up a wiggly worm replying, “I’ve learned a lot about God.”

“It’s a very fine way,” the neighbor said “For a boy to spend his time.

If you’ll tell me where God is, I’ll give you a brand new dime.”

Quick as a flash the answer came! Nor were his accents faint.

“I’ll give you a dollar, Mister, If you tell me where God ain’t.”

      What wisdom from my little Rachel! What wisdom from the boy in that poem! You see the real question is not Where is God? Rather the question should be Where Isn’t God? And perhaps the real gift of this summer season is the chance to recall again the wisdom of these children – that God is in each moment of life and in every breath we take.

            I suppose that it is simply the nature of my work that I hear people constantly asking the wrong question. They run from task to task, always running and never slowing down and their lives are this whirlwind of chaotic activity and the want to know: Where is God? They struggle with their teenagers and care for their aging parents and argue with their spouses and they cry out: Where is God? They read about the tragedies of life, the wars and disease, the tornadoes and earthquakes and they ask again and again and again: Where is God? And while I understand where the question comes from, the scriptures remind us that it’s the wrong question. The question that we should be asking ourselves everyday even in the chaos, even in the difficult relationships, even amidst the tragedies is this – Where isn’t God? Jesus was always reminding his followers that in the chaos of the world’s activity, if they looked and if they listened they would find God working with them and laboring with them. He reminded them that in all of love’s struggles and heartaches that if they looked and if they listened they could find God walking with them and guiding them. Jesus told parables reminding his followers that even in the greatest tragedies of life if they looked and if they listened they would find God crying with them and carrying a cross with them. Jesus was always trying to teach his followers that God was around them and within them.

            In this beautiful season of summer breathe deeply of life; look around you at the world we have been given; listen to the sounds of earth and ask the right question – Where isn’t God?