(Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22)
[1]O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever.
[2]Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
[3]and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
[17]Some were sick through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
[18]they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.
[19]Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
[20]he sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from destruction.
[21]Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
[22]And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
INTRODUCTION:
Did you know that a Princeton Dental Research Center report said chocolate is actually beneficial in fighting plaque and cavities? Now before you get all excited, I need to tell you that further investigation showed that 90% of the funds for this particular study were provided by M&M Mars Candy Company. (1)
It's all in your perspective, isn't it. And that's what we talked about last week: God's perspective versus the world's perspective. The world says the cross is an ugly tool of death and therefore foolish. But God transformed the cross into a thing of beauty and a symbol of forgiveness and eternal life.
This cross was a great prop and a great symbol as we brought our commitment cards and our offerings and laid them on the altar. We were reminded of the cost of our salvation as we came to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord's supper. This cross reminded us that it is only through the original cross of Christ that we can even come to God's altar.
But you know what? This cross kept getting in the way. We had to step over it or go around it every time we wanted to do something. And I'll bet we moved this thing a half a dozen times this week, what with getting ready for the Sampler Supper and then getting ready for the Linda Rice concert. Every time we moved it I thought to myself, man this is in the way, it was great for what it did but maybe we ought to just get rid of it.
And then it dawned on me that this is exactly what the world thinks. The cross is always in the way. And we're always trying to get around it. But we can't. For us as Christians, the cross is our focal point, it is the crosshairs through which we set our sights and take our aim at life and faith. It is because of the cross that we celebrate Lent, Easter and life itself. Through the cross we are reminded of Christ's sacrifice and self-denial. And in response to that self-denial and sacrifice, we take up the cross and practice our own self-denial and sacrifice through giving up certain things up for Lent.
I. WHAT TO GIVE UP:
A. During Lent we traditionally give up things like coffee or chocolate or sweets or cigarettes. And those are great things to give up. They teach us self-discipline. They teach us how to say "No!" to ourselves. They teach us about temptation, honesty and integrity. It's a good practice to give things up for Lent. It causes us to call on God for strength in order to stick to it.
That's hard sometimes. One of children of the Church has given up chocolate for Lent. And when they saw all the chocolate desserts at the Sampler Supper, they asked their mother if they couldn't be exempt for just this one night? Mom of course said, No. She knew the value of self-denial and the importance of keeping a covenant.
Our Youth were tempted, almost to distraction, during their 30 Hour Famine to break their fast before the allotted time was up. It was good for them to learn that self-control and to deal with that sort of temptation. It strengthened their faith. I'm sure you've faced similar situations if you've given something up, too.
B. The Psalm for today talks about giving thanks to God and making those sacrifices as "thanksgiving sacrifices." When we give things up, when we deny ourselves for the higher purpose of serving God or being drawn closer to God, then these moments become "thanksgiving sacrifices" or "thanksgiving offerings."
God accepts and loves these "thanksgiving sacrifices" and we are drawn closer to God. They are a good thing. As I've been pondering and praying about Lent, the Cross and the Lenten Messages, I've come to think though that maybe God is calling us to do more. That God wants us to step out and go a little further. I've come to think that God wants us to wrestle with something a little more important than chocolate or coffee.
Maybe a deeper kind of "thanksgiving sacrifice" that we could offer would be the giving up of certain attitudes and actions. Maybe we ought to work on giving up the "isms" of life. The "isms" like racism, sexism, classism, prejudism, judgmentalism. All these "isms" tend to do is cause schisms. Schisms that separate us from God and from each other.
The two I would like to deal with today are two of the most insidious of all: Pride and Prejudice.
II. PRIDE:
A. Now, when I say Pride, I'm not talking about the kind of pride that comes from having done a good job. I'm not talking about the kind of pride that we take in our Church or in our homes or our children. I'm not talking about the kind of pride we take in knowing we are the children of God. As long as that pride doesn't become the end all and be all of our lives, it's healthy pride.
But even healthy pride can get out of hand or get twisted. Pride in something or someone or an accomplishment can become a wall between us and God and between each other. We have to be careful or pride can take control.
B. Freud's term EGO is a perfect acronym for what pride can do. EGO can stand for "Edging God Out." And our egos do that some times. If you stop and think about it "An egotist is someone who is always me-deep in conversation." (2)
When we let pride and EGO run our lives, we edge God out. We edge God out of first place. Unfortunately, Scripture is very clear. First place is God's place not ours. The very first words of the Bible are, "In the beginning God . . ." The book of Genesis then goes on to describe how everything else in all of creation was created by God. God is the Creator. We are the created. God even gave us a subtle reminder in the Ten Commandments. The first one says, "I am the Lord your God, . . . you shall have no other God's before me."
Over and over again, we are reminded that God comes first. But so many times in life, we edge God out of first place and set ourselves up as center of the Universe.
I read where the City Council in Grand Rapids, Michigan passed the following resolution: "Grand Rapids, Michigan, not Washington, D.C., is the true seat of power in America." It passed unanimously. (3) Living as if we are the center of the universe is almost as funny as Grand Rapids declaring itself the true seat of power in America. As part of our Lenten devotion; as part of our self denial and "thanksgiving sacrifice" we should give up the form of pride that puts us as the center of the universe. Then through the cross, focus our lives on the true center of the Universe, the one through whom and for whom the universe was created.
III. PREJUDICE:
A. The second attitude we should give up is prejudice. The only good thing about prejudice is that it is a time saver. It allows us to form opinions without knowing any facts. Prejudice is born of pride. It grows out of our edging God out of that center of the universe position. Prejudice leads to racism and sexism and all the other isms.
Prejudice is insidious because it always bases its beliefs on the outward appearance of someone and not on the inner person or what is in their heart. Take racism for example. It's based on six to ten pounds of a substance, that's all. You see, if you were to peel off all of your skin, that's all it would weigh, from six to ten pounds. And that's what we base racism on, the color of someone's skin.
If you close your eyes or stand in the dark, you can't tell what color someone is. Someone who is deaf can't tell what kind of accent the person speaking has. If you close your eyes and touch someone or hold their hand, you can't tell what religion or what nationality they are. If you look around, you can't tell what's in a person's heart. And yet we let six to ten pounds of skin determine what we think about a person. Or how we treat them.
B. There's an old story about a Chinese man and a Jewish man who were eating lunch together. All of a sudden, the Jewish man reached across the table and just slapped the fool out of the Chinese man, knocking him onto the floor. The Chinese man picked himself up, rubbed his jaw and asked "What in the world did you do that for?" The Jewish man answered, "For Pearl Harbor!"
In astonishment the Chinese man said, "Pearl Harbor? I didn't have anything to do with Pearl Harbor. It was the Japanese that bombed Pearl Harbor not the Chinese." The Jewish man responded: "Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, they're all the same to me."
Well, they both sat down again. But it wasn't long before the Chinese man reached across the table and slapped the Jewish man silly, knocking him onto the floor. The Jewish man yelled out "What did you do that for?" The Chinese man answered: "For the Titanic." The Jewish man said, "The Titanic? I didn't have anything to do with the Titanic!" And the Chinese man replied, "Goldberg, Feinberg, ICEBERG they're all the same to me!"
That silly little story illustrates how inane and one sided prejudice really is. It sees what it wants to see. But through Christ and the cross we are called to see more. We are called to see others through the eyes of God, through the eyes of Christ.
CONCLUSION:
The Psalm calls us to give thanks to God and to offer "thanksgiving sacrifices". What better way to offer thanks and to make a sacrifice than by giving up those attitudes that separate us from God and from each other like pride and prejudice.
Instead of looking at ourselves and others through our own perspective, we need to look at ourselves and others through God's perspective. And Scripture is very clear about that. Here in Ephesians Paul writes: "8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."
Giving something up for Lent is one of those good works Paul is talking about but giving up attitudes, like pride and prejudice, that separate and divide is truly a "thanksgiving sacrifice" to our God. The challenge and the question that leaves us with is: "What can you give up for Lent?" but "What SHOULD you give up for Lent as a "thanksgiving sacrifice" to God.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
1. Parables, Etc., October, 1993, Saratoga Press, Platteville, CO
2. Parables, Etc., July, 1995, Saratoga Press, Platteville, CO
3. Dynamic Preaching, March/April 1997, Vol XII, No. 2. Seven Worlds Corp., Knoxville, TN. p. 55.
4. Parables, Etc., January, 1993, Saratoga Press, Platteville, CO