Breadth, Length, Height and Depth

8th Sunday after Pentecost

Ephesians 3:14-21


You may remember that I am in the process of trying to collect on DVD all of the Academy Award winning movies. One of my favorite of those movies is Forrest Gump. I loved it when it first came out – it was one of the few movies I actually went to the theatre to see. Over the years we have acquired both VCR and DVD copies of the movie, and pretty much any time I am flipping the channels and stumble across a replay of the movie, I am probably hooked for the next couple of hours.

I remember the first time I noticed the description of the movie in the T.V. guide – it was one of the least intriguing descriptions I had ever read – if I had never seen the movie, and had simply read the description, I probably wouldn’t have watched it. The description read, “a slow-witted Southerner experiences 30 years of history.” Although it’s accurate, that’s a terrible description of the Best Picture from 1995. Forrest Gump is about so much more than simply the 30 years of history encompassed in the movie, or the life of one slightly slow Southerner. It is about family, friendship, meaning, purpose, possibilities, and generally the inexplicability of this life.

I sometimes wonder about what people think about the story told in the gospels – more than that, the story told in our Bible. What would the T.V. Guide writers say about the Bible? I shudder to think – they might say something as banal as “the perception of humans as they consider the possibility of God interacting with mankind.” Boy, wouldn’t that make you want to run out and buy the book!!

The story of Almighty God’s interaction with the people of His creation is magnificent. All of the Old Testament portion of the story suggests that God has an incredible plan for humankind, and as the story unfolds, we begin to realize that with our limited spiritual vision, we only glimpse the smallest part of that simple truth. We resonate with the psalmist when he says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” While we live this life of faith without incontrovertible proof of God, there is a great body of evidence, not only for the existence of God, but for the purposeful interaction of God in our lives.

Then comes Jesus. In His birth, in His life, in His death, and in His resurrection, Jesus shows us God – in the flesh. Suddenly we realize that the God Who had a plan for humankind also has a plan for individual people. Every person is important to God. Jesus came, lived, and died for each one of them, and He is interested in the complete well being of every person – in every way. It is a comprehensive plan for each of us, and although through faith we discover a little bit more of the plan as we move down life’s path, we realize at any particular moment that God’s plan for us is complete in every way.

We resonate once again – this time with the Apostle Paul, as he says those wonderful words of hope and promise and fulfillment – “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Those words fill our minds and our hearts – even our very beings – as we consider the possibilities of knowing God and the fullness of God’s love. We cry out in our souls, “Oh, yes, God.”

I ran into a wonderful quote this week in my study of this passage. Joretta Marshall said, “This text suggests how important it is to be as expansive as possible in talking about God and in relation to God. God is beyond our human knowledge and our comprehension. No amount of theological clarity will ever exhaust the completeness or fullness of God.”

I like what she said. I certainly don’t know all that Paul had in mind when he used these words. But it’s my calling to help us consider the possibilities. These are wonderful words – full of possibility and suggestion, and they may need a little of our imaginative help in order to consider what Paul may have meant. Let me suggest some contemporary synonyms of his four words for our consideration today. He used the words breadth, length, height and depth. We might consider these synonyms – liberality, comprehensiveness, elevation, and profoundness.

When Paul used the word “breadth” to describe the love of God in God’s interaction with people, he may very well have been referring to the liberality of God’s love. By that we might infer that God’s love is extended to all people, regardless of whether that love will be received by that person or returned. We might choose to believe that God intended to interact with every person who every walked the face of the planet, regardless of whether that person ever responded to the interest of God in their life or not.

Now, this is going to be a terrible illustration, but here goes – I now have two bird dogs. One of them is more than eight years old. Crockett and I have hunted together for eight years, and we know each other rather well. He knows the mistakes I’m going to make, and the things that I will do well, and the vice is versa. Several weeks ago, Amy the pup came to live at our house – the bird dog of my future. Right now she is soaking up the learning – I try to work with her about 10 minutes each evening on commands, and she is responding pretty well. I hope that we have many wonderful years ahead of us hunting together.

Crockett is not sure why we need Amy around. From pretty much the first day she showed up, he has leered at her out of the corner of his eye, and growls at her every time she approaches his food bowl or tries to take his tennis ball away. I think that he thinks that I’ve replaced him. What he doesn’t know is what I suspect will be true. Sometime this winter, when I take both dogs out to hunt, I imagine that young Amy will frustrate this old hunter, and I will put her in the box and pull out my trusted friend Crockett. I don’t love one of them more than the other, and for my purposes in this old world, and for different reasons, I need both of them.

Multiply my personal scenario exponentially, and you’ll have some glimpse into the liberality of God’s love. As far as we know, God has extended God’s love to every person ever created – every person to have walked the face of this earth. Furthermore, God has desired to be in relationship with each and every person who has ever existed.

When we consider the length of God’s love, we might very well entertain the comprehensive nature of it. We consider all the areas of our life where God has interest in us. God is concerned, certainly, about our salvation and our redemption. We know that God is concerned for our well being – God is like a Shepherd to the sheep. We suspect God is concerned for our purposes. Those things are rather given when we think about us and God. But God may very well be interested in more of our lives than that. God may be interested in our ideas, and our hopes, and our desires, and our dreams, and our possibilities. When God redeems the person, God wants to redeem the whole person – the good, the bad and the ugly.

It’s kind of a better or worse kind of scenario. Here we do well to consider the parental model. When we have children, we take on the entire child. Every parent is in the same lifetime extremely proud of their youngster, and from time to time rather disappointed. But we love the child, and we love them in their goodness and in their badness. We love them when they function beyond what we expect, and we love them when they fall woefully short of expectations. We’re in it for the long haul with our kiddos, and they are a part of us.

It’s something like that with God, I think. God wants so much for us, and God is disappointed in us when we fall short. But God redeems the whole person, and I think has desires for our well being in areas of our life where we hardly take time to consider. The love and care of God is comprehensive.

Paul says that he hopes that we come to know the height. I hope I’m not duplicating territory here this morning – I’m trying to offer more insight. The love and concern of God elevates humanity.

I have something of an illustration. You know that I love the outdoors. This weekend we took the children over to Canton Lake on a campout for the last of their Summer DAZE programs. While we were there, we cooked over Coleman stoves, and experienced light from Coleman lanterns. There was a day and time when light was something of a luxury. Lighting was a valued resource. Not so much today. We flip the switch and there is light. It is automatic and instantaneous – if we paid the OGE bill, and making exception for the occasional ice storm, of course. As we have modernized our society, we have been able to do more and more with our lives.

Well, that’s not the best of examples, but maybe it gets to the point. Our God elevates our existence with God’s love and concern and interest. Not only has God redeemed us from the lowest point of existence – God has elevated us in Christ. We looked at a companion passage this last week at Prayer Meeting from the first chapter of Colossians, where Paul says, “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” But beyond that, God has elevated us to God’s purposes in the plan of redemption. In other words, we are not only redeemed people, but we are active participants in the spread of redemption as we tell people about the love of God for all people. This kind of elevation by God occurs in all aspects of our lives. We are elevated in our praise, we are elevated in our service, we are elevated in our living out of our daily lives – God’s purpose in us elevates us to new and greater levels of existence.

Well, for the last of Paul’s words, he speaks of the depth of God’s care and love. We might consider the profoundness of God’s love. When you break down that word – profound – you have two ideas – pro – really speaking of being in favor of something, and found – the idea that we are discovered. When we think of the word “profound,” we rather say, “Wow, look what I discovered!!”

In our relationship with God, we respond that way regarding God, and interestingly enough, God responds that way regarding us. We look at God, and God looks at us, and we can say hardly more than “WOW!!! Look what I’ve found!!” When we think of the expansiveness of God, we are overwhelmed with Who God is, and what God does. But God sees things exactly the same way – loving us and desiring us with just the same amazement.

What, if anything, do we do in response to the love of God? The scripture suggests in every way that we respond. The scripture encourages God’s people to embrace the love and care of God – to respond with every fiber of our beings. Some in our society think that God works independently of us in terms of this relationship, and that would be accurate – but only to a point. God has purposefully entered into relationship with us, and God desires our response. We respond best when we embrace the love, care, and direction of God as we respond in gratitude, love, and obedience.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

Gathered Around the Compassionate Jesus

7th Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 6:30-34; Ephesians 2:11-22

Beginning this morning, the lectionary camps out in the 6th chapter of Mark and then the 6th chapter of John for the next six weeks. So we have some time to get a little more nitty-gritty with the text and the stories.

I like it when the lectionary does this – lets us spend a little quality time with one of the gospel writers.

Whenever that happens, I start to look for “the point” of each particular lesson. The likelihood that the gospel and the epistle have something to do with one another increases, and that’s helpful to an old preacher. Today’s gospel lesson grabs vs. 30-34, and then jumps ahead to vv. 53-56. In between those passages, Jesus feeds the five thousand, and then walks on the water. We get those stories later. For now, we look at the bookends to the stories.

A little more context – prior to this week’s gospel lessons we have the story of Jesus sending out the 12 in pairs, and the beheading of John the Baptist. The John the Baptist story starts to put things in perspective, and then the disciples return from their little “mission trip” and report to Jesus what happened and what they were able to accomplish – kind of a debriefing. That’s where we pick up the gospel for this morning.

I always look for something in the text that jumps out at me. Maybe I need it right now, but that phrase “the apostles gathered around Jesus” spoke volumes to me this week.

I hope that’s what happens to you each week when you come to worship. It’s what happens to me – I feel like I’ve gathered up to Jesus, and I’m waiting to see what He has to say. This week, His message is rest. “Take a break. Step away for a little while. Take some rest for your soul, and recoup just a little.”

We’ve been having to do that this week - with this oppressive heat and all. You’d work a little while, and then retreat to the air conditioning. Friday’s temperatures were a welcome break – I waited until Friday to mow. While we were at camp this week, we would walk or ride from one building to the other, and then while the boys expended a little of their limitless energy, I’d sit and experience the quiet and the cool for just a few minutes before I moved to the next assignment. I hope it’s not an age thing . . .

But this was something different that Jesus was suggesting to the disciples. Ministry requires some time away to recoup. Jesus was the master. As you read the gospels, we find that Jesus would move effortlessly between engagement and disengagement. He would move into a ministry situation, and then move away to take a little rest – have a little quiet time to Himself. He knew the value of the well timed rest. Now He’s trying to teach the disciples something of the same, because the crowds are evidently starting to take a toll on the apostles just like they did on Jesus.

Several years ago – well, really more than 20 years ago now – I was serving on staff of a rather large church in Dallas – Casa View Baptist. One summer we took a mission trip to Minnesota. I was about 25, and we were taking more than 40 adults on this particular trip. Two of the other staff members and I flew up there in advance of our trip to look things over and make plans and arrangements. Two days before the trip began, I was called up to the church for an emergency meeting. Our Minister of Music, who was heading up the trip, had gone to the doctor the previous day and discovered that he had cancer – and would be entering the hospital the day after we left on the trip. So the leadership of the trip was handed over to me, and the pastor assured me that he would be along for support. On the way from Dallas to Minnesota, we spent the night in St. Louis, and after checking into the hotel, the group went over to the stadium to watch a baseball game.

I remember thinking that this was odd – taking time off while we were on a mission trip. But as I reflect back on that experience, and so many other mission trips over the years which have allowed for the same kind of time off, I realize the value of this movement away from the task at hand to take a little rest.

Jesus did this so very well, and now He is trying to teach His disciples to do the same. I see a difference, though. When Jesus stepped away for a little while, he seemed to really step away – He went off by Himself, and never really invited the others to come along. Now, His advice to the apostles is that they gather away with Him in seclusion. That’s the difference for us – we take our respite, but we take it with Jesus.

Here’s why. Jesus is, for us, a source of compassion. You know Chelsea has a new job – working out at the Enid Senior Care as their Social Services director and Activities Director. It’s really designed to be two jobs, but when client count is low, often one person has to take on both jobs, and that’s the way it is right now. Due to three recent deaths, the client count is a bit lower. Each of these deaths has impacted Chelsea, but she’s handled things well. I told her the other day that she’s going to have to learn how to practice empathy rather than sympathy, or these deaths would really wear on her. I told her that she needed some separation from her work when she went home at night. She said something like “Hey, kettle – this is pot – you’re black . . .”

Truth is, ministry is tough. When you minister, you give away something of yourself. Bottom line – you can’t continue to give and give without taking time to replenish. Jesus knew this. His disciples needed to know. We need to know.

Another thing - when you minister, and do it well, more and more people want you to minister to them. The disciples were starting to run into this problem. When they started out, the crowds weren’t all that large. Now people were everywhere. Just as soon as they heeded Jesus’ advice and took off across the lake, the crowd figured out what they were doing and followed them over there, and by the time they got there, there were more than 5000 (just counting the men – the actual number could have been quite a bit larger) – and they were hungry to boot. Later, they slip back across the lake, and when they arrive, more people mob them – all of them needing help. Sometimes, ministry is tough.

I am developing an early friendship with a pastor I’ve met through the Internet. This week we conversed through a couple of e-mails, and in his last e-mail to me, he said something quite helpful to me at the time. He said, “Take good care of yourself, man. It is a tough road for us sometimes. You are in my prayers. Our salvation is only assured by the kindness of a God who wishes us all saved. But he asks for much. The least we can do is pray for one another.”

We gather around the compassionate Jesus. We gather around Him because of Who He is. He is our God – in the flesh – and He loves us – more than we can possibly love ourselves. He knows our weaknesses, and so He bestows compassion on us. It is in His chosen nature to show compassion to those who are in need of nurture, rest, help, comfort, and renewed resources for the journey.

Did you notice the action that Jesus took when He showed compassion? He taught them. He and the boys in the band had stepped aside for a little rest, and they were interrupted by this throng of people. Mark’s words reflect on the lack of leadership the people experienced from their earthly king, Herod. He said, “for they were like sheep without a shepherd.” How disappointing our earthly leaders often are. They offer grand promises of success and freedom and opportunity and profit, only to deliver to us more work for less pay and longer hours. But Jesus – Jesus offers us something greater than we can imagine. Jesus offers us the compassion of greater resources for the journey. He offers us knowledge that will equip us for more effective service and for a greater appreciation of what He has given us in this world.

Let’s shift our attention for a moment to the epistle. Turn back over with me to Ephesians 2. There in v. 14, Paul says, “For he is our peace.” And then in v. 17, he says, “So He came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.” The context of Paul’s teaching is in reference to the alienation between Jews and Gentiles in relation to God’s offering of salvation. But the larger implication of this idea that Jesus is our peace, and that He offers peace to us is huge to us.

Like much of the world, I have been watching the events unfold during this past week in the Middle East. I was 10 years old and in Vacation Bible School June 5 – 10, 1967, and remember watching what has come to be called the six day war between Israel and Egypt. Hardly a year has gone by in those last 39 years in which saber rattling has not occurred in that region, often resulting in increased violence and bloodshed. Over these 40 years, our ears have virtually become numb to reports of conflict in the Middle East – we’ve come to expect it.

We see conflict in other parts of the world. Constant watchfulness in Asia, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and much of Central and South America. Conflict all around us – almost constantly.

We long for peace. We long for the peace that Jesus promises and gives. We long for our world to know the peace of Christ which we have experienced in our lives. We know that the solution to the resolution of human suffering and bondage, wars and conflicts, social struggle and unrest, can be found in the peace that Jesus promises and gives to those who will gather away with Him for a little rest.

We long for peace. We know where to find God’s peace. He is our peace. He gives us peace.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

Pardon my last post . . .

If you have been here in recent days, you have noticed that I have removed last week's sermon. That is the very least I could do.

I may not repost that sermon. At the very least, I need to reconsider some language choices I made. My words were considered by some hurtful and harmful, and that is never my intention or my will.

5th Sunday after Pentecost

Anniversary Sunday

“For the Sake of Christ”

On days like today, my heart always wants to say more than my mind or my speech can deliver.

Usually, I’m the one around here to hype the anniversary of our beginning. I made such a big deal of it at 3, and then 5, and then 6 and 7. This year, I thought I’d tone things down a little, and then in choir the other night, Dr. Mike spoke up and said, “Eight years – who’d a thunk it!!”

Too many things took me in other directions early in the week, so it was actually late Wednesday afternoon before I took a look at the scriptures for today. Boy, I couldn’t have picked better scriptures if you’d have paid me. This morning, I want to comment on the psalm for a minute, then the epistle, and then end up with the gospel. This may turn out to be three different sermons, but I’ll try to get us out of here before your stomachs start growling.

As a congregation, our testimony sounds like the testimony of David in our psalm for today. Did you hear the words when J.D. read them for us to start the service? “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God.” When I think about what we’ve accomplished as a church over the last eight years, this verse jumps out at me.

They say that churches are known for one or two important ministries they perform in their community. We are known for a couple of things. Most folks that know us know that we do some measure of benevolence work in our community. We have a heart for those who need help. But beyond that, I think the thing we do the best is our worship. You know how to worship. Certainly there is always room for improvement, but you know what worship means – showing worth to God – and you do that as well as any group I’ve ever known. This is our testimony – “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” This is what we do. This is who we are. We offer our praise to God.

Did you hear what else the psalmist said? Down there in verse 9 – “We ponder your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.” As a church, we’ve kept this at the forefront of who we are and what we do. When we gather in this place – week in and week out – and as of today more than 400 times without missing a beat – we remember the love of God. This room is our refuge. We know that whatever else happens to us of a week, that we can find God and find others who know God in this place on a Sunday morning. We can find others who know about the love of God.

Listen, Cornerstone. If you don’t remember another thing I say today or ever, remember this – our message to this community is God’s love. We talk about sin. We don’t cut corners on that one – we talk about our sin. And we talk about living moral lives. We talk about service, we talk about missions, we talk about the importance of church in the world today – we talk about a lot of things, and we believe many things. But God’s love is our message. We look a sinner in the eye and in the heart, and we want to let them know – we want to let ourselves know – that the love of God is the most powerful force we’ve ever known or experienced. That’s our message – the love of God.

And a third thought from the psalm – did you hear the way the psalmist ended this psalm? – “that you may tell the next generation that this is God our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.” Our message becomes our proclamation. The God of our fathers and mothers has become our God, and it is our job to make sure that our God becomes the God of our children. I have a word for us, Cornerstone. We must work. We must work diligently to see that the faith we have is multiplied in our children. They say that this next generation is likely to be the first generation in American history to have a lower standard of living than their parents. I don’t know about that, but I do have a word for us. We must work to make sure that the faith standard in our children is not less than it is in our own lives. We want to develop children who have a greater faith than we have. We want our children to know our God in ways that we don’t know God. We want our children’s faith to be extraordinary.

Eight years ago today, we baptized Jon Pontious. This church has been his church for nearly half his life. Have we done well by him? There are others in this room this morning who have been a part of this congregation for much of the last eight years. Have we done well by them? Is their faith stronger for the experience they have had here in our sanctuary – here in our midst – here in the presence of God?

As much as I love the psalm this day, I resonate with the words Paul had for the Corinthians. “I know a man in Christ who eight years ago was caught up to the third heaven.” That would be the way I would tell of our eight years together. But Paul knew a great truth – that kind of thinking can lead to boasting. I’m the chief of sinners on that count. Paul rather spoke of his weaknesses. He spoke of his trials. You and I have experienced trials during the last eight years. We’ve walked through dark hours with one another. We’ve asked for deliverance, and we’ve been introduced to the hardest part of the Christian faith – “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” That phrase represents much of our experience.

Week in and week out, people walk into this room, and they are hurting. They have been knocked down by life’s realities. They are hanging on with all they have, and wondering where the strength will come from to hang on just a little longer. Then they look at us – and they see that we’re doing the same thing. We’re hanging on, and it is our faith which sustains us. You have helped me so much over these eight years with this truth. In my weakness, Christ’s power is made perfect. We know this truth. So, I resonate with Paul. We resonate with Paul – “Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”

I captured that little phrase – “for the sake of Christ” – as the title for today. I want to say another word about that. There are so many motivations for coming to this place. We’ve been open more than 400 Sundays, and there are a lot of reasons people come to this place. Do they know why we do what we do? Do they know why we give our money, and give our time, and give our talents to this ministry? It is for the sake of Christ. We do what do for the sake of Christ. Jesus did so much for us – we do what little we can do for His sake. For the sake of Christ.

And finally, the gospel for today. From Mark, we hear some questions - questions we’ve heard a million times from those who listen to our message. They are questions about our Jesus. “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!”

In a way, we understand their questions. We’ve asked them ourselves. We’ve looked at Jesus as He works in our lives, and we’ve been astonished at His wisdom. How can He know our hearts with such completeness? How can He speak to our hearts with such assurance and authority, both at the same time? And His power? We are even more astonished at His power. His power to comfort. His power to gently discipline. His power to direct our lives. His power to save us – even us – from our sinfulness. We are astonished. We don’t know this kind of power. We certainly don’t possess this kind of power – and yet He wields His divine power with grace and truth and freedom of a measure that we can only dream.

We would almost take offense when others ask these questions about our Jesus. How can they ask such questions? Don’t they know of His love? Don’t they know of His compassion? Don’t they know of His never changing love for us?

Listen, Cornerstone. Several years ago, our friend Daniel Vestal visited with us for a weekend. He said something about our church – He said that we were to be “Jesus kind of people.” I remember his words. They were words of identity. And it is still our identity. We are to be Jesus people. Every day, and in every way, we are to become more and more like Jesus as we seek to serve Him by serving those He sends our way. We are to be Jesus people. I think it’s happening in this place.

I’ll tell you this. I may have shared this illustration before – I don’t remember. I watch way, way too much television. I love to watch the comedians. I’ve noticed over the last 20 years that the comedians have gotten bolder in their disdain for God. They give God a hard time, to say the least. But for the most part, they don’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to Jesus. They may “diss” Him – but it’s for His gentleness, His compassion, His love – and in the long run, they know they don’t really have a case.

We need to be Jesus people. Jesus is our best bet. We need to be Jesus people.

Eight years. Where do we go from here? It’s the question we must ask ourselves. The latter part of this passage gives us our marching orders for coming days. Verse 7 and following; “He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

These are our marching orders. We take this authority that Jesus possesses, and has given to us, and we share His power, His love, His message with everyone we come into contact with. We don’t need a lot of tools. We have everything in our arsenal that we need – we have our faith, we have our Christian heritage, we have our promise, we have our hope – and we have our Jesus. We need to work diligently with those whom Jesus gives to us, and we need to be slow to give up on them – shaking the dust off only as a last resort.

I want to share a personal word with you this morning. (you should have been here)

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

Finding the Balance

4th Sunday after Pentecost

2nd Corinthians 8:7-15

Amy the pup moved into new digs this week. I completed her side of the dog pens, and she entered rather easily. Oh, there was the expected whining that first evening, but we are moving her that way gradually, and I suspect she will find the same kind of bored contentment that Crockett has come to appreciate.

Thursday evening when she moved in, she started immediately climbing up on her dog house. She watched Crockett jump up on his, but she can’t jump that high just yet, and so she found a way to shimmy up there by climbing up between the house and the fencing. Crockett’s house if flat roofed, but hers is a store bought version that friend Gary let me have some time back. It doesn’t have a flat roof – looks more like a miniature barn – so the very peak has a very small place that is flat. I noticed that she spent much of the evening learning how to balance on the top of her house so that she could be up there with Crockett.

Amy is discovering balance. Balance is one of those concepts that all of us learn as we mature. We learn to strike a balance between work and play. We each eventually find our balance between cold and hot, light and dark, gluttony and fasting, observation and participation – so many places in which balance is key to fulfillment in our lives.

Paul spoke of balance. I read it for us just a little while ago, but let me read it again. 2nd Corinthians 8:7-15 – “But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. And I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also; that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he does not have. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality-- at this present time your abundance being a supply for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want, that there may be equality; as it is written, "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack."

I’ve been thinking a good bit these days about balance. As we enter this holiday week in which we celebrate our nation, you and I find that we live in a country where balance is hard to find. Balance has left us – extremism reigns. We are pushed to one side of the political spectrum or the other, each of us knowing that we would prefer to live somewhere in the middle – somewhere where balance exists. But sadly, the extremists rule the day.

Did you hear the Apostle? “it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need . . .” Our biblical examination becomes a little more specific for today, and it feels like Paul is doing a little “toe-stepping.”

A little background. Our passage has roots in two places. Paul’s quote in verse 15 is from Exodus – specifically Exodus 15:18. Paul omitted something from the original text – I suspect it didn’t agree with his point of the moment. Preachers are like that, don’t you know. He left off the part of the verse that says “every man gathered as much as he should eat.” I’m not sure why he left that part out. Anyway, the story hails to the children of Israel, as they were in the middle of the exodus. God provided manna for them, but it was expected that each person gather for his own household.

The second part of the story is the context from which Paul writes. Paul had an interesting relationship with the church at Corinth. When we take the book of Acts in correlation with the Corinthian letters, we find that Paul made at least 3 visits to the Corinthian church, and he wrote at least 4 letters to them. They evidently responded to some of his letters, and so the communication went back and forth between Paul and this church. It was not an easy correspondence. What you and I know as 1st Corinthians was actually his second letter to them. We don’t have the first letter, but there are some indicators in 1st Corinthians as to its content. Then, between 1st and 2nd Corinthians is a third letter, named by scholars as the “severe” letter – evidently Paul really got after them about something – and then along comes this last letter, which we call 2nd Corinthians. In the first part of chapter 8, Paul is outlining the giving record of some of the other Greek churches who are supporting his ministry. In vv.1-2, he says, “we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.” Then as we continue to read, we realize that Paul is again spanking the Corinthians for having started to take an offering for his ministry, only to let their work go unfinished. Now he is admonishing them to finish what they started, and he attempts to shame them by pointing out the other churches who have limited means but who have given generously as an example to them.

Now, if I were sitting where you are this morning, I’d start to ask myself a question – I’d want to know “How in the world did I end up in church listening to a tithing sermon rather than going to the lake today?” Let me quell your fears – this is not a tithing sermon. I don’t like tithing sermons, any more than you do, and I certainly wouldn’t choose to preach one in the middle of the summer. No, this is one of the things that I love about the lectionary – it forces me toward passages that I otherwise wouldn’t preach.

Rather, I consider this to be an “attitude” sermon. Paul is speaking to an attitude that I am trying to learn how to employ in my life, and that I think our country could use a whole lot more of. This passage speaks to an attitude of abundance.

If you take this passage in conjunction with the gospel stories for today, Paul and Mark speak toward an attitude of abundance. In the gospels, those who are standing around watching are concerned about the power that Jesus has – “does He have enough power to heal this little girl, and what in the world is this old woman doing reaching out to ‘steal’ a little of His power while He is on the way to perform a ‘miracle healing.’” In these stories, there is a selfishness in the attitude of most of the bystanders, and even on the part of some of the principles in the story.

The same holds true for the readers of Paul’s letter. There is an attitude of selfishness. Paul counters their limited perspective with a vision of abundance, reciprocity, and generosity.

I learned this lesson again this week when we took our children on their outing last Tuesday. Our Summer DAZE program reminded our children how very much we have, and some of what we have is the capacity to serve others. So, the children took some laundry detergent over to Our Daily Bread, and then they worked at Joe’s house trimming some of his shrubs, and then they came back to the church to plant some monkey grass over in front of the youth house. I like the balance and the symmetry of that adventure. They served people who are not a part of our congregation, they worked to serve someone who is a member of our congregation, and then they did a little work on the property from which we worship each week. Symmetry. Balance. It was a good day.

I read something this week. It’s a quote by one of my favorite authors, Marcus Borg. He is speaking of openness to the Spirit of God, and a general attitude of openness in our hearts. He says, “How do hearts become open? The biblical answer: the Spirit of God does it. And the Spirit of God operates through thin places. I owe the metaphor of ‘thin places’ to Celtic Christianity, a form of Christianity that flourished in Ireland and parts of Scotland, Wales, and northern England beginning in the fifth century . . . This way of thinking thus affirms that there are minimally two layers or dimensions of reality, the visible world of our ordinary experience and God, the sacred, Spirit . . .’ Thin places’ are places where these two levels of reality meet or intersect. They are places where the boundary between the two levels becomes very soft, porous, permeable. Thin places are places where the veil momentarily lifts, and we behold God, experience the one in whom we live, all around us and within us.” 1

I’ve been thinking about a prayer – a prayer for our country. I would pray that God would work to instill in people all across this country an openness – an openness to the balance of life that makes life so much more fulfilling. I would pray that people all across this great land would develop a spirit of abundance – a realization that the blessings we have, which, by the way, are not unique to our country, are blessings of God that have root in God’s great generosity to man, and that we are to reciprocate with an attitude of abundance and generosity – toward God as well as toward our fellow man.

1 Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity, Harper, San Franscisco, 2003, pp. 154-6

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.