Possibility -- sermon given at Leeds

Sermon: “Possibility”

wayne mclaughlin

Leeds Presbyterian Church

August 2, 2020 – worship through Zoom

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Kings 4.42-44 2nd   CEV

42 A man from the town of Baal-Shalishah brought Elisha some freshly cut grain and twenty loaves of bread made from the first barley that was harvested. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”

43 “There’s not enough here for a hundred people,” his servant said.

“Just give it to them,” Elisha replied. “The Lord has promised there will be more than enough.”

44 So the servant served the bread and grain to the people. They ate and still had some left over, just as the Lord had promised.

Matthew 14.13-21   CEB

13 When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds learned this, they followed him on foot from the cities. 14 When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. 15 That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.”

17 They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 Everyone ate until they were full, and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. 21 About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten.

SERMON TEXT:

        DICKINSON

In 1862 Emily Dickinson wrote this poem:

I dwell in Possibility—

A fairer House than Prose—

More numerous of Windows—

Superior—for Doors—

Of Chambers as the Cedars—

Impregnable of Eye—

And for an everlasting Roof

The Gambrels of the Sky—

Of Visitors—the fairest—

For Occupation—This—

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise— [1]

“I dwell in Possibility” says Dickinson. Emily Dickinson grew up just before the Civil War. Her family was part of the Calvinist tradition, but held to the newer, updated Calvinism of the New England Congregationalist families. They were “Whiggish” in their politics. The party known as the Whigs stressed social order. In the words of historian Louise Stevenson, “Whiggery stood for the triumph of the cosmopolitan and national over the provincial and local, of rational order over irrational spontaneity, of school-based learning over tradition folkways and custom, and of self-control over self-expression.” [2]

You might remember that Abraham Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party when he was elected to the House of Representatives. But the Whig Party began to splitter over disagreements about how to handle the slavery issue, and in 1856 Lincoln identified with the new Republican Party as he ran for the Senate.

There was a revival meeting in Dickinson’ town in 1850. Many young people were converted—saved, and she saw the peace in their faces. But she refused to take part in the meetings. As we would say today, it “wasn’t her thing.” She felt a deep desire in her heart for spiritual sustenance, but the “churchy” form of faith was not what she chose. Instead of living in the House of Creeds she chose to dwell in the House of Possibility—

A fairer House than Prose—

More numerous of Windows—

Superior—for Doors—

Emily Dickinson chose to dwell in poetry rather than prose. She chose possibility over the Whiggish tradition of order and custom and coloring inside the lines. Her spirituality took on a new form of poetry—with dashes everywhere—the short, stabbing lines of enigmatic phrases, not always clear to the reader, but packed full of meaning. She was a doubting believer, and a believing doubter. She chose to dwell in possibility.

        JESUS THE MAGICIAN

In today’s reading from Matthew 14 Jesus invites us to dwell in Possibility. There are 5000 people, not counting women and children. (There’s a whole sermon in that little phrase—“not counting women and children.” But that’s for another day.) Commentators on this passage guess that when we add the women and children to the statistic, there was probably 10,000 people in the crowd. 

Stop and think about that number. Have you ever been to a gathering of 10,000 people? A concert? A political convention? A protest? I know it’s nothing compared to a full Bryant-Denny Stadium, but it’s a lot of people. The disciples were concerned about the crowd. Someone, I don’t know if it was Andrew or John or Nathaniel or Judas, but someone went to Jesus and suggested that the people be sent away to the surrounding villages to buy food for supper. The disciples didn’t want hundreds of people fainting because of hunger or low blood sugar. They were concerned.

And that’s when Jesus shocked them: 

You give them something to eat!

Can you imagine standing there close to Jesus and seeing him turn toward you and point his finger at you and say, You! You fix this problem. You solve this crisis. You find a vaccine for Covid-19. You dismantle the systemic racism in America. You feed the poor. You build the church back up. You get young people interested in Christianity. You give health care to everybody. You get people to love one another. You! Yeah, you.

You put your hands up and say, I’m sorry Jesus, I don’t have enough food to feed all of those people. 

Jesus says, Where do you live? You point over there and say, That’s my house over there.

Jesus says, Oh, I see. You live in the House of Prose. You got to move out of there and move into a House of Possibility.

I’ll tell you what you do, he says. Find out what you have to work with. Go out and search among the crowd. See what food you can find. Do an inventory of resources. Then come back and bring me what you got.

The disciples do as he says. They find only five loaves of bread and two pieces of salted fish. They present them to Jesus.

Now. What happens next seems magical, doesn’t it? It’s like those magicians we have all seen who reach into a hat and pull out a rabbit. And we all say, How did he do that?

Elisha fed 100 people with twenty loaves of bread. That’s more doable. Twenty loaves for one hundred people. You give each group of five people a loaf of bread. Each person will get a chunk of bread. But 10,000 people and five loaves. That’s one loaf for every 2,000 people. Each person might get a tiny crumb, if that.

How did he do it? Was Jesus a magician?

        PROTESTS

When George Floyd was murdered by a police officer, and everyone saw the video, it couldn’t be denied. Immediately a few people in his neighborhood went to the streets in protest. They were joined by others from all over town. Then people of other cities took to the streets in protest of such cruel injustice. Then people in cities across Europe and Asia and all over the world marched on behalf of George Floyd. What began as a local protest grew into a global protest. 

How did it happen? Can we explain it? Yes. 

The spirit of Amos and Hosea and Isaiah and Jeremiah was in the bones of good people, and suddenly the ankle bone connected to the leg bone, and the leg bone connected to the hip bone got to moving, and a movement sprang to life. The Spirit of the prophets, and the Spirit of Jesus swept through the world, and the Voice from the Burning Bush was heard throughout the land—Let my people go!

        VACCINE

People are dying at a scary rate from a tiny, little virus. There is no vaccine yet. But scientists and researchers working at UAB and laboratories all over this nation, and all over the world are hard at work to find the right combination of little pieces of God’s creation to put together to make the medicine to stop the pandemic. God has given us the answer. It’s right there somewhere in nature. God has given the vaccine. It’s up to the researchers to discover the natural materials and the right combination to make the cure. And it will be found. 

And it will be called a miracle. Not magic, but a miracle. Not just 10,000, but hundreds of thousands of people will be cured or saved from death when the scientists who dwell in the House of Possibility put their fingers on it.

        ENOUGH

When we live in the House of Prose we keep telling ourselves, It can’t be done. No way. But when we dwell in Possibility we have more windows to look through; we have more doors to open; we are able to gaze up at the vast sky and see possibilities.

Followers of Jesus do not dwell in prose. We look around to discover our resources. We don’t overlook anything, even if it’s small. Then we take what we have and offer it to Jesus. We give it up to the creative power of the Holy Spirit. 

Then Jesus gives it back to us. Jesus blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back to us. And magical things happen. People are fed. Children are healed. Women are seen as equal to men in value and worth. Skin color is made relative. The one human race is recognized for what it is. Hatred is converted to love and respect. Privilege is recognized and renounced.

Like the disciples we look around and say We don’t have enough. There is not enough. And sometimes we look within ourselves and say, I am not enough. Because someone has told us we are not enough. That we don’t measure up. That we are somehow inferior. But Jesus says to us, 

Bring me yourself. 

Offer yourself up to me. 

And I will give yourself back to you. 

And you will know deep in your heart 

that you are enough. 

That you are not inferior.

That you are precious and worthy.

That you are loved with an everlasting love.

Don’t put yourself down anymore.

You belong to me.

 

        PARADISE

Emily Dickinson begins her poet this way:

I dwell in Possibility— / A fairer House than Prose— / More numerous of Windows— / Superior—for Doors—

The last two lines say:

The spreading wide my narrow Hands / To gather Paradise—

Paradise is all around us. 

Heaven can be seen if you look through the right windows.

The spreading wide my narrow Hands / To gather Paradise—

If we take our narrow hands, not narrow minds—

and spread them wide, being broad-minded,

we can scoop up some of Heaven for ourselves.

Jesus took the bread,

gave thanks,

broke the bread,

and gave it to them

to distribute.

They ate the Lord’s Supper.

All were filled.

All were satisfied.

And there were twelve baskets

of leftovers.

One basket for each of the twelve Apostles

to take home and put in the microwave.

And the Apostles’ families had fish sandwiches 

for at least five days.

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1. The Poems of Emily Dickinson, ed. R. W. Franklin (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999), no. 466, p. 215.

2.   Roger Lundin, Emily Dickinson and the Art of Belief (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 12-13.

Will the Seeds Succeed? (Leeds)

Sermon: “Will the Seeds Succeed?”
wayne mclaughlin

Leeds Presbyterian Church
July 12, 2020 – worship through Zoom

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Psalm 119:105-112 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
105 Your word is a lamp
that gives light
    wherever I walk.
106 Your laws are fair,
    and I have given my word
    to respect them all.
107 I am in terrible pain!
Save me, Lord,
    as you said you would.
108 Accept my offerings of praise
    and teach me your laws.
109 I never forget your teachings,
    although my life is always
    in danger.
110 Some merciless people
    are trying to trap me,
    but I never turn my back
    on your teachings.
111 They will always be
my most prized possession
    and my source of joy.
112 I have made up my mind
to obey your laws forever,
    no matter what.



Matthew 13.1-9 and 18-23 NRSV
13 That day Jesus went out of the house and sat down beside the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he climbed into a boat and sat down. The whole crowd was standing on the shore.

3 He said many things to them in parables: “A farmer went out to scatter seed. 4 As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path, and birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it scorched the plants, and they dried up because they had no roots. 7 Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked them. 8 Other seed fell on good soil and bore fruit, in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one. 9 Everyone who has ears should pay attention.”  […]

18 “Consider then the parable of the farmer. 19 Whenever people hear the word about the kingdom and don’t understand it, the evil one comes and carries off what was planted in their hearts. This is the seed that was sown on the path. 20 As for the seed that was spread on rocky ground, this refers to people who hear the word and immediately receive it joyfully. 21 Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. 22 As for the seed that was spread among thorny plants, this refers to those who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the false appeal of wealth choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 23 As for what was planted on good soil, this refers to those who hear and understand, and bear fruit and produce—in one case a yield of one hundred to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of thirty to one.”



SERMON TEXT:


We are all dirt, aren’t we?
From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.
It sounds rather gloomy.
But—we are not mere dirt.
We are inspired dirt—dirt that God has breathed into.
We are finite creatures made of dirt and spirit!
We were created to hear the Word of God.
We’re special dirt.

The parable of Jesus is about the Word of God.
In the parable the Word is compared to a seed.
The Word is spread—like a farmer casting seeds
in the field.


THE PATH

Now, some of the seeds go outside the boundary of the field
because God is an enthusiastic farmer.
Some seeds land on the path that goes around the field.
They don’t grow well, as you would expect.
The path is for walking.
As the farmer, and perhaps other people,
have walked on the path,
it has been packed down.
The seeds don’t have a chance.

There are some of us who have been trampled on.
People have walked all over us.
Because we have let them.
We have allowed ourselves to become a doormat.
Those of us who have allowed this to happen to ourselves
definitely have a low self-image.
We don’t stand up for ourselves.
We let people walk all over us.
We have become a path.

I understand this because I grew up with a 
very low self-image.
I don’t know why.
Perhaps it’s in my DNA.

I played tennis in high school.
I played the number one spot on our team.
It was a large school, and I was the best tennis player
in the whole school.
I had never had lessons, so parts of my game
were weak,
but I compensated by my speed and agility—
my ability to
run all over the court to return balls
that others could not reach.

My style of playing was defensive.
The offensive part of my game was weak,
but my defensive play was really good.
I could keep on returning that ball
until the other player got worn out.

My style of play reflected my low self-image.
Instead of aggressively going after my opponent,
I passively stood back and returned the ball.
I didn’t have enough confidence in myself
to go on the attack.
I let the other player attack
and tried to wear him down by my
defensive skills.
Sometimes I won that way.

Some seed falls on the path.
Path dirt is not receptive to the Good News of God.
It’s too worn down.

When we loathe ourselves,
when we think we don’t have any worth,
we have trouble believing the Good News
that God has made us worthy and precious.

If we find ourselves hardened by a low
self-image, or depression,
we need to find someone to help us
get off the path
and back onto the field
where we will find ourselves more open
to receiving God’s Word—the Word
of unconditional love.

Michael Gerson, a columnist for The Washington Post, spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. in 2019 about his experience with depression and hospitalization. I found his words beautiful and moving. Here is an excerpt: 

Like nearly one in ten Americans — and like many of you — I live with this insidious, chronic disease. Depression is a malfunction in the instrument we use to determine reality. The brain experiences a chemical imbalance and wraps a narrative around it. So the lack of serotonin, in the mind’s alchemy, becomes something like, “Everybody hates me.” Over time, despair can grow inside you like a tumor. 

I would encourage anyone with this malady to keep a journal. At the bottom of my recent depression, I did a plus and minus, a pro and con, of me. Of being myself. The plus side, as you’d imagine, was short. The minus side included the most frightful clichés: “You are a burden to your friends.” “You have no future.” “No one would miss you.” The scary thing is that these things felt completely true when I wrote them. At that moment, realism seemed to require hopelessness. 

But then you reach your breaking point — and do not break. With patience and the right medicine, the fog in your brain begins to thin. If you are lucky, as I was, you encounter doctors and nurses who know parts of your mind better than you do. 

Over time, you begin to see hints and glimmers of a larger world outside the prison of your sadness. 

In my right mind — when I am rested and fed, medicated and caffeinated — I know that I was living within a dismal lie. 

In my right mind, I know I have friends who will not forsake me.

In my right mind, I know that chemistry need not be destiny. 

In my right mind, I know that weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.  

[Source: washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/02/18/i-was-hospitalized-depression-faith-helped-me-remember- how-live]

People who feel like everyone walks all over them are not hopeless. They need to find a psychological “coach” – which we call counselors and therapists. Through them, Christ heals.


THE ROCKS

Jesus says that some of the seeds fall on
rocky ground.
The seed penetrates the soil, and does okay
for a while,
but the rocks are an obstacle,
and the roots can’t go deep to get nourishment.

Some people are like rocky ground.
I’ve seen folk who enthusiastically believe
in the gospel for the first time:
they get excited.
They go around trying to convert everyone.
They have a great testimony.
But they can’t make it for the long haul.

For our faith to last
we must have deep roots.
There is a shallow form of religion.
It has no depth.

To be a person of faith takes perseverance. 
Faith is not a sprint—it’s a marathon.
To be deeply rooted in Christ means that
we have to be serious about our faith.
It means gathering with other Christians
to worship God.
It means studying and praying daily,
and finding a way to serve others.

Recently we have all seen what happens
when the rocks get into the way.
When just below the surface of our faith
is something hard—hard-heartedness
or hard-headedness
takes the form of bigotry and racial prejudice.

I recently saw a video clip of a Black Lives Matter
protest.
On the other side of the street were a few people
shouting slogans against Black Lives Matter.
In that group were three people in a pickup truck.
One of them—a woman—was in the bed of the truck,
waving a large Confederate flag and shouting, 

“I hate you! I hate you! And I’m going to teach my
children to hate you!”

Somebody had taught her to hate certain kinds of people.
No one is born into this world as a hater.
No little baby has hate in its heart.
Somebody has to teach that child to hate.

In order for the rocks of hate to be dug up
and thrown out of the soil,
a person has to unlearn their hatred.
They have to break through the rocks.
That kind of breakthrough comes only through
the grace of God.

Megan Phelps-Roper is a young woman who grew up in the Westboro Baptist Church,protesting at funerals of soldiers who were killed in Iraq;protesting at funerals of gay people.This church taught their members to hate.But this young woman was converted to love.She went on Twitter in order to spread her church’s message of hate.But there were a few people who responded to hermessage with kindness toward her as a person.The Holy Spirit, through the kind words of a few people,broke the rocks in her heart.She left the Westboro Baptist Church, which meantbeing ostracized from her family.But she found another family—the real Church,the Church that spreads the love of God for all people.

The hard rock was broken by the softness of kindness.



THE THORNS

Jesus says that some seeds fell on soil where there
were thorn bushes and weeds.
This is like people who hear God’s Word
and receive it, and begin to grow.
But the thorn bushes and the weeds choke it to death.

The little plant cries out, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!” 

Jesus says that what chokes the plant is
anxiety and greed.
Greed is never satisfied.
You get $100,000 and you want $500,000.
You get $500,000 and you want a million.
You get a million and you want a billion.
Greed brings no happiness,
and it chokes your heart.

Anxiety kneels on your neck.
Anxiety or worry literally chokes the body.
I used to have anxiety attacks.
I learned that what was happening to me during
those attacks was that my body was literally squeezing
me.
My blood flow was constricted.
My muscles were contracting.
My body was choking itself,
and I felt like I was dying.
I had trouble breathing. 
I felt like I was dying!

That is literally what anxiety does to the body.
I went and talked to a counselor about my anxiety,
and that helped a lot.
But what really helps me is a little pill
I take every day.
It changed my life.
It was like being born again.


GOOD DIRT

Finally, says Jesus, some seeds fall on good dirt.
This is the person who is receptive to the Good News—who
has gotten off the beaten path,
and has dug up all the rocks,
and has cut down the weeds,
and is able to grow and put down roots.

We’re all dirt.
What we should strive to do is to be
good dirt.
Then our lives will be productive.
We will be able to feed others with what
has grown in our hearts.

Our lives will be fulfilled.
We are not on this earth just to live for ourselves.
We are here to allow the Spirit
to nourish others through our lives.