St. John’s Church on Morgan Hill

Blake Heffner August 13th, 2006

“Tips for Riding the Carousel of Life”

Sermon by pastor Blake Heffner - August 13, 2006

Texts: Matthew 6:31-34; II Timothy 2:14-18; Isaiah 58:6-9

INTRO

“The circle of life” is the common idea that human life comes full circle, from birth to death. This week, it seems I was given vivid glimpses of the whole process. We welcomed a new baby into the family and said farewell to a member of our extended clan. I was blessed by a woman who is dying, and – like you - experienced a few of life’s more mundane bumps and turns. This morning, I’d like you to imagine this circle on its side: life is like a carousel. – it doesn’t just go round and round, it also goes up and down. Let’s consider a few biblical tips for riding well…

1. The wonder of life – photo of Amelia and Charlotte

Sometimes life seems to be so routine, so predictable, so mechanical. Riding on the merry-go-round is anything but that. We may be aware of the mechanisms, but when the music begins we just sit back and enjoy the ride.

When a baby is born, we can even take it in stride! As long as mother and baby are healthy, it’s no big deal. Many of us have been there before. But not two-year Amelia. When you get the chance to look at this picture close up you will enjoy Amelia’s concentration. She is studying her new sister moments after meeting her for the first time. What do you think is going through her young mind? Is this one princess – wondering what it will mean for a second princess to live in the castle? Or is she just in awe of this new person, almost the size of her doll?

Life is a marvelous mystery. The psalmist (Ps.139) writes: “It was you [Lord] who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [Why, God,] you know everything about me. Even before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely.” We should never let daily life become purely mechanical and routine. To ride well, we need to cultivate the sense that every phase of life has its wonder-filled moments. God is worthy of our praise – at every age!

2. Living in the present moment – Joan

I had the privilege of visiting someone who has mastered this art. Joan Schaible is a member of this family of faith. She has had a rather long and pretty healthy life – up until about five years ago, that is. These last five years have been filled with dozens of hospital stays and surgical procedures. Why just about everyone who works on the fifth floor of the Payne Pavilion at St. Luke’s knows her by name. Doctors just drop in to say hello to her.

Why? It’s because Joan is one of those rare individuals who has actually learned to live one day at a time, moment by moment really, and she is truly grateful for every little thing. Now she is basically confined to her home, on oxygen. They say she’s got cancer in three places. She’s lost a lot of weight, and most of her former spunk. But you’d hardly know it. Joan still wears a smile; she appreciates the littlest gestures of kindness. When her daughter Sabina plays arpeggios on the piano, you’d think Joan was in Carnegie Hall.

Somewhere along the way, Joan has learned to live the way Jesus taught us – not to worry about what we will wear or eat, not to worry about tomorrow – because God grants us the privilege of living one day at a time. I hope that you might try to visit with Joan as see for yourself a woman of genuine serenity – despite her physical condition and her prognosis. You will be blessed. And, how blessed we will be when we simply trust God for our basic needs and make the most of every moment.

3. Controversies tend to come and go – Earl

Thursday evening we attended the viewing of my father’s cousin, Earl S. Heffner, Jr. Earl had a remarkably successful life as a lawyer and philanthropist; his obituary was nearly a whole column long. What struck me about Earl is how he graduated from Muhlenberg College and later served as Chancellor of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church.

What’s so strange about that, you ask? Nothing these days! But, two hundred and sixty years ago this dual allegiance would have been unthinkable. You see, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was a Lutheran pastor sent to Pennsylvania to help organize the German Lutherans. Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf was a born and bred German Lutheran who became the leader of the renewed Moravian Church. Both men had strong personalities and great leadership qualities. Zinzendorf desired to abandon denominations and form a truly united church of all Christians. Muhlenberg thought that was a preposterous notion. These two powerful men never saw eye to eye, and they made it hard for German Lutherans and Moravians to get along.

The whole point is that on the carousel of life – today’s controversies may be gone by tomorrow. It is well for us to heed Paul’s advice to Timothy: “Tell the people to avoid quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.” Paul offers such a warning several times. Many controversies that are hot-button issues one day are insignificant in another. We haven’t taken that counsel to heart of late. We have forgotten that, as Christians, we have so much more in common than we have dividing us. Hopefully, years from now, the things that charge us up today will be like the Muhlenberg/Zinzendorf issue – merely a another footnote to history.

4. Care for those who ride with us

Getting back to the merry-go-round. Remember how – if you had enough tickets to keep riding – you’d begin to notice the people riding around you, maybe even strike up a conversation? On the carousel of life, the Lord commands us to pay attention to the folks who are riding along side of us. Stretch your imagination – beyond any merry-go-round you’ve ever seen. Imagine that there are literally millions of people – of all ages, colors and nationalities – riding on this same carousel. Many of them are poor and out of work. Some haven’t had enough to eat in several days. Many haven’t had the privilege of education that we take for granted.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” In the Middle Ages, one theologian taught that we cannot pray that prayer sincerely without praying it on behalf of those who do not have daily bread. Furthermore, if we pray that prayer earnestly, and have more than enough bread, we need to share of our surplus with those who are hungry.

The prophet Isaiah put it bluntly: “This is what God wants from us: to share our food with the hungry, invite the homeless poor into your homes, put clothing on those who need clothing. Then, when we do this, ‘the lights will turn on,’ and God will be quick to answer our cries for help.” Friends, we are riding the carousel of life with so much more baggage than we could possibly use. Let us constantly be aware of the others who are riding along with us – both locally and globally. Let us commit to regularly sharing a portion of our wealth with our neighbors in need.

5. When the ride is dizzying – focus on One Person

In closing, I’ll confess the one aspect of carousel riding that particularly grabbed me this week is the fact that life takes us up and down – sometimes at a feverish pace. Do you ever remember getting nauseous on a merry-go-round? I do. The first remedy for an upset stomach is not getting off the ride. No, it is to focus on one object. Traditionally, the merry-go-round has a feature perfect for this – the brass ring.

The Apostle Paul had his eye on a brass ring of sorts when he wrote: “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Our lives in the Heffner household have unusually dizzying of late. I know what I need – it’s to look away from our burdens and focus on the One person who can help: Jesus Christ. He is the One who says: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn form me… and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Amen!

Friends, when the ride is just too much for you, look to Jesus, lean on him, trust him to carry that heavy burden. He will pick it right up and give you rest. There is no better way to spend your time on the carousel of life than in his tender loving arms. Let us turn to him in prayer…

Prayer

Jesus, precious Jesus, you are the One who has taught us about life: how wonderful it is, how we can trust our heavenly Father for all our needs, and how relatively secondary our burning issues are compared to your love and mercy.

Lord, bless us today with a fresh appreciation of your presence and providence. Open our eyes to see your face in our neighbors around us, and move us to reach out to them in effective ways.

We bless you that you are indeed our Rock and Fortress, and we need not be afraid. You are our Good Shepherd, who cares for his sheep. Grant us faith to trust you for all our needs and the serenity of knowing that even our eternal security is assured through your death and resurrection. We praise you! We bless you! We want to live for you! Help us to keep our eyes on the prize – in Jesus’ name. Amen.

• Sermons
• Comments(0)