 | The New England Church PulpitNew England Congregational Church UCC |
"To Whom Can We Go?" | John 6: 60-69 | October 5, 2003 |
As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill's wife would give birth to her first child about the time that Bill would be competing in the Paris Games.
In 1924 there were no jet airliners from Paris to the United States, only slow?moving ocean?going ships. And so Bill found himself in a dilemma. Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife's side when their first child was born? Or should he withdraw from the team and remain behind. Bill's wife insisted that he go to Paris. After all, he had been working towards this for all these years. It was the culmination of a life?long dream. Clearly the decision was not easy for Bill to make. Finally, after much soul searching, Bill decided to withdraw from the competition and remain behind with his wife so that he could be with her when their first child arrived. Bill considered being at her side a higher priority than going to Paris to fulfil a life?long dream. The United States four?man canoe team won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. And Bill's wife was late in giving birth to her first child. She was so late that Bill could have competed in the event and returned home in time to be with her when she gave birth. People said, "What a shame." But Bill said he had no regrets. After all, his commitment to his wife was more important then, and it still was now.
The story of Bill Havens is a story of how one man paid a high price to fulfill a commitment to someone he loved. In the sixth chapter of the gospel of John we see people who leave Jesus because they couldn’t make the commitment he laid out. They wanted free food ? a free lunch ? and not some vague sounding spiritual food that would do nothing for their rumbling stomachs. Others left Jesus ? because they could not believe that God would send spiritual food through a person as plain as Jesus ? through someone they knew and had grown up with. To them ? the spiritual could not be contained in the profane ? in the common ? in the familiar ? but must always be accompanied by smoke and fire and lightening and thunder and other grand displays.
Still others left Jesus because they understood exactly what he was saying and they did not see any profit in what Jesus was offering. They were looking for the lure of reward and the message of Jesus offered hardship, struggle, and being misunderstood. We humans often believe that those who are faithful to God will be protected, rescued, defended, upheld. You hear people say, “Why did that happen to him, of all people? He is the most faithful man I know.” One pastor writes that “We have this belief that those who love God will find their way strewn with flowers, that people will stand back when we pass by and say, ‘My, aren’t you something?”
That pastor tells a story about two friends of hers, one a lawyer. They decided to prepare Christmas baskets for the elderly residents of a high rise housing project in Atlanta. So they bought canned hams, sweet potatoes, fresh oranges, candy–the works. They loaded the two dozen baskets in the lawyer’s car and set off on their ‘good deed.’
At the high rise they took over one of the four elevators and started working their way to the top. One of them held the elevator and the other delivered the baskets. Then on about the fourth floor a gnarled old man stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.
Santa’s helpers looked at each other over their baskets that filled the floor of the elevator. “Sir,” they said respectfully, “we are using this elevator to deliver these Christmas baskets. Would you mind using one of the others?”
“This here is my elevator,” the old man muttered. The other two chuckled amicably. “I see,” one of them said. “Well just for today could you use one of the others so that we can deliver these baskets?”
“I told you this is my elevator,” the old man said. “You boys go get yourselves one of the others.” And he turned into an immovable object. So the two doers of good deeds unloaded everything into the hallway and stood there quivering with righteous indignation as the doors of the elevator closed.
“We were doing God’s work!” one of them said. “We didn’t have to be there on Christmas Eve, riding a smelly elevator in that godawful place. We put ourselves at risk! Why, we even left a Mercedes convertible parked on the street!” (From Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way)
He now finds the memory funny and knows that you not ought to expect to be recognized for doing good. Still, he, like most of us, longs to be appreciated. He is still enticed by the idea that doing God’s work will make him glow in the dark so that everyone knows how special he is. But that’s not how discipleship works, is it?
Today’s story in the Gospel of John is one of disaffection. And we know that lack of understanding, disappointment or conflict can turn people off. (Who of us after the Cubs debacle of 1969 didn’t take seriously the joke that the Cubs would be moved to the Philippines and be renamed the “Manila folders?”)
At times we are like the little girl that Faye Neff tells about. Her name was Wendy; she was very young. She was always fascinated by a certain feature in her church. Behind the pulpit was a wooden door (not unlike we have at the sides). It was always closed during the worship service. Wendy imagined that Jesus lived in the room behind that door, and that the pastor would go back there to find out from Jesus what he ought to say. It felt good having Jesus nearby; Wendy would never have actually knocked on the door or opened it, but she liked knowing that Jesus was there in case some emergency came up. One day, Wendy noticed that the door was open. She held her breath as she reached for the door and stepped into the secret room. But all she saw were old choir robes, extra chairs and candle holders. Jesus wasn’t there. In her childish mind, Wendy wondered if Jesus had left her church for some reason. Most of us have at times, like Wendy, wondered if God has abandoned us. So like the disaffected disciples we too are tempted to walk away.
When Jesus asks the twelve if they also are going to leave him, Peter answers, “Lord, to whom can we go?” Peter, of all the disciples, is the one who stands up for traditional faith. He keeps the dietary laws. He never eats forbidden things, including any kind of meat with the blood still in it. This talk of eating flesh and drinking blood turns his stomach as badly as it does anyone else’s. But, as confusing as Jesus is, Peter has glimpsed something in Jesus that he cannot turn away from. He has glimpsed a quality of life that God offers. He will not go away from the life he has been led to, even if it is miles from the life he thought he wanted. So he answers “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
The writer of the book of Hebrews points out that we may not understand why things are as they are now but we have seen the hope of God in the life of Jesus. It is Jesus who promises to declare us his sisters and brothers. We are family in the family of God.
Twenty?eight years after Bill Havens missed the Olympics, Bill received a cablegram from his son Frank. It was sent from Helsinki, Finland, where the 1952 Olympics were being held. Here is what the cablegram said:
"Dad, I won. I'm bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born."
Frank Havens had just won the gold medal for the United States in the canoe?racing event.
There is a sequel to our acts of commitment as well, our commitments to one another, our commitment to [the baby Ryan we will baptize this morning and to his family], Ryan and his family, and our commitment to God. We reap a harvest of joy and peace that endures forever. And as we gather at God’s table where Christians around the world gather today we hear Jesus welcome us a sisters and brothers. Amen.
Joe Dunham
| Copyright © 2003 by Joe Dunham. All rights reserved. |