A Proverb Is Born

So, I have been trying to finally clear out about 2 boxes and 4 piles of ‘stuff’ that never got moved into my office 7 years ago. I started here with a bang – off and running and never really fully settled and organized. There have been times over the 7 years that I have been grumpy about this. But mostly I can not figure out why this time and place should be any more organized than the rest of my life.

Mostly it is stuff that I did not know what to do with before and put off deciding, hoping for clarity. It is as if I think that God and Jesus are going to bring clarity to THIS when there is still some ambiguity about the whole “Do not kill” commandment. But I really know better. And I have to say, that if I have not missed something in 7 years, there is profound clarity about how much I need it. What a shame that landfills are filling with ‘stuff’ that is created to be filed but then is never looked at again. This has gotta be one of the least of our concerns, but still.

ANYWAY. I did find a couple of things of interest. One is an old story written by Carl McColman. I can not decide if I should read it, mail it, or quietly put it in the shredder. I guess quietly is now a lost option.

But I also found two letters I received after the same sermon I preached years ago. It is clear why I kept them. They typify my work environment. Let me quote:
“Dear Mark,
I was alternately surprised, disappointed, irritate and ultimately dismayed that your May 29 sermon was without mention of Memorial Day or any of its related and interwoven themes. I can think of no special day that cries more for the special role that the church can play in the furthering community remembrance and spiritual examination of the extreme sacrifice the nation and members of this very congregation- not to mention their ancestors- have made over the years. I find it hard to believe that nobody thought of Memorial Day in planning the service or, if you did, what possible reasoning could have been at work as Noah and the Ark prevailed as the theme for this particular Sunday?
My disappointment as a veteran and one who has lost friends and relatives to war over many years is not quite the point. My disappointment is as much in our default to the future and to those many whom war has not touched.”

Yes, that is right. I was chastised for preaching a sermon based on scripture and not a holiday that is a holiday for our nation and not for Christians. And yes, I do think he was particularly irritated that the text was Noah’s Ark. He undoubtedly sees this as a fable, suitable for children only. He eventually became a deacon of the church. I hope that at some point he learns about the lectionary and how it is used as a foundation for Sunday scripture lessons.

Okay. Not all that unusual for me, really. I do not tend to pay attention to either civic or Hallmark holidays. I would like Christians from any nation to feel right at home when I preach and lead worship. I have at times touched on (or at least mentioned) Mother’s Day or the Fourth of July, but only as they serve the service/scripture/worship of the day. Our nation has Memorial Day. A day that we should as a nation remember what people have done for the nation. Our church (as in all Christian Churches, not just the U.S. ones) has All Souls Day to remember what people have done for God. The two are not the same and each community should celebrate their own. IMO

Now here is the other letter:
Dear Mark
You leadership of service today and your sermon were so great that I want to praise and express my thanks. [She then talks about how my illustration of being a Sea Scout and stuck in 36 foot boat during a day and half gale while 7 of the 9 people on board were smoking cigars reminded her of her own sons time as a sea scout.] You made Noah’s Ark a reality.”

The illustration was important because the point I was making about Noah’s Ark is that it is like Christ’s Church. The Ark would have been loud, small, crowded, smelly, uncomfortable, and filled with some (like a mosquitoes and vipers) that you would not want to be with. Like the church, the only reason to be in the Ark is because you know there is a storm our there and the shelter provided by the Ark or the Church is better than being adrift without either. I did not like the cigar smoke in the cramped cabin of the boat, but it was better than being on deck! I did try.

And yes, this is still why I stick with the church – even with my wonderment at its continued existence.

I now use as a proverb, “No matter what you do or don’t do- someone will love it and someone will hate it.” It could be used as a way of saying “damned if you do and damned if you don’t”. But I use it to free myself and remind others that pleasing others and avoiding surprising, disappointing, irritating, or dismaying people is not what we strive for in the church. It is always about God. Knowing that I will please and dismay people with the same sermon (or anything or nothing) frees me from concern about reactions and helps me to focus on being faithful. And it means that people can not push me around with their likes and disappointment. I get nudged, but not pushed…

Just for fun, let me share the post scripts each person wrote. The first one said, “All that aside, thank you for all you do here and in the community. We appreciate it.” The second said, “Thanks also to your busy spouse!”

So – anyway – this seems to describe my work environment. Sort of like Noah’s Ark… Only I wish I could say who is mucking out the bilges and who gets to be on look out for land. It seems that in many ways ministers must do both. The one calls for more time and the other needs more time. I am just not sure which is which. Maybe once God has clarified the “Stop Killing” commandment this will be next up for clarification. Or clarity about what I should do with the new pile of ‘stuff’ from the two boxes and Carl’s story. Clarity in any of these would would be appreciated by me. And sight of land.

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