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Sunday, December 28, 2008

The New Thing: Abundance

By Rev. Jerry Herships

Isaiah 43:18-19
18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Days away. A brand new year. I gotta be honest. Just among us friends, I am so sick of making resolutions. I know that doesn’t sound very hopeful, which, I am told is part of the Preachers job. That whole “hope thing”. I don’t think resolutions and hopefulness are always the same thing. I guess in some ways, you are hopeful that you will stick to your resolutions. Does anyone even remember there resolution from last year? I don’t. I realize what I bring to ministry is that I am very good at the “human side” of being a pastor. In fact, I sometimes wonder if the whole reason God put me in this part is as if to say, “See, look at how human THAT one is.” I have often felt like when it comes to being a pastor…I am NOT like the other boys and girls.

        Just look at our clergy staff here. Cindy Bates is so centered and, while I sometimes have an answer within the first three seconds of a question being asked, like I was on the speed round of Jeopardy, she actually takes time to think about what she is going to say. And when she does, it always seems to me to be the right answer, the heartfelt answer. To me, she is the perfect example of what compassion should look like in the role of pastor. 

        Harvey Martz is what many senior pastors strive to be, and often fall short. The Rev. Dr. brings to this world of religion the intelligences and reasoning that so often falls short at other churches, many of which we all have been at before coming here. Harvey Martz has taught us that there is room for the head as well as the heart in the pursuit of trying to understand God. 

        I have been so lucky to be placed in a church where I can come and learn about my craft in different ways everyday. 

        As a result of this, I have found myself asking myself, “What do you bring to the party, preacher boy?” I have struggled with this question for a long time while taking part in this process called ordained ministry.  While people have said “sense of humor” to me (some of you are looking at me now and have a look on your face that says, “not so much”), that has become a sort of knee jerk reaction. The truth is, I know much funnier people, not just back in my days of stand-up but right here at the church and even in my own family. My brother was in entertainment and was probably a big reason I got interested in it in the first place. We both for a time in our lives got paid to be funny. The truth of the matter is, our sister Joann was funnier than both of us combined. Same was true for my mom and even my dad. Now that I actually think about it, Gene and I were two of the LEAST funny people in our family! That actually explains a lot. 

        So if sense of humor is sort of the go to answer, what is it about me that I bring to ministry. I have been told my prayers are “earthy”…I don’t know what that means but it was said with such kindness, I will assume it was a nice thing. If I was to venture a guess what that person was trying to get at, I would say there was a certain realness or worldliness to what I was saying. Now this is not to say that isn’t the case with my colleagues here, just like it isn’t true that I don’t have compassion or a brain in my head. Everyone comes with gifts to different degrees. I’m just saying if compassion and brains aren’t the first thing you notice about me…I better run with my earthiness!

        The question might be coming up in your brains now, “What does this have to do with God and the scripture?” Stay with me. I’ll get there. With us being only four days from a new year and 2009 being the year I will be ordained (God and the Board willing), and there being so much flux and change in the air, it leads me to asking the question: What is my “New Thing” for 2009? You can call it a resolution if you want. I prefer to think of it as…what are the steps I am going to take to get closer to God? How is your relationship with God in 2009 going to be any different than in all the years leading up to 2009? Put simply, in 2009, how are you going to get closer to God? For me, it is going to be a focus on continuing to peal back the layers to try and be my authentic self as much and as often as possible. Does the world see the real you? Are there parts you aren’t proud of? There are with me. Thoughts and actions that bum me out. I have been trying to step back from those thoughts and actions and say, “why did you react to that driver that way?”  (Driving is always the best example to use…it is safe and most people have experienced it…as long as I am not preaching in the Amish community, it is a good example.) The point is, I am trying to take a step back and look at what I do and ask in third person, “what was THAT about?” it is rarely, when I really look at it, what I SAY it is about. I heard a preacher say once, “It is NEVER about what people say it is about.” Pressure at works affects how we act at home and vise versa. Our lives are often emotional chain reactions. The more we can step back and recognize what are actions are about, the more we are trying to be our genuine selves…the selves God wants us to be. 

        This authentic self is what God wants us to be. It is our way of being a New Thing. When God talks about this “New Thing” in Isaiah, it is God’s way of saying the ways of the past do not dictate the ways of the future. We can all start over. Anytime. God is telling the Israelites the new exodus from Babylon will not have the same trial tribulations of the past exodus from Egypt. Why is it that so often when we are thrown into a new thing we assume it will be worse that the thing we are use to? Even when we don’t like the thing we are use to? It is often a case of the devil we know is better than the devil we don’t.  That is not the promise of God. If your life is not going the way you want, you can start a new thing. A thing that rejoices in who you are, even if that person isn’t perfect. We try to be soooooo perfect at church don’t we? Who ever first said, the church is a hospital for sinners not a museum for saints got it right. The problem is we often park the ambulance around back so no one can see it. We need to let this community hold us up. Ask most people who have gone thru a hard time and they will tell you, generally, (we all make mistakes) but generally, this community is here for you when hard times strike. As Jerry Maguire said, “let me help you.” The “me” being St. Andrew. We are the community hospital. Let us help when you are hurting. 

        By not hiding who we are, and being our authentic self, we are moving towards a new thing. We are moving towards an abundant life. What does that really mean? What is an abundant life? I can tell you what it is not. It is not the prosperity gospel. It is not “praise God and you will be blessed with money, homes, a mountain cabin and a Wii.” It is interesting to note that in all the worlds’ major religions and even in most of the great moral philosophies, there is an agreement that you have to give up some of the worldly pleasures that are normally craved by men and women. Moderation seems to be the key. I don’t agree with Oscar Wilde who believed that, “Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” I prefer Mark Twain’s belief that moderation is a good thing. He used it in all areas of his life. He once said, “Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.” He is committed. This does not mean that a life with God is a drag. In fact, life without God is the drag. It just means some things no matter how fun, aren’t good for you when you have too much. I think we can sometimes read the prosperity gospel into what a preacher says, even when that isn’t what was said. Sometimes when we hear the word “blessings” WE think the speaker is automatically referring to the financial. Sometimes it is the listener filter and not the speaker. Webster defines abundance by calling it: “An overflowing fullness; ample sufficiency; great plenty; profusion; copious supply.” That sounds pretty good to me.  This passage in John is one of the places Jesus is using the “I AM” statements to help describe who he is in relationship to the abundant life.  In John, Jesus comes so we can have an overflowing fullness of life. That sound right up my alley.  The truth is this is not the first time we hear about abundance in the Bible. It is EVERYWHERE. Walter Brueggemann is a retired bible professor of the Bible. He wrote an article in 1999. In it Brueggemann mentions the abundance of the Bible starts with Genesis I. He calls it a “song of praise for God’s generosity.” It is also in the Psalms which close with Psalm 150, which is an amazement of God’s goodness. 



        It is in the New Testament as well. It is in the story of the loaves and fishes. It is in the last days of Jesus life when he shared the last supper with his disciples. The message is: when what you have is shared…there will always be enough. The gifts I give to you are not gifts that are meant to be kept to yourself. When you share them with others you discover the abundance of the gifts themselves. Now I am not talking about money. That might be the thing you have an abundance of and if you do…Woo! Hoo! That is awesome. But I am also talking about sharing your gifts and abilities. This is what leads to abundance. It is when we don’t share, that we are coming from a place of scarcity. This is exactly opposite of what is presented over and over and over in the Bible, both the Old and New Testament. It is, however, EXACTLY what is portrayed in the world. If you are anything like me, the world gets a wee bit more of your time than the Bible. I try to open my Bible as often as I can but I guarantee I open iTunes more. On my best days, I look at my Bible, on everyday I look at ads. The world wants to make sure it convinces us that the world is a place of scarcity. The message is: we don’t have enough. I am as big a victim of this message as anyone.  Especially this time of year. Does anyone else have Christmas money burning a hole in their pocket? Better go and buy! I don’t have enough! And nowhere, at no time in recent history are we hearing that story more than now. It is actually in two parts. We watch the news telling us how bad it is. Then they cut to commercials that tell us how much less we are if we don’t have the latest…fill-in-the-blank!

        I am not suggesting we don’t acknowledge the reality of the world. I hear lots of stories now as a pastor. I know people, good people that have lost their jobs. I know people who are stuck in jobs they hate and feel helpless.  Even if you HAVE a job there is anxiety. Laura heard someone in the job field business say that an economy like this brings out the bully bosses. The ones that say things like, “you better just be glad you have a job.” This is not an abundant life. It is living in fear. It is living in scarcity. The Bible tells us of a different way of thinking. It tells us about a God that only wants the best for us but asks us to do our part too. I have to always ask myself, “Where am I focusing my energy? Is it on what I don’t have or what I do? Is it on my blessings or my heartaches?” This is not saying everything is o.k. It is saying that my attitude and being authentically who I am, who God made me to be is going to do more for the energy I put out in the world than focusing on the negative. 

        There might be some of you out there that might be thinking, “good for him, he’s got a job.” You might not know or you might have forgotten, I was a stand-up comic in L.A. My job….was looking for jobs. And when the gigs didn’t come, I took whatever…and I mean WHATEVER jobs I could find. One year I had 14 W-2’s. I’ve had more jobs than this whole section! I have stood in line at unemployment. I won’t kid you. It sssssss…..tunk! I realize looking back on it now and realize so much of my sorrow….and it was sorrow, was caused because I believed I was who it said on my business card. I WAS whatever job I was holding. If I was a comic at the IMPROV…happy. If I was folding jeans at the GAP….sad. If I was on tour with Dick Clark…happy. If I was selling oil changes door to door….sad. Actually, misery. This 

was NOT abundant life. I still have to deal with this. Talk about your loaded words. Pastor. Preacher. Minister. Reverend. I have to constantly remind myself that while this is what I feel I have been called to do, I believe in the priesthood of all believers. I think we are ALL called to do something. Pastor is what I do. Child of God, who loves me no matter what, THAT is who I am. I sometimes forget that. Anyone ever forget that? Anyone else ever beat themselves up a bit? Let it go. Let that be part of your new thing. I think as we move closer to living everyday authentically who we are…when we live everyday focusing on what the Bible says and not what Nike says…when we focus everyday on what God thinks of us and not what are neighbor thinks of us…it is then that we will be moving more into 2009 doing a New Thing and when we do we will find our life, and we will find it abundantly. Amen.