Weekly Sermon

"Overheard Any Good Gospel Lately?" - August 29, 2004

The Reverend Anne Benefield

Exodus 20: 1-17, Deuteronomy 6: 4-9

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Prayer: Lord God, our God, teach us to love you with all our might and to share our faith with our children, grandchildren, and all the children who bless Geneva Presbyterian Church by entering her sanctuary. Amen. The other day I was listening to an educational CD in the car. At the end of the presentation, there were questions and answers. One man in the audience asked how to share the information effectively with children and teens. Without missing a beat, the instructor said, "Talk about the things you learned on the phone in a way that lets your children overhear it. Their curiosity will be peaked, especially if they believe you don't realize that they are listening." I immediately knew that the instructor was right. John and I find that if we drop our voices to talk about something, Johnny and Olya perk up and try to hear every word. On the other hand, when we speak to them directly, they tune us out. Sometimes Johnny goes so far as to cover his ears! Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher-theologian of the nineteenth century, pointed out that Jesus preached primarily through storytelling because, according to Kierkegaard, the gospel is not so much heard as it is overheard. Tony Campolo explains: "According to Kierkegaard, the gospel is always overheard if it is to be heard at all. A didactic message seldom gets through. Generally, we put up our defenses against direct accusations or directives, and try to ward off truth that is blatantly directed at us. But, says Kierkegaard, when we hear a story about somebody else, and realize that that person's story is also about us, we can, in an unthreatened manner, apply the truth that we overhear in the story to our own life situations." [Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000), x-xi] Earlier this week, I got a postcard from Barnes & Noble about two programs that are coming up. The first is on Tuesday, September 7th, when the author of Beauty Beyond the Ashes, Cheryl McGuinnes will tell her family's dramatic and personal account of their tragedy on September 11, 2001. Her husband Tom was co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center. She is a Christian and her message is one of hope. As I read the postcard, I thought I would like to hear her speak. I hope I never have to face a tragedy like hers, yet she is willing to let me "overhear" how she has come through it with courage and grace. We learn about life and faith by overhearing stories of life and faith. Our scripture today is a powerful affirmation of faith called the great Shema that stands at the center of the Jewish and Christian faiths. I think we overhear in the great Shema that 1) God is one and deserves all our love and devotion, 2) we should use God's word as a signpost constantly directing us to God, 3) we are to recite the words of God to our children. It is difficult to over-emphasize the importance of the Shema to the Jewish people. They were the first to understand God as one. They began the monotheistic faith that is now shared by all the Abrahamic religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Still, sometimes we need reminding that God is at the center of all things and the source of all things. There was an elderly woman, who lived next to an affirmed atheist. She lived on a meager social security survivor's benefit. Although, her finances only afforded her only the most basic life, daily she would open her windows to give thanks and prayer unto God. One month she did not receive her check. Instead of complaining, she opened her windows, fell on her knees and began to thank God and pray. The neighbor thought to himself, this is a great opportunity to prove to her that there is no God. So he hurriedly went to the store, purchased a carload of groceries. Upon arriving home, he placed them on her porch, rang her doorbell and hid in the bushes to spring his surprise. When the elderly woman opened the door and saw all the groceries, she rejoiced in the Lord. The neighbor jumped out from behind the bushes and exclaimed, "God is not real. I bought those groceries!" To this the old woman exclaimed, "I knew my God would supply my needs, but I didn't know He would make the devil pay for them!" There is only one God, who works with all kinds of people to bring good. Like the ancient Israelites, we must remember at all times that God is one. We need signposts. The signposts we use may be memorized scripture, a cross in our pocket, or Christian music that we sing to others and to ourselves. The other day I found a story told by Mark Hodges. He wrote, "A young boy was overheard asking his playmate, 'Wouldn't you hate to wear glasses all the time?' 'No,' came the answer, 'not if I had some like my grandmother's. She always sees when people are tired or sad, and she knows just what to do to make them feel better. One day I asked her how she could see that way all the time. She told me it was the way she learned to look at things as she grew older.' After thinking for a minute, the first boy concluded, 'Yeah, I guess you're right; it must be her glasses.'" That dear grandmother was following God's signposts. We eventually arrive where the signposts we have chosen lead us. Do you remember the Nathaniel Hawthorne story "The Great Stone Face"? It is the story of a man named Ernest who grew up in a village close to a natural wonder. Nature had majestically carved in the side of a mountain the features of a human countenance so realistic that from a distance the Great Stone Face seemed alive. All the features were noble and the expression was grand and sweet. Ernest, like all children of the nearby village, was told of an ancient prophecy that at some future day a child would be born in the vicinity who was destined to become the greatest person of his time and whose countenance, in manhood, would bear an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face. Upon learning that the promised prophet had not yet appeared, the young Ernest clapped his hands above his head and exclaimed, "I do hope that I shall live to see him!" Ernest, growing older, never forgot that prophecy learned at his mother's knee. It was always on his mind. As he grew into manhood, Ernest allowed the Great Stone Face to become his teacher-meditating upon the countenance, looking to it for comfort, reading stories about it, speaking of it to those who would hear. Years passed. Many came into the village claiming to be the promised one. But each time Ernest went out to meet the pretenders, he came away disappointed. For although these imposters claimed the honor, Ernest knew better. As a result of his devotion to the Face, he had become an expert on it. Ernest was an old man now, his hair gray and his body slow. The one great sadness of his life was that he had never seen the prophet long foretold. One day a poet famous for his ode celebrating the Stone Face came to visit Ernest. They enjoyed each other's company and yet each spoke sadly-for they longed to see the Face enfleshed. The two talked long and, as the day drew to a close, it came time for Ernest's daily discourse on the Great Stone Face. Each evening inhabitants of the neighboring village assembled in the open air for his stirring oration. Delivered with eloquence, the words were powerful because they accorded with his thoughts, and his thought had reality and depth because they harmonized with the devoted life he had always lived. The poet, as he listened, grew teary-eyes. The being and character of Ernest were a nobler strain of poetry than he had ever written. The face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of expression, so imbued with benevolence, and with the Great Stone Face looming in the background, the poet suddenly realized what should have been obvious all along. Ernest had a mild, sweet, beautiful countenance that looked like the Stone Face itself! Moved by an irresistible impulse, the poet began to shout to all who would hear - "Behold, behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!" And with that, all the people looked at Ernest. What the poet said was true. The prophecy was fulfilled! Ernest had become like his ideal. Hawthorne's story speaks a simple and profound truth: We become what we focus on. [Michael G. Moriarty, The Perfect 10: The Blessings of Following God's Commandments in a Post Modern World (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 210-212] There is one more thing that the Shema emphasizes: Teaching our children about God. That isn't always so easy because we sometimes make the mistake of talking about God rather than living faithfully. A businessman known for his ruthlessness once announced to Mark Twain, "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the 10 Commandments aloud at the top." Twain replied, "I have a better idea. You could stay in Boston and keep them." [Moody Bible Institute's Today in the Word, September, 1991, p. 32] Are we keeping the commandments? Do our children know about our faith from our actions as well as our words? Just as they are picking up the stray words we often wish they didn't hear, they are noting our actions. There is a gospel musician named Hilding Halverson who tells about overhearing a conversation between this son and two other little boys. When my small boy was playing with his buddies in the backyard, I overheard them talking one day - and the conversation was one of those "my day can whip your dad" routines. One boy said proudly, "My dad knows the mayor of our town!" Another said, "That's nothing - my dad knows the governor of our state!" Wondering what was coming next in the program of bragging, I heard my son say, "That's nothing - my dad knows God!" May all of our children overhear enough to know that we love God and speak with God every day. Amen.