Facing the Overwhelming

II Kings 4:38-44

Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men."

One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.

Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said.

"How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: 'They will eat and have some left over.'"

Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

John 6:1-14
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"

He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."

So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.




We live in overwhelming times.

Families face the loss of homes.

Investments are evaporating.

Retirement incomes are fading.

Drugs and crime seem to be on the rise in many of our communities.

We live in fear of pandemic flu.

And it doesn’t matter how old or young we are – we all face overwhelming and stressful situations.

It could be the first day of school or Monday morning’s algebra class.

Or it could be the stack of bills on your desk and the struggles you have with your health care.

Our lives are full of experiences that seem overwhelming and beyond our capacity to handle.

In our New Testament lesson we have an extreme example of such an experience.

Jesus and his disciples have tried to escape from the crowds. They do that from time to time so that Jesus can both rest and give special training to his 12 special disciples.

But the plan doesn’t work.

The crowds follow. Five thousand people come and invade the solitude of Christ and his apostles. Immediately Jesus begins to think in very practical terms about feeding the crowd.

Talk about overwhelming situations – how do you feed 5,000 people?

The way Jesus handled it was to perform a miracle.

This was not the first time such a miracle had been performed. Our Old Testament lesson tells us that this is what Elisha did with 100 people.

Nor was this the last time this kind of miracle took place. Later on in his ministry, Jesus fed another multitude with a small amount of food – that time feeding a mere 4,000 people. (Matthew 14 tells of the feeding of the 5,000, followed by Matthew 15 and the feeding of the 4,000. Matthew 16:9 and 10 mentions the feeding of both groups).

As John tells about this particular miracle, he seems to be more interested in how different people became involved in the miracle than in the miracle itself. And it is interesting to take a look and to see how these different people contribute to this overwhelming situation.

The first person John’s Gospel lets us meet is Philip.

Philip seems to have been a very practical person. Feet firmly planted on the ground!

When Jesus goes up to Philip and asks “where can we buy bread for all these people to eat,” Philip responds by saying it would take more than 200 silver coins.

For some that would be a month’s salary, for others it would be six month’s salary – however you look at it – it is a lot of money.

Basically, Philip looks the situation over, and then responds by saying, “It’s hopeless. Nothing can be done.”

Now, that is not an entirely bad approach to an overwhelming situation.

It’s practical.
It’s realistic.
It’s not a state of denial.
It’s not being gullible.
It’s not getting caught in the trap of pie in the sky religion.
Philip is right – this is a hopeless situation.

But while it is good to be realistic about any situation, Philip’s approach is not a very good one, because nothing happens positively to change the situation.

Situation is hopeless.

Nothing can be done.

The problem with that attitude is that it becomes self-fulfilling. When we BELIEVE that nothing can be done, then the situation does indeed become hopeless.

As we face our problems at work, or with our families, or in our church or society, the best way to insure that there will be NO improvements, no resolutions to our problems, is for us to sit back with Philip and to complain that it’s hopeless, that nothing can be done.

That algebra test is coming on Monday – but nothing can be done, so why study?

That stack of bills keeps growing, it can’t get any better, so why not just keep running up the credit card charges?

Work will never get better – so why try?

The marriage is over.

That teenager is hopeless.

The power of negative thinking is real and destructive.

Situation is hopeless. Nothing can be done. Well, that’s one approach, but it’s not a very complete approach to dealing with the overwhelming.

It is good to be realistic and practical – but you have to have more than that.

Let’s take a look at a second person that John highlights -- Andrew.

Andrew was born in a community on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

His father ran a successful fishing business which employed, among others, Andrew and his brother Simon Peter.

But Andrew seems to have thought more about matters of the soul than about fishing, for he left his fishing nets to follow John the Baptist. Then one day, the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the Messiah. And like Philip, Andrew began to follow Christ.

But he always remains a fisherman – someone who was part of a crew, or team. He remains a businessman -- someone who directed others.

So unlike Philip, Andrew looks around to see who can help.

And Andrew finds ONE boy who had five loaves of bread and 2 fish. Then in a realistic tone, he adds that although this is a beginning, it is certainly not enough to feed 5,000 people.

Thus, instead of saying, “The situation is hopeless, there is nothing I can do,” Andrew seems to be saying, “I’ll see if there is anyone who can help me.”

There is a big difference in the two approaches to this problem.

Andrew is not naïve.

Like Philip, he takes a realistic approach.

Like Philip, he knows that he is facing a difficult situation.

But unlike Philip, he does not despair.

He does not sit back and do nothing.

He takes the time to call out for help. And he finds a boy with some food.

So often, we are overwhelmed by our job, our family, our finances -- whatever. And there are others in our midst who can help us, but we don’t call out for help.

You’re in an overwhelming situation? Call out for help! That’s Andrew’s approach, and it was a good approach. Much better than Philip’s. Still, it may not be enough. There may be more we could do in an overwhelming situation.

Let’s take a look at another person John highlights in this story -- the boy.

He doesn’t even have a name.

All we know is that he had a lunch bag and he was willing to share it with others.

Philip had looked the situation over and was very realistic about what he was facing – but he stopped there.

Andrew had a slightly better approach. As he looked at the situation, he decided to find someone to help share the burden.

The boy went even further -- He looked around and said, “Here I am, I’ll GIVE what I can to solving the problem, then leave the rest to God.”

When Andrew looks around to see if there is anyone who can help, the only person he finds among the 5,000 people is one small boy.

He has 5 loaves of barley bread and two fish.

It is not a very good lunch. Barley bread was cheap. It was a poor man’s food. And the fish were probably a pickled fish common in that area, but not very tasty.

It was not very good, nor was it very much. But it was all there was. So Andrew brought the boy to Christ. And this boy was willing to give whatever he could to help.

You know, most of us have something we can give to resolving an overwhelming situation.

If we could be the like the boy and give what we have, who knows what progress we could make.

Every one of these three individuals has a good approach toward handling a difficult situation –

Philip is realistic,

Andrew looks to others for help,

The boy is willing to give what he can toward a solution.

Each one has something of value in their approach.

Any time we face an overwhelming situation, we should take a little of each.

I don’t care if it is Monday’s Algebra test that is coming up, or dealing with the news the doctor has given you about cancer. Your husband has left you, or you’ve found drugs in your child’s room.

These are real problems, and you need a little bit of Philip. You can’t pretend they aren’t there – you’ve got to face them and be realistic.

But you can’t be stuck there – you need a little bit of Andrew. You need to be willing to look for help from others. Why suffer alone when there are those around you who love you and can help?

But you can’t stop there – you need a little of that nameless boy. You need to be willing to give what you can to resolving the situation.

But there is something more you need.

It is the bread!

It is the bread of life!

This sixth chapter of John is a fascinating section of the Bible. It begins with our Scripture Reading for this morning in which Jesus is feeding the people with bread and fish.

He begins by taking the bread.

He gives thanks.

Gives it to the people.

And the people have more than enough to eat.

Now that is where our Scripture reading ends, but if you move beyond that, you find that the people continue to follow Jesus, and Jesus says, “You are just following me because you ate the bread and are satisfied.” (John 6:26)

And Jesus goes onto say that earthly bread spoils and molds, you eat then you get hungry again. He has come to offer himself – which calls the “bread of life.” (John 6:35)

In verse 35 of chapter 6, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry. He who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

That’s what you need in order to deal with life.

That’s what you need in order to face your struggles.

You need Jesus in your life.

You’re dealing with cancer? You need a little of Philip – you have to face up to the seriousness of this illness.

But you need a little of Andrew to seek out the help and the support of others.

And you need a little of that boy, to see what resources you already have to give toward handling this cancer. But you also need the Bread of Life – Jesus. Everything else will leave you still hungry for more. Only Jesus satisfies completely.

The cancer will still be there – but the power to accept and handle this will be there as well.

The wife leave you?

Your child taking drugs?

That job still frustrating?

Credit card bills out of control?

Algebra test waiting to greet you on Monday morning?

You’ve got to face these problems.

You’ve got to look to others for help.

You’ve got to see what you can give to the situation.

But more than anything else – you’ve got to have Jesus.

If you don’t have the Bread of Life – whatever else you do just won’t be enough.

You know, the great cosmic tragedy is that not everyone will accept this.

Not everyone will accept Christ.

In John’s Gospel, chapter six, after Jesus feeds the multitude, the people ask for a sign.

In verse 30, the people ask, “What miracle will you do? If we can see a miracle, then we will believe you. Our fathers ate manna in the desert… what will you do for us?”

Isn’t that strange?

I think if I had been among the 5,000 and been fed by the bread Jesus gave, multiplying a few loaves into enough for everyone to eat – that would have impressed me.

Jesus has already performed several signs.

He’s turned water into wine.

He’s healed a nobleman’s son.

He’s healed a paralyzed man.

He’s fed a multitude.

He’s even walked on water.

But it isn’t enough – people keep demanding another sign. And without being satisfied with the miracles he has already performed – they leave.

Imagine – being the pastor of a 5,000 member congregation, and then having everyone leave except a dozen folks.

At the end of chapter 6, Jesus turns to his few remaining followers and asks, “Do you want to leave also?” (6:67)

And Peter speaks up and says, “Lord, where would we go? Only you have the words that give eternal life.” (6:68)

If you want to deal with life and all of its overwhelming stresses – you need a little of Philip, a little of Andrew, a little of that boy – but you need all of Jesus!

Copyright by Maynard Pittendreigh 2009
All Rights Reserved

Does God Care?

Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."
36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
(NIV)




We all have bad days. Perhaps you can identify with this injured worker:

“Dear sir,

“I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident reporting form, I put, "Poor Planning", as the cause of my accident.

“You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient: I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a ten-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather than carry them down by hand, I decided to lower them to the ground in a barrel by using a pulley which, fortunately, was attacked to the side of the building at the tenth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went to the roof, loaded the 500 pounds of bricks, then went back down to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks. (You will note in block 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds).

“Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forget to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the fifth floor, I met the barrel of bricks which was coming down while I was going up.

“This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone.

“I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.

“Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.

“At approximately this same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 30 pounds.

“I refer you again to my weight in block number 11 of the accident reporting form.

“As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the fifth floor, I again met that barrel which was now coming up while I was now coming down!

“This accounts for the two fractured ankles and lacerations of my legs and lower body. The second encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks, and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks — in pain and unable to stand — watching the empty barrel ten stories above me — I again lost my presence of mind — I LET GO OF THE ROPE.”



Life is hard! It may not be as humiliating as this all of the time, but it is always hard! And in spite of the story I just told, hard times are not funny. They’re just hard.

A friend of mine was called on Friday afternoon to go into his boss’s office. When he walked in, his supervisor said to him, "I’m very sorry but you know that this firm is having difficulties like everyone else. Today I have to tell you that your time with this company is over."

And just like that he was out of work.

As he walked out of the door to the parking lot, he found himself totally overwhelmed. He was confused and disoriented. What now?

Life does that sometimes.

Debts grow.

Cancer spreads.

The children are out of control.

The boss is never happy with our work.

Schoolwork gets harder and harder.

Our insecurities haunt us.

We're not alone. Few people escape the trails and tribulations of life. Life is difficult.

And when Christians face problems like that they wonder, “where in the world is God. Doesn’t God care? Is God paying any attention?”

In our New Testament lesson, Jesus and his disciples are in a boat. A terrible storm comes up and everyone on board becomes concerned that they might sink.

Jesus, of all things, is asleep.

They wake Jesus up, but they don’t ask for help. They simply say, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

We face our own storms of life, and we wonder if God cares.

God, don’t you care that I lost my job on Friday?

God, don’t you care that I have cancer?

God, don’t you care that my marriage is falling apart?

God, don’t you care that the storm is about to sink my boat?

In the Old Testament, the Psalmist said (Ps 10:1), "Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

It is easy to think that God is distant. That He doesn’t care.

In fact, not only is it easy to think that God doesn’t care, it is difficult to imagine that God is concerned about us at all.

In Psalm 8 there is a wonderful line: “When I consider the stars that you have made, and the moon and the stars that you have put into place, what is humanity that you would care about us?”

Mark Twain wrote a letter to his then-future wife, Olivia, in which he said, "I do not see how astronomers can help feeling exquisitely insignificant." That was back in 1870, and today with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope, we can feel even more insignificant.
God, don’t you care about us?


In the New Testament lesson, what happens when they wake Jesus up with that question, “Don’t you care,” the Lord gets up, and with a simple command, he orders the storm to be still, and it is. The wind dies down. The sea is completely calm.

And then, he turns to his disciples.

What he does not say is, “Don’t worry, life will be calm from now on.”

Instead, he says, “Why are you afraid? Have more faith.”

In other words, this is not the last storm that is going to come their way.

Life is hard, and it always gets harder.

What God wants from us is that we have faith, so that we are not anxious. So that we are not afraid.

Jesus does not promise that we will avoid these storms of life. These things will happen to us.

And we are not expected to understand why God allows these storms to happen.

We are simply expected to have faith, to know that God cares, and we are not to be afraid.

The disciples go through their experience and they are amazed – and they look at each other and ask, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

This is the Lord. He is in complete control. We just need to know that “yes, God does care.”


Copyright 2009, Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
All Rights Reserved
www.pittendreigh.net

Now Is Not The Time To Do Nothing

Exodus 14:10-15

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”


John 5:1-6

5:1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
NIV

Probably everyone of us has seen that old classic movie, “The Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston. How many of you have seen it?

How many of you like that movie?

I hate that movie.

Granted, it made more money than any other film in the year it was released.

Granted, the movie has been selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Granted, the American Film Institute named it as one of the best ten epic movies of all time.

However, I don’t like the movie. None of the Hebrew slaves look like Hebrews and none of the Egyptians look like Egyptians – they just all look like white guys from America. There are historical flaws. There are biblical inaccuracies. Now all of these can be accepted because movies are movies – you have 2 hours to tell your story, or in the case of the Ten Commandments, you have 3 hours and 40 minutes – and you have to tell the story in a way that takes liberties. I understand that.

But what bothers me about that movie is that they picked Charlton Heston for the role of Moses. Until James Earl Jones showed up as the voice of Darth Vader, Charlton Heston had the best voice in Hollywood. The problem with that is that the Moses of the Bible did not have a good voice. He was a poor speaker. So much so, that God allowed his brother Aaron to speak on behalf of Moses.

But I will admit that when we come to our Old Testament lesson, we have what would have made a great Charlton Heston scene in the movie, the Ten Commandments, had it not been for the fact that Cecil B. DeMille left out some of the funnier details of this part.

The Hebrews have escaped from Egypt. Pharoah allowed them to leave, but now he has had a change of heart and he sends his army after them. It is a dramatic scene. The Hebrews are there in the desert, on the edge of the sea. The Egyptian army comes barreling over the horizon. All the Hebrews are terrified, and they look at Moses and say, “Why did you bring us here to die, after all – we told you to leave us alone.”

Which, by the way, they never ever said to Moses. They never told him to leave them alone. They are in trouble and they are rewriting their own history.

But there they are and Moses in this one moment really does acts like Charlton Heston.

“Behold – don’t worry. Be happy. Stand firm. All you have to do is stand firm. God will do the rest. Relax.”

And this is the funny part of this scene.

God looks at this in disbelief – if disbelief is possible for God – and he tells Moses, “Don’t look at me. Don’t stand firm. Get moving.”

Many of us face problems in which we feel there are no solutions.

I doubt that we are facing the problem of the Hebrews trying to escape slavery, but we face big problems.

It may be our finances. Our church is having financial problems, and for the first time in my ministry the leadership of the church responded to a financial difficulty by saying they would not ask the congregation for more money – not because we don’t need it, but because your elders know that so many of you are also hurting and suffering.

Or course, as an aside – as the pastor I will say we certainly won’t turn down any additional contributions people may want to give above and beyond their pledges.

Many, perhaps most of us are facing financial difficulties and many are feeling overwhelmed by this big problem. Are they going to lose their home? Are they going to lose their job? How will the kids afford college.

And its not just finances - for others there is the news the doctor has given you. You have an illness. It’s major. It may even be terminal. Your life will never the same.

For others there are legal problems, or marriage problems, or parenting problems, or grandparenting problems, or --- well, the list goes on.

What to do? What to do? Our life has become filled with turmoil.


Well the first thing we can do is to face reality. Now that sounds obvious, but sometimes, that first step is the hardest problem of all.

Sometimes we face a problem and we fall into a state of denial. The doctor tells you that you have cancer, so you go looking for a second, third or fourth opinion – trying to find someone who will tell you that you don’t have cancer. Second opinions are great, but instead of truth, what we are searching for is an escape from reality. Instead of going for treatment, you are running from the problem.

Your spouse starts talking about divorce, so your reaction is to shut down and hope the problem will go away.

You watch your investments slide, and you do nothing to change it. You just watch them diminish.

That’s been the problem with humanity from day one.

We deal with reality by avoiding reality

In our Old Testament lesson, the people deal with the problem by refusing to face reality. They see the Egyptian army coming over the hill and instead of thinking how to deal with the problem, they lapse into some sort of alternate reality in which they pretend that they never wanted freedom. They turn to Moses and say, “Way to go Moses, you messed up our lives. We begged you to leave us alone, but did you listen to us? Noooo.”

Get real Hebrews!

That never happened.

Moses promised freedom, and you followed him.

Ignoring reality does not help.

In our New Testament lesson, the man is by the pool thinking, year after year, that there must be some truth to this urban myth. People thought that on occasion an angel of the Lord would come and stir up the waters. The first one in the pool would be healed.

Oh really? God is going to send an angel to heal the most selfish person there, to heal whoever can push and shove his or her way into the pool first.

Get real.

Ignoring reality and accepting a false reality does not help.

So what is your problem? Whatever it is, the first step is to face the reality of the situation.

Step two is stop whining and making excuses.

Deion Sanders is one of the few men who has played both major league baseball and National League Football in the same year. I think he is still the only one who has ever hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week. Sanders grew up on the streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explained in an interview: "I call them Idas. 'If I'da done this, I'd be making three million today...If I'da practiced a little harder, I'd be a superstar.' They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had to go to practice; my friends who didn't went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don't need any more Idas.” (Mike Lupica, Esquire magazine interview).

When Jesus asked the man in our New Testament lesson, "Do you want to get well,” the sick man’s response was like one of the Idas from Sander’s childhood days.

"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

The man is making excuses.

Making excuses does not help.


So first, face reality. And second, stop making excuses.

Step three – you have to get moving forward. Or as Jesus expressed it to the man at the pool, “Rise up, pick up your mat and walk.”

In the Old Testament, Moses sees the Egyptians coming over the horizon, so he tells the people, “Stand firm.” But God says “no” to this plan and tells them to get moving, and they do. Moses raises his staff, and the waters recede and the people move forward through the parted waters of the Red Sea.

Facing a crisis, we are sometimes paralyzed by our fear instinct.

Anne Hill wrote in the Huffington Post an essay about the current economic strife. She wrote this in December, when the economic downturn was still fairly new. This is what she wrote. “When I read the day’s financial news… I become practically incapacitated with fear and am no good for anything, least of all working to improve my financial situation.” (Anne Hill, "Mercy, Mercy Me" Huffington Post, December 15, 2008)

But being paralyzed into inaction does not help.

I think about the man in the New Testament lesson, and I am amazed. For years he did nothing but wait for someone else to come along and solve his problem.

I see people like that every day. Incapacitated by a problem. They are so overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they face, that they do nothing.

I love that line in our Old Testament lesson when God responds to Moses who says, “Stand firm,” with His very different command, “Get moving.”

Or as Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.” (Philippians 3:14)

So when you have a problem, face the reality, stop making excuses, and move forward.

The fourth step is a tough one. Don’t just move forward, move in the right direction.

I met a man about ten years ago. I was coming out of Walmart and this man and his son rushed up to me. The man had visited my church a couple of times. He introduced me to his son – “This is Bud. Bud’s my youngest son. He is also the dumbest of all of my children. He’s lazy and will never amount to a thing.”

After that, every time I saw this man he would tell me about his dumb son Bud. I questioned him about what he was doing to his son, and the man told me that his son was not making good grades at school and that this was his way of motivating him to do better.

Ten years later, Bud is out of high school, he dropped out of college after one year, and he has never held a job for more than a few months. His father had expended lots of energy on the problem of motivating his son, but all he succeeded in doing was convincing Bud that he was dumb and lazy and would never amount to anything.

When you face a problem, you have to move forward, but you have to move in the right direction.

Remember those old Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller? There was always a point in the movie in which someone needed help and Tarzan would somehow get the word from Chetah, the monkey. So Tarzan would grab a vine and swing from tree to tree. Then he would run through the jungle where a lion would attack him, and Tarzan would battle the lion. Then he would start running again and get caught by the man eating plant. And Tarzan would battle the man eating plant and continue running to the rescue. Then he would come to a river and dive in and swim to the other side, but before reaching the other side, he’d be attack by a giant alligator and would have to battle the gater. Then he would finish swimming to the other side of the river and start running again – and finally he would fall into the quicksand!

But Tarzan wouldn’t fight the quicksand. And those of us who were watching the movie would know, you can’t fight quicksand. We would know this because earlier in the movie, one of the bad guys had already fallen in the quicksand, and he tried to fight his way out of it, and his struggles made him sink faster, until all that was left was the poor man’s pith helmet that would be floating on the top of the quicksand.

Tarzan knew fighting the quicksand was counter productive, so he would give his famous Tarzan yell, and the elephants would come to his rescue and pull him out.

My point is that you don’t want to just do something, anything – you have to do the right thing. You can’t just move forward, you have to move in the right direction.
I’ve never been to a church that has not had financial challenges. In fact, one writer has said that a healthy church will have 4 or 5 financial crises every year. About 20 years ago, I decided to go back to school. I already had a Masters and a Doctorate, and thought my days of formal school were over. But I went to Union Seminary in Virginia and spent 3 years working off and on for a certification as a Church Business Administrator. Now that helped me in my own ministry, but it also enabled me to develop programs to help other churches and presbyteries that were struggling financially.

Usually when a pastor or presbytery calls on me, they were desperate. Nobody ever called for my help when things were going well. But they were desperate and they felt overwhelmed by whatever financial crisis they were in.

This past week, I’ve been thinking about the churches and pastors I worked with, and I think they all fall into one of two categories.

Some churches freeze and do nothing.

Other churches are on the move, but they move in the wrong direction. They are putting an enormous amount of energy into a problem, and what they are doing makes sense to them, but they are actually doing things that are counter productive. They are making their problems worse.

The Old Testament book of Proverbs says in chapter 14, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but that way leads to destruction.” In fact, it so true that the verse is repeated word for word in chapter 16 of Proverbs.

It’s not just churches that are facing tough finances, I see this in people all the time. They face a problem, and they are on the move, putting enormous energy into resolving the problem, but instead of moving in the right direction, what they are doing makes the problem worse.

And that is the hard part. Knowing which direction in which to move.

And that is where prayer comes in. Because the direction in which we should move is in God’s direction.

Proverbs says, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but that way leads to destruction.”

So what is the direction that leads to a solution? What direction leads to life?

I’ve been to a lot of motivational seminars and heard a lot of motivational speakers, and it is at this point that the motivational leader would say, “You have a problem in life? Step one, face up to it. Step two, stop making excuses. Step three, move forward. And to learn how to do step four, move in the right direction, you must now buy my book.

But this is not a motivational seminar. And as a preacher, I have to say, step four has no easy answer that can be distilled into a simple three point approach. There is no “one size fits all problems.”

Step four is tough. Trying to discover which direction in which to move – that’s agony.

But I know this much – discovering WHICH direction is the RIGHT direction– involves prayer.

The New Testament book of James says, “If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God … and it will be given.” (James 1:5-6

Prayer is the key element to whatever else you do to solve your problems. All the other steps are good, but prayer is the key.

In the Old Testament lesson, the Egyptians are coming over the horizon and the Hebrews call on the name of the Egyptians – five times.

Let me read that part again: “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

They call the name of their problem, but they never call on the name of the Lord. They do not pray.

Many, many times, I have heard people say about a problem, “Well, all we can do is pray.”

And yet, those very people all too often don’t. They don’t pray. They talk about it. But they don’t do it. And prayer is the real key.

The Church’s Dress Code

Colossians 3:11-17
11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (NIV)


There is something about the clothing we wear that has an impact on the way we feel about ourselves.

I have noticed in recent years, as you may have also noticed, that there is a growing trend toward stricter dress codes in schools.

In fact, in many schools, there is a move toward requiring uniforms. Even many preschools and kindergartens have adopted uniforms.

The uniforms are usually very simple. A shirt with an academy logo on it, with a certain style and color pants or dress.

And yet, as simple as the uniform was, one teacher told me that the first year her school started using uniforms, there was a change in the students.

They were calmer.

They were better behaved at the first of the year.

Was it the uniforms that made the difference? Maybe. A lot of the teachers thought so.

There is a dynamic relationship between what you wear and what you are.

If you are from Scotland, or have an ancestor from Scotland, then put on a kilt and you feel connected to your heritage and ancestors.

Put on a highway patrol uniform with one of those flat rimmed hats, and no matter who you are, you suddenly project an air of authority.

Put on a nurses uniform, and you project something that enables people to trust you, even though they may never have met you.

As the old saying says, “The clothes make the man.”

St. Paul would agree.

He tells the Colossians to put on a very specific style of uniform.

Christians are united in such a way that no matter what else may divide us, Christ unites us.

Paul tells the Colossians that Christians should be united, and then he tells us to put on the uniform -- “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

The uniform of the Christian is a set of attitudes.

Now when we clothe ourselves, we project an image. And Paul wants us to project an image as we clothe ourselves with these attitudes.

There are five items in the Christian wardrobe – compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

And Paul says that love is what holds this wardrobe together.

Love is central to everything in the Gospel. You cannot live the Christian life without living a life that seeks to master the ability to love other people.

When Jesus was asked, what are the two great commandments, his answer was love. (Matt 22:37-40) Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

One of Paul’s greatest writings in the Bible is the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians.

Paul begins this great chapter by saying, “If I speak in the tongues of people and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” And Paul continues by talking about the importance of love.

This command to love permeates Paul’s writings, and you can see how Paul’s list of wardrobe items in Colossians is profoundly reflected in his essay of love in Corinthians.
These two passages have a strong bond and can be more clearly understood when looking at them together.
I
Compassion, for example. Compassion is the ability to care for someone. The only way to truly care for someone is to love that person. If you don’t love that person, then you don’t care what happens to them.

Look at his in light of I Corinthians 13, especially in verse 5. It says that love “is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects.” That’s compassion.

If you want to live the Christian life, you have to live a life of love, and one way to live a life of love is to have compassion.


II
Another item in the Christian wardrobe that Paul paints in Colossians is kindness.

Consider again I Cornithians 13: what does it say in verse 4?

Love is kind.

Have you heard the phrase “random acts of kindness?” We live in an age of random acts of violence, and in recent years some people have nurtured the phrase, “random acts of kindness.” It could be as simple as letting someone pull in front of you in traffic, or sending a birthday card to someone who is lonely, or saying a kind word.

Compassion is feeling love for someone.

Kindness is doing something loving to someone.

In the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells about the Judgment Day. He talks about how God will separate the people like a shepherd separates sheep and goats. And Jesus says (Matt 25:33-40) God “will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Now contrast that with an interesting little essay I came across recently.

“I was hungry and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger.
“I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.
“I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.
“I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
“I was homeless and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.
“I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so close to God; but I am still very hungry, and lonely, and cold.”

In other words, love needs more than feeling and compassion. It needs action, or kindness. Compassion and kindness are both expressions of love, but love needs both.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with certain items. He describes a uniform of love. Imagine clothing yourself in a literal uniform and forgetting one part of it. It’s incomplete.

On September 11, 2001, I was serving a church in Miami. Shortly after the attacks, the Associate Pastor of the church I was serving was invited to take part in the opening ceremony of the first Dolphins football game after 9-11. He was not only one of the Associate Pastors of our church, he was also in the Navy Reserves in which he served as a chaplain. At the football game, he was part of a larger group of military personnel taking part in the opening ceremony right before the game.

As I watched on television, the camera zoomed right in on him just at the moment that he gave this salute.

Man – he really looked sharp.
I told him so the next time I saw him and he looked at me sort of sheepishly and admitted that he’d had a bit of a scare right before going out on the field.

He was inside an office area and was waiting and when he was told to follow someone, he reached for his hat – and it wasn’t there. He thought he had put it on the table next to him, but it wasn’t there.

He felt a sense of panic!

Now, it only took a moment for him to find his hat – he’d hung it on a hook on the door. But for that brief, but painful moment, he was horrified that he had lost part of his uniform – no way could he go out with an incomplete uniform.

Imagine wearing the uniform of the Christian, but forgetting to clothe yourself in kindness.

You can have all the compassion in the world, but if you don’t show it with kindness, you are out of uniform.

III

Now let’s go back to I Corinthians 13? Take a look at verses 4 and 5. It says love “does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.”

Now in our reading from Colossians, one of the items in our wardrobe is humility. Now, what is humility? We’ll, it’s not boasting. It’s not being proud. It’s not rude. It’s not self-seeking. In other words, by looking at I Corinthians 13, humility is an expression of love.

What is humility? It’s knowing your place in life. It is putting God first. It is putting others above yourself.

Gail Sayers was a football player who wrote a book, “I Am Third.” The book later became the basis of a classic movie, “Brian’s Song.” The name of the book came from a sign that Gail Sayers saw in a coach’s office. “I Am Third.” Strange sign to see in an athletic facility. You’d normally expect to see something like “I am first” or “I want to be first.” But instead, it was, “I am third.”

Gail Sayers asked the coach about it, and the explanation was, “God is first, others are second. I am third.”

That is knowing your place in the universe. God is first. You place others above yourself. And if you do not have humility, you are out of uniform as a Christian.

IV
Take yet another look at I Corithians 13. Take a look at verse 5 again. It says that love is not rude. Now if you are not rude, what are you? You’re gentle.

St. Paul says in Philippians 4:5 “Let your gentleness be evident to all.”

Most of us don’t allow our gentleness to be evident to all. We let our rudeness be evident to all.

But if you clothe yourself in rudeness, then you are out of uniform. You haven’t abided by the rules of the Christian dress code that Paul is placing before us in Colossians.

Getting back to my buddy at the opening ceremony of the Dolphin’s game – I really do think that hat was cool. Really sharp. But what if he had worn a different hat. Let’s say… an army hat. Or highway patrol hat. Or a firefighter’s hat. Now, those are cool hats also. But my friend is in the US Navy Reserves. He has a specific hat to wear. If he had worn anything other than the Navy’s hat, people would have noticed that and nothing else.

If you clothe yourself in rudeness, people will notice that and not notice anything else. They will not see Christ in you. They will not notice any of your kind acts. They will not care how compassionate you are. They will simply be aware of how rude you are -- That there is something in your uniform that does not belong.

V
Paul tells us, “Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness…” and finally, he says, “with patience.”
Once more, think of I Corinthians 13. Take a look at verse 4. What are the first three words?

Love is patient.

I want everyone here to picture in his or her mind a person you have been patient with.

Hopefully, everyone can picture at least ONE person you’ve been patient with.

Get a good picture of this person – someone who is difficult to be with – but you are patient with that person. Someone who is demanding, or inefficient, but you are patient with that person.

Now that you have a picture of that person in your mind, think about who that is. Probably it is someone you love. Your child. Your husband or wife. Your parents. Your best friend.

You are patient with those people whom you love. Because as I Corinthians 13 says, “love is patient.” And you can’t clothe yourself with love without clothing yourself with patience.

We have been studying Colossians for several weeks, and this is a book that gives some very practical guidance for the Christian.

You want to live the Christian life?

Then abide by the dress code.

Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

And remember Paul’s final remarks about this Christian uniform. In Colossians 3, verse 14, Paul says, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
Copyright 2009

When The Spirit Moves

Acts 2:1-12
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
…

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This never, ever happens at Chapel by the Sea, but in a church I served in Miami.

I had a member named Norm.

Norm could never stay awake for an entire worship service.

He would sit close to the front and I always had a direct line of sight view of Norm.

His head would slooowly tip back.

His eyes would slooowly shut close.

His jaw would fall open.

And he would stay that way until the end of the service.

One day, Norm brought his 5 year old granddaughter to church, and apparently, she had never seen anyone fall asleep in church. After all, that is a rare and unusual thing to see.

So she stood up on the pew and with her face right in her grandfather’s face, she yelled out, “Granddaddy. Are you asleep, or are you dead?”

In this morning’s New Testament lesson, we read about a church service in which it would have been very difficult to have fallen asleep.

It was on the Day of Pentecost. Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus and ten days after His ascension to heaven, the Holy Spirit arrived in a powerful and dramatic way.

It was an exciting occasion!

Nobody could sleep through something like that!

People were speaking different languages and everyone understood each other – tongues of fire sat on everyone’s head.

An event like that would have to have an impact on people.

It would have to be a life-changing experience.

But what kind of change?

How would this impact one’s life?

If the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in your life, what difference does this make?


According to the Book of Acts, this is how the Day of Pentecost changed people’s lives:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, your life will be changed. And for the disciples, they were changed in some very dramatic ways.

They began to worship together in a more dynamic way, they became more drawn into fellowship and community, they were drawn into a deeper study of the Word of God – all sorts of changes happened.

Now one of the ways they changed was that they became more generous.

As the New Testament lesson put it, “they gave to anyone who had need.”

They received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that made them want to become more giving to others.

When the Holy Spirit moves – we give.

We give of ourselves to others. We give to our friends. We give to our community. We give our time. We give money. We give love.

I want to conduct a poll.

Just a simple show of hands will do.

How many of you here today would like to be remembered as a skin flint who was selfish and greedy -- raise your hands.

OK, how many would like to be remembered as generous?

In a recent telephone survey, a question was asked “Do you consider yourself to be a generous person?” An overwhelming number -- over 90% -- said yes. This was followed up by a second question. “Describe the last time you did something that was generous.”

Now the people conducting the survey did not consider the details of the answer important. Instead, they had a stop watch in hand and they were timing the respondents to see how long it took them to begin to remember their last generous act.

The average time? Twenty seconds.

Twenty seconds.

A long time. They would have a few seconds of silence. Then they would hem and haw for a moment with slowly saying, “Welllllll, let me seeeee.”

If it takes us that long to remember the last time we were generous, then we can’t be a TRULY generous people.

If the Holy Spirit is alive and working in your life, you can become a generous person.

When the Holy Spirit moves in us, we are moved to be more generous and giving.

Giving to your family.

Giving to your friends.

Giving to your community.

And…. Let me see, there was something else….

Giving to your church!!!!

Now it is difficult for most of us to become generous, because we put our trust in money.

Oh, we say we don’t, but we do.

But that doesn’t work out so well for us.

St. Paul tells us in his New Testament letter to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain.”

On all American money there is a motto, “In God We Trust.” It was put on our money during the Civil War and has appeared on most coins since then – and in fact, on all coins since 1938. Unfortunately, we don’t trust the words of the motto, we trust the money that motto is printed on.

From time to time I get a letter from the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. The letter always says the same thing, “Congratulations Maynard Pittendreigh,” and of course they almost always spell my name incorrectly. “You may already have won a million dollars.” Most of the time, these letters are thrown into the trash without even being opened, but once in a while I’ll take a look at it. Somewhere in the letter there is the phrase, “Imagine having security for the rest of your life.”

But money doesn’t add up to security.

Not long ago I read an article in the newspaper about a hospital in a small Midwestern community where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city's water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground -- and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing -- a source of water!

And that is the way it is with many of us. We trust in something that looks like it can do the job, but it is absolutely useless.

Well, money is not really absolutely useless.

Money can buy books, but it can’t buy an education.

Money can buy a house, but it can’t buy a home.

Money can buy a lot, but it has no power to give us happiness and security, and yet, we trust in it all too easily.

Instead of trusting in money, we have to trust something, or someone, else.

St. Paul said in his New Testament letter to the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Generous people don’t trust money, but they trust God and they have hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And when the Holy Spirit moves in your life – that’s when you become free to become more generous.

Are you willing to let the Holy Spirit be alive and at work in your life? Are you willing to become a more generous person?

OK, it’s test time. No need to get out your number 2 pencils or sheets of paper. I’m going to time you. I’ve got my stopwatch in hand. I’m going to give you 20 seconds.

Can you remember the last time you showed someone generosity?

“20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”

Did you come up with anything?
Is the Holy Spirit moving in us?
Are we generous enough?


Copyright 2007, Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved

When The Spirit Moves

Acts 2:1-12
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-- we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
…

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This never, ever happens at Chapel by the Sea, but in a church I served in Miami.

I had a member named Norm.

Norm could never stay awake for an entire worship service.

He would sit close to the front and I always had a direct line of sight view of Norm.

His head would slooowly tip back.

His eyes would slooowly shut close.

His jaw would fall open.

And he would stay that way until the end of the service.

One day, Norm brought his 5 year old granddaughter to church, and apparently, she had never seen anyone fall asleep in church. After all, that is a rare and unusual thing to see.

So she stood up on the pew and with her face right in her grandfather’s face, she yelled out, “Granddaddy. Are you asleep, or are you dead?”

In this morning’s New Testament lesson, we read about a church service in which it would have been very difficult to have fallen asleep.

It was on the Day of Pentecost. Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus and ten days after His ascension to heaven, the Holy Spirit arrived in a powerful and dramatic way.

It was an exciting occasion!

Nobody could sleep through something like that!

People were speaking different languages and everyone understood each other – tongues of fire sat on everyone’s head.

An event like that would have to have an impact on people.

It would have to be a life-changing experience.

But what kind of change?

How would this impact one’s life?

If the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in your life, what difference does this make?


According to the Book of Acts, this is how the Day of Pentecost changed people’s lives:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, your life will be changed. And for the disciples, they were changed in some very dramatic ways.

They began to worship together in a more dynamic way, they became more drawn into fellowship and community, they were drawn into a deeper study of the Word of God – all sorts of changes happened.

Now one of the ways they changed was that they became more generous.

As the New Testament lesson put it, “they gave to anyone who had need.”

They received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that made them want to become more giving to others.

When the Holy Spirit moves – we give.

We give of ourselves to others. We give to our friends. We give to our community. We give our time. We give money. We give love.

I want to conduct a poll.

Just a simple show of hands will do.

How many of you here today would like to be remembered as a skin flint who was selfish and greedy -- raise your hands.

OK, how many would like to be remembered as generous?

In a recent telephone survey, a question was asked “Do you consider yourself to be a generous person?” An overwhelming number -- over 90% -- said yes. This was followed up by a second question. “Describe the last time you did something that was generous.”

Now the people conducting the survey did not consider the details of the answer important. Instead, they had a stop watch in hand and they were timing the respondents to see how long it took them to begin to remember their last generous act.

The average time? Twenty seconds.

Twenty seconds.

A long time. They would have a few seconds of silence. Then they would hem and haw for a moment with slowly saying, “Welllllll, let me seeeee.”

If it takes us that long to remember the last time we were generous, then we can’t be a TRULY generous people.

If the Holy Spirit is alive and working in your life, you can become a generous person.

When the Holy Spirit moves in us, we are moved to be more generous and giving.

Giving to your family.

Giving to your friends.

Giving to your community.

And…. Let me see, there was something else….

Giving to your church!!!!

Now it is difficult for most of us to become generous, because we put our trust in money.

Oh, we say we don’t, but we do.

But that doesn’t work out so well for us.

St. Paul tells us in his New Testament letter to Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain.”

On all American money there is a motto, “In God We Trust.” It was put on our money during the Civil War and has appeared on most coins since then – and in fact, on all coins since 1938. Unfortunately, we don’t trust the words of the motto, we trust the money that motto is printed on.

From time to time I get a letter from the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. The letter always says the same thing, “Congratulations Maynard Pittendreigh,” and of course they almost always spell my name incorrectly. “You may already have won a million dollars.” Most of the time, these letters are thrown into the trash without even being opened, but once in a while I’ll take a look at it. Somewhere in the letter there is the phrase, “Imagine having security for the rest of your life.”

But money doesn’t add up to security.

Not long ago I read an article in the newspaper about a hospital in a small Midwestern community where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city's water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground -- and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing -- a source of water!

And that is the way it is with many of us. We trust in something that looks like it can do the job, but it is absolutely useless.

Well, money is not really absolutely useless.

Money can buy books, but it can’t buy an education.

Money can buy a house, but it can’t buy a home.

Money can buy a lot, but it has no power to give us happiness and security, and yet, we trust in it all too easily.

Instead of trusting in money, we have to trust something, or someone, else.

St. Paul said in his New Testament letter to the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Generous people don’t trust money, but they trust God and they have hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And when the Holy Spirit moves in your life – that’s when you become free to become more generous.

Are you willing to let the Holy Spirit be alive and at work in your life? Are you willing to become a more generous person?

OK, it’s test time. No need to get out your number 2 pencils or sheets of paper. I’m going to time you. I’ve got my stopwatch in hand. I’m going to give you 20 seconds.

Can you remember the last time you showed someone generosity?

“20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1”

Did you come up with anything?
Is the Holy Spirit moving in us?
Are we generous enough?


Copyright 2009, Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved

Under the Influence

Psalm 1:1-6
Today’s New International Version

Blessed are those
who do not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on his law day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11
Contemporary English Version

In my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people. But I wasn't talking about the people of this world. You would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols. I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat. Don't even eat with them!


I spent last week at a conference for pastors. The conference was in Atlanta, which is where I lived until 1 year ago today. It was good to be back in Atlanta. I saw some friends. Visited a couple of favorite restaurants. Had a great conference.

Now the strange thing about the conference is that it was located in an area of the Battle of Peachtree Creek. Anyone ever hear about the Battle of Peachtree Creek?

I never heard of it either, and I lived in Atlanta. There is nothing left of the Battlefield today. But there are those roadside markers that no one ever reads. And there is a shopping mall that actually named, The Battle of Peachtree Creek Shopping Center. Which is a horrible name to give to a shopping mall. Because it devalues what happened there. There is something that trivializes the history of that place.

You see, a little more than 140 years ago, 6,500 Americans died there in a single day. In a battle that lasted 5 hours, this battle was one of many that was part of the larger Campaign for Atlanta that had already been going on for 2 ½ months, and would continue for another 2 ½ months. There were so many dead and wounded on the field, the living were unable to walk without stepping on their fallen comrades. Some of those who died, breathed their last while their friends and comrades, or their enemies walked on them.

One of the ministers at the conference said that when she learned of this she felt like whispering with every step during her morning jog, “sorry, sorry, so sorry, forgive me for stepping on your grave.”

It was, as I said, just one battle in the larger campaign of Atlanta, which happened during the war.

The War. As a Southerner, I don’t have to say which war. The Civil War was The War. You see, Southerners have an experience that most Americans do not share. We know what it is like to lose a war. We know what it is like to have our cities burned by invading armies. And it doesn’t take an annual Memorial Day to remember those who “gave their last full measure of devotion.”

When I was a child, the Civil War was just under a century old. At family gatherings, the older people would talk about “the war.” And as children, we loved to hear these stories.

My great aunt Lucille was one of the oldest relatives I had. When I was a child, she would talk about the war. She talked about her uncles, all of whom were missing an arm or leg. She could tell you which family relative died at Shiloh, and which one died as a POW in Maryland, and she would talk about her Uncle John, who was Missing in Action, as if she might someday learn what happened to him. But of course, she never did.

Actually, Great Aunt Lucille was born in 1875, a decade after the war. But she heard her father tell the stories. She heard the uncles talk about their battles.

We all live life under the influence. Our environment, our culture, our history, the stories we hear, the people around us – they influence us. Whether we like it or not, and even if we are aware of it or not, everything around us has an influence on who we are, what we believe, what we do.

Great Aunt Lucille was influenced by the words she heard at the dinner table. And so, while she was born ten years after the end of the war, she never, ever liked my Dad. She never trusted him. Aunt Lucille was on my mother’s side of the family, but Dad, while he was born in South Carolina, was the son of parents from Massachusetts! That part of the family was made up of Yankees. And not just any kind of Yankee, but the kind of Yankee, the adjective of which I cannot repeat from the pulpit.

We live life under the influence. We can’t escape it. We are surrounded by history, and culture and music, and words, and stories. And like it or not, all that surrounds us become threads weaving in and out of the fabric of our souls.

We all live our lives under some sort of influence.

Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,


What is influence of your life?

For some people, this Psalm is telling us to be so careful with whom we associate that we should have nothing to do with anyone who is immoral in any way. In fact, Paul in his letter to the Corinthians begins our New Testament reading by saying, “I have written you in my letter not to associate with immoral people.”

Avoid anyone who is a negative influence. Avoid anyone who would influence you to lie or cheat. Avoid anyone who lives life in a way other than what Christ would desire. Avoid them! And, in fact, that is what many parents teach their children, even though parents know what Paul would eventually gets around to admitting – you can’t avoid evil influence all the time.


Every Sunday, I invite the children to come forward and we open up the box. I’ve been doing that box for a few years now, and I’ve never been stumped. Not yet. I will admit, some Sundays are easier than others. You know the rules. Nothing alive, or recently alive. And whatever is in there must be approved by an adult at home.

So I opened the box about 3 or 4 years ago. And inside was a music CD. It had an interesting cover. On the cover was a naked man. A knife had ripped out his heart and there was blood everywhere in the picture. In the corner of the cover of the CD was a warning to parents. “Parental advisory” or some such words, that obviously that child’s mother had ignored.

So I looked at the CD cover, and I looked at the children, and I talked about music. I talked about how it was a gift from God. And how it can glorify God. And how it can inspire. Or not. Music does not always inspire. It is not always positive. So we have to be careful with the music we listen to. Because the words become part of our soul.

As I gave that children’s devotional, I was hoping that the mother of that child was listening that day. I thought the music was inappropriate for the child to listen to, and I thought the mother should have kept that influence completely out of her child’s life.

It was later that day that I remembered my father tried to do the very same thing with me. I wanted to buy some Elvis Pressley albums and my father, believing that rock and roll was the devil’s music, prohibited me from buying any recordings by the King of Rock and Roll. While I was begging my Dad to give me some of that old time rock and roll, because I thought it would soothe my soul, Dad decided to protect me from the evil influence of the devil’s music. My Dad then went to his music collection and gave me three albums, all by the same singer, and as he handed me those albums he said, “Al Jolson is good enough for anyone.”

Now what makes that story so interesting is that a year ago, as I was preparing to move here, I was selling stuff, and throwing away stuff, and giving away stuff. I just had too much stuff and moving was good time to lighten the load – if you’ve ever moved, you know what that’s like. I came across those three Al Jolson albums that my Dad had given me. They were stacked with all of my Elvis Pressley and Beatles and Steppenwolf albums. I took a lot of them to a collector, who bought only three albums.

You guessed it. He bought the three Al Jolson albums.

He didn’t even look at the records. They could have been badly scratched and he still would have bought them. He was fascinated by the album covers. He said, “these are the most offensive, evil, vile album covers I’ve ever seen.”

My father would have been shocked. He thought they were wholesome, but there on each album cover was Al Jolson dressed in blackface.

Now for those of you who do not know, blackface was a form of entertainment that lasted from the 1830s until around the 1950s. White singers would paint their faces black, their mouths white. They would depict African Americans as caricatures in a manner that today is understood as racist.

But that is the way it is with the influences under which we live our lives. It is sometimes so subtle, that the evil does not become apparent until many years later. In the late 1950s, my Dad would have never have thought of Al Jolson in blackface as a bad influence on a young child’s image of African Americans.

Theologically, sin is NOT a list of dos and don’ts. It is a part of the nature of humanity that so permeates this world that everything we do is tainted by it. So we are all influenced by its presence, and you can’t get away from it.

St Paul, in our New Testament lesson realized this. He wrote, “I have written you in my letter not to associate with … immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.”

So what does it mean? “Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.”



It does not mean that you are to completely avoid the influence of the immoral. Even Jesus did not try that – in fact, he delighted in every opportunity to be with anyone and everyone, no matter their lifestyle. The biggest criticism of Jesus by his contemporaries was “He eats with sinners.”

What this Psalm forbids is not walking in the company of the wicked, but rather walking in the guidance or counsel of the wicked.

What this Psalm forbids is not standing alongside the sinner, but rather standing in the belief and lifestyle of the sinner.

What this Psalm forbids is not sitting beside someone who is immoral, but rather sitting in their seat and adopting their ways.

You cannot avoid the negative neighbor whose influence drains your spirit.

You cannot avoid working with people who have lifestyles that are offensive.

You cannot avoid racist people. Or hateful people. Or sexist people. Or the homophobic people. Or greedy people.

And you will live your life under the influence of such people ---

Unless you take one step that can put your life back into balance.

It is a step found in our Old Testament lesson.


“Blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”


We live life under the influence.

We can’t control the influences under which we live our lives, but we can balance them with the most positive of all influences – the Word of God.

Time and again in Scripture, the Word of God says of itself that it is useful for putting balance into your life. Psalm 119:11 says, “Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

It is true, you cannot avoid the negative neighbor, but you can balance that negativity with God’s Word about joy and peace.

It is true, you cannot avoid working with people who have lifestyles that are offensive, but God’s Word can teach love and tolerance.

It is true, you cannot avoid racist people. Or hateful people. Or sexist people. Or greedy people. But by making the Word of God part of your life, you can walk in God’s way, rather than, as Psalm 1 warns, “walk in the counsel of the wicked.”

The problem is, the Word of God sits on our nightstands, not in our hearts.

Our Bibles decorate our bookshelves, or gather dust, and are rarely opened.

In a world that is bombarding us with influences of all sorts – desirable AND undesirable, are we meditating on the “word day and night?”

When will we read the Word of God? When will we let it be the primary influence of our lives?




Copyright 2009, Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
www.pittendreigh.net