Sermon: What do you value?

          "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."

          Isaiah proclaimed the words of the Lord:  "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?"

          And Paul said to the Philippians, "… whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…"

          In both the Old and New Testament lessons today, we're talking about a complete change from what we know, what we've worked for, what we have expected to have happen with our lives, and choosing to change it to live in the way God has designed.  We can see what the world values all around us. 

          In Jesus' day, that pound of nard that Mary had bought and used to anoint the feet of Christ was worth about 300 dinari, if Judas was correct in his estimation.  Judas represents society – and the value of money.  Mary represented what we hope to achieve as Christians – the value of Christ:  His teachings, His importance in our lives,  His example to us, and most importantly, the value of the love of Christ.

          It is the values that we must constantly watch, and yet, values are different for each person.  Someone with a particular talent – for instance, one that can create music through an instrument, may value a type of instrument for the perfection of the sound they can create – while another knows that  music can be created through a much less expensive instrument.  The value here is between the creation of sublime music, wanting to reach the souls of those who have an appreciation for the glory of God within the music, and the creation of participatory joy in the creation of a joyful noise.  Of course, there is also the music snob, merely wanting the experience of listening to the best musician playing the best instrument at an exorbitant cost because, it is the "best."

          I recognized my own snobbery in books.  It often appalls me that people will actually write in books, including Bibles!  And then I read a story in "Our Daily Bread" of  a man who loved old books. He met an acquaintance who had just thrown away a Bible that had been stored in the attic of his ancestral home for generations. "I couldn't read it," the friend explained. "Somebody named Guten-something had printed it." "Not Gutenberg!" the book lover exclaimed in horror. "That Bible was one of the first books ever printed. Why, a copy just sold for over two million dollars!"  His friend was unimpressed. "Mine wouldn't have brought a dollar. Some fellow named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it in German."  And suddenly, the values changed.  The man had thrown away what would be contemporaneous living history of a man who had changed the world.

          So when the Lord spoke to the people through Isaiah, he was reminding them of what they had left behind, though familiar.  They left slavery and servitude to people who did not hear or understand the One God's words.  They left toil that benefited only their masters, providing barely enough to feed and house their families, and yet put their baby sons in danger.  Even with their grumbling in the desert, they were provided food from God, water from a rock split open by God's word.  They were able to raise their children up rightly, and teach them the ways of their people. 

          And Paul's words to the Philippians talk about how he was raised, to be a Pharisee in the Tribe of Benjamin, loyal to the letter of the law, and persecuting those who followed Jesus.  He was well-respected, had gained a position in society, a Hebrew among Hebrews, and absolutely certain in his own righteousness.  He had been proud of all he had accomplished.  And now, after knowing the truth of Jesus Christ, he counted all of that time and effort and pride as loss, because he now realized how much time he had wasted in those other pursuits, when the faith in Christ – true God from true God – resurrected into everlasting life.  His deepest yearning became that he might become like Him in death.

          Now, at this point, I have to be thankful that we actually don't have children here – although I will be very thankful when we do, and hope to have an answer for the question that was put to my mother's priest this week by a 5-year-old.  The logic of children is a blessing from God, because we have to figure out how to respond to them.  The priest asked the class of kindergarten and first graders if anyone knew what Good Friday was about.  A little girl stood up and said that that was the day the bad men killed Jesus.  The priest asked her how she knew it was the bad men, and she very seriously replied, "My mother told me so."  Knowing better than contradicting a mother's truth, the priest moved on.  He asked if anyone knew what happened 3 days later.  None of the children could answer that one.  He explained that Jesus was resurrected and came back to life.  The little girl had a question.  "So if my mommy died, then 3 days later, she could come back, right?" 

          A 5-year-old understands the concept, and extrapolating is actually quite sophisticated for her age.  Now the priest in question copped out, and said that was a lesson for another time.  But here, we're going to consider how we teach Christian values to children.  My response likely would have been that Jesus went to live with His Daddy in heaven, and that her mom would also go to live with Jesus in Heaven, but that she would live there until the 5-year-old grew very old and had children and grandchildren of her own so that later, she could go and live in heaven with her mommy and Jesus.  The values here are family, love, and the expectation of everlasting life.

          In Paul's case, he essentially recognized the value in the resurrection, in having life eternal.  But to live here as a Christian, he felt responsible for spreading the Good News of Christ to all of his neighbors, each time he met a new one.  He wasted no more time on the values he'd had growing up, and counted every day, each bit of suffering he experienced, as a blessing to be and react like Christ.  

          Take a look at how you allocate your time, talents and wealth.  Based on how you spend those things you have, you can evaluate what it is you truly value.  And then decide for yourself if that is how you want your life reflected.  I've got an exercise for you to think about this week.  It's even got a worksheet.  Lent is a time of reflection, so I'll ask that you spend some of your time this week reflecting on your own life.  Be brutally honest with yourself, because let's face it, God sees and knows all.  But you might find a surprise or two for yourself in the reflection.  May we all follow the words of Isaiah, Paul and Christ  in our lessons today.  Amen.

WORKSHEET:

ONE: I consider the rhythm of my life. What percentage of my time is spent in the following ways?

To make it easier, call 1 hour per day 4% (NB there may be some overlap – e.g. Family time could also be leisure time, and the figures may add up to more or less than 100):

Work: _______________ %                                           Leisure: _________ %
Church activities: ______ %                                         Sleep: ___________ %
Prayer: ______________ %                                           Family: __________ %
Worship: _____________ %                                         Study: ___________ %

TWO: Is this a satisfactory allocation of time?

THREE: If not, what is stopping me changing it?

FOUR: Do I try to live on an endless high? Or do I accept the lows with the highs?

FIVE: How often do I have a rest day? How do I spend it?

SIX: Can I face pain and find in it opportunities for growth?

SEVEN: When I meet others do I do all the talking? Or all the listening?

EIGHT: When I pray do I allow time for God to speak?

NINE: Do I regularly reflect on my experience?

TEN: Is there a discernible relationship between my prayer and the ordinary events of  daily life? How do they inter-relate?

ELEVEN: Am I the same person with my friends, with my colleagues, with my family, in my church? Should I be?

TWELVE: How often do I laugh? Is it enough?

THIRTEEN: I imagine that tomorrow, as if by magic, I will be able to do absolutely anything I wish, without restraint. How will I spend the time?

FOURTEEN: When did I last do something I really wanted to do?

FIFTEEN: Are there any areas about which it might be worthwhile to seek the help of a prayer guide/director? If so, what are they?