Survey time!
Did you watch any television last night?
What was your favorite program?
Where there any advertisements shown during that program?
What was your favorite ad?
Personally, I have no favorite ads, and ignore almost all of them, whether on
television, on the radio, on billboards, even in newspapers. Why? Because they
neither seem believable nor reliable to me. One of the newest has two people as
spoke-persons – one a so-called customer who is describing a situation; the
other a celebrity who is supposed to interpret what the real "customer" is
saying. Now come on! Who in their right mind would honestly believe that Charo,
Charo, who deliberately distorts her English with Spanish phrases, could
possibly interpret what a New Englander is saying clearly enough to make any
difference? I think this ad is supposed to be about car insurance, but the
nonsense of it actually causes me to forget what the ad is promoting because it
enhances the silliness to the point of being mundane. Thus my attention is lost,
and instead of listening to the ad, I make a dash for the refrigerator for an
un-needed snack.
Now if I step on someone's toes with the next couple of statements, I apologize:
"Sorry it hurts." But for me, the only purpose I am able to deduce from today's
ads is the attempt to separate hard earned cash from wallets. Even those that do
not use such foolishness as in the one just described, all I see ads doing is
trying to convince listeners to believe everything heard or seen in the ads and
to go buy those products. In the case of pharmaceutical companies, the attempt
is to convince you to tell your doctor to prescribe their brands of medication.
But enough about advertisements. How do advertisements relate to living, anyhow?
Ultimately, how one lives is a form of advertising:
"There is joy and peace in living the Christian life!" "Come to Jesus and you will
be saved!" "Share the Goodness of God with others, and you will have the riches of
God forever!"
The trouble with these claims (which, by the way, I do believe are true), is
that they contain only half-truths. The appeal is to the sense of pleasure,
without any acknowledgment that no life is just a life of humanly pleasures.
That no life is completely void of pain or suffering or periods of grief. If
anything, it is often portrayed that such conditions are the plight of those who
do not live the Christian life! You don't accept Christ, so you live with pain;
you reject sharing with others, so you experience grief and suffering. If that
is the case, why do I see so many individuals who reject the Christian Ideal and
are living a far better human existence than you and I? Why is using devious
methods rewarded with riches, while honest practices often fail? Why do half
truths reap success, while honesty only results in a pauper's life? Why? Why?
Why?
First, " There is joy and peace in living the Christian life! " There is no
doubt in my mind that we who follow Christ ARE promised joy and peace in living
the Christian life. But that does not mean we will be exempt from the usual
experiences of human existence. I know there are times that you and I may have
wished such was true. If we cut ourselves, we WILL bleed, as I quickly
recalled a few months ago when a sharp coffee can lid came into contact with
my unprotected thumb. A sharp-edge anything sliding across human flesh is going
to cause a cut – anyone over the age of five or six knows that. And just because
you profess to be a Christian is not going to change that fact.
But there IS joy and peace in living the Christian life. When life around us
seems to be falling apart, when pain of loss or threat of illness invades our
everyday living, those who live the Christian life know an inner peace that
brings comfort, a joy that allows us to be thankful, even in the face of
adversity. Though outwardly we must grieve in human fashion, inwardly we know
the assurance of God's love and compassion, and find the strength to continue
where others cannot. And in times of prosperity, the Christian is able to give
thanks for the gifts which have been bestowed, while those who look only to
themselves, can only glory for the moment in their so-called "good fortune." Let
that be lost, and the cursing begins.
Second, " Come to Jesus and you will be saved!" Yes, Jesus saves. But from what does
Jesus save ? Does Jesus save one from being hit by a ball thrown or hit in
his or her direction? Does Jesus save one from feeling the pain of having a foot
stepped on by a hoard of little children running around in a play yard? I won't
refute that there may well be times of divine intervention, but that is not what
is meant or intended by "Jesus saves." It does not refer to the times when God
acts, and a miracle is witnessed. You see, it is not the human, earthly shell
that needs saving – it is the inner person, the human soul, that part of the
living being that gives life to the body that needs to be saved. It is that
essence from which the human mind draws its ability to think and reason that
needs to be saved by Christ. For it is that essence, the soul which dwells
within the physical body, which becomes infected by the sinful desires conjured
up by the freedom of humans to think and reason and misconceive and deny, and is
in need of being saved.
But, Jesus cannot save one who does not see a need to be saved. Jesus cannot
redeem one who does not recognize the need for redemption. Salvation comes to
those who realize the nature of their lives, who actively desire and seek the
salvation which Jesus can, and does give.
Notice the word, "ACTIVELY." That word implies ongoing desire and need for
salvation, for redemption. Just because one can point to a single time when the
need for repentance was strong in his or her life is no assurance that one is
forevermore saved. The seeking of salvation is ongoing; for as long as one
exists in human form, one remains in need of seeking salvation. Well, for most
individuals, at least. There are those whose very existence we sometimes
proclaim as saints, as holy people, and by the very lives we see them living, we
proclaim them free of sin and eternally saved and redeemed. But though we may
declare then sin-free, I dare say they still seek for God's redemption every
day.
And finally, "Share the Goodness of God with others, and you will have the
riches of God forever!"
What are the "riches of God?" This reminds me of a pleasant little story.
A man trying to understand the nature of God asked him, "God, how long is a million years to you"? God answered, "A million years is like a minute."
Then the man asked, "God, how much is a million dollars to you"? And God replied, "A million dollars is like a penny."
Finally, the man asked, "God, could you give me a penny"? And God said, "In a minute.
Even with its humor, this story illustrates for us that the riches of God cannot
be comprehended in human terms. God's wealth, God's riches, are not touchable,
physical, destroyable, things. The riches of God are not corruptible, because
they cannot be possessed in the way other possessions are owned. The riches of God,
the Wealth of God, is possessed by one ONLY when one gives it away. God's
salvation, God's redemption comes to us because he gives it to us through the
sacrifice of himself, of Christ on the cross, that the Christ may be raised in
glory, and that we who believe and trust in him and are willing to confess our
sinful human nature, may be redeemed and filled with that same glory. And thus
filled with the glory of the risen Christ, we are rewarded with the wealth, the
riches of God. And in being so filled, we become God-like and give away those
riches, that others may also share in our Good News, the fact that God loves all
of his creation.
And thus we are "Called to Be One," in the body, mind and spirit of our living
Savior, Jesus the Christ.
So as we prepare now to partake in that ancient practice and ritual, as we come to
the table of the Lord to receive the bread of life, the very "body of Christ",
and to receive the cup, the very "blood of Christ" shed for our salvation, let
us truly come as one. Let us remember why Jesus accepted that sacrificial act of
giving up his life on the cross: that we could become One in Christ Jesus.
Amen.