The Rev. Neale L. Miller

Sermon for April 30, 2006

Texts: Luke 24:36-48/Acts 3:12-19

Title: “In  Praise of the Open-Minded”

           Several years ago I bought and assembled a puzzle.  The project was nearing completion when to my great disappointment I discovered that one of the pieces was missing, an unfortunate complication because I had planned to glue the puzzle to a table I had made.  In the end I was able to fashion a rather serviceable substitute for the missing piece.  To all appearances the puzzle looked whole as it lay glued and lacquered to the table.  Yet you know exactly where my eye focused every time I looked at the puzzle.  It was always the defect, the missing piece, that caught my attention.

           The mind tends to function that way doesn’t it?  Our attention is drawn to the missing piece, the defect, the spot on the garment, or the mustard on the chin.  Flaws, even those visible to ourselves alone, very often distract and disturb us. 

           A single flaw essentially robbed me of the full enjoyment, the sense of accomplishment, I might have derived in laboring that puzzle to completion.

           It is difficult to live with flaws.  Flaws often become preoccupying. The adolescent, and we all were adolescents once, conscious of his or her flaws, struggles because he or she doesn’t present the right kind of image. The mirror is seldom friendly to the pre-teen. Though personal appearance may not loom as large later in life, we exchange our adolescent preoccupations with other adult ones that can be equally controlling. Our attention becomes focused on the things that are depriving us of the happiness we seek. We are aware that we lack sufficient money, sufficient time, or sufficient opportunity to close the distance between where we are and where we would like to be.  Life would be so much better if we had, fill in the blank.

           Those of you who have perfected life, of course, will not comprehend what I am talking about, but for the rest of us true contentment is a quest rather than a destination in which we settle.

           I raise this issue of incompleteness as a reality with which each of us must contend.  No choice is left to us.  Like it or not, flaws are just part of the package that comes with life.

           My devotional reading in recent days has taken me into the first book of Samuel.  As the book opens, a series of judges, charismatic leaders or tribal heads, have been running the show for God’s chosen, the Israelites.  In time, however, the people who accepted their authority spotted flaws in that arrangement and became dissatisfied.  So what was their solution? Some of you remember where their dissatisfaction led them.  They believed the flaw could be corrected, and things put right, if they had a king like the other nations among whom they lived. Only problem was, God didn’t want his sovereignty to be compromised in any way. God declared that he was the only king the Israelites needed.  Yet God finally relented and gave the people what they asked for. They got their king.   

           Israel’s experience under a series of kings could be aptly described as a mixed bag.  There arose a king, however, who gained stature above all the kings who preceded him, or would succeed him, on the throne of Israel. His name was David. With this king God established an everlasting covenant, providing that an heir to David, a Messiah, would one day arise to establish God’s eternal reign on earth.

           Israel lived with great upheaval throughout the centuries, enjoying stunning victories, suffering substantial defeats, recognizing throughout her highs and lows that the good could be better.  A substantial flaw deprived her of the contentment she sought. The Messiah, this king who would put things right, never showed up. The longings of generations was deferred, father to son, mother to daughter, year in and year out.  In the absence of the Messiah, perfection, as Israel imaged perfection anyway, would never be achieved.

           Well, we already know how this whole Messiah thing worked out, don’t we?  Arrived one, Jesus, on the scene and he set a lot of people to talking.  “Could it be,” they began to ask.  Some went to the scriptures and came away convinced, “yep, he’s the one, fits the description of the messiah to the tee.”  Others, less convinced, were willing to concede that the evidence in Jesus’ favor was persuasive, though not indisputable. Still others weren’t sold at all.  If asked to defend their skepticism they could do so on many grounds.  Jesus, after all, didn’t comport himself as a king.  A son of peasant stock, nothing in his breeding, or bearing, really distinguished him as someone special, said the skeptics. 

           The messiah was that missing piece that would complete the picture the prophets of old had created. The people could recite from memory the words the prophet Isaiah used in anticipating the great day the messiah would unveil:  “His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.  He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.”  Flawless, what a glorious day the messiah would inaugurate.

           If he wasn’t the one, he sure did a good imitation of what the “one” might look like.  Big shoes to fill for anyone who might presume to wear the messiah mantle.         While he may not have sought it, notoriety sought Jesus. Thrust into the spotlight by words spoken and deeds done, people drew their own conclusions.  Some said, “yes, indeed, Jesus is the missing piece, the messiah.”  But even as that claim caught hold, some who found Jesus’ brand of messiahship threatening began to plot ways to get rid of him with an outcome we know all too well. 

           Hailed as the king of Israel come to claim his throne, the followers of Jesus believed they had found the piece that would complete the picture the prophets had created.  Justice, peace, righteousness would at last take root.  Lion would lie down with lamb.  What a glorious picture, indeed, literally a new heaven, a new earth, flawless, without the barest hint of imperfection.

           Did even his most ardent followers believe that Jesus could deliver on such a scale, perhaps not, but they were entitled to dream, dream, that is, until their dreams were cut short.  To find, only to so quickly to lose, the missing piece that would complete the picture the prophets of old had created.  How tragic.  But Good Friday came and went, didn’t it?  In just three days time, the hopes of the followers of Jesus were restored. 

           It was the evening of that third day and Luke describes events this way, “While [the disciples] were talking…Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  What a turn of events.  That which had been so tragically lost had been miraculously restored.  Yet, yet, the disciples were slow to grasp the significance of what they were witnessing, and who can blame them.  This must be some ghost, they reasoned. But the ghost spoke up, “Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Luke goes on to add, “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering,” Jesus spoke up and asked for something to eat. Sure enough, Jesus was alive.

           The missing piece to complete the picture of Israel in her glory was found, it was lost, it was found again, the inscription his executioners mockingly placed over Jesus’ head said all that needed to be said, “This is the King of the Jews.”  But we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Luke tells us that the disciples didn’t fully grasp the significance of Jesus’ reappearance, his resurrection, until Jesus “opened their minds to understand the scriptures.”     

           I love that phrase, “he opened their minds.”  “He opened their minds to understand the scriptures.” They were in the dark until he opened their minds. What marvelous things an open mind can do. The disciples wasted little time in using those newly opened minds. They went to work, and they did it in a big way. 

           Emerging from the hiding places to which the crucifixion had driven them, they set out to open other minds.  Our  lesson in Acts tells the story. Casting fear aside Peter and John strode into the temple, the most dangerous place a follower of the crucified Jesus, now said to be raised from the dead, could be.  Instead of furtively sneaking from pillar to pillar to keep their presence concealed, they strode into one of the main assembly areas. And true to the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” what did they do?  They healed a lame man.

           This was not the kind of activity to go unnoticed. Now Peter, fearful for his life, may well have used that act to demonstrate the power God had placed in his hands and moved on, but he didn’t. Instead he chose to open minds, declaring to those who witnessed the healing that the power he wielded was conferred upon him through his faith in the resurrected Jesus. This same Jesus, Peter declared, was the Messiah, the missing piece who crucified, and resurrected, validated all the hopes the Jews maintained for their nation from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

           It is very important to note what a self-incriminating act it was to make such a profession of faith. Those who were responsible for Jesus’ death could not afford to have a person like Peter around stirring up trouble. But Peter was too opened minded to be concerned about his personal safety.  He knew too much to withhold what he knew.  Jesus had opened his mind, and he refused to allow fear to shut it again.

           All praise, friends, to the open-minded, the witnesses to the powers of Jesus Christ, who live to proclaim the faith. One of the most compelling aspects of the Christian faith is how the community of believers reconstituted itself after Jesus’ resurrection and began to vigorously witness in his name. Generation to generation the open-minded have continued to open minds.

           The other day I had the opportunity to give thanks for a person who in her love for the Lord was responsible for opening my mind. Those of you who lost property in the storm can relate to this.  Something prompted me to think of a particular Bible I owned, in this instance a Bible presented to me by Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Davis---I don’t know that I ever knew her first name.  The dedication simply read “presented by Mrs. Davis to Neale Miller,” with the date, 1956.

           With great suddenness, out of nowhere, it dawned on me that the Bible, which had been in my possession for nearly a half a century, was gone. The Bible is gone, but not the memories of a woman who in her quiet, none assertive way showed up each Sunday to open our minds. 

           The resurrected Jesus met with his disciples, and after demonstrating that he wasn’t a ghost or apparition, opened their minds to understand the scriptures, an act that set in motion a movement that would fundamentally and forever shape the course of human history.

           There are persons in your life, as in mine, who were responsible for opening our minds.  Some of us who are a little older might reach all the way back to Sunday school.  There are children in this room today who one day will pick up a Bible, or some memento they have collected right here at Lakeview, and remember with thanksgiving, Penny, Beth, Vivian, Mary Ann, Andy, or one of the other Sunday school teachers who opened their minds.

           We give insufficient thought and praise to the open-minded in our midst who share their time, energy, and their faith that minds might be opened to the wonders God has wrought in Jesus our Lord.

           Time dragged from Good Friday through Saturday and the distraught followers of Jesus didn’t know what to do next.  Jesus was gone, and with him an important piece of their lives.  But then he returned, not as a ghost or apparition.  He was alive.  He opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

           We live in challenging times, times made all the more challenging as a result of the storm.  Many live with the reality that not merely one piece, but several pieces of their lives have come up missing. By gathering here today in praise and prayer we attest to a power that defies the forces of destruction and fragmentation.  We not only witness to that power, but we draw upon it, using the gifts we have been given to the all-important task of opening minds. 

           Let us praise God for our open minds, at the same time praying to God to show us how we might better perform the task to which we have been called.  That task, need I say it, is to open the minds.

PRAYER

           In praise of the open-minded we gather today, grateful, O God, for the constancy of love for you, the courage, and faithfulness that has supported the Christian witness from the days of Peter to our own current day.  We thank you for the scriptures to which we turn, stories that have educated, inspired, even chastened us, stories through which the life and works of Jesus the Savior came to life for us.

           We gather this day in gratitude and appreciation for the open-minded of this congregation who for nearly a century have accepted the call to open the minds of others by sharing their knowledge of scripture, and embodying the Christian values they have taught. We thank you, O God, for all the saints, both living and dead, whose example continues to inform and inspire us, praying that the seed they have sown will ever fall on fertile ground.

           O God, our material wants often obscure our spiritual needs.  Though a new car or a vacation cannot offer the inner peace and freedom so many of us seek, we nevertheless repeat the vain exercise over and over again, exchanging dollars for material goods even though experience has taught us that the peace and freedom you offer, Lord, cannot be attained by such means. O Christ, you taught us that righteousness is your “gold standard.”  Let that standard guide our lives.

           We continue to pray for our city and state in these critical times, recognizing the unique challenges that confront those who occupy local, state, and federal offices.  A task of vast scale requires intellectual and financial resources of vast scale. May those who command authority use the resources at hand wisely, rejecting the petitions of interest groups seeking unfair advantage.

           O God, great uncertainty has descended on our campaign in Iraq.  Serious questions are being raised about our objectives there, even as exit strategies appear illusive. Great pain and suffering continues to be experienced by families as the lives of loved ones are snuffed out by suicide bombers or the sniper’s bullet. We pray for the day when this useless slaughter ends, and good people may live once again in peace. Have mercy, O God, on all who suffer this day, brace their broken spirits with the consolation only you can provide. May tyrants’ schemes be thwarted, and judgment be swift upon those who plot evil.

           Lord, great challenges face us as we attempt to rebuild our buildings and reconstitute our ministry.  We pray for wisdom to make the important decisions that must be made, forbearance when disagreements arise, a willingness to listen as quickly as speak.  Grateful for those who have accepted important leadership responsibility in our church, we lift them up in thanksgiving, praying that the decisions they make accord with your holy will, and serve the best interests of the congregation they represent.

           O God, may your love enfold all who live at a crossroads in life.  Support the newly unemployed, the uninsured, the recently divorced, and those newly diagnosed with serious illness.  O Christ, who bore our burdens on the cross once and for all times, may the victory you attained over death inspire all who live in death’s shadow to believe that the long night always, always, ends in a new day. You have promised, O God, that hope shall arise with the sun if we but look for it.

           In you we trust, O God, and by faith we live onto the day when we shall know you even as we are know by you.  In the strong name of Jesus we pray the prayer he taught us…