Information Please 2-17-08

Let me begin by saying it’s great to be back. Could someone look up Hebrews 12:12 and read it aloud. It’s been my theme verse for these last two weeks. “Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.”

Not only have I had knee surgery but the Monday after the presbytery meeting where our petition to become chartered was approved, Jody Harrington the moderator of our presbytery had knee surgery. The next day, Diane Prevary the stated clerk of our presbytery had knee surgery. I’ve been sharing my theme verse a lot lately.

The 60’s rock group the Byrds had a song on their Country album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo that said, “You don’t miss your water till your well runs dry.” I have to say that not being able to preach this last two Sundays has really made me miss standing behind this pulpit. It’s made me appreciate what a privilege it is to stand….but also what a privilege it is to stand here… to break open the word of God and what an honor it is that you would come week after week to listen to what God might have to say through me. That’s love.

This week is the week that America goes crazy with love. Right after New Years is over the stores start putting out valentine candy. Thursday, the day after Valentines day I went in CVS and they had packed up most of the Valentine Candy and guess what crated up in the aisle waiting to be take it’s place on the shelves? Easter Candy.

Valentines is a day when people buy cards that try to say what they wish they’d said all year long. Valentines is the day when we give cards and candy and flowers to those we ….love.

There once was a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night because he saw something in Jesus that stirred his heart. I think what stirred him to do such a daring thing as to seek out Jesus was… love. Hear the gospel of our Lord from the 3^rd chapter of John, verses 1-17.

Let’s Pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for this marvelous love that motivated you, that moved you to send your only son into our world. We pray that we would be moved to share that love of Jesus with those you so love, especially those who are yet unaware that they have been so loved by you. As we read of this loving encounter between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus we pray that we would have a greater insight as to how to approach those who seek us out, even in the cover of darkness. As we hear and meditate on this story, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.

When Richard Nixon ran for President in 1968, the Vietnam War was at its height. One of Nixon's TV commercials showed a photo of an American soldier in Vietnam with the word "Love" written on his helmet. The image bothered Harry Treleavan, one of Nixon's media men. "It reminds [people] of hippies," he said. "They don't think it's the sort of thing soldiers should be writing on their helmets."

About a week later, however, a letter arrived from the mother of the soldier. She said how thrilled she was to see the photo of her son in Nixon's TV commercial. She wondered if she could obtain a copy of the photo. The letter was signed "Mrs. William Love." (1)

The soldier was not making a statement about his feelings at all. He was simply putting his name on his helmet, Love.

The Beatles sang, “All you need is love,”……… and then they broke up.

Jesus said that no one could enter the kingdom of God unless he was born again, born anew, born from above, born by the love of God.

Nicodemus came to Jesus seeking information. He starts with a statement that “we know that you are a teacher sent from God for no one could do the things that you do unless God were with him.” Jesus response was not exactly related to Nicodemus statement. Jesus didn’t affirm that he was a teacher sent from God. He said that no one could even see the kingdom of God unless he was born again.

For Nicodemus, that was TMI--too much information. You see, Nicodemus was a fundamentalist, a man who took everything literally. He said, “Born again? How can I get in my mother’s womb again and be born again?” If Jesus was a teacher sent from God he sure taught some strange things, things that made Nicodemus more confused than before he came to Jesus. He came KNOWING that Jesus was a teacher sent from God, but he left wondering what being born again meant. Nicodemus was a teacher of the law, but Jesus was a teacher of the things of the Spirit.

Even though Nicodemus left unclear on the concept, even though he was confused with the imagery that made him ask a silly question, Jesus still loved him. In fact, when the encounter was over and Nicodemus went away puzzled John gives us the greatest line that far outshines all the valentines ever written. In the words of the old slogan of Hallmark Cards, “God cared enough to send the very best.” God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.

What is love? Love is Jesus Christ giving his life for a sinful world. Love is giving his life even for those that took his life. Remember, it was a Roman Centurion at the foot of the cross, one of those who actually participated in crucifying Jesus him that said, “Surely this was the son of God.”

Love is speaking not a word of defense when he was wrongly accused of something he didn’t do. Love was saying from the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” That is love in its purest sense. That is love without reservation. That is love that asks nothing in return.

All other love pales in comparison. A father loves his children, but hopes that in return he would receive some modicum of love in return. A husband loves his wife and in return he hopes for her fidelity, her emotional support, her mutual affection. A pastor loves his congregation with the hope that he is loved in return but he does so, not SO THAT his love is returned, but because he was first loved by Christ.

On Friday there was a movie starring James Earl Jones depicting the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Vernon Johns, the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. It was during the late 50’s and early 60’s when segregation was rife in Alabama. Dr. John’s preached to his congregation about the need to stand up to injustice. To not ride the bus if they had to sit in the back, to start their own businesses, to not stand by when a woman in their church was raped by white police officers or when one of their deacons tried to intervene when a man was being beaten by Montgomery policemen and was shot and killed. What was the result of his efforts? The deacons voted him out of the church and he never received a call to a permanent pulpit again. They didn’t want a pastor who made waves or rocked the boat or caused trouble. The next pastor they called wasn’t as experienced. He was only 27 years old. He was a brilliant public speaker, but in the words of one of the deacons, they felt they could train him up in the way that he should go. The name of the pastor that succeeded Dr. John’s was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When Christ loves, when God loves, it is without condition. Jesus loves in hope that he will receive love in return, but he loves even though, and in spite of the fact that he might not ever receive anything in return. Jesus loves in spite of the fact that all he might receive in return is crucifixion. That is why Jesus wasn’t just a teacher sent from God who did things that only a person who had God with him could do. Jesus was the Son of God who was God and did the only thing that God could do be sent to give him life for the sins of the world. We were not saved by great teaching or great philosophy or great ethics or great miracles. We were saved by the greatest love ever shown to anyone. We were saved by the sacrifice of one man’s life. We were saved by a tragic, horrible, cruel death, not fancy words or pious platitudes or tricks with fish and bread. We were saved by a tragic death that can bring comfort out of other tragic deaths like what happened at Northern Illinois University this week when another gunman opened fire on a classroom of students killing 5 people or another suicide bomber who killed 80 out of 300 people gathered to watch a dog fight in Afghanistan yesterday.

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...Can you think of anything this world is more hungry for than love?

A lonely man once programmed his computer to write him love letters daily. He built a voice system that would speak lovingly to him, but he remained lonely. Manufactured, controlled love isn't love at all. We long for something more.

We want to love and to be loved. What joy that simple emotion brings into our lives. To realize that the very nature of God is love is almost more than you or I can comprehend.

In the classic motion picture, Casa Blanca, Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, is suspicious and cautious. He has learned to survive by looking out only for himself. He is a stranger to tender feelings and generous gestures. When a desperate man is arrested by the Gestapo in his bar, the man asks Rick, "Why didn't you help me?" Rick sneers, "I don't stick my neck out for anyone."

Rick was living amid the cruelty and inhumanity of the Second World War. Once he was hurt when he made the "mistake" of sticking his neck out for someone else. Now he is cynical, safe. But something is missing from Rick's life, however, and he knows it. Circumstances have forced him to become tough and uncaring. When he looks at the Nazi officers stationed in Casablanca, though tough, powerful, unsentimental he knows that he does not want to be like them. (2)

Some people become like Rick. They become hardened by life. They become cynical, suspicious. They refuse to stick out their neck for anyone. But God is not like that. Jesus was not like that. God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son. He not only stuck out his neck, he opened his arms for us….and risen, he opens his arms to us.

There is nothing in life more rewarding than giving to another. The apostle Paul said, “It is MORE blessed to give than to receive.” But there is an important corollary that we must also recognize. In order to be able to give love we must also be able to receive love. In order to be able to forgive others we must also be able to receive forgiveness and to forgive ourselves. Jesus said it in the prayer he taught his disciples to pray, “forgive us our debts AS WE forgive our debtors.”

Years ago there was a little girl in an institution who was almost like a wild beast. The workers at the institution had written her off as hopeless. An elderly nurse believed there was hope for the child, however. She felt she could communicate love and hope to this wild little creature. The nurse daily visited the child whom they called Little Annie, but for a long time Little Annie gave no indication she was aware of her presence. The elderly nurse persisted and repeatedly brought some cookies and left them in her room. Soon the doctors in the institution noticed a change. After a period of time, they moved Little Annie upstairs. Finally the day came when this seemingly "hopeless case" was released. Filled with compassion for others because of her institution experience, Little Annie wanted to help others.

Little Annie grew up to become Anne Sullivan who, in turn, played the crucial role in the life of Helen Keller. It was she who saw the great potential in this little blind, deaf and rebellious child. She loved her, disciplined her, played, prayed, pushed, and worked with her until Helen Keller became an inspiration to the entire world.

It began with the elderly nurse, then Anne Sullivan, then Helen Keller, and finally every person who has ever been influenced by the example of Helen Keller. (3)

That chain of love goes on forever. What began with an aging preacher Vernon Johns who was voted out of his church continued through his young successor Martin Luther King Jr. What began with an elderly nurse continued on through her charge Anne Sullivan to Helen Keller.

We give love because we have received love. A child who has not known love will have a hard time giving love. Humankind could not love God or one another if we had not first been loved. Faith is our response to God's love. Faith is not a response to the fear of God. Faith is not a response to an intellectual acknowledgement of God from a “great teacher who was sent from God. Faith is a response to God. It is a response to God's love. That is why the cross is such an important part of Christian faith. It is on the cross of Calvary that we see the love of God most clearly. To be sure the miracles of healing were tremendous demonstrations of Jesus’ love and compassion. The miracles of feeding thousands of folks with a small boy’s lunch demonstrated how much Jesus loved the crowds. But the greatest love was shown in the greatest pain…the pain unto death on a cross.

Could it be that in this secular society we really do not feel loved? Could it be that we feel that our lives lack significance? Could it be we feel isolated and alone?

Could it be that part of the spiritual, emotional and moral malaise of our time can be explained by the fact that secular humanity has lost sight of the cross?

So many today are a bundle of anxieties. That is why we accomplish so little. What we need is to relax in the knowledge that we are loved. "Do you believe in Christ? Then what in the world are you worried about? Accept his love. Lay your deepest concerns at the foot of the cross.

Years ago, in a small town in the Pacific Northwest there lived a young boy named Paul. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the side of the box… and the mouthpiece attached to the front. (You, know like the one that Jeff used and Timmy after him used in the 50’s TV show Lassie.)

Young Paul listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone. He decided that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone lived an amazing person. Her name was “Information Please”… and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody’s number… and the correct time!

Paul’s first personal experience with “Information Please” came one day when he was home alone and he whacked his finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible and he didn’t know what to do… and then he thought of the telephone. Quickly, he pulled a footstool up to the phone, climbed up, unhooked the receiver, held it to his ear and said: “Information Please” into the mouthpiece. There was a click or two and then a small clear voice spoke: “Information.” “I hurt my finger,” Paul wailed into the phone. “Isn’t your mother home?” “Nobody’s home but me,” Paul cried. “Are you bleeding?” “No,” Paul said. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.” “Can you open your ice-box?” “Yes.” “Then go get some ice and hold it to your finger.” Paul did and it helped a lot.

After that Paul called “Information Please for everything. She helped him with his geography and his math. She taught him how to spell the word “fix.” She told him what to feed his pet chipmunk. And then when Paul’s pet canary died, she listened to his grief tenderly and then said: “Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.” Somehow that helped and Paul felt better.

When Paul was nine years old, he moved with his family to Boston… and as the years passed he missed “Information Please” very much. Some years later as Paul was on his way out west to go to college, his plane landed in Seattle. He dialed his hometown operator and said, “Information Please.”

Miraculously, he heard that same small clear voice that he knew so well. “Information.” Paul hadn’t planned this, but suddenly he blurted out: “Could you please tell me how to spell the word “fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft answer: “I guess your finger must be all healed by now.” Paul laughed. “So it’s really still you. Do you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time when I was a little boy?” She said, “if you know how much your calls meant to me! I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls so much.”

Paul told her how much he had missed her over the years and asked her if he could call her again when he was back in the area. “Please do,” she said, “just ask for Sally.” Three months later, Paul was back in Seattle. This time a different voice answered. He asked for Sally. “Are you a friend?” the operator asked. “Yes, a very old friend.” Paul answered. “Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” she said. “Sally had been working part time the last few years because she was sick. She died 5 weeks ago.” Before he could hang up, the operator said: “Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?”

“Yes.” “Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you. It says: ‘When Paul calls, tell him that I still say: there are other worlds to sing in.’ He will know what I mean.” Paul thanked her and hung up and he did know what Sally meant.

“There are other worlds to sing in.”That is precisely what Jesus meant when he said we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is that other world to sing in. When Jesus said to Nicodemus that night: “You must be born again.” “You must be born from above.” That’s what he meant…We are born into this world, but when we are born again we are born into that other world to sing in. In that other world there are a lot of singers, Mrs. William Love and her son, Dr. Johns, and Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller, Nicodemus and maybe even folks like Rick, some day you and me and Paul and even his dear friend, Information Please.

Let’s pray, Dear Lord, what wondrous love is this O my soul, o my soul. That caused the Lord of heaven to send his son to earth to give his live for the ransom of many…of us. We cannot begin to fathom the pain, the rejection, the agony, the struggle to give in to the temptation to run away from it all. Yet, he willingly laid down his life for his friends. Thank you that we are included in that great company of friends who have been redeemed by him. Thank you that he has entrusted to us the privilege of continuing his ministry by sharing his love with others. Give us the grace, the mercy, the compassion, the strength the courage, the faith to step out and to give of ourselves to others following his example. Hear now the concerns of those gathered here this morning.

1. Gerald Tomlinson, SPEAKER'S TREASURY OF POLITICAL STORIES, ANECDOTES, AND HUMOR, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: 1990).

2. Harold S. Kushner, WHEN ALL YOU'VE EVER WANTED ISN'T ENOUGH, (New York: Summit Books, 1986).

3. Jeffrey Holland in VITAL SPEECHES.