Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 (links validated 7/3/24a)
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Finishing the Race
One of the things that often attracts our attention during the Olympics is the powerful stories of sacrifice and determination from young men and women around the world. As this year’s games draw to a close, I’m reminded of one of the most memorable and inspirational stories from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Derek Redmond was a British sprinter with high hopes for the 400-meter race. Four years earlier, just minutes before his race at the 1988 Olympics, he had to withdraw due to injury. After extensive physical therapy and a complete overhaul of his training, Redmond emerged as a strong contender in ’92, having won gold medals at the World Championships and achieving a personal best that placed him among the world’s elite. However, his right hamstring tore only 150 meters into the semifinal race in Barcelona, and he collapsed on the track in excruciating pain. It would have been understandable for Derek to accept defeat and be carried off the track. But as the stretcher-bearers approached, Redmond struggled to his feet and began hopping toward the finish line. His father, Jim Redmond, who had been watching from the stands, rushed past security to reach his son. Derek recalls, “He tried to talk me out of it at first, saying that I didn’t need to prove anything, but I told him I was going to finish. Then he said we would do it together.” And so they did. The two of them made their way down the track together, with Derek leaning on his father for support and Jim encouraging him to keep going. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, moved by the display of perseverance and the bond between father and son. This powerful display of unity and love, where one person’s strength supports another’s weakness, is a reflection of the divine love and support we receive from our Heavenly Father...Sermon Starters (Proper 14B)(2024)
Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North includes a description of Tenji Nakamura, the brutal commander of a Japanese POW camp where thousands of POW’s and locals died in forced labor. He escaped prosecution. But after the war, when doctors diagnosed him with cancer, his wife lovingly cared for him. Flanagan writes about that love’s transforming power, Nakamura’s “wife’s goodness brought out so much that was good in him. He bore his illness with stoicism and humor. “He made time to see others who were even sicker than he; and even did some work with a charity that took meals to the old. He was kinder and more thoughtful about one and all: his family, his friends, his neighbors, even strangers. Tenji Nakamura was stunned by this discovery of such goodness in himself. ‘I am,’ he decided, ‘a good man.’ And this thought gave him immense comfort and a tranquility in the face of his cancer that amazed all who knew him.”
Illustrated Resources from the Archives
Imitation of Life
"One of the classic episodes of the TV show Seinfeld is about 'serenity now'. It involves a self-help mantra adopted by Frank Costanza, the crazy father of Jerry's neurotic friend George. Frank, who loses his temper instantly and constantly, has developed high blood pressure..." and another illustrationSermon Starters (Proper 14B)(2021)
In his essay, “Christianity and Literature” in the book, Christian Reflections, C.S. Lewis argues that much of the New Testament assumes that major human relations (Christ to God, us to Christ) are imitative. Reflecting on that essay, Cornelius Plantinga notes, “Whereas modern criticism views imitation in literature, for example, as bad and unhappy (creativity, originality, spontaneity all put imitation in the shade), it is the normal way in the New Testament of presenting the art of life itself. “Only God, maybe only God the Father, is truly original. All else is derivative and reflective. Saints are not moral or spiritual geniuses. They are imitators. [Lewis writes] ‘Our whole destiny seems to lie . . . in being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own but borrowed; in becoming clear mirrors filled with the image of a face that is not ours’.”Preaching Helps (Proper 14B)(2018)
In his essay, “Christianity and Literature” in the book, Christian Reflections, C.S. Lewis argues that much of the New Testament assumes that major human relations (Christ to God, us to Christ) are imitative. Reflecting on that essay, Cornelius Plantinga notes, “Whereas modern criticism views imitation in literature, for example, as bad and unhappy (creativity, originality, spontaneity all put imitation in the shade), it is the normal way in the New Testament of presenting the art of life itself. “Only God, maybe only God the Father, is truly original. All else is derivative and reflective. Saints are not moral or spiritual geniuses. They are imitators. [Lewis writes] ‘Our whole destiny seems to lie . . . in being as little as possible ourselves, in acquiring a fragrance that is not our own but borrowed; in becoming clear mirrors filled with the image of a face that is not ours’.”Imitators of God
'Live a life of love,' Paul tells the Ephesians in this week's epistle. As I thought about these words of Paul, words that can sound so trivial and trite, I saw a movie that reminded me of how our lonely world really is looking for love. It's a bio-pic about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys called Love and Mercy. Wilson was the innovative genius behind the Beach Boys, but despite his professional success, for much of his personal life he has battled the dark demons of mental illness...The Tie That Binds: Forgiveness
In his book, The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis paints a picture of hell as a huge, gray city. The inhabitants of this city live only on its outermost edges. There are rows and rows of empty houses in the middle. They are empty because everyone who used to live there quarreled with the neighbors, and then moved, and quarreled with the new neighbors and moved again. It is so large that it takes hundreds of years to travel from one end of the city to the other. All because its citizens can never resolve any differences and forgive each other. All they want to do is get as far away from each other as possible...Out of the Depths
David quotes a commencement address given by Mary Schmich which he attributes to Kurt Vonnegut. The original address can be read here.Being Blood Filters
We’ve all heard of people getting carried away with road rage or parents acting inappropriately at their child’s athletic game. But perhaps the ultimate example of out-of-control emotions leading to terrible behavior occurred 21 years ago in Waterloo, Iowa. I don’t remember hearing about this incident before last week even though this tragic incident happened in my former hometown. Apparently some kids were practicing hockey while their fathers were watching. The play got a bit rough, which led to an argument between two fathers and their argument, in turn, became violent. Before it was over, three young hockey players watched in horror as the father of a fellow hockey player beat their father to death. The children pleaded with the aggressor to stop, but to no avail. He didn’t quit until his opponent was beaten into unconsciousness with what would prove to be fatal wounds. In a doubly sad irony, the man who died in that incident had watched a different fatal fight years before — one between his father and his brother in which his brother ended up dead...Straight Talk
("One time there was a country doctor in Scotland who had very poor clients. Although his patients would pay him in eggs, chickens, vegetables at harvest, and meat at slaughtering time, his huge ledger book would contain many names where nothing was paid. Once per year, the doctor would go through his book and write 'Forgiven' wherever he knew the patients would never be able to pay. When the doctor died and his heirs received all of his material possessions, they brooded over the ledger book and all of the 'Forgiven' debts..." and other short illustrations)Out of the Depths
David quotes a commencement address given by Mary Schmich which he attributes to Kurt Vonnegut. The original address can be read here.Have I Got Some News For You!
("I will never forget my Uncle telling of a time when he was sitting in the waiting room of the 'Birthing Center' at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem. This wasn't your ordinary - run of the mill - Birthing Center. This is the place people go who are having multiple births...")