First Presbyterian Church
Others' Interests
Sermon for September 25, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time: Sharpening your ax

A man was cutting wood. He had a lot of wood to cut, and time was getting short. He never took a break; he just kept cutting and cutting. His ax got duller and duller, and it took more effort to cut the wood and he had to swing harder and harder. What do you think he should do?

He was afraid to take the time away from chopping wood to sharpen his ax.

Sometimes, when people are taking a break from their jobs, they say, “I'm sharpening my ax.” That means they are preparing to do one job by doing another job instead.

Sometimes coming to church is like sharpening our axes. It gets us ready to do what we need to do, and it reminds us what's really important. I'm interested to know what important things do you think we do in church?

Our unison reading is a psalm that reminds people of faith of their history, and what God has done for them. Listen for the word of God as we read it together in Psalm 78:1-4 and 12-16.

1 A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children; we will tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

5 He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 8 and that they should not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

9 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.

10 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.

11 They forgot what he had done, and the miracles that he had shown them.

12 In the sight of their ancestors he worked marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.

13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.

14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all night long with a fiery light.

15 He split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.

16 He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

 

This ends our reading from Psalms.

And God's chosen people eventually came to Canaan, where they built cities and temples and farms. The day after Jesus created such a ruckus in the temple in Jerusalem, he tells this parable. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Matthew 21:23-32.

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?"

And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet."

27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 "What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'

29 He answered, 'I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went.

30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go.

31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

This ends our reading from the gospel. The chief priests and elders--the religious leaders--realize Jesus is talking about them. The rule of God is going to be taken away from them. Their authority to decide what and who is godly or not is being taken away. . No wonder they murmured against Jesus and plotted to arrest him. To them, he was presumptuous, a blasphemer, and certainly a traitor. The parable is about doing the will of God, rather than speaking the will of God.

How can the tax collectors and prostitutes go into God's realm before religious leaders do? How are tax collectors and prostitutes possibly doing the will of God? Because they heard John and repented. These religious leaders did not repent. Humility is an important quality in any leader. Our epistle text from the Philippians speaks of humility.

The town of Philippi was a Roman city, and the cult of the emperor was the official cult. The emperor was called Lord. Paul writes of a different lord. Our passage from Philippians contains a famous hymn, or poem, that theologians have taken as authoritative theology about Christ's divine and human natures. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Philippians 2:1-13.

2:1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

This ends our reading of God's word.

The end result of confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord is the glory of God. That's not so hard to understand. But other parts of this passage are hard.

In our psalm, the second verse is “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old.” That phrase ‘dark sayings' could also be ‘enigmatic' or ‘perplexing sayings.' Some of today's epistle is perplexing. It is good Greek, but confusing English. To make sense of it, we have to supply some English words, and it's any translator's guess as to what they are.

This famous hymn has some translation difficulties that impact our interpretation.

In verse 4, it says “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” The best I can translate it is “Let each of you look not to those 1 of yours but to those 2 of others.” What is the ‘those' referring to? It could be possessions, rights, spiritual gifts, or points of view.

Paul was just continuing his argument about not being selfish. The Roman culture at the time emphasized success; people were expected to use their connections to get ahead and increase their status. Paul tells us that following Christ is about something else; looking out for others.

But looking out for other people has its disadvantages. We can't just give and give and give without being replenished somehow. We have to stop to rest and eat. I have learned that when I start making foolish mistakes, it is not a sign that I have to work harder. It is a sign that I have to rest and take a day off.

Verse 5 is “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” I always wondered how any of us could have the mind of Christ. Doesn't that seem presumptuous or impossible?

It is better translated as “Show among yourselves the attitude that arises from the fact that you are in Christ.” That means because you are in the church, because you are a part of the body of Christ, act like it. Act like you belong there. Treat each other as if the other belongs there too.

Verse 6 is "who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited.” That word ‘though' isn't in the Greek text. The line reads literally, “who being in the form of God did not consider as-something-to-be-exploited equality with God. In other words, “who, because he was in the form of God, did not consider it something to use to his advantage.” Jesus modeled humility for us. But having humility is different from being careless with ourselves.

I saw a movie recently where a woman was being trained as a volunteer emergency medical technician, an EMT. Their instructor was cautioning the class about not trying to be heroes, and going it alone, and getting themselves stuck in a dangerous situation. The instructor had them chant back at him “I'm number one! I'm number one” to help them remember their first duty was to take care of themselves. They could make a bad situation worse by not calling for backup immediately, or being in too much of a hurry to follow safety procedures. When the EMT becomes a victim, the paramedics have one more person to care for and one less EMT at the scene.

So this is one case where looking to the interests of others means taking care of yourself.

Rescue work has been on my mind since hurricane Katrina.

Two weeks ago, I read about some Air Force Reserve Helicopter pilots. Kurt Matthews' squadron was sent to New Orleans to help with the rescue effort. Flying conditions were extremely hazardous. He said, “There are dozens of tall towers and power lines you couldn't see easily.” They had a hoist, night goggles, and infrared equipment and pararescue jumpers. The parachute jumpers are called PJs. He said, “We could do rooftop rescues, attic rescues, types of things other helicopters weren't as equipped to handle.” At first, they were supposed to find people whose need was most desperate, but that turned out to be everywhere. Except hurricane parties, where people on top of a building were drunk, and didn't want to leave. Kurt said, “If they were unrational or unruly, we would move on, because the PJs were unarmed.”

And so they left those people on the roofs. Several times they had knives pulled on them. Some unruly people wanted food and water. The PJs didn't have any to give.

He managed to go three days on seven hours of sleep. He said the real downside was the people they had to leave behind. “It was devastating that we didn't rescue everybody we saw.” As they were hoisting out one family, they were told seven women were trapped in the attic of a nearby house. As the helicopter rose, an evacuee shifted, the chopper swayed and hit tree limbs. The blades were damaged; they had to return to their base for repairs. He said, “Of course we passed the coordinates to others, but they had to find the exact house where we'd been, and then go to the second house across the street to the right. We went back repeatedly to try and find where we'd been, and even we could never find it.”

They made the only decision they could. They couldn't fly the helicopter with damaged blades; they completed the rescue they started. I feel for Kurt Matthews; he wanted to help those women, but he was unable to. I hope he has found peace with his decision, and can focus on the people he was able to help.

It's discouraging to be put in a position where we see suffering but can't do much about it.

Our General Assembly council has sent a letter to the churches, which says “As the nation prepares for the onslaught of Hurricane Rita, the impact of Hurricane Katrina continues to unfold with tragic result. Failed levies and floods on top of storms have taken lives and homes and businesses and churches. Congregations are scattered in involuntary exile, pastors cut off from people and resources. Our failings as a society to care for all people equally and compassionately have been laid bare. Our faith in the systems that are to protect and care in time of great need is shaken. Weary and wary, we await reports on the impact of this new threat, and pray that lives and livelihoods may be spared.” 

     It concludes: “Remembering that, the GAC commits itself to prayer and support for all those affected by this disaster and calls upon our church to continue its faithful response that we might in this moment of challenge, through the power of the Holy Spirit, prove worthy witnesses to God's grace in Jesus Christ for all people.”

And we continue to do that. I'm happy to say there's a camp in Arkansas that can use all the health and hygiene kits we packed two Sundays ago. I'll ship them out on Monday.

We can't save everybody. But we can help some. And we can do that by remembering to look to the needs of others, and take care of ourselves, and not resenting the time it takes to sharpen our axes.

1 really better translated as plural ‘the.'

2 really better translated as plural ‘the.'