First Presbyterian Church
Going the Distance
Sermon for February 15, 2009
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time – a yellow level.
I asked the children these questions:
Do you see anything in this quilt top that looks like this? (I hold up the real level.) A level tells us when something is level according to gravity. Why do you think you'd need to build a house level? (So the walls are straight.) Why do you need walls that are straight up and down? (So the house doesn't fall down.) What on a house do you need to build slanted? (The roof.)

Our unison reading is on page 505. Psalm 30 is an old psalm of thanksgiving for healing. By the time it was put into the Hebrew Bible, it was used to celebrate Hanukkah, when the temple worship was restored in Jerusalem. The psalmist at first equated his troubles with God's absence. We don't know if God ever came close, just that the psalmist became joyful. Perhaps the psalmist realized God is not so simple and shallow as that. Listen for the word of God as we read it together from Psalm 30.

A Psalm. A Song at the dedication of the temple. Of David.

I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."

7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication:

9 "What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!"

11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

This ends our reading from the psalm. The psalmist thought prosperity was a sign of God's favor. But that prosperity didn't last. So the psalmist asked for God's help, wheedled and flattered and demanded it. Despite that childish behavior, God stayed faithful to the psalmist. And so instead of being prosperous forever, the psalmist was thankful to God forever.

Our special music today is a song written by Julie Gold. Nancy sings “From a Distance.”

Solo

Some people have complained that this song is all about how God is far away and uninvolved in what people are doing.

Julie Gold, the songwriter, says she thinks people should interpret the song any way they want, as with all art. She says the song is about the difference between how things appear to be and how they really are. 1

The Bible does tell us that God is off in the distance, holy and transcendent and separate. It also tells us that God is immanent, near enough to count the hairs on our heads, to see into our hearts, to be a part of our lives. God can be both things, and many more. God is not limited.

Our gospel reading is on page 172. We'll be reading from my translation. In Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth, he has been writing to them about his freedom in Christ, and how he chooses to be a slave, or a servant, of all. He adapts to the customs of the people he is proclaiming the gospel to; whether they eat meat or not, whether they are Jew or gentile. He becomes all things to all people, but he is not like jell-o in a mold, conforming to what people want. He does not lose track of what's important: the gospel of Jesus Christ. He speaks and acts in ways so people can learn the gospel from him. Listen for the word of God as it is found in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

24 Don't you know that in a stadium, the runners all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may receive it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreathed crown, but we an imperishable one.

26 So I do not run uncertainly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it serve me, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

This ends our gospel reading.

Paul speaks of disciplining his body—I think he referred to a training regimen. He wrote of an athlete's self control. In the style of Roman philosophers, Paul offered himself as a model for the Corinthians: he did not do what gave him the most immediate personal pleasure, but instead, thought of how God would want him to act – to do what served the common good and contributed to Paul's own well-being. 2

The psalmist confused success with God's presence. Sports figures do that too, making the sign of the cross before coming up to bat, giving God credit for victories, claiming that God has blessed them whenever they win. I read about a conference at St. Olaf college, where students batted around questions like, “Does God really care who wins or loses? Does God take sides? Might God enjoy a ‘well-executed double play' regardless of which team makes the play? Campus pastor Bruce Benson talked about the difference between sports and athletics. “Sports is whether you win or lose. Athletics is how you play the game. Sport is about glamour. Athletics is about beauty…..sport creates stars, crowds, mobs, and gangs. Athletics creates teammates and community. Biblical religion is uneasy about the first. It loves the second.” 3

Paul spoke of running to receive a prize –he wasn't talking about the prize being getting into heaven. The prize is living the gospel and being a part of the body of Christ. Heaven, whatever it is, is a bonus.

A few years ago, the Boston Red Sox gathered for prayer and Bible study before each game. They swept the World Series in 2005. “When asked if it was God's will that the Sox win the World Series, pitcher Mike Myers [said] that if he knew the answer to that, he'd be God.”

Decades ago, University of Chicago president Maynard Hutchins regularly attended university chapel. “One Sunday morning the dean's sermon opened with [these words] ‘yesterday I was on the golf course and as I teed off I was reminded that we must follow through in life.'… [Hutchins] never appeared in the chapel again…. He said that he had heard such truths sufficiently often and ‘sometimes in a better literary framework.' A friend said this was ‘One more casualty of lame sports metaphors in sermons!' 4

In golf, there's a lot of walking and waiting, making it easy for golfers to think deeply. I'm not surprised the dean found spirituality in golf. We think of God, our souls, and our faith in terms that we know. The dean knew golf. I know quilts. So hear goes.

I'm making this quilt for my friend Linda, who is a faithful and faith-filled Christian. She shares the gospel by ministering to women who are targets of domestic violence. Next week she's leading a conference called “Building Foundations for Women in Transition from Abuse.”

What you see is a cutaway view of a large grey stone footing, with the start of a brick foundation on top, some backfill on the left, and a yellow level on the right, showing that the wall is plumb. The light's coming from the left, shining on the budding flower, which grows from a bulb with deep roots.

The effects of abuse are complicated. Abuse survivors have been told they are worthless often. Building foundations is about claiming their power, taking care of themselves spiritually, emotionally and physically. It takes self-discipline and work to break patterns of abuse, to learn new coping skills and how to be healthy. They have to concentrate on that goal. It isn't easy, and they need a lot of support. So there are cheerleaders in the sky, to encourage them.

I put a lot of different faces in the dirt and the gravel and the bricks. Some are smiling, some aren't. Making a change to a new life isn't always cheerful work. The women are young with thick brown hair and old with thin grey hair. The children's faces are happy because their mothers are working on building a foundation for life without abuse.

There are ruby slippers on a square because of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She had to click her heels together and say, “I wanna go home.” The women who will see this quilt and go to these workshops are building foundations for a new home, one that is safe.

Linda's work lets them know they aren't alone, and they will have assistance to reach their goals. When you have a goal, you have hope that something good is attainable.

The song Nancy sang made me think of my quilt. God sees us from a distance, recognizes the pattern, has the big picture, and at the same time, sees each precious piece. God's focus can be far-sighted or near-sighted and everywhere in between. It's reassuring to know that God is watching us, and it is also challenging. Amen .

1 “Julie Gold and Her Songs,” Here on Earth- Radio Without Borders, Wisconsin Public Radio, February 19, 2005.
2 New Interpreter's Bible, vol. X, p. 910.
3 “Century Marks,” Christian Century, August 10, 2004, p. 7, quoting Star Tribune, June 28.
4 Context, Jan. 15, 1996, p. 2-3.