Sermon: Too Young, Too Old, Too Busy

“Limited Time, Unlimited Possibilities”

Rev. Cynthia O’Brien

April 22, 2007

Luke 10:38-42; Mark 1:32-37

Quote to consider:

"If you're burning the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think you are."

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

Mark 1:35-37

^{2CO 1:3} Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. ⁵ For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. ⁶ If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷ And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

We are continuing in our church’s theme for 2007: The Year of Discovery, and this month’s theme, Discover the Power to Make a Difference.

As I’ve been reading and talking to people this week, it seems that a lot of people want to make a difference in their communities or help other people, but they don’t, pretty much for three reasons. They feel they are too young, too old, or too busy.

TOO YOUNG?

I hear a lot of teenagers saying, “I’m so bored” or “It doesn’t matter what I do.” They’re either out of touch with the needs of others, or think that since they’re too young to vote or drive or hold a job, that there’s nothing they can do about the problems of their communities.

But if you’ve been around this church for any length of time, you know that being young hasn’t stopped people from making a difference. The preschoolers have been collecting change for three years for the new building. Alex Brown, a middle schooler, is raising money for clean water in Africa, and he and his friends collected money on Halloween instead of trick-or-treating. A dozen of our high schoolers are headed to Florida this summer to do the hard work of hurricane relief and restoration.

We quoted this Scripture a few weeks ago from 1 Timothy: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

Friday was the 8^th anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Charlie Simmons, a member of the Columbine choir, was one of the survivors. About a week later, he was asked to help start a community youth center, a place where teenagers could go to hang out, everyone would be accepted, and you could share things that were on your mind with caring mentors. They called it SHOUTS, Students Helping Others Unite Together Socially, and it opened a month after the tragedy.

Charlie said: “Eric and Dylan had a secret and they told no one. Maybe nobody let them know they had somebody to talk to if they needed to. I think they were angry at the world. I think they had problems with themselves or their families or with others they just couldn’t work out. I think that someone wasn’t around to touch their lives.” [1]

I’ve found that people of all ages really start to make a difference when they find a cause that they can relate to. Unfortunately, sometimes this happens when they experience a problem or tragedy in their own life, but as they are overcoming it, they find they have enough strength to reach out to others.

(Story of Tessa Thompson from Teens With the Courage to Give -- about how she began to realize that her “perfect” boyfriend was also a classic abuser. She broke up with him nine times but he kept convincing her to stay, until she finally made the break, eventually spoke at student assembly, found herself, now helps teenagers in similar situations.)

The Apostle Paul wrote, God … comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

God has made us this way – when we experience a difficulty or a tragedy, it makes us compassionate towards others. We say, “I don’t want someone else to go through what I did.” That’s a powerful energizer towards getting the power to make a difference.

TOO OLD?

And being old hasn’t stopped people from making a difference. It was maybe 12 years ago that one of our members, Bob, about 70 years old at the time, was approached by a fellow member, Holly. Holly said, “Do you have a truck?” Bob said, “yes.” She said, “You need to go volunteer for Snow Cap.” So he did, and now, even in his 80’s, he’s picking up bread from the bakery and donations from the church and delivering it to the food bank in his truck. He and his friends moved the 400 pounds of baby food that we collected here last fall. I think it keeps him young.

There was a man in Berkeley named Joseph Charles who liked to work in his front yard and always smiled and waved to his neighbors and people walking by. One day a lady said, “You make me feel so good, you should go out to the street and wave to everyone.” He put on a pair of yellow gloves and started doing it. For 30 years, every morning from about 7:30 to 9:30, he waved to the passing motorists from in front of his house on the busy Martin Luther King Jr. Way. He would smile and call out, “Keep smiling!” and “Have a GOOD day!” People used to change their commuting route to go by him. The mayor of Berkeley said, “He brought a lot of joy to people.” Joseph Charles died a few years ago at the age of 91. He outlived his wife, two children and two physicians.

Still feel too old? Consider these things you can still do. Remember the church in your will. Whether you give 10 percent of your estate, or a modest amount, it is your legacy to your family and continues the ministry that you care so much about.

Love your family and friends. Let your grandchildren know how special they are to you.

And pray for your loved ones, the church and the world. The Bible says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

So there’s not too young, and not too old. How about the rest of us?

TOO BUSY?

A lot of us who are working and/or raising children just feel too busy with our own lives to get out and do something for someone else.

I am not going to stand here and tell you that you’re not too busy, because I know what some of your lives are like. You’re overloaded, either financially, emotionally, or with the amount of activities and responsibilities you have.

Let me share a picture you might relate to. The Chicago Bears used to do this thing called "Splashing.” The smaller defensive backs and the huge defensive linemen had a good natured battle of intimidation. First they would hurl verbal assaults at each other. Then the big guys would try to circle and isolate one of the defensive backs or as they called them, the "Brat Pack." Usually the smaller, faster defensive backs were able to strike and quickly escape; but, if captured, they paid a huge price.

This is how it happened when they “splashed” defensive back David Tate, who weighed 180 pounds. He was dropped to the ground and the 300 pound William "Refrigerator" Perry collapsed on top of him. Then 270 pound Richard Dent, 275 pound Dan Hampton, and 270 pound Steve McMichael jumped on top--1,115 pounds of pain.

David Tate said, "It hurts. I don't think they know how heavy they are. Once you've gotten 'splashed,' you avoid it at all costs--even if it means backing down."

Have you ever felt "splashed"?

Dr. Richard A. Swenson used this idea as a metaphor for people’s overloaded lives. In one form or another--whether emotionally, physically, or financially--it happens to a lot of us. Newsweek did a cover story on it – the title was simply, "Exhausted."

Swenson said:

"The spontaneous tendency of our culture is to inexorably add detail to our lives: one more option, one more problem, one more commitment, one more expectation, one more purchase, one more debt, one more change, one more job, one more decision. We must now deal with more 'things per person' than at any other time in history. Yet one can comfortably handle only so many details in his or her life. … Overloading occurs whenever the requirements upon us exceed that which we are able to bear.

This month we are exploring the idea, Discover the Power to Make a Difference. But if you are overloaded, if you have too much going on, you’re not going to feel like you can make a difference in other people’s lives.

But you realize God calls you to love your neighbor as yourself, and that as a Christian you are called to follow Jesus. So let’s see how Jesus pulled it off.

In Mark 1:32-34. It was early in Jesus’ ministry, and the crowd just loved him. They brought him ALL the sick and demon possessed, and he healed them.

The disciples must have been ready to pitch a tent, put up billboards, and advertise through television and newspaper that Jesus would be having an extended campaign in the area. They were ready to set the agenda for Jesus. (You may have heard this saying, "God loves you and everybody else has a plan for your life.")

Meanwhile, Jesus had his own agenda. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, 'Everyone is looking for you!'" More and more people wanted Jesus to help them. So after he had set aside time to pray by himself, he went to the next village to preach.

Jesus did not heal everyone; he did not minister to everyone; he did not visit everyone; and he did not teach everyone. He did not work 24-hour days. He didn't run from place to place; he walked or shuffled as he talked with his companions. At the end of every day, he slept. Jesus lived in the context of limits. Yet at the end of his life he could say to his Father, "I accomplished the work you gave me to do."

Is it possible in our busy lives to do what we’ve been called to do, to love our neighbor as ourself, to help the poor, to take a public stand for truth, and to still get a full night’s sleep?

Many of Christ's followers today get caught up in a lot of activities that aren't closely related to the primary job God has given them to do. We can get worn out with too many good things.

I heard someone say recently, "If you are burning the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think you are." Jesus knew it. The leaders in the early church knew it as well. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants" (Eph. 5:15-17, TM).

If we don't establish effective priorities, overloading will continue to fill up our schedules and keep us captive. We may have to simplify our lives and get rid of excess. We may have to say "no" to the good that we may say "yes" to the best. Only then will we be able to find the power to make a difference.

This is the situation I find myself in. With a husband, two active children, a terrific church, my involvement in the community, and lots of personal interests, I have a life that’s packed with blessings and great ways to make a difference. “How’s it going, Cynthia” someone will ask. “It’s a chaos of joy,” I say. “An avalanche of blessings.”

But there’s not enough time to do it all. When I go on leave this summer, one of the things I will have to think through is how I can make a difference in my community and still keep a reasonable schedule. I’m going to study the life and ministry of Jesus and try to understand how he met people’s daily needs while also carrying out the Father’s long term vision. How did he preach such wisdom that brought fresh insight, and still had time to welcome the little children who came to him?

I invite you to make the same self-examination. Look over your calendar of activities, evaluate your television watching habits, evaluate the purchases in your checkbook and on your credit card statement. Become aware of where you’re spending time and money. Then consider where your true passion is, and what your gifts are. Talk to a trusted friend about it. And pray that God will give you the power to make a difference.

Next week is the last message in the Power to Make a Difference. I’ll be handing out some ideas for ways that you can change the world, one life at a time.

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[1] Jackie Waldman, Teens With the Courage to Give, 2000, Conari Press