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Sunday's
Sermon
Jan 20, 2008
1096
"Thirty Minutes of Wonderful "
The Rev. Dennis Posno
Life has a way of unfolding.
Sometimes it unfolds beautifully ~
beyond our wildest expectations …
beyond our sweetest dreams.
And sometimes it unfolds sadly ~
taking us places we never thought we’d be …
places we hoped we’d never be.
In last Sunday’s message ~ SUNSHINE DANCING ~
I spoke of a moment of life unfolding ~
not beautifully, but sadly.
In speaking of the moment I talked about a man
whose life had been turned upside down, inside out,
because his wife’s life ~
in a time as brief as it takes you
to breath your next breath ~
was unalterably changed.
In telling the story, as I often do,
although the truth of it was told,
I changed the roles of the people involved
to offer some anonymity.
In actual fact it was the man who was suddenly taken ill
and his wife of a few brief years with whom I spoke.
In telling their story, and I’ll tell it correctly now, I said …
“ …her husband’s life was unalterably changed.
Seizures gave way to a diagnosis that shattered both their lives.
He would never be the man he was
and the life they were looking to share in their old age
would now be counted in days, weeks, not years.
Things would never be the same.
“In visiting with her,
in aching for them both at this distressing place,
I asked a question for which I received a remarkable answer.
‘How are you doing?’ I asked.
And more deeply, ‘How do you do it?’
“The answer was this.
‘I do it by living in the moment.
It is too difficult to look ahead, to imagine what is going to happen ~
this sad, day by day slipping away.
And it is too difficult to look back,
to think of how it was and in looking back,
wishing I could have that time again.
“No, I live in the moment,
grateful for this time to be with him …
grateful that I am able to be here to love him.
And I know that God will give me the strength for the moment.’
“’God appears to a hungry person in the form of a loaf of bread.’
“This woman has a hunger, too:
a hunger for the strength not just to live in the moment
but to meet the moment with grace and courage.
And her God ~ whom she knows loves her ~
is the source of that strength.
It is not a sunshine dancing on water experience.
But God’s light shines within to warm and strengthen her.”
On Tuesday evening of this week, around 9:30,
while attending a Presbytery meeting here at the church, my cell phone rang.
I took the call and it was the woman’s daughter
calling to say that the man they had all loved had died.
I excused myself from the meeting,
drove to the hospital
and found my way to the man’s room.
When I entered the room, many of the family were gathered.
We hugged each other
and spoke of tender and sad things.
Spoke of their sorrow.
Spoke of their relief that the man’s suffering was over.
In the course of our conversation,
I shared with them words that I had heard earlier in the day
when I had a meeting with someone on church business.
The person with whom I met
spoke of a moment in the movie Steel Magnolias
when a mother and daughter were in conflict,
because the daughter,
who had some serious health issues,
told her mother she was pregnant,
and her mother,
believing that she has compromised her already fragile health,
starts arguing with her.
In the heated conversation between them
the daughter asks her mother what she wanted for them when they grew up.
Not wanting to play games, the mother digs in her heals
so the daughter persistently asks again:
”Just tell me what you said, Mama, what did you say?”
The mother replies:
“The only thing I have ever said to you, ever, is that I want you to be happy.”
And the daughter replies:
“Okay, the one thing that would make me happy is to have a baby.
If I could adopt one I would, but I can't.
I'm going to have a baby, and I wish you'd be happy too.”
The mother says,
”I'll tell you what I wish. Well, I don't know what I wish.”
And her daughter offers this final answer:
”Mama, I don't know why you have to make everything so difficult.
I look at having a baby as the opportunity of a lifetime.
Sure there may be risk involved, but that's true for anybody.
“But you get through it and life goes on. And when it's all said and done there will be a little piece of immortality … I hope.
Please, please I need your support.
I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful
than a lifetime of nothing special.”
And this brings me to the heart of the message ~
found in that remarkable sentence:
“I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful
than a lifetime of nothing special.”
In talking with this family who found themselves
in a moment and at a place they did not want to be,
they were able to give thanks to God, if I may use this language,
for the thirty minutes of wonderful
rather than a lifetime of nothing special.
In this moment they hoped would never come
and in this place they’d rather not be ~
with death present ~
they were able to talk easily and lovingly about life:
about time shared
and things done
and things said.
They were able to give thanks to God
for the thirty minutes of wonderful
rather than a lifetime of nothing special.
In this moment they hoped would never come
and in this place they’d rather not be ~
there was as much laughter as there were tears.
And love filled that room,
and gratitude for the time that was theirs together.
They were able to give thanks to God
for the thirty minutes of wonderful
rather than a lifetime of nothing special.
Will the days ahead be easy? No.
Will the sorrow sometimes overwhelm them? Yes.
Will they, with all of their faith, be confronted with doubt? Perhaps.
Will they find the peace that lasts,
that comes as a gift from God
because they believe that the one they have given
over to God’s eternal care
and they themselves
are held in the hollow of God’s hand? Yes.
They can, they will,
because they have had thirty minutes of wonderful
rather than a lifetime of nothing special.
In many ways, perhaps the essential way,
it all has to do with faith …
it all has to do with the God you believe in,
with what you believe to be true about God,
with what you believe God to be all about.
In the hospital room that night,
the wife of the man who had died
was holding something tightly in her hand.
As we spoke she opened her hand.
In her open hand was a shiny brown stone, flat and smooth,
and written on the stone were the words FAITH.
Faith, although defined in many ways,
surely means holding on to God.
It is equally important to remember ~
when our grip is loosened by trouble or worry or doubt ~
that faith also means that God is also holding on to you.
Faith is holding on to God and knowing that God is holding on to you.
And so, as I often do, I come to you …
to the life you’re living …
to the times of wonderful and nothing special …
to the faith that is yours …
to the God whom you love and who loves you.
In the words of Scripture read earlier,
Paul, who experienced life in all of its themes and variations,
in all of its colours and hues,
reminds his readers to
“Rejoice in the Lord always …”
that in any and all circumstances “The Lord is near.”
He encourages us to not be anxious,
“ … but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving” to present our requests to God.
And he reminds us that in the doing of this
“ … the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Talk about a wonderful gift: God’s peace.
And the next words are a reminder, I believe,
when life is difficult and troublesome …
when your days may be hemmed with worry …
when you feel that the days are filled with nothing special …
to embrace the thirty minutes of wonderful moments ~
those beautiful, assuring, transforming moments ~
to let those things fill up your thinking.
Paul writes,
“… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable …”
and may I add whatever is wonderful,
“ … think about such things … and the God of peace will be with you.”
And he goes on to write these incredible words …
“ … for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or living in want.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
We discover the way to experience thirty minutes of wonderful …
to recognize those moments …
to embrace and be thankful for them …
rather than believing and living as though the moments hold nothing special.
The way is through a grateful heart …
and a life wrapped in prayer …
and the experience of God’s peace …
and the remembrance of the wonderful …
and the knowledge of Christ’s spirit present in every moment.
Perhaps someone you loved and cared for,
who meant the world to you, has died.
As my friends discovered in that hospital room,
they could give thanks, even in their sorrow,
and have tears of joy and laughter mingled with tears of grief
for the years they did have ~
those thirty minutes of wonderful.
Perhaps you have faced a difficult moment
and in facing it felt very much alone
until you discovered someone standing close to you, supporting you.
Give thanks, even in that moment,
for the thirty minutes of wonderful
knowing that you did not stand alone.
Perhaps you have wasted precious moments
and have lived a lifetime of nothing special.
Perhaps you have lost much.
But a parent or a child or a friend has stood by you,
encouraged you and forgiven you and cared for you in such a way
that you have found your way and found your place.
Give thanks for those thirty minutes of wonderful
that have let you know that you were loved.
Perhaps you’re here today
feeling that if you live nobody notices
and if you die nobody will care;
yet in these moments your life has been touched by Christ’s spirit
and this time has become your thirty minutes of wonderful
that can transform the lifetime that is still yours.
Give thanks to God for that gift.
And this is God’s promise.
It is God’s promise to you.
It is God’s promise to us all:
Jesus ~
whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace ~
who loves you more than you can imagine,
is with you now
and in every moment
of every day.
SOLI DEO GLORIA
SCRIPTURE
Philippians 4:4-8, 11-13
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, (brothers), whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
