Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

 
                       

The Hard Stuff

by Dave Wilkinson
James 1:21-25
February 7. 1999

"My child arrived just the other day;
He came to the world in the usual way,
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay,
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, Dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

That’s how Harry Chapin began his hit song, "Cat's in the Cradle". The verse leads into the chorus:

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon.
"When you comin' home, Dad?"
"I don't know when, but we'll get together then;
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on, let's play.
Can you teach me to throw.
I said, "No, not today,
I got a lot to do."
He said, "That's okay."

And he walked away but his smile never dimmed.
It said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah,
You know I'm gonna be like him .... "

And he came from college just the other day;
So much like a man I just had to say,
Son, I'm proud, of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and he said with a smile,
What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later, can I have them please?"

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away.
Called him up just the other day,
Said, "I'd like to see you, if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kids have the flu,
But it's sure nice talkin' to you, Dad,
It's been nice talkin' to you."

And as I hung up the phone
It occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me,
My boy was just like me.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little Boy Blue and the man in the moon,
When you comin' home, Son?"
I don't know when, but we'll get together then, Dad.
We’re gonna have a good time then."

That was a very dramatic song that certainly made a lot of dads feel guilty. But what is especially interesting is the way the song actually played itself out in Harry Chapin’s own life as a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have read that his wife actually helped write the words of the song. She asked him one day when he was going to slow the torrid pace of his life and give some time to their children. The song was a hit and Chapin as on tour promoting his burgeoning career and an effective involvement in hunger programs -- a very worth while cause. His reply was, "At the end of this busy summer, I'll take some time to be with them." But you see, he had a hit and this was Chapin’s chance to make the big time. That summer, ironically and tragically, Harry Chapin was killed in a car accident. In a t.v. special a few weeks ago, Chapin’s daughter was interviewed. She said that she had not really known her father,

Is it possible to read that postscript of Chapin’s death and miss the point -- that something was known, believed, and even preached, but not lived.

"Resolving to Live What We Say We Believe." That's the subtitle of our church wide 50-Day Spiritual Adventure. The Adventure actually begins next week -- although many of the groups are already meeting to begin to build friendships or have already been meeting for a long time. For eight Sundays and the seven weeks in-between, we will discover ways we can eliminate saying one thing and doing another or letting our promises fall off our lips to the floor. As the passage in James suggests, this is not a new dilemma for the people of God. We come from a long line of those who follow Jesus but lack follow-through.

This morning I want to summarize the five action steps that make it possible to incorporate the eight themes into our lives. If you have done a 50-Day Adventure before, you know that the action steps are the most important component. Without them, all you have is a two-month preaching series. The action steps are what make this an Adventure. They are hands-on, user-friendly, tangible ways to personalize and apply God's Word to your life.

These action steps are helpful tools that provide a context in which the Holy Spirit can work in our lives to do what we say. For all who want to strive to keep their promises with God's help, it's a way to get started.

First, if I want to live what I say I believe with regard to nurturing a growing intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ, I need to do more than just desire that. So during the Adventure we will spend time in selected Bible passages and reflect what the Lord is saying to us through his Word. A daily quiet time doesn't have to be a boring, obligatory time. In addition, you'll be encouraged weekly to create and customize memorable, private moments with the Lord that will let you worship in a way that is meaningful to you and Him. Between your daily practice and those weekly customized worship times, your relationship with the Lord will be nurtured. That's Action Step 1.

If I really want to cultivate vital friendships that will encourage me to keep my promises, I need to find ways to do that. The second action step calls us to come out of spiritual isolation by deciding to give up Lone Ranger Christianity. You will be challenged to seek out a Christian friend or two who will encourage you to keep your daily and weekly action steps and with whom you can share your spiritual victories and defeats. The people who tend to fail are those who isolate themselves. The Devil is a wolf that just lives the lone sheep -- the sheep that is apart from the flock and the shepherd. .

The third action step is designed to provide the necessary support to practice purity in thought and actions. In order to do that, you will be asked to identify a signature sin. You won’t be asked to identify it to everyone else or to write it on the banner, But a signature sin is one that bears your autograph because of the degree to which it has caused you to stumble in the past (and to which you remain vulnerable). Even if you have started to believe you will never be free of that "besetting sin," you'll discover there's hope. We're going to learn how to spell purity in a way we’ve never dreamed possible.

In order to keep our promises about making family relationships a priority and supporting our church and its leaders, Action Step 4 offers a fun and creative way to care for those we care about. Each day of the Adventure, we will chart daily acts of servant love by which we can be on the lookout for ways to esteem members of our nuclear family or extended family as well as our church family. In addition to setting you loose to be innovative, your record will provide you with a raft of new ideas for expressing appreciation, encouragement, and love.

The final action step provides a list of practical suggestions as we attempt to identify and address the hidden prejudices of our hearts and as we seek to influence our "worlds" with the love of Christ. This list will make it possible for you to choose to become exposed to the pain of people unlike yourself. Because so many of our prejudices are unrecognizable to us, this action step may take more time than the others. But the end result will be personally freeing and God-honoring.

Writer and Saturday Review Editor Norman Cousins, after his experiences as a cancer patient at the UCLA medical school as a cancer patient, notes a common misunderstanding about what is "real" and "unreal" Cousins is quoted as saying: "The words hard and soft are generally used by medical students to describe the contrasting nature of courses. Courses like biochemistry, physics, pharmacology, anatomy, and pathology are anointed with the benediction of "hard," whereas subjects like medical ethics, philosophy, history, and patient-physician relationships, tend to labor under the far less auspicious label "soft"--- But a decade or two after graduation there tends to be an inversion. That which was supposed to be hard turns out to be soft, and vice versa. The knowledge base of medicine is constantly changing --- But the soft subjects-especially those that have to do with intangibles -- turn out in the end to be of enduring value."

We are looking at the true hard stuff here — but its that hard stuff that makes the difference in our lives and loves and relationships. It is the hard stuff of relationships, character and ethics that really makes up our dash — not the degrees we earn or the plaques on our walls.

What do I mean by "the stuff that makes up our dash"?

Well all kinds of information can be found on tombstones. But there is one item that is exactly the same on every marker: the "dash" between the dates. That little dash doesn't tell us anything. But it represents the whole life of that individual. It represents the legacy that was left for generations to come. Our names and dates of birth have been established and recorded. Right now, we are now working on our "dash." Our dash is always horizontal. It represents our dealing with, our fellow men and women. Your dash is where you deal with the hard stuff — and learn to live what you say you believe.