6.9.24 "1830 - a Year to Remember!" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

1 Samuel 8

The year, 1830. 

You and your friends were talking about it just this week, I’m sure … someone said to you, “1830, what a year that was!”

Simon Bolívar’s dream of a United South America was shattered … he himself died on his way into pensioned exile.  

In Tasmania, Governor Arthur swept a line of armed whites across the huge island in an effort to trap and eradicate the remaining aborigines.

The July Revolution in Paris overthrew the ruling family and installed Louis Philippe on the French throne. 

The Indian Removal Act, setting in motion the removal of 80,000 Indigenous Peoples to lands west of the Mississippi.

The rift between North and South deepened with the nullification issue and the Hayne-Webster debate in the Senate.

Hayne supports slavery … Webster an abolitionist … 30 years later, this debate literally explodes when Southern guns fire on Fort Sumter and the Civil War begins.

1830 … just another year in the human adventure …

This morning, 2024; the outward appearance is different … we have plans, trains and automobiles … computers and the internet … but the human questions remain pretty much the same.

Politics and religion … life and death, make a living, put bread on the table, care for loved ones, fall in love, fall out of love, vast dreams, broken hearts, make sense of life, and do the best we can.

We do well to ask how others faced the challenges of life … from them, we learn how to make our way through time, even as we create and shape our very own lives. 

It’s improper and unhealthy to let the past rule the present, but it’s equally improper and unhealthy to ignore the past … the past is always present … it’s better to know the past, learn from it, and correct some of its faults.

This morning, we step back in time … the 11th Century before Jesus … Samuel the Prophet.

God’s call to Samuel comes to him as young boy … three times in the early night, a voice calls out to him: Samuel, Samuel … the young boy gets up, goes to Eli the priest, believing it was Eli calling him.

Eli sends the boy back to bed … but on the third time, says, If you hear your name called again, say this ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’

Samuel grows up to play a pivotal role in Israel’s life … in war and peace, conflict and hope, Samuel travels back and forth every year, a judicial circuit, meeting with town elders and adjudicating issues … settling arguments, giving advice, encouraging faith, hope, and love . it’s a lotta work.

As Samuel grows older, he brings his sons on board. But the sons of Samuel, like the sons of Eli the Priest, are up to no good.

The Bible says, they turned aside after gain, they took bribes and perverted justice.

Israel’s leaders go to Samuel, You’re old, they say, and your sons aren’t worth a toot … we want a king to govern us, just like all the other nations.

It won’t work, says Samuel!

The king will take everything from you, and never give a dime of it back …  

And when you’re tired of it all, and cry out to the LORD, the LORD will pay no attention to you.

Give us a king, the people cry, a strong man … a man to lead us, guide us, tell us what to do. This is what we want.

God says to Samuel: Go ahead, give them what they want. Give ‘em a king.

For a thousand years thereafter, kings rule, kings fail, kings commit high crimes and misdemeanors, and go to useless wars … kings take everything, … there are good kings along the way, like King David, but even David sins mightily … David’s political and moral failures sow the seeds of tragedy … David’s son, Solomon, with all his wisdom, goes south in a hurry … the kingdom is split, warfare erupts.

In the year 721, before Jesus is born, the Northern Kingdom of Israel is defeated and destroyed by Assyria … before the birth of Jesus, in the year 586, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, is defeated and destroyed by Babylon … puppet kings are established …  

After Assyria, after Babylon … the Persians, Alexander the Great, Egypt, and finally the Roman Empire … 

Samuel was right … it all failed! It crashed to the ground. It didn’t work! Much of the Bible is writing in the light of all of this defeat and sorrow … which is why I trust the Bible … though it difficult to read. But in these pages, we find a profound story … and clues to wise living.

If we could ask Samuel for advice, what might Samuel say to us?

Samuel might well say what the angels have always said to the people: Fear not … the LORD is with you.

Samuel might well say to us: trust in the LORD, be patient … wait for the LORD; don’t go off half-cocked … think before you act; pray before you speak.

I don’t know about you, but I know about me: Waiting on the LORD is easy to say when the sun shines bright and clear, but ever so hard to do when the night of sorrow is upon us.

Samuel would advise us: remember the basics of your faith: the LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want … no matter what, no matter where, I belong to the LORD.

As Christians, as followers of Christ,

Say the LORD’s Prayer  … 

don’t hurry … 

linger for awhile on a phrase that catches your attention …

thy kingdom come, thy will be done … 

give us this day our daily bread … 

Rely on the spiritual resources of tradition … 

sometimes the way forward begins 

with a step backward, 

to the treasures of our faith … 

The hymns of faith … A Mighty Fortress Is our God … Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee … Rock of Ages, Cleft for me, and don’t forget: When the Saints Marching In.

Look around this place … symbols of faith, hope, and love … here in the chancel, the sky is always blue … in the midst of the storm, amazing grace … all the way to the cross, our savior leads … in darkness, there is light … in sorrow, there is comfort … in death, there is life.

Samuel would tell us … 

“Ask good questions!”

Is it true? and how do I know?

Is it good? and how do I measure it?

Does it build up? 

Is it fair, is it just?

Who benefits?

Who profits by such things?

Who’s telling the truth, and who’s lying?

What do they want?

If this path is followed, 

will lives be saved?

will boundaries be crossed?

will the poor be fed?

will the homeless be housed?

will freedom be expanded?

will people be welcomed?

Whether it’s 1830 or 2024, or the 11th Century before Jesus, the tasks are the same:

trust God … 

wait upon the LORD … 

be mindful, be wise … 

Do your best, even when your best isn’t so hot … when you dribble chocolate ice cream on your white blouse, 

and ya’ wanna put your spouse in a Murphy Bed and close it up for three days.

1830 or 2024 … or the 11th Century before Jesus was born:

Don’t get lost in your mistakes, learn from them … 

Be kind to others, because they’re on the same journey.

Don’t look for the easy way, because the easy way doesn’t exist.

You may have faith, but you’re not a Super Hero.

Be humble, because we all meet the same end, the way of all flesh …

Stand on the promises of Christ!

Can it be done?

Can we embrace the good?

Can we endure life’s slings and arrows, and make it through?

Can we stand with Samuel, and walk with Christ?

Yes, we can … yes, we can … yes, for sure … to the glory of God, and the healing of the nations. 

Amen and Amen! 

6.2.24 "Small Change" - Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 1 Samuel 3.1-10; Mark 2.23-28

James Pennyworth found a nickel on the sidewalk one day, when he was but 5 years old. He pocketed the nickel, and with a chuckle in his heart, decided to be a searcher for small change.

And he did just that for much of his life - lost coins, small change - a dime here, a quarter there, even a $5 bill ... and when his life was done, he had a jar on a shelf, with $62.17 in small change. 

When Mr. Pennyworth's family came to make the final arrangements and dispose of his belongings, beside the jar of small change, they found a note - it reads as such: 

Here is my jar of small change. I had some fun and adventure with it all, but now I realize what I've missed - how many sunrises, glorious and bright ... storm clouds gathering and lightening flashing, sunsets in all their glory ... the smiles of strangers along the way, cups of coffee with my friends, a squirrel gamboling in the park, a hawk wheeling across the morning sky. 

Don't let the years narrow your vision; don't fret about that piece of lint on your sleeve, the weed in the sidewalk, yesterday's mistakes, the hole in your sock. 

All of that's important, but in a very small way. A small-change kind of way. 

In the end, all that's left is jar of small change. 

I love you very much, so this I say to you: look up, look out, reach far and wide ... don't collect small change ... collect friends, love, laughter, joy, big ideas ... if you find a nickel on the sidewalk, spend it ... buy an ice cream cone for a friend. Give it to charity, or throw it into a fountain and make a wish. 

Sincerely, James Pennyworth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about success, and put it this way:

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent

people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest

critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; 

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; 

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; 

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.”

We don’t have to do large things in order to be large-minded … 

In our daily work, at school, making a pot of tea or washing the car - the ideas we hold, the values we live, the virtues we practice … 

There’s always going to be a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Pettus Bridge, or the scientist who makes a breakthrough study on cancer at Johns Hopkins … 

But for most of us, no headlines, just the daily tasks of loving Christ, and loving one another … and that’s no small change!

Jesus and the disciples, out and about for a Sabbath-day stroll … pathways often went through grain fields … there was no question about property, or trespassing, and there were clear rules for allowing those in need to have something to eat … 

When the harvest is made, leave some unharvested grain in the corners of the field … when you harvest the olives, don’t take every last one … when you harvest the grapes, leave a few.

In the spring time, heads of wheat have not yet ripened - they’re still green, plump, and rich with protein and sugar - the only time wheat can be eaten raw.

On their stroll through the fields, the disciples strip off the grain, rub it together in their hands, to remove the husks, and then eat the grain … 

Some of the group raised the question about “working” on the Sabbath …  

The Sabbath Commandment to rest from one’s labor is taken seriously … a little hedge here, a little hedge there, and before you know it, the Sabbath is no longer being kept.

Sort of like watching one’s waistline - it’s easy to eat that second piece of pecan pie with ice cream … and the next day, as well … and before you know it, the pie is gone, and so is the ice cream, and we know where it went … the belt needs to be loosened by a notch or two.

Such rules are not to laughed at … virtues of any kind need to be carefully monitored, worked at, guarded, and practiced …

So, the question is raised:

“How hungry are the disciples? Can they wait a few more hours until the Sabbath Day is ended, at sunset?”

The Sabbath Day begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday.

The disciples are not desperately hungry … they’re snacking … Can’t they wait?

It’s a serious question, and Jesus answers it seriously … but the answer itself stretches the truth … not for purposes of malice, but to open wider the mind and the heart.

Jesus tells the story of David and his companions in a rough moment of life … it’s a bit complicated, but David and his companions need bread … they stop by a shrine and ask the priest for five loaves - the only bread available is bread dedicated to the LORD, and only the priests can eat it … there’s a need, so the priest gives the bread to David … the priest breaks one law to fulfill the law of love.

Hunger takes precedence over the rules … and we might add, pleasure, the pleasure of a Sabbath Day stroll, fresh spring wheat, the sun above and the earth beneath.

Jesus makes a point … there are things in life that are important, very important, but sometimes other things are more important.

Jesus offers one of the world’s most important ideas: The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.

At the center of it all … the common good … not just the few, but the many … not for some, but for all.

What the world needs now 

Is love, sweet love 

It's the only thing that there's just too little of 

What the world needs now 

Is love, sweet love 

No, not just for some, but for everyone

James Pennyworth spent a life time collecting small change … and in the end, what he had was a jar of small change, on a dusty shelf, $62.17 …

Part of what do we here is keep ourselves open to the large realities of life … lots of things are important, and some things are more important than others …

We’re all tempted to collect small change.

Jesus calls us to the large world of faith, hope, and love … 

Owe no one anything, except to love one another.

The deep appreciation of another human being.

The admiration we have to see another’s courage.

The wonder we feel when we feel the heartbeat of a child snuggled in our arms.

The glory of a sunrise when we’re up early enough to see it.

The pleasure of the wind ruffling our hair.

The joy of being together … moments of relief and release.

When love flows easy, and hope is strong, and faith is boundless.

Jesus calls us to the great adventures of life …

Faith, hope, and love.

In the end, the jar of our life will be huge … full of the good we’ve done … a jar - full of faith, hope, and love.

And that, my friends - is no small change!

Amen and Amen!