The New England Church Pulpit New England Congregational Church UCC Aurora Illinois

Dr. Allen Stockdale of the National Association of Manufacturers reminds us that when the earth was created:
God left the electricity in the clouds, and energy locked up in plutonium.
God left chromosomes without a map and healing drugs hidden in unrefined chemicals.
(God gave us children without instruction booklets that we may not stifle their uniqueness)
God left all the poems unwritten, all the music unsung; all the architecture undesigned; all the graphic lines undrawn.
God left the prairie unplowed; cities unbuilt; and computers undreamed.
God gave us the challenge of raw materials; not the satisfaction of perfect, finished things.
(Dr. Allen Stockdale, National Assoc. of Manufacturers: unenclosed sentences; parenthesis are mine)

The nature of creation is an ever-changing proposition of evolution. Talk to any athlete, any author, any CEO, any composer and they will confirm that what is undone is the hope of improvement. Casting nets on the other side of the boat, even if its been done before, is at the heart of hope and hope is at the heart of a new heaven and a new earth. The art of faith is in living with hope in something that may never come about and persevering against all odds to make it happen. The world we live in is forever unfinished but our striving to complete it is the essence of faith.
Sten Halfvarson mentioned to me several times that he had a tune going through his head that just hadn’t been quite completed, though he’d started to commit some notes to paper. It is the striving toward completion that opens us to God’s still small voice which prompts us to keep trying, to persevere, to realize that life’s fulfillment is found in the unknown, in the yet-to-be-discovered, in the questions, in the yearnings. And I propose to you that even the final, published copies of his music, or anyone’s music, is never finished because it needs to be sung or played to complete it, and even then each time someone plays or sings that music, it is different, so it is never finished yet always in search of another attempt.

We strive for a peace we will never fully know or a justice that will never be completely just, or a love that will never be enough, or a world that will never realize a global community. What we hear from Jesus is that we must keep trying to bring peace, keep persevering for justice, keep casting nets on this side and the other side, again and again, with the hope of a new heaven and a new earth. Like the small child who was drawing a picture of God, we keep trying to get it right. “But nobody knows what God looks like,” said his teacher. “They will when I get done,” was his reply. Cast your nets on the other side.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a fisherman of justice whose unfinished life continues to influence and inspire those who fight and live and die for equality and the inalienable rights of all people. He spent his life calling people to a freedom which has been realized in some part but which he knew would always elude us. In his spirit we never give up, we keep dreaming his dream even though it will always be a dream; we continue to move toward a new heaven and a new earth, we persevere and in doing so move the world closer to God’s intended purpose.

An anonymous poem says this:
You say the little efforts that I make
Will do no good.
They never will prevail
To tip the hovering scale where
Justice keeps in balance.
I do not think I ever thought they would,
But I am prejudiced beyond debate
In favor of my right
To choose which side shall feel
The stubborn ounces of my weight.
(Anonymous)

It is not a matter of being successful in our lifetime but in the investment we make in persevering for the larger good that God calls us. Peter Gomes of Harvard University reminds us that “we do not live to win. We do not live even to finish. We live to persevere and to endure. Nothing more than this is necessary, but nothing less than this will do until that new heaven and that new earth come, until former things have passed away” until there is no more sea, until God shall wipe away all tears. We keep fishing, we keep hoping, we keep living, we keep believing. Amen.

Bhagavad-Gita 15
(“The Song of the Blessed One” is the core text of Hindu tradition)

This realm of sorrow is the world tree
that the sages describe: its roots
above, its branches below,
its green leaves the sacred hymns

Its branches, spreading below
and above, are fed by the [three forces]
and bud into objects of the senses;
its roots, causing action, spread down

into the human world;
those here on earth cannot see
how vast and extensive its form is
or where it begins and ends...

When the Lord takes on a body
or leaves it, he carries these senses
just as the wind carries fragrances
from the places where it has been...

In this world there are two persons:
the transient and the eternal;
all beings are transient as bodies,
but eternal within the Self.

Yet beyond these two is the ultimate
Person, the highest Self,
the immutable Lord who, entering
the universe, brings it to life.
(Translated by Stephen Mitchell)

PASTORAL PRAYER

Eternal Spirit, hope of all things that bring good to people everywhere, we pause to give thanks for blessings that have come to us, some known and some in disguise. Even in the midst of the daily bump and grind, there are many things we can point to that bolster our spirits and encourage us to be all that you have called us to be. For sunshine, even when filtered through snow and clouds; for wars averted that we may not realize; for peace wherever it is found; for those who care about us; for a world that continues to spin in its orbit in spite of a turmoil that never throws it out of sync.

Creator of the ends of the earth, who does not faint nor grow weary, empower us that we may not faint in times of adversity nor succumb to the horrors of the dark side of life. Renew our strength like the eagles and be the wind beneath our wings. Where wars devastate and hatred reigns over love, raise up those who can penetrate evil’s crushing load with a holy Force that can turn the tide of justice for all.

Instill within us a longing for truth, an eternal searching for that which would benefit this world in which we live. In our deepest strife, we humbly pray for courage. In our wrenching tears, we humbly seek a holy hand to wipe them dry, and a divine breath that will comfort the soul. For days when pain and fear and sorrow and death will be no more, we long, yet in the meantime when these are a regular part of our living may we persevere even against the odds.

We dream of a world where all will live together in peace, we dream of a world where its wealth will be equally distributed among all who live here. We dream of a world where every color of feather, petal, and skin will be celebrated. We dream of a world that seeks the common good.

Be to us today all that we need to dream. Amen.

Copyright © 2004 by Gary L. McCann. All rights reserved.

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