Building A New World

Sermon: Building A New World

John 1:43-51

January 18, 2009 Dr. Dennis Ginoza

Last Sunday, how many of you watched

the Chargers’ Steeler’s game? …It was good wasn’t it?

It was really good the first three minutes—

Chargers 7, Steelers 0 (nothing).

Last week I got a letter from a friend in Philadelphia

and he said, “Sorry about the Chargers.” Then he

said, “We folks in Philly are really pumped up!”

…The Eagles are in the play-offs.

So think about these things:

On the Chargers, wait till next year.

Football is just a game.

Life is just a game.

There are winners and there are losers.

One moment we’re up, the next moment we’re down.

When you drop the ball, pick it up and keep running.

When I was playing baseball and we made an error in

the field, our coach would say, “Just shake it off!”

Life is just a game. Everybody wants to play,

everybody want to win, so --- play hard and play fair!

When Jesus began calling his disciples Galilee, he saw Nathaniel

and he said, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is not deceit.”

Nathaniel was a good man, he was honest and clean. Sometimes

we say, “He had no dirt on him.” When Nathaniel met Jesus,

he said to him, “You are the Son of God! You are

the king of Israel!” Nathaniel was probably thinking like all

the other disciples, that Jesus was going to be the messiah

who was going to fight the Romans, but Jesus said to him,

“You will see greater things than these. …You will see

heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and

descending on the Son of Man!”

Life for all of us is paradoxical. In one moment we want the best

gadgets in the world. In the next moment, we wonder, is

life really worth living. Millions are saying, “If I only

have a job.” In the next breath, we say, “Don’t worry,

God will provide.” Did you hear about the teenager who

did 14,000 text messages in one month. That was over

400 per day. Her parents were appalled! Wasn’t the bill

over $2,000. Just two days ago, when the US Airways

jet was leaving New York City, it hit a flock of geese and the two

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Engines shut down. In an amazing fashion the pilot landed

the airbus into the Hudson River and all 155 passengers

Got out safely. Today we see it as a miracle.

Jesus comes into our world today to teach us that we are here

to build a world without deceit. He talked about power,

but it wasn’t political power or economic power. If

you have the faith of a mustard seed, and you say to

the mountain, move! It will move. Jesus was hard to

understand because he spoke in a different language.

He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He said,

“I am the living bread.” He wasn’t talking about bread

on the table. He was talking about soul bread: spiritual

bread.

In the time of Jesus, all around him was the grandeur of Rome.

But Rome was empty inside. This is what St. Ambrose

said about Rome:

Our whole Roman world had gone dead in its

heart because it feared tragedy, took flight from

suffering, and abhorred failure. In fear of

tragedy, we worshipped power. In fear of

suffering, we worshipped security. During

the rising splendor of our thousand years, we

had grown cruel, practical, and sterile. We did

win the whole world, but in the process, we

lost our souls.

When Thomas Jefferson was helping build our nations, he lived

by ten rules.

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

3. Never spend your money before you have it.

4. Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap;

It will be dear to you.

5. Pride cost more than hunger, thirst and cold.

6. Never repent of having eaten too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. Don’t let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.

9. Always take things by their smooth handle.

10. When angry, count to ten before you speak. If very angry,

Count to one hundred.

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How can we build a world when we are caught in a web of

bad habits. The philosopher Plato said that passion

is like a wild horse, and it has to be tamed. The crisis

with Israel and Gaza is not just a continual bombardment

of bombs and missiles, it is a bombardment of suffering,

hate, and vengeance. When I read the book “Oh, Jerusalem,”

I began to see the problem. Israel is a land with the

shedding of blood for centuries. Until violence stops,

there can be no reason, no understanding. Until there is

civility, there can be no peace. ….So the war continues.

If we want to change the world, to make it a better place, we

just have to stop and look at ourselves. The problem is usually

us and the answer is in us. Ann Landers says, “One out of four

Americans is unbalanced. Think of your three closest friends,

if they seem okay, you’re the one.” Think about it this way:

“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell

your parrot to the town gossip.” --Will Rogers.

All of us are walking along the edge of time. We are here just

for a time. 60, 70, 80, 90 years. Maybe 100. In the vast

universe of time, life on earth as we see it is short, isn’t

it. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches, For everything there

is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. A

time to be born and a time to die. Although we live on this

earth for just a short time, everything that we do is to prepare

for a better day; Jesus teaches us, for eternity.

Over thirty years ago, Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day

live in a nation where there will not be judged by the color

of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,

every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough

places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be

made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together.”

This Tuesday, our nation will see for the first time a black man,

an African American take on the presidency. He’s not

only African American, he comes from a white heritage,

born in Hawaii, and schooled at Harvard. Today we hope

for new bridges to be built and we hope we will make

new strides in the American character.

When Jesus saw Nathaniel, he saw the true character of a man

without deceit. This is a lesson for all of us. We need to

learn to see the uniqueness of God’s creation. A wise

teacher once gave her class an assignment. She told her

students to go out and find a small, unnoticed flower

somewhere. She told them to study that flower for a long

time. She told them to take a magnifying glass and study

the delicate veins in the leaves, and notice the nuances and

the shades of color. Turn the leaves over slowly and see

their symmetry. She said, people are like that. Each

person is different, carefully crafted, and uniquely endowed.

Take time to notice this. Many people go unnoticed and

Unappreciated, because no one has taken the time to admire

their uniqueness.

John Powell, Illustrations Unlimited

James Hewett, Editor, 1988

So today,

Let us dream dreams.

Let pursue, as Paul says,

Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

Yes, life is so short,

But just when we think it’s over,

Another bigger door will open.

Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God.”