Getting Down to Basics: Virtues

SERMON: “Getting Down to Basics” 1
Psalm 23, Romans 8:28-30
October 16, 2011 (Monserate Mobile Home Park, Chapel) 2:00 p.m.
Rev. Dr. Dennis Ginoza

Is there any here who went to school at a one
room school house? Anyone? …And where was that?

A few weeks ago my wife Sylvia and I were visiting with a
friend in Vacaville, in northern California.
Our friend Elaine said, “Dennis, I have something from you.
It’s an old bell from your elementary school (on island of Maui).
Ring! Time for school. Recess. Lunch time. School’s over.

Those were the good old days.
We were taught the three R’s – Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic.”

In that era we were taught three values.
Respect for our teachers.
Respect for property.
Respect for our elders.
What happened to all those values?

Everyday we recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
I remember the day when we added, “One nation under God.”

Today I have entitled my sermon:
“GETTING DOWN TO BASICS.”

For over 3,000 years the 23rd Psalm has reminded us that
we are sustained by God. God is the good shepherd.
God looks after us day and night.
In time of death we have nothing to fear.
When Jesus came he said,
“I am the good shepherd.”
“I am the door of the sheep.”

Remember some time ago, on television, the high school kids
would say, “Hey, what’s happening?”

In 2009 three million homes were foreclosed.
The unemployment today nationwide is 9.1%
and it’s not getting any better.
Unemployment with teenagers is at 24.6% 2

Hey, what’s happening?

John Kenneth Galbraith, an economist wrote:
“The salary of the chief executive of the large
corporations is not a market reward of achievement.
It is frequently in the nature of a warm personal
gesture by the individual to himself.”

Today we have a problem. The economy is faltering.
In a word: GREED.

It’s time to get back to basics.
We need to go back to the virtues that hold
society together, if you will, and our civilization.

Greek philosophers held up four cardinal virtues:
1. Prudence
2. Justice
3. Restraint
4. Courage

The apostle Paul, who met Jesus on the road to Damascus,
who filled his heart with the spirit of Christ,
came to these three theological virtues:
Faith, Hope, and Love ….but the greatest of these is love.

Mahatma Ghandi, the spiritual leader of India said,
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
His family said, Ghandi said this many times.

In her Diary, Anne Frank wrote:
“In spite of everything I still believe that people
are really good at heart.”

Several years ago, I heard Elizabeth Kubler Ross, in Brawley,
California. Before 400 people—doctors, nurses, teachers,
pastors, social workers, she gave us insights about
death and dying. Really, it was about life.
“One thing,” she said, “that you don’t want to
take away from a person dying is—HOPE.
Each person always has hope there might be a cure.


For over 30 years no, as a pastor, I have concluded that there 3
are three tasks that I had.
One—to receive new spirits in the world. We
celebrate their coming, and we baptize them.
Two—we to help people grow, to learn, and to live.
Three—prepare people to get ready for the next life.
You see, life is eternal.
I was talking to a man the other day. A few
years ago, his wife died of cancer, and he lives
alone. He said to me, “You know, I’m ready to
go anytime. I’ve had a good life.” I understood.
Death is not end;
it’s just another door.

We live in a tough world.
The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans says,
“All things work together for good, for those
for those who love God.”

But the question is: Who can we trust? The banks?
the politician? Benjamin Franklin says:
“God works wonders now and then;
Behold! a lawyer, an honest man.”
Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1733

Jesus said: Look at the birds of the air, they don’t store
in barns yet the Heavenly Father feeds them.
Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin.
How much more God will care for you.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all
these things will be given to you. Matthew 6:25ff

We need a paradigm shift from self to others.
Dale Carnegie, the guru of human relationships, wrote a book
called, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
He says, there is a law of human contact. If we obey
that law, we will never be in trouble.
The law: “Always make the other person feel important”

If we take interest in other people, we will use every power
to make life better for them. There will be no place
for greed or selfishness.


Carnegie says, philosophers for centuries have been 4
speculating about human relationships.
Zoroaster in Persia, Confucius and Lao Tse in China.
Guatama Buddha in India, Hinduism in India---
they all taught the same principle.
Jesus summed it up in these words:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Dale Carnegie says, one of his students decided to put the law
to a test: Always make the other person feel important.
A business man from Massachusetts went to Long Island
to visit his wife’s aunt.

The man: “This house was built in 1890, wasn’t it? “Yes,” she
said, “that’s precisely the year it was built.” He says,
“It reminds me of the house I was born in; it was beautiful,
well built, roomy.” “You know, they don’t build houses
like that anymore.”

“You’re right,” says the aged aunt “The young folks nowadays
don’t care for beautiful homes. All they want is an small
apartment, an electric ice box, and they go gadding about
in their automobiles.” Then she showed him the rest
of the house, treasures they collected from the travels—
paisley shawls, English tea set, French beds and chairs,
Italian paintings, silk draperies that once hung in a French chateau.

Then she took him into the garage. Propped up blocks was a car, a Packard.
(It was almost new).
“My husband bought that car just before he died,” she says.
“I have never ridden since his death.” Then she says,
“You appreciate nice things; I’m going to give you that car.”
“What about your relatives? I’m not even a relative.”

“Relatives, yes I have relatives who are just waiting till I die so they
can get the car. But they aren’t getting it.”

Jesus teaches us, we don’t live for ourselves,
we live for others.
What will it profit you, if you gain the whole world, but
lose your soul?

We need to get back to basics. (Ring the Bell)