In the play "Valley Song," an old man reflects on his life. Abraam Jonkers is an old Coloured tenant farmer in a valley of South Africa. When a boy he was told by his father that to be a good man was to work hard and to love his family. That, his father told him would bring the good life. Throughout his life he does just what his father had told him. But late in life Abraam Jonkers reaches a time when he wonders about his father's advice. His only daughter had run away and died in Johannesburg leaving an infant daughter for him and his wife to raise. Now, the granddaughter has gone off to Johannesburg leaving him alone. The land he farmed all his life may soon be gone as it has been sold to a new landlord. In his reflections the old farmer indulges in some bitterness. Was the vision that his father gave him enough? Did it bring him the good life? Abraam Jonkers is tempted to give in a waste away the rest of his years….
We heard in our Old Testament Lesson this morning: "For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie." The prophet writes about the judgment that awaits God's people if they do not listen and change their ways. He writes as Jerusalem is literally falling down as armies pillage the city. It is perhaps the last thing the Israelites want to hear as the stones of their city are crashing around them. But it is probably just what they need to be reminded of in that time-that they need a vision to keep them through these times.
And in these times it is what we need a reminder of. There is much that seems to be crashing down around us. Our sense of security is challenged once again as a new message from Bin Laden is released. Who will we be as a nation when we wake up next Wednesday? Last week we talked about what we celebrate and worry about as this church and found much in each category. In our worries there is much to challenge the church…and we ask the questions of how do we stay both relevant and grounded, all the way to will we be able to pay the bills tomorrow? Inherent in those questions is the one that Abraam Jonkers asked: "Is the vision we were given enough?"
One of our District Superintendents asked that same question in a sermon, speaking of our need to have a vision large enough to see us through. For him, this was not a vision of the survival of the church, but a vision of the salvation of the entire world. It is not enough, he said, to work for self-preservation or the survival of a local church-that was not large enough to keep us going. What would be enough was the foundation statement of our faith: "For God so loved the world." That is a statement played out from the very beginning of our sacred texts as the story of creation is told; to the very ending as the transforming vision is painted in the book of Revelation. The vision of God's love for us and the world is what keeps us together as the church. We can not settle for anything less that than and hope to survive.
This morning marks the observance of Reformation Sunday. In the 1500's a Roman Catholic monk looked around at the church he deeply loved and saw that it had lost a vision that was large enough to sustain. The church had gotten caught up in itself, and was no longer a place where God's love was being offered to the world. Martin Luther worked vigorously to reform the church, but was eventually excommunicated. However, in his reform work he found a vision that was large enough to sustain him, and he hoped the people of God.
Each October, churches celebrate United Nations Sunday to mark the work of this organization. The UN was born in the late forties when the world was rebuilding after what was to have been the war to end all wars. There was a "large enough" vision of what that world was to look like. In 1945 the UN was formed, and three years later the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. Even today, in spite of the politics and frailties there is something awe-inspiring about the vision of the United Nations. The UN church center is located across the street from the UN. When I speak at the church center I always spend some time standing on the street looking at the flags of the UN, reflecting on what might be going on in that building, praying that the vision might be large enough so that a time when human rights would be universal, and war a way of the past.
A large enough vision is something we need to keep before us always. The church must always resist the temptation to become "small." It is tempting to rest where we are, run our programs to suit us, make things comfortable and secure…none of which are bad….but without the larger vision that informs our purpose we risk finding ourselves in the same place as the Israelites in this morning's lesson. The moment we become more worried about our piece of the puzzle to the expense of everything else, we are in danger. What claims and sustains us is the mystery of God's love which for us is found in the cross of Jesus Christ given for the entire world. That is what has called us into being, and we can never settle for less. We are not in the business of keeping the doors of this church open, we are not about keeping the church going….our business is the world. It is that vision that is large enough.
While working in the city of Trenton I was involved in a group called LIFT, Looking into the Future Together. It was founded by a nurse in the city who was moved to work with teens, particularly teen parents. She wanted to break the cycles she noticed in the youth of Trenton. Alma wanted to expand the vision of these teens to something beyond what they could see in the present moment. To break the cycle of abuse, and low education, and particularly the idea the girls had that to have a child was to somehow validate their existence and find love. One afternoon I happened to be sitting with her husband as we watched the program at work. He shared with me a story from the West Indies where he was born: While sailing the seas the ship captain wanted to drop anchor. Let out the line, he shouted to his crew. "Has the anchor caught?" No, sir, deeper yet. Well, let out more line….Yet? No deeper yet, and we are out of line. Well, add more line….Yet? No deep yet and we are out of line. Well add more! Yet? No sire, deep yet. Well, add anything, your ties, blankets…..Yet? No, it is deeper yet…. He said to me: That is God's love, deeper yet, more than we can fathom. It is that love that claims us and sustains us and gives us the vision that is large enough.
As for Abraam Jonkers he decides in the end that his father's vision is enough for now and he will receive what he calls "an honorable discharge from life." And the play ends with him going off to plant his pumpkin seeds just as he has done these many years. As for us it is God's love, deeper yet, that keeps us and sends us out into the world with a vision of the saving love of God for the world. This morning, know that you are loved by God, more than you can imagine. And then remember that in that love you are sent out with a vision so large you can not help but respond. God's love, deeper yet!