Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
August 26, 2007 – 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Hebrews 12:18-29
Luke 13:10-17

Look (and Listen) Again

It was in March of 2005 that 26 year old, single parent, Ashley Smith met Brian Nichols. Two days before Ashley had moved into her new apartment. It was two in the morning, and she was out of cigarettes. She decided to drive to the corner store. On her way out, she noticed a blue truck in the parking lot with a man in it, but she didn’t think any more about it.

Five minutes later, as she returned, the man was still there. As she ran to her apartment and put her key in the lock of her door, the man ran after her and put a gun in her ribs. She started screaming. He told her that if she would stop, he wouldn’t hurt her.

We all pretty much remember the story. That afternoon Brian Nichols had been in an Atlanta court house, and escaped, killing the judge, the court reporter, a deputy and a federal agent before fleeing.

Ashley made Brian a cup of coffee and they started talking. She told Brian about her five year old daughter, whom she was to pick up at 10 the next morning. She told Brian that her husband had been murdered, and if he killed her, the little girl wouldn’t have any parents. Brian listened.

Ashley was reading Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” Brian told Ashley that he had no purpose, and she began to take issue with him … telling him that, at this point, maybe his purpose was to talk to other prisoners on death row about Jesus.

We know the story, about how Ashley fixed breakfast for Brian, about how he let her go, and – when the authorities arrived – he held out a white towel, giving himself up peacefully.

People need a purpose for living. When folks talk to me about retirement, I always advise them to have something to retire “to.” It isn’t enough to have something to retire “from.” One of my grandfathers retired from his work at a steel mill … and had a stroke several months afterwards. His life consisted of sitting on the porch swing, waiting until he could walk down to the post office and get the mail. Not enough of a purpose!

Some of you remember Paul “Bear” Bryant – former coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide foot ball team. He retired from coaching, and died a few months later … a man whose purpose no longer existed.

There isn’t a one of us here this morning who hasn’t been called, who doesn’t have a purpose. There may well be a lot of us who don’t know what our purpose is, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have one.

None of us are too young, or too old, or too poor, or too … anything!

This morning, I would invite each of us to be open to our calling.

What I know is that – for some of us – the calling is clear and dramatic even. But for a lot of us, we just aren’t sure … we’d be willing to do it, if we just knew what “it” was.

One way around this is to take a page from Alcoholics Anonymous: One day at a time. What is it that God wants me to do today … not with my life, but today? If we do that, then we can do that again tomorrow … and Tuesday … and then Wednesday … and even if we never figure out the “big picture” we will come to the end of our lives being faithful every day!

So, I would invite us all to start with right now. If we already know our calling, then blessings on us! If we don’t, then maybe we just need to look – or listen – more closely.

Poem:

The man whispered, “God, speak to me” and a meadowlark sang.

But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, “God, speak to me.!” And thunder rolled across the sky.

But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, “God, let me see you.” And a star shined brightly.

But the man did not notice.

And the man shouted, “God, show me a miracle!” And a new life was born.

But the man did not know.

So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me God, and let me know you are here!”

Whereupon, God reached down and touched the man, but the man brushed the butterfly away and walked on.

May we be a people who have ears to hear and eyes to see God’s presence and God’s calling!

NOTE: I would give credit to the above poem, but I have no idea where it came from!