Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
October 21, 2007 – 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 31:27-34
2nd Timothy 3:14 – 4:5
Luke 18:1-8

How Much More?

When was the last time you heard the phrase “burgeoning success.”  I thought I knew what it meant, but I did look up the word “burgeoning”.  It actually has to do with sprouting new growth, and has come to mean “rapidly growing.”  Wouldn’t we all like to be “burgeoning successes?”

Burgeoning … a good word.  But when was the last time you heard someone described as a  BIRGing success?  If you haven’t you may soon, thanks to Jake Halpern’s book, Fame Junkies.  BIRG stands for Basking in Reflected Glory.  Halpern writes about our addiction to celebrity culture.  He observes that more people watch American Idol than all combined audience of the nightly news on the three major networks combined! 

Why do we care who Paris Hilton is dating … or what her dog looks like? 

He found out that the LAPD has a unit totally dedicated to pursue people who stalk celebrities.  He did some research, with disturbing findings:

• When given the option to become stronger, smarter, famous, or more beautiful, boys chose fame almost as often as they chose intelligence. Girls chose it more often.
• 43.4 percent of teenage girls want to become celebrity personal assistants when they grow up. They chose this option twice as often as "the president of a great university like Harvard or Yale," three times as often as "U.S. senator," and four times as often as "the chief of a major company like General Motors."
• When asked whom they would most like to meet for dinner, teenage girls who indicated they were appreciated by their parents, friends, and teachers tended to choose Jesus Christ; those who felt underappreciated were likely to choose Paris Hilton.

We see this phenomenon locally.  When the Patriots win, we talk about how “we” won the game.  We are quick to identify with “winners.”  People talk about who was in their graduating class who “made it big.”  You might not know that Kim Bassinger’s dad sang bass in the choir beside my dad … and she was in the youth group with my sister.  How’s that for BIRGing!

There is the other side of BIRGing, which is CORFing.  CORF is an acronym for Cutting Off Responsibility for Failure.  When our team loses, we talk about how “they” played.  If there is success, we love to feel connected, but if things go badly, we run like crazy. 

Think about the opportunities for modern Biblical translations:  “Truly I tell you, you will CORF me three times before the cock crows.”  Or “BIRGers came to Jesus bringing the blind, the lame.  They put them at his feet and he cured them.”

Today’s Gospel is about a woman who has been culturally CORFed.  Society has failed her.  The Mosaic Law required that the family of this widow’s dead husband – along with her church - take her in and help her raise her children.  But here she is – CORFed. 

The irony would not be lost of the folks Jesus was talking to that this woman had no one to take up the fight for justice on her behalf.  She was on her own to deal with this callous judge.  You’ve got to give her points for persistence.  Actually, the fact that he ignored her, I think, just deepened her commitment to make this guy’s life as miserable as she could until he granted her petition. 

The point of this whole parable is two-fold.  In the first place, Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that this judge was her only hope.  Translated:  God is our only hope.  Sure, we like to think that being well-connected makes a difference.  And, in R.I., it doesn’t hurt … but ultimately, it is God upon we need to rely.  There comes a point at which everything else fails us.

The other point is one of contrast.  There is a way in which we are like this woman – having only one hope … BUT think about how different our God is as opposed to this judge. 

If ever there was a story reminding us of the value of constant prayer, this is it.

HOW MUCH MORE does God care about us than this judge cared for the widow!

You want to BIRG?  There is only one whom we need to know.

NOTE:  The basis of today’s sermon is credited to www.eSermons.com

SERMON IN A SACK:  A model kit.  Talk about how important it us to use the directions to make it come out right.  Paul’s  letter to Timothy reminds him that the Bible is like a set of instructions for how to live a good life.  “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  The more we know the Bible, the better our lives can be..