[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Dec. 6 (Advent 2C) Luke 3:1-6

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Dec. 6 (Advent 2C). They focus 
on Luke 3:1-6, where John preaches a baptism of repentance for forgiveness.


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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING:  It was claimed for Augustus Caesar that he found 
Rome a city of wood, and left it a city of marble.  The pastor who succeeds 
in changing his people from a prayerless to a prayerful people has done a 
greater work than did Augustus.... And after all, this is the prime work of 
the preacher. (Edward McKendree Bounds)


TITLE:  Course Corrections


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  While Christian repentance sometimes involves a 
dramatic turning around of our lives, it will necessarily involve many daily 
repentances that we might call "course corrections."


SCRIPTURE:  Luke 3:1-6


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SERMON STORY:

<>Most of you will recall that Charles Lindbergh was the first person to fly 
an airplane from New York to Paris -- but that has been so long that you 
have probably forgotten the details.

The year was 1927.  They were offering $25,000 to the first person to fly 
from New York to Paris.  That was a lot of money in 1927 -- like $300,000 
today.  Lindbergh was trying to win the money -- and lots of other people 
were trying to do the same thing.  But it wasn't just the money.  It was the 
challenge -- and the chance to go down in history.

Other pilots were better funded.  They were all flying planes with two 
engines or more -- and they all at least two pilots.  Lindbergh intended to 
fly a plane with only one engine -- and he intended to do it by himself.  It 
was a scary proposition.  He wasn't even taking a radio.  If the engine quit 
over the Atlantic, what would he do?  The trip would take forty hours. 
Could he stay awake that long--sitting in one place -- flying through the 
night -- nothing to see but clouds -- and stars -- and the sea?

In the days just before Lindbergh took off, four other teams tried.  Some 
crashed on takeoff.  Others disappeared over the Atlantic.  None came close. 
Some died trying.

Lindbergh needed to start his flight in the early hours of the morning. 
That way, he would have daylight over Newfoundland and later over Ireland.

But Lindbergh got a bad start.  He had been waiting for a break in the 
weather, and it didn't seem likely that the weather would improve anytime 
soon.  Friends invited him to a show in New York, and he went.  Then there 
was a sudden break in the weather.  Other teams were poised to take off, so 
any delay might hand the victory to one of those teams.  Lindbergh had to 
decide whether to take off right away or to get some sleep and wait a day.

He decided to take early that morning.  That meant that he could sleep only 
two or three hours before beginning his forty hour flight.  He decided to go 
for it.  Then he went to bed to get what little sleep he could before taking 
off.  He had just fallen asleep when a man awakened him to ask a foolish 
question -- so Lindbergh started his 40-hour flight with only 30 minutes 
sleep.

Lindbergh had planned his trip in minute detail.  He was flying the Great 
Circle Route over the Arctic, so he laid out 40 segments -- one per hour --  
each with a slightly different compass heading.

As you might imagine, after 15 hours in the air, Lindbergh's need for sleep 
became nearly overwhelming -- and he had more than 24 hours left to go.  He 
tried everything to stay awake, but found himself drifting in and out of 
consciousness.  He later said that he slept with his eyes open -- but 
unseeing -- unknowing.

In his autobiography, Lindbergh tells what that was like.  While flying over 
the Atlantic, his mind would drift back to his boyhood when he was tending 
sheep on his father's farm.  He remembered finding a newborn lamb whose 
mother had abandoned him -- and taking the lamb home -- and tending to its 
needs. (PAUSE)

And then his mind would snap back to his controls.
(NOTE:  Speak loudly and sharply)
TWELVE DEGREES RIGHT RUDDER.

And then he would remember attending an auction to buy cows.  "Sixty-four 
I'm bid.  Sixty-four I'm bid.  Who'll make it sixty-five?  Make it 
sixty-five! -- Fresh last month and going at sixty-four dollars! -- She's 
worth ninety if she's worth a cent -- going at sixty-four (PAUSE) going at 
sixty-four (PAUSE) SOLD to Charles Lindbergh at sixty-four dollars!" 
(PAUSE)

(NOTE TO THE PREACHER:  Auctioneers talk fast, so do that with the above 
quote -- but with long pauses. Practice the quote until it comes easily to 
your mouth.)

And then Lindbergh would see that he was off-course again.
(Speak loudly and sharply)
FIVE DEGREES RIGHT RUDDER.

Then his mind would drift again -- this time to old man Thompson, who helped 
him build a log house for their hogs.  They had to build the walls thick and 
chink the cracks carefully, because there were no stoves for the 
outbuildings and the Minnesota winters were bitterly cold. (PAUSE)

But then Lindbergh would see that he was off-course again.
(Speak loudly and sharply)
SEVEN DEGREES RIGHT RUDDER.

(From Lindbergh's autobiography, The Spirit of St. Louis, pages 381-3.)

And so it went minute after minute -- hour after hour -- through daylight 
and dusk and night and dawn and daylight again -- and finally into his 
second night aloft.  Lindbergh must have made a thousand course 
corrections -- five degrees here -- seven degrees there -- twelve degrees 
another place.

Why couldn't he just point the plane in the right direction and forget the 
details?  The answer is simple.  If he had failed to make those corrections, 
he would have never found Europe, much less Paris.  He needed to take stock, 
not just every hour, but every few minutes.  It was literally a matter of 
life and death.  If he lost his way, he would die in the freezing Atlantic 
waters.  No doubt about it!


When I read Lindbergh's story, it occurred to me that his constant course 
corrections are much like our lives.  As we go through life, we need 
constantly to make corrections in the way we live -- in the way we relate to 
other people -- in the way we think -- in the way we relate to God.  In the 
Christian faith, we call those course corrections "repentance."

<>
 I adapted this short spiritual discipline from a longer discipline 
formulated by Ignatius Loyola.  He called it the "Examen."  For more 
information, go to:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0303.asp


<>
FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm

Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

God is too good, it is said, not to forgive.
That is exactly what he does: everything,
he forgives everything the moment the heart repents.
If the devil repented he would immediately be forgiven.
But sin without repentance cannot be pardoned.

Jacques Maritain

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The question is not, shall I repent?
For that is beyond a doubt.
But the question is, shall I repent now, when it may save me;
or shall I put it off to the eternal world
when my repentance will be my punishment?

Samuel Davies

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Repentance was perhaps best defined by a small girl:
"It's to be sorry enough to quit."

C.H. Kilmer

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road,
turn back.

Turkish proverb

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Sleep with clean hands,
either kept clean all day by integrity
or washed clean at night by repentance.

John Donne

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *


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HYMN STORY:  Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

The German pastor, George Weissel, was inspired by Psalm 24 to write this 
hymn.  That psalm says:

Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory (Psalm 24:9-10).

In that psalm, David was calling the people of Jerusalem to prepare for the 
coming of the Ark of the Covenant into the city -- the Ark that was destined 
to reside in the Holy of Holies, the holiest part of the temple -- the Ark 
that represented the presence of the Lord among the people.  David was 
calling his people to open the gates of the city so that the Lord could 
enter -- so that God could dwell among them and be Lord of their lives.

In like manner, this hymn calls us to open the gates of our hearts so that 
the Lord can enter there.  It calls us to make our heart a temple a holy 
place fit for the Lord's presence -- a place "adorned with prayer and love 
and joy."

As we sing this hymn, consider whether you have invited God to dwell in your 
heart.  Consider whether you have invited God to dwell in your home. 
Consider whether you have welcomed God to be a part of your life.


NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm


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