Remembering, Focusing, Anticipating

The author thought that our dependence on those gadgets was reinforcing our perception of time as only the present instant, without memory or anticipation.

Looking at a clock face we could say half-past nine, or a quarter till two, but with a digital it can only be 9:29 or 1:43.

Perhaps the author was being too much of a grump, but we still note his point: we tend to live for whatever makes the most noise just-right-now, without regard for what has been or what will be.

Certainly one of our tasks in the church is to be conscious of the framework of life, whence it came and where it is headed.

“Remember,” “focus”, and “anticipate” should be important words for us.

At the end of WWII, the concentration camps were freed.

They were ghastly places of death.

I visited Dachau in 1971, and it was still awful even then.

Why were they not all bulldozed and burned?

They are needed as visible reminders so that the world does not forget the capacity we have for mistreating one another.

In the face of those who continue to claim that the Holocaust never happened, we can point to those grim buildings, fences, trenches, and photographs.

They stand as convictions of the sinfulness of which we know people are capable.

And, sadly, there have still been so many additional instances in the 70 years since WWII.

We have just arrived at a classic definition of the function of the Ten Commandments.

Their proper job is to focus us on what we are doing right now, and convict us of our sin.

We would so like to forget all that, and say that it applies to someone else.

We are to remember what God has done and has promised, focus on how our present situation does not match up with God's intention for us, anticipate what God may yet do with and through us, and grasp any hint that seems to be transforming us in that direction.

And so we come to the scene of Jesus watching people at the temple treasury.

It wasn't a theoretical discussion, was it?

Jesus was focusing on exactly what was going on in front of their eyes.

The inflated speeches of the scribes and pharisees do not match with the promises of God's covenant from the past nor with the painful reality of their current actions.

Neither do their anticipations for the future fit together with the outcome God has in mind.

They say things like “Of course God will always bless us, because we are the beautiful people, the good people, the successful people.”

And in their minds that puts them far ahead of losers like the poor woman coming with her two cents as her offering.

Their memory of God's covenant is faulty, their analysis of the current situation is out of focus, and their anticipated outcome is skewed.

See how Jesus notices the persons and events with a clarity of focus that others ignore.

There is the big show of the rich presenting their offerings, but Jesus truly sees the poor woman and her two cents.

She is not there for commendation, for she will never receive that from the crowd, but she is there for thankfulness that she is living another day to glorify God.

That is so different.

It is an action that is akin to the words of the publican in the story Jesus told about the pharisee and the publican, who when he comes to the temple anticipates the true nature of God with these words “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

The widow anticipates God's future blessings with her action, just as the publican did with his words.

Jesus takes notice of both of them, even though they are the ones no one else would want to acknowledge.

Both of them remember the covenant, have life in proper focus, and anticipate God's future action, too.

A pastor got to thinking about two persons in his parish.

One was a wealthy businessman who gave a large contribution for the building fund.

Even so, it was only a fraction of one percent of his income.

The congregation appreciated the gift very much, and named the Fellowship Hall after him.

And then the pastor was thinking about one of the widows in the parish who had been giving 10% of her meager income for years.

No one particularly noticed her or her small gift; there was nothing named after her, no bronze plaques anywhere.

But the pastor got to wondering on which giver Jesus would focus.

It might well be on the person ignored by the folks who are impressed by dollar signs.

I need to tell you about a recent experience.

There are many who come asking for financial or other assistance.

I do what I can, and spread out what you entrust to me so that the fund lasts through the year.

I've heard every kind of story one can imagine, some of them are likely fabricated.

I have to make judgments as to whether I believe them or not; I'm sure that I'm sometimes fooled.

There are some who would ask why we should bother with this effort.

But then I remember how Jesus so often focused on the folks about whom no one else would care.

He saw how they were recipients of God's covenant too, and how God intended for their story to meld with his in God's future.

Keeping all this in mind, here is what happened last week.

A woman came asking for assistance, but not just for herself.

She had come upon an old man with no one and nothing, who had been scammed by people pretending to be his friends.

He was ill, homeless, and penniless.

She had been able to get him connected with various social services, but with all of the bureaucratic red tape, those services would not be available to him until after the first of the month.

So she took him to her own home, and fed and sheltered him for a number of days.

She came to me and asked if I could help her with bath and laundry soaps.

“He has only the clothes on his back, and he smells very bad,” she said.

So I went with her to the Weis store and got what she needed, and some food to tide her over also.

I asked her if she had a church home, and she said she was looking.

I invited her to stop in at St. Mark's sometime, because she is exactly the kind of person whom we need to remind us by words and actions about the proper focus of life.

To remember, to focus, to anticipate.

It is hard work, but good and important work, which is needed in every generation.

Here is how Gregory the Great phrased it some 1,400 years ago:

The proof of love is to do good. The love of God is never idle; where you find it, it is doing great things. If it does nothing, love is not there.

Remember the Father's promises, focus on what Jesus would think is important, and anticipate that the Holy Spirit will lead us through all things needful.

There is a good life-plan.

In confidence, let all say, Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.