A sermon by Dr. Karen Stubenbort
This sermon is audio only
Taking the Hand of Christ
a sermon by Harley Allen
Good morning. I am Harley Allen and it is good to be here
with you and have the opportunity to speak with you this morning. Last week we
heard from Bill Lambert the CEO of a major company. This week a retired kindergarten teacher
stands before you. Bill’s story quite
was compelling and as I sat there in the pew, I began to wonder, why, oh why
did I ever agree to do this. I can’t
possibly provide as powerful a message as Bill did. But on the drive home from
church God revealed to me that is
the beauty of this concept of preachers from the pew. We all have stories to share about our faith
journey and by sharing mine, my hope and prayer is the story will glorify God
and serve to help one person draw closer to Him. Before I begin let’s come
before God in prayer.
Dear
Heavenly Father, we come to you humbly seeking to make a place in our hearts
for you. Keep us ever mindful of your
presence. Dear God I ask that you would
use my words to your glory and pray they would help to further your kingdom
here on earth. In your Son’s holy name
we pray, Amen.
As I prayerfully
considered what I wanted to share with you this morning, it became obvious to
me it was how my battles with illness have shaped my faith journey. As many of you already know and as some of
you are about to learn, I stand before you this morning engaged in my sixth
battle with cancer. It is easy for me to
tell you that because with Gods’ help and by the power of the Holy Spirit and
so many of His faithful servants extending the hand of Christ to me, I am at
peace. Taking a page from Graham’s playbook, let’s start with a story. Before I came Calvin, I had a twenty-three
year history as a member of a Presbyterian Church in the North Hills. During
those twenty-three years I was blessed to serve in a variety of
capacities. At the time when this story
takes place, I was the Clerk of Session and the church had just called a new
pastor. In an effort to get to know the
members of session better, that new pastor started his first session meeting by
asking each session member to state his/her favorite scripture and give an
explanation as to why it was meaningful to them. Elders are called to be the
spiritual leaders of the church and although I belonged to the Men’s Bible
study, a Couples Bible Study and read my Bible I have never been one to
memorize Scripture. I know it is one of
the disciplines and I should be working to improve, but I just don’t. As we went around the table, it became quite
apparent my fellow Session members did practice the discipline of memorizing
Scripture. They were capable of naming
the book, chapter and verses of their favorites. I grew more and more apprehensive as my turn approached.
Fear seized every fiber of my being. It was soon going to be my turn and I
would be exposed for the slacker I am.
After all, I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of the other
Session members, the associate pastor and our new head pastor. Finally it was my turn and I had to
sheepishly admit I didn’t know exactly where in the Bible it was located but I
loved the story of Jesus walking on the water and Paul stepping out of the boat and walking to him. Now did you catch that? It wasn’t Paul it was Peter but my old
nemesis, fear had gotten the better of me once again! Oh, he and I had battled
many times throughout my life. The new
pastor was very gracious and reminded me it was Peter and said he liked that
story as well. He offered to loan me his
copy of John Ortberg’s book, “If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the
Boat”. I took him up on the offer.
I read it, liked it. That
scripture story has always resonated with me so I chose it as the Scripture for
this morning’s message and of course I now know is located in:
Matthew: Chapter 14: 22-36. (The
Message)
In the book of Matthew, the feeding of
the Five Thousand immediate precedes the story of:
Jesus Walking on the Water
As soon as the meal was
finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the
other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed
the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
Meanwhile, the boat was far out
to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the
waves. At about three o’clock in the
morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
But Jesus was quick to comfort
them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
Peter, suddenly bold, said,
“Master, if it is really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come ahead.”
Jumping out of the boat, Peter
walked on the water to Jesus. But when
he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and
started to sink. He cried, “Master, save
me!”
Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into
you?”
The two of the climbed into the
boat, and the wind died down. The
disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying,
“This is it! Your are God’s Son for Sure!”
What a story! It is simple and complex at the same
time. Peter was no stranger to boats or
to the Sea of Galilee. He was a
fisherman before he left everything to become a disciple. Many of the other disciples were also
knowledgeable in the ways of the sea.
These men knew it was particularly dangerous to attempt to sail across
the sea at night and must have wondered why Jesus would have asked them to
cross to the other side so late in the evening.
From fishing for years, they knew storms were more likely to occur after
dark and that is exactly what happened.
Let’s try to conjure up an image of the storm described in today’s
Scripture. It wasn’t a little rain
shower; it was a furious squall with waves breaking over the boat so
ferociously that the boat was nearly swamped. Needless to say, boats caught out
in the sea are in immediate danger. Imagine the disciples sitting in that boat
knowing their lives were in peril. They
were at the mercy of the elements when suddenly out of the darkness comes what
appears to be a ghost walking on the water.
How could they have thought it was a ghost and not recognized
Jesus? Well, which is the case with so
many of the Bible’s stories, we have the luxury of knowing the story. We have the hindsight to know the figure
approaching was Jesus. They on the other
hand, did not! We really can’t be
surprised they didn’t recognize him.
They were fighting for their lives with waves crashing in their faces. I
don’t know about you, but I don’t find this an enviable position. It’s three o’clock in the morning in the
middle of a storm and suddenly they think they see a ghost. Even though Jesus tells them to fear not,
they remain justifiably terrified… I’d
like to depart from the Scripture story and share with you a time in my life
when I was debilitated by fear just as the disciples were. When I was in my mid-forties, life was
chugging along just as I had hoped and prayed it would. Janis, my wife, and I were living in a new
home we loved, our daughter Kate was an honor student, outstanding musician and
budding actress who, even as a teenager, was a joy to raise. I was a respected kindergarten teacher and
had recently become an adjunct professor at Portland State University and spent
the summer traveling the country teaching a course on the implementation of the
Standards and Practices of The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics for
effective methodologies in mathematics instruction. Life was good and even though I was thankful,
I thought my success and the wonderful life we had was because I was in charge
and had everything under control. I must confess at the time I was a card-carrying
control freak. As I said, things were
under control and I was running on all cylinders. But then, much like that night on the Sea of
Galilee, a violent storm erupted in my life with one sentence from my doctor,
“Harley, its cancer.” Waves were
suddenly crashing into my boat and I was quickly losing control. A little six-letter word, cancer, started my
world spinning out of control and I was shaken to the core because I was doing
a great job running my life. Please
understand, I attended worship every week, studied my Bible and prayed with
great regularity but in this situation I was just like the eleven disciples
that huddled in the boat. Fear paralyzed me and I didn’t know where to turn or
what to do. Instead of falling to my knees and asking God to help me, the
control freak part of my personality kicked in and I went into research
mode. I read and studied everything I
could find about the type of cancer I had and the treatment options that were
available. I seized control of the
situation. I met with the doctor and was presented with a treatment plan of
chemotherapy, and while it was, let’s say rather unpleasant, it was quite
effective. But like the eleven, I had missed Christ walking right toward
me. I let fear blind me. If only I had
reached my hand out to Him. If I had
only turned to God and let Him show me the way.
Suffice to say, 1996 was not the best year of my life physically and
spiritually. But let’s jump to the
Harley that stands before you today. The present Harley is a changed, well, a
changing man. Friends who have known me for years comment about see a
difference in me. Fear, particularly of
cancer, no longer paralyses me. This
change didn’t come immediately and honestly I wish I could stand here and tell
you had taken place much sooner than it did.
If it had, it would have been much easier to deal with the multiple
occurrences between 1996 and 2012. But
that was then and now is now. A slow
transformation started about the time I began attending Calvin. I was welcomed
into this community of believers with open arms and began to meet people. I was connecting to worship in a way I hadn’t
for years. I literally couldn’t wait to
get here on Sunday mornings. Week after
week it was as if Connie and Graham were inside my head and speaking the exact
words I needed to hear. So many times
the prayer of humility or the opening chant would strike a chord with me. Weekly Communion, something I always thought
would diminish the significance of the meal, was resonating with me and I
looked forward to it with great anticipation.
I found myself staring at the cross at the front of the sanctuary and
connecting with Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection in a new and
powerful way. The combination of these
factors played a significant role in the manner in which I would learn to deal
with cancer.
Last April I walked into
my Urologist’s office a four-year check up and was told I had a recurrence of
prostate cancer. You see, in 2007, as part of a physical and because of my age
my doctor ordered a PSA screening. I was
diagnosed with prostate cancer but went through successful surgery and had been
cancer free for three years. I went into the appointment last April confident
that I was going get another positive report but then one little sentence
changed all that. “Harley your PSA
indicates the cancer is back.” How could that be? I had the most radical surgery available, had
twenty biopsies of my abdominal lymph system and had followed the doctor’s
orders to the letter of the law. Yet the cancer was back. Initially I was thrown for a loop. But with time and the power of the Holy
Spirit, I eventually became relatively comfortable with the new
recurrence. That was until the end of
summer and early fall. That’s when it
all changed. I was being plagued with debilitating fatigue that affected every
aspect of my life. But somehow this time something was different. I felt the
storm gathering in the distance. The
winds of fear and doubt were increasing but the the storm stayed in the distance. The waves weren’t crashing into my boat. In
spite of the fatigue I began to notice the power of the Holy Spirit working in
my life. It made me think of when I
first came to faith as a twenty-one year old college senior and a friend told
me there is no such thing as a coincidence in the life of Christian. It is the Holy Spirit at work. Believe you me, last fall; the actions of the
Holy Spirit were everywhere I turned. It
takes me back to that boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, the bold one, had the audacity to say,
“If it’s you beckon me to come to you.”
Jesus did exactly that. Without
trepidation Peter stepped from that boat.
At least, he didn’t let the Messiah pass him by. He responded to his call. He had the courage to put fear aside and step
out of the boat. The liberator had freed
him of fear. He stepped onto the water
and walked to Christ. The fatigue
brought on by the cancer allowed a sense of trepidation to grow in my life and
it took all the courage I could muster to step out of my boat and reach for the
hands of those who on Christ’s behalf were reaching out to help me. The Holy
Spirit had put in place many people who were beckoning me to come to them and
take their hand. Of course, I have the love and support of my wife and daughter
who have been an endless fount of encouragement. They have been there for me through all my
cancer battles and have never waivered in their devotion to me. I will never be
able to fully repay or give them enough thanks for all they’ve done for
me. As I said earlier, chemotherapy was
unpleasant and often Janis and Katie bore the brunt of my discomfort and
frustration. When I, like Peter, would
begin to doubt and start to sink, they would stretch out their hands and pull
me up.
The Holy Spirit placed before me the
outstretched hands of the body of believers that help to make Calvin the
special place it is. I had the support
of the men I had recently met by attending The Men’s Room. They encouraged me and prayed for me. I will
be ever grateful to those men who provided support to a newcomer and relative
stranger.
Toni, what a blessing she has been. We’ve known each other for years. I have performed in musicals she has
directed. She seemed to know exactly
when I needed a call of encouragement.
Through her phone calls and conversations, she stretched out her hand
and lifted me up. Coincidence? No, not in the life of Christians. Two others members of the Calvin Family
who were reaching out are, without a doubt Graham and Connie. Both of them stretched their hands out to me
with words of encouragement and a blanket of prayer. Early last fall Graham and I were sitting in
his office talking. In that
conversation, he told me about Calvin’s Healing Prayer Ministry. He suggested I talk with Connie to explore
the possibility of bringing these prayer warriors into my battle with the
cancer. In all honesty, the idea of meeting with them was somewhat
disconcerting for me and I was somewhat reluctant to talk with Connie but
eventually convinced myself I had nothing to lose except maybe a little
control. We spent the better part of an
hour one morning discussing the work of the Healing Prayer Ministers. My first question was – “Has the Holy Spirit
gifted these people with healing?” That
wonderful smile of Connie’s spread across her face, as she gently replied, “No,
they have the gift of prayer.” I’m sure
she was able to read the disappointment on my face. She went on to explain that God would determine
exactly what healing I needed and act accordingly. I agreed to meet with them and I am sure your
can surmise what healing I was hoping to receive. Quite selfishly I was hoping for a
miraculous cure and the cancer would be gone.
God knew better. On my first
meeting with Marie and Laurie, we talked about how I was feeling physically,
emotionally and spiritually. Physically, I wasn’t experiencing any discomfort
but the fatigue was beginning to impact every aspect of my life. I was sleeping, not always soundly, anywhere
from 12 to 16 hours a day but never felt rested. That is very uncharacteristic
of me. I usually fun full speed ahead
and have energy to burn. As we
continued to talk it didn’t take long to determine my level of anxiety was very
high. That was evidenced by the nightmares that were invading what little sleep
I was getting and the restlessness that followed each of them. We also determined my spirit was
deflated. I’m usually a pretty happy
guy. When I’m confronted with some
obstacle or situation, I stop and think, in five years what effect will this
have on my life. If I’m going to be
laughing about it in five years I might as well relax and laugh about it
now. Obviously, that strategy wasn’t
working for me because five years from now this recurrence could have a
significant impact on my life. We began to meet and pray and I have never had
an experience like it. Laurie and Marie
met with me Tuesday morning after Tuesday morning and I cannot find the words
to adequately express how those meetings changed my life. Their prayers were genuine and pure and often
left me in tears. What amazed me the
most was their investment in someone they hardly knew. They are walking talking examples of Christ’s
messengers extending a hand to me as I was sinking and pulling me up. They taught me a great deal. They taught me the power of centering prayer
and suggested the use of a mantra to bring calmness to my mind and allow God to
speak to me. At the same time, I was
reading Graham’s book, Discovering the Narrow Path and had just read
about mantras. It was also at that time
he had us practice using a mantra as a part of one of his sermons. Coincidence, I don’t think so. It was the Holy Spirit providing me with
opportunities to take the hands of Christ’s messengers and bring peace to my
life. The other gift Laurie and Marie
gave to me was permission to pray on my own behalf. Until that time most of my prayers were
intercessory and prayers of thanksgiving.
I was very good at asking God to provide and care for others but somehow
didn’t feel right about praying for my needs. These wonderful prayer warriors
actually gave me words to pray that allowed me to come before God openly and
honestly on my own behalf. One powerful
suggestion was as I was going to sleep I should pray that the healthy cells of
my body would overtake the cancerous cells.
This opened up a new vista for me and allowed sound sleep to
return. The restless nights didn’t
completely disappear but when I was awakened in the middle of the night I would
go into my mantra, Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul.
Bless the Lord, Oh my Soul and my mind would become quiet and sleep
would return. It may sound strange but
in my mind’s eye I actually can see a V of black begin to grow and lead me to
my centered place where I was quiet and listened to God speak to me. These two women
and the other members of the Healing Prayer Ministry are rare and I hope you
all appreciate the blessing they are to so many people and are thankful for the
powerful ministry they carry out. I know
I am.
Fortunately, I am blessed to have others in my
life who when I am like Peter and am overcome by fear and begin to sink, reach
out in Christian love and pull me up.
There is my friend Eric whom I jokingly call my walking concordance. He is always there when I need him. It seems to me he knows when I need words of
encouragement and is always there to provide them. Coincidence? No, it is the Holy Spirit at work. Eric is an inspiration that helps me and
stretches out his hand when I allow fear to creep in and I start to sink. Another rock in my life is my accountability
partner, David. David and I have met
nearly every Saturday morning for the last thirteen years, we walk at North
Park and confess to each other and then have breakfast together. Now here’s the
groaner. We meet at 5:30 a.m. It is the only time we could find that no one
else wanted. He is always there for me
and has been a rock throughout my various bouts with cancer. He has the uncanny ability to say the things
that I don’t always want to hear.
Recently when I got a little whiny about being sick again he said, “You
my friend have beaten cancer five times because God intervened and answered the
prayers that so many people lifted on your behalf. He went on to remind me of
the power and strength available to me if I turned it over to God and let Him
control the situation. Not that I didn’t
have to make informed decisions and be diligent in the treatment regimen but
still allow God. He also reminded me there
are five families who are grieving the loss of their loved ones who did not
survive their first occurrences.
Humbling to say the least. But, sometimes what we need to hear isn’t
always the easiest thing to hear.
In the time since the diagnosis of this
latest recurrence, I have learned that peace comes when I relinquish control
and ALLOW GOD. It should be very simple but it’s not. All I can do is strive to extinguish my fear
by relinquishing control and TRUST in God.
His majesty and might far exceed anything I can muster so why would I
limit Him. I wish I could have learned these lessons after the first, second,
third, fourth, or fifth occurrence and it isn’t as if I didn’t have Christian
hands being extended to me then. It’s
just that I’m a little hard headed and sometimes I have to be hit with a 2X4
before I take notice. What I am thankful
for is God desires nothing more than for us to turn to him and as Bill said
last week, “Whenever we turn to God, He is right there and He’s been there all
along. Our God is a good God who never
turns away. There are still times when
fear starts to get the best of me and I begin to sink. But I know there are
always hands being extended to pull me up, walk with me and provide the
spiritual guidance and support I need.
Here’s one more example. The Holy Spirit even turned up in my voice lesson. My voice teacher, Jeff, asked me to find the
music for a particular song. When I
downloaded it and read the lyrics, I was reduced to tears. Here’s the chorus:
Is it the wind
over my shoulder?
Is it the wind
calling quietly?
Over the
hilltops, down in the valley,
Never alone for
your walk, with me.
No not alone. Not
alone and I’ll never be.
Never alone for
walk, you walk with me.
I am never alone. The Holy Spirit has provided what seems like
a never-ending stream of people who on Christ’s behalf extend their hands to me
and pull me up when I begin to sink.
Those people help me live out Psalm
30:11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing; you
removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy that my heart may sing to you and
not be silent. Oh, Lord, my God, I will
give you thanks forever.
A CoWorker Named Christ
by Bill Lambert, CEO of Mine Safety Appliances, Inc.
This is part of our "Preachers from the Pew" series during Lent
Intro
When Graham asked me to participate in his “Preaching from the Pew” Lenten sermon
series I didn’t agree to it. I thought to myself, “What is it I have to say that anyone wants
to hear about my spiritual journey? What might possibly interest or in some
unimaginable way be of any help to anyone else? No way; forget it!” I thought. Graham
persisted and we emailed each other back and forth. I wasn’t convinced. However, as
I’ve tried to do in my life when I’m faced with a decision and the path isn’t clear to me, I
said to Graham that I would “pray on it and get back to him.”
I did pray on it and a week went past, and then a little more than a week without any discernment on what I should do. I was delaying this decision and then inexplicably something really strange happened.
It was a sunny day mid‐week a few weeks ago and my car was filthy. I hadn’t washed it in weeks and honestly it looked like a salt lick for deer. I decided kind of spur of the moment that at lunch time, I’d run out to Jerry’s Car Wash in Cranberry and get my car washed. Seemed like a very convenient and clever plan to take care of something that needed taking care of over lunch. So, I pulled into Jerry’s and as I gave my car to the attendant and walked in to pay, who’s in there just ahead of me? You got it, our very own Reverend Graham Standish who also had the exact same idea to get his car washed at the same moment as me!! I thought, “Seriously?” I mean, what are the odds of this happening? There was no escaping him or delaying the discussion now.
So, as Graham and I sometimes do, we got into this spiritual journey discussion at Jerry’s Car Wash. Our cars came off the assembly line and rolled out of the building. The workers towel dried our cars and shined the tires, all the while Graham and I are still talking. More cars come off the assembly line and start to back up behind our cars. Finally, one of the attendants yells to us, “hey, your cars are done! You gotta get them out of here.” So, we finished our discussion, got in our cars and promised to talk a little more.
But I must say that it was in that short, but meaningful conversation ‐‐ and in my reflecting on whether it was coincidence or God’s providence that Graham and I meet at that moment to discuss this ‐‐ that I decided to say “okay, I’ll try it.” So, here I am!
Prayer
Pray with me, please:
Holy and gracious God, you’ve called me to follow you and so I try. Bless my words today Lord that my discussion this morning at Calvin Church might resonate and be of some assistance to just one member who hears my story. That through my confession and
I did pray on it and a week went past, and then a little more than a week without any discernment on what I should do. I was delaying this decision and then inexplicably something really strange happened.
It was a sunny day mid‐week a few weeks ago and my car was filthy. I hadn’t washed it in weeks and honestly it looked like a salt lick for deer. I decided kind of spur of the moment that at lunch time, I’d run out to Jerry’s Car Wash in Cranberry and get my car washed. Seemed like a very convenient and clever plan to take care of something that needed taking care of over lunch. So, I pulled into Jerry’s and as I gave my car to the attendant and walked in to pay, who’s in there just ahead of me? You got it, our very own Reverend Graham Standish who also had the exact same idea to get his car washed at the same moment as me!! I thought, “Seriously?” I mean, what are the odds of this happening? There was no escaping him or delaying the discussion now.
So, as Graham and I sometimes do, we got into this spiritual journey discussion at Jerry’s Car Wash. Our cars came off the assembly line and rolled out of the building. The workers towel dried our cars and shined the tires, all the while Graham and I are still talking. More cars come off the assembly line and start to back up behind our cars. Finally, one of the attendants yells to us, “hey, your cars are done! You gotta get them out of here.” So, we finished our discussion, got in our cars and promised to talk a little more.
But I must say that it was in that short, but meaningful conversation ‐‐ and in my reflecting on whether it was coincidence or God’s providence that Graham and I meet at that moment to discuss this ‐‐ that I decided to say “okay, I’ll try it.” So, here I am!
Prayer
Pray with me, please:
Holy and gracious God, you’ve called me to follow you and so I try. Bless my words today Lord that my discussion this morning at Calvin Church might resonate and be of some assistance to just one member who hears my story. That through my confession and
About Me
Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Bill Lambert. I’m 53 years old. I’m the son of a plumber, the middle of four boys to Wilber and Ada Lambert, I’m a husband to Sandy of almost 30 years, a father of two wonderful daughters, a past elder, a golfer, a dreamer, a procrastinator, a reader, a snowboarder and sometimes thrill‐seeker, an innovator, a business leader and ultimately I’m a Christian pilgrim on a spiritual journey, just like you.
While I’d love to talk to you about my wife, our daughters, my golfing prowess, or my snowboarding adventures, instead what I’m going to talk to you about this morning is my business life, what’s it’s like to be CEO of a public Company with $1.2 billion in sales, to have 5,500 employees in 42 countries around the world and how as a man and a Christian I’ve struggle with stress, bad decisions, feeling “down and out,” feeling absolutely overwhelmed and at my wits end, and having to make tough life‐impacting decisions for those who depend on my leadership.
I’ll talk to you about how I cope, how I stay spiritually centered, how I view leadership as a calling and in fact a ministry, and how I now look to Jesus Christ as a co‐worker, there beside me as my trusted advisor and counselor.
Back in the late ‘70’s, as I was studying to become a mechanical engineer I used to love to dream about making things. I would sketch and plan and dream. I wanted to learn about mathematics and apply physics in the ways that engineers did. I studied well, earned my bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, graduated with honors, passed my “Engineer in Training” exam, and was on the road to gaining my Professional Engineers license, which I successfully accomplished a few years later.
After a short stint as a design engineer at Westinghouse Air Brake Company, I joined MSA as a 23‐year old design engineer, designing life‐saving breathing apparatus that fire fighters wear. I loved it! I loved life!
I married my high school sweetheart, bought a small two bedroom house in Pleasant Hills, had great friends that I got together with socially, partied way too much and spent every cent I earned. Sandy and I were having a great time in life. I was pretty full of myself. Confidence was not something I lacked. Humility? Forget it.
Seven years out of college, I began to question where my career was headed. I wanted more. My ambition pushed me to drive harder; work harder; and play harder. I was leading teams at work and we were accomplishing some great things. I saw myself as someday moving out of engineering and taking on greater and greater roles in Marketing and Sales. And someday (and I could see it clearly) I envisioned me being a General Manager leading a small group of people in all aspects of business. Yes, that was my calling, to be the “boss”, the General Manager.
In 1987, I applied for admission to the Carnegie‐Mellon Graduate School of Industrial
Administration. At the time, it was ranked as the #7 MBA School in the nation; behind
Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Wharton and the Kellogg school of business. It was challenging,
but I got in. I found this MBA program fascinating, I loved the hard work, I loved the
competition, I loved the pride that came from being associated with such a renowned
school and surrounded by so many bright ambitious people all working their way up. And
I did well! I was 29, I was aggressive and I was cutting a path for myself.
However, over those three years of working full time and going to CMU at night, the stress on my family and on me was intense. It was in that 1987‐1990 period, that I had what I term my “time in the crucible.” A crucible is what a metallurgist or an alchemist uses to transform a material under intense heat and pressure. These three years became my crucible where I transformed myself – but not necessarily for the “good.”
HubrisI had major projects going on at work, more than one not going particularly smoothly. Sandy and I had been trying to start a family and failed consistently. But just as I started graduate school, she became pregnant (with Emily). My mother, who had suffered a series of strokes, became progressively sicker during these years. In my second year of grad school, October 1988, she passed away only hours after Emily, 10‐months old at the time, took her first steps into my mother’s arms. The next spring, Sandy and I moved from Pleasant Hills where she was close to her mother, sister and a support network all the way up to Cranberry Township (in the “far north”), which might not sound like a big deal today, but for a South Hills girl back then (before I‐279) it was a really big deal. In November of ’89, Kelly was born. I was in a demanding job, still in Grad School, still extremely self‐centered, starting a family, in a new house in a new neighborhood, had lost my mother, was losing my father emotionally and had barely enough money to get by.
At the time, I thought it was by my great strength and perseverance that I was being transformed in this crucible. God had nothing to do with it. It was all me. I graduated with my MBA, was a hot commodity, had a number of job offers, and was clearly on a new path.
I broke out of Engineering just as I said I would. I entered Marketing and Sales and was speeding toward fulfilling my vision of someday being the “boss,” the general manager.
Trouble is, I had no idea just how right my vision was, or how fast it would come to me, or how many bad decisions I would make along the way. I was working hard, I was going out after work and I was making a lot of bad decisions that was affecting my family.
Within 6 years, I had held numerous marketing positions, was promoted multiple times, led multi‐national teams, was working closely with the CEO, led the acquisition of two competitive companies, was promoted twice in the same year and by December of 1996,
However, over those three years of working full time and going to CMU at night, the stress on my family and on me was intense. It was in that 1987‐1990 period, that I had what I term my “time in the crucible.” A crucible is what a metallurgist or an alchemist uses to transform a material under intense heat and pressure. These three years became my crucible where I transformed myself – but not necessarily for the “good.”
HubrisI had major projects going on at work, more than one not going particularly smoothly. Sandy and I had been trying to start a family and failed consistently. But just as I started graduate school, she became pregnant (with Emily). My mother, who had suffered a series of strokes, became progressively sicker during these years. In my second year of grad school, October 1988, she passed away only hours after Emily, 10‐months old at the time, took her first steps into my mother’s arms. The next spring, Sandy and I moved from Pleasant Hills where she was close to her mother, sister and a support network all the way up to Cranberry Township (in the “far north”), which might not sound like a big deal today, but for a South Hills girl back then (before I‐279) it was a really big deal. In November of ’89, Kelly was born. I was in a demanding job, still in Grad School, still extremely self‐centered, starting a family, in a new house in a new neighborhood, had lost my mother, was losing my father emotionally and had barely enough money to get by.
At the time, I thought it was by my great strength and perseverance that I was being transformed in this crucible. God had nothing to do with it. It was all me. I graduated with my MBA, was a hot commodity, had a number of job offers, and was clearly on a new path.
I broke out of Engineering just as I said I would. I entered Marketing and Sales and was speeding toward fulfilling my vision of someday being the “boss,” the general manager.
Trouble is, I had no idea just how right my vision was, or how fast it would come to me, or how many bad decisions I would make along the way. I was working hard, I was going out after work and I was making a lot of bad decisions that was affecting my family.
Within 6 years, I had held numerous marketing positions, was promoted multiple times, led multi‐national teams, was working closely with the CEO, led the acquisition of two competitive companies, was promoted twice in the same year and by December of 1996,
was named corporate Vice President and General Manager of the company’s largest
division. I’m 38 and my “vision” had been realized!
Within two years as General Manager, the company had lost a major defense contract, which caused us to shutdown a factory in Rhode Island. We completely changed our selling strategy, causing us to shutdown regional sales and distribution offices around the country. One of the acquisitions we made was losing money and the other was struggling. To add insult to injury, we decided to completely revamp our information technology system, implementing an all new global enterprise resource planning system for all our business transactions. We weren’t prepared for it and business processes came to a standstill. As you can imagine, it all brought us to our knees, literally. Here I was the Company’s youngest ever general manager leading the company’s largest division, and running it right into the ground! During that time, the division under my leadership went from being the most profitable in the Company to reporting a $10 million loss!
I was traveling a ton. I was drinking a lot. I wasn’t being successful at leading my Division. And worst of all, I wasn’t acting like the father or the husband I wanted to be. I nearly destroyed our marriage and I nearly lost myself along the way. My crucible had transformed me alright, but in a way that was further from God, further from my family and further from who I really wanted to be.
ReckoningI always considered myself somewhat of a prayerful person and I felt that since the time I was confirmed and accepted Christ as my savior, that I always had a very close and personal relationship to God. I would talk to him, especially during my quiet time.
But during these particular years, I actually spoke less often to God. I turned to Him less. I prayed less. And yet I seemed to be searching more – in all the wrong places.
I needed help. My family knew it; my friends knew it; and most fortunately for me, God knew it! So what would you do in that situation? Somehow I thought “Time Management” was my salvation. If only I could manage my time better, everything would be okay.
Within two years as General Manager, the company had lost a major defense contract, which caused us to shutdown a factory in Rhode Island. We completely changed our selling strategy, causing us to shutdown regional sales and distribution offices around the country. One of the acquisitions we made was losing money and the other was struggling. To add insult to injury, we decided to completely revamp our information technology system, implementing an all new global enterprise resource planning system for all our business transactions. We weren’t prepared for it and business processes came to a standstill. As you can imagine, it all brought us to our knees, literally. Here I was the Company’s youngest ever general manager leading the company’s largest division, and running it right into the ground! During that time, the division under my leadership went from being the most profitable in the Company to reporting a $10 million loss!
I was traveling a ton. I was drinking a lot. I wasn’t being successful at leading my Division. And worst of all, I wasn’t acting like the father or the husband I wanted to be. I nearly destroyed our marriage and I nearly lost myself along the way. My crucible had transformed me alright, but in a way that was further from God, further from my family and further from who I really wanted to be.
ReckoningI always considered myself somewhat of a prayerful person and I felt that since the time I was confirmed and accepted Christ as my savior, that I always had a very close and personal relationship to God. I would talk to him, especially during my quiet time.
But during these particular years, I actually spoke less often to God. I turned to Him less. I prayed less. And yet I seemed to be searching more – in all the wrong places.
I needed help. My family knew it; my friends knew it; and most fortunately for me, God knew it! So what would you do in that situation? Somehow I thought “Time Management” was my salvation. If only I could manage my time better, everything would be okay.
The TurnIt was late 1997 and by some strange turn of events I ended up in a “time management
seminar” in Boston, Massachusetts. I think at the time I thought maybe better time
management would help me. The name of the course was “First Things First”, maybe
some of you have read that book, or attended a similar seminar by Steven Covey.
To be honest the course was lost on me. Today, I can’t tell you a thing about better time management and I don’t think I’m any better today at it than I was back then. But what I can tell you is that I’m fairly certain that God spoke to me as I sat in that hotel ballroom attending that course. It wasn’t through an old man sitting next to me who looked like
To be honest the course was lost on me. Today, I can’t tell you a thing about better time management and I don’t think I’m any better today at it than I was back then. But what I can tell you is that I’m fairly certain that God spoke to me as I sat in that hotel ballroom attending that course. It wasn’t through an old man sitting next to me who looked like
George Burns. It was much more subtle, like a voice within me responding to the
prompts I was hearing.
What I heard which resonated completely with me, was this concept of:
What I heard which resonated completely with me, was this concept of:
-
Make the choice of who you choose to be from this day forward; not who
you’ve been, but who you choose to be;
-
Write a contract with yourself describing that person;
-
Decide what your priorities are (the things you’ll take care of “first”); and
-
Review that list every day; take steps to reinforce those priorities, like a
bricklayer constantly putting grout back in where the wind and rain tries to
wash it away.
It was one of those moments of perfect clarity that came over me. I wasn’t in church, I wasn’t reading the Bible, and I wasn’t listening to a pastor, but the message coming to me I believe was from God. I think it was God calling me back to Him.
That night in my hotel room, I prayed and I cried for what I had become as a husband, father and business leader. I asked God for forgiveness and I asked for His help.
This voice inside of me was telling me to grow up and grow towards God; to make a choice; to get myself centered on Him; to get my priorities straight; to put my “first things first”; and He was calling me to ACT NOW on this message. I suddenly felt the Holy Spirit was alive in me!
That night I wrote a contract with myself; printed it out the next morning in the hotel business center; signed it; dated it; made a few copies of it for each of my portfolios I carry around; laminated it (because I’m an engineer!) and have carried it with me ever since to every meeting I go to. I look at it frequently. I am reminded by the priorities I established and I’m guided by what I said I’d be nearly 15 years ago.
On my “First Things First” list – right there in the middle – is the statement: “Having a personal relationship with Christ and trusting Him to guide me in my life’s decisions.”
I’m holding up one of those laminated copies of my contract that I carry around with me. I’ve shared this with a few people over the years and I’ll give you a copy if you’d like after church. It’s fifteen years old this year and I’ve often thought about revising it, but I haven’t. This represents a particular moment in my life, an anchoring point if you will and an anchoring point in my walk with God. That’s special to me. It almost feels like an anniversary of sorts.
There are three sections to my contract. It all fits on one page. There’s a section for my “Personal Life Statement”; a section for my “Professional Life Statement”; and a section
As I look back on it, it’s in a way very secular, but I share it with you because it’s what got
me centered at a time when I was off the path. It adjusted my path by just a few degrees
and I feel it put me back on a path toward God.
What my first things first list caused me to wrestle with was that my role on this earth was a special calling, as a father, as a husband, as a Christian, and as a business leader. I needed to be able to exist in this secular world, be a Christian, have God lead me and make a difference in the life of those I touched – “yes,” those would become my new marching orders!
Prayer Makes All the Difference
Brother Lawrence, in “The Practice of the Presence of God,” wrote: In the midst of your work console yourself with God as often as you can. During your meals and your conversations, lift your heart towards God from time to time; the slightest little remembrance will always be very pleasant to God... We do not have to constantly be in church to be with God. We can make a prayer room into which we can retire from time to time to converse with God gently, humbly, lovingly. Everyone is capable of these familiar conversations with God – some more, some less. God knows what our capabilities are. Let us begin (then), for perhaps God is only awaiting a generous resolve on our part.
I felt that God was just waiting for me to take that step. To seek Him, to pray more frequently, to ask anything of Him – strength, forgiveness, wisdom, compassion, resolve. I learned that tough decisions and tough situations were helped immensely by me going to God in prayer. These frequent, “familiar conversations” as Brother Lawrence likes to call them, became incredibly helpful to me as I tried to fulfill my vows expressed in my First Things First contract.
Leadership as a Choice and the Opportunity It Provides
Management is not something you do to other people. You might manage your inventory, your checkbook, your time, and your resources. You can even manage yourself and your attitude. But you do not manage other human beings. You manage things; you lead people. And you lead them NOT by motivating them with money, position, or titles. No, I think the best leadership INSPIRES people. It inspires them to advance a mission, to achieve something meaningful and aspirational, to be more than they could be by themselves.
The life and works of Jesus Christ INSPIRES us and it personally inspires me to be better, to be more loving, more forgiving, and more generous. It inspires me in that I find myself asking, “How might I be more like Him in how I view my family, my business situation, the world?”
What my first things first list caused me to wrestle with was that my role on this earth was a special calling, as a father, as a husband, as a Christian, and as a business leader. I needed to be able to exist in this secular world, be a Christian, have God lead me and make a difference in the life of those I touched – “yes,” those would become my new marching orders!
Prayer Makes All the Difference
Brother Lawrence, in “The Practice of the Presence of God,” wrote: In the midst of your work console yourself with God as often as you can. During your meals and your conversations, lift your heart towards God from time to time; the slightest little remembrance will always be very pleasant to God... We do not have to constantly be in church to be with God. We can make a prayer room into which we can retire from time to time to converse with God gently, humbly, lovingly. Everyone is capable of these familiar conversations with God – some more, some less. God knows what our capabilities are. Let us begin (then), for perhaps God is only awaiting a generous resolve on our part.
I felt that God was just waiting for me to take that step. To seek Him, to pray more frequently, to ask anything of Him – strength, forgiveness, wisdom, compassion, resolve. I learned that tough decisions and tough situations were helped immensely by me going to God in prayer. These frequent, “familiar conversations” as Brother Lawrence likes to call them, became incredibly helpful to me as I tried to fulfill my vows expressed in my First Things First contract.
Leadership as a Choice and the Opportunity It Provides
Management is not something you do to other people. You might manage your inventory, your checkbook, your time, and your resources. You can even manage yourself and your attitude. But you do not manage other human beings. You manage things; you lead people. And you lead them NOT by motivating them with money, position, or titles. No, I think the best leadership INSPIRES people. It inspires them to advance a mission, to achieve something meaningful and aspirational, to be more than they could be by themselves.
The life and works of Jesus Christ INSPIRES us and it personally inspires me to be better, to be more loving, more forgiving, and more generous. It inspires me in that I find myself asking, “How might I be more like Him in how I view my family, my business situation, the world?”
When you’re in a leadership position you have a responsibility to the people entrusted to
your care. Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming. When I think about the 5,500
families that I influence by my leadership decisions – more if I include all the
shareholders, suppliers and customers that our Company impacts – it can be a little
humbling.
But I must tell you it is also be an awesome, energizing responsibility! Think about it, employees spend roughly half their waking hours working and living in the environment you create as a leader. Wow!! What a great opportunity Leaders have to advance God’s mission on Earth!
In the end, I think Leadership is the skill of inspiring people to work enthusiastically toward goals they are attracted to; goals they see as righteous and good. But paradoxically, Jesus said that to lead, you must be willing to serve and to make sacrifices.
We have to Make the Choice of who we choose to be and how we choose to lead a Christ‐centered life! Just as I made a choice over 14 years ago.
Jerome Brunner, noted Harvard psychologist, said, “We are more likely to act ourselves into a feeling than feel ourselves into an action.” What he was saying is that our behaviors influence our thoughts and our feelings. Think about that. If you act out in a certain way – if you consistently behave in a certain way toward someone or something – it will ultimately determine how you “feel” about that person.
Social psychologists call it the “power of Praxis”. And it’s what I’ve tried to do as I fulfill my First Things First vow.
A New Way to RespondLet me give you an example. A little more than ten years after I had signed my First Things First contract, I was faced with a very difficult situation at work. The year is 2008, I’ve just been elected by the Board to be the CEO and we – all of us – are on the brink of the worst global economic recession in our lifetime. The financial markets begin to collapse in the Spring of that year. By September, Lehman Brothers falls and that’s when the bottom falls out of the economy.
Parts of our business were staggered by the suddenness in the evaporation of orders. Our hard hat sales were down 50% in November from a year earlier. December they were down 55% from a year earlier. The U.S. economy was shedding jobs at the rate of 800,000 workers per month! We make products that keep people safe while they work. And there were less and less workers needing to be protected.
As the leader of our Company, I had some difficult decisions to make. Keep people on, or follow suit and lay them off. Or maybe, seek God’s help and pray about it.
But I must tell you it is also be an awesome, energizing responsibility! Think about it, employees spend roughly half their waking hours working and living in the environment you create as a leader. Wow!! What a great opportunity Leaders have to advance God’s mission on Earth!
In the end, I think Leadership is the skill of inspiring people to work enthusiastically toward goals they are attracted to; goals they see as righteous and good. But paradoxically, Jesus said that to lead, you must be willing to serve and to make sacrifices.
We have to Make the Choice of who we choose to be and how we choose to lead a Christ‐centered life! Just as I made a choice over 14 years ago.
Jerome Brunner, noted Harvard psychologist, said, “We are more likely to act ourselves into a feeling than feel ourselves into an action.” What he was saying is that our behaviors influence our thoughts and our feelings. Think about that. If you act out in a certain way – if you consistently behave in a certain way toward someone or something – it will ultimately determine how you “feel” about that person.
Social psychologists call it the “power of Praxis”. And it’s what I’ve tried to do as I fulfill my First Things First vow.
A New Way to RespondLet me give you an example. A little more than ten years after I had signed my First Things First contract, I was faced with a very difficult situation at work. The year is 2008, I’ve just been elected by the Board to be the CEO and we – all of us – are on the brink of the worst global economic recession in our lifetime. The financial markets begin to collapse in the Spring of that year. By September, Lehman Brothers falls and that’s when the bottom falls out of the economy.
Parts of our business were staggered by the suddenness in the evaporation of orders. Our hard hat sales were down 50% in November from a year earlier. December they were down 55% from a year earlier. The U.S. economy was shedding jobs at the rate of 800,000 workers per month! We make products that keep people safe while they work. And there were less and less workers needing to be protected.
As the leader of our Company, I had some difficult decisions to make. Keep people on, or follow suit and lay them off. Or maybe, seek God’s help and pray about it.
I did pray about it. And what we did wasn’t exactly “following suit.” We had to cut back,
but we started only with the temporary workers and the contractors. We went into our
budgets and eliminated all of the discretionary spending we could. In the Spring of 2009,
we kept most everyone on the payroll and advanced maintenance schedules to keep
them busy. We instituted a voluntary retirement incentive program for those who were
approaching retirement eligibility. We actually gave a 2.5% pay raise to our factory and
hourly workers in 2009! Management on the other hand didn’t get a raise. In fact, I went
to them and asked everyone above a certain grade level to take a pay cut. I would lead
with a 20% pay cut, executives below me with a 10% pay cut and those who reported to
them with a 5% pay cut. We temporarily suspended our 401k company matching
contributions, but we kept our pension program fully funded.
There were lots of actions we had to take, some big and some small. By March of 2009, I went to the workforce and said, “That’s it, no more cutting. From here on out we weather this storm together and we make ourselves stronger!”
We made a profit in 2009, but it wasn’t a lot.
When I presented my 2010 profit plan budget to the Board, it called for even less profit to be made in 2010. They said, “What?!?” I felt in my heart that we had weathered the worst of the storm and now we needed to invest in our people and in our programs. And so we did.
2011 was a record year for our Company. And 2012 will be even better. Our 2011 employee engagement survey scores were the highest ever and our people voted our Company one of the Best Places to Work in Pittsburgh.
Lessons Learned
I learned a few lessons during this “Great Recession”, as we like to refer to it.
There were lots of actions we had to take, some big and some small. By March of 2009, I went to the workforce and said, “That’s it, no more cutting. From here on out we weather this storm together and we make ourselves stronger!”
We made a profit in 2009, but it wasn’t a lot.
When I presented my 2010 profit plan budget to the Board, it called for even less profit to be made in 2010. They said, “What?!?” I felt in my heart that we had weathered the worst of the storm and now we needed to invest in our people and in our programs. And so we did.
2011 was a record year for our Company. And 2012 will be even better. Our 2011 employee engagement survey scores were the highest ever and our people voted our Company one of the Best Places to Work in Pittsburgh.
Lessons Learned
I learned a few lessons during this “Great Recession”, as we like to refer to it.
-
Seek God’s help in prayer in every difficult situation; before every difficult
decision.
-
Leadership is not about personality, possessions, or charisma, but all about who
you are as a person. I used to believe that leadership was about style and flair,
but now I know that leadership is about substance, namely character and
authenticity.
Paul wrote nearly two thousand years ago that, in the end, only three things matter:
faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love. Love – not in how we feel, but
in how we behave and treat each other.
My Path Is not the Same as Yours
Brother Lawrence in “The Practice of the Presence of God” wrote, “All things are possible to him who believes; they are less difficult to him who hopes; they are easier to him who loves; and they are easier still to him who perseveres in the practice of all three virtues – belief, hope and love. There is no way for you to have too much trust in so good and so faithful a friend as Jesus Christ, for He will never fail you, not in this world or the next.”
And Thomas à Kempis, in “The Imitation of Christ,” wrote: Blessed are the ears that are attuned to the soft whisper of God’s voice and that ignore the buzzing of the world. Blessed indeed are the ears that pay no attention to outside clamor, but listen to the truth teaching from within. Blessed are the eyes that are closed to outside things, but are intent on inner things. Blessed are they who plumb their own depths and by daily efforts prepare themselves to understand the secrets of heaven. Blessed are they who are completely free to attend to God and who have shaken off everything that stands in their way. Mark these things, my soul; be silent, and visit the quiet recesses of your own heart. It is there that you will hear God’s voice.
-
The third lesson I learned is that our thoughts ultimately guide who we are and
that our actions speak louder than our words. In the Dhammapada, Buddha is
reported to have said:
(Your) thought manifests (themselves) as (your) words; (Your) words manifests (itself) as (your) deeds;
(Your) deeds develop into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
(And your character becomes your destiny);
So watch (your) thought(s) and its ways with care,
And let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
As the shadow follows the body, As we think, so we become.
-
My “First Things First” contract became my vow with God and to myself. It
became an anchoring point. And the true security for that anchoring point came
from God.
My Path Is not the Same as Yours
Brother Lawrence in “The Practice of the Presence of God” wrote, “All things are possible to him who believes; they are less difficult to him who hopes; they are easier to him who loves; and they are easier still to him who perseveres in the practice of all three virtues – belief, hope and love. There is no way for you to have too much trust in so good and so faithful a friend as Jesus Christ, for He will never fail you, not in this world or the next.”
And Thomas à Kempis, in “The Imitation of Christ,” wrote: Blessed are the ears that are attuned to the soft whisper of God’s voice and that ignore the buzzing of the world. Blessed indeed are the ears that pay no attention to outside clamor, but listen to the truth teaching from within. Blessed are the eyes that are closed to outside things, but are intent on inner things. Blessed are they who plumb their own depths and by daily efforts prepare themselves to understand the secrets of heaven. Blessed are they who are completely free to attend to God and who have shaken off everything that stands in their way. Mark these things, my soul; be silent, and visit the quiet recesses of your own heart. It is there that you will hear God’s voice.
At our home, in our bedroom, I have a very peaceful lithograph of an empty canoe tied to
its mooring on a glassy calm lake with a soft morning fog burning off as the sun rises. It’s
quite a beautiful and peaceful scene. Below that photograph is inscribed the words from
Psalms 46:10 “Be Still, and Know that I am God.”
“Be Still, and Know that I am God” reminds me that we are finite, and that God is infinite. As a leader it’s okay to surrender, to relax, to “chill out” and to know that God cares for us and desires that we may enjoy a calm confidence centered in Him.
Catherine Marshall in “Beyond Ourselves” wrote, “God deals differently with each of us. He knows no “typical” case. He seeks us out at a point in our own need and longing and runs down the road to meet us. This individualized treatment should delight rather than confuse (or scare) us, because it so clearly reveals the highly personal quality of God’s love and concern (for each one of us).”
Friends, we each have our own path. Maybe your path will take you through a car wash, as it did me. But realize that my path is not your path. The great news for each of us is that God is there to walk with us on our own personal path – in life, in business, in our social circles, in our families.
My prayer for each of you today is that your path might be adjusted by even a few degrees as the result of having spent this time together this morning. A few degrees may not make much of a difference on a short journey, but for the long journey of life it may well put you in a completely different place, as it did me.
May God continue to bless you on your journey ahead. Amen!
“Be Still, and Know that I am God” reminds me that we are finite, and that God is infinite. As a leader it’s okay to surrender, to relax, to “chill out” and to know that God cares for us and desires that we may enjoy a calm confidence centered in Him.
Catherine Marshall in “Beyond Ourselves” wrote, “God deals differently with each of us. He knows no “typical” case. He seeks us out at a point in our own need and longing and runs down the road to meet us. This individualized treatment should delight rather than confuse (or scare) us, because it so clearly reveals the highly personal quality of God’s love and concern (for each one of us).”
Friends, we each have our own path. Maybe your path will take you through a car wash, as it did me. But realize that my path is not your path. The great news for each of us is that God is there to walk with us on our own personal path – in life, in business, in our social circles, in our families.
My prayer for each of you today is that your path might be adjusted by even a few degrees as the result of having spent this time together this morning. A few degrees may not make much of a difference on a short journey, but for the long journey of life it may well put you in a completely different place, as it did me.
May God continue to bless you on your journey ahead. Amen!
What Do We Say about,... the Bible? Is it Still Relevant?
What Do We Say about,… the Bible? Is It Still Relevant?
Luke 4:14-21
February 12, 2012
Then Jesus, filled with the power of
the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the
surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by
everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to
the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and
the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and
found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the
oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up
the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the
synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Have
you ever been booed? I mean really booed
by others? I’ve been booed twice. I actually got booed at my wedding. You know how at weddings people clink their
glasses to get the couple to kiss. I
told Diane that I wasn’t going to do that, and so when people started to clink
their glasses to get us to kiss, I shook my head “no.” That’s when they booed us.
I
also was booed once in a class at seminary.
It was my first year, and I don’t remember what the class was, but we
were in the midst of a discussion on the relevancy of the Bible in today’s
world. I made the comment that I just
wish we could get rid of the Old Testament.
I said that it was filled with violence, bigotry, and archaic ideas, and
that we would be much better off without it.
After I said it, members of the class actually booed me. I chalked it up to their being ignorant, but
over the years I discovered that I was the ignorant one.
My
comment was born out of my ignorance. I
had read the Bible from cover to cover the summer before seminary, but I have
to admit that I didn’t really understand much of it. The Bible really isn’t a book to be read
cover to cover like a novel. It’s a book
to be read slowly with biblical aids to help it make sense. But I didn’t know that. When I read the Old Testament it confused me.
I wasn’t sure if it was accurate history or not, and I couldn’t keep all the
stories straight. Also, when I read the
prophets, I couldn’t figure out what they were so angry about. Same with Paul. I now understand the different books, but
back then I was just confused. So I picked up and held up the violence and what
seemed like bigotry, without recognizing that this was a very small percentage
of the Old Testament.
My
beliefs about the Old Testament reflected what a lot of people in and outside
the church think about the Bible. Over
the years I’ve heard many, many people complain that it’s an archaic and
outdated book full of ancient superstition, violence, bigotries, and ignorance.
Is
the Bible outdated? Is it still relevant
to today? How we answer that question
has a lot to do with whether we’ve actually read the Bible or not, and how we’ve read it if we have. What I’ve noticed over the years is that a
lot of people have strong opinions on the Bible, despite the fact that they’ve
never really read it, or if they have, they’ve read it like I did before going
to seminary. I had a strong opinion
based on little knowledge and lots of ignorance. But the question still remains: Is it outdated? Is it still relevant? To answer those questions, you have to get
clear on what the Bible is and isn’t.
First,
despite what many Christians argue, the Bible is not a history book. It’s a book of wisdom and revelation. The Bible is not trying to tell us what
happened in human history or the world’s history. It is trying to tell us about who God is and
who we are. It is trying to tell us
about what God has done, is doing, and will do.
It uses history, but it’s not a book of history.
One
reason it is clearly not a book of history is that back when the books of the
Bible were being written people didn’t think historically. That’s hard for us to understand in our
modern age, but to delve into history as a study, you need one crucial thing
that people of ancient times didn’t have:
leisure time for study, as well as
written records to study. To wonder
what happened in history, people have to have the time to sit around and think,
and in the ancient world people didn’t have that time. They often lived hand-to-mouth. They had very little free time. So their questions weren’t historical
questions about what happened. Their
questions were about why life is so hard and where God is in the midst of this
hard life. When we treat the Bible like
a history book, we actually misuse it. .
When
the Bible is read literally as history, it gets stripped of its wisdom. As a history book it’s “okay” history. Many, or even most, of its stories are based
on real historical events, but that doesn’t mean that they were written to give
us historical accounts. Remember, the
biblical writers were trying to tell us about God, not history. That’s why, in
Genesis, there are two different creation stories. Because we have a need to have only one story
due to our desire to have one historical account, we tend to merge the stories
to create one story, but there are two, and they can’t be easily merged.
The
first story is the one we often cite. It’s
in chapter one of Genesis, and it tells the story of God creating the world in
six days and resting on the seventh. In
this account, humans are the last to be created. Everything comes before them, and on the
sixth day God creates humans, and it insinuates that God created a bunch of
them, not just one or two. As it says, “So God created humankind in his image, in
the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
So in this story, God creates humans last, and probably creates a
whole tribe of humans. Then in chapter
two a whole different story is told. In
this one God creates a garden with a spring welling up in the center that
becomes the headwaters of the great rivers of the Middle East. In this story one human is created
first. The plants and animals all come
second. Toward the end the human is put
to sleep and a male and female are created from that one human.
These two stories conflict with each other, especially if
they are historical accounts. But they
don’t conflict if the purpose of the stories is to tell us about what God has
done, is doing, and will do. In the
first story we learn that everything is created as good, and that we humans are
created in God’s image. It’s telling us
that we are good, the world is good, God is good, and there is something of God
in each and every one of us. The second
story tells us something similar, but it also tells us that there is a
propensity toward sin among humans—toward carving our own way in ignorance of
what God wants.
The Bible knows that these two stories exist
side-by-side, yet it doesn’t try to reconcile the two. It puts them both there to teach us about God
and ourselves. The problem is that we
humans (perhaps out of our sinful need for things to have things fit our image)
cram the stories together and treat them like historical documents on
creation. We have a need for this, but
the Bible doesn’t. It gives us two
stories and says to us, “Learn about God, the universe, life, and yourself from
these stories.”
The creation stories aren’t the only place in the Bible
where different accounts are given. A
bit later in Genesis we get another conflict.
In chapter six, we hear the Noah story that we’re all familiar with. Noah builds an ark and puts in the animals
two-by-two. But then in chapter seven we
get a surprise. The story is retold and
God tells Noah to build and ark and put the animals in seven-by-seven for every
ritually clean animal, and two-by-two for every ritually unclean animal. If it’s history, why the two stories? Because it’s not trying to tell us history,
per se, but about God and us. These are
stories about human sin, and God’s attempt to get humans on the right
track. One is told from a general Jewish
perspective, the other from a more orthodox Jewish perspective. We don’t see the need for the two
perspectives today, which is why we tend to choose the first story over the
other, but back in ancient Judaism they did see the need because they were trying
to communicate different things through each story.
Again, there are other areas where the Bible
conflicts. For example, look at the
Gospels. There are four gospel
stories. If it were history, wouldn’t we
only have one? And looking at the Gospel
stories you find that some actually conflict in the details. For instance, let’s just look at the time
when Jesus overturns the tables in the Temple.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this takes place after Jesus has spent three
years teaching, preaching, and healing.
It’s part of what irritates the Jewish authorities, and eventually leads
them to crucify him. But in John’s
gospel Jesus overturns the tables right after he’s baptized. Then he goes on to do his three-year
ministry. Some have tried to say that
the discrepancy is due to the fact that Jesus must of have overturned the
tables twice—once in the beginning of his ministry, and once during the
end. But that’s not what the Bible tells
us. The Bible doesn’t care about the
chronology because it’s trying to tell us about the nature of Jesus, of God,
and of us. It’s not trying to be
history. It’s trying to be a book of
wisdom and revelation.
We
have a need to turn the Bible into something it isn’t. What the Bible is best at, though, is lifting
the veil between us and the Divine. It
doesn’t care so much about history as it does about trying to help us connect
with God and to see God all through everyday life. All of its stories are about people experiencing
God, people struggling to follow God, people calling on each other to be better
in following God, and instructions on experiencing and following God. It also contains prayers (the Psalms and
Lamentations), wisdom (Proverbs and Ecclesiastes), and much more. And at times it actually argues against
itself.
For
instance, in the earlier books of the Bible there’s an implicit theology that
when we do good, God will bless us with stuff—wealth and health. And when we don’t do good, we get punished by
God taking away our stuff. But the whole
Book of Job argues against this belief by suggesting that an upright, honest,
and righteous man is cursed even though he is good. In that book it changes the theology to say
that sometimes we aren’t blessed because we are good. Instead, even though we are good we must find
a way to hold onto God in faith even though bad things happen to us.
It’s
because the Bible lifts that veil that we preach on it each week, and it is why
Jesus studied it himself. You see the
Bible is a book of ancient wisdom and revelation. It’s not like the bestselling books on
spirituality of today. There are a lot
of very popular books both in the Christian world and outside of it, but none
have the full scope that the Bible offers.
We get attracted to books written by one person, writing from a modern
perspective, telling us what is comforting for us in a modern context. In other words, we get attracted to spiritual
books that are geared to us today. And
as a result, that tend to have modern biases that we simply can’t see because
we are modern. In essence, we are
obsessed with newness, and often lack appreciation for ancient wisdom. We love new things and new ideas. Think about this. Who of you, if I offered you $100,000 to
renovate your home, buy a new car and television, and do whatever you want,
would turn it down? We love new
things. And like things, we are
captivated by new ideas. We tend to
think that only ideas generated today are valid. We do this in all areas of life. We think that ancient people we generally
ignorant compared to today—that they were superstitious, lacking in scientific
knowledge, and prone to ancient biases.
The
Bible overcomes this by being a book written by hundreds of writers spanning
almost 3000 years. The Bible itself was
composed over 1500 years, but it contains stories that go back much
earlier. What this says is that the Bible
is timeless, not time-bound, while our thinking is time-bound, not
timeless. When we look at the Bible, we are
tempted to think of it as just being old.
But compare the stories of Daniel with the stories of Moses. There’s almost a 1000-year gap between the
two. We tend to think that only a
generation or two separate them, but the wisdom of Exodus and of Daniel span a
long period. This overcomes the
obsession with newness by connecting us with wisdom and revelation about God
that is timeless. Thus, the Bible is not
a historical textbook, or even a guidebook.
Instead, it is a book that should be read, reread, and thought deeply
about so that in the process we can become transformed into people that God
calls us to be. As the Eastern Orthodox
Christians might say, we are created in God’s image, but through reading the Bible we begin to be formed more and
more in to God’s likeness.
Ultimately,
what makes the Bible powerful is how, century after century, it has had the
power to transform people who read it. The Bible is always relevant because it
always has the power to transform cultures, nations, and people. Think about all the movements that have been
inspired by the Bible. Individual rights
conferred on people through the Magna Carter were principles that came out of
Christian thought. Modern capitalistic
thought was built, in many ways, by the thinking of the Puritans in
Massachusetts and the Quakers of Pennsylvania.
James Madison’s understanding of Presbyterian government inspired much
of our modern American Democracy. The
Civil Rights movement under Martin Luther King came straight out of his and
others’ reading of the Bible.
Ultimately,
though, what I think makes the Bible incredibly relevant year after year is how
it has had the power to transform individuals for over 2000 years. Let me show you what I mean. A number of years ago a retiring general was
given a send-off dinner by his staff.
This general had been a good general, caring about his troops, organized
in his manner, and effective in his thinking.
To everyone around him, it seemed like he had had a seamless and consistently
rising career. During the dinner,
several junior officers asked him, “You’ve had such a successful career without
the normal ups and downs. How did you do
it?”
The
general said to them, “You think this because you don’t know much about my
earlier career in the military. Let me tell you about my life before I got it
together. When I was a young officer I
let alcohol destroy my life. When I was
sober, I was a good officer. I was
respectful of my superiors, and supportive of my soldiers. But I couldn’t quit drinking. There were days when I started drinking early
in the day. And on those days I was surly
to my superiors, and I abused my soldiers.
No one knew what kind of officer they were getting on any day. Then I started getting demoted. I was one of the few officers ever demoted to
private, which they did to try to get my head on straight. All it did was make me more despondent and I
drank more.
“One
day a monk from the local monastery came by.
The officers used to let them come to the base to beg for alms, and to
give spiritual counsel. The monk saw me
sitting on a bench, looking like the world was crushing me down. He asked me what was wrong. I told him my story. He said to me, ‘I have an idea. Tomorrow I will bring by a copy of the four
gospels, and each time you want to drink, try reading a chapter from them
instead.’ I looked at him like he was
crazy, and said, ‘That’s not going to help me.
Reading a book isn’t going to help me.’
He replied, ‘Well, the reason I suggest this is that this is exactly
what my brother did. He was in as poor a
shape as you, and his salvation was the four gospels. He did what I suggested to you, and he’s now
been sober for 15 years. Just try it.’
“The
next day he brought a copy of the four gospels to me. I thumbed through it and scoffed, thinking,
‘I don’t even understand what I’m reading.’
With that, I threw it into my footlocker. Later that day I felt the need to have a
drink, so I looked through my footlocker for money and came across the
gospels. I started to read. At first I felt nothing but the desire to
drink, but as I kept reading chapters the desire to drink went away from
me. The next day I felt the need to
drink, and this time I grabbed the gospels, and the desire went away. Over the course of the next year I read the
gospels everyday, and the desire to drink went away completely. I’ve now been sober for 25 years. I begin everyday with a half-an-hour of Bible
reading, and it keeps me on the right path.
From that point on I was made an officer again, and rose up through the
ranks to what I am now. So you see, my
career wasn’t always easy, but once I got right with God things worked
out.”
This
is the power of the Bible. It transforms
history, nations, cultures, groups, and individuals, and it has been doing so
for 2000 years. What it says to me is
that the Bible is always relevant,
but to find out how relevant it is, we have to actually try reading it.
Amen.
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