LIving Under a Rock

"LIving Under a Rock"
a condensed version of the sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, April 6, 2008 at Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Somonauk, Illinois.

PODCAST of "Living Under a Rock"

This Morning's Scripture reading is:
Luke 24:13-35

An experiment: (If experiment doesn’t work – play the theme song CD)

If you know the answer, shout it out loud!

Are you ready, kids? (Lead congregation in the SpongeBob Squarepants theme song)

Ahhh, Spongebob. Silly, annoying, sophomoric friendly sponge. He has a best friend, too – Do you know the friend’s name?

Patrick!

Yes! It’s SpongeBob and Patrick! Patrick’s a starfish. Not long ago, after some controversial publicity about the nature of SpongeBob and Patrick’s friendship, SpongeBob received an extravagant welcome at the United Church of Christ headquarters in Cleveland. The whole event, reported by the UCC website and a few other media outlets, was small and very silly. However, it did help to share the theme: "No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey; you’re welcome here.

In all the fun, I think we missed something important. (No – not the fact that cartoons aren’t real. We know that.) We missed this: SpongeBob rarely goes anywhere without his best friend Patrick.

Where was Patrick when SpongeBob visited the UCC headquarters? I wish someone would have gone to get him. Do you know where Patrick lives?

Under a rock.

Maybe that’s why he didn’t come to the UCC headquarters with SpongeBob. He had no idea what was going on. Patrick was at home, under his rock, not knowing anything about any kind of controversy about SpongeBob or trip that SpongeBob took. (Incidentally, if SpongeBob and Patrick live under the sea, how would they get to walk around in the UCC headquarters without ‘above water’ equipment? And for that matter, how do a sponge and a starfish talk in the first place? And have you given up trying to figure out this silly little aside – realizing it adds no value to the sermon?)

Let’s continue:

When Patrick crawled out from under his rock, I wonder what stories SpongeBob had to tell him about his journey and his encounter with God’s extravagant welcome?

In this week’s reading from Luke 24:13-35, Cleopas and another disciple encountered Jesus as they were walking along the road. They didn’t recognize him. They even asked him something like, "What rock have you been living under that you haven’t heard about what’s happened to Jesus?" During their conversation with the person they thought was a stranger, Jesus said something similar to them. "What rock were you living under, that you didn’t understand what the prophets have been telling you? Let me tell you some more!"

Living under a rock.

In the SpongeBob TV show, Patrick is clueless about most things. The fact that his character lives under a rock helps to drive that clueless message home to kid and adult viewers. He’s happy not knowing much about anything.

Are we happy not to know much about anything? Do we ever miss things because we just don’t want to know? Do we ever miss things because we’re not really looking to understand?

The UCC’s had a bit of controversy over the past few weeks. Almost all of it surrounds a few short sound bites from sermons preached by Rev. Jeremiah Wright at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. What are we missing when we rely on a few sound bites to sum up the ministry of a pastor and of a church?

I’ve met Rev. Wright. We’re not really acquainted, but I have heard the man preach. And he can preach! He preaches sermons on many topics. He very often says things that get feathers ruffled. He challenges people not to sit on their backside on their faith journey – but to get up and live their faith in Jesus. Trinity church serves its community with all kinds of outreach ministry – food sharing, senior ministry; dance ministry, HIV/AIDS ministry, music, drama . . . life-changing ministries – all in the name of Jesus. Trinity does what thousands of churches across the country and world do. It welcomes all and seeks to share the good news of Jesus with all. It’s not fair to characterize a vital ministry like Trinity United Church of Christ as something awful. It’s not fair to summarize the vital work of Rev. Wright in a few sound bites.

What do we miss when we don’t try to see the big picture?

"What rock were you living under, that you didn’t understand what the prophets have been telling you? Let me tell you some more!" – Jesus said to Cleopas and another disciple. He told them more and then he was about to keep on walking along his way as the disciples arrived at their village. They begged him to stay and eat with them. He did.

And when they ate with him, they realized it was Jesus!

I think their story, Trinity’s story – the UCC’s story. . . our story all have similar patterns.

We’re all on a journey in our faith in Jesus. Sometimes we are clueless as to what is really going on. Sometimes we encounter Jesus and we’re not really aware of it. Sometimes when we stop to contemplate what’s been going on, we see it. God is with us on this imperfect but necessary journey of faith.

The disciples thought everything was done. There was no more – it was over. Jesus showed them that there was so much more.

Trinity has had a rough go of it the past several weeks. But I believe that their journey, like ours here at Union Congregational Church, is one where Jesus is right with us – teaching and guiding us to be vital churches – sharing the good news of Jesus.

The United Church of Christ has a history and a continuing journey. Remember – we’re the people of the Mayflower. We were early abolitionists. We’ve ordained people from cast-out groups of people early. We called for a national health care policy back in the 70’s. And, I’m afraid, sometimes we lose sight of, completely miss, or don’t really want to know what’s really going on. And on our journey, Jesus is right with us, teaching and guiding us to be a vital denomination – sharing the good news of Jesus.

And then there’s our story. Our personal faith journey. Can we look back and remember some really amazing Jesus encounters? Or are we happier not to know much about anything? Are we happier to miss things because we just don’t want to know? Are we happy to miss things because we’re not really looking to understand?

Are we willing to keep our eyes and our minds open? Are we willing for Jesus to open our minds and eyes to what he has to show us? Are we willing to continue to follow him as he leads the journey?

Are we going to decide to live under a rock? Or are we going to live our lives seeking Jesus -- living under THE rock.

Close with prayer.