Perfect Moments -- FPC sermon excerpt

A good meal. A meaningful conversation. A lovely afternoon in the park.

Perfect moments.

That’s what a man named Eugene O’Kelly began to seek after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. At age 53, he seemed to be in excellent health, traveling and working long hours as chairman and chief executive of a giant accounting firm. But then a visit to his doctor revealed that he had an aggressive brain cancer that would kill him in a hundred days.

So, what do you do when you receive such devastating news? “I had focused on building and planning for the future,” said Mr. O’Kelly. “Now I would have to learn the true value of the present.”

Being a goal-oriented, Type-A high-achiever, he decided to write a book about his experience — it’s called "Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life." We can be glad O’Kelly wrote this book, because he is a man of faith who gives us some valuable advice about preparing for the end of our days. He decides to “unwind” relationships with important people in his life, taking the time to have intentionally final conversations with those who have meant a great deal to him.

He also goes searching for “Perfect Moments” — times of lingering over a fine meal, enjoying a long and deep conversation, taking the time to soak up the beauty of nature over the course of an afternoon. “I marveled at how many Perfect Moments I was having now,” he writes in his book.

Eugene O’Kelly didn’t have much time, so he had to get it right. In many ways he did, turning ordinary experiences into Perfect Moments. Then he died, reports "The New York Times," just as his doctors predicted.

The end is coming for every one of us. But so often we behave as though we are going to live forever. It is critical for us to live with the end in mind, and to learn the true value of the present.

Wiki-Christianity -- FPC sermon excerpt

“Beware of the scribes.”

Jesus is being serious — dead serious — when he issues this warning in Mark 12:38. In fact, he says the word “beware” only twice in this gospel, and both times he is about as solemn and severe as we ever see him. But this warning leads to an important question, one that I wondered about myself: “Just who are the scribes?”

You’d be hard-pressed to find a job listing for “scribe” in the Washington Post classifieds.

I went to the Internet and clicked on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. It revealed that a scribe was a member of an ancient profession, made up of people who could read and write. It also said that “Scribe” is the stage name of a New Zealand rapper, but I don’t think Jesus is talking about him.

You’d have a hard time finding rap music anywhere in Holy Scripture.

According to Wikipedia, scribes originally acted as secretaries of state, but later turned their attention to matters of the law. In the time of Jesus, the scribes were allies of the Pharisees, who supplemented the ancient written law with their traditions. Throughout the New Testament, the titles “scribe” and “lawyer” are virtually interchangeable.

“Beware of the scribes,” says Jesus. Beware of the lawyers.

Wikipedia is a terrific resource when you need a quick answer. In fact, the name “wiki” means quick — it comes from Hawaii, where the “wiki wiki bus” is the fast bus from the airport. Wikipedia is a free open-source encyclopedia, which means that anyone can log on to it, add to it, or edit it. I’m not kidding: Anyone can contribute. You, me, young, old, well-schooled or street smart. The encyclopedia now has more than two million entries in 76 languages, and it is getting bigger every day.

But is it any good? Some people are saying, “Beware of Wikipedia.”

Academics are upset because they see it as an example of information anarchy — they criticize it for a lack of reliability and authority. But while some experts issue stern warnings, others are saying “Wiki is the way.” There’s good reason to believe that a large group of people is actually smarter than a few elite individuals.

Jesus had a problem with the elite scribes of his day, men who liked to strut around town in long robes, enjoy places of honor at banquets, grab the best seats in the synagogues, and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces (vv. 38-39). They seem to care little about the truth of God, or the welfare of poorer members of society, and Jesus condemns them for saying long prayers for the sake of appearance, and devouring “widow’s houses” (v. 40). He slams the scribes for turning away from their role as experts in religious law, and putting their energy into acquiring social power and influence.

Then the scene shifts to the temple treasury, where many rich people are dropping in large sums of money. A poor widow comes in and deposits two small copper coins, which are worth a penny (vv. 41-42). Jesus senses a teaching moment, so he calls his disciples and says to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury” (v. 43).

The disciples nod, but they don’t really get it. They wonder, How can two copper coins equal the gold coins that the rich are dropping? That’s like saying that the entry of some middle school student on Wikipedia is as valuable as an article written by a Ph.D.

Jesus continues by saying that all of the rich “contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (v. 44). What matters is not the size of your gift, according to Jesus — it’s the seriousness of your commitment.

“Wiki-Christianity” encourages us all to contribute — every one of us. Like contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, we are challenged to offer our energy, intelligence, imagination and love without compensation — Wikipedia has had hundreds of thousands of contributors, and only one paid employee. We are invited to contribute time and talent and money because we are totally devoted to our subject, and because we want the world to benefit from what we have discovered and learned. Like the writers of Wikipedia, we are asked to create something great by freely sharing the best of what we have. Like the widow at the temple treasury, we are invited to put in everything we have.

The power of Wiki-Christianity is found in all of God’s people using all of their gifts, as they give everything they have to the work of Jesus Christ. A large group of people really is smarter than an elite few — and a large group is more faithful and loving and creative and effective, as well.