Extravagant Generosity -- FPC sermon excerpt
You all know Stephen King as the popular author of a string of horror novels, many of which have been made into movies. But if you read his books carefully, you are going to see some Christian themes. And when King gave the commencement address at Vassar College a few years ago, he sounded a bit like a preacher.
In fact, his speech could have been a sermon based on Paul’s letter to Timothy. In particular, the verse, “For we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it” (6:7).
While walking along a country road one day in 1999, Stephen King was struck and severely injured by a passing minivan. In his speech, he made a connection between his accident and the earning potential of the Vassar graduates:
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing you’re not going to do,” he said, “and that’s take it with you. I’m worth [many] millions of dollars ... and a couple of years ago I found out what ‘you can’t take it with you’ means.
“I found out while I was lying in the ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with the tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans .... I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in the ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard. ...
“We all know that life is ephemeral, but on that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life’s simple backstage truths: We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke. ... And how long in between? ... Just the blink of an eye.”
King went on to discuss what the graduates could do with their earnings in the time they had in that blink of an eye: “For a short period,” he said, “you and your contemporaries will wield enormous power: the power of the economy, the power of the hugest military-industrial complex in the history of the world, the power of the American society you will create in your own image. That’s your time, your moment. Don’t miss it.”
But then he added something that could have been inspired by the apostle Paul. After all, Paul says to Timothy, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches …. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share … so that they may take hold of the life that really is life” (vv. 17-19).
What Stephen King said to the graduates was this: “Of all the power which will shortly come into your hands ... the greatest is undoubtedly the power of compassion, the ability to give. We have enormous resources in this country — resources you yourselves will soon command — but they are only yours on loan. ...
“I came here to talk about charity, and I want you to think about it on a large scale. Should you give away what you have? Of course you should. I want you to consider making your lives one long gift to others, and why not? ... All you want to get at the getting place ... none of that is real. All that lasts is what you pass on. The rest is smoke and mirrors.”
That’s a pretty powerful sermon, isn’t it? “All that lasts is what you pass on,” says King. “The rest is smoke and mirrors.” He describes in a personal and passionate way what it means to “take hold of the life that really is life.” And his insights have weight because he gained them while he was lying in a ditch, covered with mud and blood, knowing that he had millions of dollars in the bank … but none of it could do a single thing for him.
In fact, his speech could have been a sermon based on Paul’s letter to Timothy. In particular, the verse, “For we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it” (6:7).
While walking along a country road one day in 1999, Stephen King was struck and severely injured by a passing minivan. In his speech, he made a connection between his accident and the earning potential of the Vassar graduates:
“Well, I’ll tell you one thing you’re not going to do,” he said, “and that’s take it with you. I’m worth [many] millions of dollars ... and a couple of years ago I found out what ‘you can’t take it with you’ means.
“I found out while I was lying in the ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with the tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans .... I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in the ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard. ...
“We all know that life is ephemeral, but on that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life’s simple backstage truths: We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke. ... And how long in between? ... Just the blink of an eye.”
King went on to discuss what the graduates could do with their earnings in the time they had in that blink of an eye: “For a short period,” he said, “you and your contemporaries will wield enormous power: the power of the economy, the power of the hugest military-industrial complex in the history of the world, the power of the American society you will create in your own image. That’s your time, your moment. Don’t miss it.”
But then he added something that could have been inspired by the apostle Paul. After all, Paul says to Timothy, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches …. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share … so that they may take hold of the life that really is life” (vv. 17-19).
What Stephen King said to the graduates was this: “Of all the power which will shortly come into your hands ... the greatest is undoubtedly the power of compassion, the ability to give. We have enormous resources in this country — resources you yourselves will soon command — but they are only yours on loan. ...
“I came here to talk about charity, and I want you to think about it on a large scale. Should you give away what you have? Of course you should. I want you to consider making your lives one long gift to others, and why not? ... All you want to get at the getting place ... none of that is real. All that lasts is what you pass on. The rest is smoke and mirrors.”
That’s a pretty powerful sermon, isn’t it? “All that lasts is what you pass on,” says King. “The rest is smoke and mirrors.” He describes in a personal and passionate way what it means to “take hold of the life that really is life.” And his insights have weight because he gained them while he was lying in a ditch, covered with mud and blood, knowing that he had millions of dollars in the bank … but none of it could do a single thing for him.
posted by Henry Brinton | 11:41 AM
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