Squabbling on the Road

I want to make sure that you;ve really gotten the picture of what was happening
while Jesus and his disciples were traveling on the road to Capernaum.

Jesus, while traveling, was teaching his Disciples, in secrete,
the mysteries of Divine Truth
the mystery of what was going to happen to him -- and to them.
Jesus was telling them that he was going to be betrayed,
murdered
and that three days later he would rise from the grave.
He was essentially telling them, before hand,
the whole Gospel story.
And what were the disciples doing?
Were they listening with rapt attention?
Were they engrossed in the divine truths their master was telling them?
Were they truly understanding what Jesus was teaching them?
Were they even listening?

No.
The Disciples were Squabbling on the road
They were arguing amongst themselves
as to who was the greatest,
which of them was the most important.

If that sounds familiar, my fellow disciples, it should.
We, the Church Universal,
have been arguing about that now for nearly 2000 years
And, in our arguing, we have failed to hear the voice of our Lord
and we, like the Disciples, have been afraid to ask Jesus.

Would you pray with me?

[Centering Prayer]

Squabbling on the road.
We have really become quite good at it, actually;
Squabbling on the road to the Kingdom.
And, like with he disciples, it has gotten us into all sorts of trouble.

Most of you have heard me talk about Eldridge Pendleton before.
Like Father Brian,
Eldridge is a member of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist
He is a monk
And, just last year, Eldridge was ordained a Priest in the Episcopal Church,
and if you'll remember, I was honored to be in Boston for his Ordination.
But, back in Seminary,
while he was a brother at St. John's House in Durham North Carolina
and a graduate student with me at Duke University,
Eldridge would periodically come with me on Sunday morning
to my little Churches out in the eastern part of the state,
and help me in my services.
Following one such Sunday Morning,
he and I were driving back to Durham,
and all the way back he and I had been arguing as to
the heretical nature of certain points of Baptist theology.

Now, to set the record straight going out the gate,
Eldridge and I no longer believe this,
and for a very good reason.
You see,
As we talked, debated, and argued,
we failed to notice that the fuel gage was slowly dipping deep into the
Empty zone.

Well, we had just driven passed Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
and were about 5 miles from NOWHERE
when the car finally gave out on the fumes
and the engine coughed to a stop.
We rolled off onto the side of the road and sat, there, looking at each other
with the most embarrassed looks on our faces.
We got out of the car,
Eldridge dressed in his black monk's habit
And me in Black suit and clerical collar,
And before we had had a chance to figure out what we were going to do,
4 cars, two coming from each direction,
all pulled off the road to lend us a hand.
Deep in the heart of Baptist Country, North Carolina --
where there are more Baptists than there are people --
4 carloads of Baptists pulled off two help two men who looked like,
essentially, 2 Roman Catholic Priests.

Well, I guess you can imagine that we both felt pretty much like a couple of heels,
and Eldridge, to this day, has not let either of us forget about it,
and now I guess you won't either.
But the point is well made:
While arguing about which denomination was better
And while tearing down another,
We missed the warnings of my carÕs fuel gauge
And ran out of gas.

Squabbling on the Road.
The Church has been doing it for centuries.
We argue, between denominations,
about absolutely silly things.
For example:

Back in the middle ages, in Russia,
it had become the practice of Christians to cross themselves
with three fingers held together.
Along came a reformer Archbishop
who wanted to bring the Russian Orthodox Church back into line
with the Greek Orthodox practice of crossing themselves with two fingers.
And, you guess it, a small group called "The Old Believers"
resisted the change, and refused to cross themselves with only two fingers.
To make them obey the command that they cross themselves with 2 fingers,
the Archbishop ordered the Old Believers' thumbs on their right hands
to be cut off, thus making it IMPOSSIBLE for them to cross themselves
with three fingers.

Silly?
Perhaps,
Tragic?
Certainly,
Important to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
No.

Let's come a little closer to home, shall we?
What was one of the biggest reasons why many Southerners didn't
want to vote for John F. Kennedy?
--beside the fact that he was both a Yankee and rich?
JFK was a Roman Catholic!
And we all know that Roman Catholics worship the Pope,
and can't be trusted,
Right?
Yes, that's nonsense, but that's the way a lot of people think.
We argue and fight amongst ourselves over nonsense.
We debate, as denominations, as to which of us is greater.

We Baptists!
We believe in Believer's Baptism by dunking!
Certainly we're more Scriptural,
Certainly we're better better than everybody else!

We Roman Catholics!
We believe that the Pope is the successor of St. Peter
and should be obeyed in ALL things!
Certainly we're better than everybody else!

We Lutherans!
We were the first to break off from Rome!
Certainly we're better than everybody else!

We of Church of Christ!
We're the only ones going to heaven anyway,
So Certainly we're better than everybody else!

We Episcopalians!
We have the Eucharist Every Week!
Certainly we're better than everybody else!

We Methodists!
We're not sure what we believe in, but if it moves we'll affirm it!
Indeed, we believe in being inclusive of all people!
Certainly we're better than all those Conservatives,
whom we wouldn't even dare include!

Sickening, isn't it?
It would even be laughable,
If it weren't so true.

My friends,
Jesus sat down, and gathered his Disciples around him,
And said: "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."

To be first in the Kingdom of God,
means that we are first as Christ was first.
And Christ was the first to serve.
Christ thought of himself last
Christ thought of others first
Christ thought of us, of you and of me, first.
And, if we too are going to be first in the Kingdom,
Indeed, if we are going to be in the kingdom at all,
Than we must be willing to think of ourselves last.

Jesus then took a little Child into his arms and said:
ÒWhoever welcomes one such child in my name
welcomes me,
And whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.Ó

Who really thinks of a Child as being of greatest importance?
At the revival, I didnÕt see very many clergy going to talk to little children,
but, oh, let the Bishop show up on Monday Night,
and the Clergy -- and Mia Culpa, yourÕs truly too --
made a bee-line for the Bish. to make sure he knew we were
there and to thank him for coming.
Children are powerless.
In todayÕs culture, Children are often considered the least of importance.
Children have no voice,
no say,
No ability to speak for themselves
until they reach "of age"
Children almost arenÕt even considered people.
How many times have I gone out to eat with Mom and Dad and my brother
and my brother's baby son,
and when they called our name at the restaurant it was,
"Neal, Party of 4 and a half."

A half?
Nonsense!
And anyone who has had to deal with Ben,
or almost any two year old,
knows that these children aren't half people--
Indeed, if anything, they're more than one person can handle!
A half!
What would Jesus have said to that?
"Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."
The least -- the last -- quite often, the lost.
Jesus, certainly, is not a half!
He is our all in all.

Who are we to debate, my fellow disciples,
as to who will be first in the Kingdom of God?
We must be willing to be last
We must be willing to welcome little children
We must be, indeed, as little children.

Then, and only then, will we be first.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
--Amen