LIFE TO THE MAX!
Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack
Prospect United Methodist Church
Bristol, Connecticut
May 16, 2010
Acts 2: 42-47
John 10: 1-10
The hymn we just sang is indeed a hymn for all ages of life. In particular, verse 3 is our verse for today: “When you heard the wonder of the Word, the Lord was there to cheer you on; you were raised to praise the living Lord, to whom you now belong.”
Today our confirmation class concludes a journey of nearly 4 months under the tutelage of Diane Ashworth and Jackie Palance. Through their teachers they have heard the wonder of the Word that is Jesus Christ. Now they are affirming for themselves that they belong to this living Lord.
The emphasis in their classes has not been merely on learning facts. Rather, the emphasis in their class has been on learning enough about faith in Christ to make a decision for themselves whether or not to follow this Jesus. You will hear their answer shortly.
It’s probably just as well that the teachers didn’t stress facts and that the students weren’t given a final exam. Apparently, a priest in the All Saints Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama wasn’t so wise. He gave a final exam to his class. You may have heard about it. Here are some of the answers:
Noah’s wife was called Joan of Arc. The 5th commandment is humor thy father and thy mother. Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night. When Mary heard that she was the mother of Jesus she sang the Magna Carta. Another name for marriage is Holy Acrimony. Christians have only one wife and that is called monotony.
Now maybe you can see why confirmation class teachers don’t give final exams.
For my part in this confirmation process, I’d like to focus on the life that Jesus calls us to live when we confirm our faith. That is, when we say “yes” to Jesus, so what? And I’d like to do it by focusing on the 10th verse of the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Or, as I’ve summarized it in the title, Jesus said, “I’ve come that all people may have life to the max!”
Life to the max is a summary of what John has to say about the impact of Jesus Christ on the world: Life to the max! At stake, then, is life, abundant life, real life, authentic life. But what exactly does this life to the max look like?
First, to put it negatively, it’s hard to imagine that Jesus conceived of life to the max being as hum-drum and ordinary as most people live it! Instead, I think one quality of this life Jesus envisioned for us is neoteny.
This is a new word for me too, called to my attention in an article by Bishop William Willimon of Alabama. Neoteny is a zoological term. Its primary meaning has to do with the retention of youthful qualities by adults.
It’s a quality that is highlighted by the business leadership guru Warren Bennis in his book, “Geeks and Geezers.” Bennis found that a key quality that set apart outstanding leaders from everybody else even into their 70’s and 80’s was neoteny.
Neoteny is the opposite of how so many adults live out their lives. Too many adults, sad to say, are so settled into their routines and expectations for life that they don’t expect much out of life and they don’t expect much out of themselves. Sort of dull to the max, you might say.
Neoteny, on the other hand, is the retention of all those wonderful qualities that we associate with youth: curiosity, playfulness, eagerness, fearlessness, warmth, energy. Neoteny is being open, willing to take risks, hungry for knowledge and experience, courageous, eager to see what the new day brings.
Life will, of course, surely bring unexpected twists and turns to our confirmands as it has to us all. And, yes, all will be tempted to succumb to the disease of low expectations, fearfulness, and to be about as playful as most ministers I know. But if they stay close to Jesus, if they take seriously their vows to live the Jesus-kind of life that lives more on the edge than in the center; if they can keep their sensitivity to the hurts of others; if they can grow their native gifts of wonder and curiosity, then they’ll never lose their God-given gifts of their youth. And they’ll have a leg up on the abundant life Jesus is offering.
A second characteristic of the Jesus way of life is that it isn’t selfish. It’s not self-absorbed. It’s hard to believe that Generation Y, the generation of our young people, could be any more selfish than the generations ahead of them.
Charles Colson tells of being in a car rental agency and observing a man about 40 years old throwing a temper tantrum. Why? Because he wanted a black BMW and the only BMW in stock that day was a gray one. After his tantrum he turned around and on the front of his tee-shirt was imprinted the popular words, “The one who dies with the most toys wins!”
For so many people that’s what life is all about. Getting. Life is a game about getting. In my files is a letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant. It was from a 32 year old man who lived in central Connecticut.
He wrote, “Dear Editor, here is a list of topics about which I do not care and about which I’m tired of reading: AIDS, homelessness, radon gas, racism, apartheid, abortion, global warming, missing children, drug abuse. No amount of self-righteous pompous, pontificating editorializing by the Courant or anyone else is going to change my mind.”
How sad. That man doesn’t know it, but at age 32 he was showing signs of death. And another thing: this man couldn’t stand to be a member of the United Methodist church. He couldn’t stand it for a minute? Why? Because everything he spoke about is included in what we believe Christians, in fact, ought to be concerned about.
This man just wanted to be left alone. The follower of Christ, on the other hand, is willing to be bothered, to even go a second mile. Is willing to try to do what he or she thinks Christ might do here and now even when it means to take unpopular stands, embrace unpopular issues, do unpopular things, or love unpopular people.
I heard about the president of a Fortune 500 company who was so impressed by a book titled “Men and Women of God” that he called a downtown Chicago bookstore and ordered 350 copies to give to all the executives of his company. The bookstore faxed back a message which read, “We can’t find 350 men and women of God in Chicago. Try Los Angeles.
I don’t know if they had any better luck in LA than Chicago. I just know that in this world men and women of God are all too rare. I pray that our young people will soon add to their number. To paraphrase Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, I urge you to “do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the enthusiasm you can, as long as ever you can.”
Finally, this life to the max that Jesus gives has some very personal benefits. Benefits that are honestly out of this world, often imitated, never duplicated.
I’m talking about a peace within that passes all understanding or comprehension. I’m talking about a joy down deep that keeps you from bottoming out. A joy that is there even when you’re not happy. I’m talking about a love that will not let you go no matter what. I’m talking about a confident trust that God is in charge so that you don’t really need to live in fear. I’m talking about a bone deep hope that knows the future will work out because God owns history. And more.
Benefits like these can’t be purchased, I don’t care how much money you may have some day. Rather, they are gifts. Gifts we get when we walk with the Lord, living, or trying our best to live a Jesus-kind of life. Such is abundant life. Life to the max!
One of my favorite stories to tell to Confirmation classes is a well known one. But I must tell it because it fits so well to what we’re about today.
It’s about a farm boy who took a large egg from an eagle’s nest up in the mountains. He brought it home but didn’t know what to do with it. He finally decided to take it out to the chicken house and place it in the old hen’s nest when she wasn’t around.
Hens, as you may know, aren’t terribly bright, so when she came back she just jumped on top of the eagle’s egg like it was her own and a few days later it hatched. Soon there was a little eagle– an eaglet – in the barnyard with all the little chicks. For weeks and weeks they grew up together and even though the eagle was much bigger than anyone else everybody got along fine.
But one day the eaglet saw the other chicks flapping their wings. It looked like fun to him, so he did too. Except, unlike the chicks, when he flapped his wings, he went up in the air. In not too many weeks he could fly, as high as the roof on the barn.
Then, one day while he was up in the air, his gaze fell upon the far off mountain range. And it was like something was calling to him from afar. And so off he went, higher and higher, and he never again returned to the chicken coop. After all, he was an eagle.
Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ in the Confirmation Class: This is the story God calls each of you to live out in your lives. You are not earth-bound chickens; you are mountain-bound eagles. Whether you’re fully aware of it or not, you’ve been made for flying in the name of Jesus. You are Christians, followers of Christ. You are being called to soar to greatness, not for your own sake, but for the sake of God who is calling you to a life of loving service.
It’s a great life. By the grace of God, live it to the max.
