Father John McGinn, Rector

Saint John’s Episcopal Church

Sandwich, Massachusetts

March 18, 2007 Fourth Sunday of Lent

This time of year as our favorite major league baseball team prepares for the beginning of baseball season I am reminded of a story about a rookie umpire who stood behind home plate. Legendary fast ball pitcher Nolan Ryan was on the mound. The second pitch of the game was so fast that the umpire didn’t know where it was until he heard it hit the catcher’s glove. He froze and uttered a faint call, “strike?” The batter stepped out of the box and went over to the umpire, patted him on the shoulder and said, “Don’t feel bad sir, I didn’t see it either.” Sometimes I feel like that rookie umpire when I try to keep up with the changes in our world.

Things are changing at fast ball speed. It has been said that we are living in a time of transition. Some time back, a list was published of what the United States was like 100 years ago. Here are some facts that I thought you might find interesting:

The average life expectancy in the US was 47
Only 14% of the homes had a bathtub
Only 8% of the homes had a telephone
There were only 8000 cars and 144 miles of paved road
The maximum speed in most cities was 10mph
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California
The average wage was 22cents an hour
90% of physicians had no college degree, instead they attended schools that were condemned and substandard
most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg whites to do so
Three leading causes of death were Pneumonia/influenza, tuberculosis and diarrhea
The population on Las Vegas was 33
Only 6% of Americans had graduated from high school

And my favorite: there were only 230 murders in the United States.

One hundred years ago. What will it be like in another hundred years?

The Old Testament from Joshua describes a time of transition in Israel. Leadership had been passed from Moses to Joshua, and the Israelites who had been roaming the wilderness for 40 years stopped. During their travels God provided water and manna, but as they enter the Promised Land and begin to take possession of it, we come to this important verse.

“The manna ceased on the day that they ate the produce of the land and the Israelites no longer ate the manna, they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.”

This was a time of transition. No longer would they gather manna each morning provided by God. Now they would plant and harvest the crops. No longer would they be nomads in the wilderness, not they would be farmers and homesteaders. It was a difficult time. It was a transition that took many generations to accomplish. Times of transition are always difficult, aren’t they?

I was watching the wonderful old musical Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelley and Debbie Reynolds and suddenly while watching it, I realized it is all about the difficulties of change. The plot focuses on two silent film stars whose careers are threatened by new technology. Their friends tell them that moving pictures with sound will never sell, but soon all the Hollywood studios are trying to produce them. These two stars try too, but fail miserably. For one thing the microphones pinned to their clothes make loud noises whenever they move. That is because the technology of talkies is still being worked out. They fix this problem, but run into more trouble when the glamorous star has a high and squeaky voice. The audience will laugh at her so they get Debbie Reynolds to record her lines and sing for her. The wonderful hybrid works for one move, but the people find out it is Debbie Reynolds who is just as pretty, so she becomes the star. The career of the beautiful girl with the squeaky voice is over.

What happened in the movie, of course happened in real life. Many silent screen stars faded when talkies appeared. Some of you have seen changes in you work environment similar to the ones in the movie. Many workers have been displaced with changes in the modern workplace. Many others have been retrained. Business consultant Tom Peters suggests “Each on of us is a RDA, a rapidly depreciating asset” How about that for a worrisome forecast. You and I are a rapidly depreciating asset.

“In business terms if we don’t grow and change and learn new things than our skills will become obsolete.” Says Peters. He suggests that we counter our status as RDAs by developing a RIP. NO, not rest in peace, in today’s market if you rest in peace, you die. Peters RIP stands for renewal investment plan, a well defined plan for learning new things and keeping up with changes. He suggests that we ask ourselves every week “What new thing have I learned this week?” Look for new projects to do and new people to meet, new classes to take, new books to read and new places to go. Every time you learn something new, you add to your renewal investment plan. This is all to say that change happens.

In today’s world, change happens fast. This is a time of transition and such times are difficult. For some people change can be especially difficult (I know we have no one like that at Saint John’s) often as we age we begin to fear change. A time of change is most difficult for those of us over 50 years old. Young people have grown up in a world of change, and if you need someone to program your computer you can ask anyone under the age of 25. Many senior citizens are into technology, but he older we are when we start, the more difficult it can be. There comes a time in life where we have a tendency to become set in our ways.

The story is told of an elderly woman from a remote valley in Wales, who went to a lot of trouble and expense to have electricity wired to her house. Because she was the only customer in the area it was an enormous expense, and when her first bill came it was practically nothing. When asked whether the cost of installation was worth it she replied, “Of course, I switch the electricity on every night to see while I light my lamps, then I switch it off.”

Can you imagine that? With unlimited light and power at her disposal, she continued to fill and light oil lamps. This woman feared change. You do not have to be in the later years to fear change, it disrupts society and familiar ways. At such times we may look for something solid to hold on to, and of course that is one of the reasons many of us are in Saint John’s this morning. We want to know that we can still depend on God.

In the wilderness Israel was dependant on God for manna and water, and god was faithful in providing for their needs, but now they would be planting crops and herding sheep. They still depended on god, his help just wasn’t as apparent as when they were in the wilderness. You and I are even further removed from experiencing first hand God’s daily providence, since most of us do not plant our own crops. Ask any farmer who depends on the weather if he or she depends on God. I talked to my grandfather so many times and he always talked about God blessing him with crops in the next year.

City dwellers may not be aware as their country cousins of their need for God . As we become a more urban culture, the direct connection of creature and creator may seem even more remote.

I want to give you the good news for today. God is still with us. Just as surely as God was with the children of Israel 3000 years ago. In this world of rapid and sometimes frightening change, one thing does not change. God still loves and forgives and watches over his people.

Maybe some of you are aware of the rock formation known as the ‘old man in the mountain’ in New Hampshire. The old man of the mountain was, until recently, a 40 foot tall natural outcropping of granite ledges in the White Mountains. It looked like the silhouette of an old man. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a story about it, “The Great Stone Face” which some of you may have read. The image was on license plates, the state quarter, highway markers, and tons of souvenirs. It was the official emblem of New Hampshire.

Some time in May of 2003 the face in the mountain fell. It broke apart and slid into the darkness. Steven Heath, a nearby resident of Franconia Notch, said” It is something that has been a part of our lives forever and at first it was disbelief. No one could believe it came down. It is like a member of your family dying.” Another resident said “I grew up thinking someone was watching over me. I feel a little less watched over now.” Still another man said “It was devastating. It makes you wonder if God knew what was going on.”

There are times when it seems the most dependable thing in your life disappears into the fog in the middle of the night. The next morning the mountain you depended on was gone, and it makes you wonder if God is unhappy. But the bible teaches again and again that there is only one rock that will never crumble. Jesus is there today, tomorrow and forever.

Some have noted that the bible contains more than 7000 promises to cover almost every situation you and I are apt to be in. This is one of my favorites: “My God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.”

This is a time of transition. In our world, in our life in our church. A time of rapid change. At times like this you want something solid to hold onto. The same God who provided water and manna to a tribe of wandering slaves 3000 years ago is the same God who is with you and me today. God will supply for our needs as he supplied for them. And rest on this, Jesus, the same yesterday, today and forever. AMEN

HOME