When we built the addition to the Gettysburg church, as some of
you know, we built a handicapped ramp. It’s a fairly long ramp, and it
had to be, because of the height of the sanctuary compared to ground level.
It works really well, so well that sometimes we wonder how we got along
without for so long.
But the thing is,
what we did not realize when we built that ramp is that we were also building a
children’s play area. Little kids just love that ramp. They love to run up and down that ramp. Every time we have any kind of gathering in
the fellowship hall, there’ll be the kids, running up and down the ramp.
They don’t seem to ever get tired of it.
Because that’s
the thing when you’re a little kid--you get enjoyment, and even a sense of
wonder, out of the simplest things, things that as adults we take for granted.
Ever seen a little kid, maybe one and a half or two, start running? They get such a kick out of it, just running. They think it’s so cool that you can move
your legs in a certain way and actually get someplace, you know? They
think that’s amazing.
The next time we
get a fair amount of snow, watch little kids playing in it. They think
snow is awesome. When you’re a little
kid, you don’t complain about the snow. You revel in it. You love it.
You think God created snow just for you to play in.
We’ve been
talking about how Jesus said that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we
need to become like little children. We’ve been looking at what qualities
of little children we need to recapture as adults. I think this is one of them. We need to recapture our sense of wonder, our
sense of amazement, our complete enjoyment of the world God created.
How do we lose it
in the first place? We get more responsible, I suppose. We have more to do. It feels like all
we spend most of our time running around, and so it’s not so amazing as it used
to be. We realize someone could get hurt running up and down a ramp, so
we stop doing it and we tell others to stop doing it. We have to shovel
the snow, or we have to drive someplace in it, and all of a sudden it’s not so
much fun anymore.
But it’s not just
that we stop being amazed at the world. It’s also that we start actively
complaining about it. And I do it, too,
don’t get me wrong. It’s too cold.
It’s too hot. It’s too wet. It’s too dry.
We complain about our jobs. We
have to work too hard. We don’t get enough time off. We don’t get paid enough. Everything costs too much. We complain about the government, no matter
who happens to be in charge of it at any particular time. And, of course,
we complain about each other. This person
was not nice to me. That person did not
do what they were supposed to do. That other
person does not know what they’re doing.
And we complain about ourselves sometimes, too. I’m too fat. I’m too old.
I’m not smart enough. I’m not
good enough. You know, there’s really
nothing in the world that we cannot complain about when we really put our minds
to it.
And it was the
same in Jesus’ time. Jesus had to put up with complaints all the time.
The Pharisees complained because he performed miracles on the Sabbath.
The disciples complained because they were not getting the power and prestige
they thought they should get. Martha complained to him that he was
letting her sister Mary get away without doing any work. Think about how Jesus must have felt. I
mean, here he was, the divine Son of God, and he’s having to put up with all
these petty complaints from anybody and everybody.
So the question
is, how do we stop this? How do we get out of this mode of complaining
about stuff and get back to the sense of wonder and amazement at the world that
we had when we were little kids?
I think the first
thing is just to realize we’re doing it. You know, this mode of
complaining can become so instinctive to us that we start doing it
automatically. Complaining becomes our default response to almost every
situation. We don’t even realize we’re
doing it. And believe me, pastors are as guilty of this as anyone. Have you heard the old joke, what do you call
a group of pastors in the basement? A whine cellar. So that’s the first thing we have to do--just
be aware of how strong our instinct to complain really is.
But it’s not
enough to just stop complaining. We have to replace our complaints with
something. And what we can replace them with is gratitude. Gratitude to God for all that God has done
for us.
Now, that’s a
really churchy thing for me to say, right? I mean, how many times have
you heard that we should be grateful to God? It’s still true, don’t get
me wrong, but it’s also kind of a cliché.
And the fact is that a lot of times we don’t feel particularly grateful
to God. We may know we should, but we don’t. Pretty much everyone here has gone through
some pretty tough stuff in our lives.
Some of us are going through it right now. And if that’s you,
you’re probably not too interested in hearing about how you should be grateful.
But if you have a current hurt, try to put it
aside, just for the moment. I’m not saying ignore it or pretend it did
not happen. It’s real, and it needs to
be dealt with. You have a right to feel what you feel, and I’m not trying
to take that away. All I’m asking is
that, just for a minute, you try to put it aside and think about if you have
anything in your life to be grateful for. If there’s anything that’s ever
happened to you that was good that you did not do anything to deserve. If there’s anything that you ever received as
a gift. Love from a family member or a
friend. A kind word when you needed one.
A helping hand. Someone who came
into your life just when you needed them to.
There can be all kinds of examples.
“Count your blessings” is another cliché, but the fact is that if we can
look at our lives clearly and truly count them, most of us have received a lot
of blessings. Most of us really do have a lot of things to be thankful
for, even if our current situation is not so good.
But while
gratitude is good, even that does not get us where we want to go. It’s a
start, but that’s all. Because we’re not
just trying to stop complaining. That’s part of it, but what we’re really
aiming for is to recapture that sense of wonder that we had as little kids.
So how do we do that?
The Bible tells
us how. The way to recapture that sense of wonder is to focus on God and
on God’s creation.
Look at the first
two verses of our psalm today, psalm nineteen. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his
hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they
reveal knowledge.”
The
sky itself gives us something to marvel at. You know, I don’t know if we
all realize how lucky we are to live in this part of the world. I went
for years not being able to really enjoy the sunset. I lived in Wessington Springs, which is a
wonderful town, but it has these hills just west of town so you really don’t
see the sunset. The sun just drops behind the hills. And then I lived in the Sioux City area, and
the lights of town kept you from really enjoying the sunset. But here.
We have some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. I hope
you don’t take them for granted, because those sunsets are shouting the glory
of God. That alone should spark a sense
of wonder in us.
And
the stars. Do you ever go out on a clear night and just look at the
stars? I don’t do it nearly as often as I should, but there are so many
stars in the sky here. I mean, there are everywhere, but if you get away
from the town lights they are so bright and so clear. As our reading from
Isaiah says, God “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of
them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength not one of
them is missing.” Again, those stars are shouting the glory
of God. Those stars should spark that sense of wonder in us.
There
are all kinds of things that can do that, if we just take the time to look at
them. There is beauty in the snow.
There’s beauty in the rain.
There’s beauty in the sunshine.
There’s beauty in all the animals and birds and fish and everything else
we have around here. And there’s beauty in the people around us, too, if
we’ll only stop and look for it. Really,
everything that God created is a miracle.
And every person God created is a miracle, too. If we look for that, if we really look for
it, we can see it. We can see it in every person we meet. And we can see it in ourselves, too.
Little
kids see wonder everywhere. So should we.
And you know, when you think about it, it is kind of amazing that we can
move our legs a certain way and get someplace. Don’t you think?
If we want to enter the kingdom of
heaven, we need to see the world the way little kids do. So let’s stop
complaining. Let’s be grateful. And let’s look at all the beauty of nature,
and be amazed at it. Let’s look for the beauty in other people, and be
amazed at that, too. And let’s also look
for the beauty in ourselves, and be amazed at that. And then, let’s be in
awe and wonder at the thought of the incredible, awesome God who created it
all.
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