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SUNDAY, APRIL 13, 2008

THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

John 10:1-10a (Don't count sheep)

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TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

Sooner or later, it happens to all of us. Things get busier and busier, and suddenly we find ourselves sleepless on the edge of our beds, worrying about our lives and asking the inevitable question: Is this all there is to life? When you find yourself with the "edge of the bed" syndrome, don't count sheep. Take your troubles to the Shepherd.

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1. It has happened to me several times in my life. Usually after a crisis, and almost always after a long stretch of hard and difficult work. And it has no doubt happened to you, too. I never know with certainty when it is going to happen, but it always results in a dramatic re-ordering of my life. LET ME GIVE YOU ONE EXAMPLE, from more than 20 years ago:

I was serving as chaplain at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. At the time, I was a confirmed Austinite. Not only did I have 500 students in Austin to take care of . . . but my whole support system -- family, friends, colleagues, mentors -- was in Austin. I had just gotten engaged to a beautiful young woman named Dixie, who also lived and worked in Austin. And we were starting to make plans for a wedding . . . also in Austin. Suddenly, without any notice, I was called by the bishop to move 110 miles away to College Station -- where one priest had just died, another had quit and moved away unexpectedly, and a third was getting ready to move. Three priests gone in less than a month. And I was called to move. Suddenly, my life shifted 110 miles away, from Longhorn country to Aggieland. All my friends, family, colleagues, mentors and associates stayed in Austin. But I moved. My first night in College Station (the day of my move), an 18-year-old freshman girl, an Episcopalian, died of a heart attack in her boyfriend's dorm. Over the next three days, three other parishioners (in two different churches) also died. There was also NO program in place for the 1,500 Episcopalian college students (at a university of 50,000 students), and the Fall semester was already six weeks old. Two of the three parishes were without full-time clergy. And there I was. What happened next was a complete blur. I was alone. Completely alone. And I was working at a feverish pace, trying to keep up with all of the crises. My house wasn't ready, so I was living in a tiny apartment, with all of my things in storage for six weeks. My telephone rang every few minutes, day and night. (Remember:

University students keep different hours than the rest of the world; and they think nothing about calling their priest at 1:30 a.m. to ask for prayers for a 9 a.m. exam.) I was working as hard as I ever worked . . . and the suddenly it happened. I wound up unable to sleep one night -- sitting on the edge of my bed and asking the ultimate questions about life and death. IS THIS ALL THERE IS TO LIFE? I asked over and over. For if this was all there is, then it just was NOT WORTH IT. I was completely exhausted. Worn to a frazzle. Emotionally, mentally, and physically spent.

2. Maybe you have been there, too. If you haven’t, then you will. Sooner or later. I call it the “edge of the bed” syndrome. It happens unexpectedly, often after a crisis, or a death, or a divorce, or a move, or a job change. Life gangs up on us, and we find ourselves working harder and more feverishly than ever. BUT WE JUST CANNOT CATCH UP. No matter how hard we try, we continue to fall farther and farther behind. And we wind up asking those ultimate questions about life and death. And often we don’t think we can go on one more day. We discover that we are totally inadequate to meet the demands placed in our path; we learn that our own strengths are woefully lacking in handling the tasks required of us. In a nutshell, we find ourselves to be totally HOPELESS, HELPLESS, SLEEPLESS, AND CLUELESS. Hopeless. Helpless. Sleepless. Clueless.

3. I can assure you that sooner or later it will happen to all of us. Sooner or later, we will find ourselves sleepless on the edge of our beds, worrying about our lives and asking the ultimate question: Is this all there is to life?

But here is the best advice I can give, after living through this nightmare several times: WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELVES WITH THE ‘EDGE OF THE BED’ SYNDROME, DON’T COUNT SHEEP! TAKE YOUR TROUBLES TO THE SHEPHERD. You see, when we are at our weakest, God is at His strongest. Scripture said that His STRENGTH is made perfect in our WEAKNESS. And that His grace is sufficient for us, in all circumstances. And when we turn to Him, we connect to the ULTIMATE SOURCE of spiritual strength, renewal, refreshment, revival.

4. When the “edge of the bed syndrome” hit me in College Station, I simply gave up. That’s right. I gave up. NOT to the circumstances around me, but to God. I turned to the Lord my God, confessed to him my complete inadequacy and powerlessness, and asked HIM to run my life. I surrendered control of my will and my life -- and my situation -- to Him. I surrendered control over my students, over my grieving parishioners in TWO churches without rectors, over my searing feelings of aloneness. “Take it ALL, Lord,” I said. Without even knowing it, I had been working so hard that my prayers each day were “LET MY WILL BE DONE TODAY, LORD” . . . instead of “LET THY WILL BE DONE TODAY, LORD.” And when I had finally turned to the Lord, utterly and completely, a miracle occurred. God called me into a ministry of spiritual healing, and into a ministry of Christian clowning. “My JOY will be your strength,” the Lord said (Nehemiah 8:10).

When I stopped counting sheep and starting surrendering control of my life to the Shepherd, my life changed. And so did everything else.

5. One of the passages of Scripture that helped me back then (and continues to help me today) is Psalm 42:6-7 -- a passage that is repeated VERBATIM in Psalm 42:14-15 AND in Psalm 43:5-6. (We know that every verse in the Bible is important -- and for this verse to be in there THREE times in two consecutive psalms must mean it is extremely important. And it is.)

“Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to Him who is the help of my countenance, and my God.”

(1) Heaviness. (2) Unrest. When these two things come together in our spirits -- the Biblical answer is TRUST IN GOD! The answer to HEAVINESS and UNREST of soul -- the “edge of the bed syndrome” -- is for us to TRUST in God. The Lord is the only One who can help, the only One who can restore SANITY, PEACE, and ORDER. He is also the One who is deserving at all times of our grateful thanks. “For I will yet give thanks to Him . . . who is the help of my countenance, and my God.”

6. Another passage of Scripture that helped me then -- and now -- is our Gospel lesson today: from John Chapter 10. The chapter where Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd of the flock. Not surprisingly, today is Good Shepherd Sunday -- the Fourth Sunday in Easter. In this passage, Jesus contrasts Himself to the hired hands who do not truly care for the sheep; the hired hands flee at the first sign of trouble. He, on the other hand, truly LOVES His sheep . . . and He came that “they might have life, and have it in abundance.” And because He desires LIFE for us, He calls us each by name . . . and those who listen to Him are able to hear (and discern) His voice. What has always plagued me -- and many others -- is my tendency to listen to my OWN voice . . . working too hard and too fast on my OWN strength . . . using my OWN energy . . . my OWN resources . . . my own will . . . my own desires. When I do that, I shut out His voice. My will dominates, and my life starts to crater. And, inevitably, I wind up with HEAVINESS and UNREST of soul -- the “edge of the bed syndrome.” “Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me? Put your trust in God, for I will yet give thanks to Him who is the help of my countenance, and my God.”

7. Sooner or later, it happens to all of us. Things get busier and busier, and suddenly we find ourselves sleepless on the edge of our beds, worrying about our lives and asking the inevitable question: Is this all there is to life? When you find yourself with the "edge of the bed" syndrome, don't count sheep. Take your troubles to the Shepherd.