Radioactive Christians, Sunday, 8/23/15 1 The old Marvel comic book characters are all the rage these days with film studios and the paying public.

Transcription

1 Radioactive Christians, Sunday, 8/23/15 1 The old Marvel comic book characters are all the rage these days with film studios and the paying public. In the last ten years or so we ve had movies for the X Men, Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, the Green Lantern, Thor, The Avengers, and others. But here s a superhero you probably haven t met, perhaps because he s a villain rather than a hero: Radioactive Man, first written into the Avengers comics in His ambition, you might have guessed- He plans on taking over the world. Radioactive Man is a bit like the Incredible Hulk and the Spiderman in that exposure to radiation is what led to his superpowers. But unlike the other two, Radioactive man glows! One look at Radioactive Man and there s no doubt in your mind that he s different. So different, in fact, that if you met him in the fellowship hall between services you just might be curious enough to start a conversation with him to find out why he s glowing. Of course, you might be equally likely to flee the building or call 9-1-1! What would it be like if Christians were like Radioactive Man? I don t mean supervillians with destructive powers. I mean, what would it be like if people could tell that we were followers of Jesus just as easily as we can tell that Radioactive Man is glowing green. What if we were radioactive Christians? Peter, John, and James caught a glimpse of that vision when they followed Jesus up to the top of a mountain to pray. If you ll turn with me in your bibles, we re reading from the Gospel of Luke, the ninth chapter, starting with verse 28. [READ LUKE 9:28-36]. So what exactly was it that made Jesus glow, as bright as a flash of lightning. And what about Moses before him, who also came down from a mountain top glowing? As usual, the disciples seemed to have a hard time grasping the meaning of this. Maybe we can do better. Let s start by looking at what DIDN T make Jesus glow. 1

2 2 I m reasonably certain that Jesus did NOT glow because he was covered in Radiumbased paint. After all, the radioactive element Radium was only recently discovered in Radium emits radioactive particles that ionize the air, and that s what makes radium appear to glow. The person who discovered Radium, Marie Curie, supposedly kept a vial of concentrated radium in her bedroom as a nightlight. Trying to copy the glow of Jesus by making ourselves glow with radium would be kind of like trying to make ourselves happy by relentlessly chasing after money, sex, power, or any of the other idols we worship. Filling our hearts with anything other than God poisons us and eventually kills us, just as surely as the so-called Radium Girls were poisoned in their real-life story, Glow In The Dark Tragedy. Between 1917 and 1929, hundreds of young women were employed applying radiumactivated paint to watches, aircraft controls, clocks and compass faces in factories in Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut and Long Island, N.Y. Painting an average of 250 dials per day and getting about a penny and a half per dial, the women at Radium Dial's Ottawa, Ill., plant could earn about $18 a week, compared to the $5 they would likely earn in other factory jobs. Working with a mixture of glue, water and radium powder, the dial painters used camel's-hair brushes to apply the glowing paint to racks of dials. For fun, the young women would sometimes paint their fingernails and teeth with the glowing mixture and then turn off the lights. At times, with the factories often full of radium dust, it was reported that the women's skin and hair sometimes glowed by the time they left work. One worker noted that when she blew her nose, her handkerchief glowed in the dark. Tracing the tiny numbers on watches and compasses required precision brush strokes, and the women were encouraged by their supervisors to use their lips to help make a fine point on their brushes. Reassuring them that the glowing substance in the paint was not dangerous, women later quoted their bosses telling them, "Not to worry if you swallow any radium, it'll make your cheeks rosy." 2

3 Over time, the factory workers absorbed substantial amounts of radium into their bodies, and by the early 1920s, dial painters were falling ill with mysterious symptoms. Many developed problems with their teeth, and their jawbones appeared to be disintegrating. They frequently suffered from severe anemia and debilitating joint pain as well. Eventually they died of radiation poisoning. Marie Curie herself, the discoverer of Radium, died at an early age from aplastic anemia, likely the result of long-term radiation exposure. 3 We ve always looked for a quick fix to get that inner glow in our lives, and in the early twentieth century, radium-based products were sold as the quick ticket to radiant health and beauty. Doramad toothpaste was sold with the promise that radioactive radiation increases the defenses of the teeth and gums...cells are loaded with new life energy...it gently polishes the dental enamel and turns it white and shiny If you think about it, we re still being sold the same lie today that perfectly bleached white teeth are the key to landing a good job and making friends. 4 In the 1920 s and 30s, drinking water was dispensed from special ceramic jugs that added radium to create healthful radioactive water as natures way to health. It sounds to me a lot like the recent discovery that all that allegedly healthful water we ve been sold in plastic bottles over the last two decades has actually been poisoning us with BHP that s leached out of the plastic and into the water. Around the same time that radioactive drinking water was being sold, a German company, Burk and Braun, added Radium to chocolate bars and claimed that it gave the chocolate rejuvenating powers. Hmmmm... Has anybody else heard the hype recently about dark chocolate and the promise that it will help us to live forever? And then there was the company that sold radium-laced suppositories that promised men that they could be transformed from weak discouraged men into strong, heroic males that would bubble over with joyous vitality. What does that sound like in today s market of quick fixes? Maybe Viagra, Old Spice, and Grecian Formula for men, all wrapped up in one! Quick fixes like Radium are not at all what made Moses and Jesus glow. In fact there s nothing we can buy, eat, or wear that will transform us into radioactive Christians. 3

4 5 Moses and Jesus glowed because they had face-to-face, life-transforming encounters with God s holiness. God s holy love is radioactive with a half-life of eternity, and it s divinely contagious. Spending time with God in conversation is dangerous, and it s almost impossible to avoid being transformed by God s Spirit from the inside out. I know that as a fact, because I ve seen it happen over and over again in the church. There are radioactive Christians walking in our midst, glowing with their own particular color of Christ s grace in their lives. 6 Probably the very first radioactive Christian I ever noticed was a small, unassuming man who was greeting at the front door on a fall, Sunday morning at Pilgrim United Methodist Church in His name was Creed Wood, although I didn t remember his name when I first met him. But guess what? He remembered MY name, as well as Jana s name and the names of our children. I know he remembered us because the very next Sunday he was there again at the door, and he called us by name. Many of YOU have had a similar experience, here or somewhere else. But this particular man was special. He had every reason to be bitter and preoccupied with his own life, as he and his wife were caring for their adult daughter who had been tragically and permanently brain damaged in a car accident. And yet, there he was at the front door, joyfully and caringly sharing the glowing love of God with strangers. He was a radioactive Christian. And his welcome was part of a chain reaction that lead to my Christian conversation and, eventually, my call to ordained ministry. Some of the dearly departed saints of Buffalo United Methodist Church have been radioactive Christians. There was Nila Link, who was so convinced of the life-changing love of Christ that she continually gave of herself in humble service, whether it was helping in the kitchen or folding newsletters. There was Jim Kelly, who s love for our 7 th and 8 th graders inspired them to faithfulness. I thank God when I remember those radioactive saints who have gone on before us to be with the Lord. The good news is, there are still radioactive Christians among us today, in this very place. They have superpowers of love that come not because they re especially smart or strong or because they re eating the right foods or reading the right books. Their superpowers come from the radioactive love of God, and they get their powers 4

5 by spending time in God s presence- every day. It s the basic stuff, folks: simple prayer, reading the bible, holy conversation with your sisters and brothers, worship, and serving our neighbors that puts us in touch with the radioactive Spirit of God. Who are these radioactive Christians in our midst? Fortunately, they re not wearing masks to protect their identities. They re people like Craig Lilja and Ottie Otness, Some of you probably thought of Craig and Ottie as I was telling my story about Creed Wood. Craig and Ottie are legendary greeters who s caring attention charges everyone around them with holy love. They re people like Michael Jones, who I m constantly finding in service to others, whether it s our youth, the United Methodist Men, or all those hungry people who show up for the Community Breakfast at the Community Center. They re people like Tracy and Dan Torgeson, who humbly and earnestly serve our church by caring for our building. They re people like our Confirmation Faith Partners and Table Leaders, faithfully pouring their lives into the lives of our Confirmation Students. They re all around us, radioactive Christians glowing with the love of God, glowing from the inside out. If you open your eyes and start looking around, I think you ll begin to see them in our midst. 7 If you re not a radioactive Christian, then I hope you re at least a wanna-be radioactive Christian. Aren t you tired of trying to carry your burdens all by yourself? Aren t you tired of trying to fill that hole inside your heart with all the cheap junk that this world has to sell, only to find you need another fix as soon as that gets old? Aren t you tired of being so fixated on yourself and your own problems that you wouldn t recognize Jesus if he walked up to you on the street in a bright white robe and offered you communion? Aren t you just plain tired? There IS a kind of radiation that loads up our cells with new life energy...it gently polishes our souls and turns them pure and shiny. It s healthful and rejuvenating. There is a kind of radioactive power that can transform us from weak discouraged people into strong, loving people who will bubble over with joyous vitality and make us glow. You can t buy that power online or at Best Buy, but you can get it for free, wherever two or three have gathered in the name of Jesus the Christ, because Jesus has already paid the cost for you. If you re tired and ready for something completely different, join your hearts with mine right now as we go to the Lord of Life in prayer. 5

6 Buffalo United Methodist Church serving people for Jesus Christ so that we all may know joy! th Street NW Buffalo, MN Bill Reinhart, Pastor pastorbill@buffaloumc.com 6