ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? Exodus 20:1-21

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1 ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION? Exodus 20:1-21 You and I have been dating for six months six months to the day, in fact, though you think I ve forgotten that. You re at work, a little bit grumpy because I told you I was busy tonight, when suddenly I show up at your desk. Let s go, I say, and, surprisingly, your boss says, Go it s all been arranged. Where we go is to the airport and it s only when you board the plane that you find out we re heading to New Orleans. I won t say much else about our travel plans but maintain a cryptic smile throughout. We check into our hotel, head down to the French Quarter, are seated at a table in a fancy restaurant. Music is playing. I get up from my chair, go down on one knee and say that I have something I want to ask you. Or imagine that I m your father. Tomorrow we ll be driving to drop you off for your freshman year of college. You re packing up clothes and linens and books when I ask if you could take a break. Sure, you say, and we get into the car. We drive out of town about ten minutes to one of our family s favorite spots. We got out of the car and start climbing a hill overlooking a river. You glance at me, puffing my way up the hill, and my eyes are glistening. Are those tears? We arrive at the top and sit down side by side on the old lookout rock. The river valley is spread out before us and we share a moment of silence, drinking in this beauty. I turn to you and say, I ve been thinking for two years about what I wanted to say to you today. Or imagine that I m your elderly mother. I ve been out of the house for five years and made the transition to my apartment really well. But I ve always been a cheerful sort, seemingly indestructible. You ve come over for coffee and, after some small talk, I ask you if we could go for a little trip. Could you take me by our old neighborhood so we visit the park near our old house? We drive by the house and park across the street. You take 1

2 me by the arm as we stroll through the park. It s a beautiful Fall day, a feast for the senses with the sight of leaves ablaze and the sound of children s voices as they play. We sit together on a park bench. A sudden gust of wind sends leaves swirling around our ankles. A smile fixed on my face, I turn you to you and tell you that I saw the doctor last week to go over my test results. I have some news I need to share. There are moments in life that we know are important. We can feel it in our gut, in the pit of our stomach, with a lump in our throat, a tear in our eye. At those moments we really listen, we really pay attention. The Bible tells us that God speaks to us and writes many of the stories as if God did so directly. But my experience has been that the voice of God comes indirectly, through the voices of others, especially at those moments when I m really paying attention. That s when I can hear God s voice, right alongside the voice of my mother or father, friend or partner, child or neighbor; even alongside the voice of a teacher or preacher. But of course you have to pay attention. One last scenario to imagine: you and I have been through so much in the last few months and years. We worked side by side for hours without end making bricks. We were whipped and beaten to make sure every last ounce of productivity could be squeezed out of us. We were slaves, treated like dirt. Then came Moses who, through his brother Aaron, told us that we could be free. And after a series of incredible events, Pharaoh let us go. It was God s doing, Moses told us. Whoever this God is. Pharaoh let us go but then he relented and sent an army after us - sharp steel and armored horses and chariots of war against ordinary and exhausted flesh and blood. But God saved us that s what Moses told us by drowning the Egyptian soldiers and horses. God saved us by giving us bread and water in the wilderness. God saved us by delivering us from Egypt in order to become God s people. And now we ve been brought to the foot of this mountain Sinai, they call it. And last night it was like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 2

3 Lighting and thunder and fire and smoke as a huge and holy presence descended upon the mountain. You ve never seen anything like it. And here comes Moses, his hair turned white, his face shining red like the permanent reflection of a blazing bonfire, carrying two large tablets of stone. God has spoken, Moses says. And this is what God has said Does God have your attention? It was at that heart-stopping, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring moment that the Ten Commandments were delivered, the Way of God revealed. And if they were paying attention, they found out something amazing that God s Way was all-encompassing, involving not just our worship but our work life don t work seven days a week, take a Sabbath break. It involved us in the public sphere don t lie in a court proceeding and in the private sphere look after your parents. It involved our sex life be faithful and our innermost thoughts don t lust after someone else s new car or huge house or trophy husband. The Ten Commandments told them that God was to be found and heard and received as a loving guide, everywhere, throughout our lives. John the Seer, writing in the Book of Revelation, would have a similar message as he praised the church in Philadelphia as being faithful even in a time of great persecution and suffering. Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches he writes and those faithful in Philadelphia have been listening, having been paying attention to Christ s presence in their midst. I think that s what he means when he writes, Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. The door to God s presence is open. If we pay attention, if we truly pay attention to those around us, we will hear God s voice calling us to the kind of Way that the Ten Commandments revealed, that the Spirit of Christ reminds us of a life of worship, of faithfulness, of neighborliness, of peace and joy. God has opened the door and no one can shut it. Perhaps the only thing that can is our own inattention. 3

4 Let me tell you an old Jewish folktale: There was once a poor man who grew weary of the corruption and hatred that he experienced every day. He was tired of the constant injustice that his people experienced. His family and friends listened as he spoke passionately of his desire for a city where God was present, where justice was honored and peace experienced. Night after night he dreamed of a land free from discord, a city where God had come and heaven touched earth. One day he announced that he could wait no longer. He packed a meager meal, kissed his family good-bye, and set out in search of the magical city of his dreams. He walked all day, and just before the sunset, he found a place to sleep just off the road, in a forest. He ate his sandwich, said his prayers, and smoothed the earth where he would lie down. Just before he went to sleep he placed his shoes in the center of the path, pointing them in the direction he would continue the next day. That night, as he slept, a sly fellow walked that very path and discovered the traveler s shoes. Unable to resist a practical joke, he turned the shoes around, pointing them in the direction from which the man had come. Early the next morning the traveler rose, said his prayers, ate what remained of the food he had brought, and started his journey by walking in the direction his shoes pointed. He walked all day long and just before the sun set, saw the heavenly city off in the distance. It wasn t as large as he expected and it looked strangely familiar. He entered a street that looked much like his own, knocked on a familiar door, greeted the family he found there, and lived happily ever after in the heavenly city of his dreams. I started our worship service this morning with words of Mark Nepo about how we spend too much time trying to protect ourselves. our challenge each day, writes Nepo, is to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold, and the car handle feels wet, and the kiss good-bye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable. When the glove comes off, spiritually speaking, we allow God to speak to us in EACH of our everyday encounters, touch us in the touch of EACH hand we grasp, move us in every act of loving kindness, no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential. 4

5 When we give life, our everyday life, our attention, we offer God the opportunity to speak, touch, and move us. So as you go about your day, surrounded by the beauty of Fall, engaged in conversation with family, friends and strangers, as you spend your days this week at work and play, labor and leisure, as you hear the voices of others, I think you will also hear the voice of one other, the voice of God whispering under the words, smiling like the sun, causing you to pause amid your busyness and asking you a simple question: Sermon preached by Reverend Dr. Stephen P. Savides at First Congregational United Church of Christ, Appleton, Wisconsin on October 9,