Pete and Repeat Sermon

Long before George Forman named all seven of his sons George Foreman Jr. there was an old Vaudeville joke where a man describes he and his wife had twins, and he is asked so what did you name them, and he says the first one is named Pete, and the other one is Repeat.
As much as we try to multitask, human beings are focused creatures. We concentrate and practice and we perform that duty to the best of our abilities. Multitasking is not so much doing six things all to the same level simultaneously, as balancing this one needs my primary attention while these remain on simmer in my peripheral vision.
Mathematically, you can concentrate upon ONE, or divide into TWO or MORE PARTS. For math cannot make the GIVENS bigger. You cannot treat both halves as if wholes with your full attention, at least not at the same time. As mentioned elsewhere in Scripture, “You will love the one and hate the other or hate the first to love the other.”
BUT, this is the point in Reality where CALCULUS breaks down and the HUMAN SPIRIT steps up. What we are able to do is to respond to the needs of this one as they have needs, then respond to this one, not the same and exactly equal, but as they have needs. The Wonder of God’s creation is that the cell that was an egg, became twin children, not two halves of a whole, but two individuals, two independent and interdependent gifts from God.
Culturally, what we attempt to do by multitasking is both, to enlarge our abilities to do more other things while still focusing upon one; and to transition more quickly.

Primarily what we are describing this morning is what occurs when you do not pay needed attention to “the other things”, the other relationships, all the other stuff of life that we cannot or do not want to give power to by focusing upon at this time.
A parent dies and instead of acknowledging our grief, giving ourselves time to mourn, we take on other responsibilities and devote ourselves to work to parenting, to getting a house ready for sale…But all the while we are grieving and mourning until a part of our soul dies.

The Elephant in the room is who or what are we not acknowledging in our lives?

There is great popular song of the last decade that uses the Nursery Rhyme “The cat’s in the Cradle with the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in the Moon, when you coming home Dad, I don’t know when but we’ll get together then, I know we’ll have a good time then”. All the child wants to have with their parent is TIME, not to buy a pony, or to learn a skill, but simply to share time together, to grow up to be just like him. And the parent is busy working, providing for the family. And they grow up and the parent then wants to spend time with their child, but he now has other responsibilities in his life, he has grown up just like him.

What an awesome treasure we have in the story of David!
It is a PERFECTLY AWFUL TRAGIC STORY.
Adultery, Murder, Incest, Suicide, Fratricide (Killing your brother). All of which leads to Civil War between those with allegiance to King David, and those with allegiance to his son the future King Absalom, because part of who David is, is a man; part of who David is, is the First Monarch as King of Israel; part of who David is, is in relationship to God. David ignored his relationship with God, and his cultural responsibilities as King, to do what was satisfying to him as a man. He had an affair with Bathsheba, which as we read two weeks ago was principally because when Kings go off to War, David was too old and stayed home despite his desires, and so acted on other desires. We cannot ignore part of who we are, as if it does not exist, as if other parts of our being can be repeated to fill the void.

David denied himself going to war, by so doing created a war at home, in his own Nation and household and within himself. He gave command to his Generals to fight the battle, destroy the enemy, but concerning the young man Absalom, do not harm him for he is the son of the King. We seek RESOLUTION, even when we do not want to accept the answer. Ironically, in the telling, Absalom is continually described by the King as “The Young Man Absalom”, until the resolution of the story, that Absalom is indeed dead, when David can finally acknowledge “My Son is dead.”

We love Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, knowing that the son comes to himself and comes home even when he believes he will be unwelcome, and the father welcomes him. But knowing the Scriptures, before telling that story Jesus would have known of this Prodigal Son story, and how often the child does not come home, and is not welcomed.

What are we trying to do, and why?
We have created a running joke in our relationship, that when there are babies in worship, one of the questions is how long will it take for the Preacher to take them in his arms. And there has been intrigue at MULTI-TASKING, that a man can not only walk and chew gum, or a man can hold and comfort a baby, but that a man can comfort a baby and preach (hopefully coherently). But as a magician explaining the trick, what all of know and few of us acknowledge, is we are here, in worship this morning, and here in this life because we need to witness that there is caring and comforting especially by God.

Something difficult has been happening this summer, something I have never had to experience before. One of the identities we have chosen to claim in this community is as that a Church that throws wide our doors for Weddings. Thus far this year there have been three occasions, where couples have called saying that the minister who agreed to marry them was recently transferred or died, or is too ill to perform the wedding. Checking, I have come to believe these are legitimate stories, and not excuses for a couple turned down by another minister. Yet, a recurrent undertone is WE NEED SOMEONE TO SIGN THE LICENSE, WE HAVE TO FIND SOMEBODY TO STAND IN AS THE OFFICIANT because we cannot get married without having you pronounce us. This denies anything of faith, anything spiritual, a changing of identity that occurs for these two individual persons before God because of the stating of sacred vows. Are we only REPEATING motions, observing the ritual, have we so lost faith behind the gown and flowers and photos and music, that we no longer believe we are changed, or that we should be changed by our stating our vows to each other before God?

Put away falsehood, make a change this very day to be committed to what you believe. Tragically, we live in a culture that has equated everything to a VENDING MACHINE. I showed us. I want what I want and am willing to pay for it. And if you will not provide it, at the time and in the color I want, I will go elsewhere. Faith is illogical. Faith requires we act differently because we have made a commitment, to each other and to God.

A marriage is not a marriage when you give your intimacy and affections to another.

In presenting children for baptism, we are not naming them, or celebrating their birth.

This is a SACRAMENT, literally, A SIGN AND A SEAL OF GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE. As important as anything that we do, are the WORDS/VOWS we each affirm.
Jeff and Lisa, as the parents,
you are making a Solemn Vow as sacred as your Marital Vows that you believe in God,
you recognize these children as gifts given you by God,
and truthfully that you cannot pay for all they need,
on your own you cannot provide all they need, but you will depend upon God.

For us as a church, that we will act as THE CHURCH,
doing what ever is needed,
following the example of Jesus Christ even through death for our faith.
Baptism, is a sign of our CALLING,
as much a Call as that of the Prophets, the Disciples, or Ordination.
From this day forward and ALL throughout their lives, these Children will be known as sent as Gifts of God for the people of God.