Have you ever noticed that some people do the stupidest things? I mean stupid things. Have you ever noticed that? I mean… STUPID things. 

 

When I was in seminary, I had a job. That was stupid. No. I had this job and I was put in charge of the men’s athletic dorm at Texas Christian University. They had 350 young athletes, all male, no chemicals going on there, and they were my responsibility. They were under my supervision.

 

One week these guys showed up at my door, and they were really upset. Some of the guys reported that some of their stuff was disappearing from their rooms – billfolds, cash, watches, umbrellas. All kinds of stuff were just starting to disappear, and they were really upset.

 

So, the next night I had Mike, the biggest lineman on the football team, meet me on the third floor of the dormitory at about 2:00 in the morning. We just sat down on the floor in the shadows, and we waited. Sure enough, things quieted down as they did eventually. I don’t know whether that happens any more. It used to. All the lights were out. Everybody was pretty much in their rooms, and here comes this figure down this dark hall, very gently, very softly touching the knob of the first door and testing to see if it was unlocked. The figure moved down the line until, finding one that was unlocked, he opened the door very carefully, very quietly, and slipped in. When he came out, Mike and I were waiting for him. It was one of the guys who lived down on the first floor – not the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

Mike and I escorted him back to his room. Ten watches, 21 wallets, eight umbrellas, and a whole bunch of other stuff were just stacked up there in this guy’s room. What an idiot! What a foolish, foolish person! I mean… I caught him! Not real smart.

 

Does anybody here know about Darwin Awards? One of my favorite Darwin Awards went to Lawn-Chair Larry. (You may have heard this one.) I love Lawn-Chair Larry. Do you remember him? 

 

It seems that Lawn-Chair Larry had this wild hair that he wanted to do some flying. So one day it came to him that he would attach 45 weather balloons to his armchair. He loaded up a couple sandwiches, a six-pack of beer, a pellet gun, and then he filled every one of those 45 balloons – four-inch balloons – with helium. The plan was he would tie his chair to a 40-foot rope that was anchored to his jeep. When he was ready to descend, he would simply pop those balloons one at a time with his pellet gun. 

 

Well, his friends, however, had another plan. They cut the rope as a prank just about the time Larry reached the end of his rope. He had a semi-religious experience. He gave new meaning to the words “ascending into heaven.”

 

First, reportedly, 100 feet, then a 1000 feet. Finally he leveled off at a very uncomfortable cruising altitude of 16,000 feet before he could get the gun to work. Twenty minutes later he found himself 20 miles from nowhere, tangled up in power lines, after which, of course, he was immediately arrested.

 

When asked, “Why in the world, Larry, did you do that?” Lawn-Chair Larry replied, “Well, you know, because a guy can’t sit around forever.”

 

Idiot! Fool! Dumb! Now, I know no one in this room has done anything foolish, not that you’re going to tell, anyway.

 

My guess, all of us in this room have done some pretty stupid things, some pretty foolish things, things that you would probably just as soon keep a secret. But have you ever looked back and just wondered, “What in the world was I thinking of?” (Isn’t there a country-western song about that today?)

 

I want to ask you to remember some of those things, some of those things you did that were just foolish. They were just stupid. They were insane. They were crazy. See… I think most of us in this room have had those kinds of experiences, which leads me to my dangerous question today. And it is dangerous. I want to ask you: “So, what in the world are you doing here today? Why are you here in this church? What in the world made you get up today and come to this place to worship a God who came to earth in flesh and blood, the one we call Jesus, the one Scripture tells us is so full of the Creator, so full of all that can be put into a human being?

 

It all starts out so clear, so reasonable, so successful. Pick a gospel – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Just pick any one of them and just take a look at the whole thing. Take a look at the Jesus that is given to you by that gospel writer. He looks like a guy who is going to do great things. There’s a lot to like if you’re willing to just take the time to look.

 

Here’s a guy who works miracles. He has amazing powers. He turns water into wine. (One of my favorite acts.) That’s wonderful. He takes bread and fish and feeds tons of hungry people. He heals the sick. He loves little children. He welcomes the outcast, the strangers, the sinners, folks that nobody else wants to deal with. He draws a crowd everywhere he goes. He gives people hope, and purpose, a community, and a better way to do life. I mean… He’s awesome! It’s a beautiful thing, folks. It’s really not much of a stretch. It’s a beautiful thing to believe in a God like that. But read on. Read the rest of the story. Read every parable. Read every teaching. Read every event, and it starts to get a little crazy for anybody who’s got a grain of sense.

 

“Blessed,” he said, “happy are those who mourn, who grieve. Happy are those who grieve because they’ll be comforted.” 

 

Really? Since when is having your heart broken, your soul torn out, a blessing? When does that make anybody happy? I’m not sure the Cahows, or the Barrenecheas, or the Howlands, or the Stallmans would agree with that.

 

“Happy are those who are persecuted for what is good and right for theirs will be the kingdom of God.” 

 

Are you serious? Have you ever looked into the faces of those who are persecuted? Have you ever seen their blistered feet? Their bloated bellies? But he won’t stop.

 

“Love those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. And if someone hits you in the face, turn the other cheek and let them hit you again. And if someone steals something from you, don’t ask for it or expect it back.” 

 

I mean… With all due respect, Jesus, can you tell me what’s so good about getting a “nuggie” from the bullies at school? Have you ever lost your retirement plan to Enron? Have you lost your childhood innocence to an angry, messed up adult? But he won’t stop. He just keeps coming at you.

 

“Do not fear those who can kill the body. Love your enemies. Give away all your possessions. Don’t worry about your life: what you’re going to eat; what you’re going to drink; what you’re going to wear; how you’re going to put the kids through college; how you’re going to retire.” 

 

Come on! I’m sorry, folks. This is getting nuts. Round Ten. He just keeps coming at you.

 

“Anybody who prefers his mother and father, his brother and sister to me is not worthy of me.”

 

Well, that just shoots the heck out of family values.

 

“And the greatest of all is to be the servant of all.”

 

Just try that one out at your office. See how that plays out on the field.

 

“And I say to you, even if you look at another with lust, you’ve committed adultery in your heart.”

 

Well, try that one without a blindfold.

 

“Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, take care of the sick and the imprisoned.”

 

Yeah, that’s going to get a lot of votes in the next election. Don’t you think? There’s a platform!

 

Man, it’s everywhere, folks. Just in the gospels, they’re full of it.

 

“Lose yourself to find yourself. Give up your life. Take up your cross and follow me.”

 

What in the world are you doing here today? Or am I the only one who reads this stuff and finds it absolutely nuts? I mean… It’s crazy, utterly foolish. Nobody in his or her right mind would do this. Would they? Which means, of course, you and I are either a bunch of fools, or we are hypocrites. Or perhaps, just perhaps, by the grace of God, we are a little bit of both.

 

You see… I think most of us start out following Jesus trying to cook up a little “chicken soup for the soul.” You know what I mean? Something warm, and it tastes good, and it’s inspiring, and it’s positive, and it’s uplifting. But man, I tell you what. You can’t follow too long until the tough stuff comes up, and it seems hard. The reason it seems so hard is because it is.

Now, some folks try to edit out the hard stuff. We are great editors. In fact, it’s become quite fashionable today to take the more palatable teachings of Jesus and then mix in a little Buddha, a little Gandhi, a little Dr. Phil, and stir in a little Stephen Covey, and maybe a little Mohammad, and maybe a teaspoon of “Family Values,” and “Stars and Stripes,” and “Psychology Today,” and maybe just an ounce of Oprah for taste. Then you bake it all together until you get a pretty manageable, doable way of life. Now, don’t get me wrong, folks. You can come up with a pretty good life by doing that. You can take the best of what you like from the best of whom you know and come up with a way that works just for you. It’s a free country. I’m not knocking it. A ton of people, folks, a ton of people are doing just that, and it works for them. The good news is they don’t have to account to you or me for that. Thanks be to God!

 

St. Paul just wants you to know that you cannot get, you cannot have, you cannot know Christ by doing that. Paul says, “I cannot preach anything other than Christ and him crucified, because the cross says something very particular about God that nobody – and I mean nobody else – is saying.” 

 

The cross says there are times when you can’t take the best of everything in general and then stand up for something in particular. The cross says that the road to abundant life is a demanding, long, and sometimes pretty terrifying road. The cross says that in this life, we’re going to have to make some hard choices. We’re either going to do it “this way,” or we’re going to do it “that way.” We’re either going to have to say, “yes,” and then there are going to be times when we’re going to have to say, “no.” There are going to be times when you’re going to have to forsake family, and friends, and blood, and flesh, for something called “spirit and truth.”

 

Paul wanted people to know that Christianity is not like every other religion. It’s not like any other philosophy or way of life in this world. That’s because Christianity has a cross, which, for some, leads to abundant life, and for others, it’s a stumbling block. He said it, just that way. They just can’t go there. They can’t get around it. It doesn’t make any sense at all. 

 

Either way, Paul says that it cannot be removed. It can’t be taken down. It cannot be edited out, because it’s core. It’s critical. It’s the lens. It’s the glasses through which you and I see the world and ourselves. It’s the thing, folks, that reminds us that we belong to a faith that calls us to be in the process of constantly letting go of things that make us like everybody else, so that we can become someone or something that is what the Bible calls “holy, distinctive, odd, foolish, set apart, transformed.”

 

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved, healed, made whole, it is the power of God.” Wow!

 

I read a story recently about Clarence Jordan. Remember Clarence? Some of you remember Clarence. Clarence was a good, old Southern Baptist preacher, who founded Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia, a pioneering interracial farming community in the heart of the deep South in the 1940s and 1950s. Many of us in this room might remember Americus, because of our connection to it. That’s the place where the idea for Habitat for Humanity was born. But before that happened, it was a community that advocated civil rights, and as most of you will remember, that was pretty risky business back in those days. Threats were made to Jordan’s life, to his family’s lives, to his property. Nonetheless, Clarence Jordan remained committed to the odd, foolish, dangerous, nonviolent cross of Jesus.

 

According to the story, Clarence had a brother. I never heard this part of the story before. The brother was a lawyer and an aspiring politician. He went to his brother for legal help in face of the kinds of threats to his property, and his family, and his own life that were taking place. But his brother refused to get involved, because he was very concerned that it would put his career at risk, quite frankly. 

 

Therefore, Clarence suggested that his brother should perhaps go back to that little church where, together, they walked down the aisle when they were kids and committed themselves to Christ and were baptized. He suggested he should go back and explain something to the people there.

 

He said, “I want you to go and tell the people in the church where we grew up that what you really meant to say was, ‘I admire Jesus. I don’t want to follow him, but I admire him.’ ”

 

So, what are we, folks? Are we fools, or are we hypocrites? I submit to you that we are, by the grace of the Living God, a little bit of both.

 

That’s what we do during Lent. We take a hard look at ourselves.  Please do not be misinformed. The day that you choose to give your life to Christ is the day the tough things start happening. It’s not the day when it’s all over and smooth sailing starts from then on out. It’s when the hard things surface – the really, really hard things. There will be occasions, folks, when you will have to stand up and speak when your instincts tell you to keep your darn mouth shut. There will be occasions that will arise when you’ll have to go out on a limb because you are a Christ follower, even when you can hear the chain saw cranking up in the background.

 

The good news – according to the spiritual giants of our faith – is that the very day, the very day you take up the cross that Jesus gives you is going to be the day that you move closer. You are going to know, more fully than you’ve ever known in your life, the power and the wisdom of God.

 

And we all say together… “Amen.”

 

 

We find ourselves here at your cross road. We see the heaviness of the cross you bear, and we long to pick it up and help you. That opportunity did not pass us by 2000 years ago. Help us to pick up our cross and to claim your wisdom and power. Amen.