FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA
Communion Meditation by Dr. George Bryant Wirth
Epiphany Communion
January 4, 2004
Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2; Revelation 3:8, 19-22
As we turn the corner into another new year and continue to focus on our theme “Christ at the Center: The Hope of the World,” I want to commend a new book to you, written by the Episcopal priest and our friend John Claypool entitled “The Hopeful Heart.” In late November, I bought a number of copies to give away during Christmas, and if you want one of your own, Dr. Claypool, who now teaches at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, will be here on Sunday, January 25, to autograph a copy that you can take home.
What I noticed, when I read “The Hopeful Heart,” is that John Claypool repeated a phrase that has appeared in some of his previous works, a single sentence that caught my attention and gave birth to this morning’s sermon: “Every exit is also an entrance. We never walk out of one thing into complete nothingness. There is always an arena of greater possibility out ahead of us …when the dark at the end of the tunnel opens into ever grander light.” (From “The Hopeful Heart” by John R. Claypool, Morehouse Publishing, 2003, page 87)
My friends, I believe that Claypool’s insight is profound and I hope and pray those words will show us the way as we lean into 2004 and embrace the dreams and possibilities which the Lord holds in store for us: “Every Exit is Also An Entrance”!
I.
Now the biblical text which can lead us in the right direction is found in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, verses one and two:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race which is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…
The author of that letter was telling those first century people the same thing which John Claypool has written for us today: Every exit is also an entrance. And the journey begins with letting go … letting go of the sins and heavy burdens which drag us down and hold us back from being all that the Lord has called us to become.
But as everyone knows, that is much easier said than done, because our human nature tends to hold on tenaciously to some things that are not helpful and to other things that are downright harmful to us.
On the lighter side, I have a copy here of a tongue in cheek prayer for people who are growing older. I’ll share the entire prayer with you next week as we celebrate Founders’ Sunday and recognize our members who joined this church prior to 1948. But for this morning, I want to lift up just one line which is becoming more and more familiar to me:
“Lord, seal my lips on my many aches and pains – they are increasing, and my love of rehearsing them grows sweeter as the years go by.”
You see, there’s something in us that wants to hold onto the conversation about the ailments and physical deterioration of our bodies. Last Wednesday I visited a friend in the hospital who was recovering from knee surgery, and before he could stop me, I started to tell him about my knee operation back in 1971. All he could do was to punch that little morphine button!
And that’s the lighter side! Consider with me now those heavier and far more harmful things we cling to … like anger which can so quickly and suddenly turn into rage. I have a copy here of an article from the Charlotte Observer last week that one of you sent to me, and this is what it says: “A driver gets stuck at a light because the woman in front of him is talking on her cell phone and shuffling through papers. At about the time he loses it completely, screaming at having to sit through another red light, a police officer taps on the window. His gun drawn, the officer takes the man from the car, slaps on handcuffs and takes him to the police station, where he is booked and put in a cell.
Before long, an officer opens the cell door and frees the man with this explanation: ‘I’m really sorry for this mistake. But as I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn and cussing a blue streak, and then I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate frame and the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker and the chrome-plated Christian fish on the trunk, so naturally I assumed you had stolen the car.’” (A fictional story (maybe) of Christianity and road rage passed on by Ralph Milligan of the Presbyterian Samaritan Counseling Center in Charlotte, NC, article by Ken Garfield, The Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC)
Listen; when our anger erupts and becomes volcanic, it can get us into a lot of trouble. And if we hold onto our anger long enough, it can turn us into bitter and resentful people who lock ourselves in and lock everyone else out. A sign on the wall of a psychiatric ward up in Minnesota describes it this way: “Do you want to stay bitter or do you want to get better?” Perhaps that is a question that some of us here need to deal with today.
There’s another thing we tend to hold onto, and it’s a double-edged sword that can cut both ways and inflict a lot of damage. Either we tend to remember “the good old days,” and live in the past as if nothing of positive value has happened since our young adult years or the end of World War II or the Ozzie and Harriet era of the 1950’s and early 60’s … or we tend to remember “the bad old days” and blame our parents for mistakes they made, or harbor in our hearts the pain we have suffered, the broken relationships and lost opportunities which we replay over and over and over again like an old movie.
There is something deep down inside of us that wants to hold on to some things which are not helpful and other things that are downright harmful.
II.
But that is not the way God wants it to be! And Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 tells us what the Lord calls all of us to do:
…Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…
You see, Jesus Christ has come into this world to show us the way – to show us how to love and how to live, how to find help and healing and how to forgive. During His lifetime on earth, He revealed the will of His Father in heaven. By His death on the cross, He conquered the powers of darkness and saved us from the vice-grip of sin. And through His resurrection from the grave, He has offered us abundant life here and now and life forevermore in His eternal kingdom.
And when we realize suddenly or gradually, sooner or later – when we finally realize that we can’t go it alone and we need something, someone greater than ourselves and a power stronger than our own to guide us and show us what to do, then we will know that the time has come to open the door of our life to Jesus Christ and let Him come through.
That is the promise and the great invitation in the book of Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock – if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in… And as that happens, we will begin to discover that “Every Exit Is Also An Entrance.” Because, with Jesus Christ walking beside us, to guide us and provide us with all that we need, we have nothing to fear, for He will show us the way.
Here is a teenager, applying to a long list of colleges. She has a first choice, but she offers the prayer, “Lord, not my will, but thy will be done.” And as some doors shut, others open. Every exit is also an entrance.
Here is a young lawyer, launching out into his career. He had hoped to go with a large firm and earn a lot of money. But his best interview was with a smaller group focused on criminal justice issues, and that’s where he felt that God was leading him. Every exit is also an entrance.
Here’s a woman who went through a painful divorce. She never thought she would marry again, and then on Christmas Eve, it happened. Her closest friend and confidante gave her a ring and said, “I’m ready if you are.” And she said “Yes” as God blessed both of them with the gift of love. Every exit is also an entrance.
Here’s a man who went to prison for a mistake he made. He finally got out and had his doubts that anyone would be willing to hire him. But the offer came and he was given a second chance, just as he had prayed that the Lord would work all things together for good. Every exit is also an entrance.
Here’s a man named Erby Walker. You may have read about him in the newspaper yesterday. “After 51 years the Varisty’s top counterman hangs up his apron.” Erby Walker, age 66, is retiring. He says, “I hate to go, but I know I need to go because I’m not getting any younger.” He was widowed in 1999 after 40 years of marriage, and he says that he is concerned about getting lonely in retirement but he plans to keep busy hunting, fishing, golfing and traveling. Sounds pretty good to me! Because every exit is also an entrance. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, December 21, 2003)
And finally here’s an older couple, who struggled with the decision to leave their home and move to a retirement village. They left behind some of their closest friends, but they have found new relationships and a sense of security they had never known before. And Robert Browning’s poetic words now remind them of God’s faithful promise:
“Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be,
The last of life for which the first was made;
Our times are in His hand
Who saith ‘A whole I planned,”
Youth shows but half; trust God, see all,
Nor be afraid.”
Every exit is also an entrance.
That is what we believe here in this church, and that is why we can see hope on the horizon. So as we leave 2003 behind and open the door to 2004, let us remember, in our coming and in our going, that every exit is also an entrance in the journey we call life. The old is passing away, new opportunities are now at hand, and with Jesus Christ alongside us, to guide us into the future, the best is yet to be!
Ring out the old, ring in the new;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.
Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring in the valiant life and free.
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.
- Alfred Lord Tennyson
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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