Wellspring UMC; Sixth Sunday after Epiphany; February 11, 2007: “Living in the Middle”:

-Psalm 1; Ecclesiastes 7: 15-21

Like most children, I loved a playground. I loved the open space, the interaction with other kids, and the various equipment that stood before us as challenges to be conquered and opportunities for fun to be revealed. I liked the climbing equipment, but what I loved, or should I say love most, are the things that stimulate motion. Specifically, the seesaw, the swings, and the merry-go-round.

I loved the seesaw because, not only was it something which required two or more people, but it was a joy to fly up (stop) and down (bump). Of course, I was often the biggest kid on the playground so I would usually be lifting a couple of kids on the other end, but that was okay because I was learning basic physics! I remember spending lots and lots of time seesawing up, feeling my stomach jump as I shot down to the ground, then experiencing joy in making someone else feel the same as they shot up.

I loved the seesaw, but I must admit that there was always a bit of uneasiness when I rode the seesaw, because all that held me on were my leg and a flimsy handle. I straddled a board which could have broken, and I ALWAYS dreaded the childhood prank of the other person jumping off to watch me crash to the ground. I realized quickly that in order to assuage those fears, the closer I stayed toward middle the less likely it was that I would get hurt.

For those of us who like seesaws, they bring us joy but they also remind us how important that fulcrum is..the middle. There all the energy is focused and balance is achieved.

I also loved the swings. In fact, I still love to swing. You know the feeling. You pump your legs to get going, and if you get daring, you can get high enough that you actually reach weightlessness at the apex of the forward swing, jerk a bit, then fly back to peer over the top of the monkey bars, then shoot back down. In between, right at ground level is the neutral spot. There is excitement in the downward motion and anticipation in the upward swing, but there at the bottom, in the middle, is the neutral place. It is THE part of the ride that is safe and secure.

Finally, I loved more than any other ride on the playground, the merry-go-round. My brother and I used to head down to the local school and spin and spin and spin. We’d take turns running beside and pushing the bars, while the other spun in circles. We’d lift our bodies up and feel the weight increase. We’d shoot an arm or leg up, always holding on tight, less the forces of nature shoot us off into the dirt.

More than one day I came home as a child sick as a dog! The spinning churned my insides, and nausea set in. However, after a few of these experiences I learned that if I moved toward the middle then sat or stood there, then the affects were not as bad. The forces didn’t pull as hard, and there was stability over that central point. One is able to navigate and negotiate when one stays in the middle.

Both of our scripture passages come from what is known as the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Wisdom literature emerges in every culture, but it became vital to the survival and theology of the People of Israel, because as they lived out their faith, life was throwing them curve balls.

The Deuteronomic theology of the Old Testament came about through Moses and the Law, and the basic understanding was that if they did good, then they would get good. If they did bad, they would get bad. This theology stuck for centuries as the Israelites wandered in the desert, then conquered and lost the promised land. It was central to the message of the Prophets, for the prophets’ message was, “You are sinning. Straighten up, or you’ll pay.” And pay they did.

However, over time the people began to repent. They tried to live faithful lives. They committed to God as communities and did their best, but still they suffered. Good people died and bad people lived. Armies still conquered them. Life was still hard. You can imagine the turmoil and the questions...similar to questions we may have to our all-knowing, all-powerful God. “But God, why us? We are doing our best? We do want to be yours, and yet bad still happens. Injustices still reign.”

It is out of these unanswered questions that Wisdom literature arises – Proverbs, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job. Books that name the questions, seek the answers, and eventually point toward faith that God is with us, no matter what, and sometimes that’s all we can rely on. Some of these books point toward the greater questions, and some point toward practical living.

Today’s scriptures are more practical in nature. Psalm 1 and Ecclesiastes point toward how to live out our lives and survive with the assurance that God is integral to our living. The Psalmist names the Truth that when we avoid evil or deception, then happiness is found. That when we rely on God and keep God central to who we are, then God nurtures and grows us like plants by a stream. God reveals His presence and power.

In Ecclesiastes the writer shares basic facts about life. Righteous people can get lost in their righteousness, just as wicked people can get lost in their wickedness. The writer warns us from being too wise for our own good but not just throwing out all wisdom for faith in God. Verse 18 says, “It is good that you should hold onto both the realities of wisdom and wickedness, for then we keep both in the balance.” In other words, right living comes from living in the middle...in the balance...in that place where there is steady ground and a strong foundation.

Does anyone here have friends who live in a house newer and bigger than yours? My wife Teresa and I are privileged to know some great people, some of whom have been blessed with wealth. We, as many of you, know folks who have some houses much larger than our own. Invariably, as we head to one of these houses she’ll state aloud, “Though shalt not covet.” And invariably, I’ll respond, “That’s easy. Just make the decision not to and celebrate that others are able to be blessed and that we are blessed through their blessing.”

For those of you who have not been in many long term relationships, know that my response doesn’t always go over too well. In fact, as soon as I’ve said it, she replies, “I hate it when you use psychology!” But then we both smile, because we recognize that both are true. We do covet, but we choose to do so.

In a broader sense, all of us have choices in life. In fact we make choices every second – whether we’ll do this or that, whether we’ll buy this or not, what our day or week will be like, and even how we will respond to certain situations, and from our passages today we realize that this is more than psychology, it is theology.

The writer of Ecclesiastes knew that we can make a decision for God. Christ knew that in the midst of the thousands of choices we make each day, we can make a choice to follow Christ’s will. That we can step back and not just let life and circumstances have total control, but that we can control many circumstances...and attitudes...and responses, so that God is glorified, and the way to do that is to live with God in the middle. To move toward the fulcrum, look to the neutral point of the swing, and position ourselves at the center of the merry-go-round of life.

Hmm, some of you may be thinking. That’s easier said than done, and to that I would say, “You are right.” It is easier said than done, but things that are easier said than done need to be said first, so that once they are said, then we begin to live into them. Then when we live into them, God begins to change us into who God needs us to be.

Think about it. Over the past six months we’ve held two opportunities for folks to gather and celebrate what is right with the Church. As a response to that, we are hearing from this body how they see God working among and through us. Part of the result is that new vision and enthusiasm is bubbling forth from among us, we are discovering more and more that when we keep Christ at the center of the church and the center of our lives, then God makes a way. Even more powerfully, God begins to change us and reveal the changes to come.

It might be easier said than done, but when we place God at the center of our lives, at the center of the church, at the center of how we see and perceive our lives and the world, then God’s dreams become our reality. We become Kingdom builders...instruments of God’s grace and love to a hurting world.

I’m going to get a little personal and ask, “Are there any here who feel like you do a pretty good job of living in middle? (Show of hands) What does that feel like?

Are there any times in your life when you feel things are going well? When we know God is with you and life is good! What is going on then? (Take responses) When we live in the middle, keep Christ at the center, then God is revealed.

How do we do that? We do it with baby steps. Simply taking time each day to ask God to reveal Himself to us, or say a prayer for guidance, or inviting God to open our hearts and eyes to see Him at work each day. Making a conscious effort to listen to our conscience and following God’s promptings. Believing, truly believing, that God is with us in the midst of our living, then thanking God for God’s presence. It begins by stating the desire then striving to place God at the center of all we do, think, say, and are.

Now I’ve asked you how you do at living in the middle, but that’s only part of the call. That’s only part of the process of personal and spiritual growth and health. The other part is looking around at the world and asking whether the world places God in the middle of decisions. We know the answer to whether that happens, but imagine what would happen if a group of people all began to deliberately seek God and God’s will for our lives and for the community. Imagine if each one of us lived out the call to care as Jesus cares...to follow Christ’s example of keeping God at the center...imagine what kind of impact God can have through us.

I was blessed this week to see a few of you wearing the necklaces received in church last week – a fishing weight on fishing line. One of those folks shared with me that in wearing that necklace some folks in the marketplace actually asked, “What’s that?” His response, “Well let me tell you a little story about how Jesus did some fishing...and let me tell you about a place where God is at work...”

Friends, I’ve been wearing my fishing weight this week, and I noticed that it does get a bit weighty after a few hours. I notice that it clanks on things and sometimes gets in the way. And yet, because of this, I have found that it keeps me aware of the call to reach out and share Christ with others. It remind me to keep Christ at the center.

In reflecting upon the Word today, it also reminded me that this weight is very different than the weight that the majority of people in our community and world carry around everyday. They carry around the weight of being bombarded by everything from work to family to finances to celebrations to struggles to grief to joys to confusion. They carry around the weight of not being balanced, not being centered.

And yet, the weight which we carry is the very thing which they need to hold them in place, the very thing we can introduce to them to center their lives, and provide that place where they can receive then rest in the love of God.

In many ways, life is a playground. A playground can be hectic and chaotic, but it can also be a place of learning, discovery, and fun. It’s a place where, when we are centered, move toward the center, and invite others to join us in the center, we can reveal to the world the blessings that come when we live at the center of God’s world and centered in God’s love.

My invitation and challenge for each of you is to live in the middle, then allow God to use you to invite others to discover the joys of a God-centered life in this God-centered place. Amen.