Mentoring Matters
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Readings
Series II, Cycle A
Object:
A man, a woman, a house, and a pitchfork. All of you, I feel sure, have seen the oil painting titled American Gothic by artist Grant Wood. It's a Depression Era scene in rural Iowa portraying a stern-looking farmer holding a pitchfork and standing beside his morose, unmarried daughter. The painting has become a part of American popular culture, and the couple has been the subject of endless satirical depictions. They are not happy campers by any stretch of the imagination.1
Those of us who have photographs of our ancestors have surely noticed that not a one of them ever cracks a smile for the camera. Saying "cheese" must be a contemporary innovation. Martin Luther's parents might well have posed for an early rendition of "German Gothic." Sixteenth-century artist, Lucas Cranach, portrays Luther's parents in a similar fashion as grim, austere, and demanding.2
Martin Luther confided to his friends about the harsh punishment his parents inflicted upon him for minor childhood transgressions. The manner in which they exercised their parental authority colored Martin's picture of God as a stern and wrathful God, rather than as a loving parent.
Contemporary psychologists have interpreted Luther's early days as a monk in terms of his relationship with his birth parents. His depression and despair, his feelings of God's abandonment in his life may well have resulted from these childhood memories.
Martin met God incarnate on the road to Erfurt, where he was addressed by a bolt of lightning. Before long, he found himself, figuratively speaking, in the arms of a loving, graceful God. Later in life, Martin Luther compares the warmth of God's love to the love of our human parents, both father and mother.
Martin met and fell in love with Katharine von Bora, whom he had helped to escape from her nunnery in an empty fish barrel. After that episode, she probably didn't smell like anything you might come across in "Bath and Body Works." Then, ex-monk Martin and ex-nun Katy were married. "There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship ... or company than a good marriage," exclaimed Martin. Their home was well known for its happiness and its loving atmosphere.
Luther became a father for the first time at the age of 42, when the first of his and Katy's six children was born. This brought about another dramatic change in his outlook on God as a parental figure. "I had never imagined it possible that a father's heart can feel so tenderly toward his children," wrote Martin Luther in a letter in 1528. Luther had learned how it felt to bend down lovingly to lift a small child, only to find that he or she was in dire need of a diaper change.3
Luther had read in scripture that we are to love and fear God at the same time, and wondered how that was possible. He compared his relationship to God with his relationship to his son, Hans. Martin, a prolific writer, would be trying to work while Hans sat in a corner playing and singing his little heart out.
Martin was quick to reprimand Hans, who was interfering with his father's concentration. Hans was not frightened, nor did he run to hide behind Katy's apron. He continued singing, but in a much softer voice, not at all disturbed by his dad's censure. Martin marveled at his son's respectful joy and consideration, realizing that Hans was modeling the behavior God wants us all to exhibit.
Both Luther and the apostle Paul understood that child rearing mirrors the sacred. Paul compares his relationship to the congregation at Thessalonica with that of "a father with his children" (1 Thessalonians 2:11). Paul knows that parents, whether biological or spiritual, are vital to the nurture of the children of God in their faith walks. Paul's idea of parenthood includes "urging and encouraging ... and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into God's own kingdom and glory" (1 Thessalonians 2:12).
Paul's role as a spiritual parent in this young Thessalonian congregation is a mentoring role. Mentoring, a Greek word meaning "enduring," is defined as a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult. Through long-term involvement, the adult offers support, guidance, and assistance as needed. When a young person goes through a difficult period, faces new challenges, or works to correct earlier problems, mentors can play a critical role.
Spiritual parenting does involve work (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Just as parents work to support their families, Paul and his companions work to support themselves while they minister among the Thessalonians. Although manual labor is frowned upon in much of Greek society, Paul models a healthy work ethic through his tent-making trade and is not a financial burden on this young church.
Think about a special teacher or mentor who touched your life in a profound way. You are the person you are today because another was there to guide and support you in your earlier endeavors. Maybe it was a grandparent, Sunday school teacher, or even a colleague. Someone older, patient, and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world in a new light, or gave you sound advice to help you make your way in life.
Take Mitch Albom.4 As a young man graduating from Brandeis University, he made promises easily. Keeping them was another story. "You'll stay in touch?" his sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, asked him on graduation day in 1979. Mitch answered his favorite professor, his mentor, his friend, without hesitation, "Of course."
Mitch quickly became a successful newspaper columnist and broadcast journalist. On the fast track, he mastered multitasking, juggling phone calls, interviews, and troubleshooting. Mitch had a McMansion on a hill, a wonderful wife he could not find time for, an enviable stock portfolio, and a brother he had not talked with in years. He simply existed from one deadline to another.
One night as he sat exhausted in front of his television set, flipping through channels, he paused on Nightline long enough to catch a glimpse of his former teacher and friend, Morrie Schwartz. He saw Morrie explaining to Ted Koppel that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and that he was learning how to die. Mitch had not seen Morrie since graduation day at Brandeis.
We sometimes have to schedule our significant others into our day in order to be certain that those who ultimately matter most are not neglected. And, that includes one-on-one time with God, too. Mitch made a decision to invest Tuesdays in his relationship with Morrie.
Morrie's illness and death give Mitch a perspective that directly changes his life. The very success that caused him to neglect the most important things in life becomes the means to send Morrie's message to all who need reminders of what those important things are. Action and reaction -- just look at the evidence.
A newspaper strike idles Mitch and makes him question his ability to survive without something that he feels is his "lifeline ... when I saw my stories in print each morning, I knew that, in at least one way, I was alive." After a week of sitting home and watching television, Mitch calls his old friend, Morrie, and begins a new "lifeline." This one is stronger than the others he's held on to. It's based on what's going on inside Mitch's heart and head rather than what is happening at work or in the stock market.
As the disease progresses, Morrie learns to depend on others for the most basic human needs. He is unable to dress, feed, or even go to the bathroom by himself. Reluctantly, Morrie learns to accept help from those who care for and about him. In doing so, he teaches us about dignity and acceptance as he transforms his physical weakness into strength of heart, mind, and spirit.
Morrie worries about leaving his family impoverished with his overwhelming medical bills, a real and practical concern. As a successful and proven writer, Mitch acquires a substantial advance for his book Tuesdays with Morrie, enabling him to relieve Morrie of financial concerns and to extend financial assistance to Morrie's wife.
Morrie Schwartz dies, but lives on in the hearts of his family and friends. In losing Morrie, Mitch relearns the importance of relationships and reconnects with his brother, Peter, whom he has not seen or talked with in many years.
Morrie's lessons are the most basic lessons, but in a world full of cynicism, consumerism, and disenfranchised people, they need to be taught again and again: Take time to stare out the window instead of at your computer screen. Laugh a lot. It's natural to die, but love is how you stay alive. Morrie Schwartz is our messenger. We listen because he treats us with respect, he makes us laugh, and he's learned "how to give out love, and to let it come in."
Mentoring matters. Relationships matter. Paul invested time in discipling new Christians in Thessalonica. Mitch invested time in a renewed relationship with Morrie and was all the richer for it. What truly matters in life is our relationships, and number one is our relationship to our Savior Jesus Christ. Take time to know your Lord. Spend time with God daily, even if it means scheduling God into your day. Read the word, pray, and listen. It will be the most valuable time of your life.
____________
1. Melissa Gray, "American Gothic," Present at the Creation, National Public Radio, November 18, 2002, online at http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/americangothic/index.html, [accessed June 30, 2006].
2. Lucas Cranach, "Martin Luther's Parents, Hans and Margarete, 1526," online at http://www.wartburg-eisenach.de/english/museum/gemaelde/bild4.htm, [accessed June 30, 2006].
3. Birgit Stolt, "Dear to the Father's Heart," The Lutheran, November 1994, p. 8.
4. Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (New York: Doubleday, 1997).
Those of us who have photographs of our ancestors have surely noticed that not a one of them ever cracks a smile for the camera. Saying "cheese" must be a contemporary innovation. Martin Luther's parents might well have posed for an early rendition of "German Gothic." Sixteenth-century artist, Lucas Cranach, portrays Luther's parents in a similar fashion as grim, austere, and demanding.2
Martin Luther confided to his friends about the harsh punishment his parents inflicted upon him for minor childhood transgressions. The manner in which they exercised their parental authority colored Martin's picture of God as a stern and wrathful God, rather than as a loving parent.
Contemporary psychologists have interpreted Luther's early days as a monk in terms of his relationship with his birth parents. His depression and despair, his feelings of God's abandonment in his life may well have resulted from these childhood memories.
Martin met God incarnate on the road to Erfurt, where he was addressed by a bolt of lightning. Before long, he found himself, figuratively speaking, in the arms of a loving, graceful God. Later in life, Martin Luther compares the warmth of God's love to the love of our human parents, both father and mother.
Martin met and fell in love with Katharine von Bora, whom he had helped to escape from her nunnery in an empty fish barrel. After that episode, she probably didn't smell like anything you might come across in "Bath and Body Works." Then, ex-monk Martin and ex-nun Katy were married. "There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship ... or company than a good marriage," exclaimed Martin. Their home was well known for its happiness and its loving atmosphere.
Luther became a father for the first time at the age of 42, when the first of his and Katy's six children was born. This brought about another dramatic change in his outlook on God as a parental figure. "I had never imagined it possible that a father's heart can feel so tenderly toward his children," wrote Martin Luther in a letter in 1528. Luther had learned how it felt to bend down lovingly to lift a small child, only to find that he or she was in dire need of a diaper change.3
Luther had read in scripture that we are to love and fear God at the same time, and wondered how that was possible. He compared his relationship to God with his relationship to his son, Hans. Martin, a prolific writer, would be trying to work while Hans sat in a corner playing and singing his little heart out.
Martin was quick to reprimand Hans, who was interfering with his father's concentration. Hans was not frightened, nor did he run to hide behind Katy's apron. He continued singing, but in a much softer voice, not at all disturbed by his dad's censure. Martin marveled at his son's respectful joy and consideration, realizing that Hans was modeling the behavior God wants us all to exhibit.
Both Luther and the apostle Paul understood that child rearing mirrors the sacred. Paul compares his relationship to the congregation at Thessalonica with that of "a father with his children" (1 Thessalonians 2:11). Paul knows that parents, whether biological or spiritual, are vital to the nurture of the children of God in their faith walks. Paul's idea of parenthood includes "urging and encouraging ... and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into God's own kingdom and glory" (1 Thessalonians 2:12).
Paul's role as a spiritual parent in this young Thessalonian congregation is a mentoring role. Mentoring, a Greek word meaning "enduring," is defined as a sustained relationship between a youth and an adult. Through long-term involvement, the adult offers support, guidance, and assistance as needed. When a young person goes through a difficult period, faces new challenges, or works to correct earlier problems, mentors can play a critical role.
Spiritual parenting does involve work (1 Thessalonians 2:9). Just as parents work to support their families, Paul and his companions work to support themselves while they minister among the Thessalonians. Although manual labor is frowned upon in much of Greek society, Paul models a healthy work ethic through his tent-making trade and is not a financial burden on this young church.
Think about a special teacher or mentor who touched your life in a profound way. You are the person you are today because another was there to guide and support you in your earlier endeavors. Maybe it was a grandparent, Sunday school teacher, or even a colleague. Someone older, patient, and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world in a new light, or gave you sound advice to help you make your way in life.
Take Mitch Albom.4 As a young man graduating from Brandeis University, he made promises easily. Keeping them was another story. "You'll stay in touch?" his sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, asked him on graduation day in 1979. Mitch answered his favorite professor, his mentor, his friend, without hesitation, "Of course."
Mitch quickly became a successful newspaper columnist and broadcast journalist. On the fast track, he mastered multitasking, juggling phone calls, interviews, and troubleshooting. Mitch had a McMansion on a hill, a wonderful wife he could not find time for, an enviable stock portfolio, and a brother he had not talked with in years. He simply existed from one deadline to another.
One night as he sat exhausted in front of his television set, flipping through channels, he paused on Nightline long enough to catch a glimpse of his former teacher and friend, Morrie Schwartz. He saw Morrie explaining to Ted Koppel that he had been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and that he was learning how to die. Mitch had not seen Morrie since graduation day at Brandeis.
We sometimes have to schedule our significant others into our day in order to be certain that those who ultimately matter most are not neglected. And, that includes one-on-one time with God, too. Mitch made a decision to invest Tuesdays in his relationship with Morrie.
Morrie's illness and death give Mitch a perspective that directly changes his life. The very success that caused him to neglect the most important things in life becomes the means to send Morrie's message to all who need reminders of what those important things are. Action and reaction -- just look at the evidence.
A newspaper strike idles Mitch and makes him question his ability to survive without something that he feels is his "lifeline ... when I saw my stories in print each morning, I knew that, in at least one way, I was alive." After a week of sitting home and watching television, Mitch calls his old friend, Morrie, and begins a new "lifeline." This one is stronger than the others he's held on to. It's based on what's going on inside Mitch's heart and head rather than what is happening at work or in the stock market.
As the disease progresses, Morrie learns to depend on others for the most basic human needs. He is unable to dress, feed, or even go to the bathroom by himself. Reluctantly, Morrie learns to accept help from those who care for and about him. In doing so, he teaches us about dignity and acceptance as he transforms his physical weakness into strength of heart, mind, and spirit.
Morrie worries about leaving his family impoverished with his overwhelming medical bills, a real and practical concern. As a successful and proven writer, Mitch acquires a substantial advance for his book Tuesdays with Morrie, enabling him to relieve Morrie of financial concerns and to extend financial assistance to Morrie's wife.
Morrie Schwartz dies, but lives on in the hearts of his family and friends. In losing Morrie, Mitch relearns the importance of relationships and reconnects with his brother, Peter, whom he has not seen or talked with in many years.
Morrie's lessons are the most basic lessons, but in a world full of cynicism, consumerism, and disenfranchised people, they need to be taught again and again: Take time to stare out the window instead of at your computer screen. Laugh a lot. It's natural to die, but love is how you stay alive. Morrie Schwartz is our messenger. We listen because he treats us with respect, he makes us laugh, and he's learned "how to give out love, and to let it come in."
Mentoring matters. Relationships matter. Paul invested time in discipling new Christians in Thessalonica. Mitch invested time in a renewed relationship with Morrie and was all the richer for it. What truly matters in life is our relationships, and number one is our relationship to our Savior Jesus Christ. Take time to know your Lord. Spend time with God daily, even if it means scheduling God into your day. Read the word, pray, and listen. It will be the most valuable time of your life.
____________
1. Melissa Gray, "American Gothic," Present at the Creation, National Public Radio, November 18, 2002, online at http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/americangothic/index.html, [accessed June 30, 2006].
2. Lucas Cranach, "Martin Luther's Parents, Hans and Margarete, 1526," online at http://www.wartburg-eisenach.de/english/museum/gemaelde/bild4.htm, [accessed June 30, 2006].
3. Birgit Stolt, "Dear to the Father's Heart," The Lutheran, November 1994, p. 8.
4. Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson (New York: Doubleday, 1997).
