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Liturgy of the Day
READING: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-13; John 12:20-33 SERMON : [The time was the roaring twenties. The place was Oklahoma. JohnGriffith was in his early twenties - newly married, and full ofoptimism. Along with his lovely wife, he had been blessed with abeautiful blue eyed baby.John wanted to be a traveller. He imagined what it would be like tovisit faraway places with strange sounding names. He would read aboutthem and research them. His hopes and dreams were so vivid that attimes they seemed more real than reality itself. But then came 1929and the great stock market crash. With the shattering of the economy came the devastation of John's dreams. Brokenhearted, he, like somany others, packed up his few possessions and with his wife andlittle son, Greg, headed east in an old Model-A Ford. They made theirway toward Missouri, to the edge of the Mississippi River, and thereJohn found a job tending one of the great railroad bridges thatspanned the massive river.Day after day John would sit in a control room and direct the enormousgears of that immense bridge over the river. He would look outwistfully as bulky barges and splendid ships glided gracefully underhis elevated bridge. Then, mechanically, he would lower the massivestructure and stare pensively into the distance as great trains roaredby and became little more than specks on the horizon. Each day helooked on sadly as they carried with them his shattered dreams and hisvisions of far-off places and exotic destinations.It wasn't until 1937 that a new dream began to be born in his heart. His young son was now eight years old, and John had begun to catch avision for a new life - a life in which Greg would work shoulder-to-shoulder with him, a life of intimate fellowship and friendship. Thefirst day of this new life dawned and brought with it new hope and anew fresh purpose. Excitedly father and son packed their lunches and,arm in arm, headed off toward the immense bridge. Greg looked on with wide-eyed amazement as his dad pressed down thehuge lever that raised and lowered the vast bridge. As he watched, hethought that his father must surely be the greatest man alive. Hemarvelled that his father could single-handedly control the movementsof such a stupendous structure.Before they knew it, noontime had arrived. John had just elevated the bridge and allowed some scheduled ships to pass through. Then, taking his son by the hand, they headed off for lunch. Hand in hand, theyinched their way down a narrow catwalk and out onto an observationdeck that projected some 50 feet over the majestic Mississippi. There they sat and watched spellbound as the ships passed by below. As they ate, John told his son, in vivid detail, stories about the marvellousdestinations of the ships that glided below. Enveloped in a world of thought, he related story after story, his son hanging on every word.Suddenly John and his son were startled back to reality by theshrieking whistle of a distant train. Looking at his watch indisbelief, John saw that the bridge was still raised and that theMemphis Express would be by in just minutes.Not wanting to alarm his son, he suppressed his panic. In the calmest tone he could muster, he instructed his son to stay put. Leaping to his feet he jumped onto the catwalk and ran at full tilt to the steel ladder leading into the control house. Once in, he searched the riverto make sure that no ships were in sight. And then, as he had been trained to do, he looked straight down beneath the bridge to makecertain nothing was below. As his eyes moved downward, he saw some thing so horrifying that his heart froze in his chest. For there, below him in the massive gearbox that housed the colossal gears that moved the gigantic bridge, was his beloved son. Apparently Greg had tried to follow his Dad but had fallen off thecat walk. Even now he was wedged between the teeth of two main cogs inthe gearbox. Although he appeared to be conscious, John could seethat his son's leg had already begun to bleed profusely. Immediately, an even more horrifying thought flashed in his mind. For in that instant John knew that lowering the bridge meant killing the apple of his eye. Panicked, his mind probed in every direction, frantically searchingfor solutions. Suddenly a plan emerged. In his mind's eye he sawhimself grabbing a coiled rope, climbing down the ladder, running downthe catwalk, securing the rope, sliding down toward his son andpulling him back up to safety. Then in an instant he would move back to the control room and grab the control lever and thrust it down justin time for the oncoming train.As soon as these thoughts appeared, he realized the futility of hisplan. There just wouldn't be enough time. Perspiration began to beadon John's brow., terror written over every inch of his face. His mind darted here and there, vainly searching for yet another solution. What would he do? What could he do? His thoughts rushed in anguish to the oncoming train. In a state of panic, his agonized mind considered the 400 or so people moving inexorably closer toward the bridge. Soon the train would come roaring out of the trees with tremendous speed. But this - this washis son - his only child - his pride - his joy. His mother - he could see her tear stained face now. This was their child, their beloved son. He knew in a moment there was only one thing he could do. He knew he would have to do it. And so, burying his face under his left arm, he plunged down the lever. The cries of his son were quickly drowned out by the relentless sound of the bridge as it ground into position. With only seconds to spare, the Memphis Express - with its 400passengers - roared out of the trees and across the mighty bridge. John Griffith lifted his tear stained face and looked into the windows of the passing train. A business man was reading the morning paper. A uniformed conductor was glancing nonchalantly at his large vest pocketwatch. Ladies were already sipping their afternoon tea in the dining car. A small boy, looking strangely like his own son, pushed a long thin spoon into a dish of ice-cream. Many of the passengers seemed tobe engaged in either idle conversation or careless laughter.But no one looked his way. No one even cast a glance at the giantgearbox that housed the mangled remains of his hopes and dreams. In anguish he pounded the glass in the control room and cried out,"What's the matter with you people? Don't you care? Don't you knowI've sacrificed my son for you? Want's wrong with you?"No one answered; no one heard. No one even looked. Not one of themseemed to care. And then, as suddenly as it had happened, it wasover. The train disappeared, moving rapidly across the bridge and outover the horizon. - - - - This story is but a faint glimpse of what God the Father did for us - of what Jesus did for us in offering up for us his own life.Unlike the Memphis Express, that caught John Griffith by surprise, God - in his great love for us - determined to sacrifice His Son so that we might live. As First Peter 1:20 says - "He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for our sake."Jesus was not accidentally caught in the gears of a bridge - as wasJohn's son. Rather he willingly sacrificed His life for the sins of human kind.Hear these words from today's gospel reading once again. "Now my soul is troubled." said Jesus. "And what should I say - 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name."The suffering and the death of Jesus had a purpose.Those who join themselves to him, those who grasp that he was lifted up on the cross for them, and in faith submit their own suffering and their own pain tohis, honour what God has done. Paul writes in I Corinthians, chapter one, verse 18 "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.""Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains buta single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit."It is difficult to comprehend the will of God, difficult to grasp justwhat He has done. But we know this - and we are called to accept this - and to embrace this -that it was done for us - so that we might live. Let us pray.... PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE O Lord - when we contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus - your Son - we are overwhelmed. Your mercy and your love know no human limitations. Your grace and your forgiveness are greater than all we can tell. Help us,O Lord, to declare your compassion and to give all praise and honour toyour most holy name. Put in us the willingness to follow where-ever youmay lead us.... Lord hear our prayer.... Lord we pray for all those who do not understand you this day -especially we pray for those who would blame you for the suffering thatthey or others must endure. Show them, O Lord, your will is entirelygood -- that you take upon yourself our pain, our guilt, our death, sothat we may live in wholeness and in eternal peace. Show them O God, andrelieve their distress.... Lord hear our prayer.... We pray, O Lord, for those who bear the cross of Christ this day, forthose who give of themselves without regard to the cost.... We pray forparents who care so deeply that they forget themselves for the sake oftheir children; for brothers and sisters who give up what is theirs sothat their siblings may prosper, for those of faith who sacrifice theirtime, their energy, and often their very lives, so that those around themwho are in need may be satisfied...... Lord hear our prayer.... Father, we pray for those who have been lifted up before you today inour sharing time - and we ask your blessing upon them.... We pray:d recovery period for Colin Lord hear our prayer...O Lord, accept all our prayers this day. We ask it in the name of ChristJesus, he who died that we might live, and who lives that we may neverdie. Amen] Rev. Richard J. Fairchild - Spirit Networks, 2003 - 2006 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Mail to : vmalpan@gmail.com
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