Countering our Quest to be "Spectacular"

 

The pastor at St. Bart’s Episcopal Church in New York last week offered one of his biting sermons.  It drew on the Gospel which recorded the three temptations which the Devil had presented to Jesus while he was wandering in the wilderness.  He challenged Christ, if you really are the son of God then turn these stones into bread.  Rebuffed on that, the Devil went on to offer Christ the world below them (they were standing on a high mountain) if Jesus would bow down and worship him.  Again rebuffed, the Devil came with his third challenge, for Jesus to throw himself down from a great height.  Again, Jesus said, “No,” returning to the fundamental truth that what really matters is following the words of God.

 

The pastor went on to talk about his dogged determination to “be spectacular.”  He went through a bracing confession of things that he and St. Bart’s pursued that in essence boiled down to trying to be "spectacular". 

He recounted how he and St. Barts sought to outshine other nearby churches through better programming; a more inspiring choir; a larger endowment and stronger sermons.  Yet, these are not the things that matter most, he said.  What matters most  is to be humble, to do everything one can to follow in the steps of Jesus and help each other on that journey. 

 

I haven’t written this simply to record a sermon. No, I do it because it reminds me of things I do which truthfully boil down to trying to “be spectacular.”

I focus on how much I read, on hoping more people will read my blog, I check to see how many “likes” there are on a photo of one of my grandchildren, I  check the price of P&G stock price too often, I count the number of steps I walk each day.  

 I don’t know if you’d call these things “spectacular,” but they are ego-driven and they are diversions from the much simpler and basic task of trying to make a positive difference in other people’s lives, especially my family's.