The Bungee Cord 9-5-22
Hello,
As I told you last week, I am now officially retired. Thank you for all of your kind words and congratulations. Many people have asked me, “How’s retirement?” Well….so far so good! For this week’s Bungee Cord, I am posting my last sermon. I don’t know if will be my last sermon forever, but it does wrap up what I have tried to make known in my ministry. If you would rather see/hear the sermon, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSJXgTN_aa0. The sermon starts at 26:15. So, whether you read or see/hear the sermon….DON’T FALL ASLEEP!
Luke 14:7-14
Grace that you pay for isn’t grace. Grace that you pay for, even if it is only a penny, isn’t grace.
Let me tell you a parable about two imaginary high school seniors, Tony and Mary. Everyone in their high school thought that they were be the picture perfect couple. They were both so good looking. Tony was tall and had the chiseled physique of a tennis player. Mary had long silky hair, a beautiful smile, and a very attractive figure. As it turned out they were voted homecoming king and queen. They were the picture perfect couple.
Except they weren’t a couple, at least not at the end of their senior year. They had been going together since the middle of their junior year, but something happened. No one knew what it was, but suddenly a month before prom, they broke up. With the breakup, they suddenly became the focus of a new kind of attention. Since they would not be going to prom together, who would get to go to prom with them. The girls and the boys all started to swarm around each of them like bees to honey. Tony and Mary were no dummies, they knew what was happening. But as the prom neared, neither one of them had acquired a date for the prom.
Their classmates couldn’t figure it out. Here were the two best looking people in the school, and neither one of them had a date for prom. So, their best friends asked each of them, “What’s going on? Aren’t you going to prom?” And interestingly enough, they both gave the same answer. “I am waiting to see who hasn’t been asked.”
So, on Friday night right after dinner, the day before prom, a knock was heard on the door of a guy named Marvin. Marvin was one of those guys that was so unnoticed by everyone at school, that no one noticed if he was there or not. He didn’t seem to have any friends. He would bounce from table to table at lunch, silently eating his lunch. He wore clothes that didn’t quite fit him right, and the way he wore them tended to magnify his less than macho physique. His teeth were out of line. And no surprise to anyone, he didn’t have a date for prom.
Marvin’s mom answered the door, and saw who was standing there. “Mary,” she said, because everyone knew Mary, “What can I do for you?”
“Is Marvin here?” said Mary.
Marvin’s mom was a bit startled because Marvin had never mentioned that Mary knew her. Marvin’s mom yelled into the house, “Marvin, someone is here asking for you.”
You could hear some rumbling in the back of the house, and pretty soon Marvin appeared at the front door in his usual appearance. “Hi, Mary,” said Marvin in a rather flat affect.
“Hi, Marvin,” Mary said back with a lilt in her voice. “Hey Marvin, are you going to prom?”
“Uh, no,” said Marvin in a tone that indicated it was not on his radar.
“Well, Marvin. Would you go with me? I wanted to make someone feel real good by asking them, and well, that is why I thought of you. Why don’t you come to prom with me. Of course, you’ll need to buy me some nice flowers, take me out to a real nice place to eat, get something descent to wear, and buy your ticket. Just think what a great time you’ll have at prom with me. What do you say?”
At the very same time across town, a doorbell rang. A woman answered the door, the mother of Morinda. “Tony,” said Morinda’s mother, because everyone knew Tony, “what can I do for you?”
“Is Morinda here?” asked Tony
“Sure, let me call her. Morinda, there is someone here to see you.”
A rumble came from the back of the house and soon Morinda came to the door. Morinda was also one of those forgotten kids in school, so forgotten was she that people often didn’t even know her name. She, like Marvin, would hop table to table during lunch seeking an open sit, and when she sat down no one talked to her and she didn’t talk to anyone. When she got on the bus she always sat alone, and when she got off the bus, no one noticed that she was gone. “Hi, Tony,” Morinda sheepishly said.
“Hi, Morinda,” said Tony. “Hey, Morinda, are you going to prom?”
“Uh, no,” she said with the tone that came from Marvin’s mouth. “Well, Morinda, would you go to prom with me?”
Silence. Was this some kind of joke. She’d heard of boys doing this mean sort of thing to girls. “Why would Tony ask me?” she thought to herself. “Uh…..” slipped out of her mouth.
“Listen, Morinda,” Tony said, “I know that we don’t know each other very well, but I have noticed you all through high school, and I have noticed that you are always alone, and I don’t want you to be alone tomorrow night. Won’t you go to prom with me?”
“But, I don’t have a prom dress. My hair is a mess. I can’t dance very well. And well….I’m used to being alone.”
“Well, just wear any dress, and your hair is just fine,I promise not to step on your toes too many times, and I think it’s time for you to not be alone.”
Marvin or Morinda….names that we all wear in the grand scheme of things…Jesus is knocking on your door today, and he is asking you….yes you….to come to the final dance….and its not going to cost you a thing. He’s bought the ticket. And he says to you, come just as you are, and Jesus will delight in taking the dancefloor with you. He’s noticed you sitting alone in life, even when you are with your friends, because even your best friends don’t feel the dark holes in your soul. He has noticed you silently plodding through life even amidst the idle chatter that you join in on that is going on all around you. He has noticed you trying to cover up the scars of sin so no one else will see them. Just like Jesus noticed the guests at that meal in our Gospel lesson….Jesus notices you….Morinda and Marvin….and Jesus says, “It far past the time for you to be alone. Come dance with me.”
Amen.
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