May 2004

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6

When I was a boy there was a sign on one of the Sunday School rooms, "What would Jesus say?" That question was very much a part of my childhood, although I don't hear it asked very often any more. Maybe we've become a little too sophisticated for such an elementary question, and if that's the case, in this sophistication we're all losers.

If we could ask Jesus how we could make good things happen in our lives, what would He say? I think He'd respond very simply and directly. He'd say something like this: "First of all, have faith. Trust God and the laws of God's universe." And then Jesus would say, "Love people. Do what you can to be helpful. Lift their burdens. Try to make a difference in their lives."

So that's what we're all about as Christians, finding ways to love people and trusting God and the laws of God's magnificent universe.

There's a verse of scripture which has become a favorite of mine. I've known it since childhood, but only fairly recently have I finally got to trust it, and believe it. It's a magnificent verse and, the way it's described, you can easily visualize it. It comes from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, chapter 11, beginning with the first verse.

Cast your bread upon the water, and after many days it will come back to you.

Give -- help out, do what you can to make a difference, and then let it go. Watch it float away.

Our giving can cause us so much grief when we exact and demand, a response. We like to control what other people do with what we give them. But remember the picture of putting the bread on the water -- and letting it go. You've put the bread upon the water with your heart. Leave it alone. Let it go. And in time -- and I don't believe this is true; I know it's true, because I now trust that law -- in time that bread is going to come back to you.

Sometimes you send out a piece of bread, or even a few crumbs, and you get back a whole loaf. Always, you get more in return. You never know how, you never know when, you never know why, but it comes back, and your life is aflow with blessings.

From the first time I heard this next phrase, "It is impossible to give a dollar away," I believed it. I believe it even more now. When you give with the right spirit, when you put it out there and watch it go, it's going to come back, and it always comes back with greater abundance. If we could trust this law, our lives would change. It changed my life.

Sometimes people say I give more than I should. But there was a time, and for many, many years, that I did not give to my college. I'd get appeals several times a year, and I always pleaded poverty. And I felt somewhat miserable about that.

You know the word miserable and miser come from the same base? I was being somewhat miserly -- and I felt miserable about it. I could have sent something, but I didn't. But eventually I got to thinking how important that school had been in my life. When I went to college I was a scared, very young, eighteen-year-old. I wasn't centered, and I needed people to affirm me, and there were people in that college who affirmed me. When I needed people to be patient with me, they were patient with me. When I needed people to be severe and hold me responsible, they were severe and held me responsible. They did a magnificent job in giving me an education and helping me along. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Ohio Wesleyan University.

I am indebted to that school. A few years ago I started giving, and I find that I can give. They will never get a lot of money from me, because I'm not a wealthy man materially. But I'm wealthy in other ways -- and one of them is in the joy I get knowing I'm giving back to a school that did so much for me.

Even more than my college, Marble Church has made me who I am today. It has given me my spiritual path. Before coming here I had a distant relationship with God. God was up there, and I was down here, and I didn't know how to connect. I didn't know how to pray. And it was in this congregation, from people of this spiritual community, that I learned about God and freedom and love and prayer, and prayer, and prayer.

Three people from this congregation, who taught me more than I ever taught them, come to mind. These people are the rocks of my faith. One is Clara Macon. Clara was born in rural Mississippi. She didn't have much education, but boy, did she have faith. There were times when she would tell me stories about how much she leaned on and was guided by her faith, and I would think she was out of her mind. But she was so rock-like in her faith, so determined that God was going to take care of her needs, and it always worked out. That was powerful stuff for me to see.

I remember once when she said, "Dr. Caliandro, don't you know the 91st Psalm?" I said yes, but I didn't. She brought me into the power of Psalm 91, and in my Bible I have "Clara Macon" written in the margin beside it.

There was Frank Small, also from rural Mississippi. I was in a small group with him for several years, and I know that in his struggles he never lost faith. He knew that if he believed and did the right thing, God was going to come through for him, and God always did. And there was another dimension to Frank. When somebody was in need and he had the means to help, he would help. Frank made a tremendous impression on me, and when I think faith, I think Clara, I think Frank.

Then there was Flodean Marsh. It must have been 25 years ago when she stood at this chancel and talked about how at a little Methodist church in West Virginia she learned to tithe. Flodean was a beautiful soul. She had joy, she had the fullness of faith, and she trusted God with ten percent of her income. I've discovered what that's like, and it's extraordinary. I thank Flodean Marsh for bringing me to that place.

I'm going urge you to take that verse of scripture which has become so important to me -- "Cast your bread upon the water" -- and do good. With whatever you can, give, and let it go, and trust it. And you will find that you are in the flow of the Spirit. You will flow with the supply of the universe.

So do what you can to be a blessing to other people. Be the one who brings light and help and joy to somebody's life, no matter how bad you may feel. I know it's hard, but we don't have to do it all by ourselves. We do this in the name of Christ. These little blessings we give can be extraordinarily powerful.

One of the joys of my summer rest period, as my grandchildren are growing up, is hosting a sleep-over with Granddad for each of my son Paul's children. He has an eight-year-old, a five-year-old and a two-year-old who spend their summers in Maine, so I see them quite a bit, but the sleep-over, spending time with just one at a time, is the best time. I have three rules for the sleep-over. Number one, I will take you to eat any place you want to go. Two, we will rent as many videos as you want and I'll sit there and watch them with you. And three, you can stay up as late as you want. This drives parents crazy, but every child needs a grandparent to do that kind of thing.

My grandson Nils is five, and when he arrived at the house this August he went into the guest room, took off his backpack, put it down on the bed and said, "Granddad, you're the best!"

That moment empowered and connected me. He blessed me. That's a phrase that I have started using with a lot of people.

Let me take this a step further. In the 20th century there was a spiritual giant named Martin Buber, a Jewish mystic and scholar. I saw him when he was in his nineties. At Union Theological Seminary I'd see him eating in the corner of the lunchroom, or sitting in a cubicle in the library. I never went over to say hello. One of the regrets of my life is not going to Martin Buber and saying, "I just want to shake your hand."

He invented a phrase which has made an extraordinary difference in a lot of lives: I and thou. Every person we relate to, every person we meet, is a thou. Not an it, not a thing, not to be used or abused, but a sacred, sacred, sacred creation. When you relate to a person as a thou, the God in you is relating to the God in that person, and it puts you in a wholly different plane.

I've an invitation to you -- but, more than an invitation, a challenge. Take one day this week and for the whole day, whomever you meet, whomever you talk to, wherever you are, bless other people. The first person you speak to in the morning, have in your mind the words "Bless you," and treat that person in a blessed way. You're on the subway, you're on a bus, you're walking on the street, "Bless you, bless you, bless you." Be the blessing. And if you find it difficult to bless some people you know that are hateful, or destructive, then bless them for the sake of Jesus. "Jesus, help me ... bless you ... bless you."

Go through a whole day doing that and see what it feels like. See if you are not strengthened, if you are not increased, if you are not beautified by blessing. And, if you can do it for one day, you can do it for two days and three days. There's enormous power in blessing, and the one that's blessed the most is the one that does the blessing.

A number of years ago, on an Easter Sunday morning after the service, a young woman from the congregation came up and said, "Arthur, I've got to tell you a story about what happened on Good Friday." She had been at Marble Church for worship, which had been very strengthening for her. After the service she went to the bus terminal to pick up her sister, who was coming in for the weekend. As they were walking along 42nd Street, five teen-aged boys began to walk behind them and taunt them. Before they knew it the five had surrounded them, taunting them with threatening words, and they were scared to death.

Then she remembered power of the Good Friday worship experience. And she stood tall, looked the ringleader straight in the eye, and said, "God loves you." It didn't do any good. "God loves you." A third time she said, "God loves you." Finally he looked away, the tension was broken, and the group dissipated and went on their way.

What happened, I think, is that the God in her was able to connect with the God in him. That's the power of blessing.

We have incredible power. We don't have to do it ourselves. We do it in the name of Christ, who gives us what we need to make a difference in someone else's life. And the result is that a big difference happens to us.

I'm always interested in other religious traditions and what they say about the laws of God's universe. The Dalai Lama, from the Buddhist tradition, says this in one of his books:

May I in all times, temporarily and ultimately, become a protector for those who are without protection. May I become a guide for those who have lost their path. May I become a ship for those who want to cross huge oceans. May I become a bridge for those who want to cross rivers. May I become an island for those who are troubled or in danger at sea. May I become a lamp for anyone who needs light. May I become a place of habitation for those who are looking for shelter. May I become a servant for those who need one.

In other words, may I become a blessing to the world. How can you make good things happen? Trust God's law. Give, do the right thing, and let it go. And live your life so that you are a blessing to other people. You will find that you have been blessed. Let us pray.

For the blessing that You give us, Lord, for the wonder of this magnificent congregation and how we are all blessed by them, be with us this week, and may this day of blessing become a lifetime of blessing. In Christ's name we ask, Amen.