Will Rodgers had a reputation that he could make anyone laugh. President Calvin Coolidge had a reputation that he never laughed at anything. Finally, Will Rodgers was invited to the White House. People wondered what would happen. Both men's reputations were at stake. It is said that Will Rodgers came through the reception line and was introduced to the President. "President Coolidge, this is Will Rodgers. Mr. Rodgers, this is President Calvin Coolidge." Will Rodgers leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." The President cracked up and started laughing.
We admire people who are quick on their feet, don't we? Quick on the comeback, saying the right thing at the right time.
General George Armstrong Custer was that kind of person. In fact, many historians think he might have been the next President of the United States if he hadn't been killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn. He was so popular that the Democrats were priming him to be their next candidate. Gen. Custer had a reputation for being quick on his feet, able to analyze battle situations and react quickly. His quickness paid off in many battles. Fresh out of West Point, he served under General McClellan in the Civil War. Once Gen. McClellan marched to the edge of a river, where he and all of his officers stopped their horses. Gen. McClellan commented, "I wish I knew how deep this river was so I knew whether the troops could cross or not." The officers sat on their horses wondering what to do. Custer spurred his horse and rode into the middle of the river. From the river he called out, "General, this is how deep it is." No wonder Custer had a reputation for being able to make quick decisions. It was his strength. Also, it was his weakness.
Once when Custer was marching his 7th Cavalry across the plains he decided to try the speed of his greyhounds against a herd of antelope grazing 2 miles away. On the spur of the moment, he left his troops and took off after the antelope. He chased this herd several miles but couldn't catch up with them. By the time he stopped he realized he was lost out on the Great Plains. Looking around to try and get some directions, he spotted his first buffalo. Giving in to the emotions of the moment, Gen. Custer spurred his horse and took off after the buffalo.
After chasing the huge bull for several miles, he decided to finish the hunt by shooting the buffalo in the head. As he lowered his revolver to the buffalo's head, the animal whirled on the horse, so that Custer's thoroughbred reared just as Custer fired the shot. Gen. Custer shot his own horse in the head. As he freed himself of his dead horse, he discovered he was without food, without water, without a horse, lost out on the Great Plains. Hours later, his troops found him. He might easily have died out in the middle of the prairie.
People like Gen. Custer are popular because they show the ability to be decisive--sometimes to their own detriment. The prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, was not quick at all. He did not react like Will Rodgers or Gen. Custer. He was the kind of person who had to go home and think about it for a while and then come back later to give his response.
In today's scripture, we read about the false prophet Hananiah who announced to the people that they didn't need to listen to Jeremiah any more. Jeremiah had spent many weeks wearing a wooden yoke around his neck. It was the same kind of yoke that an ox would wear to plow the field. Wearing the yoke around his neck, Jeremiah announced to the people and to the priests, "God will send us into bondage.
God is going to judge us for our lack of repentance unless we turn from our evil and wickedness. God will send us into slavery in Babylon." Hananiah took the yoke off of Jeremiah's neck, broke it, and announced, "Thus says the Lord, our bondage will be broken. Babylon will be defeated so that we will be victorious and live at peace within 2 years." Jeremiah stuttered and stammered. He didn't know what to say. His only reaction was to answer sarcastically, "A-men! Go ahead, tell everybody that. I hope you are right!" Not knowing what to say, he went home.
When Jeremiah got home, he rethought that whole conversation. Have you ever done that? Have you ever thought, "Boy, I wish I had said such and such...." I suspect Jeremiah laid in bed at night thinking about what had occurred. He prayed about it until the Lord gave him a response.
Jeremiah came back some days later and made his announcement to Hananiah, "You've taken a wooden yoke from my neck and you've broken it and said that God will break the yoke of Babylon. Here is the word of the Lord. God says you have broken a wooden yoke but God will replace it with a yoke of iron. Babylon will destroy our nation as punishment for our sins. Hananiah, since you misled the people with your lies, you will be dead within a year. Now, let's see who the true prophet is!"
Jeremiah responded instead of reacting. He wasn't quick on his feet. He had to go home and think about it for a while, but when he was finally ready with a response, it was a message from the Lord. Let's think for a few moments this morning about the difference between reacting and responding --between taking impulsive actions and thinking things thru.
FIRST OF ALL, WHEN WE RESPOND--WHEN WE GIVE SITUATIONS ADEQUATE THOUGHT--WE GUARD AGAINST BEING GULLIBLE.
We also need to be careful not to be too gullible just because someone uses the right words and sounds convincing.
In the 1930s, a politician in Germany used all the right phrases. He spoke about "God and country." He spoke about God being "on our side, so let's get this nation going again." The German people cheered for him. But not just the people. He was against communism, so the churches thought he must be on their side as well. Thus, Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany using all the right phrases. Many thought he would save their nation. How sadly mistaken they were.
When we learn to respond instead of reacting, we are recognizing that quick, easy answers are usually not the true answers. Quick, easy answers look like they offer an immediate solution to problems, but usually they don't take into account the complexity of certain situations.
Sir Thomas More wrote a book in the 1500s called, UTOPIA. He described a place where everything is perfect. Utopia is a place where decisions are always wise and people are always happy. As Garrison Keillor would say, "The children are all above average." Sir Thomas More devotes a portion of the book to his ideas for a perfect government.
He writes, "There's also a rule in the Council that no resolution can be debated on the day that it's first proposed. All discussion is postponed until the next well-attended meeting. Otherwise someone's liable to say the first thing that comes into his head, and then start thinking up arguments to justify what he has just said instead of trying to decide what's best for the community. That type of person is quite prepared to sacrifice the public to his own prestige, just because, absurd as it may sound, he's ashamed to admit that his first idea may have been wrong--when his first idea should have been to think before he spoke."
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we made a rule in Congress that when a resolution or a new bill is presented on the floor, nobody can debate it for a month, because everybody has to think before they speak. Wouldn't that be wonderful? I wonder what it would do for the leadership of our country if we learned to respond instead of reacting off the top of our heads?
What if we stopped jumping to quick, easy answers and instead carefully thought out the deeper issues with all their complexities?
Arthur Gordon is a wonderful Christian writer. He has written a book called A TOUCH OF WONDER, telling some of his own experiences. He has interviewed famous people and traveled widely. One of his chapters is titled, "The Power of Purposeful Pausing." In it he discusses a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson. Here's the quote: "Extreme busyness, whether at school, work or market, is a symptom of deficient energy."
In other words, staying busy is not the sign of a person with a high energy level. It is rather the sign of a lazy person. Why? Because the overly busy person has not put enough energy into the really hard work of thinking and setting priorities first! Arthur Gordon read that statement and realized that if we took more time to pause, we would increase our efficiency and the work we do would be better. He calls it "the power of purposeful pausing."
But there is a second reason for responding rather than simply reacting.
WHEN WE PAUSE TO RESPOND, WE GIVE GOD A CHANCE TO SPEAK AND TO ACT.
Most of us cherish the music of Handel's "Messiah," particularly at Christmas. We love the beautiful choruses and the solos. We stand together reverently as we listen to the "Halleluia Chorus." But most of us don't know much about Handel's life and what brought him to write "Messiah."
In his 30's Handel became successful as a composer. By his 20's he had already established his reputation throughout Europe as an outstanding organist. On moving to London, he decided to build a reputation as a music composer. Thru his 30's and 40's he continued to write music in London. He primarily wrote operas for the upper class. The difficulty was that it took him so much time to write an opera and to rehearse it with the singers and to get everything ready that by the time it was finally performed, he was deeply in debt.
His income from each opera went to pay back the debts he had incurred during the composing and rehearsals. It took him about 2 months to get an opera ready. The opera would run for 3 or 6 nights; sometimes a really well-received opera would run for 11 nights. He would pay his bills and then immediately he needed to start on another opera.
For 20 years his life became a frantic routine of churning out more and more operas to pay his debts. He was living on the edge of debtor's prison day in and day out. Can anybody relate to that--running day and night just to stay even? Then, when he was 52 years old, Handel suffered a stroke and lost the use of the right side of his body. He could no longer accompany his operas. He was forced, by his bad health, to take a break.
He left London and went to France to soak in some hot, natural baths. He wanted to get the right side of his body working again. It was on one of those days, while sitting in the bath, praying that somehow his right hand would be restored so he could continue with his music, that somebody said to him, "Sometimes people need more than entertainment. I can still remember when I heard your oratorio, `Esther.'
That oratorio inspired me. It lifted my spirits at a time when I was discouraged." The speaker was not aware that the music for "Esther" had been stolen from Handel and used by someone else who combined it with the biblical material. The speaker continued, "Monsieur Handel, the world is full of discouragement. Why don't you write something that will inspire human beings to live useful lives?"
Bathing in those hot baths for a number of days, Handel finally began to get a little movement in his hand. With full recovery, he was able to use his arm and his hand again.
It was a day of rejoicing when he could sit down at an organ and play again with both hands. He returned to London. But in the back of his mind he kept thinking about that statement made to him at the baths. When he got back to London, he began writing music for biblical oratorios along with operas. Writer Charles Jennens asked for an appointment with Handel to discuss some new music for a libretto he had written called "Messiah." Handel was so impressed by the compilation of Old Testament prophecies which were fulfilled by Jesus that he sat down and worked for twenty-four straight days. In less than a month he completed the music for the "Messiah."
The last 20 years of his life he spent writing music for biblical oratorios. He took many Old Testament passages and put them to music. He discovered his real gift was inspirational music. Now he had a higher purpose than frantically churning out opera after opera to pay debts. But it took a crisis in his life to make him pause long enough to make the discovery. It is a shame when we wait until we have a stroke or a heart attack or a divorce before we sit back and think about where our lives are headed.
Like Handel, you and I need to pause every so often in order to get God's perspective. We need to respond instead of frantically reacting. Jeremiah went home and prayed, "Lord, give me a response." We need to do the same. When we take time to thoughtfully and prayerfully respond, we find our way through to real answers--not the simple, superficial answers that always please the crowd. And we give God a chance to give us His answer. We give Him the chance to act in ways that bring real solutions, real healing, and real hope.
