Ah, that's just it! Why don't we?

Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10, Psalm 71:1-6, Luke 4:21-30, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, February 3rd 2013

A printable PDF file can be found here

* “A man had a dream. In the dream the man was on a train. The train stopped and he found himself in a large city. It was early morning and snow covered the ground. As he left the train the man noticed that no one he met wore shoes. They were warmly dressed but the baggage man and the guard wore no shoes. He thought this was odd for such a cold day. As he moved into the station he noticed that nobody had shoes on. Boarding a bus he saw that everyone on the bus was barefooted. When he arrived at his hotel, everyone he met had no shoes.

After a while he could restrain himself no longer and asked the hotel manager about the practice. "What practice?" the manager said. "The practice of not wearing shoes. Nobody in this town wears shoes and it is very cold." The manager shrugged, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"

The man was persistent. "I don't understand. Why don't you wear shoes? Don't you believe in shoes?" The manager said, "Believe in shoes, indeed we do. This is the first article of our creed, shoes. Shoes are indispensable to the well being of humanity. Why, shoes make things more comfortable. Not to speak of the cuts, sores, and suffering they prevent. Shoes really are wonderful." So the man asked, "Then why don't you wear them?" The manager sighed, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?"

After the man checked into his room he went down to the coffee shop and sat down next to a man who wore no shoes. The man was friendly. After the meal he told the stranger he would show him around the city. The first building they came to had a huge sign indicating that shoes were manufactured inside.

The man did not understand: "You manufacture shoes there?" The host said, "Well, not exactly. We talk about making shoes. We have one of the most brilliant fellows to lead us you will ever meet. He's quite well known, really. Every week he talks convincingly and movingly about the great subject of shoes. He has enormous charisma. Just yesterday as he talked about wearing shoes people in the audience just broke down and wept. It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen." The man said, "But why don't you wear shoes?" And his guide said, "That's just it. Why don't we?"

They turned down a side street and through the window the man saw a cobbler making a pair of shoes in a shop. He excused himself from his guide and walked into the shop. He asked the shoemaker why his little shop was not overrun with customers. The cobbler said, "Nobody wants my shoes. They just want to talk about them."

So the man bought what pairs of shoes the cobbler had and rushed out of the store. He handed one of the pairs to his host and said, "Put them on--you'll feel so much better on this cold day." The man drew back in embarrassment. He thanked the stranger and shook his head. "You just don't understand, do you? This just is not done. The important people in town would never wear shoes."

The stranger thought he was going mad. "But why don't people in this town wear shoes?" And the tour guide smiled and said, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" So the stranger left the town, with that one phrase ringing in his ears: "Ah, that’s just it, Why don't we?” ”*

St. Paul had founded a thriving and gifted church in the town of Corinth. They were capable of working miracles. But one thing was tearing them apart. They had a competitive spirit that mirrored the ways of the world but which was jarringly inappropriate in the context of the Church.

In the last chapter of his letter Paul has been recalling them to some basic beliefs. He has reminded them that whatever gifts they had were gifts given them by God to be used for God’s glory and not personal gain. He has spoken to them of the Church as a Body in which, like an orchestra performing a concerto, every individual had a different yet complementary role to play.

In Chapter 13 he speaks to them of the most excellent way of all to conduct their lives. It was the way that he had learned from observing the life of Jesus Christ. Look again at the qualities of which he speaks; patience, kindness, not being jealous or boastful, arrogant or rude, not insisting on our own way, not being irritable or resentful, not rejoicing at the wrong but rejoicing in the right; these characteristics were the very nature of the love of Jesus Christ who overcame the world.

By the simple fact that our lives do not embody such characteristics we are reminded just how much we need the love of Jesus Christ to invade us and rebuild us and move us from our complacency to radical discipleship.

We are the ones who know that it can be a hard and a cruel world out there and we know God calls us to share the love of Christ with others. Yet we are also the ones that shake our heads and say, "Ah, that's just it. Why don't we?" We are the ones who recognize the healing and renewing characteristics of love. We are the ones who gather Sunday by Sunday to hear about it and discuss it and sometimes be moved to tears by its quality.

I have no idea who will win the SuperBowl Game this afternoon, but I do know one thing. That there will not be a player out there on the field that has gained their place by thinking “Ah, why don’t we”. Every one of the players earned their place on the team, not by talking about football or watching football or by holding up their hands in resignation and saying “Well that’s just it”.

We are called to have a similar determination in regards to our discipleship of Jesus Christ. It is helpful therefore to remember that love is a verb.

Nouns come easily. God, Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, fellowship, cross, baptism, Lord's Supper, Bible, book, hope. Adjectives come even more easily: wonderful, great, spectacular, lovely, best, Spirit-filled, Bible believing, inspired, holy, and sacred.

But verbs can be tricky. Verbs equate with action. They make things happen. Didn’t our English teachers tell us: "That's not a sentence-it doesn't have a verb.” Paul’s message to the Corinthians can be addressed to the church today. We need the verbs.

Love is not something we feel; it is something we do. Every parent knows there are nights when you shuffle through the darkness to get your little one a drink of water or knows what it’s like to change a diaper at two in the morning. You'd rather be sleeping. There are not a lot of good things you can say about smelly diapers at two o'clock in the morning? But there is a need and you respond. You do something. Because love demands action. Love is a verb.

The mum doesn’t lie there listening to the baby cry and say, “Darling the baby is crying. Maybe we should change his diaper”. If it’s dad’s turn to do that he’s in trouble if he says, “Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we!”

So hear again these qualities of love that Paul speaks of, the qualities embodied in the person of Jesus Christ. Hear Paul as he speaks about the active verb of love that turns a congregation from feuding to faithfulness

“ Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. “

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Message Bible)

True love is tough. For love of the game there will be two teams out on the field battling to win the Superbowl. It is their active commitment to be winners that will have the nation glued to their television sets.

Should not our commitment to Jesus Christ be of a similar nature? If we are to win others to the gospel, can we afford to let it be any less? The two great commandments are commands of love. Love the Lord Your God with all; all heart, all soul and all intellect. Love your neighbor with an equal intensity of love as that which you give yourself.

“Ah, that’s just it. Why don’t we?”

May God’s Holy Spirit convict us and move us and empower us to change from being whimsical “Why Don’t We” worriers to becoming world changing disciple warriors of Jesus Christ, our living, loving, Lord and Savior. Amen.

Rev. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

* From “preaching on Love” by Roger Lovette (Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church, Birmingham Alabama) ‘The Ministers Manual 2001” edited by James Cox