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Building as Base

FINDING PURPOSE AND PASSION IN LIFE

Building a Base

March 30, 2008

Text: Genesis 11:1-9; Micah 6:6-8

Gen 11:1-9

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." 5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

NRSV

Mic 6:6-8

With what shall I come before the LORD,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"

8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

NRSV

Intro: how do you find passion and purpose in your life? Never too young and never too old for it! Today we start by “building a base” for purpose-filled, passion-driven living.

I don’t know about you, but I get a little nervous with heights. I climb a ladder to clean the leaves out of the gutter. I see a movie where you’re looking down from a great height. And I get this queasiness in my stomach.

If you share this queasiness, then you will not want to go to the top of these buildings and look down:

It used to be that the old Empire State Building was the big kid on the block—not any more.

It seems like there’s this huge competition between countries to be able to say, “WE have the world’s tallest building—look at what WE’VE done!”

“Look at what we’ve done.”

Now, where have I heard something like that before?

Oh yes, I remember—THE BIBLE!

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…”

“Make a name for ourselves.”

What name?

How about, “Rich.” “Powerful.” “Glamorous.”

That’s what those skyscrapers scream.

And, admit it—we’d like a little of that action, wouldn’t we? We’re all attracted to that. After all, there’s never been a TV show titled, “Lifestyles of the Middle Class, and Average.”

We’re each in our own skyscraper business, in some fashion.

When we talk about finding purpose and passion in life, our culture tells us to get a marketable skill, and market it. Get the best offer. Start building a name for yourself—a name that you’ll sign on those mortgage papers; a name you’ll type on that resume.

And when you get a little extra money—like when you get that tax rebate soon—you know what you’re supposed to do with it, right? SPEND IT! Get more stuff! Get more prestige! Add more floors to your building! That’s the way to help the economy.

Doesn’t finding purpose and passion through money and ambition seem a little misguided?

It does to me.

A college professor in San Diego taught freshman English. He assigned to the entering class a 500-word paper on the topic, “Why are you attending college?” He encouraged them to be candid and straightforward—and he got what he asked for. Paper after paper seemed to have been written by a machine: college was a means to an end of success, status, prosperity and security. Only two papers stood out, dramatically different in spirit and content from the others. These papers talked about college enabling the writers to do something with their lives that would be good for the world, that would better the planet, and that would serve others better. The professor was at first encouraged, because it only takes two to make a difference. But then he became disturbed. Both students who authored these papers were not from the United States. The students who sought service over status and success were from Angola and Lebanon.

--Mark Trotter, First United Methodist Church, San Diego

Sort of a sad commentary, isn’t it?

The prophet Micah would say we have a priority problem.

He would say those students from Angola and Lebanon knew something we don’t. Here it is:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

In this simple verse lies the foundation for building a passionate, purpose-driven life.

In this verse are the three building blocks for such a life.

Take a look at them. [take out building block for each]

“Do justice”

Where do you see injustice? What will you do about it?

Have you ever noticed that the more we are driven by money and power and privilege, the less unjust the world seems to us? We tend to ignore some things. We tend to justify other things, explaining that that’s the cost of doing business. Things aren’t black and white any more—they’re a solid shade of gray.

When Dr. King was thrown into a Birmingham jail cell because of a civil rights demonstration, a group of white clergy wrote him a letter urging him to slow down in his fight for racial justice. Let the system work things out, they said. Dr. King wrote back a beautiful response; here’s part of it:

I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the…Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension, to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice…Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance [of injustice] is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

In your home—school—work—wherever: do you sometimes buy into a “lukewarm acceptance” of injustice? If so, start developing a “hot resistance” to it, in whatever form it takes. “Do justice.”

“Love kindness”

What small act of kindness will you do for someone?

Isn’t it interesting that the higher we go in the tower we build, the more we tend to forget the person on the sidewalk, whose brain has been scrambled by years of abuse, and is asking for help? The person who once dreamed of being a singer, but now pays the bills by opening the front door? The person who got up early, rushed to work, was yelled at by the boss, and stands in front of you now, asking what kind of latte you want?

There are so many people we take for granted. So many people stuck in a job just in order to pay the bills. What would happen if you left an exorbitant tip? If you greeted the person with a smile, even if you didn’t feel like it? And—while we’re at it—what would happen if you volunteered your time at the Centenary Cares meal program for the homeless, that got front page news in the Post on Easter morning?

Another building block of a passionate, purpose-driven life—“love kindness.”

And…

“Walk humbly”

Who will you learn from?

Have you noticed, as you build your tower, that what once were conversations are now negotiations? With each floor you go up, the more things are cast in a “win-lose” light. So much is at stake. People are either opportunities or obstacles.

A study was conducted at a university where two people were asked to debate a topic. One was to go first, then the other was to respond, then the person would respond to the response, and on it went. After it was over, each person saw a transcript of the debate. They each remembered what they said. But when it came to what the other person had said, they remembered more their own response, instead of the content of what they said. In other words, they were out to prove a point, and whatever the other person said was just an opportunity to debate, and prove them wrong. They saw everything from their own perspective, and with their own agenda. –Homiletics, 4/13/08

Maybe the most important building block of all is that of treating people, not as opportunities or obstacles, but simply as people—with hopes, dreams, and a vast treasure of knowledge gained from experience. Wouldn’t it be nice to treat everyone in your building—from the one you call when the latte’s turned over, to the CEO—treat everyone as a respected teacher?

“Walk humbly.”

There you have it—the three building blocks of passionate, purposeful living.

Now, we can keep everything sort of academic—write these down on the sermon notes, and refer to them from time to time. But you really see how important and powerful they are when you see them actually lived out.

John Mackey built a huge tower for himself.

He’s CEO of Whole Foods Markets, the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods.

Now, like anybody, he’s not perfect, and I’m not making him out to be. But, as he built this empire, he stuck to the values he had from the beginning. He didn’t compromise what he believed in, in order to get ahead.

For example, he insisted that whatever product ended up on the shelf, it must have been raised and treated humanely. That added to the expense, but Mackey stuck to his principles. Dan Rather interviewed him on 60 Minutes, and pressed him on this point.

“In the end, what difference does it make whether you have a happy lobster or not?” Rather asked. “If the lobster's gonna be eventually dropped into boiling water, he's gonna be a dead lobster and it doesn't much matter.”
Mackey replied, “Oh, Dan, are you gonna die someday? Does the quality of your life not matter then? Since you're gonna eventually die? Get dropped in your own pot? At the end of the day, the quality of life is all we have, and it's just as important to that lobster, the quality of life that it lives — even if it's not as long — as the quality of your life."

--60 Minutes, 6/4/06

Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly.

Mackey’s a rich man—and he knows when enough is enough. In 2007, he wrote a letter to each employee and in it stated,

I have reached a place in my life where I no longer want to work for money, but simply for the joy of the work itself and to better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart.

He went on in the letter to say that his salary would be $1. Instead, his cash compensation and stock options would go to the foundations that Whole Foods set up to help their employees.

Mackey is a man who very much believed in keeping to what’s important. He never forgot that the higher you build your tower, the more you better remember and pay attention to the foundation.

Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly.

John Mackey appears to be a happy person.

Are you? Am I?

I’m 54. I probably have 12 years left before I retire, before Emma starts college, and before I start asking customers if they’d like their meal supersized.

A question has recently entered my mind. “What will I be remembered for?” What kind of a name will I have made for myself?

You know, just asking that question shows that I need to work on what I’ve been preaching this morning.

Our life isn’t about building a name for ourselves—“What will I be remembered for?”

Our life is about helping others discover the name of Jesus—the man who did justice, loved kindness, and walked humbly like no one else ever did.

We help others discover the name of Jesus, then it won’t matter if we’re remembered or not.

We will have lived fully, and discovered how truly sweet life is.