Rev. Dr. Emil Mialik

Minister Emeritus, Wedgewood Baptist Church

 

IT’S UP TO US

Psalms 22:1-11

 

I begin this sermon by first making a comment about

the  scripture passage. It is an unfortunate com-

mentary about the writer who reflects a miscon-

ception of what God is all about and in the process

neglects to do for himself what  he ought to do. I

can understand why.

 

It is very easy for us to sugar coat our concept

of God, which to my way of thinking distorts

theology. There are many examples of this but I have in mind particularly the Lord’s Prayer.

 

Among the many questions I have about this prayer,

I single out one phrase: “Give us this day our

daily bread” – bread, which can mean most anything.

Give me, gimme seems to be by and large what pray-

er is basically all about. We simply ask and it is given to us. Call on God, and why not Father, and

what we want is dumped upon our laps.

 

The statement I’ve just referred to can easily

put us in an asking mood bordering on selfishness.

It avoids the need for a commitment on our parts

to live “doingly” with our talents/abilities which

I feel strongly is what our God certainly expects

from us. Just ask and wait for the getting I con-

clude to be absurd theology, a theology in need of

revamping.

 

It is simple for us to sidetrack the awesome

challenge we face in confronting life with all of

its demands, its ups and downs. Just ask God.

That’s our prayer. It is for this reason I have

entitled this sermon IT’S UP TO US. Living life

most honestly calls for “DOING LIFE” with humility

and especially commitment.

 

I would strongly highlight the word COMMITMENT

because if the Bible accentuates one dynamic chal-

lenge it is that of commitment-- to a life of per-

sonal creative accomplishment. WE are encouraged to

throw ourselves into life with “gusto.”  Whether

or not we believe in God is not the point. I am

inclined to believe that within us there is that

innate longing to do for ourselves what we ought

to do, lurking there waiting to burst forth like

a blooming flower in the middle of July. You’ll

find there a sense of personal responsibility – -

a responsibility that will not hide itself as an

ugly face in a dark corner. I’m aware that this

point of view seemingly puts prayer into question.

I am aware, also, that it brings to mind an anti-

quated concept – a theology that has been spoon fed

to humankind down through the centuries – a form of

thought that beckons us to call anxiously on that

One (some Supernatural being) waiting to deal with

our many whims, wishes and fantasies. It appears

most likely, as pointed out by Deepak Chopra, a

best selling author and lecturer, that “psycho-

logical and spiritual  evolution is frozen to a

level that is very tribal.” (Charlotte Observer,

Faith and Values, July 7. (I tell all my friends

when I aggravate and seemingly threaten their

belief system to talk with my cardiologist. I do

that because I commented to him one day, jokingly,

that I blame him for keeping me alive. So if I

aggravate you in regard to my reflections, I sug-

gest you contact him. Blame him for keeping me

alive.)

 

Well, what we moderns must do is to wrestle

with our responsibilities, doing what we must do

for ourselves and other. How fallacious and fool-

ish of us to think that after all, didn’t God

created us and having done that why should we think

of ourselves as being left out in the heat. We

might conclude: where is God when I face my hard-

ships, sufferings and overwhelming problems? Is this God whom we are encouraged to worship inept?

 

Or do we prefer to ignore dealing with our

own ineptitude? I throw out to you this idea:

is it likely that on most occasions, maybe for some individuals, on all occasions, a good psychological

approach to life may prove to be healthier. Think

about that. So I must stress that personal commit-

ment to creative acts speaks to our duty, as we are

encouragingly lured by God in that direction – not

coerced -- not forced – but gently persuaded to

deal with what we must personally deal with in

every encounter that presses against us stretching

out for that bread we want so very much. IT’S UP TO

US!

 

Now, I would suggest, if I understand the

Bible correctly, I do not believe God gets in the

way or interrupts our cherished plan; nor does God

drive us toward decisions we simply don’t care to

make. I would state that God, however, you wish to

define God, as personal or abstract, as Hegel chose

to define God, is not merely an interested by-

stander or one from whom we can flee. God’s pre-

sence does not, however, in any way inhibit us from

doing what we ourselves should and must do.

 

As for me, I feel strongly that God does give to

me the assurance of love and comfort but cannot

be content with my lack of effort to do what I

must do for myself or fail to understand that the

situations I encounter are unavoidable and come

about with the force of randomness.  As if to say,

“You may lean on my everlasting arms but don’t fall

sleep in the process.”

 

I think most of us have read enough psychology

and have had enough experiences to know that indif-

ference and the lack of commitment to responsible

living can result into drastic, unfortunate hap-

penings. I am inclined to feel that the practice of

indifference and lack of commitment are more dead-

ly than hostility! To act creatively is to live 

agonizingly for the good of self and others.

So, frankly, it is up to us, should I understand

theology as well as psychology appropriately. I

believe it was Nietzsche who claimed, if I recall

correctly, a thought which I now personally claim,

that if we ever encounter a God who always does

everything for us, who can cure a cold in the head

or get us out of the rain as it begins to fall,

that God would be absurd and have to be abolished,

even if God existed.

 

I believe, too, that Keats, that genius tried

by adversity, was on target when he wrote in es-

sence that if the earth is a vale of soul making

then we need a God who encourages us to do for

ourselves, one who teaches us to get on our own

rather than one who comforts us. For in our doing

it is then that we shall most likely discover God.

 

How intriguing are his words in his Ode:

 

        “Thus you live on high, and then

        

         On the earth you live again

 

         And the souls you left behind you

 

         Teach us, here, the way to find you

 

         Where your other souls are joying.

 

         Never slumber’d never cloying”

 

That is, never hindered from their doing.)

                               (See KEATS p.102)

 

So, keep in mind that authentic, intensive

living doesn’t come from simplicity but from

arduous backbreaking complexity. At the heart of

meaningful existence is honest to goodness commit-

ment to do for ourselves and others and that God is

not the enforcer to bring about those happenings.

We, I suggest, do not need one to pander to us with

our selfish whims and fantasies to which I have

already made reference and in the need of stress-

ing.

 

I would point out as emphatically as I can that we

must let God be God and let’s not make of that God

a servant on demand. Think of it this way: the God

whom anyone would claim as theirs, I should think,

would never let anyone run away from his/her human-

ness nor allow anyone to breeze through life with

immunity or irresponsibility. Let’s thank God that

it is up to us more than we might realize.

 

In Ernest Becker’s book THE DENIAL OF DEATH,

(P189), the author states: “Beyond a given point a

person is not helped by knowing but only by living

and doing.” Referring to one of Goethe’s maxims,

life is to go like this: “we must plunge( a very

graphic picture) into experience and then reflect

on the meaning of it. All reflection, however, and

no plunging drives us mad and all plunging and no

reflection and we are brutes.” Goethe wrote maxims

like this exactly at the time when daily life

became a problem for him, when he wanted that

bread, so to speak, when he no longer knew what

were proper doses of experiences, which adds up

to the DOING of life. If I understand him cor-

rectly, you and I are persuaded to get on with it.

 

It is up to us to get going, to experience

the joy of living and the DOING. In actuality,

 

IT IS UP TO US more than we would like to think

--admittedly or not! It really is up to us! And

to that I say with utter conviction: Amen and Amen! 

 

                           

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