Sermon Notes, Lent 3: Too Big To Fail
(Vicar's note: I went off the cuff and didn't record my sermon from Sunday, so the below is a brief synopsis.)
I have been reading Sorkin's book, "Too Big To Fail" and learning a little bit about this whole economic melt down and how it got started, and why it happened and how it was encouraged by the actions of a few. Interesting book, I like it and enjoy it. What I find fascinating is the drive to succeed and the complete unwillingness to fail on the part of the main characters of the Wall Street Investment Banks. They were so confident in what they were doing, had been through so much that were driven to believe that they could never fail.
Having just finished the Olympics, I saw the same kind of mentality on the slopes, in the rinks, all over the place, people who were simply unwilling to fail, unwilling to lose, unwilling to finish second. The difference between the Olympics and W@all Street of course, is that someone always finished second and the athletes tended to accept their position while the big bankers refused to accepts finishing second.
I was having a conversation last week with a woman who is pregnant and was telling me about a friend of hers who happens to be a pastor. Her pastor friend seems to find it important to tell her that she is going to hell. Because she doesn't go to church. I looked at her and said, "And why is this woman your friend?"
But all this got me to thinking, is the Church too big to fail? Is the Church too big to fail in the way the banks are too big to fail, in that we are so networked and connected throughout the world that if Christianity failed in some way, the world would come crashing down? Or is the Church too big to fail because our Christian leaders are so stuck in their ways, so oblivious the crises around them that they cannot see past the ends of their own noses.
Is the Church too big to fail, and in what context is it too big to fail? In a good way or a bad way? We, as Christians, often think we are called to be lambs, all the time, taking whatever is doled out to us and simply accepting it. It's the Christian thing to do. I wonder about walking a fine line however, where we embrace our light, our strength and live out of the confidence of our expertise, the strength of our knowledge, the passion of our lives while also holding in our hands the great need for humility and compassion we are called to have.
Is it possible to have both Wall Street Drive, and Mother Theresa Compassion in our lives? Is it possible to hold those two in tension so we can live as full a life as we are able? Confident in the gifts that we have been given by God, all the while changing the world with compassion and humility...
I have been reading Sorkin's book, "Too Big To Fail" and learning a little bit about this whole economic melt down and how it got started, and why it happened and how it was encouraged by the actions of a few. Interesting book, I like it and enjoy it. What I find fascinating is the drive to succeed and the complete unwillingness to fail on the part of the main characters of the Wall Street Investment Banks. They were so confident in what they were doing, had been through so much that were driven to believe that they could never fail.
Having just finished the Olympics, I saw the same kind of mentality on the slopes, in the rinks, all over the place, people who were simply unwilling to fail, unwilling to lose, unwilling to finish second. The difference between the Olympics and W@all Street of course, is that someone always finished second and the athletes tended to accept their position while the big bankers refused to accepts finishing second.
I was having a conversation last week with a woman who is pregnant and was telling me about a friend of hers who happens to be a pastor. Her pastor friend seems to find it important to tell her that she is going to hell. Because she doesn't go to church. I looked at her and said, "And why is this woman your friend?"
But all this got me to thinking, is the Church too big to fail? Is the Church too big to fail in the way the banks are too big to fail, in that we are so networked and connected throughout the world that if Christianity failed in some way, the world would come crashing down? Or is the Church too big to fail because our Christian leaders are so stuck in their ways, so oblivious the crises around them that they cannot see past the ends of their own noses.
Is the Church too big to fail, and in what context is it too big to fail? In a good way or a bad way? We, as Christians, often think we are called to be lambs, all the time, taking whatever is doled out to us and simply accepting it. It's the Christian thing to do. I wonder about walking a fine line however, where we embrace our light, our strength and live out of the confidence of our expertise, the strength of our knowledge, the passion of our lives while also holding in our hands the great need for humility and compassion we are called to have.
Is it possible to have both Wall Street Drive, and Mother Theresa Compassion in our lives? Is it possible to hold those two in tension so we can live as full a life as we are able? Confident in the gifts that we have been given by God, all the while changing the world with compassion and humility...
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