Too "Big" to Fail; Too "Good" to Overlook?

If you remember the discussions late last year about whether it was necessary to "bail-out" failing private companies with public money, you also probably remember hearing some public officials and pundits saying that it was in the public interest to save these private corporations because those corporations were "too big to fail." The idea is that if some, select, large, banks, automobile manufacturers, and stock brokerage houses -- pillars of the national economy -- are allowed to suffer the full consequences of their poor financial decisions, the national economy, as we know it, would cease to exist.

Yesterday, we were confronted with the personal equivalent of the the corporate "bail-out": Too good to overlook. We see this dynamic at work in the case of Health and Human Service Secretary designate Thomas A. Daschle who, it was reported, failed to pay more than $128k in taxes over three years for "unreported consulting fees, questionable charitable contributions, and a car and driver provided by a private equity firm. . ." (Click here for the full article in The Washington Post.)

He "is the best person to help reform health care in this country, " said a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid. In other words, he's too good to overlook.

Mr. Daschle is not the first of President Barack Obama's nominees for cabinet-level positions to own up, belatedly, to having unpaid federal income tax obligations. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner was in Mr. Daschle's place only a few weeks ago, when it was revealed that he owed more than $43k in unpaid federal tax and interest on the amout owed. (Click here for the full article in The New York Times.) Concerns about the incongruity of the nation's senior tax collector (since the Internal Revenue Service is under the Treasury Department) being less than circumspect about his own taxes were soon resolved, in some degree because, as the White House Press Secretary said: Geithner is the “right person to help lead our economic recovery during these challenging times.” In other words, he's too good to overlook.

The idea of something being too big to fail; or of someone being too good to overlook ought to make all of us uneasy, because such views imply that the rules that generally apply to others, do not specifically apply to me. It would seem that such attitudes have largely contributed to -- and perpetuated -- our foundering financial, economic, political, and moral states.

I think that there is an antidote to the "2big/2good" view: Humility and equity.

Humility requires that we repudiate the intoxicating thought that some rules don't apply to us because we're too wise, successful, or strong. Humility requires that we readily admit that we haven't always been square in our public and personal dealings, and resolve -- daily -- to live according to the highest standard.

Equity (fairness) requires that we continually ask: "If it's good enough for me, why is it not good enough for others?" Equity requires that if we do not like the answer to the previous question, that we commit our energy to balancing the scales.

Lection Reflections: 4th Sunday after the Epiphany

"Lection Reflections" is a short review of the themes of the coming Sunday's scripture readings as written in the Book of Common Prayer's Lectionary, Year B. For more information on lectionaries, and how they can work to aid Bible knowledge, click here!

The common theme of Sunday's readings (sometimes a common theme cannot be found, so don't sweat it if one doesn't present itself) is found in the reading from the Epistle: I Corinthians 8: 1b - 13. The setting is a discourse about eating food sacrificed to idols (which is another discussion for another time), but the common message is this: "Knowledge puffs up; but love builds up." (Verse 1b)

In the Gospel reading, Mark 1: 21 - 28, the setting is Jesus teaching in the synagogue. No surprise here, because synagogues exist to pursue knowledge, and rabbis (teachers) go together with synagogues and teaching like ducks and water. The common theme surfaces here, though, when a man with an unclean spirit interrupts the class. What to do, what to do: Keep the wheel of knowledge rolling, or do the loving thing and attend to the needs of the man?

Psalm 111 tells us that it is "the fear of the Lord" -- not knowledge -- that is the beginning of wisdom.

Finally, the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy 18: 15 - 20 is an ancient reminder that God was not against His people having knowledge, but that some sources of information were a detriment to life and liberty, and that it is better to trust in a loving God.

Have a great Sunday!

Easier Heard than E. F. Hutton

Once upon a time, there was a financial services company named E. F. Hutton & Company. In its heyday -- the 1970s and 1980s -- it promoted itself with a series of popular commercials that included the catchphrase: "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen."

E. F. Hutton is not talking these days. Thanks to the acquisition and merger process, what, for decades, used to be the second largest stock brokerage house in the country is now a part of Citigroup, the private financial services firm that must rely on public money to survive.

On the other hand, God is speaking. Today. To you and to me. Speaking, in a language that is clearer than words.

Oswald Chambers wrote: "God speaks in the language you know best -- not through your ears, but through your circumstances."

To be sure, not everyone hears. Sometimes, we do not want to hear. Sometimes, we allow the din of living to drown-out His voice. Yet, God continues to speak. He speaks through His written word, the Bible. He speaks through the witness of His people, the Church. He has spoken, most definitively and finally, in the person of Jesus. (Hebrews 1: 1-2) He speaks personally to you and to me through our circumstances.

I do not believe that God prefers shouting to the conversational, but shout He will, if it means directing us toward the lifeline we've overlooked, or toward the path that leads to purpose and joy.

What is God saying to you through your circumstances?

The Year of the Friend

Several months ago, a friend of mine sent to me a short article on relationships titled: "A reason, a season, or a lifetime." I found it useful because it helped me to come to terms with the inevitable phases of human friendship.

I have been blessed -- many times over -- by people from each of the three categories: Season, reason, or lifetime. I have often wondered what has become of those with whom I had worked, played, helped, or had received help. I have grieved over relationships that I have starved of necessary attention because of self-centered interests or laziness. In my heart, I know that my life would have been fuller and richer had I only reciprocated. I know that it is not humanly possible to redeem these situations. Some of my greatest champions died long ago.

Oswald Chambers wrote: "True friendship is so rare on earth. It means identifying with someone in thought, heart, and spirit." So, I have decided to dedicate 2009 to my friends; or, more accurately, to being the kind of good friend that many others have been to me -- whether for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

While I am in the moment of using cliches and the words of others, allow me this borrowed thought: "A true friend doubles our joy and divides our sorrows." With that kind of help, 2009 can be the best year yet!

Coach Kay Yow's Winning Advice

Legendary North Carolina State University women's basketball coach Kay Yow died Saturday of breast cancer. According to an obituary disseminated by the Associated Press and published in The Washington Post, it was a battle that began in 1987, but it proved the coach to be as fierce a competitor off of the court as she was while on the court.

Regarding her cancer and coaching, she said: "If you start to dwell on the wrong things, it'll take you down fast. Every morning, I wake up, and the first thing I think of is I'm thankful. I'm thankful for another day."

Winning advice, to be sure, for all of life's challenges!

How to Receive a Copy of the "Excellent" Sermon

For those who want to receive a manuscript of the sermon that I had made reference to in my post on Sunday, please make your request directly to its preacher: Chaplain Jamie Stall-Ryan, USN at stallrya@usna.edu.

A modest man, Jamie was reluctant to have his manuscript posted on the World Wide Web because his 'script was a "pulpit version" that was not yet ready for "publication." That said, I am confident that he will honor personal requests for a copy (as he did mine).

What Makes An Excellent Sermon?

I heard an excellent sermon this morning!

This is remarkable, because on any given Sunday -- Easter, Christmas Eve, and Christmas day included -- it is hard to find an excellent sermon, though not for a lack of effort on the part of the person in the pulpit; nor a lack of diligence on the part of the seminaries that attempt to provide theological students with basic homiletical tools.

But today, the Navy chaplain in the Navy chapel near our home in Annapolis hit paydirt, and I reflected anew what it was that made today's sermon superior to the numerous others I've heard in the previous months.

The scripture text for this excellent sermon was Matthew 3: 13-17, which is the prescribed reading for the "First Sunday after the Epiphany," and it describes the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan River.

Today's sermon was excellent because it asked a simple question: "Why was it necessary for Jesus to be baptized?" To be sure, most people have yet to lose a wink of sleep pondering that question, but it is an honest question that deserves a thoughtful answer.

Today's sermon was not excellent because the preacher provided a thoughtful answer (that ought to be a given and, sadly, this is where most preachers stop). Today's sermon was excellent in how the preacher provided the thoughtful answer: Through illustrations that were as accessible as they were believable.

Anyone who has spent more than a month of Sundays in the pew has probably heard a "preacher story," which is an illustration that has a clear "moral," but its circumstance is not believable; or heard an illustration to which no one can relate because it fails to resonate with the experience of the audience.

Finally, today's sermon was excellent because, in a closing illustration, the preacher -- deftly utilizing humor, and the pathos of the human failure -- surprises the hearer with a clear example of human acts that points to divine grace.

(I am resisting the urge to repeat the sermon, of course, but I will ask the preacher for his permission to post it as a link in a future blog.)

So, what makes an excellent sermon? A biblical text. A simple question. A thoughtful answer. Illustrations that are accessible and believable. Humor (which is not the same as "comedy"). Human nature. Divine grace.

This is Luther's list. I am eager to hear your thoughts!