Luke 17.11-19 7 October 2007
“BEST FIX THAT BROKEN WINDOW RIGHT NOW”
Last week I had occasion to visit
Good thing they are on top of that. Word has it that taking care of something so small as a broken window is more fraught with consequence than you’d guess. Researchers have discovered that one shattered pane of glass, left unrepaired for a significant period, causes a kind of malaise to creep into the neighborhood.
People see shattered glass and reach conclusions. The owner doesn’t care. The building is no longer in use. It is free for the taking. Then litter and junk gather in doorways. Graffiti appears on walls. More bricks sail through windows. Amazing-ly, it usually isn’t the age of a building that causes it to fall apart. It isn’t location or even the sum of money that the owner has for repairs. Instead another trigger is at work here turning useful buildings into ugly abandoned hulks. Not infrequently one unattended broken window starts a slippery slope toward structural damage.
Actually, what is called the “broken window theory” has inspired police depart-ments across the nation to crack down on small stuff to keep out big stuff. Rudy Giuliani was an early proponent. (No, this isn’t a presidential endorsement; this is a sermon!) As mayor of
A critic of the mayor claimed arresting turnstile jumpers was wasting police effort and money. They should be going after bigger fish, like the drug dealers. Guess what? Within the turnstile-jumping crowd they found no few drug dealers. You get the idea. Tending to small problems, instead of dissipating us, can become a royal road to managing greater matters, ones harder to wrap our arms around. So it looks like whoever said, “Don’t sweat the details,” doesn’t get the final word.
In Luke 16, Jesus said, “He who is faithful in very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” (v. 10). In Luke 17.1-10, Jesus healed ten lepers, sending them to show themselves to the chief priests, only to find themselves cleansed of their horrible disease. But only one of the ten actually returned and thanked Jesus. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving thanks. “Were not ten cleansed?” Jesus wondered. “Where are the nine?”
Jesus could be accused of being petty for expecting them to return and thank him. It was just a little thank you. In truth, Jesus wanted them to return and give thanks not for how it would make him feel. But because it would be an essential first step to the opening of a whole new era in the living of the rest of their lives.
Jesus saw a broken window in their souls and feared serious slippage ahead. So today we might do well to ask: where are the broken windows in our souls? Spiritually, where might we make a beginning, shoring up something seemingly insignificant in a way that could yield big results for a long stretch down the road?
Jesus mentioned ingratitude, where would we start? I’ll speak for myself. I find procrastination all too easy. I have this small bathroom on the ground floor of my home badly in need of paint and plumbing. It really wasn’t that much work at all. It took me over 20 months to do what was begging me every day to get done. Only after polite comments from houseguests on its disarray did I get motivated. I find it easy to procrastinate and feel so silly about it after I finally finish the job. Procrastination is one slippery slope in terms of big dreams not getting realized.
Where else are there broken windows in need of attention right now among us? One of the vices that Paul the Apostle condemned with surprising vigor is gossip. In his first letter to
But it’s not just out there in popular culture, sometimes we hear it in the church. A month ago, when I preached on confession and forgiveness, we spoke of the church as the place where we come to hear more truth than the world can stand. We spoke of how the trust born of being held in the hands of a merciful God allows us to tell more truth. We spoke of how we learn to speak and hear the truth in love. Today I add another layer. It is not enough to tell the truth—or what we construe it to be. God expects us to be true to one another. If that is vital for every last member here, it is doubly important for our leadership—lay and staff.
You have heard this before, to ask three things of all that we say: is it true? Do we distort how things really are by omitting key aspects that conveniently escape us? Is it necessary? Does it serve God by advancing the bigger causes for which God brings us together? It’s too easy to let personal pettiness intrude on larger vistas and God knows these days we are living on a grand panorama. Is it kind? Do we know that it is fair, or is it merely serving the resentments of our personal likes and dislikes. Remember, it is not about what I want, or what you want. It is all about what God wants. That and that alone makes the church holy.
Ingratitude, procrastination, and gossip are but three broken windows. Actually, we should all name our own. Before the winds of winter blow--and yes they will come despite our incredible Indian summer--we might all look at ourselves and ask about shoring up the little stuff. I tell you, such trifles might not seem so weighty, but the sum of little stuff is the best way to manage big stuff. Jesus said God will count faithful in larger matters those who are true in the smaller. That is the best way for this Dennis Union Church building of hearts and minds, spirits and souls to be kept sound and healthy for the lofty vistas where God leads us. Amen.
