"Don't Press Send" March 24, 2019, Rev. Peter Heinrichs
Luke 13:1-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
13 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
I suspect that most of you know what I mean by my sermon title ‘Don’t Press Send.’ Is that true? Have you ever pecked out an email or posted a Facebook thought or Tweeted out something………that in retrospect you wanted to have back? Singer and songwriter Carrie Newcomer has a very funny song called ‘Don’t Push Send’ that most of us can identify with. A portion of her song goes this way:
Carol wrote about her job's frustrations
What drove her crazy with aggravation
A list of every person's faults,
Precise and pithy, wry insults
She sent it off to her best friend
But saw with horror as she pushed send
She hit the keys and began to roar
She'd copied the entire office floor
And the refrain goes:
Don't push send
Don't push send
There are things that you can never quite amend
I tell myself again and again
Don't push send
Even if you have never touched email or social media in your life – you would be a rare bird if you can say there’s nothing you’ve ever written or said or done that you wouldn’t like to have back.
Yes?
So……I need your help. I’m thinking about different kinds of speech – not just electronic communication but also actions or behaviors that feel unhelpful and we could do without. I’m also thinking that I wish people could self-edit or occasionally keep certain thoughts to themselves. (I wonder about myself sometimes – but that’s another story). Here’s how you can help. I’m going to name a kind of verbal behavior I believe could use some extra consideration time and I invite you to join me in calling out loud: Don’t press send!
One: Gossip. People are naturally interested in one another. When ‘naturally interested’ becomes judgmental and behind-the-back, though, even nasty and shaming – I really want to cry out – now say it with me: Don’t press send!
Two: Too Much Information. People are naturally interested in themselves and want to share. When ‘naturally interested’ turns into providing details about what they ate for breakfast and lunch and personal details about relationships that are none of my business – I really want to cry out – EW – and say it with me: Don’t press send!
Three: Moments of Forgetfulness. Like the woman in the song, we’ve all had thoughts about others we normally wouldn’t broadcast. For those moments when we’re so wrapped up in our thoughts that we forget that words have consequences and before we actually blurt out things that hurt – say it with me: Don’t press send!
Four: Conspiracy theories. Goodness, folks. Can we just give the conspiracy theories a rest? What they and their kind have done secretly to me and my kind – if people only knew how virtuous my kind are and how utterly corrupt and contemptible their kind are – IF PEOPLE ONLY KNEW – can we once and for all give our conspiracy theories a rest – and say with me, please: Don’t press send!
Five: Robo calls. I get robo calls on my cell phone. The phone numbers are cleverly disguised to look local. Somebody has cherry-picked my name from a list of Medicare aged people and they want to warn me daily by phone that I am going to end up alone, vulnerable and miserable unless I listen to them and unless I press the button to buy in to their sale. Does anybody wish to join me in saying: Don’t press send!
I could go on and on, couldn’t I? Don’t press send, don’t press send, don’t press send…… it’s fun and relieves a little pressure to know that we’re not alone in being the subject or object of human foolishness.
But let’s press the “pause” button for a moment and listen to Jesus. The Luke passage we heard earlier is interesting because we hear Jesus commenting on current events of his time, something we have little record of. Jesus is noticing that observers can unconsciously blame the victims of atrocities or the victims of accidents as though somehow those dead should have known better than to break the law or to be at a certain dangerous place. Jesus appears to be saying, Be careful whom you judge, for you will also be judged. Don’t press send, in fact, until you have looked inside yourself.
That’s good advice, and the meaning goes deeper still. We are all vulnerable in this world to human cruelty and unjust acts, and none of us knows how or when our lives can be swiftly and unexpectedly taken from us. Take care, great care, then to use your time well and be aware of your own depths. We all have that in us which gives rise to fear and blame. We also have that in us which gives rise to love and courage. Jesus says be careful what you choose, what you give water and give food and attention to.
Many years ago I was a young pastor in an urban church. I was having a hard time figuring out how to be helpful to an older, white congregation from the suburbs trying to survive in a rapidly changing urban neighborhood most were afraid of and had a lot of judgments about. I kept pushing the congregation to learn to adapt, to open up, to see opportunity where they saw threat. It wasn’t going well.
After a few years of pushing this boulder up a hill, I decided I needed help. I made an appointment with the then President of the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC, Rev. Bennie Whiten, who was an old hand at urban ministry. At great length I described how I saw the facts. Bennie listened attentively for a while and then he stopped me and he said, You know, Peter, you remind me of a potato farmer. How’s that, I replied, mystified. Bennie went on: You remind me of a young potato farmer who’s afraid of what’s happening to his crop, so he goes around pulling up plants to see if the potatoes are ready yet. We were quiet for a moment. Then Bennie continued: As long as you are afraid, your congregation is going to feel blamed and you’re going to lose your crop. When you’re ready to trust them and they feel you’re going to love them anyway, you all will be willing to wait for harvest time to bring in the crop.
Bennie was introducing me to a deeper sort of don’t press send. The point is not to threaten Judgment Day, but instead to choose love and to trust the process.
A final thought on the word ‘repent.’ The word in Christian thinking sounds an awful lot like threat. God, in a word, is ‘going to get you.’ Let’s re frame that word ‘repent’ and instead simply be aware that you always have within you a choice. Make a daily practice of asking yourself what you are feeding and giving attention to. Choose wisely. It’s why you are here. Will it be fear and blame or love and trust?
The one who knows he or she has a choice -- is the one who is ready to – press send. Can that chooser be you? Amen
Luke 13:1-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
13 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
I suspect that most of you know what I mean by my sermon title ‘Don’t Press Send.’ Is that true? Have you ever pecked out an email or posted a Facebook thought or Tweeted out something………that in retrospect you wanted to have back? Singer and songwriter Carrie Newcomer has a very funny song called ‘Don’t Push Send’ that most of us can identify with. A portion of her song goes this way:
Carol wrote about her job's frustrations
What drove her crazy with aggravation
A list of every person's faults,
Precise and pithy, wry insults
She sent it off to her best friend
But saw with horror as she pushed send
She hit the keys and began to roar
She'd copied the entire office floor
And the refrain goes:
Don't push send
Don't push send
There are things that you can never quite amend
I tell myself again and again
Don't push send
Even if you have never touched email or social media in your life – you would be a rare bird if you can say there’s nothing you’ve ever written or said or done that you wouldn’t like to have back.
Yes?
So……I need your help. I’m thinking about different kinds of speech – not just electronic communication but also actions or behaviors that feel unhelpful and we could do without. I’m also thinking that I wish people could self-edit or occasionally keep certain thoughts to themselves. (I wonder about myself sometimes – but that’s another story). Here’s how you can help. I’m going to name a kind of verbal behavior I believe could use some extra consideration time and I invite you to join me in calling out loud: Don’t press send!
One: Gossip. People are naturally interested in one another. When ‘naturally interested’ becomes judgmental and behind-the-back, though, even nasty and shaming – I really want to cry out – now say it with me: Don’t press send!
Two: Too Much Information. People are naturally interested in themselves and want to share. When ‘naturally interested’ turns into providing details about what they ate for breakfast and lunch and personal details about relationships that are none of my business – I really want to cry out – EW – and say it with me: Don’t press send!
Three: Moments of Forgetfulness. Like the woman in the song, we’ve all had thoughts about others we normally wouldn’t broadcast. For those moments when we’re so wrapped up in our thoughts that we forget that words have consequences and before we actually blurt out things that hurt – say it with me: Don’t press send!
Four: Conspiracy theories. Goodness, folks. Can we just give the conspiracy theories a rest? What they and their kind have done secretly to me and my kind – if people only knew how virtuous my kind are and how utterly corrupt and contemptible their kind are – IF PEOPLE ONLY KNEW – can we once and for all give our conspiracy theories a rest – and say with me, please: Don’t press send!
Five: Robo calls. I get robo calls on my cell phone. The phone numbers are cleverly disguised to look local. Somebody has cherry-picked my name from a list of Medicare aged people and they want to warn me daily by phone that I am going to end up alone, vulnerable and miserable unless I listen to them and unless I press the button to buy in to their sale. Does anybody wish to join me in saying: Don’t press send!
I could go on and on, couldn’t I? Don’t press send, don’t press send, don’t press send…… it’s fun and relieves a little pressure to know that we’re not alone in being the subject or object of human foolishness.
But let’s press the “pause” button for a moment and listen to Jesus. The Luke passage we heard earlier is interesting because we hear Jesus commenting on current events of his time, something we have little record of. Jesus is noticing that observers can unconsciously blame the victims of atrocities or the victims of accidents as though somehow those dead should have known better than to break the law or to be at a certain dangerous place. Jesus appears to be saying, Be careful whom you judge, for you will also be judged. Don’t press send, in fact, until you have looked inside yourself.
That’s good advice, and the meaning goes deeper still. We are all vulnerable in this world to human cruelty and unjust acts, and none of us knows how or when our lives can be swiftly and unexpectedly taken from us. Take care, great care, then to use your time well and be aware of your own depths. We all have that in us which gives rise to fear and blame. We also have that in us which gives rise to love and courage. Jesus says be careful what you choose, what you give water and give food and attention to.
Many years ago I was a young pastor in an urban church. I was having a hard time figuring out how to be helpful to an older, white congregation from the suburbs trying to survive in a rapidly changing urban neighborhood most were afraid of and had a lot of judgments about. I kept pushing the congregation to learn to adapt, to open up, to see opportunity where they saw threat. It wasn’t going well.
After a few years of pushing this boulder up a hill, I decided I needed help. I made an appointment with the then President of the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC, Rev. Bennie Whiten, who was an old hand at urban ministry. At great length I described how I saw the facts. Bennie listened attentively for a while and then he stopped me and he said, You know, Peter, you remind me of a potato farmer. How’s that, I replied, mystified. Bennie went on: You remind me of a young potato farmer who’s afraid of what’s happening to his crop, so he goes around pulling up plants to see if the potatoes are ready yet. We were quiet for a moment. Then Bennie continued: As long as you are afraid, your congregation is going to feel blamed and you’re going to lose your crop. When you’re ready to trust them and they feel you’re going to love them anyway, you all will be willing to wait for harvest time to bring in the crop.
Bennie was introducing me to a deeper sort of don’t press send. The point is not to threaten Judgment Day, but instead to choose love and to trust the process.
A final thought on the word ‘repent.’ The word in Christian thinking sounds an awful lot like threat. God, in a word, is ‘going to get you.’ Let’s re frame that word ‘repent’ and instead simply be aware that you always have within you a choice. Make a daily practice of asking yourself what you are feeding and giving attention to. Choose wisely. It’s why you are here. Will it be fear and blame or love and trust?
The one who knows he or she has a choice -- is the one who is ready to – press send. Can that chooser be you? Amen