Sermons for the Month
The MEGO Factor
DATE: April 2, 2000
SERVICE: Lent IV
TEXT: Ephesians 2:1-10“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Now don't all you Republicans write me letters or corner me after church. But many people love Al Gore. He is a decent man. If he gets the Democratic nomination and is elected President of the United States next fall, I think the country will be in good hands. However, he is also the highest-ranking dull man in the United States. At least this is what the polls suggest. And perception is reality. He is vanilla pudding in a hot salsa world. Brown shoes with a blue suit. A Wooden Man Walking. The National Council of Dull Men--I am not kidding--argue, however, that dull is not necessarily boring. "Dull men accept their dullness. Boring men are dull men who actually believe they're interesting." It's the difference between heavy set Norm Peterson and mailman Cliff Clavin, of Cheers fame. To his credit, Gore the Bore has tried to shed his image. He laughs about the jokes at his expense, and tells a few on himself. He has even indulged in some gangsta rap, jabbing the Republicans ("We say legislate, they say investigate; We say educate, they say escalate"). Doesn't matter. When Gore starts speaking, we're hit with the MEGO Factor. My Eyes Glaze Over. It happens when your Microsoft support technician tells you that you "can save and load Word 2000 files in HTML and that because HTML is an open standard, you can save a document in HTML format and view it in the browser on any platform, because when you import an HTML file, all unknown tags are stored, even if Word cannot display them." Huh? The MEGO factor. It probably happened when this Ephesians text was read. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (2:8). Say what? Grace. Saved. Faith. Gift. Four crucial Christian concepts. Four terms that stand like blocks of bedrock, forming the foundation of our faith. Four words that appear together in a single verse from today's Scripture lesson, four words that can quickly lead to a dangerous case of MEGO because we -- especially those in this room -- have heard them so often before. But my friends, if we give into a case of MEGO with these four words, we can run the risk of losing our bearings, spiritual and otherwise. Consider the case of John F. Kennedy Jr., whose death in a small aircraft almost nine months ago, together with the death of his wife Caroline and her sister Lauren, saddened the world. Kennedy was 5,500 feet above the Atlantic at dusk when night, sea and sky merge in confusion. There is no horizon. No stars. The plane nudges to the right, but the pilot can't sense the change in direction. Virtually flying blind, the eyes glaze over. Within 15 seconds, the small plane drops nearly 500 feet and turns 35 degrees and then goes into a graveyard spiral from which there is no recovery. Such spirals are the insidious enemy of inexperienced pilots. The body's senses, from the inner ear and from the eye, are notoriously unsuited to detecting gradual turns in murky conditions, and sometimes these senses will trick a pilot into taking actions that make a bad situation worse. At the point of disorientation, the pilot MUST rely on his instruments and not trust his senses. A sudden correction back to level flight can trick the inner ear into thinking that the plane is turning in the opposite direction. Pilots who ignore their instruments in this situation guide the plane back into the very spiral they just corrected. Salvation in the air comes from trusting your instruments, not your feelings. So how are we going to fly when life gets dark and murky? We use our instruments, that's how. We are faith flyers, not sight flyers. We are brought safely home by grace, not goodness, and it all is the free gift of God. Grace. Saved. Faith. Gift. When we sense the MEGO factor kicking in our spiritual life, the only thing that will save us is not our perception about whether we are flying parallel to the horizon nor our eyes or inner ears saying we are right-side up, but what the instrument panel--the Word of God--says. So what are the readings on this panel we should look for? Altimeter. Airspeed. Attitude. Heading. Four ways to fly blind. A spiritual pilot's crosscheck to keep us from the danger of "following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air," and "following the desires of flesh and senses" (vv. 2-3). Watch your altimeter. The grace-gauge keeps us at the right height, at the altitude, that we're heaven-borne, not earth-bound: "Raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (v. 6). Note your airspeed. It's important to stay within ourselves, and not try to get either ahead of God (presumption) or behind God (disobedience). God sets the speed and gives us the power to maintain it. Keep an eye on your attitude. Make sure your nose is oriented properly. Enough said. Watch your heading. This isn't your flight plan, but God's. Keep that in mind. The flight plan is set for us; our job is to step into the cockpit and soar. Consider the case of the pilot who was flying home but got caught in a storm and clouds (true story). Visual flying was impossible. To his horror, he realized that his instruments were not working. Flying blind, he was experienced enough to know that he could not trust his senses to save him. Desperate, he spied a small jar in the cockpit. Quickly, he relieved himself into the jar, which in his nervous state was not a problem. He then set the jar atop his instrument panel and watched the jar like a hawk. By watching the liquid in the jar, he was able to keep his aircraft level until he flew through the storm, and on to a safe landing. By watching our Lord and keeping our eyes on him we too can fly through any storm and on to a safe landing. I want to leave you with a poem written by Faith Lutheran member Bill Woodall, himself a pilot. I asked his permission to share it with you. It really touched me and I think it will touch your heart too. It is titled "Why?" There is a moral dilemma, and it must be as old as man, Why the innocents are punished? How could this be Gods Plan? We read the lines in the book of Job, and the words-our senses rout; We live here at GOD'S pleasure-- understandings-- much in doubt. It is hard to believe that we're but a test, in some much greater scheme, And with all of our worldly wisdom, we've no knowledge of its theme. The loves that I came in contact with, and their impacts on my soul; Be they parent, wife or children dear, each worked to make me whole. I lived and learned and thought I knew how best to help my Lord, And move to smoothly do those things, that must fulfill HIS word. But often times I came to find that HIS vision wasn't mine. And what I saw was out of sync with the sands of time so fine. None of us is immortal, and each life is just a loan, We think we'll know the payback time-somehow we will be shown; That there must be an order in it; and it should reflect the span; Those who've lived the longest will surely lead their clan. All issues will be settled, when it's time to say goodbye, Grieving will be healing for the one who is yet to die. But maybe this is hubris, and I'll really never know, And its only my translation as events around me flow. Ecclesiastes, with its philosophy so bleak, Doesn't really give much solace to the issues that I seek, But it does give some perspective to the questions of the age, There is a time for birth and death and it does no good to rage. Allowed to play the hand I'm dealt, is about all I can do, I don't know where the trump cards are, and I have mighty few. I continue to trust that the dealer will always play me straight, And I hope that I never renege on HIM, as HE reveals my fate. I can also pray that my gamesmanship will seldom HIM displease, And if I feel that I have let HIM down-- will hear me on my knees. Flying level. In the fog. By faith. That's what Discipleship is all about. AMEN