Brian's Sermons

I used to belong to the YMCA, and there was one thing that really bothered me. No, not the people who were obviously there to be seen, not to work out (“really, you’re going to walk on the treadmill in flip flops?” Or “you chose to wear that to work out in?” or “Not so much perfume next time, please!”). The one thing that really bothered me was the lack of attention to the rules. The track was the big place where some people constantly chose to disregard the rules, especially regarding the direction traffic was flowing. I don’t know how many times I had to dodge people who were going the wrong way! My mom would laugh at me for saying this, but I am a rule follower. I like to know exactly what the rules are, and honestly I can tend toward a Pharisaical attitude toward the rules. I can find myself thinking, “Well, I would never do that, ” when there are other rules I obviously would break. That reminds me of a parable Jesus told: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee ...

A few years ago, I got the chance to visit my brother and his wife in England. While we were there, we went a few hours west of London for a few days. We rented a car; you might have guessed; I was a little wary of driving in England. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do; shifting gears with the wrong hand, driving on the wrong side. And that didn’t even take into account the fact that we were following unfamiliar maps on unfamiliar roads, going places we had never been before. I found a couple of things very helpful. First, the traffic moved very politely. Secondly, though I missed my turn about as many times as I made it, there were lots of handy traffic circles. So every time I missed my turn, I knew in a mile or so I’d be able to easily pull a legal U-turn and get back on track. One thing that is important to find out before getting on the road is what the rules of the road are. Are you legally allowed to make a U-turn? Who has the right-of-way in a traffic circle? The rules of th...