November 17, 2013 - Proper 28C

In the name of God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

            I’m going to start this sermon with a story that might seem more like a presentation on sales and marketing than it does the Gospel, but we’ll get there. If you’re like me and like spicy food, then you’ve heard of Sriracha. It’s a hot sauce that was created by David Tran 33 years ago after he moved to Los Angeles from Vietnam, and was craving the kind of hot sauce he remembered back home. But he couldn’t quite find anything that suited his palate, so he decided to make his own. The Sriracha brand has become synonymous with the word “hot sauce” in many places, and you can buy t-shirts and iPhone covers with the logo, there are cookbooks based entirely on this ingredient, and Frito Lay now sells Sriracha flavored potato chips. In 2012, Sriracha sold over 20 million bottles for a profit of over $60 million. So you’d expect that David Tran started with a great business model and has worked hard to build his hot sauce empire.

Feb 2- Pick Your Feast

So February 2 gives us two things to celebrate, either Groundhog Day or The Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple (readings). Groundhog Day of course is a day where we look forward to the coming of warmer weather and remember the actions of Bill Murray in the movie of the same title. The Feast of the Presentation is the time when Jesus was presented in the Temple according to Jewish purification laws. The prophets Anna and  Simeon both offer their proclamations about the child. I've always loved the Book of Common Prayer's translation of Simeon's words:

Lord, you now have set your servant free *
   to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
   whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
   and the glory of your people Israel.

So what will you be looking for? A prognosticating groundhog or signs of the Savior, who is a light to enlighten the nations and the glory of Israel, all around us?

It has been said that "what you count is important and it is important what you count" in church circles. Often folks are referring to attendance figures; do you measure church vitality in the number of people who attend your services, or in the number of people who live transformed lives as as result of their church attendance? Not many churches keep figures on the latter.

In the same way, what we focus on is important. Without getting too political/partisan, what have Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney decided to focus on? Negativity, attacking each other and President Obama? How do people of self-claimed faith focus on so much negativity? And what do we listen to? They wouldn't be doing it if they weren't finding results. Does negativity speak louder to us than positive messages? Would we rather know why Candidate X is a terrible person more than we want to know why Candidate Y would be a good leader? What do we focus on?

In our interactions with family members, cashiers, students, teachers, colleagues, do we focus on their mistakes and shortcomings (of which we all have many) and ignore all the good in them? Are there people you interact with for whom you focus on finding the flaws so you can discredit them?

Or how about in yourself? Where do you focus- the joys, the sorrows, the limits, the pain, the triumphs, the hope? It's more complex than asking yourself if the glass is half-full or half-empty. In focusing on something, we affect it. In quantum physics, this is called the Observer Effect. So your attitude and thoughts really do matter. This isn't to say that having "bad" thoughts is a bad thing, but rather it is an invitation to focus on the things that matter the most to us. Leave work at work, leave the driver who cut you off on the road, but focus on what truly matters- love, joy, God.

What day is today? Is it Groundhog Day? Is it the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in which we are reminded of the Savior who has been prepared for all the world to see? Depends what you want to focus on.