Matthew 7: 13-23

            So God turned to St Francis up in heaven and said:

            Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle, and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect, no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought, and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees, and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.

            Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing the grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn. The spring rains, (said God), and warm weather probably makes grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

            Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it - sometimes twice a week. They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay? Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up, and put it in bags. They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

            No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away. Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow. And when it does grow they cut it off and pay to throw it away? Yes Sir. Okay. (said God.) These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

            You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it. What are they thinking (said God). Well, at least they keep some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn the leaves fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural cycle of life.

            Uh...you better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have a practice - as soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away. But, then what do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots during the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose? Well... after they throw the leaves away, they go out and buy something called mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves. Okay. And... where do they get this mulch? They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, it's your turn to arrange for entertainment. What do you have?

            Well, I have this movie called Dumb and Dumber. It's this story about... Never mind. I think I just saw it.

            This is the time of year when we all take care of our little green rectangles. But a few years back, there was a famous case in a town not so far from here - a town well- known for its beautiful green rectangles - where one of the residents decided he liked wild flowers freely growing better than he liked green rectangles. So, he planted wildflowers and let the lawn surrender to them. His neighbors were incensed. They went to the town board, who told him to restore his green rectangle. He refused, and it went to court. It crawled up the legal system, until, finally, the man won the right to do what he wanted to do in front of his house - grow wild flowers instead of grass.

            And I love the look of a carefully tended green lawn. But, since I also love to see a yard-full of beautiful yellow dandelions, I was intrigued by the case of the man who would not conform to the usual green rectangle mentality.

            It seems to me that conformity has everything to do with what Jesus was talking about in the verses we read this morning. He didn't talk about grass and lawns - he talked about gates. And today, I want to talk about the three R's I see in this scripture - not Readin', Ritin', and 'Rithmetic. But I think Jesus is talking about the Road we choose, the Result from that choice, and the Relationship that means everything.

            First, the road: Jesus talks about the road as if we have two choices in front of us: we can take the wide road that everyone is taking. Or, we can take the narrow road that few people are taking - the road of individuality and non-conformity. And we know exactly what Jesus means. We see the green rectangles, and the rows of houses with few distinctions, and the fashions that come and go, and the fads that dictate who's in and who's out.

            I saw a perfect cartoon for this. It's a bunch of high school students standing out waiting for the bus in the middle of winter. They have all the latest fashions - mini- skirts, open shoes, fashionable bright jackets, nothing messing up their perfect hair- dos and buzz cuts. And they are freezing. You can almost feel their misery in the bitter cold. Then one of them goes, "Hey, check this out."

            And there walks past this person - male or female, child or adult - you can't tell because he/she is so wrapped up in winter clothes. The heavy hat, the old-fashioned mittens, the scarf over the face, the muk-a-luks, the heavy coat. The students silently watch the person go past, and then laugh like crazy at how uncool he/she looks. And then they go back to freezing in misery in the bitter cold and their 'in' clothes. We are so anxious to conform that we hurt ourselves. Many of you, I'm sure, saw the studies that indicated that many young men are setting themselves up for hip trouble later on in life. Why? Because of impact sports? Because of over-exercising? No, because of baggy pants that just barely come up over their knees. They have to walk so awkwardly to hold them up, they are doing damage to the hips. But it is a fashion statement, so bad hips is a price they will pay.

            And before we tsk-tsk, and shake our heads, all of us have done something for the sake of conforming - for the sake of staying in fashion - that has done us some harm.

            But Jesus is talking about something more than just fashion. He's talking about a bigger form of conformity - the very choices we make with our lives. And he's talking, perhaps, about more serious repercussions. What he says is, "The gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. (Meanwhile) the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Destruction or life? Jesus is talking about a heavy-duty choice.

            The fact is, we are living in a very un-spiritual age. We are living in an age where many people claim to follow Christ, but only so long as they can follow the popular road - the materialistic road, the self-protective road, the private road Jesus was none of those things, but we bend him into the mode we want, so we can stay comfortably on this wide and comfortable road, conforming with the crowds.

             In fact, the words of our scripture lesson were part of a sermon where Jesus said some of the most radical things this world has ever known - love your enemy; turn the other cheek; do not worry about what you will wear; do not judge other people; do not show off your religion. If we really put what Jesus taught into practice, we would not be on the popular road at all. We would be on the narrow, hard to find road, with just a few fellow travelers. That's what following Jesus means. What is the most radical thing you have done to demonstrate your faith in the real Jesus?

            If you follow the right road, then you move on to the second, and get the right result. On the wide, popular road, there will be false prophets. Beware of them, says Jesus; they are ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing. And you will know them, says Jesus because you will see the fruits of their actions - you will see the results of the road they have chosen.

            For example, a couple years ago, our nation, led by our president, pledged to undertake a major campaign to treat and reduce the terrible AIDs epidemic in Africa. We pledged to back that campaign up with a major outpouring of money - five billion dollars. Instead, we have spent so far a tiny fraction of what we promised - barely 100 million. Now other industrial nations are proposing a major program that addresses the same promises we made. And we are still holding back. So what the world sees is our nation that claims to be a Christian nation - presents ourselves as compassionate leaders in the world - but the results say otherwise. If we are known by our fruits, they don't back up the words we profess.

            The same holds true on a personal level If a person claims to follow Christ, and then takes part in the gossip parade against another person, or doesn't share any of his or her blessings with others, or joins in with racial jokes, or lashes out against others at the drop of a hat, or isn't true to his or her word, or honest in business - these are false prophets. They have chosen the popular road - the way of the world. They are known by their fruits - the way they act, and the results they get.

            Jesus calls us to the narrow path of real love and personal integrity - and that is a narrow, hard-to-find road in today's world. In our lives, we meet a few ~ who truly live by these ideals, and they leave a mark in this world. This week Billy Graham will give quite possibly his last crusade. I don't believe everything Billy Graham preaches, and some raise doubts about some of the advice be has given some of our presidents. But he sticks out among television evangelists because of his integrity, and his truth,  and his unwavering faith. He's taken the narrow road, and the result has been amazing fruitfulness.

            And if we want to live fruitful lives - if we want our existence to mean something in this world - then we will follow Christ down that narrow road.

            That brings us to the third R. and the third R is downright scary, the way it's told in the scripture. It talks about a day when a bunch of people arrive at the door of the kingdom of heaven. There are many of them who have called themselves followers of Christ - as Jesus says it, they have said, "Lord. Lord." But these were the ones who took the wide road - the popular road. They were false prophets - their words meant nothing; their actions gave them away. And as they plead to enter the door,  Jesus will send them away with these words: "I never knew you."

            The third R is Relationship. Many people will claim they are Christians. But few will travel the narrow road; few will experience the results of love and grace; because few will actually have a relationship with Jesus.  Few will actually know him.

            Now what exactly does that mean? I have heard that phrase - "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" - since I was a little boy. And I have spent a great deal of time trying to understand exactly what it means. I have met people who describe it as a mystical experience - they have seen Jesus in a dream. or in a vision, or heard his voice calling their name. I've not had that experience, so I have been

kind of lost to understand what they were talking about - especially since the fruits of many of their lives don't reflect much that resembles Christian love to me.

            But I share with you what I have discovered. It has to do with a verse from Galatians 2, verse 20, which says. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."  And I don't see that as somehow killing my individuality, or my identity as the specific person God made me.  I see it instead as an invitation to let Jesus perfect who God made me to be.  And when I have truly lived under that idea - Christ lives in me - every moment of every day.  When I see someone, I try to see them through the eyes of Christ.  When I say something, I try to make it reflective of Christ guiding my words.  When I make a choice, I try to imagine it as the choice Jesus would make.

            I rarely succeed. There is too much of myself in there, and my self is strong willed and stubborn and self-centered.  But there have been a few times where I got close to something better - something beyond myself.  And in those times, I have found myself not traveling the popular way of the world.   But a different path; a road less traveled.  And the results have been something beyond anything I could have planned for myself.  The road has been great; the results have been amazing.  But the relationship - the sense of a spiritual bond with Jesus my Savior - there is nothing in the world that compares to that.

            This morning I'd like us to think again about the invitation of Christ . We've been reading, over the last many weeks, little by little, the most famous sermon of Jesus.  That sermon is drawing to a close now - and the question arises what we the listeners will do about it.  And Jesus is placing before us two choices.  What road will you take?  In a world that sanctions materialism, violence, aggression, self-centeredness, and vindictiveness - will you take the wide, popular road with everybody else?

             Or will you take the radical, narrow road - the road of the cross - the road of sacrificial love and integrity, of peace and eternal hope? The results of that choice are much different: the wide road leads to destructiveness; the narrow road is not the easy one, but it's the one that leads to life, and spiritual joy - because it is grounded in a relationship with Jesus, where Christ becomes more than just your traveling companion.  He becomes the voice within you; his Spirit becomes the very breath you take.  And that's not losing your identity; it's fulfilling it in a glorious way - the Bible calls it abundant, eternal life.  And Jesus gave his life so you could find yours.  What will you do?  Which road will you take?