One True Master Series

I remember when we first began attending church in Portland, OR. They could tell I was originally from the northeastern part of the US. Something about an accent and an attitude. I still don’t know what they meant. It is true that people who are from that area of the country are considered to have a slight attitude problem. We tend to speak before we think.

President Obama referred to us this way, “You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania,…… it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Well I guess folks from where I come from do cling to our guns and our religion. We consider ourselves a little rougher and tougher than some parts of the country.

I have a copy of a letter sent home from someone from this area who joined the military to give you all a good picture of what it means to be from an area like northeastern, PA

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell brother Walt and brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for the old man by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first, because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. But I am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.

We all got to shave but ... it is not so bad, there's warm water.

Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on "route marches," which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A "route march" is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks.

The sergeant is like a schoolteacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bull's-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ol' bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from the next town over. I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6" and 130 pounds and he's 6'8" and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,

Alice

Now I don’t want anybody to judge this young lady on her rough and tough country roots. As a matter of fact, as Christians we ought not to be judging anybody. That’s not our job. This morning’s sermon topic deals with this very idea of judging others.

Let me preface what I am going to say today with stating up front that this is not a message I would choose to give. I don’t like to talk about my role as a pastor or how you should treat someone in this position. There is always the fear that I would appear to be self-serving or that I might have an agenda of some sort. I assure you this is not the case. I have enjoyed being your pastor for the past three years and I think you folks treat us right fine as a pastor and as a family.

My reason for preaching this message today is simple: It’s what comes next in the book of 1 Corinthians. Up until now Paul has been dealing with the problem of disunity in the church at Corinth. Last week’s sermon ended on the note that Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were given to the church to build and strengthen it. They in no way desired to have followers of the Lord Jesus Christ divided over who they preferred as a preacher, counselor, or friend.