I wish I had bought stock in the T-shirt industry. Of the making of souvenir T-shirts there is no end. People are using T-shirts to send all sorts of messages. Some T-shirts advertise products. Some T-shirts identify the work places. Some focus on the club memberships.
And then some T-shirts make political statements. I remember being in Williamsburg, VA, and seeing a young woman wearing a T-shirt that said, “You may have gone to the College of William and Mary, but I went to the College of Mary and William.” Feminism on a T-shirt.
Other T-shirts identify the your family. This is family reunion time, and I have already seen several of you with shirts that proclaim your family history. I recall one that was done something like petals on a flower. At the center was a couple who were the founders of the family. Each petal represented one of their many children. And so when you wore this T-shirt at the family reunion, you could identify whose flower child you were!
Still other T-shirts reward people for their participation. Run a 10K marathon in the sweltering heat, pounding the pavement, crossing the bridges, up hill and dale, and what do you get for your effort? You get sore muscles, shortness of breath, and a T-shirt. No money, no plaque, but you get a T-shirt.
In fact, there are so many T-shirts, and they have been used so many times for so many events, that now people say cynically, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” That is meant to communicate, “Oh, don’t go there. I’ve tried that.” You have a suggestion for a new place to go? They respond, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” You think you have a new idea? They say, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” You think you’ve discovered a something new? They dash it with sarcasm, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” It’s the ultimate putdown, it’s the bucket of cold water thrown on an ember, it’s the snarling snap against suggestions. It’s the calloused calculating cynicism of those who feel too old, too jaded, too worldly-wise to try anything new.
Solomon captured this feeling, writing Ecclesiastes, “All is vanity, and there is nothing new under the sun.” If Solomon were writing today, he’d say, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
Shakespeare knew it, writing Macbeth,
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
A lot of words, Will. Hard words. We can do it faster, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
And the writer of Hebrews knew about this, too, and knew that in our spiritual lives there is nothing more to be experienced, nothing more to know, nothing more to feel. Suggest a new spiritual possibility, and we reply, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” I remember suggesting to someone that a Bible class would be right for her, and she said, “I don’t go to Bible class.” I said, “I know you don’t; that’s why I’m suggesting one.” “No,” she told me, “I don’t go to Bible class. I went as a kid. So I don’t do that any more.” In other words, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
But I cannot improve on the challenging and frightening words of the author of Hebrews:
… let us go on … leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation … For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away ….
Challenging and frightening words. When our spiritual lives are mired in cynicism; when we believe that there is nothing new for us; when our faith is not growing or going; when our relationship with God is static; when to every new idea, every new possibility, and every new dream we cavalierly toss aside, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt” – then we are in serious danger.
Let’s review what has happened to us when our faith becomes static.
I
Most of us begin with a wonderful, joyous experience with Christ. Whether we were kids responding with a child’s beautiful trust, or whether we were adults coming out of spiritual wanderings; whether we grew up in the church and came to Christ as naturally as breathing, or whether we fought Him every step of the way until He grasped us, when we came to Christ we felt new. We felt fresh.
What we felt could be pictured by this T-shirt. “Horizon Energy”. That’s a great image of what it is to come to Christ. When you came to Christ, you felt boundless energy, you felt joy, you felt burdens lifted, you felt despair pushed aside. It was great. Energy was on the horizon.
And the back of the shirt reinforces the same thing. “It’s a new dawn.” What a glorious beginning. Do you remember what Paul says in Second Corinthians, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” It’s a new dawn. Can you remember feeling that way?
But let me tell you more about this particular T-shirt and how I got it. Horizon Energy was one of those start-up companies that were going to sell natural gas. In the era of deregulation, we were supposed to have choices about our natural gas suppliers. Horizon Energy offered lower prices, a fifty-dollar payment, and a T-shirt if you would sign on with. So I signed on. I got the fifty dollars. I got the T-shirt with its proud slogan. But nothing ever happened with the gas sales. The company went into financial collapse, and I’m still paying dear old Washington Gas Company. Been there, started that, got little more than the T-shirt.
There are many Christians who could honestly wear this T-shirt. We come to Christ, we get the gifts promised, but the energy wanes. The power never comes. We are still back at the beginning. Something more needs to happen.
I knew of a man who used to give testimonies whenever they were called for. Every time he would say the same old thing. “Twenty years ago the Lord saved me.” Then it got to be, “Twenty-five years ago the Lord saved me.” All he did was update the calendar. “Thirty years ago, thirty-five.” Finally one day the folks in that church had had just about enough, and when this brother stood up and cleared his throat, they all cheered as the pastor said, “Now, Brother Jones, if you will, is there anything the Lord has done for you lately?” Brother Jones could have worn the Horizon Energy shirt, with the brave slogan, “It’s a new dawn.” But the promise was stuck back at the beginning. “Been there, started that, got the T-shirt.” But nothing else.
II
However, have you noticed that even if our spiritual lives don’t go anywhere, many of us get into a church? We just kind of know that that is what is expected of us. In America there are churches everywhere, of all sorts and descriptions, more than 800 churches in the Washington area alone. Church-going is very popular. Some churches are tiny, but some have thousands of members. There are plenty of folks who get into churches. We seem to think we should. The problem is that it is easier to be involved with church than it is to be involved with God. It is easier to go to church than it is to be a part of the people of God.
This T-shirt illustrates that for us. Our very own Takoma Park Baptist Church T-shirt. I notice that this shirt doesn’t mention God at all. Just the church. Just the building, in fact. I’ve noticed that it doesn’t take us long to get uncomfortable with talking about God; we’d rather talk about church! You ask somebody, “How is it with you and the Lord?” and they will say, “I go to Takoma Park Baptist Church.” That’s not what I asked! But that’s what they will say. Instead of focusing on God and what He is about, we tie up our faith with involvement in an institution, the church.
But what else do you notice about this T-shirt? What strikes you most about it? Its color. Red. A red shirt. Now, let me ask the sports fans, what is meant by the term, “red-shirt”? If a college football player is red-shirted, what does that mean? It means that he can practice with the team, but is ineligible to play. The rules make him eligible to participate only a certain number of seasons; but maybe he has chosen to slow down his training and take five years to graduate. So a red-shirt can practice with the team, but he does not play. A red-shirt is on the team for practice but not on the team for playing the game. He’s there but he cannot play in the real thing.
Friends, a whole lot of church members are red-shirted. We’re in the church, but we’re not on the field of battle. We’re under the roof of God’s protection, but we are not on mission for God. We’re not about what God wants us to be about. We’re ineligible. We’re back at the fundamentals. We’re back in the basics again. The author of Hebrews is shocked at this:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.
We need the training, but if all you do is train, you’re not in the game. If you focus only on the church as an institution, the zest will go out. The power will disappear. The church is a training ground, it is a practice field. It is designed to equip you, but for something else. Too many of us are red-shirted. We are ineligible. We are still on baby’s milk, unskilled. You need the training, yes, but that’s not the same thing as the game!
People ask why churches have so much conflict. Why do church folks fight? Church folks fight when they are focused on the church and not on the mission of the church. Churches have fights because they get stuck in the details, and they don’t see what the world needs from them. It is said that as the Russian Revolution was overthrowing the czar and creating a whole new way of life, the holy synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was tied up in a long and bitter battle about the length of the tassels on the priests’ vestments! Still training, but not in the game; and that will destroy the church. That will destroy your spiritual life. And all you will be able to say about your Christian life is, “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.” A red shirt, mired in churchly pettiness; what good is that?
III
So what is to be done about this? What is the answer? How do we get ourselves out of the woeful boredom and vapid cynicism that takes us over? There are several things we can do.
First, we can recognize that we are children of God. We can begin by rediscovering how much God loves us. This T-shirt gives us the word. Courtesy of Dr. Robin White and Tuskegee’s School of Veterinary Medicine, this T-shirt pictures some of our furry friends and proclaims, “All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.”
That helps. For spiritual refreshment begins just by knowing that God is faithful, that God loves us, that God will not let us go. God will never walk away from us. And just as the cattle on a thousand hills are His; just as not a sparrow falls without His knowledge; just as the beasts of the field and the fowl of the air, the fish of the sea and all things matter to Him, how much more do we matter! How much more does He care about us, the crown of His creation!
Why, He cares enough about us to come in human form, and, in human flesh, to become obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He cares enough to suffer when we suffer. He cares enough to rejoice when we rejoice. When we struggle, He struggles. God is with us. That is the very core of the Christian faith. He is the great Immanuel! That is the beginning of spiritual renewal – just to affirm that God loves and cares for us.
Thank God, I can gladly wear this T-shirt: “All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.” Been there, doing that, wearing this T-shirt. That starts me out of boredom and cynicism.
IV
Second, once I know that God loves me, I can find out what time it is in my life. I don’t have to sit back and wonder when things are going to get better or when a new day is coming. I can listen to the calls in my life and I can respond. If I know that God loves me and has a plan for my life, I can find out what that plan is. I don’t have to sit around in a nostalgia trip. I can find out what time it is in my life.
Last year a group of young people from Texas came up here and helped us with Vacation Bible School. They gave me one of their T-shirts when they left. It says, “Youth on Mission” on the front, but I like the back, “It’s time for missions.” It’s time for missions. You see, the writer of Hebrews is frightened for the Christians to whom he wrote, because they aren’t getting on with their lives. They are stuck back here like babies. They should be a lot farther along than they are. They should be teachers, he says. They should be doing something. They needed to know what time it is in their lives.
What time is it in your life? It’s time for missions. It’s a grand thing to sense where you are in the plan of God. “Youth on mission – it’s time for missions.” I’ve been there. And it energizes me even today. I remember my call to ministry as if it were yesterday. I remember at the age of twenty feeling excitement and thrill and determination. I remember getting myself enrolled in seminary as quickly as humanly possible. I remember taking any preaching or teaching assignment I could get. I wanted to be on with it. I knew what time it was in my life, time for missions.
V
But I also know what time it is in my life right now. I know that right now, today, I feel a divine impatience. I know that I want a holy boldness for myself and for you. I know that there are enormous tasks to be done and many ministries to be performed. I know there are lives to be redeemed and souls to be saved. I feel so strongly about what time it is in my life right now. How can I say it better than this T-shirt says it; this T-shirt represents our church at one of its finer moments, when a number of you went three years ago to help rebuild a burned-out church in Littleton, NC. It was one of our church’s finest hours, because you lived out a commitment to racial justice. You expressed unqualified love for brothers and sisters in distress. You put your hands and your hearts to work. It was a great moment. I didn’t go personally, so I don’t fully qualify to wear this T-shirt. But I would gladly wear the word of God emblazoned on it, from Micah 6:8.
He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
I would gladly wear that, because it announces that we are committed to the whole work of God, all of it, not just institutional stuff and not just empty pieties, but we are committed to the tough stuff, justice and mercy and a walk with God. The whole business. If there is any one thing you are bound to hear from me in the days to come it is this: that I shall not rest until it becomes normative for every person in this church to put the Bible in one hand and the tools of your trade in the other, and to use all that we are to make a difference somewhere in this world. Do justice, love mercy, walk with God. It all ties together.
If you want authentic spirituality, then do not sit in these pews. If you want to know God, do not mess with church politics. Do not speculate about doctrine. Do not worry about the preacher’s rhetoric or the choir’s rhythm. Go beyond that pettiness. Wear this T-shirt: justice and love. Reach out and touch somebody’s life. Find a hurt and heal it. Find an itch and scratch it. Don’t go to church; be the church. Wear this T-shirt.
VI
And then, I assure you, you will have an experience with God as you have never had before. I assure you, God will be for you as clear as a new dawn. The horizons of your energy will be unbounded.
I assure you, you will have an experience with God that will be revolutionary. No longer a red-shirt in training, you will be in the real game, where you belong, where the red speaks only of the blood spilled before the foundation of the world.
Knowing that God loves you, believe that you are among the creatures great and small, and the Lord God made them all, even you.
Seeing what time it is in your life, know that whatever your age or your circumstance, it is time for missions.
Find your path in a church that is going to do justice, is committed to loving mercy, is walking with God.
Do these things, and I’ll show you the T-shirt you will at last proudly, gladly wear.
“God is like COKE … He’s the real thing.
God is like PAN AM … He makes the going great.
God is like GENERAL ELECTRIC …He lights our path.
God is like BAYER ASPIRIN … He works wonders.
God is like HALLMARK CARDS … He cares enough to send the very best.
God is like TIDE … He gets the stains out that others leave behind.
God is like VO5 HAIR SPRAY … He holds through all kinds of weather.
God is like DIAL SOAP … Aren’t you glad you know Him? Don’t you wish everybody did?
God is like SEARS … He has everything.
God is like ALKA SELTZER … Try Him, you’ll like Him.
God is like SCOTCH TAPE … You can’t see Him, but you know He’s there.”
Been there; still there. Nothing takes away my joy.
Done that; doing more of that, as long as it’s mission.
Got this T-shirt? I hope so. Come now to receive it. Come now.
