Conspiracy of
Love
Reverend
Ron Campbell
Tarrytown United
Methodist Church
June
29, 2003
John 1:1-5;
14; 3:16-17
Today I lift
up for your
consideration
that there's
a "Conspiracy
of Love"
at the heart
of life, and
it's God who
is conspiring
for our good
out of deep
divine love.
The dictionary
defines conspiracy
as an act of
conspiring or
secret planning
to do something
unlawful or
wrong. And a
conspirator
is a person
who conspires,
who joins a
plot. I propose
to you that
God is a conspirator,
but one who
conspires for
good and not
for evil.
There is a theory
in physics that
points to the
reality of this
conspirator
in creation.
Brandon Carter,
an astrophysicist
and cosmologist,
introduced this
scientific principle,
the Anthropic
Principle, in
1973 at a gathering
of scientists
in Poland celebrating
the 500th birthday
of Copernicus.
He contended
that any tiny
change in creation
with the gravitational
constant in
relation to
electro-magnetism
would have resulted
in a universe
with no "middling
stars like our
sun, which makes
human life possible.
Scientist who
supports this
theory argues
for a universe
with a definite
beginning, which
"appeared
to be expressly
designed for
the emergence
of human beings."
Examining the
data of creation
he noted that
if our container,
the earth had
been at any
time in history
1-2 % hotter-colder,
Life, as we
know it would
not exist! You
see the emergence
of Life is just
too awesome
be explained
by chance. Science
is giving up
an atheistic
view of the
universe, because
chance cannot
explain what
has happened!
Science must
now make room
for divinity!
Creation must
have been set
up from the
beginning for
life! Many scientists
are now conceding
that there must
be a Conspiracy
of Intention
in the universe.
The modern world
had ruled out
the possibility
of mystery in
creation, but
we live in a
post-modern
world today,
a time when
modern thinkers
now accept the
gifts of human
intelligence
and technological
progress, but
are also able
to integrate
the reality
of mystery in
the universe.
The age of enlightenment
the modern world,
with its emphasis
on logic, reasoning,
and scientific
method emerged
out of theological
assumptions
that God had
created a universe
that operated
on predictable
principles.
But the modern
world took our
human ability
to reduce life
to logic too
far, and squeezed
out truth that
cannot be document
in scientific
method.
We are still
children of
the enlightenment,
accepting reason
and logic as
authorities
we use to establish
our beliefs,
but we seem
to now understand
that enlightenment
must include
an appreciation
for faith having
a friendly relationship
with secular
wisdom. There
must still be
a place for
mystery in life.
And this space
opens the door
for a belief
in a real God
who has a real
relationship
with his creation
and his creatures.
Rev. Howard
Rice/Retired
Chaplain of
San Francisco
Theological
Seminary brought
this realization
home to me at
an Austin Presbyterian
Theological
continuing education
seminar in 1995.
Dr. Rice was
previewing his
book, The Pastor
as Spiritual
Director. He
sat in a wheelchair,
suffering for
twenty years
from a form
of Multiple-Sarcoidosis
(MS). He told
his story of
being in a hospital,
with such a
high fever that
the doctors
feared for his
life.
Finally, one
doctor wrote
a prescription.
It said, "Take
communion."
The moment he
took the bread,
his fever dramatically
broke, the nurse
documenting
it in the medical
log. Through
the years, he
realized, more
and more, that
a miracle had
occurred. God
did a miracle
in his life,
he was convinced,
but it was not
about physical
healing, otherwise
his MS would
have been cured.
The miracle
was about God
getting his
attention in
a specific and
real way. You
see, he became
convinced; the
lines between
the physical
and what we
call the spiritual
world are dotted.
Our universe
is open, not
closed, to the
real presence
of God.
I have been
privileged to
know another
giant of faith
that also knew
that the lines
are open between
the spiritual
world and the
physical world.
Karl Kirsch,
retired Jewish
Psychiatrist,
incorporated
this understanding
in the way he
approached therapy
with his clients.
He proposed
that we imagine
a little outdoor
French restaurant
with you as
the therapist
sitting at your
own table. Your
client is sitting
at another table,
and God is sitting
at a third table.
Each of you
has your own
table and each
of you does
your own thing.
You do your
work, but not
your client's
work. Your client
does their work,
but not your
work. And God
does God's work,
but not your
work or the
work of your
client.
I like this
image of God
having a real
job to do in
creation, God
having a table
in the same
restaurant.
But I also like
the fact that
in this image
God lets us
be human and
have our own
table too. Karl
Kirsch understood
that our universe
is open, not
closed, to the
real presence
of God. And
in therapy,
there is a unique
role for the
therapist, the
client and God.
All three of
us are in the
same restaurant,
but each has
our own unique
contribution
to the outcome
of life.
Is your universe
open to the
real presence
of the spiritual?
Is God real
in your life?
Is God's presence
and care for
you real to
you? Is God
conspiring in
your life, moving
in unseen ways
to influence
you for good?
Let me caution
you not to be
too quick or
too confident
in saying yes,
for God's presence
remains a mystery.
In any particular
situation, how
can we say with
complete conviction
that God did
this or that
God didn't to
this? God is
not a defensive
screen that
protects us
from all the
slings and arrows
of outrageous
fortune, and
God doesn't
come running
at our beck
and call every
time we call
for his assistance.
To think also,
as many people
do, that God
has a plan for
everything,
and that plan
is so specific
that everything
that happens
is God's action
is a form of
fatalism that
doesn't respect
the integrity
of human beings
as having real
responsibility,
making real
choices, and
subject to the
consequences
of living in
a real world.
God respects
us too much
for that. But
the question
still remains:
Is God real
in your life?
Is God's presence
and care for
you real to
you? Is God
conspiring in
your life, moving
in unseen ways
to influence
you for good?
Don't you from
time, usually
in looking back
over events,
really believe
that God's hand
was present
and at work
in your life,
participating
with you and
influencing
you and others
around you?
And haven't
you felt and
believed that
God has blessed
you in a personal
and specific
way?
I believe that
God's hand is
at work in my
life, that God
has been and
is conspiring
out of love
for me. There's
so much evidence
for it over
my lifetime,
but let me mention
just one thing.
God brought
me to Jeri in
1969. I'm convinced
it wasn't just
an accident
that I came
to Round Rock
to teach and
coach and met
her and fell
in love with
Jeri, my wife
of thirty-three
years. I graduated
from Austin
College in Sherman
and joined the
Navy Reserve.
I was offered
a teaching job
at Hurst High
School in the
Fort Worth area
at the early
part of the
summer. A distant
relative called
me before I
accepted the
job and invited
me to apply
for the head
baseball coaching
job at Round
Rock High School.
I told him I
wasn't interested
as I already
had a job at
Hurst High School.
The next day
I went to Ft.
Worth to accept
the job. After
the principal
took me to see
my room, we
went back to
the office where
he looked over
my application
again. He noticed
for the first
time that I
was in the Navy
Reserve, and
would teach
only one year
before going
active duty
in the navy.
He reconsidered
his offer, saying
that he needed
someone who
would be there
more than one
year, and withdrew
his offer for
me to teach
American History
in his school.
I went home
without the
teaching job,
and discouraged
about my future
for the next
year. That very
same night I
umpired a Junior
League baseball
game Denison,
Texas. One of
the coaches
was late to
the game, so
I took an infield
fun-go bat and
Hit infield
for his team
to warm them
up. As I did
so, I thought,
"Ummmm,
baseball coach…Where
is Round Rock?
Maybe I should
give it a try!"
The next day
I called and
got an interview
with the head
coach and the
superintendent.
While in the
superintendent's
office, accepting
the job, I met
a teacher/principal,
Xenia Voigt,
who later became
my in-law. Aunt
Z went home
and said to
Jeri, my future
wife whom she
raised, "Jeri,
today I was
in Mr. Grisham's
office, and
I met the cutest
little coach!"
The rest is
history, but
to say that
Jeri's parents
died young.
Her three uncles
also died during
her high school
years. From
her family's
point of view,
I was their
answer to prayer.
I assumed the
role of the
only man in
their family,
which had lost
all of their
strong men.
Maybe this was
God's leading,
maybe it was
not, but I believe
there was a
conspiracy of
love at work
in the unfolding
of events that
brought us together.
Conspiracy of
Love: Could
it be true?
We do have evidence
in creation
and in our lives
that God is
real and present
in our world.
We have evidence
from nature,
science, and
our personal
experiences.
But it seems
the way that
we apprehend
this holy presence
most convincingly,
in the deepest
parts of our
souls, is when
we hear the
stories of faith
and act out
the drama of
faith through
our rituals
and sacraments.
It's the telling
and retelling
of the stories
of faith, of
God's work in
creation, in
the Hebrew people,
God's work in
Christ, and
in the church,
that moves us
to belief. It's
in the telling
and retelling
of the stories
of how God has
reached out
in love to his
creation and
his creatures
that moves us
to perceive
that there is
a mysterious
conspiracy in
the universe
with divine
origins that
is setting life
up for us in
love.
Walter Brueggemann,
theologian,
pastor, and
a preacher,
wrote about
the power of
telling the
story each week
from the pulpit
in his book,
Finally Comes
the Poet! He
contends that
it's in the
telling and
retelling of
the stories
of faith in
church, the
preaching each
week in the
tradition of
the prophets
and poets, that
keeps us in
touch with the
life of the
gospel and the
truth of God.
Brueggemann
adapted and
elaborated the
Walt Whitman
quote "Now
comes the poet,"
and applied
it to the preacher:
"After
all the seas
are crossed,
after the great
captains and
engineers have
finished their
work. After
scientists,
noble inventors,
the chemists,
the geologists,
the ethnologists,
Finally comes
the poet, worthy
of that name.
The true child
of God shall
come singing
songs!
After the engineer,
the inventor,
the scientist,
the chemist
and the ethnologist:
after all who
control through
knowledge, finally
comes the poet,
the prophet
and the preacher.
The poet, the
prophet and
the preacher
don't come until
the human community
has engaged
in its best
reason and its
best management.
Then comes the
power of poetry,
and revelation,
and proclamation:
the shattering,
evocative speech
that breaks
fixed conclusions
and presses
us toward what
is new and dangerous
and toward the
truth of God.
And what is
the song of
the Poet? The
true child of
God? It sounds
something like
this: In the
beginning was
the Word, and
the Word was
with God and
the Word was
God. All things
came into being
through him,
and without
him not one
thing came into
being. What
has come into
being in him
was life, and
the life was
the light of
all people.
The light shines
in the darkness,
and the darkness
did not overcome
it. And the
Word became
flesh and lived
among us, and
we have seen
his glory, the
glory as of
a father's only
son, full of
grace and truth.
For God so loved
the world that
he gave his
only Son, so
that everyone
who believes
in him may not
perish but may
have eternal
life. Indeed,
God did not
send the Son
into the world
to condemn the
world, but in
order that the
world might
be saved through
him.
Today I lift
up for your
consideration
that there's
a "Conspiracy
of Love"
at the heart
of life, and
it's God, our
heavenly Father,
most clearly
revealed to
us in Christ
Jesus, who is
conspiring for
our good out
of deep divine
love.
I'll close with
a Story - Parable
which illustrates
this very powerfully,
the truth of
divine love
in a human story!
Rev. Ray Johnson
was keynote
speaker at the
Safari Youth
Director training
in 1995 in San
Antonio. I now
relate to you
a story he told
to him by a
parishioner
from a church
he had pastured
a few years
before. This
was a personal
experience that
had happened
to this man
when he was
a young boy
in a Little
League Championship
Baseball Game.
Now most all
of us can relate
to Little League
Baseball, either
as a player,
coach or parent.
I relate this
story from his
personal point
of view, the
names are different,
as I can't remember
them accurately,
and so I am
substituting
names that are
names of my
own family.
There were two
outs in the
last inning.
We were one
run behind,
the bases were
loaded, and
I came to bat,
the worst player
and the worst
hitter! My coaches
and teammates
screamed "don't
swing! Take
the pitch!"
But I swung,
three times.
And all three
times, I missed!"
I struck out
and lost the
game! You can
visualize the
victory yells
from the winning
side. They mobbed
the picture's
mound and wildly
and loudly celebrated
winning the
championship.
And you can
visualize the
yells from the
losing side,
the screams,
"O God
No! My teammates
and parents
and fans yelling,
"You blew
it, you choker,
you loser."
I ran to bench
and covered
my head with
a towel. I was
crying and sobbing.
After all the
screaming and
yelling, I heard
a familiar voice,
the voice of
my dad. He yelled
"The game's
not over! Johnny,
you're up! Get
your bat! I
uncovered my
head to see
my family in
field. I got
my bat and went
to the batter's
box again. My
dad scooted
in and pitched
to me underhanded.
I swung, this
time hitting
the ball on
the ground to
the second baseman,
my sister Sarah.
I ran to first
base. The ball
went through
Sarah's legs
into right field.
I ran to second.
My uncle Jay
threw the ball
high over the
shortstop's
head, Mama Forrest.
It went to left
field as I ran
on to third
base. The left
fielder, Papa
Campbell threw
the ball to
the third baseman,
my cousin Jack.
He bobbled the
ball and it
rolled toward
the dugout on
the third base
line, as I raced
toward home
plate. The throw
by my cousin
was a little
high, as I just
barely slide
over the plate,
SAFE AT HOME!
My family ran
to me and carried
me off the field
on their shoulders
a hero, the
winner of the
game! That day
I knew something
special had
happened, but
as the years
have gone by,
I have realized
more and more
what a gift
of love I was
given that day!
I had been the
recipient of
a Conspiracy
of Love: Not
unlike the way
God conspires
to love you
and me with
a love that
will never end
even until we
are safe a home!"
Theoretical
physicists know
that the creation
itself is a
setup from the
start for
life, and from
Biblical revelation
we know that
God established
the conditions
for us to be
loved from the
beginning of
time. In the
Gospel of John
we are given
the key to understanding
this Conspiracy
of love: "For
God so loved
the world He
gave His only
son that we
might have life."
Let us pray:
God, thank you
for creating
the container
we call life
that we might
enjoy being
human, with
all that that
means. And thank
you for revealing
yourself to
us in nature,
in our experience,
in the stories
of faith, and
most importantly
in the revelation
of yourself
in Jesus Christ.
And thank you
for not deserting
us, for participating
in our lives,
and for conspiring
to love us even
when we are
not aware of
it." Amen
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