WEBVTT 00:00:00.179 --> 00:00:07.509 Well, a couple of months ago, when I was piecing together, we had annual conference coming, that United Methodist Conference once a year. 00:00:07.509 --> 00:00:12.044 I thought that is a rough week to put a sermon together with time and everything. 00:00:12.044 --> 00:00:21.609 So a couple of times what I've done is let people get to know somebody who's walked in their midst in a deeper way. 00:00:21.609 --> 00:00:29.873 Oftentimes it'll be somebody they've known for years and years, maybe even decades, and so I'm going to invite Tim Bonds to come forward. 00:00:29.873 --> 00:00:30.896 There. 00:00:30.896 --> 00:00:44.405 He is hiding in the corner over here and I know Tim has had an interesting faith journey and not only that, an interesting guy as well. 00:00:44.405 --> 00:00:49.003 Those of you who've been in Bible study and other places with him know that. 00:00:49.003 --> 00:00:52.673 So here we'll sit down so we don't look all tense. 00:00:52.673 --> 00:00:56.886 I'm a little nervous, yeah, why are they so tense? 00:00:56.886 --> 00:01:01.523 So before we start, tim knows there's three questions I'm asking. 00:01:01.523 --> 00:01:04.069 Right, I'm going to add a fourth. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:08.281 Do I get a lifeline? 00:01:09.543 --> 00:01:10.765 I knew enough to know. 00:01:10.765 --> 00:01:16.414 Engineer, right, engineer, you add something to the plan for an engineer. 00:01:16.414 --> 00:01:22.093 There's usually a cost and schedule impact. 00:01:22.093 --> 00:01:27.030 So I'm going to invite you to take one minute and just give the quick overview of your life. 00:01:27.030 --> 00:01:36.135 You know, born here, you met your lovely wife Nancy, the kind of things you've done for a living, your kids and maybe what lands you here. 00:01:37.240 --> 00:01:39.484 So very quickly, in less than a minute. 00:01:39.484 --> 00:01:44.353 Born and raised in Michigan, met my wife at the University of Michigan. 00:01:44.353 --> 00:01:47.129 We have some fellow alumni here in the room today. 00:01:47.129 --> 00:01:49.867 We moved here. 00:01:49.867 --> 00:01:56.451 We lived in St Louis for a number of years, then we moved here in 1993 and started with this church right away. 00:01:56.451 --> 00:01:57.965 So it's been 32 years. 00:01:57.965 --> 00:02:00.347 Our three daughters grew up in this church. 00:02:00.347 --> 00:02:03.569 One of them is volunteering right now in Sunday school there you go. 00:02:03.569 --> 00:02:08.634 Started work here at the Rand right now in Sunday school, there you go, and started work here at the Rand Corporation down in Santa Monica. 00:02:08.634 --> 00:02:11.837 And that, in less than a minute, is about it, yeah. 00:02:12.681 --> 00:02:14.444 So I'm going to push just a touch. 00:02:14.444 --> 00:02:17.632 What have you done with the Rand Corporation? 00:02:17.632 --> 00:02:19.881 Because I know it's provocative stuff you do. 00:02:20.561 --> 00:02:24.443 So many things Now, part of the reason why I'm nervous today. 00:02:24.443 --> 00:02:35.191 Pastor Darren, in your message you said that I'd had a provocative life and I remember one time in my past when I was provocative, I think the principal called me down to the office. 00:02:35.191 --> 00:02:38.272 So we were wondering exactly what would be in the interview. 00:02:38.272 --> 00:02:45.538 Today, larry, when we were kicking around the choir loft before this service said that well, maybe it's an exit interview. 00:02:45.538 --> 00:03:06.734 So, without quite knowing what to expect At the Rand Corporation, most of my work there has been trying to help the Department of Defense make better decisions, and that could be about personnel policy, that could be in acquisition of new technologies, that could be in some of their strategies and some of their other policies. 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:13.413 Worked a long time 10 years with the Air Force and then another 10 years with the Army. 00:03:13.413 --> 00:03:24.310 I was a program director and ran Project Air Force, working with one of my colleagues in church here today, and then I was a vice president of the Army Research Division. 00:03:24.310 --> 00:03:29.752 Now I'm a senior fellow, which I think means I used to run something but no longer do. 00:03:31.001 --> 00:03:33.387 But you've been in some significant rooms too. 00:03:33.387 --> 00:03:36.564 You've been in the room where it happened every now and again, Every now and then. 00:03:36.564 --> 00:03:37.990 Yeah, which you know. 00:03:38.451 --> 00:03:58.861 Kudos to you, you know, to have done something and done it in a way that gets you you where, where what you have is is coveted by important people these are just opportunities to serve really, and so the the any kudos would be only if the team that I represented and was the front person for several times in my career if they provided something of value. 00:03:58.861 --> 00:04:02.866 So if there was value, there was a whole room full of people that did it. 00:04:02.866 --> 00:04:05.729 If there was an error made, then it was usually my error alone. 00:04:08.412 --> 00:04:10.754 All right, Now you can relax. 00:04:10.754 --> 00:04:16.168 We're going to go to the three questions I told you I was going to ask so that he could prepare for them. 00:04:16.168 --> 00:04:26.612 So my first question and this is actually part of a prayer practice, a spiritual discipline, if you are interested in doing it. 00:04:26.612 --> 00:04:30.987 It's kind of a Lectio, kind of understanding a little bit, I guess. 00:04:30.987 --> 00:04:39.487 But at the end of the day, you might ask yourself these three questions, the first being where did I see God today? 00:04:39.487 --> 00:04:46.055 I asked him to talk a little bit about where he's seen God in his life. 00:04:48.322 --> 00:04:50.149 I see God when I see his angels at work. 00:04:50.149 --> 00:04:56.971 There are many in the world, many of them in this very room today, and I can give you some examples of that if you wish. 00:04:56.971 --> 00:04:58.620 But that would be my short answer. 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:01.410 So let me give a very personal example. 00:05:01.410 --> 00:05:05.555 I mentioned that Nancy and I and our kids moved here in 1993. 00:05:05.555 --> 00:05:11.880 Our oldest was three years old at the time and we thought she was doing a great job with the transition Big move. 00:05:11.880 --> 00:05:14.627 She was born and grown up in St Louis. 00:05:14.627 --> 00:05:20.266 We were moving here, but she seemed to feel it was a great adventure until we moved into our house. 00:05:20.266 --> 00:05:25.266 For some reason, we moved in, her furniture was in her room and she didn't want to come out. 00:05:25.266 --> 00:05:28.170 So we walked in there to find out was something the matter? 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:34.730 And she told us a story about a little girl that was all alone and her only friends were her lamp and her dresser. 00:05:34.730 --> 00:05:39.101 And so we thought you know, maybe the move has been harder on her than we thought it would have been. 00:05:39.122 --> 00:05:40.663 Yeah, that hurts the heart turns out. 00:05:40.682 --> 00:05:41.923 The very next day was Sunday. 00:05:41.923 --> 00:05:43.524 We came here our first time. 00:05:43.524 --> 00:05:51.129 There was a church event that night and one of the other little girls, just a few years older than Stephanie, took her by the hand and said would you like to play? 00:05:51.129 --> 00:06:02.456 And the answer was, of course she did, and she beamed, she brightened up and from then on she felt like she had a home, she had family, she had friends, she belonged somewhere, and it changed everything. 00:06:02.456 --> 00:06:13.624 So a small thing, but something as a father that really touched my heart, and I can say that many other times in my life. 00:06:13.624 --> 00:06:22.572 The most personal examples of what you ask when I see God's work present in the world has been when someone's reached out to my family, to one of my children, and made them feel worthwhile, a part of something. 00:06:24.142 --> 00:06:36.555 Do you see it, I'm going to push just one more time and then I'm going to go, darren, stop pushing, but one more time in in your, in your uh, professional world. 00:06:36.555 --> 00:06:41.911 You know, because that's I love your family, I got a family, I got angels in my family, but I'm wondering, because it's such a provocative place. 00:06:41.911 --> 00:06:47.586 You got angels in my family, but I'm wondering because it's such a provocative place. 00:06:47.586 --> 00:07:01.541 You've lived in and I recognize maybe it's a place where you don't have a lot of freedom to talk, but is there somewhere where you've had your heart warmed by people in that provocative place? 00:07:01.541 --> 00:07:04.406 You know, in the rooms that you've been able to walk in. 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:09.538 There have been many times in my professional life when I've been really trying to help. 00:07:09.538 --> 00:07:14.365 You know a client that's really, you know, having a difficult challenge, a difficult problem. 00:07:14.365 --> 00:07:20.519 There have been many times when there's been someone that's really helped me and it's with no benefit to themselves. 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:22.704 They just thought, look, I'm going to pitch in. 00:07:22.704 --> 00:07:29.112 I'll give one quick example, without naming names. 00:07:29.112 --> 00:07:31.437 First time I had a really significant leadership opportunity challenge. 00:07:31.437 --> 00:07:34.250 I was asked to take on a program director's job, which for me was a big deal. 00:07:34.250 --> 00:07:41.360 I mean, you had responsibility for a significant slice in that case of the Air Force's work with RAND. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:42.865 It was a big challenge. 00:07:42.865 --> 00:07:54.014 You had lots of people that'd be working with you and for you, all of whom were senior to me, and there was one particular individual that offered to work closely with me and said that, hey look, whatever you need I can help. 00:07:54.014 --> 00:08:06.422 This is a person who had many, many different leadership responsibilities that ran previously, all more senior than the one I was asked to do, didn't really need that job, but just volunteered to be helpful. 00:08:06.422 --> 00:08:14.223 So that's one of those times when you know it was help that was undeserved on my part and really, really helpful. 00:08:14.223 --> 00:08:17.913 I'll give you one other one though that touched my heart and really, really helpful. 00:08:17.913 --> 00:08:19.175 I'll give you one other one, though that touched my heart. 00:08:19.194 --> 00:08:20.235 We were in 2008. 00:08:20.235 --> 00:08:28.043 People may not remember, but it was a time I was acting as the leader of the Army Research Division at Grand. 00:08:28.043 --> 00:08:37.143 Then Wasn't yet the named vice president, the vice chief of staff came to us and said hey look, I'm afraid the Army's going to break. 00:08:37.143 --> 00:08:38.129 We've got soldiers deployed for 15 months. 00:08:38.129 --> 00:08:39.753 They're then home for nine months. 00:08:39.753 --> 00:08:41.197 When they're home, they're not really home. 00:08:41.197 --> 00:08:49.159 They're training, they're fixing equipment in the motor pool, they're working long hours, they're going to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin to train up for their next deployment. 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.471 Their families are complaining they're home but not at home. 00:08:52.433 --> 00:08:53.816 So I don't know what. 00:08:53.816 --> 00:08:55.379 I don't know when I look at the numbers. 00:08:55.379 --> 00:08:57.221 Is there something you can do to help? 00:08:57.221 --> 00:08:59.424 And the answer is well, there's always something we can do to help. 00:08:59.424 --> 00:09:16.623 But during that process of looking at what the real stresses and strains on soldiers and families were, we met with a lot of families, some that had been terribly wounded in the war, some that had had loved ones sons, husbands, fathers killed in the war. 00:09:16.623 --> 00:09:20.419 But meeting with them and hearing their stories and hearing what was missing. 00:09:20.419 --> 00:09:25.142 That could be maybe made a little better for them. 00:09:25.142 --> 00:09:33.179 That was one of those times when I really felt sort of energized and motivated to really try harder to be helpful. 00:09:33.581 --> 00:09:43.359 Right, well, and to have the work you're doing mean so much to people who are needing, you know, a little dose of goodness and a dose of hope. 00:09:43.359 --> 00:09:56.076 All right, the second question in this prayer practice that you can do at the end of the day is to ask yourself where was God difficult to see or felt distant from me this last day? 00:09:56.076 --> 00:10:08.953 So I'll ask that question of Tim where in your life and in your journey was God more difficult to see and, again, feeling distant from where God is and the influence God has? 00:10:09.053 --> 00:10:09.514 On the world. 00:10:09.514 --> 00:10:12.722 So the way you'd pose it to me was when was God not present? 00:10:12.722 --> 00:10:15.672 I guess so. 00:10:15.873 --> 00:10:16.212 Did I? 00:10:16.212 --> 00:10:18.719 You did, because I don't have that theology. 00:10:18.940 --> 00:10:26.192 I mean, I'm checking that email it might have been what I heard rather than what you said, but but I think, I think the response is the same either way. 00:10:26.192 --> 00:10:30.972 Um, in all present, god is always, that right, always present, and that's my belief, matthew 28. 00:10:31.354 --> 00:10:34.780 Uh, Jesus promises to be with us always, even to the very end of the age. 00:10:34.780 --> 00:10:37.134 Um and john, psalm 13,. 00:10:37.134 --> 00:10:38.278 Same kinds of message. 00:10:38.278 --> 00:10:46.932 But I think where I've had an issue is when I haven't been fully present or I haven't known how to be helpful in a situation. 00:10:48.374 --> 00:10:55.339 The first time I was profoundly affected by that was when my dad was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. 00:10:55.339 --> 00:11:00.756 He did not have long to live and so, you know, I was at a loss for what to do. 00:11:00.756 --> 00:11:03.302 I knew I couldn't change the course of the disease. 00:11:03.302 --> 00:11:04.787 I could spend time with him. 00:11:04.787 --> 00:11:06.158 I could listen to his stories. 00:11:06.158 --> 00:11:09.125 I could spend time with my mom, my brothers and my sisters. 00:11:09.125 --> 00:11:10.836 So that's what we did. 00:11:10.836 --> 00:11:17.528 We spent as much time as we could together during those last few difficult months and weeks and days, just trying to be present. 00:11:18.235 --> 00:11:22.441 It turns out many years later, in this very sanctuary, Dr. 00:11:22.441 --> 00:11:45.736 Nagel gave a sermon where there was a young child sick in the hospital, terminal illness, last few days or weeks of life, and some seminarians came to visit, and so one of the things they did was they drew some pictures to try to cheer the child up, and one of the pictures I remember Dr Nagel talking about was, you know, one of the seminarians standing with a shield like a superhero between the disease and the child. 00:11:45.736 --> 00:11:54.741 But the picture the child reached out to and took was a picture of someone just holding his hand, just being with him. 00:11:54.741 --> 00:12:12.106 And so it turns out I guess that's what we were able to do with my dad, and one of the reasons why I asked you as a scripture to have the parable of the Good Samaritan was the Samaritan in that moment couldn't do very much to change the underlying conflict between Israelis and Samaritans. 00:12:12.106 --> 00:12:18.806 The Samaritan in that moment couldn't change the fact that it was dangerous on the Jerusalem to Jericho Highway. 00:12:18.806 --> 00:12:21.299 He couldn't change what the crime statistics were there. 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:24.506 But what he could do is he could stop and help. 00:12:24.506 --> 00:12:46.482 And I think one of the messages there for me, the more I think about that parable and reflect on it, is there's always something you can do to be helpful, like the story with the Army coming to ask us about what do we do for soldiers that are having this terribly fast, rapid cycle of deployments and short times at home before going back again. 00:12:46.482 --> 00:12:47.907 So that's what I'd offer. 00:12:48.436 --> 00:12:51.566 If I could just offer one more example. 00:12:51.566 --> 00:13:04.498 When our youngest child, when it was very clear to Nancy and I that she would struggle her whole life, have a profound struggle, doing things that most of the rest of us find to be simple or routine. 00:13:04.498 --> 00:13:06.423 I was at a loss again. 00:13:06.423 --> 00:13:14.466 Luckily for me, nancy had an immediate instinct of what to do, and so we changed everything. 00:13:14.466 --> 00:13:23.743 We changed our approach to parenting, we changed what our priorities were, we changed our whole life plan and life goals, and it's been helpful. 00:13:23.743 --> 00:13:26.825 It's a way for us to be helpful and it's been enriching to us. 00:13:26.825 --> 00:13:32.903 And so I think again, looking back at the parable of the Good Samaritan, there's always something that one can do. 00:13:32.903 --> 00:13:35.078 There's always some action one can take. 00:13:35.078 --> 00:13:42.236 It may cause some change, it may need some reflection, but there's always something one can do. 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:52.203 Yeah, and how often do we, in those difficult times or the times that God feels different, distant, we more limit ourselves instead Where's God? 00:13:52.203 --> 00:13:53.245 I'm going to sit still. 00:13:53.245 --> 00:13:54.427 I'm going to sit still. 00:13:54.427 --> 00:14:04.201 I'm going to be disappointed, I'm not going to stick my neck out, when, in fact, what I hear you saying and I think I agree more often than not, the best thing to do is something. 00:14:05.015 --> 00:14:06.341 That gets into your third question. 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:09.956 Yeah, which we're going through well, all right. 00:14:09.956 --> 00:14:15.721 So third question in this prayer practice that again I invite you to consider end of the day. 00:14:15.721 --> 00:14:28.811 Good way to end the day is to ask yourself what can I do to have made God feel more present, or even be more present in those times where God felt distant? 00:14:29.455 --> 00:14:42.541 So just about 26 years ago, again in this very sanctuary, there was a seminarian that gave a guest sermon Boyd will remember the title of that sermon was the Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing. 00:14:42.541 --> 00:14:43.123 The Main Thing. 00:14:43.123 --> 00:14:50.441 I think she cribbed a little bit from Stephen Covey, but her message was as Christians, what is the main thing, what is it we should be doing? 00:14:50.441 --> 00:14:56.980 So I thought about that some and it took me back again to the parable of the Good Samaritan. 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:03.340 You know most of my life, you know, of course, the Samaritan, an inspirational figure, someone to emulate, to try to. 00:15:03.340 --> 00:15:09.357 You know, take you know a real demonstration of what should be doing from. 00:15:09.357 --> 00:15:17.807 But I started thinking more and more about the Levite and the priest because on any given day I might lose track of what the main thing is. 00:15:17.807 --> 00:15:20.384 I think in Hollywood they call this losing the plot right. 00:15:20.384 --> 00:15:26.701 On any given day I'm likely to lose a plot a dozen times, two more times on Sunday, I'm liable to lose a plot today. 00:15:26.701 --> 00:15:38.381 But the question was, were they actually just uncaring and selfish or were they actually maybe even good people that just on that day were not doing the main thing? 00:15:38.381 --> 00:15:39.505 They weren't keeping sight of that. 00:15:39.505 --> 00:15:41.159 So I can imagine the Levite. 00:15:41.782 --> 00:15:42.565 I'm late to church. 00:15:42.565 --> 00:15:44.140 I've got to sing the choir. 00:15:44.140 --> 00:15:47.721 I need some brushing up on the anthem, so I need to make sure I get there early for practice. 00:15:47.721 --> 00:15:48.744 I can't stop. 00:15:48.744 --> 00:15:50.434 I might miss the service. 00:15:50.434 --> 00:15:52.677 The preacher's going to talk to me in front of the church. 00:15:52.677 --> 00:15:53.799 I got to keep on going. 00:15:53.799 --> 00:16:03.081 Luckily there's someone behind me that can take up this duty, so it's possible if I'm in that situation I may lose the plot. 00:16:03.081 --> 00:16:04.663 I might miss the main thing also. 00:16:04.663 --> 00:16:08.437 So I think that's one of the things to remember. 00:16:08.477 --> 00:16:15.344 And it strikes me also interesting in Luke, in the very next set of verses, it's the story of Martha and Mary. 00:16:15.344 --> 00:16:17.623 Okay, martha's a good person. 00:16:17.623 --> 00:16:19.621 She's hosting Jesus at her house. 00:16:19.621 --> 00:16:26.440 She's busy trying to prepare things, trying to make sure it's ready, trying to make sure there's a meal, and it's probably not just Jesus, it's probably his disciples too. 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:31.179 Now, I don't know how things work at your house, but at my house, when we have company, it's all hands on deck. 00:16:31.179 --> 00:16:39.711 It's going to be at least a one or two day thrash to make sure things are perfect, but if it were Jesus coming, we'd be redecorating, we'd be remodeled. 00:16:45.715 --> 00:16:47.197 I mean, this is going to be a major effort. 00:16:47.197 --> 00:16:49.243 And so, in this Martha's thinking, jesus, can you ask Mary to help me? 00:16:49.243 --> 00:16:51.327 And Jesus' response is and I looked this up, okay, so I could remember it. 00:16:51.327 --> 00:16:56.601 But his response is Martha, martha, you're distracted by many things. 00:16:56.601 --> 00:17:00.677 Only one thing is important Mary's picked a better portion and it shall not be taken from her. 00:17:00.677 --> 00:17:13.037 And so Martha a good person trying to do the right things probably usually doing exactly the right things caring for Jesus and his disciples if she can lose the plot, I can lose the plot. 00:17:13.037 --> 00:17:17.903 So I think the important thing is to find a way to keep the main thing, the main thing. 00:17:19.366 --> 00:17:23.278 Yeah, I like that, and good use of the scriptures too. 00:17:23.278 --> 00:17:29.269 I didn't want to disappoint, yeah Well, and those church leaders as well. 00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:44.863 In some ways they would have to be concerned about what danger they might be bringing back to their flock, which is a mindset a church leader mindset too of could I bring a sickness back In a hygiene-oriented Old Testament existence? 00:17:44.863 --> 00:17:46.406 That would be a problem. 00:17:47.155 --> 00:17:48.260 You're thinking about the priest. 00:17:48.260 --> 00:17:49.621 He's on his way too. 00:17:49.621 --> 00:17:51.279 It could be pledged Sunday. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:52.222 I can't miss this. 00:17:52.284 --> 00:17:59.299 Sure, and then whoever went after this guy, you know why not go after me too. 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:20.042 So there's a certain amount of risk you're taking on too, which I appreciate, and Mary Martha, mary Martha is a good one too, although I would argue sometimes there's a time in the kitchen and getting it ready and making sure we've brought it together, brought it to fruition, and then there's some time you've got to sit and listen, you know, and you've got to recognize where you are with that. 00:18:20.095 --> 00:18:21.401 People still wanted to eat that day. 00:18:21.775 --> 00:18:28.319 Yeah, right, yeah, and people are different too, anyway. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:45.020 No well, I appreciate that, though, and hopefully it's nourishing for you folks as well, as you consider your own journey and your own trying to understand where God is and what God is doing and how God is guiding you and how God is nourishing you all the time. 00:18:45.020 --> 00:18:47.968 Like we said, it sounds like we share a theology. 00:18:47.968 --> 00:18:49.936 God didn't go away. 00:18:49.936 --> 00:19:18.570 Just sometimes God feels further away, and that part of our challenge is to be able to bring God back in some significant ways, because the reality is, this world is a broken place in many ways, and there will be times where God is feeling distant and looking for us to take some sort of risk, you know, in order that God's love might flourish in some meaningful way. 00:19:18.570 --> 00:19:34.426 So let me ask everyone some appreciation for Tim and for sharing, and why don't we have a prayer and then we'll finish up with our worship? 00:19:34.426 --> 00:19:57.858 God, we are so grateful, we're grateful for Tim and his journey and his family and the ways that he has navigated this life to do his best to be exactly who you would have him be, and when those times came where he strayed from, that person have him be, and when those times came where he strayed from that person. 00:19:57.858 --> 00:20:01.826 He did his best to get back and to again become who you would want him to be. 00:20:01.826 --> 00:20:03.428 I thank him for that. 00:20:03.428 --> 00:20:09.691 I thank him for that vulnerability, because I know the people in this room struggle in the same ways. 00:20:09.912 --> 00:20:28.410 It is a lifelong journey to understand how we might be fully who God wants us to be in all situations, especially among the difficulty of a world that can be broken and can miss the mark as far as being a loving entity. 00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:31.163 So, god, help us on that journey. 00:20:31.163 --> 00:20:41.087 Let us be guided, let us be nourished, Let us all become fully who you have always intended us to be. 00:20:41.087 --> 00:20:42.238 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:20:42.238 --> 00:20:45.705 Amen, all right friends, thank you. 00:20:45.705 --> 00:20:46.528 Thank you, tim. 00:20:46.528 --> 00:20:47.817 I appreciate it. 00:20:47.817 --> 00:20:49.061 Thanks for sharing.