Climbing Ladders

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
The First Presbyterian Church
Washingtonville, New York
November 13, 2005

Climbing Ladders
Matthew 25:31-46
Isaiah 40:27-31

We are always climbing ladders aren’t we?
Climbing ladders to success:
always trying to move up, move ahead,
get to the top.
We start climbing ladders when we are young:
we want to be the captain of the team,
we want to have the lead role in the play,
we want to get the best grade on the test,
we want to be the most popular.
We climb ladders to get into the best college,
to get the scholarship,
to get a good job.
We climb ladders in our workplaces:
we want to get ahead, get promotions, get raises,
move out front, ahead of others.
We even climb ladders in churches:
we want to be the leaders of committees,
we want to be the ones who are in charge,
the ones who occupy the seats of honor.

We are always climbing ladders;
there is something hard-wired in each of us,
men and women, that makes us want to climb.
But climbing ladders begs the question:
How do we know how far we should climb?
And how do we know we are on the right ladder?
How do we know that the roof
that we have set our ladder against
is the right roof,
the roof that we should be climbing to;
not the roof that we want to get to,
but the roof we should get to.

The metaphor of climbing ladders is not mine;
I stumbled upon in a book I was reading recently,
and I thought it was a wonderful illustration.
The book was about mid-life and the changes
both men and women go through
as we pass through our late 30s and early 40s.
It is a time when men and women who have ascended
career ladders often find themselves wondering
whether the ladders they have been on
have been the right ladders.
The questions and struggles that inevitably come
with those concerns have led to the term “mid-life crisis”.
In keeping with the metaphor, we can think of
a mid-life crisis as climbing the ladder,
getting up on the roof,
and finding the view not what you expected it to be,
what you hoped it would be.
The term crisis is probably too strong.
Most psychologists believe that serious introspection
is healthy and necessary for men and women in mid-life.

But as I was reading,
I realized that questioning the ladders we are on
and the roofs we are ascending toward
should not be limited to mid-life.
We should always be asking ourselves about
the ladders we are on,
and whether our ladders are leading us to the right roofs.
We can be confident if we allow God to direct us to our ladders,
if we allow God to point us to the roofs
he would have us climb toward.

What we do, though, is get in the way:
We tend to be the ones who pick the ladders,
set the ladders, select the roofs.
We don’t listen for God’s voice,
look for God’s guidance.
Is it any wonder that we might find ourselves
on the wrong ladders, the wrong roofs?

The apostles who walked with our Lord
were busy climbing ladders,
and much to Jesus’ constant exasperation,
they were often on the wrong ladders.
You remember the story of how James and John
sought to be the first among the disciples,
to have the seats of honor next to Jesus?
They were busy climbing the ladder of power and prestige.
Peter often seemed hesitant to climb the ladder of faith
beyond the first rung or two for fear of falling.
And Judas climbed the ladder of betrayal.

The five maidens whom we heard about last week,
the ones who had no oil for their lamps
when the bridegroom arrived
had been busy climbing ladders of foolishness
rather than faithfulness,
ladders of playfulness, rather than preparedness.

Our focus the past few weeks has been on our need to be on
the ladder of preparedness, of attentiveness, of readiness,
the ladder of anticipation for that day, that hour
when our Lord returns in glory.
You have heard the lessons;
Now as we near Advent, are you on the right ladder?
Or, will you get to it tomorrow, or maybe next week?

Our lesson from Matthew’s Gospel tells us that
the disciples gathered around Jesus
were still not on the right ladders,
even after the months and months they had spent with him.
Even as Jesus looked to the cross,
he knew that his followers still did not understand,
still did not get the message:
that they – and we - are to climb ladders of love:
love for God,
and love for one another,
climbing as we grow in love for God and one another,
each step a response to the love given us
from God through Jesus Christ.

Their question shows that they were on the wrong ladder:
“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food,
or thirsty, and gave you something to drink?
And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you,
or naked and gave you clothing?
And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison
and visited to you?”

Had they been on the right ladders,
climbing the right way in life,
ascending to the right roof,
they would not have even asked the question,
much less been surprised by Jesus’ response:
“I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these
who are members of my family, you did it to me”
And “just as you did not do it to one of the least of these,
you did not do it to me.”

This lesson is often thought to be about mission work
the way we reach out to the poor, the helpless, the downtrodden.
It is; But it is so much more than that.
It is about how we live our lives.
It is about how we treat one another: family, friends,
one another here in our church.
This is a lesson about charity: reaching out to others,
charity in the sense of reaching out to those who need our help
But this is also a lesson about charity
in the broader sense of the word.
Charity as the dictionary defines it:
“benevolence or generosity toward [all] humanity.”
(Am. Heritage 4th Ed)
Charity isn’t just about writing out a check
to a worthy organization.
Charity is a state of mind,
the state of mind we develop as we climb the ladder
of discipleship following Jesus Christ.

We are going to provide you with a few opportunities
to step up the ladder of discipleship, charity, and righteousness
over the next few weeks.
We will start next Sunday when you will be asked
to respond to our Stewardship campaign
as we look to what we hope to accomplish next year
as a church, a community of faith,
called by Christ to service.

You will hear from our Stewardship co-chairs Nick Grounds
and Nancy Popoloski as they tell you
about what we do as a church.
You will hear that we will end this year with a deficit,
with our expenses greater than our revenues,
just as we have each of the past 6 years.
Our deficit is not because we spend too much money.
No, our budget is about as tight a budget as can be
without strangling what we do.
I have watched our officers struggle each of the past
six years to put together a budget that
is both responsible and yet responsive to God.
Each year our budget committee has prepared a budget,
and then our Session has reviewed and discussed the budget
before approving it.
Each year they have known that we would fall short
and that we would have to take money from our savings
not because our expenses are too high;
there isn’t a committee or a function
in this church that would not like more money,
that could not use more money .
No, the dilemma that we have faced every year
has been that our revenues from pledging,
the money that comes from you and me
has fallen short of what we need
to do the work God has called us to do.

We are a church of 200 people,
but our giving level is more typical of other churches
I have seen with membership half our size.
I have seen lots of church budgets in all kinds of denominations
over the years, and a church our size should be able to support
a budget of somewhere between $160,000 and $175,000.
A few months back I suggested that we challenge ourselves,
challenge ourselves over the next few years:
challenge ourselves to increase our giving:
challenge ourselves so we can increase Mission giving
to a full tithe of our budget: a full 10%, up from the current 3%;
challenge ourselves to provide more money
for Christian Education programs;
Challenge ourselves to complete a Capital Campaign
to set make sure we have the money for necessary capital improvements.

Cynthia Carey, our church secretary
has worked for us for five years now.
Those of you have worked with her
know she is hard working and loyal.
But were you aware that after five years of service,
we don’t even provide her with one paid vacation day a year?
When she takes vacation time with her family
she loses a week’s pay.
How can we be good stewards of our staff?
How can we be good stewards of this church facility
and of the Manse?
How we can be faithful disciples
if we are not on the right ladders,
not striving to climb higher?
Not providing the financial resources we need
to do the work God wants us to do,
calls us to do?

I am constantly amazed by God’s faithfulness
when we are faithful.
The text from Isaiah makes that so clear:
when we are faithful,
God will renew us, refresh us, help us to soar.
“Those who wait for the Lord,
shall renew their strength.
they shall mount up with the wings of eagles
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.”


We are a community of faith,
called to work together by the Holy Spirit
work in cooperation and love in discipleship.
We are a community of faith on a ladder
looking to the future, a future that God is calling us to.
Let’s covenant to increase Stewardship this year
not by 5% or 6%, but by 20%, 25%.
Let’s covenant to have a budget within three years
that is balanced, balanced not because we have cut
back on what we are doing,
but because we have all stepped up
to support the work God calls us to do.
We can do that!

God will guide us, refresh us, point the way,
God will encourage us as we climb,
climb in Spirit, climb in service,
climb in devotion, climb in dedication.
God will encourage us as we climb in love:
love for God, and love for all God’s children.
“Have you not known, have you not heard
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the Earth.
He does not faint or grow weary.
He gives power to the faint
and strength to the powerless.”
God will show us the ladders,
the roofs,
give us the energy, the courage, the will,
the faith to step up.
If we just listen, and then respond in faith,
eager faith, bold faith,
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.