Tyranny of Self Righteousness

When I retired at age sixty-four rather than sixty-five, I was often asked, “why?” I usually referred to my forty-six years of service or that we had completed our retirement home, but seldom revealed the real reason. Actually, I retired because one layman came into chew me out for one illustration that he did not like in the previous Sunday’s sermon. It was a bad illustration—one of those not in the manuscript that came from the Holy Spirit’s work in the study, but on the spur of the moment in the pulpit. In an effort to relate to younger people in the congregation I mentioned that once upon a time I had a blind date whom I met in the dark as we got in a friend’s car. She was quite romantic and I was thrilled beyond measure until we got to the bright lights of the miniature golf course! Then I made the mistake of saying, “The day that facial beauty was passed out, she was not in line.” The congregation roared with laughter. This layman was livid. His anger was his correct insistence that no one is without beauty. Of course he was right.  Like most jokes, the punch line invariably discriminates against a “goat” who is the butt of that joke. It was my last joke in the pulpit. I was really sorry, apologized profusely, and offered to apologize to his six year old son. He refused my offer, and instead met with the committee who asks Methodist preachers to be moved. They did not agree with him, but that night when I returned to their meeting room, I told them it was time for me to retire. And so I did.