Timothy Merrill

The Devil Made Me Do it Redux

If you're wanting to preach on the nature of humankind, the sinful nature, "fallen man," our "heart of darkness," read on.

If you're over 40, you'll remember Geraldine, Flip Wilson in drag, who--when caught in some random act of shopping madness--would shriek: "The devil made me do it."

Today, Standford professor emeritus, Philip Zimbardo, is saying something of the same thing, only he's calling it "The Lucifer Effect." It's his way of trying to explain why good people go bad. His research dates back to the early 70s when he was part of the classic experiment when college students became "guards" and some became "prisoners," and then switched roles. The "guards" became so ruthless after six days they had to shut the experiment down.

Zimbardo now has a web site to promote his book: www.LuciferEffect.com. Here are the opening paragraphs from that web site:

Welcome to LuciferEffect.org, official web site of The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (Random House, 2007). In this book, I summarize more than 30 years of research on factors that can create a "perfect storm" which leads good people to engage in evil actions. This transformation of human character is what I call the "Lucifer Effect," named after God's favorite angel, Lucifer, who fell from grace and ultimately became Satan.

Rather than providing a religious analysis, however, I offer a psychological account of how ordinary people sometimes turn evil and commit unspeakable acts. As part of this account, The Lucifer Effect tells, for the first time, the full story behind the Stanford Prison Experiment, a now-classic study I conducted in 1971. In that study, normal college students were randomly assigned to play the role of guard or inmate for two weeks in a simulated prison, yet the guards quickly became so brutal that the experiment had to be shut down after only six days.

How and why did this transformation take place, and what does it tell us about recent events such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses in Iraq? Equally important, what does it say about the "nature of human nature," and what does it suggest about effective ways to prevent such abuses in the future?

Please join me in a journey that the poet Milton might describe as making “darkness visible.” Although it is often hard to read about evil up close and personal, we must understand its causes in order to contain and transform it through wise decisions and innovative communal actions. Indeed, in my view, there is no more urgent task that faces us today.

I think we'll do a Homiletics installment on this some time in the near future. I think we can find a biblical text that deals with the subject ...

Ever Been Undefeated?

Only six more days to shop for pretzels, fire-hot doritos, Tabasco sauce and a few cases of beer.

Super Bowl Sunday, and my guess is that you're gonna find a lot of men in church this coming Sunday because it's the most righteous thing they'll do in a month. They also know they can catch the preacher at 11 a.m. and the program at 4 p.m. Life is good.

This Super Bowl I think is more interesting than most. You have the BradyBunch playing for a place in football history--an undefeated season and they're going to be manning every position with as much depth as possible to make it happen.

Okay, I only wrote that last sentence so I could play with a pun. And if you can't find it, you don't follow football. But I digress.

Here's a great preaching opportunity. Unless I miss my guess, it's been a long time since the people walking into church Sunday have felt undefeated.

Who goes through life undefeated? This streak is unreal. It's not natural. It's needs to be stopped. And maybe Eli (good Bible name) Manning can do it. No one has gone undefeated since John Wayne and Rock Hudson appeared in The Undefeated in 1969--a story about two Civil War soldiers, one ex-Union, the other ex-Confederate.

Correction. The Miami Dolphins had an undefeated season (17 in those days). NE already, in this current schedule has won 18 in a row. But the season isn't over until Sunday night.

Anyway, I think people need help with the feeling of defeat.

Should we preach that we can be undefeated? Certainly God doesn't expect us to live a "defeated" life! Doesn't want us to live beaten down and overcome all the time. Didn't Paul say we are "more than conquerors?" What does that mean? It means, "Look at the New England PAtriots. They are machines out there. More than conquerors. They run up the score, they videotape the opposition, the head coach is rude and irrascible, they kill their opponents."

But Paul also talked about his trials. About being knocked down, but not knocked out. On the mat, but not carried out on the mat. In a mess but not of the mess.

So I think this Sunday we can talk about what it means to be undefeated. What does that look like when we get to the office, to the school, to the shop, to the store? What does that mean when we get ourselves in a hot emotional state and HAVE to have a cigarette when we're trying to quit, or a drink when we're trying to stop, to yell when we're angry, or to pout when we're hurt, or to harbor bitterness when we've been wronged, or to lie when we're trapped, or to preen with pride when we're praised? Let's talk about how to live undefeated.

Side note for sports fan. Tiger Woods openly admits it: The Grand Slam of Golf is possible. He's started his year with a galloping win at Torrey Pines. But he plays one shot at a time. He manages the course. He controls his emotions, he chooses his clubs carefully.

Oh, and it helps that someone's there to carry his bags.

Who's my caddy, Rick Reilly? That's right. God is my caddy, man.

But I got to make the shots.

“It’s a tricky thing … a relationship with [your] pastor”

“It’s a tricky thing, anybody’s relationship with their pastor.”

Those are the words of Barack Obama about Rev. Jeremiah Wright, retiring – and not a moment too soon – from Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.

Makes you wonder how often my parishioners have had to make excuses for me. “Well, it’s a tricky thing, my relationship with Timothy … let me try to help you understand him…”

Why would Obama say something like that in the middle of a campaign after a couple of losses to the Hill-Billy contender for the nomination?

Um, let’s see: Could it be because Wright’s denunciations of white America are surpassed only by those of the Rev. Louis Farrakhan? Could it be because Wright said that Bill Clinton did to blacks what he did to Monica? Could it be because Wright regards white America as selfish and arrogant and ignorant? Could it be because Wright accuses America as the number one killer in the world? Could it be because Wright condemns America for its role in the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela? Could it be because Wright accuses America of a role in the creation of the AIDS crisis? Could it be because Wright accuses America of refusing to “help blacks in this country”?

If I were Obama, I’d be slipping out of church right now by the side door. Don’t leave your offering in the plate, Obama, because this Wright guy ain’t gonna do right by you.

Me? I’d welcome Obama in the White House. Don’t read anything into that. You can’t guess my politics. I love his message of hope. It resonates with me. And if this recession deepens it’s going to resonate with voters too.

I don’t think a Republican is electable. Read it here: By next fall America is finally going to locate Obama, or we’re going to have a Hill-Billy administration—again.

Either way, pundits, talking heads, talk shows, bloggers are going to be in business for another four years at least.

Beware the Boomerang Bounce

I came across a story on one of the wire services about a boomerang that once thrown didn’t return to its owner for 25 years.

Actually there’s more to the story than that.

An American tourist saw this boomerang in the Mount Isa museum in Australia and liked it so much that he lifted it, and got it out of the country.

But he was racked with guilt for over 25 years, so much so, that he sent it back to Australia along with a full confession of the crime. He hadn’t known how his mischief would boomerang. The report did say what sort of penalty he was going to face. I suspect the thief wouldn’t care. Not now. He would probably be relieved.

Thought this might be a useful story for you as you prepare for Lent. Sin has a way of doing this—returning to us in ways we didn’t expect.

In guess during Lent, we’re invited to toss those boomerangs as far as the east is from the west, and Someone’s gonna catch it and not let it come back.

I haven’t worked out this metaphor too well, but there’s one there somewhere.

"I've Been to the Mountaintop"

It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I got into Memphis this morning, and [people] began to talk about the threats that were out on me ... about what might happen to me from some of our sick white brothers.

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Romney's Win Heats Up the Race

Some Democrats in Michigan last week were calling on Democrats to vote for Romney in their Republican contest--something perfectly legal in Michigan. Their thinking was that if Romney didn't win in his home state, his campaign was dead in the water. If that happened, it would be a horserace between Huckabee and McCain, and there would be less mudsliinging self-destruction behavior. Keeping Romney in the race keeps the Republicans arguing and fighting amonst themselves and would help draw attention away from the Obama/Clinton contretemps that continue to make front page news.

Well, Romney's still in the race.

We're going to keep the poll up through the New Hampshire primary. Then we'll let you know how the candidates fared with Homiletics readers.

It's very interesting.

The Threshold Choir

We think of these as lullabies for [people] on the way out.”

That’s how Kate Munger, the founder of an organization called the Threshold Choir, describes the songs its members sing at the bedsides of the dying.

The Threshold Choir, which now has some 35 chapters in a dozen states, began in 2000, but had its roots in an experience of Kate’s 10 years earlier when helping to care for a friend who was in a coma and dying of AIDS. She spent the morning in his home doing housework, and in the afternoon, she began to sing to him, and continued doing so for two hours. She says, “The contrast between the morning and the afternoon [was] profound. I felt like I had really given generously of my essence to my dear friend while I sang to him. I also found that I felt deeply comforted myself, which I know in turn was comforting to him ... At the end of the afternoon, I felt like I had stumbled into something extraordinary.”

Each of the chapters of the Threshold Choir now has between 60 and 80 members, but they go by invitation in groups of two or three to sing at the bedsides of seriously ill people, many of whom are in the final stages of life. They sing a cappella in homes, hospitals and hospices, selecting their music from a 300-piece repertoire of songs and hymns — numbers ranging from “Ave Maria” to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” to “Calling All Angels.” They do not charge for their services, but will accept donations to cover their expenses.

Some of the people for whom choir members have sung are hooked up to monitors, and frequently, as the singing begins, observers note that the patient’s heartbeat steadies and the breathing becomes less labored. Occasionally, the patient later recovers, and some of them credit the singing as playing a role in their healing.

While Threshold Choir members have sung to people of various ages, most of their requests come from elderly people who are spending their last days at home. When the singing starts, the face of the dying person often softens, and there is a sense of relaxation taking place. Munger says that it’s often a comforting moment, as when a mother softly croons a lullaby at the end of the day. Only here, she says, it is “at the end of a lovely, long life.”

Well, of course. What could be more appropriate than lullabies for the dying? Actually, we’re surprised that no one has thought of this sooner. The music of the Threshold Choir is, in effect, a kind of soundtrack for dying.

But that leads us to a question: What is the soundtrack for living?

The above is the introduction for our material on Psalm 40 for this coming Sunday, January 18, 2008. For more, see www.HomileticsOnline.com.

March-April Issue of Homiletics is Online

This is just an FYI, similar to the one I always give you when the latest issue goes online.

The March-April 2008 issue is now online. The cover story is "Thursday Theology" and the art work is the traditional image of Jesus praying in the Garden. It's not the kind of art you'll usually find in Homiletics but
we thought you'd love to have this artwork available for possible PowerPoint use during your Maundy Thursday service on March 20. Homiletics gives you some ideas for putting this entire service together, just just the sermonic piece.

Of course I have my favorites in this issue as I always do. I'm uncomfortable highlighting some of these as I think every treatment of the text is awesome. BUT--I especially LOVE a couple, like "High-ceiling Thinking" (March 9). This material comes from a study that examined the effects on people who work in facilities with high ceiling versus low ceilings. It links to the John text about the Lazarus being awakened from the dead!

Then there's the piece about this couple that wanted to name their newborn baby @. Another about the problem of "Colony Collapse Disorder," in which scientists are noticing that beehives and colonies are disappearing.

The Easter Sunday material starts with a young man who gets crucified six days a week at a theme park in Florida.

Much more. Good stuff.

Just an Ordinary Person

Edmund Hillary thought that he was just an “ordinary person with ordinary abilities.”

Yet he was also the first person to climb atop the highest mountain on the planet, he and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, on May 29, 1953.

Thousands of climbers have done it since, and it’s still a remarkable achievement—getting to the top of that mountain. But it’s not as remarkable as doing it 50 years ago.

Hillary died a few days ago. As a person interested in the outdoors and as someone who has done some modest mountain climbing of my own, I’m sad that Hillary is no longer around to tell his stories.

Stories of man and mountain, of courage in the face of adversity, of persistence when the wind is blowing your clothes off, of walking when your feet are numb, of taking one lousy step when you know that you won’t have the energy to take another step for about 10 minutes, of retching into the snow because of nausea, of irritation with fellow climbers, of hunger and thirst, of triumph and exultation, of views of distant valleys and far away plains, of other-worldly euphoria, of deep inner satisfaction and peace.

What Hillary and all mountain climbers feel and experience is in a way the story of human existence. It’s the story of our own “climb” through life until we reach our own summit, survey what we’ve done and where we’ve been, and kick off our boots, and crampons, lay down the ice pick, cast off the climbing ropes and call it a life.

It’s a life possible even for us ordinary folks.

The Greek-talking Parrot

From the book I'm reading now, Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller:

There is a poem by ... C.S. Lewis that is more or less a confession. The first time I read it ... I felt as though somebody were calling my name. I always come back to this poem when I think soberly about my faith, about the general precepts of Christian spirituality, the beautiful precepts that indicate we are flawed, all of us are flawed ... In the poem, C.S. Lewis faces himself. He addresses his own depravity with a soulful sort of bravery:

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through;
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, reassurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin;
I talk of love--a scholar's parrot may talk Greek--
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

I [wondered] if I was like the parrot in Lewis's poem, swinging in my cage, reciting Homer, all the while having no idea what I was saying. I talk about love, forgiveness, social justice; I rage against American materialism in the name of altruism, but have I even controlled my own heart? The over-whelming majority of time I spend thinking about myself, pleasing myself, reassuring myself, and when I am done there is nothing to spare for the needy. Six billion people live in this world and I cna only muster thoughts for one. Me.