The View from Outside

"THE VIEW FROM OUTSIDE"

a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens

Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.

August 31, 2025

Philippians 4:4-9 NRSV

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

“Heading out to San Francisco, for the Labor Day weekend show.”  You probably know that was the opening line of the first song that Jimmy Buffett had hit the Top 40 Billboard hit. Since it is Labor Day weekend, and coincidentally to all that Key West is remembering Jimmy passing on Labor Day two years ago, I am using a bit of Buffett “theology” in this morning’s message.

Yes, it’s been quite a summer.  For the past two months I have used the Bible Study titled, “What a Difference a Lens Makes.”  It showed how we can see Jesus in different ways through different texts.  I wanted to finish up with a completely different “lens,” and it works out because, as I said, it is Jimmy Buffett Days in Key West and Tammy and I are headed down there after worship, hoping our change in latitude will give us change in attitude.  I also feel like maybe we all need a little bit of joy in these days of so much troubling news.  So I think it is perhaps safe to say that Jimmy’s point of view qualifies as “the View From Outside,” which is my title today.

Jimmy admits he grew up a Catholic altar boy.  So he has some “insider” knowledge of the Christian faith, no doubt.  He also makes the comment at the end of one of his songs, “well, Father, 42 years since my last confession… have you got the rest of the week?”  He spoke of how the nuns at the Catholic school he attended tried to teach him not to have fun, but he retained that ability, even if he didn’t retain status as a “faithful Catholic.”  All that said, the idea - the hope - to know joy in our lives is one that has always connected me to Jimmy’s music and as I jokingly say, his theology.

In more traditional Christian theology the Apostle Paul might seem kind of joyless.  That is probably the fault of an awful lot of preachers who only used his more “judgmental- sounding” writings.  This morning we hear Paul urging his hearers to “rejoice,” and to emphasize it he repeats himself: “again, I say, rejoice.”  He says, “The Lord is near.”  We might hear that in the sense that he is present in spirit with us now. Paul’s first audience probably understood that to mean Jesus was returning back then to initiate the end times.  Either way he tells them and us that we ought not to worry but pray with thanksgiving to God.  He promises that as we do that the “peace of God will guard [our] hearts and minds.” These promises certainly ring a hopeful bell for us in these chaotic and, even, fear-filled days.

Then Paul offers a laundry list of qualities to put into practice. In most versions it says for us “think on these things.”  In the footnote it gives an alternative translation of that as “take account of.” I think that “take account of” truly captures what Paul would want us to do with things that are true and honorable, just and pure, pleasing [ to God, one assumes ] and commendable.”  I think to “account” for something is to take action, to put into our lives actively, not just think about them.

William Loader, [ "First Thoughts on …," Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia, ] wrote, “Paul is not just advocating the power of positive thinking. This about more than technique and persuasion. It is about … allowing God’s life to flow through us to the world around us.”  In other words, Paul isn’t just advocating, “Don’t worry, be happy” -  sorry, that’s another singer/songwriter – he is saying put these into practice in our lives so that God’s life can flow through us to those around us.  That is a challenging ask.

How does all this relate to, or lead to, Jimmy Buffett and any so-called theology?  Well, for me Paul’s words and Jimmy’s music remind me that joy is a godly thing.  I can get so far down the rabbit hole brooding about the suffering of people, the injustices that systems and people with power inflict, my own issues, and everything else that we all struggle with, that I need often need a Jimmy Buffett song to balance my life out. And balance is also a spiritual thing.

Some writer somewhere once observed that Jimmy’s music isn’t just about the beach, the bar, the boat and a Margarita somewhere. It clicks in people’s spirit because there’s always something about paradise that isn’t perfect.  The saltshaker’s lost, the meet up with the girl is delayed because you are in California and she’s in Montana.  The problem with Margaritaville is that there is something wrong and it is someone’s fault and as much as I would like to blame everyone else, it is my “dadgum” fault.  Jimmy seemed to understand that we need joy.  But he also knew that almost always joy is tinged with sorrow of some kind.  But, joy is possible even when everything isn’t perfect.  And when we realize that maybe we can tap into things that really are true and honorable, just and pure and commendable and anything like those things are pleasing to God, I believe.

For me the song that captures the view of an “outsider” looking in, would be in one of Buffett’s last songs.  He wrote it knowing he was dealing with terminal cancer and was about to sail on. I take it as good advice from someone who has sailed a lot of seas, in good weather and bad.  I spoke about this last year at this time, so forgive me for going back to it, but the occasion calls for it and I find its perspective to offer a powerful way to rejoice, even when rejoicing is hard.

In the song Bubbles Up, especially in the second verse and the chorus, Jimmy captures what it means “to account for” things worth remembering, even in tough times.  Bubbles up, of course, refers to a fact divers and others know is a tremendous truth.   If you are ever underwater look for the air bubbles coming from your lungs, and follow them, no matter how disoriented you may be.  They will always lead you to the surface, and on the surface you will find there’s everything you truly need.  The lyrics go:

“To my friends who are jolly, when melancholy knocks, sometimes they let her in

To sit and share stories of flops and of glories, It ain't half as bad as the bends.

Sometimes livin’s a struggle, multiplied double, But they love it too much

for the party to end    

[Chorus]       

Bubbles up, they will point you towards home no matter how deep or how far you roam.

They will show you the surface, the plot and the purpose,

  so when the journey gets long just know that you are loved,

 there is light up above  and the joy is always enough    …   Bubbles up.

     So remember, follow the bubbles that go upward in life and know you are loved, there is light up above, and joy?  There’s always enough.  Bubbles up.  AMEN.