Worthy Of God
Sermon
Sermons On The Second Reading
Series I, Cycle A
It seems fair to say that the saints of the Lord have always shown us what it is to be worthy of God. It is why we remember them and rejoice for them. They have shown us what a life worthy of God might look like. To talk about the saints, we may talk about Kagawa in Japan, about Mother Teresa, about Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela, about D. T. Niles in India, and about Saint Patrick in Ireland. To know the stories of Dorothy Day in New York City and Oscar Romero in Latin America is to have examples of what it means to lead lives worthy of the God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. But remembering the stories of ordinary, average people, people from the history of any old church, like the people who have died in this church this year, is to remember those who in our own midst showed us lives that were lived worthy of the God who calls us in Jesus Christ. The remembrance of the saints reminds us of the variety of ways people live and also that joy and blessings are to be found as one focuses on the desire to live a life that is worthy of the God who calls us. The saints lived lives that seemed to be made of the same stuff that the gifts of grace were made of. The saints might be said to have lived on the same frequency that the gifts were broadcast on. Saints live at the same level as the gifts. Gifts can be wasted. Gifts are frequently misused. Gifts can be used for the wrong purposes. But there is a great delight and satisfaction when the gifts given are received and used in ways that are fitting and becoming to the gift.
There is an important Tuesday in November; it is Election Day. In 2002, Senator John Edwards may have been the only politician on television telling the truth in his campaign aids. Senator Edwards of North Carolina was urging citizens to vote. The only action which would be appropriate to the gift of liberty we have been given is to vote. We have been given the amazing gift of the right to vote. Long years of sacrifice and struggle have made possible the gift of democracy, the right to choose our own leaders, and the only response appropriate and fitting to that gift, the only obligation demanded by that gift to us, is for us to vote. To lead a life that is worthy of the gift of the ballot is to become an informed citizen and to vote. The great sadness in the land is that so few people will exercise the great gift they have been given and will allow the sacrifices of so many to be in vain.
Or look at the great blessing that this country and this society has given to each and every citizen, the right to a free public education. The gift is being offered every day in each of our schools. The gift is being presented to all children in the community and the only response that is appropriate, the only life that is fitting is the response of participation and cooperation. Our society has decided that it will make available the gift of a public education for all children. To lead a life that is fitting, is congruent, that is seemly, that is relevant, is to study, to behave, to participate, and to attend.
Every gift comes with expectations as to how it will be received and how it will be used. Every gift has a hope that it will be used for a purpose. Every gift brings with it the possibilities of blessings and grace, of responsibilities and obligations. Every gift opens before us a variety of responses and only some of those responses are seemly and becoming to the gift. To hang a Rembrandt painting in the garage is not becoming to the gift. So Jesus looks around him at the way people have responded to the gift of the covenant promise of God to Abraham and David and the prophets. God's promise, "I will be your God and you will be my people," has been converted into a confusing and heavy burden of obligations and rules. Regulations, laws, and traditions now make the gift a heavy burden and diminish the joy of the faithful and living relationship. As Mama Cass wailed, "Look what they've done to my song, Mom." Jesus is distressed at what they have done to the dynamic and joyful covenant of promise. They have killed it with a blanket of rules and regulations.
But when Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica, Paul is worried that the good news of God's grace and forgiveness will lead them to lives that are unworthy of the glorious gift because they will believe that there is nothing that is expected of them by the gift. There were already those who were suggesting that if the Laws of Moses were no longer valid, then it meant that Christians could do anything they wanted: there were no rules. Paul understands that where rules are removed you can end up with a mess. So Paul is eager to remind them that the gift of God's grace is to be received and enjoyed in ways that are fitting for the gift.
Cynthia Gadsen had spent most of her life in the corporate world. Then one day she reached the place where she said, "I would rather be poor than work here anymore." She said it had been a slow process to come to that conclusion. She writes:
Over the years I had stitched myself like a tight seam into the fabric of my company. I was loyal, obedient, and enthusiastic. I went where I was told, did what I was asked, and got the job done. My calendar was jammed with appointments, and my time was constantly in demand from colleagues and clients. I became important and busy - marks of success in my mind.
Yet as the pace of my life increased, my sense of self--worth diminished. Deep down, I knew something was missing. I consoled myself with money, clothes, and trips, but couldn't shake the subtle ache in the belly....
I yearned to step back from this crazy, frenetic dance of doing. Deep down, I was more than ready to move away from the heart--hardening existence of constant demands - more money, more sales, more projects. I wanted out of the harshness that this lifestyle was inflicting on my weary body, mind, and spirit. I longed to dance again in step with the ebb and flow of life and the rhythm of the Creator. I just had to learn to trust that God would meet my needs if I followed my soul's urging. Trusting that I was created for more than a mediocre existence devoted to drive and achievement.1
Wil Willimon, who preaches at Duke University, can add that he knows lots of young adults who can tell you that it is a great, good freedom to strip down, break free, and throw their future away on the kingdom of God rather than harness up for a lifetime of servitude to the kingdoms of this world.
Cynthia Gadsen ends her story by saying, "Each of us is called at some point in our lives - called to be more, to live what we believe, to make visible what we profess. We often are also asked to move from one calling to another. Sometimes burnout is what helps us make the shift. Who will I be? Whose am I? Why am I here?" Cynthia said she found that a willingness to risk, born of an exhaustion and fatigue with the life she was living, helped her decide to try to live by the advice of Saint Paul, helped her to decide to try to live a life that was worthy of the gifts that had been given her.
There is an incredible freedom and excitement, a sense of adventure and risk, a sense of joy and challenge when we begin to guide our lives by the standard, "Is what I am doing worthy of God's gifts to me? Am I using what I have been given in a way that is appropriate for the gifts?" It is terrifying and demanding. To decide to evaluate and to live your life by the standard, "Is this a worthy use of the gifts given to me by God?" is to reject all the other claims upon your gifts. One day when Wil Willimon was feeling low because of the small attendance and poor results he was getting at Chapel at Duke, he complained to Stanley Hauerwas, who was named by Time magazine as the nation's most outstanding theologian. Stanley replied to Dr. Willimon, "Cheer up. This university is a bad neighborhood for Jesus. I think you do quite well, Wil, considering that this university is against everything Jesus teaches."2 To lead a life that is worthy of the God who has called you in Jesus Christ may run you in an entirely different direction than the rest of the world, but as the saints have shown us, it will take us in a direction of contentment and joy, it will take us in a direction where we are at one with ourselves and our gifts. It will give us that sense of being on a level and going in the same direction as the will and purpose of God. To lead a life that is worthy of the God who called us will bring us to end with the saints into the kingdom of our God. To use the gifts that God has given in a way that is worthy of them is to find our Sabbath rest and joy in all we do.
____________
1. Cynthia Gadsen, "Dancing in Step," The Other Side, November / December, 2002, p. 43.
2. Wil Willimon, "Preaching to Affluent Young Adults, Or Lord, Help Me Shove This Camel," The Journal For Preaching, Advent, 2002, Volume XXVI, Number 1, p. 47.
There is an important Tuesday in November; it is Election Day. In 2002, Senator John Edwards may have been the only politician on television telling the truth in his campaign aids. Senator Edwards of North Carolina was urging citizens to vote. The only action which would be appropriate to the gift of liberty we have been given is to vote. We have been given the amazing gift of the right to vote. Long years of sacrifice and struggle have made possible the gift of democracy, the right to choose our own leaders, and the only response appropriate and fitting to that gift, the only obligation demanded by that gift to us, is for us to vote. To lead a life that is worthy of the gift of the ballot is to become an informed citizen and to vote. The great sadness in the land is that so few people will exercise the great gift they have been given and will allow the sacrifices of so many to be in vain.
Or look at the great blessing that this country and this society has given to each and every citizen, the right to a free public education. The gift is being offered every day in each of our schools. The gift is being presented to all children in the community and the only response that is appropriate, the only life that is fitting is the response of participation and cooperation. Our society has decided that it will make available the gift of a public education for all children. To lead a life that is fitting, is congruent, that is seemly, that is relevant, is to study, to behave, to participate, and to attend.
Every gift comes with expectations as to how it will be received and how it will be used. Every gift has a hope that it will be used for a purpose. Every gift brings with it the possibilities of blessings and grace, of responsibilities and obligations. Every gift opens before us a variety of responses and only some of those responses are seemly and becoming to the gift. To hang a Rembrandt painting in the garage is not becoming to the gift. So Jesus looks around him at the way people have responded to the gift of the covenant promise of God to Abraham and David and the prophets. God's promise, "I will be your God and you will be my people," has been converted into a confusing and heavy burden of obligations and rules. Regulations, laws, and traditions now make the gift a heavy burden and diminish the joy of the faithful and living relationship. As Mama Cass wailed, "Look what they've done to my song, Mom." Jesus is distressed at what they have done to the dynamic and joyful covenant of promise. They have killed it with a blanket of rules and regulations.
But when Paul writes to the church at Thessalonica, Paul is worried that the good news of God's grace and forgiveness will lead them to lives that are unworthy of the glorious gift because they will believe that there is nothing that is expected of them by the gift. There were already those who were suggesting that if the Laws of Moses were no longer valid, then it meant that Christians could do anything they wanted: there were no rules. Paul understands that where rules are removed you can end up with a mess. So Paul is eager to remind them that the gift of God's grace is to be received and enjoyed in ways that are fitting for the gift.
Cynthia Gadsen had spent most of her life in the corporate world. Then one day she reached the place where she said, "I would rather be poor than work here anymore." She said it had been a slow process to come to that conclusion. She writes:
Over the years I had stitched myself like a tight seam into the fabric of my company. I was loyal, obedient, and enthusiastic. I went where I was told, did what I was asked, and got the job done. My calendar was jammed with appointments, and my time was constantly in demand from colleagues and clients. I became important and busy - marks of success in my mind.
Yet as the pace of my life increased, my sense of self--worth diminished. Deep down, I knew something was missing. I consoled myself with money, clothes, and trips, but couldn't shake the subtle ache in the belly....
I yearned to step back from this crazy, frenetic dance of doing. Deep down, I was more than ready to move away from the heart--hardening existence of constant demands - more money, more sales, more projects. I wanted out of the harshness that this lifestyle was inflicting on my weary body, mind, and spirit. I longed to dance again in step with the ebb and flow of life and the rhythm of the Creator. I just had to learn to trust that God would meet my needs if I followed my soul's urging. Trusting that I was created for more than a mediocre existence devoted to drive and achievement.1
Wil Willimon, who preaches at Duke University, can add that he knows lots of young adults who can tell you that it is a great, good freedom to strip down, break free, and throw their future away on the kingdom of God rather than harness up for a lifetime of servitude to the kingdoms of this world.
Cynthia Gadsen ends her story by saying, "Each of us is called at some point in our lives - called to be more, to live what we believe, to make visible what we profess. We often are also asked to move from one calling to another. Sometimes burnout is what helps us make the shift. Who will I be? Whose am I? Why am I here?" Cynthia said she found that a willingness to risk, born of an exhaustion and fatigue with the life she was living, helped her decide to try to live by the advice of Saint Paul, helped her to decide to try to live a life that was worthy of the gifts that had been given her.
There is an incredible freedom and excitement, a sense of adventure and risk, a sense of joy and challenge when we begin to guide our lives by the standard, "Is what I am doing worthy of God's gifts to me? Am I using what I have been given in a way that is appropriate for the gifts?" It is terrifying and demanding. To decide to evaluate and to live your life by the standard, "Is this a worthy use of the gifts given to me by God?" is to reject all the other claims upon your gifts. One day when Wil Willimon was feeling low because of the small attendance and poor results he was getting at Chapel at Duke, he complained to Stanley Hauerwas, who was named by Time magazine as the nation's most outstanding theologian. Stanley replied to Dr. Willimon, "Cheer up. This university is a bad neighborhood for Jesus. I think you do quite well, Wil, considering that this university is against everything Jesus teaches."2 To lead a life that is worthy of the God who has called you in Jesus Christ may run you in an entirely different direction than the rest of the world, but as the saints have shown us, it will take us in a direction of contentment and joy, it will take us in a direction where we are at one with ourselves and our gifts. It will give us that sense of being on a level and going in the same direction as the will and purpose of God. To lead a life that is worthy of the God who called us will bring us to end with the saints into the kingdom of our God. To use the gifts that God has given in a way that is worthy of them is to find our Sabbath rest and joy in all we do.
____________
1. Cynthia Gadsen, "Dancing in Step," The Other Side, November / December, 2002, p. 43.
2. Wil Willimon, "Preaching to Affluent Young Adults, Or Lord, Help Me Shove This Camel," The Journal For Preaching, Advent, 2002, Volume XXVI, Number 1, p. 47.
