Sermon By The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Click link above for the audio.
July, 15, 2012 – 10th Sunday After Pentecost – Year B
1st Reading: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Psalm: Psalm 51:1-13
2nd Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16
Gospel: John 6:24-35
May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
Well, one cannot help but get at least a little caught up in the Olympic fever this past week. Heart racing finishes and heart breaking defeats, and displays of teamwork that inspire us all.
Now there are some fun things about the games themselves, some of which involve the spectators. Just a few days ago, a friend posted an app on my Facebook page – for non-Facebook folks – it is like they sent a little game for me to try. Anyway, this app would allow you to see just what type of Olympic athlete you are most like – using your height and weight. Some friends responded with their results –
“Hey, I’m a men’s gymnast from Great Britain!”
“Another said – I got a women’s individual freestyle swimmer from China”
And another posted: “I’m a Peruvian men’s volleyball player…” well, you get the idea.
So I thought, hey…that looks like fun! I plugged in my height and weight (yes, I was honest). And apparently I am most like…”A male Egyptian footballer.”
But the neat thing about this Facebook application is it highlights a truth about the games itself – that it takes all shapes, sizes and genders of athletes from all around the world to make the Olympics all that it can be.
Now, we may not all be the right shape and size to pole vault, lift weights, or balance ourselves on a beam, but we are all just right to do the work God has called us to do.
It is this that we find in the reading from Ephesians we heard this morning. The author implores us to “…lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God…each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift….The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”
Wow…there’s a whole lot of stuff in there…a message about who we are as followers of Christ. It is read at ordinations, but could be read at the start of any part of a Christian’s journey. We hear clearly that all of us have been given gifts, that we might live fully into our calling to build up the body of Christ.
Now we all, in all of our roles of home and work, can be said to be living into who we are called to be as children of God. Perhaps it is as a caretaker or a parent, a teacher or an office worker, an athlete, a scientist, a baker… For many, these roles are callings. But listen closely to what the scripture is telling us…
“…The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, oh my…
Pastors and teachers…
One might say… “okay, with the exception of maybe the pastor and teacher thing…how does this relate to us today? Isn’t all that apostle, prophet stuff a thing of over 2,000 years ago? We go to work in cubicles, not wander around a desert. How does this matter to us now?”
This isn’t about our societal role, what we do to make a living, but about how we use the gifts Christ has given us – gifts that were given NOT so that we might live better, or in the Olympic Motto: be “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” There is but one purpose for these gifts – that we might build up the body of Christ!
In all that we do, the way that we live, talk, spend, celebrate, mourn… from the moment of our baptism we are called to continually use the gifts we have been given to bring others to Christ. It is the great commission. Each of the roles – apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher are ones that are actionable – sent, speak, preach, care, educate. They are about purpose rather than occupation. One can be a business executive and a prophet, a social worker and an apostle (meaning one who is sent), a teacher and a scientist…
Now, some might say that they aren’t really a pastor – isn’t that a clergy thing – you know, for folks in dog collars? I can tell you that in this church, there are many pastors among you, far greater pastors than John or I – who visit the lonely, feed the hungry, care for the sick. There are in this body of Christ those of you who teach, perhaps not in front of a classroom, but just in the example you set for others. There are the prophets among us – the ones who shout out truths to those in power. And there are apostles, those who are sent to enable, engage and support the work of the body of Christ.
You see, being a Christian isn’t something we do on Sundays. Living our call isn’t something only clergy do…it is something we are – all of us, always – when we are sealed as Christ’s own at baptism. And the author of Ephesians is reminding us that in our baptism we were given gifts by Christ to live fully into our call.
That could be a daunting thing if one were in it all alone, but we are not. As the author reminds us, we must live into this calling with “humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit…”
These are the keys to living fully into our calling, to using the gifts that Christ has graced on each of us…that we “bear one another in love,” being one body, one Spirit.”
We must work as a team.
Now, I want to go back to the Olympics for a moment. One of the events that I find fascinating in the games is synchronized diving. This is, if you haven’t seen it, a sport where two people must execute the same complicated dive – without saying a word to one another. There can be no standout – no star – but two people moving through the air and into the water as one. Amazing teamwork!
Being a Christian is about being surrounded and supported – it is not done in isolation. It’s done as a team.
Christianity is a lot like another part of God’s creation – the California redwoods. One of the most beautiful and enormous trees, with trunks that can soar above 350’, but oddly enough, they have very shallow roots. So shallow, that a single redwood should really topple over. So how does a redwood survive to rise to such incredible heights? By intermingling their roots. Redwoods survive in groups – their roots linking together to create a networked foundation that make them strong and sturdy.
As Christians, we are called to work as a team – each with our unique gifts – but with these gifts joined together like the roots of the redwood, working together in harmony and peace like the synchronized divers, so that we may build up the body of Christ.
We are a communal people. Jesus didn’t call one apostle, but 12 and many other followers, and he sent them out in pairs, so that no one would be on their own, but have the support of others. The gifts each of us were given can only be expressed fully when we are united in a “bond of peace” – when we work as a team – as a full body.
And while there is no I in team, as coaches like to say, we cannot forget that teams are not filled with people who are all the same, any more than any single redwood tree is exactly – in every way – like any other in the forest.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate clothing that says “One size fits all.” I mean really? Who are they kidding? And, how does that feel when I (yup, talking about me here) put the t-shirt on, or the hat (I can’t help it – I have a weirdly big head), anyway, whatever…guess what – Apparently I am not part of the “all”! I mean, what is the message there (other than I should try out for the Egyptian football team)?
Thankfully, with God, being part of the team it isn’t a “one size fits all” proposition. Everyone fits, and everyone fits differently. No two people gifted by Christ are alike, so neither is the result of the gift. Because we are all unique creations of God, each of us will also use our gifts in a different way – guided by the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t want us to be the same. God wants us to be who we were created to be.
I am reminded of the story of a Jewish rabbinical student named Simon, who “wanted to live a good and holy life, so he went to the Rabbi and said, “Rabbi, how can I lead my life so that I live like Moses?” The Rabbi told him, “Simon, In the end, God will not ask you why you were not more like Moses? God will ask you why you were not more like Simon.”1
We are graced with the gifts we need to build up the body of Christ, uniquely in our own way, and supported by the root system of our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, because these are spiritual gifts “there is no place for human pride, as if the gifts were self-generated or in some way earned. Similarly, there is no place for envy since [God has gifted all,] and all in various and different ways.”2 All of us have our own unique gift for the purpose of working in harmony and peace to build up the body of Christ.
But how do we know what those gifts are?
We keep our hearts and minds open to the Holy Spirit, discerning in prayer, and stepping boldly into new paths. I’ve noticed in a lot of those “personal story” segments that NBC does on different Olympians just how many of them felt something in their hearts the first time they plunged into the water, or landed on the other side of the vault. And, a common theme was that each were identified early on by coaches, parents, and friends, as having a particular gift, and then that gift was nourished and supported. We must not only be in discernment for our own call, but lift up those around us to experience their own gifts, just as Christ did with the apostles.
And, as we live into this call, like the athletes who must train, strengthening their bodies with diet and exercise, we must do likewise. If we are to have, as the author tells us, “each part…working properly, promote[ing] the body’s growth in building itself up in love,” then we must be nourished. We need the wonder bread that will build our body in more than twelve ways. We need the wonder bread that is the gift Jesus is for us, the bread of life that we heard about in the gospel today. Jesus is the nourishment that we get whenever we join with one another in the Eucharist.
In the gospel, Jesus is making the first of his “I am” statements. Statements found in the Gospel of John that tell his followers who he is to them, and to the world. As the body of Christ in the world today, we need to make our own “I am” statements.
When you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror – say “I am! I am an important part of the body of Christ, and God has given me gifts to use today!” When you go to work, remember that everything you say and do is not separated from your faith, but intertwined with it, like the roots of the redwoods. When patience is wearing thin, and fatigue sets in, come here – come together with your family to be renewed, because you do not walk this path of humility and peace alone – but with all of us, we are united in the Spirit – one body.
So, let us go out from here and use the gifts we have been given to proclaim the good news of God in Christ. Let us be the ones who are sent to stand for the marginalized, to speak against injustice, to preach the good news, to pastorally care for others, to educate ourselves and the world about God’s all inclusive love. Let us truly embrace the gifts that we have been given, the love that binds us to one another in Christ. Let us make our own “I am” statements in the world – going forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit, as we stand and proclaim by word and example, with the gifts we have been given, “I am… a beloved child of God, a living part of the body of Christ!” Thanks be to God!
Amen.
1 Adapted from a story in a Day1.org post by the Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade.
2 John Vooys in http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?703.