SERMON FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2009 SAINT ANNE’S
PROPER 24B CREATION SEASON 3 LYDIA HUTTAR BROWN
Job 38:1-7; The Lake of Beauty by Edward Carpenter; Mark 10:35-45
You’ve seen those bulletin bloopers that make the rounds on email. Jennifer McNally posted some on our St. Anne’s blog a while back.
They never cease to make me laugh.
Our guest speakers this morning are Rev and Mrs. Green, speaking about their mission work in Africa. Please stay after the service for the hanging of the Greens.
This announcement had details for an upcoming Conference. “The cost for attending the Prayer and Fasting Conference includes meals.”
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
And this one, that segues into this sermon’s theme:
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM.
Please use the back door.
I come from the generation that was raised with “Don’t you go thinking you’re better than anyone else.” “Who died and put you in charge?” “You’re not so great as all that, Missie.”
So as I read the readings for today, it seemed to me that God (in the lesson from Job) and Jesus (in the lesson from Mark) were saying kind of the same thing, to Job and to the disciples:
Who do you think you are?
Get back in your place, and don’t ask so many questions.
Don’t go thinking you’re better than other people.
Don’t go thinking you deserve special treatment.
You know the story of Job.
He was a prosperous man, and righteous,
and he loved God and lived a blameless life.
And Satan – the Accuser might be a better translation – said to God,
“Of course Job loves you and obeys you! Look how you have blessed him. But I bet that if he wasn’t so prosperous, he’d turn on you.”
And God said, “You’re on. I bet you’re wrong.
You may do anything to him, but do not kill him.”
And so Job suffered every kind of loss and tragedy.
His so-called “friends” came to cheer him up, and all they could say was, “Well, Job, you probably brought this on yourself.”
Job finally stands up and cries out to God,
demanding to know the meaning of his suffering.
And God replies from the whirlwind,
“Who dares to question me about things he doesn’t understand?
Where were YOU when I created the earth?
What do YOU know about the world and how things are supposed to be? What do you really know about the cosmos… the universe…
… the complex and vast web of life?
What makes you think there is an answer you would understand?”
In the gospel story, James and John express what is probably on the minds of all the disciples:
Isn’t there some kind of special privilege for those who are close to Jesus? Jesus has been talking about his suffering and death, and eventual glory in heaven.
The disciples want to skip the gory parts and go right to the glory parts.
Can we have reserved seats at the cast party,
at the head table right next to you?
Jesus says, “You have no idea.
You are like children who think adulthood is about doing whatever you want – staying up late and watching movies and eating and drinking all the pizza and Mountain Dew you want – without any of the responsibilities or hard decisions.
You think that following me is about greatness and glory?
Grow up and think again.
Greatness is found in lowliness. Glory is found in humility.”
So where is our place? Is it inappropriate to ask God for understanding?
Is it wrong to strive for greatness?
I’ve been chewing on this all week, because this morning I want to talk to you about a vision of greatness for St. Anne’s. At the meeting after church today, the wardens and vestry are going to present you with a vision of St. Anne’s at our best, living out our shared vision and mission:
God calls us to be Christ’s loving arms in the world,
spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people
through our Worship, Education, Ministry and Outreach.
It’s a vision of us – you, me,
our members who aren’t here this morning for one reason or another, but whose absence we notice, and it diminishes us –
it’s a vision of all of us, including those who are not here yet
but whom God will lead here and who will become part of our community -
all of us as St. Anne’s living fully the divine call
to be a community of love and light, and service,
not just for ourselves, but for the world that God loves so much.
It’s a vision of greatness.
Not dominance, or pride, or inappropriate priorities, or demanding anything from God.
But a vision of greatness of what we can be,
as a Christian faith community planted in this little corner of the world.
Greatness rooted in service to others and humility that we are part of God’s mission, God’s work in the world.
God can use us.
This vision is not about maintenance.
It’s not about maintenance of a building or of programs.
It’s not about doing or being “good enough.”
It’s about doing our best, being our best.
Because, like the Lake of Beauty, we reflect the Divine. When we are who we are supposed to be, God looks down and sees his own reflection in us. And the world sees God in us, too.
I have a vision of us growing and improving in every area,
and always offering our best –
our time, our talent, and our treasure –
and paying attention to how God is at work in and through us.
We have this beautiful building and grounds,
entrusted to us by our faith ancestors in this place.
Maintaining and improving them is not why we exist as a church.
We do not exist for the purpose of paying the electric bill.
They are tools for ministry,
vehicles for us to do the work of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
We have a staff of clergy and lay ministers, and administrative support.
But having clergy and staff is not why we are here.
Their gifts of leadership help all of us respond to God’s call to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Why we are here is this: To seek greatness through servanthood.
To respond to God’s call to be the loving arms, and voice, and hands, and feet of Jesus Christ.
Through our worship –
where people can draw close to God,
where tears are one of our sacraments,
where music and preaching and silence can open us to God
and nurture our souls.
Through education –
where adults and teenagers and children can learn and grow in faith. Where no question is inappropriate or unwelcome –
although some may be unanswerable,
and we have to just remind each other of Job,
and to live in the mystery of not knowing.
Through ministry –
as we nurture body and soul,
caring for the whole person through every stage of life.
Healing prayers … companionship in times of joy and celebration, and when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Through outreach –
affirming our connection to the greater church,
lifting our eyes from this little corner of the world to see that we are part of the vast web of life,
and that what happens to our sisters and brothers and our world,
even far away, happens to us.
It’s not really an option to do this on the cheap.
Jesus said, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
We are called to greatness through service,
through sacrificial giving of ourselves.
We are called to participate in God’s mission of healing and reconciliation in the world – even if we can’t know the reasons for suffering and have to live with mysteries beyond our knowing.
So what about greatness, and self-esteem, and our proper place?
There’s a great bumper sticker: Just remember, you’re unique and special, just like everyone else.
Our greatness lies in recognizing that we are Christ’s Body – his incarnate presence in this world. His arms and feet and hands and voice. Our greatness lies in honoring Christ by committing ourselves to excellence, and not trying to “just get by.”
Our greatness lies in service, and humility, and living as our best communal self.
Amen.