Sermon Reflection | Sunday June 2, 2013

Read: Luke 7:1-10
Listen: "Who is Worthy?"
Dig a Little Deeper:
     First let me tell you a little bit about why I preached on the topic of "worth" this Sunday.   There is an epidemic spreading throughout our congregation, and perhaps throughout our whole society, called the, "I'm not good enough for that" disease.  It's a brutal disease.  It effects the heart, and the head, and the energy-level, and sometimes brings physical pain throughout the entire body in a strange, indescribable way.  It's a disease that effects the faith of afflicted individuals.  Symptoms include: not praying, because you think God won't listen to you (ie: "trust me, God doesn't want to talk to me), not going to church because you think the church will go up in flames if you step in the door (ie: "I've sinned enough for Hell to come to me!"), not joining a committee, not speaking in church, not volunteering (ie: "those other people do a better job than I could ever do").  Oh, and these are just some of the church symptoms.  You should see (maybe you do see!) the home and work symptoms.

    So I wanted to get up in front of the congregation and say, "Stop thinking that way; you are worthy!"

    So I did.

    And then I got home, and I plopped myself down on the couch and I said to myself, "I didn't preach that sermon as well as I should have."*  Are you kidding me!?  I preached a sermon about how ONLY GOD CAN MAKE US WORTHY and then I went home and beat myself up about not doing a good job.  I said it before: this disease is brutal.

    Friends, we're worthy of God's love.  We're worthy of the love of our neighbors.  Let's make it a Mantra.

    I wonder how many of you have practiced the spiritual tradition of the labyrinth?  It's a good one.  The meaning, or purpose, of a Labyrinth is all over the place, but I like to look at it this way: when you follow one, you are journeying inward towards a goal.  When you reach the center you have attained that goal, and then you bring it back out with you so that it can be incorporated into your daily life.  I don't know if this is right, but it's what works for me.  I invite you to follow this Labyrinth (print it out, look at it on the screen, follow it with your finger or just with your mind) and make the goal in the center: a full understanding that you are worthy.   

*I like to remind myself that an excellent Major League baseball player has a batting average .300; if 30% of my sermons are hits, I am doing an excellent job...

***
     Okay, so that's that.  You are worthy.  But in the Dig a Little Deeper section, I bet you were really hoping to learn more about Centurions.
     Or perhaps you just wanted to check out some good commentaries on the text... Check here, or here for some of my favorites this week.

But probably, based on the feedback I got after worship, you're just hoping to hear this song again.  "Come to Me" by Christopher Grundy, based on the scripture from Matthew 11:28.  You can also find it here on Youtube.

May we all live into God's calling, while all realizing that who we are is good enough.  

Pastor Joanna