Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 71:1-6

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Luke 4:21-30

Mt. Zion UMC, Stokesdale, NC

28 January 2007

Boxes

Finding out about the truth of ourselves is probably the toughest of lessons. To discover that we are not exactly who we thought we were is disturbing and unsettling. After all, shouldn’t the person to know us the best be ourselves? Yet, so often we deceive ourselves and come to see ourselves in a light that we really don’t reflect. Probably the earliest and simplest discovery we make about ourselves is our voices. Many people comment on the first time they hear their own voice on a recording by saying, “I don’t sound like that. Do I really sound like that?” The voice on the recording simply does not match the voice we hear in our heads. For some, this discovery of the truth can be unsettling. When I listen to a recording of a sermon I’ve preached, quite honestly, I get a little frustrated. Particularly if I think that I’ve delivered a line one way and hear that it came out differently.

Finding out that our voice is really different than the one we hear is really one of the least unsettling truth many of us discover about ourselves. Sometimes we find out that we are not as open minded as we thought, or we discover one of our hypocrisies. Yes, we all have them. I had a professor at Duke who commented that “We all are little bundles of contradictions.” Sometimes we recognize these contradictions and sometimes we ignore them. One of mine is that I abhor war. I consider myself a passivist, yet I’m fascinated with military technology and actions. I feel very comfortable in a military environment and look forward to serving in the Navy Reserve and even on active duty as a chaplain. Even at Civil War reenactments I feel this struggle. But coming to terms with hating war, yet feeling drawn to the institutions that were formed for that very purpose took some time to come to grips with. It is still an aspect of my journey with Christ that I struggle with. I probably will continue to struggle with it until I’m perfected in love through God’s grace.

The first time we’re presented with a part of ourselves in conflict with another part of ourselves can cause a range of emotions… usually anger. That’s how Jesus’ audience responded when Jesus pointed out that God’s grace and love was not simply for them [Luke 4:25-27]. The prevailing Jewish belief was that God’s promise was simply for the chosen people. Some had become complacent with this understanding… complacent to the point that they ignored or forgot the actions in their history where God extended grace and care to gentiles. When Jesus reminded them of a few of these instances, they got really mad [Luke 4:28]. So mad, in fact that they were about to throw Jesus from a cliff [Luke 4:29]. They went from praising the elegance of Jesus’ words to wanting to throw him to his death in a matter of minutes. The truth they learned about themselves was they were not alone in God’s plan for salvation… and they didn’t want to hear about it. Yet this understanding that God’s plan for salvation is intended for all, as difficult as it may have been for those in the synagogue that day, is essential for the maturity of faith in God. It challenged those that heard Jesus speak to see God and God’s promise in a much larger way. It shook up the image of the God they knew; a God they had placed neatly in a box that they could comprehend.

Humans are good at putting things in boxes. And we’re very good at tricking ourselves into thinking that God fits neatly in the box that we’ve prepared for him and his call on our lives. Instead of seeing limitless opportunities through God, we see limitations in ourselves and think that God can’t use us despite our limitations. Most prophets begin their ministries this way. This morning we heard Jeremiah’s call story in the Old Testament reading. Although it may initially look like Jeremiah was simply being humble and even being upfront with the truth that he is “only a boy” [Jeremiah 1:6]; in reality he was putting God in a box. He refused to believe that God had the power and ability to make him a great prophet. In his focusing on his own short-comings, he denied God’s ability. God put a stop to that right away. God essentially told Jeremiah, “not only do I know who you are, I knew you before you were even you; and more importantly, I know the you to come. Now stand aside and let me do the job through you.” Despite Jeremiah’s lack of faith, God provided all that he would need to fulfill his calling. Jeremiah didn’t have to worry about the words to say despite him being “only a boy” [Jeremiah 1:6] because God gave him the words.

You know, God is calling us similarly. God is calling us to be so much greater than we are, or can even imagine being. He’s calling each of us in this way as well as calling us as a congregation to go beyond ourselves. Where is God calling us? He’s calling us to perfection. He’s calling us to be saints. He’s calling us to the perfect love of God and neighbor. He’s calling us to be perfected in love. But what does this perfect love look like? The Apostle Paul gives us just such a description in our reading from 1 Corinthians. He talks of love being essential in all things, including faith and knowledge. He describes love as being patient and kind, not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. He says love is generous, not insisting on its own way; that it is not irritable or resentful. Love takes joy in truth, not wrongdoing. Love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” [1 Corinthians 13:7]. Paul points out that “Love never ends” [1 Corinthians 13:8]. It will outlast good things like prophesy and knowledge. This perfect love is the essence of eternal life. And it’s by this love that we are being perfected. We are called to live a life of this kind of perfect love for God and neighbor.

But perfection is such a tough word to deal with. Are we really to live a life of perfect love here on earth? Can we really be perfected in love during this life here on earth? Yes. Through God’s grace we can be sanctified. We can be the us to come. We first must be faithful. Then we must be willing to be formed by God. We must be willing to let God change us. This will include learning things about ourselves that we really don’t want to know because these things are uncomfortable. But learning new things and having our perceptions challenged is a part of growing. To see clearly, we first must recognize that our vision is blurred.

Paul mentions that having our perceptions challenged is part of growth and a part of discovering a deeper faith. He acknowledges that we do not fully understand God and God’s perfect love. We don’t know all there is to know. Mercifully, God has taught us the way to salvation through Jesus Christ. That is all contained in the Bible. But there is more to God’s creation, more to God’s will, more to God’s actions that we don’t fully understand. As such, Paul says, “For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known” [1 Corinthians 13:9-12]. As we mature in faith, our perceptions change; we become perfected in love. We stop seeing “us” and “them” as those in the synagogue who heard Jesus speak saw themselves as the chosen people and the only ones a part of God’s salvation. We start to realize that God calls us to ministries not because we have the resources, but because he will provide the resources as he had done in Jeremiah’s call story. The first step in following our call is to let God out of the box we put him in.

So, where does that leave us today? Well first, I ask where and in what ways are we putting God into a box? How are we doing this as individuals; how are we doing this as a congregation? What boxes lying around us here at Mt. Zion do we think we’ve put God in? I think we’ve put God in the box called “we can’t,” or “we’re too small,” or “we don’t have enough money.” Oh, and these boxes aren’t simply lying around Mt. Zion United Methodist Church; they’re also in our homes, in our families, and in our individual lives.

What’s keeping us from truly walking by faith and not by sight [2 Corinthians 5:7]? What childish things are we refusing to put aside? What are we letting us keep from further maturing in our faith both as individuals as well as a congregation? These are tough questions. These are uncomfortable questions because they force us to look at ourselves in ways we don’t want to look. We’re comfortable with who we are. But God’s calling us to be something more than who we are. God’s calling us on to perfection. God’s calling us to the perfect love of God and neighbor. God’s calling us to step out of our comfort zone. The good news is that God calls us to be perfected in love; not wrath, not hate, but love… and God provides the grace we need to be perfected. It’s not going to be easy, but then neither is growing from a child to an adult. So, what box are you keeping God in? What box are we keeping God in? Are we going to let God out?

SDG