Sermon Epiphany 1B 2016: Living as the One God Loves Introduction: Resolutions to make ourselves better

Transcription

1 Sermon Epiphany 1B 2016: Living as the One God Loves Introduction: Resolutions to make ourselves better So, how are those New Year s resolutions working for you so far? I blew mine on January 4 th. The new calendar year is upon us and with the New Year Comes the opportunity for many of us to take stock of our lives; To see how we re doing, to consider how our lives are progressing; And then to make resolutions or to set goals about how we want this year to go; To make resolutions about who we want to be or who we want to become this year. Now, if you re like most people, New Year s resolutions Are promises or commitments to change our lives and the way we re living them; It could be that we want to lose a little weight I ve had that resolution for a couple of years now about thirty; Or to spend a little more time with family and friends Or to learn how to do something new like playing hand bells or making furniture Resolutions may include getting the basement actually cleaned and organized Or a daily commitment to read more and to watch less television; To balance the checkbook more than twice a year; To pray, to sing, to dance, to come to church more often; Kind of like a kinder, gentler Lenten discipline for the entire year. One of my high school friends posted My resolution for the New Year is to be just like last year. Having goals and making resolutions give us something to aim for, a vision for life; And you and I are much more likely to pay attention to our health Or to our relationship with God and our relationships with others When we admit that we re not paying enough attention And then make a conscious commitment to do something about it; It s simply common sense. 1

2 On the other hand, there s a side of New Year s resolutions and personal goal setting That suggests that we re not good enough as we are; That changes in our lives are not only going to be helpful in a general way But are also needed because we re not measuring up somehow. And we think and we believe that if we can somehow change, improve, Become that different person, grow into our better selves, whoever that might be; Then we ll measure up, then we ll be happy; then we ll be loveable. The problem with this kind of approach to life in a new year or any time, of course, Is that there are so many competing voices telling us who we are And who we need to be, that we can never measure up to all of them. Or we end up making resolutions and trying to become someone we re not Or someone we ll never be. And so the better question at the start of this New Year Is not who I should be, but who am I? Who am I, because who we are and who we believe we are Is a far more powerful resource for living and growing and changing; Than any outside set of goals or resolutions can ever be. And so in this New Year and on this first Sunday of the season of Epiphany, This season of visions that reveals this Christ who s calling us; I want to offer you God answer to the question of who you are and who I am; I want to offer God s view as a gift for living your life this year And every year according to the way God sees you Rather than from some ever changing vision of perfect That you and I will never reach. 2

3 God s Beloved Now to begin to know how God sees you, how God would describe who you are It s always helpful to look to Jesus and His life; And how He understands who He is and how He believes God sees Him. All through Jesus ministry, Jesus asks people, Who do you say that I am? I don t believe He s asking the question trying to figure it out for Himself No, He s asking to draw people like you and me into a relationship with Him And the answers vary from one person to the next. If we were to take a poll of our congregation this morning And ask you to answer Jesus question, I d expect a wide variety of answers; Some of us might answer, the Son of God, our Lord and Savior, the Messiah; Others might say He s a great teacher, a healer, a miracle worker, a friend; And many of us might say, I don t know for sure. I ve always loved the great Christian writer C. S. Lewis answer to this question That either Jesus is a madman or He is who he says He is, the Son of God. But Jesus knew who He was and didn t see Himself as other people saw Him. Jesus didn t live His life according to other people s vision for who He should be; Jesus didn t live for what kind of goals He should reach as the Messiah; Jesus didn t seek to improve Himself by the standards of others. Jesus knew who He was and who He was to be; And all the ways Jesus acted and lived and died Were informed by one, central reality; one defining fact of who He was; Jesus knew Himself to be the beloved of God; Or more simply put, Jesus knows that God loves Him. We just read that after Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened 3

4 And the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in all its fullness And a voice from heaven answered the question, who do you say I am; And defines who Jesus knows Himself to be. At the very core of Jesus life and ministry is this one truth of God s love for Him; Wherever Jesus went, whatever Jesus taught, whatever Jesus did Whatever pains and struggles and disappointments Jesus faced; He knew and lived knowing that He was loved, cherished by God. You can t face the rejection Jesus faced in telling people about God s love; You can t hang on a cross with nails in your hands and your feet And ask God to forgive them for they know not what they do Unless at the very core of your heart and soul, you know God s love for you And have that power of God s limitless love working in you and through you. It s the single reality and vision of Jesus life And it is that reality that has literally changed the world. We re Beloved, Too And you may be pleased to know that by our Baptisms, By our willingness to turn our lives to God, to believe, we re related to Jesus. We, too, are people whom God loves; And whoever we think we are or whoever we think we should be Or whatever voices or ideals enter into our heads and hearts; The one that matters is that we are loved by God, just as we are. It is a gift of grace offered to each of us, For at our Baptisms, God now sees us as He sees Jesus, beloved; It s a love that s unearned, undeserved, undeniable; God loves you and me just as we are; God cherishes you and me and wants us to live our lives in the reality that we are loved. 4

5 What would it mean in this New Year, if you and I resolved to come to the place Where we saw our primary identity in life as the one Jesus loves; As the one whom God loves? How differently would we view ourselves each day? How gracious would we be when we fell short? Or tried something and failed or tried and succeeded Whatever each day brought, we would still know that we are the one that God loves. One of my favorite Christian authors, Philip Yancey, tells a story about the time He received a postcard from a friend that was signed, From the one that Jesus loves. Yancey says that he chuckled when he read the return address Because it came from one of his more interesting Christian friends Who excels at pious Christian slogans and trendy ideas; So he picked up the phone and gave him a call to find out what he meant. When I called him, Yancey says, he told me the slogan came from a class at church; In the class the teacher referred to Jesus greatest friend on earth, the disciple John Who is identified in John s Gospel as the one Jesus loved. Yancey s friend s teacher had imagined that if you were to ask John, who are you? He would not reply, I am a fisherman, a disciple, an apostle, a follower of Christ, But rather, I am the one Jesus loves. Some psychologists have a theory called the looking-glass self; Their theory is that you become who the most important person in your life Thinks you are or how they see you. Well since God is the ultimate importance in the universe Perhaps you and I would do well to look in the mirror and see ourselves As God sees us, as God s beloved. 5

6 The greatest, most life giving change you and I can make in this New Year Is a change of vision, a change in the understanding of who we are And to accept and enjoy God s vision, that you and I are loved by God. And so on this first Sunday in Epiphany and at the start of this New Year I invite you to put your goals for the coming year And your resolutions for changing your life in proper perspective, In a secondary place; And consider every day, every moment, if you can, That God is very fond of you, that you are God s beloved. And in those moments this year, when you sense that Christ is calling you, as He is; Remember He s not calling to improve you or to somehow help you measure up; He s calling because you are so loved by God; And He s inviting you to use your gifts/your life for His purposes; And always and only because you are God s beloved. Amen. 6