Good News
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. John Westerhoff,
preached July 25, 1999, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Atlanta
In our culture we have many names for what we throw or give away. At various times the same item is labeled junk, second hand, or antique. The same item that is perceived as garbage by one person is perceived as a priceless treasure by another.
It seems as if nothing has value in and of itself, only whether or not it is prized by someone. Strangely in our culture the same is true about people. In one moment we are doing well and are valued and in the next no one remembers us. Even in the church our worth is often determined by how much we participate or contribute. Is it any wonder that we are tempted to believe we have no value unless we are popular, successful, prized, sought after, applauded, or appreciated by someone or, better, some group? Why do we permit our worth to depend on what we accomplish? Why do we judge ourselves in comparison to others and by how much they do that is prized by others?
Over the years I've worked very hard to please others, avoided competition unless I thought I could do well enough to be affirmed, and gave my life to earning the reputation of being among the best in my discipline. I wrote books and went on lecture tours around the world to be applauded. In one sense, I achieved my goals, but never experienced peace or well being. I just kept comparing myself with others and being depressed by the fact that there was always someone better. And now as I draw near the end of my career and the praise decreases, I have sometimes felt as if I had less value.
But in the last year something very important has occurred in my life. For the first time I have experienced the gospel and its amazing message. Both today's lesson from St. Paul [Romans 8:26-34] and the gospel [Matthew 13:31-33, 44-49] speak to it. Paul gives testimony to the means by which he learned of his true worth. It was by giving up trying to receive praise or achieve worth through good works. To his amazement he discovered that he was valuable in God's eyes. God had chosen him and called him by name. God had invited him to share a life of unconditional and unmerited love with him forever. It was a gift, and all he needed to do was accept it.
I also know that it is true. In baptism the church attempts to make us aware of our true worth. We no longer need to compare ourselves with others in order to determine our value. We no longer need to judge others so as to feel better about ourselves. Each of us is valued by God equally. Each of us in invaluable. Not because of how well or how much we do, but solely because of who we are.
The good news is that our value is not in what we accomplish, not in the difference we make, not by the number of successful efforts we accomplish. Our value is in who are as God's loved and valued children.
Darrell Grizzle, a recovery center counselor and member of the parish, wrote a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concerning a series of articles which defended shame as a way to deter crime. He wrote,
I am alarmed by the increasing use of shame and humiliation as a sentencing tool. As a counselor and former parole officer, I feel that when you attack a person's integrity, you attack the very foundation on which he or she can rebuild a positive, crime-free life. As a Christian, I believe that all people are created in the image of God. When we humiliate a person, we denigrate that sacred image and perpetuate the cycle of shame and crime.
Jesus, who came to reveal to us our true worth and to convince us that we are accepted and loved by God in spite of anything we might or might not do, proclaimed that God's long-hoped-for dominion or reign had arrived. God was restoring creation and his creatures to his original intent. This reign was a state or condition that manifests itself among us or around us; a condition in which we experience social harmony and well being, reconciliation, and equity in a non-violent, dominion-free society. It was also a condition or state that manifests itself within us; a condition in which we experience personal wholeness, health, unity with God, peace, worth, connectedness, and love.
Now in today's gospel Jesus uses a number of metaphors to describe how his disciples were to be faithful to its coming. This coming reign of God would not be a natural event; it would be a surprise. It would come not so much because of, but in spite of, their efforts. Their most important work was simply to go about living their daily lives faithfully, always prepared and ready for its coming. They were to set their hearts' desire on its coming and be willing to pay any price necessary for its arrival. They were to be attentive to the working of God's grace in their lives and history and cooperate with God rather than trying to manage or control things. They were not to judge others or compare themselves with others, but simply perform simple gestures of faithfulness.
The reign of God is not an ethical ideal that requires our willfulness to accomplish. It is a personal and social reality we are to abide in until it comes in its fullness.
To explain what this would look like, let me give one example. Without denying the presence of violence, we are to focus our attention on that peace which is all around us, like the air we breathe, but typically fail to notice. However, if we fail to notice it, we will be unable to extend it to others or other aspects of our lives.
Within a world of injustice and violence we are to be a forgiven and forgiving people. We are to break the cycle of violence by refusing to participate in it. We are to refuse to retaliate, to seek retribution, to hate our enemies, or to nurse anger against those who harm us. We are to refuse to give in to fear and arm ourselves for protection. We are to remain calm when being verbally abused. We are to refuse to strike back when being physically abused. We are to be a sign and witness to an alternative way of life, as peacemakers in God's peaceable kingdom.
So that we might live such a life, we elicited God's help in our opening collect.
We began by addressing God who would help those who trust in him in their struggle with the demons that would influence us to try and earn our value, efforts which lead us to experience depression, anxiety, fear, anger. Our God, we claimed, is the source of our strength, wholeness, well being, and health. Our lives, we acknowledged, are a pilgrimage with God, during which God affirms our being and loves us in spite of our behavior. We recalled that we are not alone, because God is with us as our guide and support. And we prayed that we might not lose sight of God's reign within us until it comes in its fullness.
As St. Paul reminds us we do not know what to pray for, but God's Spirit in the church will pray for us. That is the prayer we find in our collect. All we need to do is make that prayer of the Spirit our own and it will be fulfilled. May that be our action this day and may that be the grace we experience. Amen.
