SERMON 8/12/12 Pentecost 11B

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2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51
 
Deep within the noble mirror my novel soulresides,Whatever secret the mirror reveals shows thechange I hold inside.Upon reflecting an autumn tree, newlyconverted to golden hue,Beckoning me to obey nature’s course, so mysoul can be renewed.1    Author Unknown                “Amirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves muchof its original quality.”2  When we gazeat the reflection in one of those pieces of glass, we usually see our “true”self.  When we wake up in the morning withwrinkled PJ’s and messed up hair, without makeup, razor, and with un-brushedteeth guess what, that image is the “real deal.”  Mirrors also reveal our “masked self” withits designer clothes, fashionable hair doo’s, appropriate social etiquette, andproper church-like behavior.  When wegaze out our reflections, the reality is that underneath all that glistens fromthe glass, is the same person with messed up hair, without makeup, razor, andwith un-brushed teeth.                  We arewho we are and the outside shines through, that side of us others see, which,shows both the “real deal” self, and it, shows the “masked self.”  How we live, how we interact, how we witnessto our faith, speak volumes about our spiritual life; our true self.  In today’s epistle, the Apostle Paul wasmetaphorically holding up a mirror before the Church in Ephesus, as he askedthem what it was they saw in the reflection! Paul cautions this early Christian community, that they should be awareof how they interact with each other, and what life within the community lookslike to the world around them. Evidently, based on the examples Paul uses, there was some “bad blood”between some of the folks in that little community.  Paul mentions in his letter that there wasanger, evil talk, stealing, and all sorts of conflict in Ephesus, and it seemsthere were some disagreements and rumblings going on.          Throughhis exhortation, Paul reminded those folks that being a Christian community, totruly follow Christ, they had to stand up and proclaim, we will be “withoutbitterness, anger, shouting, cursing, and any kind of malice.  Instead, we need to embrace goodness,warm-heartedness, and forgiveness, with Christ as (our) example.”  Like those first century Christians, churchestoday are not immune to some of those problematic relational issues, and weprobably ought to be on the lookout for these things in ourselves and in thecongregations to which we belong.

                Thechurch is supposed to live as a reconciliation community.  Our mission is to bring others to “unity withGod and each other in Christ.”  We arenot only a respite place, an island of love where its members can escape from aworld where division, malice, and unrest abounds.  We are a mission society that is sent out toshow the world what reconciliation in Christ is really like.  A “community of reconciliation is to be, andwill be, a neighborhood where the old is put off and the new put on.”  2  Ourpurpose is to be a place for personal transformation, communal transformation,so we can transform God’s world.  Thechurch is like a laboratory, a gymnasium, a practice field where we can cometogether in Christ, and live out together, love, mercy, and grace that willflow from beyond the walls of the building. We are members of one another and as such, how we are perceived, the reflectionwe cast in the world, the image of our everyday lives, should show the worldreconciling love. 

                Jesussaid, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever;and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."  Jesus met folks where they were.  Jesus brought healing to all with whom hecame in contact.  Jesus never worriedabout what made him feel good, what he wanted, what filled his needs.  Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick,restored the outcast, and eventually, he gave himself up fully to the world todo with him, as we wished.  Jesus lovedbeyond himself.  Jesus did not judge thefailures of those who wanted to follow him, but for whatever reason could notmake that leap rather, he invited them and grieved when they turned and walkedaway.  Jesus invited everyone to journeywith him regardless of his or her background, failure, social place, ortheological perspective.  Jesus loved inways that we sometimes cannot.  

                Thisimage of Our Lord, is the image we are called to reflect.  We are not merely to put this image on forspecial gatherings, for Sunday mornings, but this image should be one wereflect all the time.  Even when thingsare tough, when we are having that bad day, even when it doesn’t seem like wecan cope, if we stand in the mirror and look long enough, we can see the faceof Christ in ours.  See, even when wemight fail to live up to the perfection of Christ, we truly have in us thespark of the divine presence.  We aremarked as Christ’s own and sealed by the Holy Spirit by our baptism.  That spark of that image never goesaway.  So whether we are in our PJ’s withfrumped up hair, no makeup, five o’clock shadow, and un-brushed teeth, or weare standing tall in the latest fashion, the finest designer haircut, or themost appropriate social skills, we have in us a glimpse of the image of God’sdivine Spirit in us.  

         Theother day, I happened to look at the website of an Episcopal parish in anotherpart of Florida.  I read a recent sermonpreached by the priest and I found it very interesting.  In her homily she asked parishioners towrestle prayerfully with this question, “if St. Swithin’s was not here nextweek, would the community of Swithinville miss us?”  Then she added, “Why would we bemissed?”  We need to wrestle with thatquestion, as we wrestle to be imitators of God.           Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus chargedthem to be "imitators of God." He encouraged the little community and the individuals in it, to mimicGod.  As we hear the scripture read thismorning, we need to recognize that we are also the recipients of Paul’sletter.  We too are called to imitateGod, maybe even to impersonate God both as a community and as the individualswho make up that community.  We cometogether as a faith community not merely gathering for our benefit, yes, ourbenefit makes us better witnesses, but we gather as a community so we can showthe world what a  reconciling communityis really like.  We do that not by tryingto put on airs with great hair, makeup, saying the right things, acting theright way.  We do that by being people oflove who can accept our neighbors’ failures, our neighbors’ imperfections, andour neighbors’ struggles to live into the reconciling grace of God.                   In 1988, a song written by Glen Ballard andSiedah Garrett and performed by Michael Jackson, topped Billboard’s Hot 100 for two weeks,and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards.  (The Video) This songwas very popular when I was in my last year of college and the words are,  “I'm Starting With The Man In TheMirror,  I'm Asking Him To Change HisWays, And No Message Could Have  Been AnyClearer,  If You Wanna Make TheWorld  A Better Place,  Take A Look At Yourself, And  Then Make A Change.”  I remember how much this song influenced somany people in the late 80’s, at a time when a cultural shift was beginning tooccur.  Many of us were beginning tonotice the needs of the world beyond our borders, and this song helped us put wordsto a deep concern for our neighbors that was emerging in our spirits.  I believe this song stands as a challenge,not only to a generation nearly 25 years ago, but it challenges the churchtoday.  “If You Wanna Make The World  A Better Place,  Take A Look At Yourself, And  Then Make A Change.”

                Ifwe are going to truly fulfill our mission “to bring all people to unity withGod and each other in Christ,” then the mission needs to begin with each of us. Thus, we will begin to live as the redeemed and our lives will be thereal thing, not "knock-offs" of the humans we would be withoutGod.  I believe we are well on our wayand in Christ, the church has begun to resemble the creature humanity was meantto be—a humanity created in God's image.


1http://www.everypoet.net/poetry/blogs/weed_of_the_garden/deep_within_the_mirror_my_soul_resides  2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror
3 Olson, Ronald. "Thinking And Practicing Reconciliation" : The Ephesian TextsFor Pentecost 8-14." Word & World 17.3 (1997): 322-328. ATLASerials,Religion Collection. Web. 7 Aug. 2012.