Sermon: Are You For Real?

Rev. Jennifer Whipple
Congregational Church of Brookfield (UCC)         

Are You for Real?
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, 23-24

January 15, 2012

Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our minds and hearts gathered together today be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, for you are our Strength and our Redeemer.  Amen.

If you have ever spent time with me in a small group – Confirmation Class, adult education, youth fellowship, a committee – in the past 6 ½ years, then you have probably been forced to read this Psalm at some point.  It’s my favorite.  I have looked at it from a bunch of different angles, but the wisdom of our elders rang true once again for me this week.  There is yet more light and truth to break forth from God’s Holy Word…or as we say in the United Church of Christ, “God is still speaking,” and you never know where or when the conversation will happen.  This week’s conversation – the light bulb moment for me – began in the women’s group last Monday morning – talking about the Magi and the way that the Christmas story continues – that we don’t just turn into pumpkins at midnight on December 25^th into 26^th.  Teresa of Avila once said that Jesus has no hands and feet but ours to reach out to a world that is in need.  The birth story is just the beginning – just as it is on each of our journeys as well. 

So we are sitting in the group talking about how people bring the message of Jesus out into the world – even after the lights and garland go on clearance, when I had a confessional moment.  There I was talking with this group about how great it would be if the feeling and the behavior that we see during the Christmas season – usually a bit more patience, kindness, and generosity – could last beyond the few weeks leading up to that holy day.  Then I had to laugh, because just an hour earlier I had been a very impatient person.

By way of explanation let me tell you that my biggest driving pet peeve is when people in the right lane see folks trying to get on the highway, and even though they have room to move over and clear the way they choose not to – to keep in the right lane and make the line of people moving onto the highway lay on the brakes instead.  Well, it had been one of those mornings for me, as early mornings often are in the Whipple household, and the three people in the right lane – all having space to move over – chose not to as I and a few other commuter comrades were trying to enter onto the highway.  Needless to say, I wasn’t so happy, and patient and/or kind were probably not words that would even come near describing me at that moment.  Ironically, I had just finished preparing for the Women’s study the evening before, and I knew what was coming up.  I was uber-aware of what I was going to go in and speak to the group about, and I couldn’t follow through.  So to add some humor to and seal the deal on my confession, dear Marty Degen forwarded an e-mail to the group that inspired this morning’s sermon and title.  Having just re-read the Psalm before opening up my e-mail, it was the unplanned conversation with God that I mentioned above.  I opened my e-mail, and this is what it said:

             The light turned yellow just in front of him.  He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.  The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.  As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked into the face of a very serious police officer.  The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.  He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.  After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.  She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.  He said, “I am very sorry for this mistake.  You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him.  I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’  and ‘Follow me to Sunday School’ bumper stickers and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally….I assumed you had stolen the car!

We certainly bring what is going on in our lives outside the church with us here on Sunday mornings – perhaps the challenge and definitely our call is to do our best to bring who we are and what we hear in our most recent conversation with God in these moments of worship back out into the world with us in the afternoon.

Am I for real?  Are you for real?  How do we stack up when the world would have us turn around and forget all about what we learn in here about our call to reach out to others, to offer an extravagant welcome whether in the pew next to us, at the lunch table in school, or in the office break room?  Lord knows what our world presents is one thing, but what our world needs are people of faith – people whose lives have been transformed by knowing God and who are willing to share their stories and the Good News with others.  I believe that's what Dr. King was about – transformation so that others could know rights and freedom equally with those who had the power.

On this Martin Luther King weekend I think about all the folks who walked into their Christian churches on Sunday morning – listening to the same scriptures we have today – and then who walked out that same day and made others feel “less than” by making them use an alternate door or sit in a certain place because of the color of their skin or who they associated with.  I think about what will be happening in the next few weeks when all of the folks in the Republican primary who vowed to run a clean campaign turn the tides as they reach South Carolina – getting dirty and bashing each other in order to try to get ahead.  And we can only imagine what might happen as we journey closer to November’s election.  Bumper stickers that say one thing, and behavior that says something different entirely.   

No matter who we claim to be today in Psalm 139 a creation story has been told.   Many scholars view Psalm 139 not just as a prayer of adoration and praise, or as a prayer for deliverance from enemies even, but as a creation Psalm.  It may not be in the way that we think about creation – a replay of those first few chapters of Genesis, but rather it is about the Creation of people – those created out of a deep and intense love and called to work for justice and righteousness in the world.  It is a story that tells us that all people were created in the image of God, that God has known us and staked a claim on us since the beginning of time – a story that tells us that we are God’s Beloved.   

Much of what we are prone or programmed to do out in the world comes from a history and make up that is set to divide us.  Strength and unity come from our identity as God’s beloved children – as those whom God formed in our mother’s wombs.  Can you imagine what might happen in the struggle for justice and righteousness throughout the world if we could see others as beloved children of God – or if we could even come to terms with and accept that title ourselves as a first step?  What if we actually noticed the humanity of whoever it is that we deem to be “the other”?  It does take courage to fight the battle for justice – but it doesn’t have to mean giving up our lives.  Rather it could mean living life more fully whether for ourselves or others.  Writing letters to our congressmen about pressing issues that we are passionate about, donating time, talent, and treasures to organizations who are already in the battle and do it well, participating in events like “no name calling week” that will begin January 23^rd.  These are all ways that we can enter into the fight for justice on behalf of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.  

Am I the same person outside the walls of the church as I am inside the walls of the church?  To God, I am, but some days or some hours I do a better job of living it than others.  Perhaps there are days when God takes different levels of pride in us and our intentions, words, and actions.  Some days we deserve a pat on the back from God, and other days it is the time out chair for us – a corrective measure to help us realize that the insults whether in our minds, on Facebook, or to someone’s face can and do really hurt others and therefore hurt God.  To help us realize that when we throw food away instead of buying and using only that which we need, it breaks God’s heart as there are people in our world starving to death.  To make us aware that when we waste water it causes others in the world, who do not have any clean water to drink let alone to bathe, cook or otherwise, to have a lesser quality of life.  

One translation of the final two verses of this Psalm says the following, “Investigate me, O God, find out everything about me; Cross examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; see for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong – then guide me on the road to eternal life.”

If we were really to mean the words of those verses then we would bring all that we are before God and allow God to forgive and grace-fully correct us in order to lead us in the way everlasting – to lead us in God’s way to help be “God bearers” to the world. We may not all be cut out to be the next Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but we are cut out to be someone for God and for others – simply by God’s claim on us.   

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner once said, “When you see something that is broken, fix it.  When you find something lost, return it.  When you see something that needs to be done, do it.  In that way, you will take care of your world and repair creation.”  Note that he did not say, “If you see something broken…if you see something that is lost…if you see something that needs to be done,” because we can pretty much be assured that we will see broken, lost, and undone things that call, or perhaps shout out, to us for healing.  The question is, “Will we answer?”  Are we for real?  Psalm 139 is a Creation Psalm – that speaks to and about generation after generation.  It is a creation Psalm that reminds us that part of the creation we are called to reach out to is our fellow humanity.  It is a creation Psalm that (as Kate Huey writes in her weekly UCC reflection), “reassures us that no matter what anyone says and no matter what happens to us, in every moment of our lives, we are precious in God’s sight, and magnificent examples of God’s powers in creation.”  

So today the challenge is to take this knowledge – the knowledge that God loves us, this I know, because the Psalmist tells me so – and to bring it out into the world.  Because these are words that have been around for thousands of years, words that many eyes have seen, ears have heard, brains comprehended, and hearts have been lifted by.  So I am not the only beloved child of God.  You are not the only beloved child of God.  But together we are God’s children, and together we have the power to make so many others realize and stake that claim too.  Are we for real?  Relying on God’s strength and love, may we be able to answer with a resounding “Yes!”  Amen.