We Need Each Other

On one of the rare days in which it was nice enough to go out of town, Wanda and I went to Pierre.  We did a little shopping, and while we were in the check-out line we started talking to the people in front of us.  We were commiserating about the weather, which of course has not been very good for some time now.  After we’d complained about it for a while, one of them said, “I wonder what people do in San Diego to make conversation.  The weather’s always the same there!”

Now, I’ve never been to San Diego, so I don’t know if that’s literally true.  But they certainly don’t get the variation that we do, and it does at least give us something to talk about.  Not only does it give us something to talk about, it gives us something in common.  Even my friends who say they like winter are getting tired of it at this point.

Chatting about the weather may seem like a trivial thing, but it’s important.  It helps us make a connections with someone, and it’s important for us, as human beings, to make connections with each other.  We are not just isolated individuals going through life alone.  Some people enjoy solitude, of course, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  But none of us can live our lives completely apart and separate from the rest of society.  Not if we want to do something productive with our lives, anyway.  If we want to do something positive, we need to be connected to other people.

It seems to me that God made us that way deliberately.  God made us with a need to have other people in our lives.  Again, it’s fine to enjoy your own company.  I’m not saying anyone has to be around people all the time.  But we do need to have other people in our lives.  That’s why God put us into groups, such as families, communities, and churches.  God did that so we could all help each other and support each other and encourage each other.  God did that so that, when we need someone, we’ll have someone.  We all need to know that there’s someone who will be there for us when we need them.

And there are times when other people need us, too.  There are times when we need to be the one who helps someone, who supports someone, who encourages someone.  There are times when we need to be the one who’s there for someone else.

There are always ways in which we can do that.  What those ways are will be different for each of us.  Some of you can do a lot of things.  Some of you can do really big things, and that’s great.  I hope you will do them.  Some of you can do smaller things, and that’s great, too.  I hope you will do them.  All of us need to do whatever we can to help and support and encourage each other, whether they are big things or small things.  

I know that some of you, reading this, cannot do the things you used to do.  I know that’s frustrating for you.  But while you cannot do all the things you used to do, there are still some things you can do.  You can listen when someone needs to talk.  You can give someone an encouraging word, or even an encouraging smile.  You can give someone a compliment.  You can tell someone a joke to make them smile. 

There are all kinds of things you can do.  Maybe they seem like simple things.  Maybe they seem like they’re not important.  But small, simple things can be the most important at all.  Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”  

This week, every day, try to do or say something to show someone you care.  Whether it’s a great, big thing or a small, simple thing, do or say something to show someone you care.  Do or say something to show someone you’re there for them.  If we all did that, over time it would make a pretty big difference to the people around us.  It might even spread to other people.  In fact, if enough of us did it, it might even change the world.  That may sound far-fetched, and maybe it is.  But remember, with God, all things are possible.

The Greatest

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 24, 2019.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 18:1-6, 10.

            There’s an old saying that nothing is constant except change.  And it is a very old saying--there are references to that saying going back five hundred years before the birth of Christ.  And we all know it’s true.  Whether we’re talking about the world, about the church, or about our personal lives, it’s still true.  The one thing you can always count on is that no matter what’s happening now, things will change.

            When we read the Bible, that’s something we need to keep in mind.  The Lord does not change, of course.  The letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And for the most part, human nature has not changed a whole lot, either.  But the society in which we live has changed.  Living in north-central South Dakota in the twenty-first century A. D. is quite a bit different from living in Jerusalem back when Jesus was on earth.

            That’s something we need to think about as we look at Jesus’ statement that, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we need to become like little children.  I don’t really think little kids have changed much in two thousand years--kids are kids pretty much the world over.  But the way we look at kids in our society is a lot different from the way kids we looked at in Jesus’ time.

            Today, we talk a lot about how important kids are.  You’ll hear people talk all the time about how “children are our most important resource”.  “Children are our future.”  “We are raising up the next generation of leaders.”  And so on.  It’s become a cliché that when politicians want to get approval for their pet project, they’ll say they’re doing it “for the children”.  Now, I’ll grant that a lot of times our society is a lot better at paying lip service to the importance of children than it is about actually doing things for the children.  But the point remains.  In theory, at least, our current society places a high value on children.

            That’s not how it was in Jesus’ time.  Children were not particularly valued when Jesus was on earth.  Having children was considered important.  In fact, if a married woman did not have children she was considered to have been cursed by God somehow.  But the children themselves were not considered very valuable.  And certainly, no one cared what they though or how they felt.  Children were to be seen and not heard, and it was okay if they were not seen all that often.  When they got big enough and old enough to do some work, then they might have some value.  But when they were little, children had very little value or status.  They were just another mouth to feed.

            So in our reading for today, when Jesus talked about how important children are, he was not making a bland, politically correct statement.  He was making a radical statement.  And when Jesus said that to enter the kingdom of heaven we have to become like little children, he specifically had the low status of children in mind.  That’s why he said, in verse four, “Whoever takes a humble place, becoming like this child--is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  One of the ways in which we need to become like little children is to be humble.  One of the ways in which we need to become like little children is to be willing to accept a low status in society.

            The people he was talking to did not want to hear that.  Even the disciples did not want to hear that.  Remember how this conversation starts.  The disciples come to Jesus and ask him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  They’re thinking about how they can become great. 

That was a common theme among the disciples.  They wanted to become great.  In Mark Nine we read about the disciples having an argument among themselves about who is the greatest.  In Matthew Twenty, James and John ask Jesus if they can sit at his right and his left when he comes into his kingdom.  The disciples definitely had ambition.  They wanted to be considered great.

And Jesus keeps responding the same way--if you want to be great, you’ve got to be humble.  You’ve got to accept a low status.  Here’s his response to James and John:  “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.”

Jesus lived that, of course.  But the disciples, not so much.  We’re not told what the disciples’ response was when Jesus said this.  But I can’t think they liked hearing it very much.  I mean, think of it from their point of view.  Here I am, following the great Messiah, the Savior of the world.  And I’m not just following him, I’m one of his closest friends.  I’m one of the people he relies on.  I’m pretty hot stuff here.  And I’m supposed to be a servant?  Worse yet, a slave?  I don’t think so.

Think about what being a servant, or a slave, means.  That was about the lowest status a person could have at that time.  If you were a slave, nobody cared about you.  You were property.  You were like an ox, except the ox was stronger.  Your first duty--your only duty--was to obey the master.  You did whatever he wanted.  What you thought about it, how you felt about it, was all irrelevant.  Nobody cared.  Everyone else came ahead of you.  The master obviously came ahead of you.  So did his family.  So did his friends.  So did pretty much everyone else.  As a slave, you were at the bottom of the organizational chart.  Everyone else came first.  You came last.

That’s what Jesus said you and I need to do if we want to be great in the kingdom of heaven.  We need to put everyone else first.  We need to let everyone else come ahead of us.  We need to put aside our thoughts and feelings.  We need to not think about whether anyone appreciates what we do.  We need to not think about getting any credit for what we do.  We need to just do it.  We need to serve other people, all the time, and not think about ourselves at all.

That’s a pretty tough standard, you know?  I know I don’t meet that standard.  The disciples did not meet that standard.  I don’t know very many people who do.  To completely put others ahead of ourselves in everything?  To not care at all whether anyone appreciates or even notices what we did?  To completely put our own thoughts and feelings and desires?  How do we do that?  In Jesus’ time, little kids did do that, mainly because they did not have a choice. But how do you and I, as twenty-first century American adults, do it?  

Well, I guess if I had the answer I’d be doing it.  I don’t know if anyone ever does it perfectly and completely.  But at the same time, we need to be careful not to use that as an excuse.  Because even if we cannot be perfect, we still need to do the best we can. 

How?  Well, this may sound like a cliché, but I think we do it with God’s help, and the way we get God’s help is through prayer.  Because--I don’t know about you--but I cannot do this on my own.  I would never be able to.  I might be able to do it for a while, I might be able to put others ahead of myself on occasion, but I would never be able to do it all the time.  My own ego, my own selfishness, my own laziness, all that stuff and more would eventually get in the way.  And what’s more, I’d probably eventually start to resent doing all those things and not getting any thanks for it.

The only way I can consistently and willingly put others ahead of myself, without getting in my own way, is with God’s help.  And even then, it’s not easy, because I’m constantly fighting God.  God tries to help me, and I say no, I’ll do it on my own.  God says don’t think about yourself, and I say well, somebody’s got to.  God says you focus on others and I’ll take care of you and I say no, God, I’ll take care of myself.  You focus on others.  God says you’ll get your reward in heaven and I say, yeah, well, I can’t eat heaven.  I need a reward now.

I cannot do it on my own.  I need God’s help.  And thank God, God never gives up on me.  No matter how hard I fight God, no matter how hard I try to do things my way, God never gives up on me.  God keeps nudging me, encouraging me, showing me how much happier I’d be if I did things God’s way.  And sometimes--not nearly often enough, but sometimes--I’m smart enough to listen.

If we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we need to accept being people of low status.  Little kids in Jesus’ time had no choice but to accept that.  You and I do have a choice.  We can do what most of society would do--blow our own horn, pat ourselves on the back, and make sure everyone knows how great and important we are.  Or, we can willingly accept a low status, put others ahead of ourselves, and be among the great who enter the kingdom of heaven.

It’s not easy.  But with God’s help, we can do it.  Maybe not perfectly, because only God is perfect.  But as well as we can.  And we know that as long as we keep trying, God will appreciate it.  And God will never give up on us.

Christing

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, February 17, 2019.  The Bible verses used are Galatians 4:22--5:2.

            There’s a word that’s come into fashion recently.  The word is “adulting”.  It means “the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks.”  In other words, if you speak or act or live the way a mature, reasonable, intelligent adult is supposed to, you’re said to be “adulting”.

            The thing is that adulting--learning how to speak or act or live like a mature, reasonable, intelligent adult--is not something that happens overnight.  It does not just come to you all at once.  It’s a process.  It takes time.  We have to learn it.  Each of us, had to learn how to be an adult.

            How did you learn it?  Probably in a lot of ways, but the chances are you learned adulting from people who were adults.  First it was your parents, then it may have been teachers or pastors or other influential people in your life.  It might even have been people you saw on television.  And the way you learned was probably not from the things they said.  That may have been part of it, but the chances are the way you learned from them was by watching them.  You watched them, and you imitated them.  You tried to do the things they did and live the way they lived.  That’s the way we learn adulting--by imitating the adults who are important in our lives.

            As we continue to look at Jesus’ statement that to enter the kingdom of heaven we need to become like little children, it seems to me that this is one of the ways we need to do it.  Just as children learn adulting by imitating adults, we can learn to be Christians by imitating Christ.  We could refer to this as “Christing”.  The practice of behaving in a way characteristic of Jesus Christ.

            That’s what the Apostle Paul told us to do in our reading from Ephesians.  The version of the Bible we normally use, the New International Version, says “follow God’s example”, but a lot of versions actually come out and say, “Be imitators of Christ.”  Either way, though, the point is that, as Christians, our goal is to be as much like Christ as possible.

            And Paul tells us ways in which we can do that.  Here’s what he says:  Speak the truth.  Try not to get angry, but if we do, get over it.  Don’t get carried away by anger, so that our anger makes us sin.  Don’t steal.  Work hard.  Share with each other.  Watch the things we say.  Let the things we say be encouraging and build people up.  Let our words benefit people who hear them.

            And then, to sum it all up, Paul says this:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ god forgave you...And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Now, that’s a pretty good checklist that Paul gave us.  If each of us did all those things, we’d probably do a pretty good job of Christing.  We’d do about as good a job as a human can do of being like Jesus Christ if we did all of those things.

But here’s the thing.  A person really cannot live their life by following a checklist.  Every time we go to act or speak, we cannot pull out a list to see if what we’re about to do or say is on it.  We cannot even do that mentally.  Most people’s minds simply do not work that way.

If you doubt me on that, think about this--how many times have you spoken before you thought?  How many times have you done something without really thinking it through?  For most of us, it happens quite a bit.  We speak before we think and we act before we think.  We regret it, later, but we still do it.  For a lot of us, it happens pretty regularly.

Or, think of it this way.  Think of a time you were learning to do something.  Learning to swim, learning to sew, learning to work on machinery, learning to cook, learning to play a sport or a musical instrument, whatever.  What’s the best way to learn?  Is it to read a book about it?  Is it to listen to a lecture about it?  Or is it to have someone work with you and show you how to do it?  For most of us, that’s what we need.  We need someone to show us how.  We need an example to follow.  And that’s the best way for us to learn how to be like Jesus Christ, too.

And that’s why Jesus did not, for the most part, teach “Christing” with lectures.  There were times when Jesus told us things we should and should not do.  But Jesus did not stop there.  He provided examples. 

First, he provided the example of his own life.  The life Jesus lived--a life of love, a life of healing, a life of giving, a life of self-sacrifice--is the ultimate example of how a Christian should live.  If we could all imitate Jesus’ life, we’d all be Christing perfectly.

But Jesus provided examples in other ways, too.  That’s one of the reasons for Jesus’ parables.  Think of how most of the parables came about.  The way it usually worked was that someone would come up to Jesus and say, “Here’s a situation.  Now what do you think about it.  What should we do?” 

How did Jesus respond?  It was never by giving a direct answer, right?  Jesus never answered by saying, “You should do this.”  What Jesus would say, in effect, is “let me tell you a story.  It might be a story about a man with two sons.  It might be a story about a guy who was traveling and was attacked by thieves.  It might be a story about a man who went out to plant a field. 

Story after story after story.  Jesus would tell the story, and then say, “Now, what do you think the right thing to do is?’  And of course, the answer would be obvious.  Jesus taught that way because he knew that just telling people what to do does not work.  We need to be shown what to do.  We need examples to follow.

So what does that mean for our lives?  Well, it means a few things.  For one thing, it shows the importance of reading the Bible, especially the gospels.  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the books that tell us about Jesus’ life.  After all, if we want to be like Christ, we need to get to know Christ.  The old phrase “What Would Jesus Do” is still a good guide, but in order to know what Jesus would do we need to know what Jesus actually did.  So if we want to get better at Christing, we need to know how Jesus lived his life on earth and know the examples Jesus gave us for how we should live our lives.

But again, it’s not enough to read about it.  We need to be shown.   So what do we do?

The letter to the Hebrews answers that.  In Hebrews Thirteen, Verse Seven, we read, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”  And in Hebrews Six, Verse Twelve, it says, “Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

We may not be able to see Jesus.  We may not be able to see Paul.  But there are people we can see.  There are people whose way of life shows their faith.  There are people who are imitators of Christ.  There are people who are Christing.  And we can imitate them, and so learn Christing ourselves.

Who are those people for you?  Who are the people you know whose way of life shows their faith?  Who do you know who you believe, through faith and patience, will inherit what God has promised?

Those are the people who can show us how to imitate Christ.  Don’t get me wrong--Jesus is still the ultimate standard.  Jesus is the one to follow.  But to the extent we need someone we can see, these are the people.  These are the ones who can help us with “Christing”, with imitating Jesus Christ in our lives.

But here’s another thing to think about.  Who might you be an example to?  In fact, who might be looking to you as an example right now?  Because I’m pretty sure someone is.  Whether you know it or not, whether you intend it or not, whether you like it or not, someone is.  Someone is learning Christing from you.  Even if you don’t think they should be, even if you don’t think you’re worthy of that, it’s true.  Someone is learning Christing from you.  And someone may be learning Christing from me, too.

What are they learning?  If someone patterned their Christian faith after yours, what would they be like?  How good at Christing would they be?

You’ll have to answer that for yourself.  If you’re happy with the answer, that’s great.  But if you’re not, then it leads to another question.  What are you going to do about it?

Little kids learn adulting by imitating adults.  You and I learn Christing by imitating Christ and by imitating Christians we respect and admire.  And others will learn Christing by imitating us.

May we learn well.  May we follow Christ in our own lives, and may we also help others learn to follow Christ in their lives.

Out of the Loop

So last Saturday, I got up early and went to my office at the church.  I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get done, and I thought this would be the perfect time to do it.

I’d been there about twenty minutes and the phone rang.  It was my mom.  Dad was being taken to the local clinic in Armour, and he was probably going to be admitted to the hospital.  So much for all the things I wanted to get done.  I got hold of Wanda, she packed some things while I got stuff organized at the office, and we headed to Armour.  I came back for Sunday services, then went back to Armour again.  We came back to Gettysburg yesterday (Wednesday) and intended to leave early this morning, but as I write this we have a snowstorm going on, so we’ll see.  We’ll get back down there when we can.

Dad was, in fact, admitted to the hospital.  As I write this Thursday morning, he is still there.  He has a variety of issues.  Things are looking better than they were, and we are hopeful, but he is a long way from out of the woods. 

Your prayers are appreciated, of course.  My purpose for writing this, though, is just to let you know that you may be seeing less of me for a while.  My time will be divided between here and Armour, and when I am here I’ll be trying to get things done so I can be gone again.  How long will this go on?  I don’t know.  It depends on how Dad does, and only God knows that.

Don’t get me wrong—unless a crisis hits I intend to be around for Sunday services, including the Sunday night services.  I will remain available for funerals and any other emergencies.  I intend to continue doing hospital visits and that sort of thing.

What I mean, though, is that you may not see me around the community very much for a while.  I may not be able to go to basketball games or concerts or Monday afternoon bowling.  We may have to put Supper with the Pastor on hold for a while.  I won’t be putting my usual nonsense on facebook, and I won’t be scrolling it much, either.  I’ll miss all of that, but it’s just the way it has to be for now.  Everyone in the parish has been very understanding so far, and I know you will continue to be.  I appreciate that more than I can say.

But that brings me to one thing you can help me with.  Because I won’t be around our communities as much, and because I won’t be scrolling facebook as much, I’m going to be out of the loop on things.  I won’t know as much about what’s going on in the community or what’s going on in people’s lives.  I still care, and I still want to know these things.  I just am not as likely to “pick them up” the way one does just by being around.  I won’t be as connected to things, and I don’t like that.

So, what you can do for me is make sure I know what’s going on, whether we’re talking about the communities or the people in them.  That includes people both in and out of the United Methodist churches.  Help me stay in the loop.  Send me an email.  Send me a text.  Send me a message over facebook.  Give me a call.  Help me stay connected to what’s going on in our communities and in the lives of the people who live in them.  I still want to be here for you as much as I can be, and if nothing else I can still pray for you.  That may be the most important thing, anyway.

This won’t be forever.  It’s just for a while.  Thanks again to all the people of the Wheatland Parish for your concern, your prayers, and your understanding.  I am very fortunate and honored to be able to serve God in such a wonderful place.

Differences

You may have noticed this, but it’s cold outside.  It was cold last week.  It’s cold this week.  We got a couple of days break from it, which was nice, but it went below zero sometime Sunday night and not get back above zero until Saturday.  That’s cold!

I’ve seen a lot written and heard a lot said about the need to take precautions if you have to be out in the cold weather.  That’s good.  We should always take precautions like that.  I’ve also seen a lot written and heard a lot said about the need to take proper care of animals in weather like this.  That’s good, too.  But I’ve also seen a lot written and heard a lot said that if you leave your pet out in the cold, you’re--well, let’s just say that the names that have been used are not ones I feel comfortable using in my blog, and the things it was suggested to be done to people like that are also not things I feel comfortable discussing in my blog.

Again, I’m all for taking proper care of animals.  I love dogs, cats, and all kinds of animals.  But not all animals are created equal, and not all animals are equal averse to the cold.  I remember, growing up on the farm, we had this big dog we called Dawg.  We don’t know what breed he was--my dad used to speculate that he might even be part wolf.  He wandered onto the place one day, decided he liked it, and stayed.  He adopted us before we adopted him, really, but we came to really love him.

The thing about Dawg was that he absolutely loved the cold weather.  The colder the better.  Ten below?  No problem.  Twenty below?  We’d go out to do chores, and he’d be bouncing around like this was the best day ever.  He couldn’t understand why we didn’t want to stay outside and play with him on such a “nice day”.  Dad would leave a shed open for him to go into at night, and leave some straw and blankets and stuff for him to stay warm, and Dawg would ignore it.  He wouldn’t even sleep beside a building for a windbreak.  He’d sleep out in the open, right on top of the snow.  He didn’t mind it a bit.  In fact, he seemed to love it.

Now again, we should all take proper care of our animals.  But the point is that all animals are not the same.  Therefore, it’s not right to judge how someone takes care of their animals when we don’t know all the facts

And when you think about it, that applies to people, too.  All people are not the same.  We all grew up differently.  We all grew up in different locations, in different settings, with different families, with different influences on our lives.  All those differences contribute to shaping who we are, what we believe, and how we think.  They shape our preferences, our tastes, our opinions, and our personalities.  They shape how we see life.  Therefore, it’s not right to judge someone when we don’t know all the facts.

This is not to say there is no such thing as right and wrong.  There is.  God makes that pretty clear in the Bible.  But God also has a great capacity for understanding.  God knows everything about us.  God knows all the things that have happened to us.  God knows who we are, and God knows why we are who we are.  You and I don’t know these things about others.  Often, we don’t even know them about ourselves.  That’s why judgment is best left in God’s hands.

Let’s take good care of our animals.  But let’s love the people in our lives, too.  Even the people who think differently from us.  Even the people who act differently from us.  Even the people who seem to dislike us, and even the people who dislike us for no reason.  Even the people who are completely opposed to us and what we believe.  We don’t have to agree with them.  But we should still love them. 

It’s not always easy, but we should do it.  The least we can do is try.  I’m pretty sure that’s what Jesus would want us to do.

Who Are You?

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, February 3, 2019.  The Bible verses used are Galatians 1:6-12.

            If I asked you to tell me who you are, what would you say?

            There are probably a lot of ways to answer that question.  We might start by giving our names.  Then we might say what we do for a living.  Then, probably, talk about our spouse and our kids, if we have any.  We might say where we live.  We might say where we grew up.  And maybe a few other things, too.

            But you know, when you think about it, none of those things are really who we are.  They give facts about us.  They give a little pertinent information.  But none of that is really who we are.  My name is not who I am.  My job is not who I am.  My wife is not who I am.  Where I live and where I grew up are not who I am.  Those things are relevant, of course.  Those things contribute, to some extent, to making me who I am.  But none of that is who I am.  You could know all those things about me and still not really know who I am.  And that’s probably true about you, too.

            It’s really hard for us to reveal who really are.  There are a lot of times when I don’t do it.  I reveal more than I used to, but there’s still a lot that I don’t reveal.  I think that’s true of a lot of us.  We throw out distractions.  We put up a wall to hide behind.  We use, as the old Bruce Springsteen song says, a brilliant disguise.  We’re hesitant to really be our true, authentic selves.

            That’s not a problem little kids have, is it?  Little kids just are who they are.  If they’re outgoing, if they’re shy, if they’re cheerful, if they’re sad, whatever they are, that’s just who they are.  They don’t put up a wall to hide behind.  They don’t use a brilliant disguise.  Little kids are their true, authentic selves, whatever that authentic self happens to be.

            In Matthew Chapter Eighteen, Verse Three, Jesus said that unless we become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  As we look at the ways in which we need to become like little children, I think this is one of them.  We need to be willing to be our true, authentic selves, like children are.

            How do we lose that, do you think?  Well, things happen to us.  We get criticized for being who we are.  Sometimes people make fun of us for being who we are.  Sometimes people hurt us, whether physically or emotionally, for being who we are.  And all those things teach us something.  They teach us that it’s risky for us to truly be who we are.  We don’t like the things that can happen to us.  And after we’ve been criticized a few times for who we are, after we’ve been made fun of a few times for being who we are, after we’ve been hurt a few times for being who we are, we decide it’s not worth the risk.  

And so we put up those walls.  We hide.  We don’t let anyone know we really are.  And then, you know what the saddest thing of all is?  We stop even letting ourselves know who we are.  We hide from ourselves.  We’re afraid to be who we are.  And so we become something we’re not.  We put on that brilliant disguise.  It seems safer.  It seems easier.  It seems less risky.

That’s sad.  It’s sad to not be who we are.  I think it makes God sad when we’re not who we are.  Don’t take that the wrong way--I’m not saying God gets angry with us or punishes us for it.  God understands why we do it.  God understands the hurt and the pain we go through.  After all, Jesus went through it.  Jesus was criticized, and made fun of, and hurt, for being who he was.  God understands what that’s like, and God understands why we decide we don’t want to go through it.

But it’s still sad.  Because God created us to be who we really are.  God created us to be who we truly and authentically are.  God does not want us to use a brilliant disguise.  God created us to be our true, authentic selves.  And that’s who God wants us to be.

            In our responsive psalm this morning Psalm One Hundred Thirty-nine, we read, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

            Think about that.  You are wonderfully made.  God made you, and God thinks you are wonderful.  You.  Not some other person.  Not some person you think you have to try to be.  You.  The real you.  The authentic you.  You, as you, are wonderfully made.  And the best way we can honor God is if we are that wonderful person, that real, authentic person that God made us to be.

            If you want further proof of how wonderful you are, look at Genesis Chapter One, Verse Twenty-seven.  It says, “God created human beings in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”

            You are created in the image of God.  You.  That wonderful person that is your true, authentic self.  That person, you, was created in the image of God.  Not some other person.  Not some person you think you have to try to be.  The real you, the authentic you, was created in the image of God.  And again, the best way we can honor God is if we are the person God created us to be.

            You see, when we try to be somebody we’re not, what we’re really doing is trying to create ourselves in some image other than God’s image.  A lot of times, it’s in the image of society.  And when I say “society”, I’m not just talking about the world at large, although that’s part of it.  “Society” can be the people around town.  “Society” can be the people we associate with.  “Society” can be the people we work with or go to school with.  A lot of the time, those people have an idea of who and what we “should” be.  And as we said before, we can get criticized or made fun of or hurt if we don’t go along with that idea of who society wants us to be.  But if we do go along, what we’re doing is creating ourselves in society’s image.  And that’s a lot different from being created in God’s image.  It’s a lot worse than being created in God’s image, too.

            In our reading from Galatians for today, Paul writes about that.  He says, “Am I now trying to win human approval, or God’s approval?  Or am I trying to please people?  If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

            The only way we can truly win God’s approval is if we are who God created us to be.  If we are that wonderful, true, authentic person who was created in God’s image.  That does not mean we’ll be perfect--only God is perfect.  We’ll still make plenty of mistakes.  We’ll still have plenty of times when we mess up.  But God won’t mind.  God will know that we’re doing our best, because it will be us who’s making those mistakes and messing up.  The wonderful, true, authentic us.  Not people who are trying to be someone they’re not.  Not people who are trying to create themselves in someone else’s image.  Us.  Ourselves.

            Little kids have no problem being who they are.  We lose that along the way.  We try to become what someone else wants us to be.  But we can never really be happy being who someone else wants us to be, and we can never really please God by being who someone else wants us to be.  Again, it’s not that God will punish us for that.  It’s that God created us to be who we really are, and God knows the only way we can truly be happy is to be who we really are.  It seems to me that a lot of our journey as Christians is a journey to try to get back to being who we really are, who God really created us to be.

            You know, when Wanda and I decided God was calling me to be a pastor, I wondered if that meant I should make some changes in my life.  Did it mean that I should stop following sports so much and spend that time in more religious ways?  Did it mean I should stop listening to my old seventies music and just listen to Christian music?  Did it mean I should stop telling bad jokes and be a more serious person?

            I thought about it, and prayed about it, and I decided the answer was no.  If, in fact, God was calling me, it meant that God was calling me.  As me.  As the best me I can be, but still as me.  After all, God knows me better than I know myself.  God knew what He was getting when God called me.  If God had not wanted that, if God had wanted someone else, God would’ve called someone else.  God called me.  God wants me to be me.  The true, authentic me, created in the image of God.

            That’s what God wants from you, too.  Because God has called you, just as much as God called me.  Not to be a pastor, necessarily.  But God has called you to serve God in some way.  And that means God is calling you.  As you.  As the best you that you can be, but still as you.  God wants you to be you.  The true, authentic you, created in the image of God.

            So, who are you?  Think about it.  Think about who you are.  Then ask yourself, is that you?  Or just a brilliant disguise?

            Let’s put away our disguises.  Let’s be the wonderful people God created us to be.  Let’s be our true, authentic selves, created in God’s image.  That’s the only way we’ll ever be truly happy.  And it’s the only way we’ll truly be the people God wants us to be.