Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 6/18/2023, Matthew 9:35-10:23
When I was in college, I had a fraternity brother named Duane Six.
He was an upperclassman, constantly chewing tobacco, and had a last name that was a number: Duane Six - how cool was that?
As we know, college is often a time we search for ourselves.
We look up to mentors.
We try on new hats.
We’re in search of our true identities - which is often done on a trial and error basis.
This is what was going on when I came home for Christmas break with a bag of Beech Nut Chewing Tobacco.
I’m very thankful to my parents for letting me chew in the house - for my girlfriend’s parents for not raising a fuss - and for giving me the space to figure out - eventually and on my own - that chewing tobacco was not for me.
I think they were also thankful that they were not around at that decisive moment for me - when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and kicked over the very-full spittoon - that it was in my dorm room and *not in either of their homes…
Then, my sophomore year, after chewing tobacco, I decided I would be the ‘hat man’ - and bring my growing-collection of hats to college, where I hung them around the perimeter of my dorm room - never leaving the dorm wearing the same hat twice.
Never mind that I have never looked particularly good in hats - but it was something distinctive and colorful - and eventually also discarded as I went through this phase of looking for my authentic self.
I narrowed in on myself as I went to seminary, was ordained, then began working in church - first as an associate, then as your rector - and your preacher - week after week, bringing you a message from the scriptures.
Like you, I am aware that there are many ways to preach a sermon.
I have seen people who get very loud when they preach.
I have seen people who get very excited when they preach.
I have seen people bring forth the Word of God with great drama and emotion.
But that’s not ‘me.’
I am much quieter, more reserved, and often unpredictable:
I strive to be myself.
I have learned that being me is the most powerful person I can be.
I have learned that living into my own distinctive gifts is my sweet spot.
I have learned that when I shun imitation, pursue my own uniqueness, and live into myself more fully, things just go better.
Maybe you’ve found that out in your life - that it’s easiest to just be you - to quit performing - stop trying to impress - to relax and just be yourself.
And soon we discover that this is where we’re closest to God.
’The Glory of God is the human being fully alive’ wrote a church father named Ireneus.
And this is the theme of today’s sermon - be yourself.
Be who YOU are.
Discover that as ordinary as you may think of yourself, there is nothing ordinary about you.
In a world begging for imitation - of fashion, music, lifestyle, and life choices:
Make your decisions based on who you are.
Make choices grounded in your own personal convictions and identity.
Run your own race, not someone else’s.
That still, small voice inside you - that God put there for good reason - is there for you to be you because we all need you to be you in order for this world to be what God wants it to be.
What would a symphony sound like if every member played a violin?
Or everyone played the oboe?
I’m sure it would sound great - but it wouldn’t sound nearly as inspiring as it would with everyone playing, to the best of their ability, their own unique, God-given instrument.
God has given you, and only you, an instrument.
Don’t take someone else’s.
Play your own instrument to the best of your ability.
Don’t be afraid.
Be yourself.
There is nothing ordinary about you.
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This idea comes to mind as we witness Jesus calling the 12 disciples to go out and take authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and sickness.
Jesus has given these 12 followers a job that I’ve always thought was normative: aren’t I to go out and do the same thing?
Aren’t I to go out and cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons as well - leaving behind a change of clothes, my credit cards, even a bag lunch - in the exact way that they did?
Like a lot of stories of the disciples, my first inclination is to think that Jesus is calling me to do the exact same thing.
But I have figured out that he has - and he hasn’t.
Sure, there are themes of liberation, healing, restoration, and reconciliation at play here - things that Christians of all ages and places are to be about -
The stories we hear of these disciples have certain normative themes to them -
But our job isn’t to be who Jesus called them to be -
It’s to be who Jesus has called us to be.
Be yourself.
Created, redeemed, and called to be a Jesus person - but to be the unique, God-ordained, God-anointed Jesus person that only you can be.
Be yourself.
There is nothing ordinary about you.
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Many of you have passed through the parking lot and seen my 1964 Mercedes Benz 230sl.
I purchased that car in 1997 - when I was working at a television station in Los Angeles and, as a single person, had the blessed opportunity to purchase a car I wanted to drive for the rest of my life.
I looked at many models and considered many possibilities before deciding on that particular car, which was owned by 2 lawyers in Long Beach and I was sure I had overpaid when I handed over a check for $12,000.
As I pursued my call to ministry, studying in seminary, working as a hospital chaplain, and as an intern in a particularly poor parish - this decision started to get to me - driving such a fancy car and being a minister. Isn’t that part of the call to serve God - to drive a Pinto, Chevette, or Aspire for the rest of your life?
So I had that Mercedes packed up and sent to Chicago to have my best friend watch over it while I figured this all out.
And I bought a 10-year-old black, 4-door, Buick sedan.
Now this was a minister’s car!
It was roomy, it was dependable, it was the epitome of non-descript, and I never once worried about anyone stealing it.
But it wasn’t really that much less expensive - it used more gas and was harder to park.
I never really looked forward to driving it. And I never felt like it was ‘me.’
I guess being from Detroit, and having auto workers in my family for generations, I had always loved driving that convertible - through the countryside especially - and feeling, if I may be so bold, God’s presence in the wind and warmth of the open road.
And while I’ve never been able to fully explain it - driving in that convertible has always helped me feel more like me - and that’s the reason I called my friend in Chicago a few years later - and had him return the car - that I’ve been driving ever since.
What are the experiences you have that make you feel more authentic - and connected to God?
How are you trying to fit into someone else’s idea of who you should be, and not your own?
How good are you at being yourself?
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When I was in high school my Cross-Country team qualified for the state meet.
It was a 3-mile race - and we had trained all year to do our best.
As a runner I had always found that I did my best when I went out with the middle of the pack - then at the end, when other people were running out of gas, I had always been able to summon up some energy and run fastest toward that finish line.
However, when we arrived at the State Meet - with teams from all over Michigan - along with runners who I’d heard about but never met - and we all lined up - hundreds of us - awaiting the Starting Gun - I was overtaken with competition, with the pageantry and, as the gun went off, with the speed of those leading runners.
And instead of finding my pace and running my race, I decided to go out with the leaders, and tun their race.
I sprinted to the very front of the pack - where - at least at this initial point in the race - I was winning - I was the fastest runner in the State!
Until I wasn’t.
After that first mile, I hit a wall!
My lungs were hurting, my legs ached, and I began to fade faster than the smoke from that Starter’s gun.
By the end of the race, I had not run my best race, but my worst race.
I had not run my race, but someone else’s.
I have since discovered that, like Cross Country -
Life is not a competition with others - not with friends, co-workers, siblings, or neighbors -
Life is a competition with ourselves - to be the best we can be - to run our own race.
Of course, I can’t run like Usain Bolt-
I can’t preach like Bishop Bonnie -
I can’t sing like Jim Kenning -
But I can encourage a few people -
I can inspire a few people -
And I can smile - I’m good at that.
The point is, don’t get distracted trying to keep up with someone with whom you’re never supposed to keep up. Sure, they may have something I don’t, but that’s OK, I’m not running their race, I’m running mine - and it has a destiny all its own.
So what do I do when someone passes me?
Don’t I want to win?
Of course -
But the best posture is to realize we’re not in competition with them.
We are in competition with ourselves - to figure out who we are and what our own unique race is about.
So when other people pass you, bless them.
Wish them well on their way!
Don’t be intimidated.
Don’t feel ‘less’ of a person.
Be happy for someone who passes you - God has blessed them!
And as God has blessed them, so we can be blessed.
We all have a tendency to be jealous, to find fault with those who outdo us -
We want to talk badly about them - disparage their achievements -
But we know that’s the wrong attitude -
It’s a trap!
Be happy for them!
Rejoice in the good fortune of others!
Thank God those 12 disciples that Jesus sent out were able to perform miracles!
God has different miracles for you and me -
And this is so important, because God is working inside each of us to create a symphony of healing, a symphony of reconciliation, a symphony of redemption - that only comes about when you and I are authentically ourselves.
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But what if our gift, our lives, are insignificant?
That’s what a little girl named Sadako Sasaki thought.
She was injured by a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 at the age of 2.
She was hospitalized numerous times, which is when she learned about the Legend of a Thousand Cranes - which is a Japanese tale that promises a wish granted to anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes.
Unable to do very much in the hospital, Sadako figured she could fold paper cranes, which she did, and immediately enjoyed. Even as her condition worsened, Sadako continued folding - by the time she died she folded 1,300 paper cranes.
Others heard about Sadako's perseverance and were touched - so much so, that tens of thousands of paper cranes have been folded by children her age - and older - and, these days, donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Japan - all inspired by little Sadako and the small act of folding paper cranes.
The point is that none of us should discount our gift
It may feel small compared to others - or ourselves.
But there is nothing ordinary about you.
You have the fingerprints of God all over you.
Each one of us are made in God’s image.
Each one of us has the spark of God inside of us - and the unique, irreplaceable gift and purpose of God coursing through our veins.
We don’t have to have a great gift for God to use us in a great way -
And this is for God to decide - not us - we are called to do God’s work, which is great work.
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This was not easy for Sarah to understand!
In our First Lesson we heard the story of 90-year-old Sarah, and her even-older husband Abraham - that she would bring forth Isaac - giving birth to Israel and God’s redemptive plan for the world.
But Sarah thought this was so ridiculous she laughed!
‘How could nations and kings of nations be inside me? At 90 years old!’
She thought it was so preposterous that, a few years earlier when she’d heard the promise, she tried to move it along by having her husband sleep with the maid and have children that way.
But God said, ’No way.’
’That’s not what I had in mind Sarah - ‘I have nations and kings of nations inside of YOU that need to come forth - ‘And I am not going to bring forth my promise through someone else - but through you’
Friends, we are pregnant with God’s promise as well.
We are pregnant with possibility.
We are pregnant with destiny.
We are pregnant with God’s promises of security, provision, and purpose.
And it takes us being us - not doing things that are inauthentic, like Sarah tried to do, but by patiently waiting for God to do what God promised - having faith that we are where we’re supposed to be - not trying to imitate how the other runners are running the race - but knowing that God has put in us unique gifts, powers, and insights, for us to play our own irreplaceable roles in the redemption of the world.
So as we go forth from this place - let us give God the glory for making us each the uniquely gifted people we are -
For reminding us that were created and set aside for priceless and incomparable work - that no one else will be able to duplicate.
So let us rejoice - let us give thanks that you can be yourself:
There is nothing ordinary about you.
Amen.