|
|
 |
Maturity Light A sermon
preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church January 28, 2007. Text: 1 Cor. 13, Luke 4:21-30 --------------- "Mature" is defined by good old Webster as "completely developed, fully ripe (plants, animals)" "highly developed in intellect, outlook, etc." and "thoroughly developed, perfected." I would hope that, as human beings, we would strive for maturity in our lives-though, if you're like me, you catch yourselves sometimes acting in ways that show just how far you have to go toward that goal. It is these moments when Anthony rightly names my behavior as "bratty." Being a "brat," acting like a child, pouting, wanting my way…you may be able to relatively quickly call to mind your own immature behaviors that pop up from time to time... Today, we continue the reading from Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth in which he is addressing their behavior. Folks in the church are embroiled in power struggles and many are lording over other people their particular gifts which they assert are better than others' gifts. They were squabbling about leadership, some thought they were especially wise, and others were carried away with speaking in tongues and still others argued that miracles and miracle-workers were the absolute center of what people should be focused on. Bottom line: the church was fighting. And as I heard one of our folks reflect this past week, "There's no fight like a church fight!" Anyone who's spent much time in the church knows this is true. Fights in church can be particularly nasty and brutal-and excruciatingly painful. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with a friend I grew up with in my youth group in Sapulpa, OK. He still lives in the area and, as an adult took his young family back to our home church. He volunteered, teaching in the senior high Sunday School class and working with the youth on other things. It came to pass that a terrible conflict arose in the church-staff members were being attacked and small groups were gathering in secret meetings. Accusations flew and terrible things were said. My friend was disgusted and emotionally devastated to see adults who we had grown up with and looked up to as leaders in the church acting in such mean-spirited ways. I also remember a trip I helped lead-a mission trip to Honduras-that included both youth and adults. It was amazing during the course of the trip to observe the behaviors of the so-called "mature" adults in comparison with some of the youth-I had to do more pastoral work with the adults than with any of the youth! There was one instance in which two grown men-intelligent, accomplished men-got into a shouting match right in front of the teenagers (I don't even remember what it was about)-they cursed and flung insults at one another until I felt sick to my stomach. These examples show that emotional and spiritual maturity is not, in the end, about how old you are or about the skills that you have developed or about how efficient, capable or smart you are. You can have very mature-that is, highly developed-gifts and skills and capacities. But this is still what I would call "maturity lite." If we're not careful, we can get stunted in our development and believe that this kind of maturity is all we need to focus on. But the maturity that matters in God's eyes is something much more important: love. Love is the thing that needs to be fully developed and perfected. And the love that I'm talking about is not the kind we use to talk about how much we love our new shoes or car or Ipod. Agape is the Greek term for the kind of love that needs to be developed in our lives. This is the kind of love that God has for us…this is the kind of love that God IS. John Wesley made the centerpiece of all his preaching and teaching the concept of Christian Perfection. People got hung up on this term in his day for much the same reason folks get hung up on it today: how can anyone be "perfect"? What does it mean? And doesn't it just make those of us who struggle against tendencies of "perfectionism" that much more neurotic?? Well, Wesley never meant more or less than that we are to grow in love, that we-by the grace and power of God-are to grow in that perfect love that is God's love…that we are to become so full of the love of God that the light of that love will radiate, motivate, infuse all that we do. That is the goal of the Christian life: to go on to perfection, to perfect love, to grow in love. If you have amazing gifts, well-developed gifts that aren't motivated, offered, and lit from within by love, you're still just at "maturity lite." This is what Paul makes clear in his letter to the Corinthians. (While Paul is speaking to the church, this "hymn to love" has universal application-in all of our relationships-marriage and family life, church life, work, all of it!) If you speak in tongues of mortals and of angels, but have not love…if you're a brilliant prophetic teacher and preacher, but have not love…if you give large amounts of money to good causes and to the church, but have not love…you are nothing, gain nothing. Even if you're the brightest bulb on the tree, your light is nothing. Paul goes on to describe the love that is our goal, the love in which we need to be perfected, the love that is fully developed, fully mature. It is patient and kind. We could stop right there and focus on just those two things-if we could consistently be patient, if we could consistently be kind, then just imagine the difference that would make! And, while this passage of scripture is frequently used in sentimental ways, what Paul goes on to say strips us of any illusion of sentimentality. Because he names the fractious habits that plague human communication and community: in addition to impatience and unkindness, he mentions envy, boasting, arrogance, rudeness, selfishness (insisting on own way), irritability, resentment, deliberate wrongdoing, deceit, dishonesty. Let's pause here for a moment and reflect on which of these habits we struggle with the most. Where is God calling you to grow today? Which of these things do you find yourself getting caught up in? I should mention-or emphasize-that none of us have "gone on to perfection" to use Wesley's phrase. All of us need to continue to grow in this perfect love. I don't mean to suggest an "out" for us on this point-that is, I'm not suggesting that we should say, "well, it's really hard and impossible to achieve, so I don't need to try to be truly loving, patient, kind." My point is that we need to identify the places where we particularly struggle and then pray for God to help us grow in love such that we can let go of our resentment, our arrogance, our rudeness, our selfishness, our dishonesty. John Wesley
would often say that if God had said that it was so, then God had the
power to make it so. And in Matthew's gospel account Jesus says this:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those
who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;
for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love
you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing
than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father is perfect." This perfect love took a human face in Jesus. And when this perfect love went to his home church for a visit, they couldn't stand the thought that he wouldn't just share his gifts with them, they were enraged at Jesus' implication that his miracles would be offered to people whom they deemed enemies, to people they despised. When Jesus went to his home church to visit the adults with whom he had grown up, perhaps folks who had taught him the Torah, and played with him as a child, perhaps adults whom he had admired…what happened? They tried to kill him. There's no fight like a church fight! But thanks be to God that God's love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Because that means that there's still love and hope for us. Amen.
|
 |
Sermons from other years:
|
||||||||||||
|
Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church is a Reconciling Congregation. |
||||||||||||||||
 |
