2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2; March 2, 2025; Children’s Musical Sunday
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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.” – 2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2
Friends, let me be clear and to the point today: I am not a miracle man.
I can’t heal. I can’t be everywhere at once. And I don’t have an endless reservoir of energy nor bandwidth. Neither, sadly, can I multiply fish. Neither, worse off, can I turn water into wine. And I am afraid I just can’t double your money or triple our pledges.
For I am not a miracle man. I am just a man. An ordinary man. And a broken and incomplete man at that. Who yet wants to be like Jesus. Who yet wants to hold a mirror to Jesus. But who will likely only ever hold a mirror to himself in a poor attempt to act like Jesus.
For unlike him, I have and will make tons of mistakes along my way, as I drift in sin away from his way, as I continue to screw up each and every day.
For lo, look here at this most recent example: (see picture at bottom of me and Austin playing chess)
Yes, what a mistake I made sitting down at a table across from this kid. I had thought to myself, ha, I’ll show him a lesson in age and experience. But instead, Austin whooped me from Genesis to Revelation. Talk about a Lion’s Den, Joel’s son beat me so bad that near the end he just started to laugh at me…
You see, just because you can “master divinity” doesn’t mean you can master a chess board, let alone your emotions, wisdom, a staff, or this pulpit.
Yes, I am not a miracle man. And I make way too many mistakes.
One of the hardest things for a pastor — who cares and who is honest – is the realization that you’re never ever going to please everyone, nor yourself. You’re never going to have as much time or energy as you desire. And soon enough, your brokenness will slip the veil, such that people will begin to see through you for who you are and just how regular and fractured you are.
But, like most pastors (I pray), I do care. And I care a lot. I lose sleep over a word misstated. An email not seen nor responded to. An opportunity squandered or one that was never realized. And I’m saddened that soon enough I’m going to make even more mistakes because, let’s face it, ever since I was born the mistakes simply haven’t stopped!
But having confessed all of that today, I must say that I remain encouraged. For scripture tells me that even if others sometimes don’t, God likes me for me — broken, sinful, and mistake ridden — and will miraculously love and forgive me enough to even call me into this ministry.
And, best of all, not just me, but all of you too! Yes, God likes and forgives all of us and calls each of us into ministry for we have all been given the gifts of the Spirit. Which means even you, Bob! And yes, even you, Ann! And you too, Sara. And believe it or not, even you, Seth!
For all of us are called to be imitators of Christ, no matter how young, and no matter how old. We each are called to be transformed by his goodness. To tap into the Spirit of the Lord which abides in us all, and which urges us to not stay stuck where we are, or who we are, but to be changed and sanctified into something better, something greater in Him. In Jesus Christ.
And while it is true that we will all continue to make mistakes, like me; and that we also fail at perfectly answering Jesus’ call, like me, God yet encourages us all anyway, yes, even me! For God has not given up on any of us and truly believes that we each /can be transformed into glory, from pawns into Queens, one degree to another. Isn’t that amazing?
And so, Paul implores us today: “do not lose heart” …for even broken people like him, like you and me, can do great things and mirror Christ’s goodness if we simply live according to his ways. If we, as Pastor Janel so powerfully proclaimed last week, live according to Jesus’ commandments: to love God and to love neighbor.
And so, as the body of God, and as neighbors in this global membership, we are charged by Paul today to “not be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2); and in so doing to “turn the world upside down” (Acts 17:6) giving in not to the power structures of the day, but inverting those power structures, such that those who don’t hold the cards, so to speak, who otherwise would be deemed the least and last, can yet believe that in God’s name they can be made the greatest and the first.
For lo, look here at the table, where God’s own son turned everything upside down when he broke his body for us, when he shed his blood for us. So that the powers and principalities couldn’t win, because selfless love and grace would prevail.
With boldness then, my friends, let us renounce the shameful things that we would hide behind our veils, and let us instead by an open statement of truth, commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God, together rising, together confessing, and together living into our faith, saying as one:
We trust in Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God: preaching good news to the poor and release to the captives, teaching by word and deed and blessing the children, healing the sick and binding up the broken-hearted, eating with outcasts, forgiving sinners, and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition, Jesus was crucified, suffering the depths of human pain, and giving his life for the sins of the world. God raised this Jesus from the dead, vindicating his sinless life, breaking the power of sin and evil, delivering us from death to life eternal. Amen.
– A Brief Statement of Faith (PCUSA)
