Sermon Outline/Notes for Proper 6-B

2 Pentecost

June 18, 2006

St. Luke’s Church

Interesting experience at college reunion

I was nervous about returning because I felt like the same shy, socially awkward person I was when I arrived at 17.  Many of my classmates are incredibly successful in worldly terms.  Our class of 500 gave over half a million dollars to the college just this year for our reunion.  But something interesting happened in these twenty years.   A lot of worldly success, but a lot of heartache too—broken marriages, alcoholism.  Suddenly being a priest became cool.  Several people wanted to talk to me about my life and work.  The impression I got was that after a lot of worldly success, they are now looking for real meaning in their lives.

We often ignore the most important things because we’re so busy with what seems important.  Just think about the mustard seed, Jesus said.  It’s so tiny, everyone ignores it.  But when it grows ...watch out!  To grasp the kingdom of God, we need to use mustard seed thinking.

We walk by faith, not by sight.

In other words, we see things differently because of our faith in Jesus.

Worldly success means nothing compared with the Kingdom of God.

All the money in the world, getting in to the right college, getting the right job, being in the right clique, having high SAT scores—none of that means anything compared to life in Christ.  That’s mustard seed thinking.

Today we bless our graduates.  They are graduating from high school, college and other programs.  They are going into diverse fields of endeavor from Liberal Arts to medicine to the military.  Each of them has accomplished great things in their academic careers—academically, athletically and artistically.  We honor them for that success.  But we also remind them as their family of faith to keep first things first.

Those graduating from high school particularly have grown up as the busiest kids in history.  A lot of kids thrive on that schedule, but you have to wonder if we as parents aren’t driven by anxiety.  If we keep our kids busier and busier, if we push them to succeed, maybe we can guarantee them a happy life.  Every parent wants their children to be “successful,” but sometimes we need to question those definitions of success.

Academic success, athletic success, artistic success—these are all wonderful.  But they do not guarantee a happy or a meaningful life.  They can open doors to wonderful opportunities to education and careers.  But going to the right college and getting the right job do not necessarily guarantee happiness or meaning either. 

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; for if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”

Mustard Seed thinking

God did not choose David because of his good looks or intelligence or his physical strength or his musical ability.   Though once God chose him all of those things were useful in serving God.

Little David the shepherd boy became David the giant killer, then David the warrior, then David the musician, then finally David the king.

That’s the Mustard Seed Kingdom of God in action.

In life you will have plenty of failures and plenty of accomplishments.  The secret to living a Godly life is to lay all of them, the good and the bad, at the foot of the cross.  To remember that you are God’s beloved child and that your whole aim is to please him.

It’s so important to have that perspective; otherwise you are bound to be crushed by your own or others’ expectations.  You will take too much or too little responsibility and be a danger to yourself and others. 

·        Remember that your talents and abilities are not yours alone, but are gifts from God your creator.

·        Remember that your sins and failures are not yours alone.  God in Jesus has redeemed them on the cross.

·        Remember that your achievements and successes are not yours alone.  It is God working in you and others working alongside you that have made them possible.  Your parents, teachers, friends, colleagues and sometimes people you have never met have helped bring you to where you are today.

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