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“Speaking the Truth in Love”
Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
Rev. Sandy Nuernberg
Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Cambridge, WI
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Hiroshima Day
August 6, 2006
“
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up
in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”
Have you ever heard that song by
the UW Band when the Badgers are doing well, especially at buckets games? It
goes something like this, “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re
purrrrfect in every wayyay...” and on and on!! This song kept ringing in my ears
this week as I read this text in Ephesians; I thought, why is it so hard for us
to be humble? If we can bring a little humility into our lives, we can speak to
each other in truth and in love and perform the works of God.
In God’s work in us, it is our
natural instinct to be needed; we grow in confidence, and feel that we are able
to add value to our society. But I have to admit that for almost as long as I
was a medical technologist in hospital laboratory work, oh, more that 25 years,
I had twitches of feeling humiliated. The big reason was because I was the only
part-timer and my co-workers were full time employees. The little reasons were
that this meant I was there less, knew less, did less. So I thought. I tried to
compensate by asking lots of questions, tried to learn techniques competently,
(really faster), and wanted to do the things no one else liked to do! Really, I
was competitive at my works just like I am on the golf course or at tennis or in
anything I try to tackle!
I was working a week-end some time
ago now–I was responsible for an area of technical work no one else could do. We
had to do it; we are taught team-work and must work together because there are
less of us on week-ends, but not necessarily less work. I was at one of the
busiest instruments we have with large volumes of tests per hour. I actually
liked that, because of my nature of wanting to do well at what I ever I try. So
I thought! I was also stubborn and had my own ideas of accomplishing our
workload. To my surprise, I was not doing my work fast enough for my fellow
worker, he yelled in so many words to work faster. I remember being so
humiliated–I trembled, I shook, I cringed wondering why I was being treated like
this; here was a full-timer telling me how to do things better! Have you ever
felt like that at your job? But I knew I had to continue working and act civil
to my co-worker.
But over the years, I grew up in
my works in ways where I found out the real voice of truth told me a different
story. There is a relationship between our minds thoughts and our bodies
actions. As our text tells us, we have been equipped with different gifts for
different roles; in our works, whether it be in our professions, our church, or
our community, you and I can’t help but feel a sense of calling, and we each
bring individuality and a dimension of creativity to any particular situation!
For me, I felt humbled then, in the lab, and I learned a few lessons about
myself that week-end, being busy and when there were fewer of us; to be more
gentle and to be patient with other’s thoughts and words, and receive their help
in a constructive way for my own works.
I can’t help but think that in
God’s plan–in God’s purpose for us, every bit of our good works gets counted,
remembered, and cherished. Our author is describing what the church is really
like–one body, one Spirit, one Lord; a glorious picture of unity. As I found out
and as we know, this world we live in is not what it was meant to be. The
reality of it all is we know there is hatred and strife; nation against nation,
and persons against each other. We have been raised in competition to be the
best, do the best. Just watch Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods in their works.
It’s kinda like I found, ‘if you can’t work faster, Sandy, move aside, because I
can.’ But where is speaking the truth to one another in love? Aren’t we baiting
each other for evil vs. good?
God’s plan for us, it seems to me,
is not the design that is in our minds or bodies at all! God is most desirous of
our humble spirit within and not of our outward sacrifices. Our practical work,
our footwork of being Christ’s disciples is performing our works in Christ;
Christ said, “I am the bread of life”, the bread from heaven that our world can
not give or take away. Our work is to acknowledge our God given gifts to us by
God. Our work is to look at the big picture of life and see that God has
equipped us all in special ways for particular tasks. Our work is being
available at any time and at any place for the Spirit of God may be at work in
us, calling us to participate in God’s work; reconciling ourselves to God’s self
(2 Corin. 5:19). Most of all, as we work to achieve becoming Christ-like by
speaking the truth to one another in love, we need to know ourselves, our
strengths, and our limitations, and to choose wisely in our works.
As we come to the table in
communion with one another, we receive Christ; Christ Jesus offers himself as
God’s message of love to the world, and the good news for us is that we might be
filled. In learning to lead a life that is our calling, let us grow in every way
into him who is the whole body, the Body of Christ. Let us be humble; we aren’t
perfect in every way! It takes humility, determination, and faith to be led by
Christ! In our unity, let us acknowledge and join together in God’s work. In our
personal adventure of growth, and in our faith we can speak the truth and build
ourselves up together in love.
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD. THANKS BE TO
GOD. AMEN.
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