June 10, 2007 - "It's All About Me"

2 Pentecost, Year C
1 Kings 17:17-24
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17

My mother gave me a large coffee mug with the words... "It's all about me" blazoned across the front. Um...gee Mom, thanks. Like most people, this cup is appropriate for me in many ways. From time to time, I fall into the sin of self-centeredness. I like to think that it is all about me. So whenever I use this coffee mug, I have this reminder to tell myself that it is actually not all about me.

We all need these reminders because we live in a world that promotes the individual or one's own self-interests over almost everything. "It's all about me" is not just printed on coffee cups; it is imprinted on the fabric of our society. I would like to say that this is a recent phenomenon, but that would be naïve. Seeing beyond one's own self-interest is something that God's creation has always struggled with throughout history.

It is true that God loves us each as individuals and knows us each so intimately as to know the number of hairs on our head, but it is because of this love that He constantly calls us to look beyond our own selfish desires. Scripture reminds again and again that is not all about me.

I have heard that anyone who joins one of our choirs soon realizes that it is not "all about him or her." When a good choir sings in unison, you cannot pick out one voice. Each member sings his or her part and the sound produced is always greater than just one individual.

Christ shows us that we are not alone, but a part of a larger community, a community called to do great things. We are called to do great things not for ourselves, but for all of God's Creation. Archbishop William Temple once wrote, "The church is the only organization that exists for the benefit of its non-members." Christianity, at its best, opens our eyes to all that is around us. It shows us a world that is in need of love and action.

Unfortunately, it often takes a lot for us to realize God's call to look beyond ourselves.

I knew of a church on the outskirts of Chicago named All Saints. A few years ago, a female priest was asked by the bishop to close All Saints. This once healthy and vibrant church had dwindled to about thirty people on a Sunday. The newly appointed rector had a different idea than the bishop. After being at All Saints for a few weeks, she remarked, "it was so close to death, that you could smell resurrection."

Resurrection is around almost every corner, if we are open to it. Instead of closing the church, she seized the opportunity for resurrection. She took a risk; a risk on resurrection, and this risk paid off. This little church stopped looking inwards towards its own death, and started looking outward towards new life. All Saints' Church began to grow. They opened a food pantry, now one of the busiest in Chicago, and their attendance continues to grow. Resurrection became a reality.

In today's gospel lesson, Jesus interrupts a large crowd gathered for a funeral procession. The crowd is gathered in mourning. As they process to bury their friend and son, a resurrection moment occurs. Jesus raises the dead. God can appear in what often seems to be the unlikeliest of places and times. God is full of surprises, so much so that it often takes a community to recognize these resurrection moments. What was a moment of mourning for this community became a moment of joy.

We need to share our moments of resurrection; our moments of how God works in our lives. Jesus' actions caused people to spread the word throughout all Judea and the surrounding country. While we may not have witnessed bodily resurrection, we have experienced God working in our lives. We have hopefully experienced moments of sadness turn into moments of joy. Resurrection comes in many forms.

Can we smell resurrection? God is amongst us and is working through us. What are we doing about it? Right now, we are not in danger of closing our doors. We are not in danger of dying. However, I can still smell resurrection. In every community there is opportunity for renewal. It is easy to join the funeral procession towards self-interest and the "it's all about me" mentality.

God calls us individually to a community that looks beyond the self. Most of the world is so consumed with themselves, that they cannot even see the opportunities for resurrection.

I have been at Trinity almost six months now. I have seen many moments of resurrection, moment where God is working in our lives. Each week, we all gather, to remind each other that resurrection is possible. Each week we are reminded of a God who cares for us and loves us.

Each week, we gather not to drink from this cup (coffee mug), but from a cup that calls us to action. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, we all drink from one cup, a cup that reminds us of a love that surpasses all human understanding. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, I can smell resurrection. It is in this place that I get my greatest reminder that it is not all about me, but rather God is all about us.

Amen.