Ezekiel 2:1-7
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-6
Psalm 123
Have you ever wanted to do your very, very best - and then messed it up and felt just awful? Like when you want to make a special gift for someone and then you spill paint all over it.
Can you all think of any times that you tried to do your best and things just wouldn't work out how you wanted them to?
Well, today's lessons - especially Paul's letter to some people in a town called Corinth - reminds us that if we remember to let God help out, even our failures can turn out pretty good..
And I have a story about that to share with you:
When I was little - about Maway's age - I had to learn a poem to recite at a big meeting for people who are farmers. My grandma and grandpa and Uncle Dick and Auntie Lou and my sister and my cousins and my parents - and a whole lot of other people were all going to be there.
And I had to go and stand in front of all of those people, and recite a poem called "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." All the kids at the meeting were going to be doing something - and some of them were really good...like my cousin Alice who played the violin and my sister Lynne - she played the piano..
I was really nervous. I had practiced and practiced and practiced - because I was just determined that I was going to do it perfectly. I wanted to recite my poem just as well as everybody else did whatever they were doing - actually I wanted to do even better - I wanted to be the best so that everyone would be proud of me.
So when it came time for me to get up and recite my poem, I opened my mouth and I couldn't remember a single word! Nothing came out of my mouth! My heart started pounding, and I felt really dumb, and my face started to get red and I felt really hot! It was just terrible! So I squeezed my eyes shut and took a big breath and started over, and at least this time something came out of my mouth - but it was the wrong line!
Well by now, I was so embarrassed that I wanted to run away. I looked at the door in the back of the room and you know, I almost did run out of that room. But then I saw my Uncle Dick.. And he was smiling at me and giving me a wink and he held something up just so that I could see it...
What do you think he held up? That's right - he held up a rock. Uncle Dick and his rocks!
He'd given me a little rock to put in my pocket to hold onto in case I got scared. He told me that the rock would remind me that Jesus was there to help me and that Jesus just wanted me to do the best I could. And I was so nervous that I had forgotten all about the rock and Jesus.
So I reached into my pocket and I grabbed onto the rock and asked Jesus to help me and I finally recited the whole poem from beginning to end. I rushed through it too fast - but at least I got it all said.
My Uncle Dick was always reminding me that Jesus would help me out when things were hard. But later that evening, I learned something even more important.
When the meeting was over and everyone was eating ice cream and cake, I was hanging out in a corner feeling awful. I was so embarrassed about having messed up my poem that I just couldn't even look at anyone - and all I wanted to do was disappear.
Then a lady with a little girl about Nina's age came over to where I was and sat down next to me.
The lady smiled at me and told me that because I had been so brave to keep trying to say my poem - her little girl was able to get over her scared and she was able to sing her song for everyone. The lady said that if I hadn't stuck it out, then her little girl would never have been able to sing her song.
And then the neatest thing happened! The little girl smiled at me and she took my hand and looked up at me with great big eyes - and she said, "I love you." And for her I was a hero! All because I'd messed up my poem... All of a sudden I felt like I was on top of the world!"
And then Uncle Dick came over and gave me a big hug - and said that he had never been prouder of me...and that Jesus was proud of me too - because when I didn't run away, Jesus was able to use me to help the little girl.
That was a pretty important night for me - and I've never forgotten it.
And you know what? (Hold up the rock so the children can see it).
This is the very same rock that Uncle dick gave me that night. And I've been holding onto it ever since.
Now I've given all of you rocks, and you might want to use those rocks to help you remember - or maybe you want to find your very own rocks to help you remember that even when you think you've mess this up so badly that nothing good can happen - Jesus is still right there and Jesus can make good things happen even when we can't imagine how he could possibly do that.
Our reading from Paul's letter to the Corinthians is one of my favorites. It always reminds me of that evening so long ago when I was sure that I'd completely failed. I was an incredibly shy little girl - and to be embarrassed in front of a bunch of people was the worst thing I could possibly imagine.
I learned that night that messing up can actually become a gift from God. Because it's through our failures, through our inadequacies, through our broken places that God shines through and brings healing and hope.
God can work through things that seem so impossibly botched up to us, and God can transform them into something that shines with glory.
When I read the epistle for this morning, I found myself thinking of how unsure and uncertain we all were when we began this journey called Total Ministry...how we feared that we weren't far from closing our doors.
And out of all that fear and confusion and uncertainty, God has continued to turn the impossible into the possible - and we are growing, and we have an accessible building, and we have a beautiful new parish hall - and even more importantly, we have a parish full of people that are vibrant and alive and loving. People are opening their hearts to one another in all kinds of ways that reflect the love of Jesus Christ in this world.
When Cedar and I first came to this church six years ago, it was a very different place. Every Sunday morning at coffee, we heard some kind of discussion about whether we could keep the doors open for much longer. It wasn't a particularly uplifting experience to come to coffee back then. Today we talk about the future, we put together birthday bags for needy children, we laugh and share, children play and I haven't heard about how long we can keep the doors open for well over two years now.
Does that mean we're on easy street? Hardly. Anyone who's looked at the checkbook lately knows the answer to that one!
Does that mean that we can kick back and relax and let God handle things? Nope.
But it does mean that God's miracles are right here, ready to happen, just waiting for us to stumble across them as we keep on trying to do our best, and allow God to shine through our failures and mishaps.
Please turn to page 836 in the Book of Common Prayer.
I love the first prayer on this page because it reminds us that our failures and disappointments can become some of the most wonderful gifts we receive from a loving God. Would you all say it with me:
A GENERAL THANKSGIVING
Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.
We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.
We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.
We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.
Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.
Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know him and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things.
AMEN