Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
This is an interactive manuscript. To follow links, click the highlighted words below.
In high school, I had many teachers who were very religious. I’m going to recall three of them today.
The first was Larry. He had a bible study he led at his church once a week that was primarily made up of students from our high school. I learned about it from an alumna I had know for many years and have great respect for to this day. I attended regular throughout my first year of high school.
Then as summer dawned, one of our members mentioned something about one of the leaders of our track team, someone who, as a runner, I was very close to. The best I can describe Larry’s comments were as prejudice and a prideful piousness in “not being like this person” as if straight out of the mouth of a Pharisee in one of Jesus’ parables.
That was the first of many moments that made me realize that I could not, in good conscience, continue to be part of this group. The start of my second year I broke my foot in the fall, giving me a good time to bow out.
Turns out, academically, I should have stayed in the group. I learned much later that members of the bible study were getting a bump on the essay portion of exams. After that year, fed up with the new administration of the school, Larry left to start his own ministry group.
I didn’t hear much more about Larry until many years later I was told the board of his ministry group asked him to take some time off after it was discovered he had bought a boat and was having an affair with a young woman who, incidentally, was roughly the same age as his oldest son.
The next teacher was Bill Wortman. Bill had a strong and public faith, but he didn’t flaunt it. He treated all students, Christian or not, with respect. He didn’t stuff religion down people’s throats, but he was more than happy to answer questions about Scripture and give his own thoughts.
Bill was a classics teacher who wasn’t afraid to delve into non-religious subjects. He also taught extracurriculars on the Greeks and Philosophy, which had a huge influence on my college career. He was a mentor to me even after high school. He also left teaching to do ministry work and continues to do that to this day.
Finally there was Devin. When I broke my foot my sophomore year, I spent some time in a wheelchair. It made me limited in many things, including where I could sit for lunch.
Many times Devin would come over and sit with me, just so I could have someone there. Now I didn’t know Devin’s faith or thoughts on religion. He was a mathematics teacher, so why would I? When Devin would sit down, he would close his eyes and be silent for a while. Then he would open his eyes and start to eat.
He was praying, giving thanks, before he ate. He didn’t do so in a way that was showy or public. He did so in a way that was reverent but also didn’t draw attention to himself. Yet his act of kindness towards me, someone who was nowhere near his best student, lived into his faith. His kindness and his silent prayer have clearly remained with me all these years.
All these examples show the impact of what we would call “Ego”. Bill and Devin were able to put theirs aside. Bill was very open about his faith, but did so in a way that was respectful, never forceful. He was willing to live with others in the world.
Devin lived out his faith, even if it was in a way that was not always overt. He too was respectful of others, and his subtle kindness was a way he showed his faith in the world.
We hear these words from Paul in Romans: “I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think”. He calls us not to inflate our egos. He calls us instead to be mindful not of ourselves but how we serve God. He asks us “to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
Paul then lists the several different roles there are in the church. Each of us make up one body, one group with members of many roles. Whether we are leaders in church governance, teachers who have credentials and the license to act as such, Deacons and others who are going out into the world to serve the sick, the poor, and everyone else who needs help, or our greeters and welcomers and those serving food at Coffee Hour, we all have a part to play, and that part is important, whether you think so or not.
It is when we reach for power for power’s sake that we fail to hear Paul’s warnings. Then it becomes about our ego, not about where God is calling us to serve. When we focus on ego, it becomes about us, not about our Lord.
We see the start of the downfall of ego from Pharaoh this morning. He has forgotten what we learned in Genesis last week, that the Israelites saved Egypt many years ago from famine. Instead he starts to fear them and persecute them. As we will see, his focus on his own power will be what, in the end, will destroy him.
In Pharaoh’s pride, he paves the way for one of God’s own to be unknown among him. Moses, being placed in a basket on the river as a young baby, is found by one of Pharaoh’s daughters. He is raised in the household of Pharaoh as a result. It is only much later that his role as a member of God’s People is revealed.
In all things, Jesus is our greatest example, and He too moves unknown through the people. No one quite knows who He is. Even when He asks the Disciples, they begin rattling off what others think. It is only Peter who gives the correct answer, and even he, as shown in the verses just after this passage, fails to realize what Jesus’ mission really is.
Jesus was not about ego, though He is the one person who actually could be. He was content to travel through the world unknown as He carried out His mission. We should be too.
When we inflate our own ego, our work and mission become about us. We see this in the examples of some around us. Those who grab for power for their own wants and needs are never the ones who serve God. They only serve themselves.
Don’t make your work about yourself, in the church or in the world. Make it about God. That’s why Paul takes so much time to lay out the different roles in the church. It is so we can discern where God is calling us to be, not where we think the most honor and power is.
Those who have an impact on our faith are often those who do the seemingly little things to give us love and support when we need it. Again, don’t make your work about your own ego. Make it about God and where God calls on you to serve in God’s church and in the world.