Worthy
Sermon Title “Worthy” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! We’ve been talking about Church of the Brethren Annual Conference for the past few weeks. Some of you have already helped with preparations for children’s activities by the hours you put in trimming and cutting fleece for blankets. There are preparations of every kind — physical, spiritual, administrative, financial — going on at the end of June and early July. At the end of this service we are going to recognize the people from Creekside who will be in Grand Rapids for all or part of Annual Conference, but know that we are each part of a much larger effort — one which could not happen without lots of staff and volunteer time from all around the denomination. We remember and give thanks for those individuals and groups of people with gratitude.
[Slide AC logo] As part of my personal preparation for Conference and as a way of including folks at Creekside in thinking about and praying for the events of next week, I am taking sermon inspiration from the Conference theme, Welcome + Worthy. As I mentioned last week, the theme was chosen and has been developed by Moderator Madelyn Metzger over the past year. I confess I am partial to this theme and especially the good design of the logo. Not every moderator has good graphic design resources or sensibilities, but Sister Metzger clearly has both. Last week I focused on the concept of Welcome, and this morning I’d like to talk about the second word, Worthy. Next week you’ll get to hear from Moderator Metzger herself — a re-broadcast of her opening address to Annual Conference on Wednesday, July 3. [Slide down]
Although, as I mentioned before, I like this theme and its possibilities, the concept of “worth” is a tricky one — at least theologically. To ask yourself the question, “What am I worth?” is to make ourseves incredibly vulnerable, and I would hope that the answer might be different if you are talking to a financial advisor, a spouse or close friend, or your pastor. You might take a moment to consider what answers you might get about a monetary amount, the significance of your relationship, or your significance to God, and which of those answers is the most important to you.
As Metzger notes in her interpretive statement, we may spend a lot of time wondering if we are worthy, or calculating our worth relative to other people, measured by standards from our families, neighbors, teachers, and experiences. The $64,000 theological question — it’s actually worth more than that — is On what do we calculate our worth? And in my opinion, this is a tricky question, without a concrete answer. Your financial advisor may be able to put some numbers into a calculation and say, “You need to be worth X amount of money in order to retire,” but our worth as God’s people is more nuanced than that.
In Romans chapter 16, the apostle Paul is winding up his previous 15 chapters of theological treatise to the church in Rome in a formulaic and time-honored way: he’s listing and thanking a bunch of people who have helped him in his ministry; in much the same way that an author might have acknowledgements at the end of a book or other piece of writing. It’s fairly involved list, filled mostly with people whom we’ve never heard of before, and are not mentioned again in the Bible. They are identified mostly by name, but sometimes more generally — the way I alluded at the beginning of this sermon to all of the folks who are helping prepare for Annual Conference next week.
The first person Paul thanks is probably the person who is physically bringing the letter to the Romans. Her name is Phoebe, she is identified as a deacon. This is not necessarily a clergy role, but she is a woman who is in leadership and is trusted by Paul; she is also identified as a benefactor of many, including Paul, so we assume she had financial means and was generous to the mission of Christianity. In the Common English Translation, Paul tells the Christians in Rome to “Welcome her [Phoebe] in a way that is worthy of God’s people.” (16:2) It is interesting that this statement is not about Phoebe’s worth, spiritual, financial, or otherwise; the command is to be welcoming in a way that is worthy of God’s people. So who is worthy in this passage? Phoebe? Those who welcome her? God? Everybody? That’s why this is tricky.
If in doubt, it’s often safe to default to what we learned from children’s stories in worship: if you don’t know, the best answer is Jesus. There are some spectacular exceptions to this rule, of course, but when we are asking, Who is worthy? Jesus — and other members of the trinity, the Creator and Spirit — is a pretty safe bet. It turns out Jesus is a solid answer to other questions about our own identity and worth. Feel free to say the answer with me: Who gave his life because we are priceless? On whom do we base our worth? What has a big fluffy tail, climbs trees and gather nuts? That is the children’s story conundrum — I know the answer is supposed to be Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me. It’s important to ask the right questions.
I said earlier that the theological question we need to answer is On what do we calculate our worth? The answer is Jesus. Without Jesus, and without our acceptance of the forgiveness and grace of Jesus Christ, we are not worthy. We might be pretty good, we might be pretty bad, we might be above average, I might be better than you — but those metrics are not the significant ones. As Paul says earlier in the letter to the Romans, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If not one of us is worthy, it is silly to squabble about who is slightly less unworthy. That makes no sense. None of us can save ourselves, and anyone who is pretending otherwise is delusional or lying. But the reality of our sinfulness does not mean we are worthless. Here’s what Paul writes in Romans 5:8 “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” So here’s the puzzle: we are not worthy to be called God’s people, but God loves us so much that it was worth it to God to send his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could be reconciled to God and to each other. Our worth and God’s love are the great equalizers of the equation. It doesn’t matter how other people have decided you are worth — through Jesus Christ we are all worthy to be called children of God. And if we are God’s people, then we should be welcoming other people — like Phoebe — in a way that is worthy of the immeasurable gift of grace which we have received. Who are we to scorn or dismiss people whom Christ has died for? We didn’t earn our worth to God; other people don’t have to prove their worth to us. That may not be simple, but that is the good news of the gospel.
It is good news on a number of fronts, frankly. In just a few minutes I am going to call people forward who are going to Annual Conference. Some of them have particular roles to fill there, and have been called by this congregation or by the wider denomination. I know that a lot of preparation goes into fulfilling these roles. In my experience in congregational and denominational leadership, some perspective is helpful. God does not call the equipped, God equips the called. If you make a mistake or a detail slipped by you, it will be OK. Don’t compound your mistake by acting like it didn’t happen or you already knew the answer. And for heaven’s sake, don’t blame it on someone else. This enterprise doesn’t depend on you; this is Christ’s church and our worth comes from accepting Christ’s grace and working together for God’s glory. It isn’t about how impressive we are, it’s about valuing ourselves and every other person because of their value to God.Paul ends his letter to the Romans with a characteristic run-on sentence which I will paraphrase a bit so as not to get all tangled up in the syntax: It is God who is able to strengthen us according to the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ. May God give us the obedience of faith through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.