Introduction
Once upon a time there was a person who woke up one day…maybe it was after high school…or maybe it was after college…or maybe it was right after the start of a relationship…or maybe right after one ended…or maybe before a new job…or was it after a job ended and a new one was on the horizon? Maybe they were retired.
It’s hard to say… But once upon a time, there was a person who woke up and a question came to their mind: Who am I?
The person had been a son…a daughter…a brother…a sister…a student…a co-worker… a wife…a husband…a friend. But today they were asking the question…Who am I?
So the person decided to take a journey to find out the answer to the question…Who am I?
The person packed their bag…it was a mixed bag of life—jobs, experiences, roles, joys, losses, brokenness, even some hopes and love. Maybe someone along the way could look at the mixed bag and interpret all it held to help answer the question…Who am I?
The person of course found themselves at the foot of a tall mountain (even though mountains are a tired narrative when it comes to “journeys”.)
So they began up the mountain, walking, walking, walking, carrying their mixed bag, all the while asking the question…Who am I?
In the beginning it wasn’t terribly difficult, and the idea the journey would soon be over crept to mind. And sure enough, soon they came upon a Guru.
The person went to the Guru, took out their mixed bag showed it, then asked … Who am I?
The Guru looked at the person, and the mixed bag, pondered the simply yet profound question…then said… Who are you? You’re going to have to journey further up the mountain.
Disappointed, but not terribly surprised, the person thanked the Guru and continued up the mountain.
Now the mountain was getting steeper; the journey was getting harder, and the mixed bag was getting heavier; but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.
After some time they came upon a Yogi, and with hope in their heart and voice, they went to the Yogi, took out their mixed bag and asked the question… Who am I?
The Yogi looked at the person, and the mixed bag, pondered the simply yet profound question…then said… Who are you? You’re going to have to journey further up the mountain.
Disappointed and discouraged, the person thanked the Yogi and continued up the mountain.
Now the mountain was getting much steeper, the mixed bag was getting heavier, and the journey was much harder.
Eventually they came upon a Mystic, took out their mixed bag and asked the question…Who am I?
The Mystic looked at the person, and the mixed bag, pondered the simply yet profound question…then said… Who are you? You’re going to have to journey further up the mountain.
The person was now distraught, and they were beginning to fall apart. They were beyond disappointed. They were now losing hope.
Still, the person thanked the Mystic and continued up the mountain.
Now the mountain was even steeper—steeper than they ever imagined. The mixed bag so heavy, too heavy, and out of desperation, frustration, and maybe even wishful thinking, they threw down their mixed bag, and left it behind, pressing on up the mountain. But now the person was thinking they might not be able to finish the journey and get the answer they were searching for.
But finally, they reached the top of the mountain, where sat an old, wise looking Sage. Stepping before the Sage, falling to their knees, desperate and needing an answer they asked the question…Who am I?
The Sage pondered the simply yet profound question…and said…Who are you? Whose asking?
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I love this story because it’s such a classic preacher story. Set the people up, lull them in, get them thinking they’re about to get a clear, definitive, and profound answer—only to pull the rug out, hold up a mirror and say, “That’s what you have to figure out!”
But being the magnanimous preacher I am—with deep love for you all—I will do what I can nonetheless.
Who am I? Great question. Whose asking? Another great question.
The Apostle Paul tells us today who you are—members of the body of Christ: a foot, an ear, an eye, a hand.
But the “whose asking” question? That really is what we all have to figure out. But when we do—that’s when we find what Paul calls “a more excellent way.”
Move 1
On this Labor Day weekend we mark the unofficial end of summer by taking a break from our labors. Unless you are a preacher, a music director, or a church staffer. But others get a break.
Except for health care professionals; police, fire fighters, first responders of all kinds. Restaurant workers, small business owners, Amazon delivery drivers, gas station attendants, grocery store workers…
Well I know my kids and other students get tomorrow off. Of course there is homework that has to be done before Tuesday.
But some of you don’t have a thing to do, right?! Cuz of a little thing called retirement! You’re done with your labors. But then again, I’ve seen how many of our retirees are actually busier in retirement than before. For instance our Trustees—many are retired but have “to-do” lists that never seem to get “to-done.”
Then throw in all of the stuff from the last two Sundays where I have been telling us all what our role, job, and calling is as followers of God—tell, share, live the healing and wholeness we’ve found and that others need in this broken and fragmented world.
Now here I am again, talking about all this “to-do” stuff, again, rooting it in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, giving us this wonderfully wise preachment about being the body of Christ—and that no matter what part of the mixed bag we are, we all have an important role.
So I get it. I’ve been hurling a lot at all y’all. But it’s like I said last week—we are already doing much of what we are to do. What will help us further our efforts isn’t necessarily by doing more, but rather by understanding who we are—so that we can get to a more excellent way.
Move 2
Paul writes this letter to the Corinthians because they were trying to figure out who they were—who each of them was within this “body” Paul kept telling them about.
“We are all part of one body? What’s that all about?!”
This was a question and a tone some Corinthians were taking because some of them had a little more “gravitas” if you will, than others. Ok, the Corinthians were outright snobs sometimes.
So to address their confusion—and their elitist attitudes—Paul explains how they function together (not separately)—correlating it to their physical body, noting they would never give up a body part because that’s not helpful, that’s not an excellent way—and such is the same for the body of Christ.
Paul wants the Corinthians to know they are all part of the body of Christ, but needs them to figure out, and then live out, their part within it.
And so with this text Paul is asking the Corinthians, and us, to ask the question, “Who am I?”
Move 3
So then… who are we?
Preacher. Musicians. Teachers, husbands, wives, partners, students, business owners, skilled laborers, moms, dads, grandparents, aunts and uncles, nurses, therapists, computer techs, case managers, chemists, builders, artists, volunteers, masons, financial advisors, carpenters, drivers, administrators, first responders, dentists, DIYers, social workers, retirees…I could keep going but you get the gist.
All of these roles are the things we do—and they are part of the answer to “Who Am I?” but they are not the compete answer because the complete answer isn’t done being answered. And why not? Because today is a new day. And tomorrow will be a new day again.
We must answer this question every day—not simply with the label around what we do—but as those who are part of a body that is about something more…something bigger…something that is of a more excellent way.
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In his book, “Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation” author and educationalist Parker Palmer states, “Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I must live—but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.”
Palmer goes on to say, “The deepest vocational question is not ‘What should I do with my life?’ It is the more elemental and demanding ‘Who am I? What is my nature?’ Asking yourself ‘Who am I? What is my nature?’ should be an ongoing question throughout life because throughout life we change. We are not the same person in retirement that we were in our 20’s.”
Conclusion
Theologian Fredrick Beuchner said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
The Church, the body of Christ, is to always be looking to live out a more excellent way by having its members bring their deep gladness together with the world’s deep hungers. And because the world’s deep hungers are ever changing—a constantly moving target— finding a more excellent way demands we keep changing how we offer our gladness by always asking “Who Am I?”
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So who are you…today? What role in the body of Christ are you…today? A teacher? A healer? A listener? A helper?
As much as you might want someone like me, who stands in a spot like this, to tell you who you are, I can’t. My response when asked “Who am I?” can only ever be, “Whose asking?”
So ask this question, but do it before God. And then be ready to not just get an answer…but to live the answer.
Do that and we will all find, again and again, day after day, the more excellent way—the way that will take us through the long hard labors of life. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, September 6, 2021
Creator God, who made us for service in your world, we thank you for placing in us skills, talents, strengths, energies, and knowledge to work for your more excellent way. We are appreciative of the range of life you have brought together in this congregation.
And on this Labor Day weekend we give thanks for those who work in seen and unseen places; for those who undertake the unpleasant tasks that make our days more pleasant; for those who work in places of high duty, risk, and responsibility.
But we know our thanksgiving must be blended with confession, for we have too easily taken for granted the labors of others; giving more value to some labor than others; and too often judge those who— not by choice but by circumstance— have no job.
So we pray your protective arms enfold those who sweat in dangerous places; your gentle comfort be with those who toil in drudgery; your fulfilling grace encompass those whose labor has lost meaning; and that your redeeming spirit descend on those who have been made to feel that because they have no job title their lives are without purpose or importance.
God of all, throughout your Holy word we see your excellent way coming through the faithful labor of your followers. Ruth and Boaz gathering crops; Samuel giving counsel; the hammering and sawing of our Lord in the carpenter shop; the tent making of the Apostle Paul; the generosity of Lydia selling goods made with expensive purple.
Help us to live out from their example, and strive to labor for those around us with the mindset that who we are: are those who are working for your more excellent way.
So whether are labors are in a corner office, the seat of a truck, the operating room, a restaurant’s kitchen, on a tractor in a field, in the shop around the corner, the classroom, at home, or wherever— may our answer to who we are always be: your good and faithful servants, striving for your excellent way.
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Hear now O God, the prayers of our hearts, as we offer them in this time of Holy Silence.
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All this we pray in the name of the one who labored for us on the cross, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray saying, “Our …”