Celebrate Uniqueness

What follows is the "sermon" I delivered this morning at Church.  Twice!  It is a stretch to actually call it a sermon.  As my good friend Brad said, its more of a humorous, lighthearted commentary, heartfelt LeeAnn style sermon.  Which is exactly what I intended. People at my Church, First United Methodist in Muskogee know that I am not qualified to preach.  What they expected, and got was some personal reflections with a few scriptures in the mix. Lots of laughter and I think God probably smiled too.  It was a stretch for me for while being in front of a crowd is not uncomfortable to me at all, this was God's house I was speaking in, the fear of offending was heavy on my mind and praying out loud is something I rarely do.  That in particular took me out of my comfort zone.  Until Brad, reminded me that I was not praying to the congregation but rather to God.  One big difference today was that I didn't get heckled.   And the non-smoking atmosphere is a plus. 

Celebrate Uniqueness

When my son Chris was a little boy his favorite book was one called Star Bellied Sneeches by Dr. Seuss.  The story is really very cute and of course anything by Dr. Seuss is always a fun read.  And as in many stories, there is a moral of the story. In this particular story there is this group of fictional characters(the Sneeches).  Seems some of the sneeches have stars on their bellies.  Another group has no stars.

Now the Star Belly Sneeches had bellies with Stars, The plain belly sneeches had none upon thars

Those stars weren’t so big, they were really so small.  You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.

But it did.  The Star bellied sneeches were  quite snobbish, not having anything to do with the plain bellied sneeches.  The plain bellied sneeches were very envious of the ones with star on their bellies.  They didn’t like being different.  Along comes an “entrepreneur” named   Sylvester McMonkey McBean.  He realizes there is a profit to be made. 

So he sets up a “Star on” machine and for a small fee the plain bellied sneeches can go thru the machine and come out with a star on their belly.  Once this happens all the sneeches are just alike.  The original star bellied sneeches are quite put out by this.  Mr.McBean realized another money making opportunity is at hand and creates a “star off” machine.  The original star bellied go thru this and once again are unique because they have no stars now. 

This goes on for some time .  In and out , in and out, in and out. Mr. McBean is collecting money right and left and the sneeches , in attempt to be different, or alike in the case of some end up broke and no one could remember who was what, original star bellied or plain.  .  Finally, they realize that sneeches are sneeches and no matter whether they had a star or not no one was better than the other.   

 Each of us was created a unique individual by God.  No two of us are just alike.  Yet most of us can remember a time in our life when the most important thing to us was to fit in. To be just like our peers.  Ocassionally,you will find a teenager that really doesn’t care what others think.  They normally are shunned as different, weird, odd.  Even in the adult world there are pressures to fit in. 

A whole lot of emphasis is put on what other people think.  When the bottom line is we should care more about what God thinks.  Last week our social worker came into my office after a bad day and said you know, I was thinking about it last night and I just don’t feel like I am respected here by some of my co-workers. And  I’v e made up my mind that I am going to do everything in my power to prove to them that I am competent.  And I said , well its not really their approval that matters you know, what matters is that you are pleasing God.  And she said “man this preaching thing has gone to your head!”

 My 35 year class reunion is next month and I am on the committee that is putting it together. At first, I didn’t want to be on it, because some of the committee members are the cheerleaders, the athletes, the Popular people from High School I was shy and introverted in H.s. (proof that people change)  But I agreed to be on it.  35 years really evens the playing field.  35 years later who cares if someone was a cheerleader or a wall flower or an athlete or a nerd. 

In Galatians 1:10 the question is asked “Do I seek to please men?  For if I still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ  And then in Matthew 6:33 the verse does not state seek ye first the approval of your friends and co-workers but rather
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness……

I remember numerous times my parents saying I couldn’t go somewhere or do something or have a certain kind of clothes, etc.  When I would say,well so and so’s parents let them.  Or well, my friends all get to do this or that.  Or everyone is wearing that brand of jean or shoes or whatever.  And my mom would say well if they jumped off a cliff would you?  The thing is I probably would have jumped off the cliff just to fit in.  For a big part of my life that was of the utmost importance to me.  What others thought of me, how others perceived me.  Now I realized its ok to be different.  Its ok to go against the crowd sometimes. 

I think the bottom line is we are all seeking the same thing. We are all seeking God.   But each of us in our own unique way are doing this.  I have friends from different faiths. From Baptist to Mormon . If you ask them what they are seeking, it’s the same thing I seek.  God. But they may seek in a totally different way than I do.If I gave each of you a map and had you draw your route to Church today, very few maps would look the same.  Yet every single one of you arrived at the same destination.  That’s how it is with faith I think. We may all take a different , unique path to God..But out destination is the same.

And every single one of us has a unique place the kingdom of God.  And each one of us ultimately needs to care about what God thinks, not what our friends or our family or neighbor or our co-worker thinks. I  love our  Youth group “motto”   May the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart be pleasing in YOUR sight.  Not in the sight of our peers.  In God’s sight. That is ultimately what matters.

God has endowed each of us with spiritual gifts. Unique talents, unique ways of thinking, unique ways of looking at the world.  The Bible talks about these spiritual gifts.  I used to wish there was a spiritual gift flea market where you could trade one for another.  I envy people with instrumental  talent.  I missed out on that one. Now I know I play handbells.  But you should see my music folder.  My music is color coded, my gloves have left and right written on them...its not without a great deal of effort that I am able to play.  No musical instrument gifttedness for me. After spending my band days in last chair I realized this.  Stayed in band cause the guys were cute though.  Took piano lessons.  Torment for the poor teacher.  I thought at some point she would say Hey I’ll pay you not to come.  

Sometimes the Church in an attempt to fill spots misses the boat on choosing the right person for the right job.  That is why the Servant Ministry Team concept was put into place here at FUMC.   The point of it was to stop putting people on committees just to fill slots and instead put them in places where they feel equipped to serve. 

I am the Sunday School Secretary and it’s a “job” that I love.  I get to sit in the hallway, talk to people , count the attendance and my favorite part RING THE BELL. (such power!) This “spot” is a great fit for me because I am very social. I love talking to people and I’ve never met a stranger.  I have the gift of Hospitality and so this is a great niche for me. One year, the call was put out for a Sunday School teacher for the 6^th graders.   I was asked to consider this.  I did, decided that it was not something I would enjoy doing and turned it down.  My son Andy was a 6^th grader at the time.  So I felt an extra pressure to do this.  But in my heart I knew I would not be a good teacher, especially to this age group.  No one was found and the fall “semester” at Church was about to start.  I was asked again to be the teacher of this group.  I accepted.  Not because I wanted to, not because I felt qualified to do it, but because no one else would.  I failed miserably.  Now if you went to one of the kids that was in my class that “year”, Megan Bird, Nick Godman,  Abby Matthews, or Kyle Shafer  they would probably say “oh we loved having LeeAnn as a teacher”…That’s because I brought donuts and cupcakes or some other homemade treat every week to bribe them with, and because it was fun playing Bible hangman every week ( because they would talk thru my lessons and I finally just gave up.)  When I was able to make them listen, my lessons were “a little off the wall to say the least”.  I imagine more than one parent wondered how the story of David and Basheba  came to be told as a story about dieting and chocolate longjohns.  I am sure more than one parent was not impressed when their child said Hey I memorized the Bible verse for class and when asked to recite it heard “he vomited”.  Jonah  2:10      Referring to the whale who spit up Jonah.  I was so out of my element and ineffective that I would break out in hives every Saturday night just thinking about Sunday morning.  This was a case of trying  to fit a square peg into a round hole example. I simply did not fit the role of Sunday School teacher.  When I set a tablecloth on fire demonstrating the burning bush and had to put it out with the 2 liter bottle of coke I had brought to bribe them with, I knew I was done.  I wasn't surprised to get the call that a replacement had been found for me. Thank you LORD!  Ir an into one of my former "students" the other day at the park.  I said, Hey how are you?  She said, great...hey remember the time you caught the tablecloth on fire in Sunday School.  Nice to know I made an impact that 12 years later still stands.  LOL

1 Peter 4:10 says  Each one should use WHATEVER gift he or she has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God’s grace in its various forms.

It doesn’t say, pick a gift you wish you had and make it work.  It doesn’t say take a gift you know you don’t have and attempt to fake your way through it. It says Whatever gift he or she HAS RECEIVED.

Gifts and talents come in many forms.  Last week Pastor Rusty mentioned in his sermon that what we are going to be, what we have to offer is already placed within us.  It is up to us to respond to that. I think I have the gift of comedy.  Probably won’t find that one listed in the Bible but it is a God given gift.   

I read somewhere “He who buries his talent is making a grave mistake.”   God has placed inside each of us a gift. It is up to us to unwrap it.

If you think of the Church as a puzzle, and all the members as pieces, it is easy to see that in order for the body to be complete, all the pieces must be in place.  There is no talent or gift too small to make a difference.  The truth is the Church gives each of us an opportunity to to find expression of our spiritual selves.  Whether that be through teaching, or singing or stacking chairs.  There is a place for us all.

1 Corinthinas 12:14  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many NIV

I came across this the other day in a reference book I had.  In regard to Church it asks what kind of member are you?

Are you an active member, the kind that would be missed?  Or are you just contented that your name is on the list?

Do you attend meetings and mingle with the flock?  Or do you stay home and criticize and knock?

Do you  take an active part to help  the work along?  Or are you satisfied to be the kind that simply “just belongs”

Do you ever go to visit a member that is sick?  Or leave the work to just a few and talk about the cliques

Don’t just be a member, take an active part.  Serve your church and serve the Lord with open Hands and Heart.

Think it over members, for you know right from wrong.  Are you an active member?  Or do you just belong?

Serve the Lord with the gifts and talents he has instilled within your very soul.  Life is like a game of tennis.  The player who serves well seldom loses.

God also wants us to be open to change.  God is in the business of changing lives.  We are never too old to change direction.   Every day is a new opportunity. My friend Brad always says to get up every day and say  Today is going to be all I hoped It would be.  I do that now.

When God calls you to do something, he equips you to do it as well.  There are members in our Church who are examples of this. Reverend Cindy, for example.  When she was school teacher years ago that was what she was called to do. But God had other plans for her as well. And now she is a Minister.  She listened to the call and acted on it.

You are never too young or too old to make a difference.  I think of Madison. From the time she was a little girl she has been involved in something in the Church. I am continually amazed at the poise of this young lady. I think of Rita ., Rita is my personal hero. When I am Rita’s age, in my 90's God willing, I want to be as active and involved in the Church as she is. 

 Sometimes you are asked to do something and have no idea where the idea came from. Like me preaching today.  I have no preaching background, certainly I have very little Biblical knowledge .   Yet I’m here, giving it my best shot. 

Throughout the Bible there are examples of people who were called to serve, who protested because they didn’t think they were equipped to do so.  According to the Bible, Moses had a speech impediment. When God told Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Moses replied, "But my Lord, never in my life have I been a man of eloquence, either before or since you have spoken to your servant. I am a slow speaker and not able to speak well" (Exodus 4:10). After reassuring Moses that he was the man for the job, and still getting resistance from Moses, God told him that his brother Aaron the Levite would speak to the Israelites on Moses's behalf.

If God asks you to do something, he will provide the way.

And while the popular theory is that a leopard can’t change its spots prevails……God can change spots. God can take the most ordinary of lives and turn it into spectacular. God can take   a person who has nothing and make them something. 

God can change hatred to love.  Look at Paul for example.  Paul was called Saul and persecuted Christians. Until one day on the road to Damascus when God removed the scales from his eyes and he went on to become one of the greatest men in the Bible.  From Persecutor to Apostle.

Sometimes we reluctantly obey but our heart isn’t in it.  Jonah for example.  He was called to preach repentance to the people of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-2)  Jonah was so reluctant  he fled.  When he finally did do as the Lord had asked, he still held some prejudice against the people.  But it took a lot for God to get Jonahs attention.   He had to be vomited out of a fish for crying out loud.  That would get my attention. It  took a lot  to change his heart.

A lot of times we deny the Lord’s instruction when we know and refuse his will for us.  Maybe we don’t feel like he’s really interested in us or involved in our lives.  Maybe we don’t believe we are in a position  to even feel his interest in us.  Maybe we don’t believe that He knows us intimately and has a plan for us. Or maybe we don’t believe that His plan is right for us-we think we know better than Him what we need. And sometimes, we know His will is correct but we selfishly want to pursue our own, far easier, more fun and interesting plan. Or that he doesn’t speak to us at all.

Many people want to experience the fullness of God’s promises in their lives,but they  are unwilling to do the work that comes along with those promises.  Most of Gods promises are if/then deals.  If you will do this, then I will….The if (our part)comes first. 

My life verse, my favorite Bible verse  Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to harm you , to give you  hope and a future. 

This is the promise I hold on to regardless of the circumstances. It is on this promise that I go forward with whatever God asks of me.  I know the outcome. 

And so celebrate your uniqueness.  No one worships exactly the same, no one uses their gifts and talents the same way, and certainly God has different plans and asks different things of each of us.

Embrace that. Embrace that there is no one like you.  Celebrate God’s love.