Show Me Your Credentials
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle C
Object:
When you apply for a job, offer service to a customer, or try to get a license ... you will need to show your credentials. You will need to prove that you are who you say are and that you have the skills and abilities to deserve the job or get the license. The word "credential" is based on the Latin word credo that means "believe." Your credentials make you believable -- credible.
My evangelism visits to prospective members are often very revealing. Lately, I have noticed that many of them are asking me a similar question. They want to know, "Is your church growing?" They want me to show them my credentials, the proof and the evidence that I have a growing congregation. Everyone wants to be a part of a successful organization. No one likes to be associated with a loser. Ten years ago the Indianapolis Colts could hardly give away tickets to their games because they were so bad. Today every game is a sell-out and you can hardly buy a ticket because they are so successful. People want to be a part of a winning organization.
People want religion to "work." If they are going to join your church, they want to see your credentials and the evidence that your religion "works." Visit many of our Christian bookstores today and you will see many books on their shelves selling "the prosperity gospel." One preacher after another claims that, if you are committed to their system or strategy, which is always God's system or strategy, then you will succeed; you will prosper. Then your life will be full and complete.
People flock to churches to be "saved." But I'm not so sure that it is their souls that they want to save. More often than not they expect the church to save their marriages, save their families, save their jobs, save their health, save their delinquent children, and so on. But before joining these churches, they want to know their credentials. Why should they believe that you can save them and their marriages, families, jobs, health, children, and more?
We want to appeal to a world like this. We want to be relevant. So we offer our credentials in the hope that they will make us believable. We present a positive image. We show that this is a happy place filled with nice people. Isn't that what we expect our nicely decorated and well-maintained church building to do ... to make us credible and appealing to our community?
Such sentiments are not new. Churches have always been concerned about their credibility. In today's second lesson from 2 Corinthians we see a snapshot of life in your typical messy church. As the congregation in Corinth began to be racked with conflict and disagreement, it turned on Paul and blamed him. They blamed him because his credentials were rather questionable. Paul was not very believable or credible. He was very ordinary looking. He lacked eloquence. He was not well-versed in the wisdom of the ancient world. He was not wealthy. He wasn't very popular and had this terrible habit of creating conflict and controversy wherever he went. In short, he just did not have the proper credentials to be a good leader and pastor.
Paul responded to these accusations in today's second lesson. At times he sounded a little defensive. Other times he seemed downright neurotic, even wacky.
Credentials? Paul, show me your credentials! Why should we take you seriously? Why should we listen to you at all? Why are you believable?
Paul strangely believes that all the suffering and hardship that he has undergone in his life lends credibility to his message and his authority.
But as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger....
-- 2 Corinthians 6:4-5
How odd! Paul believes that those very things that would seem to undermine his credibility are his most compelling credentials. He is proud of things that would put us to shame and make us shrink with embarrassment. Nevertheless Paul insists that he is on top of the world. He knows that such experiences do not seem to be very compelling credentials, yet he is proud of them. In spite of appearances to the contrary, they are the very things that confirm his authority as an apostle.
We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see -- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
-- 2 Corinthians 6:8b-10
Paul dares to make such outrageous claims about himself simply because of his relationship to Christ. God's love in Christ has transformed his troubled life and made it a success, even though in the eyes of others it seems like an utter failure. To many his credentials seem worthless, yet he believes that Christ has made his suffering and troubled life the most compelling proof of all that his message is true and his authority as an apostle is legitimate.
So, what are your credentials? You folks claim to be Christians. You claim to be the very sons and daughters of God. You claim to be members of the kingdom of heaven. You claim to be saints, holy ones, and the apples of God's eye. Now is the time to fess up. No more foolin' around. Show me your credentials.
Ironically, perhaps even surprisingly, you already have done that. In fact, you do that every time we gather for worship. But I must admit that they are rather strange and odd credentials. They are not the kind of credentials that members of a successful and prosperous organization would want to show others. When stockholders go to the annual shareholders meeting, when the board of directors holds its monthly session, when the Rotary gathers for its weekly luncheon at the local VFW hall, when the cub scouts have their monthly pack meeting in the church basement, what gets trotted out for all to see? Everyone wants to hear the success stories, that the bottom line is prosperous, that membership is growing, attendance is up, and everyone is happy. In fact, some companies spend a lot of money hiring a public relations staff just so that a positive and upbeat "spin" is a part of the company's public image.
What about the failures -- the losses -- the low morale -- the shrinking profit margins -- the political conflict between the company's executive staff? They are kept out of site. The chair of the meeting prays that no one will ask about them. Or if they do come to light, every effort is made to "explain them away." Everyone wants to look good. Nothing lends more to your credibility than a bright and shiny success story.
But ... that is not what we do here, is it? We started our public gathering by dragging out all of our dirty underwear for everyone to see. We confessed our sins, recognized our failures, and owned our despicable behavior and attitude. Even more, we visually and ritually demonstrated that by marking our bodies with ashes. We didn't use face paints or cosmetic makeup or something else that could cover our blemishes. We used ashes, something burnt and dead and utterly useless as if this best symbolized the state of our lives.
Could you ever think of anything more bleak? What a dark and dreary way to begin our worship. Shouldn't we be more positive and upbeat? This is no way to impress our friends and neighbors. "Pastor, why are you not more positive and upbeat? Why don't you tell us how good we are and point out all of our positive qualities? This is a downer! Who is ever going to join such a dark and dreary congregation?"
That is not the truth. And if there is anything the church is dedicated to doing, it is telling the truth. The ashes remind us of the embarrassing and uncomfortable truth that the rest of the world is dedicated to denying: We are sinners. All is not well. Life is irretrievably broken. We are at odds with God and doomed to the ash heap of history. "From dust you came and to dust you shall return."
Even this is not "the whole truth and nothing but the truth." There is an even bigger and better truth which ultimately is the church's only reason for being. This is truth on which we can base our credentials and our right to make such outrageous claims about ourselves: that we are righteous, upright, the beloved sons and daughters of God, prince and princess in his kingdom.
Look! These are ashes, but these ashes are in the shape of a cross. This is not just any cross. They are the cross of Jesus, the Christ. His cross makes all the difference in the world. Because of his cross, because of what he did for us, we are able to make the outrageous claims that we do about ourselves.
Oh, I know. When the world hears us talk like this, they think we are just a bunch of hypocrites. We are deluding ourselves if we think that trusting in Christ and his promises can make such a difference in our lives. These are not credentials that will make us more believable. They are liabilities that make us look like fools.
These are our credentials, and we are confident in them. Yes, we were made from dust and to dust we shall return. Our lives are fit for the ash heap. We know we are sinners and are willing to admit that ... and even joyfully confess that because our ashen lives have been marked in the sign of the cross of Christ. Because of him, we are not afraid to expose them. We are not so afraid that we must hide them. And the only thing that makes that possible ... and our confession credible ... is Christ and what he did for us on his cross. What we can sport as our credentials is not what we have done but what Christ has done for us!
We flock to this place to hear that good news, and we leave this place with our lives changed. Our lives changed? Our lives still remain a mess and the great unchanged mess they have always been. In fact, that is what the critics of our credentials are quick to point out. All this talk about forgiveness and mercy is just another lie to get us off the hook. We have heard this line before. It's just cheap grace, freedom to remain that same old sinners that we have always been. "God loves to forgive sins. We love to commit them. Isn't the world admirably arranged?"
That is not the case at all. Christ does change our lives. Our making the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads and our willingness to face up to our dirty underwear at the beginning of this service, the Rite of the Imposition of Ashes on this Ash Wednesday, is recognition that our lives have been changed. We now have entered a struggle, a struggle that will continue the rest of our lives, a struggle that will never leave us complacent, at ease, or unmoved. Yes, "God loves to forgive sins," but we don't love to commit them. We hate to commit them. Yes, "Isn't the world admirably arranged?" Because if it were not for Christ and his mercy, we would be stuck in our sins and the same old miserable world. Were it not for Christ and what God did for us in him, we would be most pathetic and all the charges of hypocrisy made toward us would be most certainly true.
Our lives are changed in another way. We no longer need only live for ourselves. We now can live for the world. We can care for and serve our neighbors with a genuine sense of love. Our good deeds of kindness and love are not about adding to our credibility or winning friends and influencing others. It's simply about giving ourselves away for others. Isn't that why Jesus says in tonight's gospel that when giving alms to the poor your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing? It's not about getting credit! It's simply about helping someone in need.
These are our credentials. This is all we need. This is what will finally make us believable. We live "cross-shaped lives." This is what reveals our identity. This is what makes us believable. We don't need to fake it. We don't need to pretend to be something we are not. We are nothing more than ashes and deserve nothing more. However, we are ashes marked in the sign of the cross, Jesus' cross ... and his cross makes all the difference in the world. Because this is his ashen cross, we can stand tall. We are righteous and holy, the beloved sons and daughters of God ... who can give our lives away in service to others, not needing credit or recognition. We already know who we are.
When our critics defiantly demand, "Show me your credentials!" We can point to the ashen cross on our foreheads. There is nothing that will ever make us more credible. Amen.
My evangelism visits to prospective members are often very revealing. Lately, I have noticed that many of them are asking me a similar question. They want to know, "Is your church growing?" They want me to show them my credentials, the proof and the evidence that I have a growing congregation. Everyone wants to be a part of a successful organization. No one likes to be associated with a loser. Ten years ago the Indianapolis Colts could hardly give away tickets to their games because they were so bad. Today every game is a sell-out and you can hardly buy a ticket because they are so successful. People want to be a part of a winning organization.
People want religion to "work." If they are going to join your church, they want to see your credentials and the evidence that your religion "works." Visit many of our Christian bookstores today and you will see many books on their shelves selling "the prosperity gospel." One preacher after another claims that, if you are committed to their system or strategy, which is always God's system or strategy, then you will succeed; you will prosper. Then your life will be full and complete.
People flock to churches to be "saved." But I'm not so sure that it is their souls that they want to save. More often than not they expect the church to save their marriages, save their families, save their jobs, save their health, save their delinquent children, and so on. But before joining these churches, they want to know their credentials. Why should they believe that you can save them and their marriages, families, jobs, health, children, and more?
We want to appeal to a world like this. We want to be relevant. So we offer our credentials in the hope that they will make us believable. We present a positive image. We show that this is a happy place filled with nice people. Isn't that what we expect our nicely decorated and well-maintained church building to do ... to make us credible and appealing to our community?
Such sentiments are not new. Churches have always been concerned about their credibility. In today's second lesson from 2 Corinthians we see a snapshot of life in your typical messy church. As the congregation in Corinth began to be racked with conflict and disagreement, it turned on Paul and blamed him. They blamed him because his credentials were rather questionable. Paul was not very believable or credible. He was very ordinary looking. He lacked eloquence. He was not well-versed in the wisdom of the ancient world. He was not wealthy. He wasn't very popular and had this terrible habit of creating conflict and controversy wherever he went. In short, he just did not have the proper credentials to be a good leader and pastor.
Paul responded to these accusations in today's second lesson. At times he sounded a little defensive. Other times he seemed downright neurotic, even wacky.
Credentials? Paul, show me your credentials! Why should we take you seriously? Why should we listen to you at all? Why are you believable?
Paul strangely believes that all the suffering and hardship that he has undergone in his life lends credibility to his message and his authority.
But as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger....
-- 2 Corinthians 6:4-5
How odd! Paul believes that those very things that would seem to undermine his credibility are his most compelling credentials. He is proud of things that would put us to shame and make us shrink with embarrassment. Nevertheless Paul insists that he is on top of the world. He knows that such experiences do not seem to be very compelling credentials, yet he is proud of them. In spite of appearances to the contrary, they are the very things that confirm his authority as an apostle.
We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see -- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
-- 2 Corinthians 6:8b-10
Paul dares to make such outrageous claims about himself simply because of his relationship to Christ. God's love in Christ has transformed his troubled life and made it a success, even though in the eyes of others it seems like an utter failure. To many his credentials seem worthless, yet he believes that Christ has made his suffering and troubled life the most compelling proof of all that his message is true and his authority as an apostle is legitimate.
So, what are your credentials? You folks claim to be Christians. You claim to be the very sons and daughters of God. You claim to be members of the kingdom of heaven. You claim to be saints, holy ones, and the apples of God's eye. Now is the time to fess up. No more foolin' around. Show me your credentials.
Ironically, perhaps even surprisingly, you already have done that. In fact, you do that every time we gather for worship. But I must admit that they are rather strange and odd credentials. They are not the kind of credentials that members of a successful and prosperous organization would want to show others. When stockholders go to the annual shareholders meeting, when the board of directors holds its monthly session, when the Rotary gathers for its weekly luncheon at the local VFW hall, when the cub scouts have their monthly pack meeting in the church basement, what gets trotted out for all to see? Everyone wants to hear the success stories, that the bottom line is prosperous, that membership is growing, attendance is up, and everyone is happy. In fact, some companies spend a lot of money hiring a public relations staff just so that a positive and upbeat "spin" is a part of the company's public image.
What about the failures -- the losses -- the low morale -- the shrinking profit margins -- the political conflict between the company's executive staff? They are kept out of site. The chair of the meeting prays that no one will ask about them. Or if they do come to light, every effort is made to "explain them away." Everyone wants to look good. Nothing lends more to your credibility than a bright and shiny success story.
But ... that is not what we do here, is it? We started our public gathering by dragging out all of our dirty underwear for everyone to see. We confessed our sins, recognized our failures, and owned our despicable behavior and attitude. Even more, we visually and ritually demonstrated that by marking our bodies with ashes. We didn't use face paints or cosmetic makeup or something else that could cover our blemishes. We used ashes, something burnt and dead and utterly useless as if this best symbolized the state of our lives.
Could you ever think of anything more bleak? What a dark and dreary way to begin our worship. Shouldn't we be more positive and upbeat? This is no way to impress our friends and neighbors. "Pastor, why are you not more positive and upbeat? Why don't you tell us how good we are and point out all of our positive qualities? This is a downer! Who is ever going to join such a dark and dreary congregation?"
That is not the truth. And if there is anything the church is dedicated to doing, it is telling the truth. The ashes remind us of the embarrassing and uncomfortable truth that the rest of the world is dedicated to denying: We are sinners. All is not well. Life is irretrievably broken. We are at odds with God and doomed to the ash heap of history. "From dust you came and to dust you shall return."
Even this is not "the whole truth and nothing but the truth." There is an even bigger and better truth which ultimately is the church's only reason for being. This is truth on which we can base our credentials and our right to make such outrageous claims about ourselves: that we are righteous, upright, the beloved sons and daughters of God, prince and princess in his kingdom.
Look! These are ashes, but these ashes are in the shape of a cross. This is not just any cross. They are the cross of Jesus, the Christ. His cross makes all the difference in the world. Because of his cross, because of what he did for us, we are able to make the outrageous claims that we do about ourselves.
Oh, I know. When the world hears us talk like this, they think we are just a bunch of hypocrites. We are deluding ourselves if we think that trusting in Christ and his promises can make such a difference in our lives. These are not credentials that will make us more believable. They are liabilities that make us look like fools.
These are our credentials, and we are confident in them. Yes, we were made from dust and to dust we shall return. Our lives are fit for the ash heap. We know we are sinners and are willing to admit that ... and even joyfully confess that because our ashen lives have been marked in the sign of the cross of Christ. Because of him, we are not afraid to expose them. We are not so afraid that we must hide them. And the only thing that makes that possible ... and our confession credible ... is Christ and what he did for us on his cross. What we can sport as our credentials is not what we have done but what Christ has done for us!
We flock to this place to hear that good news, and we leave this place with our lives changed. Our lives changed? Our lives still remain a mess and the great unchanged mess they have always been. In fact, that is what the critics of our credentials are quick to point out. All this talk about forgiveness and mercy is just another lie to get us off the hook. We have heard this line before. It's just cheap grace, freedom to remain that same old sinners that we have always been. "God loves to forgive sins. We love to commit them. Isn't the world admirably arranged?"
That is not the case at all. Christ does change our lives. Our making the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads and our willingness to face up to our dirty underwear at the beginning of this service, the Rite of the Imposition of Ashes on this Ash Wednesday, is recognition that our lives have been changed. We now have entered a struggle, a struggle that will continue the rest of our lives, a struggle that will never leave us complacent, at ease, or unmoved. Yes, "God loves to forgive sins," but we don't love to commit them. We hate to commit them. Yes, "Isn't the world admirably arranged?" Because if it were not for Christ and his mercy, we would be stuck in our sins and the same old miserable world. Were it not for Christ and what God did for us in him, we would be most pathetic and all the charges of hypocrisy made toward us would be most certainly true.
Our lives are changed in another way. We no longer need only live for ourselves. We now can live for the world. We can care for and serve our neighbors with a genuine sense of love. Our good deeds of kindness and love are not about adding to our credibility or winning friends and influencing others. It's simply about giving ourselves away for others. Isn't that why Jesus says in tonight's gospel that when giving alms to the poor your right hand should not know what your left hand is doing? It's not about getting credit! It's simply about helping someone in need.
These are our credentials. This is all we need. This is what will finally make us believable. We live "cross-shaped lives." This is what reveals our identity. This is what makes us believable. We don't need to fake it. We don't need to pretend to be something we are not. We are nothing more than ashes and deserve nothing more. However, we are ashes marked in the sign of the cross, Jesus' cross ... and his cross makes all the difference in the world. Because this is his ashen cross, we can stand tall. We are righteous and holy, the beloved sons and daughters of God ... who can give our lives away in service to others, not needing credit or recognition. We already know who we are.
When our critics defiantly demand, "Show me your credentials!" We can point to the ashen cross on our foreheads. There is nothing that will ever make us more credible. Amen.
