Special, Unique, Original
Indianapolis First Friends
Pastor Bob Henry
May 9, 2021
Galatians 5:25-26 (The Message)
25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
Good Morning Friends and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and those who have been like-mothers and mother-figures to us. We honor you today!
I am extremely blessed to have a wonderful mother who has always loved and cared for me. She instilled in me at a very young age an evolving faith and a confidence in the person I would become. She did this by always reminding me that I was special, that I was uniquely wired, and that I was an original. When I was younger, I took those moments for granted. But looking back, I realize they gave me a stability and self-assurance that laid a foundation for my life and faith – and I am eternally grateful.
What I have learned over time is that my mother’s care and guidance were inspired by her faith and how she understood God’s view of humanity.
You herd it again as Beth read for us the text for this morning, “Each of us is an original”…each is unique… each is special, but often we don’t take the time to understand or even explore this (for some it is simply selfish and negates our spiritual development).
But it was the religious scholar and mystic, Meister Eckhardt, who said it succinctly,
“No one has known God who has not known himself.”
As Quakers a central aspect of our faith is that we believe that all people have an Inner Light, which refers to the Divine presence within each of us and directly impacts our personal experience of God. So just maybe the first place we need to explore to encounter the Divine is within our very own lives.
Take a moment to ponder: When was the last time you thought about who you are?
Most of you know, I spent the past week taking a spiritual retreat at the Fall Creek Abbey here in Indy. An important aspect of most spiritual retreats is getting back in touch with one’s self, where we can hear our own heart’s desires once again. I spent a part of each day exploring that very question “Who am I?” from a variety of perspectives – as a husband, father, pastor, artist, Quaker, and the list went on…
The spiritual giants of the past called this experience getting to know your “true self.”
Which immediately garners the question, are their parts of me that are not my true self?
For many of us, we spend a great deal of our lives trying to be somebody else or at least taking on labels that do not truly describe us. Even as people of faith, we often have been told to be somebody else or at least feel the guilt of not being someone else.
Let me give you an example that most of us can relate to from James Martin’s book, “Becoming Who You Are.” He says,
“I would notice that another novice whom I admired was quiet and soft-spoken and diffident and introspective. I would think, “I need to be quiet and soft-spoken and diffident and introspective.” Consequently, the following days were spent in a largely useless attempt at being quiet, until someone would eventually say, “Are you feeling alright?” The very next week I would meet someone who had a particular fondness for praying very early in the morning, and who seemed very holy, and I would say to myself, “Well, I guess I have to start praying early in the morning, too.” And then, up at five in the morning for my new regime, until that tired me out, too.”
Martin says, “My spiritual director kept reminding me that I didn’t need to be like anyone else except me. But it took a while for that to sink in.”
Does this sound familiar to you?
I too had some of these epiphanies during my retreat. Don’t we all, at times, get a little envious, even jealous of other people, especially when it comes to how it affects our faith or life journey? I will be honest...
● I have at times envied the monk’s life. (After this year - and this past week on retreat – it is extremely inviting.
● I have at times envied those who have ongoing revelations from God.
● I have at times been jealous of people who actually say that they hear the audible voice of the Divine.
● And I have been envious of those that make the spiritual journey look so easy - because I find myself wrestling with doubt way too often.
It is this very thing that causes religious guilt, cookie-cutter followers, and even worse “Holier-than-thou” lives. Something, I believe the church is suffering greatly from in our day and age.
James Martin gets to the truth that what we are really doing is “minimizing our own gifts and graces and maximizing the other person’s… and vice versa….we often do the opposite with our problems and struggles: we maximize our own and minimize the other person’s.”
This becomes what one of my mentors called, “victimization.” We love to play the victim – “everyone else has it together, but poor me.” I am sure you know of people that are always “playing the victim” – honestly, they are not people we want to be around.
Folks, no one’s life is free of suffering or struggle. We are all going through stuff (often stuff that we hold close and do not speak of or share) - and we need to remember this, because it helps put our own situations in perspective.
We may not be able to see it in another person’s life - we don’t know what is terrorizing someone else’s soul. Yet, you and I often want to be someone else, most likely to escape our own situation.
We say things like...
● If only I had her/his good looks or youthfulness.
● If only I had their money and wealth.
● If only I had a spouse/partner/parent/friend like that person does.
● If only I had her/his knowledge or faith.
● If only I had the confidence and personality that person does.
● If only I had _____________fill in the blank.
We can’t know all that we are asking for when wishing in this way. There is experience, pain and suffering that has gone into each of our lives.
● Are we willing to experience that as well?
● Or are we simply seeking the quick fix or the magic serum or pill?
My mom did not tell me I was special, unique, and original and then continue to say that I would have no problems, no suffering, no desires to compare my life and abilities to someone else, or that I would at times play the victim.
We have to admit it; we live in a world who often obsesses on comparing, trying to live up to, and even be something that we are not.
James Martin says,
“The tendency to compare ultimately leads to despair, since our own real life can never compare with the perceived (but false) perfection of the other person’s life.”
Now, I want to pause on this point and make a 180 degree turn.
Much like my mother, our mother God has been telling us these truths since the beginning of time. We really have no reason to despair. Actually, just the opposite. Our Divine Mother has clearly indicated that we should be people of hope – a chosen and set-apart people with a special, unique, and original purpose.
Throughout the entire Bible, God makes this evident, but because we are prone to wander, prone to compare, prone to feel guilty, prone to want to be somebody else, we often miss it.
Just listen to what our Mother God is saying about us.
Deuteronomy 7:6 “…you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Revelation 17:14 “He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful”
1 Corinthians 12:18-30 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ...
I Peter 4:10 “Serve one another with the particular gifts God has given each of you, as faithful dispensers of the magnificently varied grace of God.”
Did you hear it...this is how we are described by our Divine Mother.
We are…
● Holy
● Chosen
● A treasured possession
● A Royal priesthood
● Ones who are called out of darkness to Light
● Faithful
● Needed
● Indispensable
● Gifted
● Dispensers of God’s grace.
When we realize how God views us – that we are all the attributes I just read, it is evident that God sees us as special, unique and original.
And this is where our text from Galatians 5:25-26 comes into perspective. Let me read it once again.
25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.
And together, because of our originality, we have a greater privilege of seeing a clearer picture of God and sharing that diverse picture of God with others.
But I must be honest, I have a feeling that what people, actually see, often doesn’t look anything like the Divine at all. Instead, of our beautiful originality, what many see in the church today are what I call the four C’s:
1. Comparing
2. Complaining
3. Controlling, and…
4. A desire for being Comfortable.
All this leads me to another “C” word, calling.
So what is our calling?
I agree with Dan Allender when he answers that question by saying,
“It is to make known something about God that is bound to my unique face, name, and story. It is to reveal God through my character.”
Folks, we are “Each an Original” by the grace and love of God. I want each of you to know what my mom instilled in me and our Mother God has been saying since the beginning of time:
● you are special,
● you are unique,
● and you are an original
Now, as we move into waiting worship, I ask you to ponder the following three queries (you may need to find a place to retreat this week to journal and ponder them).
Who am I, really?
What about God am I most uniquely suited to reveal to others?
And how is that meaning in my life best lived out?