Flaws and All [Epiphany 2A]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson
Flaws and All
Oh, mirrors. Every day they tempt us with us. We give in and there staring back at us are
all our flaws. In the mirror is that one
white hair in a sea of brown. There's
the solitary blemish surrounded by beautiful clear skin. And that one tooth that doesn't quite fall in
line with the others. Amidst such great
beauty, God’s own handiwork, we have this tendency to see only the flaws. It's not that they are not there, it's just
that the flaws are such a small part of who we are; they not certainly the
whole story. They are true, but they are
not the truth.
Most days I look right past my
sparkling green eyes, and see only the bags under them. I miss these full, pink lips, because of the
little lines around them – these lines earned by age and stress. It’s all part of the picture but no one
detail is the whole truth. There is more
to me, and to you, than the mirror will ever show. Lara Biyuts wrote, “Mirrors don't lie. They
show only a part of truth.”[1] And I suppose that is true.
There is a lot going on behind our
eyes. It makes it very difficult day to
day to truly see ourselves. Mostly we
focus on tiny parts. We underestimate
and criticize the reflection staring back at us. We see in ourselves bits of truth but never
the whole truth.
With just two eyes, belonging to
just one person, we collect a multitude of perceptions and opinions; we can
find a lot of flaws. And then we collect
ourselves into communities – a lot of eyes, belonging to a lot of people – a
lot of eyes trained to find flaws. And
flaws we have, of course. But we're not
alone. Today's scriptures contain some
pretty flawed characters too.
To begin with, the Isaiah
community, which I explained last week, is being addressed while in exile. And because that is a really big thing, they
cannot see past the reality of their immediate situation. God is trying to open their eyes to the
larger truth, but they cannot see it.
They can only see their own mistakes.
To God they say, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for
nothing and vanity.”
When they look in the mirror they
see their unworthiness; they see a community that has been beaten down. And, to a point that is true. They were defeated. They are living in exile. And while it is not all their fault, the
prophet reminds us elsewhere in the book that their past behaviors have
contributed to their downfall. They
cannot see past the flaws. What they see
is true, but it is not the whole truth.
God sees something else – something
all those eyes belonging to all those people, cannot see. God says to them, “You are my servant in whom
I will be glorified.” God sees in them a
light – a light to the nations. They are
God's perfect partner – that's what God sees.
God wants to spread salvation to the ends of the earth. And God chooses them. They see themselves as deeply despised,
abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers.
They see the flaws. But God sees
so much more; God sees the truth beyond the flaws. And God chooses them – flaws and all.
Don't let the intro fool you,
Paul's letter to the Corinthians will get pretty rocky later on. It was like looking into a broken mirror;
there were a lot of cracks. Paul's first
letter to the Corinthians details in fighting, jockeying for spiritual
superiority, class inequalities playing out around the Communion table. They had their issues; they could see the
flaws. There were cracks and they were
pretty obvious. Paul will later not be
shy about confronting those issues.
But their flaws were not the whole
story; there was more there than just the blemishes. Were they flawed? Of course; they are a church after all. The members are human. But God saw beyond the flaws, beyond the
brokenness.
God can, and does, work with flawed
human beings; God can work with brokenness.
That is basically God's thing; it is hard to understand, but it is. Paul, very pastorally, though also firmly,
reminds a fractious church of this very important fact. The community is not perfect; but they are
more than their brokenness. When God
looks at them, God sees past their flaws.
When God looks at them God sees
Jesus – Jesus, who is making them, even them, holy, calling them to be
saints. Maybe only God could see it –
they were a quarrelsome group, gifted but quarrelsome. On the surface there was division and pain,
jealousy and pride. Somehow God saw
beyond the flaws; God saw the beautiful Body of Christ – gifted to share the
Gospel with the world. They had their
problems; their problems were not insignificant. But God loved them – flaws and all.
Our Gospel passage from John is the
story of Jesus' first disciples. Jesus
is building his team. And it begins with
an open house. Andrew and his buddy
start tailing Jesus. Jesus notices and
asks them, “What are you looking for?”
And they ask him where he is staying.
If this happens to you – two random dudes start following you and then
ask you where you live, don't respond like Jesus. He says, “Come and see.”
Of course, we know it was about
more than the home; Jesus was inviting them to come and see. Have their eyes opened. There is something about being in the
presence of Jesus, being with Jesus, that changes how we see the world, how we
see ourselves, how we see God. Andrew came
to Jesus as a stranger, as a simple fisherman, a nobody. And Jesus opened his eyes.
Eyes wide opened, he ran to get his
brother Simon. Now, we know Simon; we
usually call him Peter. We know the
stories. Simon has his flaws. He will deny Jesus. He will doubt Jesus. He will abandon Jesus. But that is not the whole story; there is
more to it. Jesus looks at Simon and he
sees in this flawed character the Rock upon which the Church will be
built. Andrew and Simon Peter were a
couple of pretty ordinary guys, less than perfect, flawed characters: Jesus
called them – flaws and all.
Today is our Parish Annual Meeting
Sunday. Today we once again look in the
mirror. We take stock. And we're gonna see some flaws. It is inevitable. Our financial situation is
less than ideal. We're still trying to
rebuild our endowment from a rough patch in our history – years ago. And our church is made up of people – us
people, none of us perfect.
The flaws are there; that is true. But there is so much more to this church than
the flaws. If we focus on our flaws, we
will miss so much. God is doing amazing
things with us and through us. This is
an exciting time in the history of our parish.
We are growing – in a lot of ways.
God is opening us to new possibilities.
God is offering us hope and a future.
The truth is God sees in us so much
more than we can see in ourselves. Yes,
we have challenges. Sure we have
flaws. We aren't perfect. But God is not looking for perfection. God wants us – St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
in Toledo, Ohio.
God believes in us more than we
believe in ourselves. Because God sees
in us more than we see in our selves.
God is choosing us, loving us, calling us – flaws and all.
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