Daring to Be Different

Dr. David D. Young
November 11, 2007
I Corinthians 12: 4-13
Luke 7: 36-50
"Daring to Be Different"

Today we continue on in our fall sermon series: "Celebrating Our Family of Faith!" And what a fantastic family of faith we have! And yet, like any family and like any church
we are not perfect
we make mistakes
we have disagreements and differences
everyone’s needs are not always met
and there are always struggles and challenges to be faced.
But all that aside, we have much to celebrate here at First Congregational Church.

Now, lest my upbeat and joyful mood be perceived as merely self-congratulatory patting our selves on the back – let me say that the richness of our family of faith that we are celebrating today is one of the most difficult and potentially divisive characteristics of any family – and it is – diversity.

Diversity can either divide and tear at the fabric of life – or diversity can enhance that richness and texture of the tapestry of our lives together. Name calling and labeling are tendencies among kids. But these are also tendencies among adults.

When a particular group of people is categorized in a particular way it can be the occasion for some people to make fun of others – or worse, to actually harm them – psychologically or physically. When people don’t accept others who are different they put them down in order to build themselves up.

Reaching back in time, we can think of the Jews in Nazi Germany – and more recent times horrifying us with ethnic cleansing. On a seemingly less damaging front – think back to Pollock jokes, faggot jokes, dumb blonde jokes and more recently redneck jokes. It’s amazing how many people are biased against over-weight people or ugly people.

The point is kids and adults can be pretty cruel to one another – simply because of differences. And so it should not surprise us that there are many forces in our society which are trying to make us the same.

Clubs and social organizations tend to attract like-type persons. Churches tend to do the same thing be it racially, culturally, socially or economically. Our focus for today is on theological and behavioral diversity.

You may not like the KKK – but in a sense they and the neo-Nazis are trying to formulate the norm by attacking common enemies. At that level any decent person is repulsed. But the need to conform and fit the mold permeates our culture.

Look for a moment at the clothing industry. I don’t have anything against clothes but most Americans follow the trends of things like hem lines and necklines. And for us men – ties and how wide they are suppose to be and so on.

Some sales people are pretty tricky. Not long ago, I was looking at ties and a sales clerk suggested a wild, loud tie, and told me it would really make a statement. And I thought to myself – it was supposed to make me feel different and special – by making a statement? But as soon as I would have bought it – I would have walked out of the store and run into someone else with the exact same tie – trying to make a statement too. Needless to say, I didn’t buy the tie.
"A minister was lecturing his 16-year-old daughter about snobbishness. ‘Remember,’ he said, we are all of the same mold.’ ‘Yes,’ replied the girl, ‘but some are moldier than others.’"
and
"I still chuckle over Rodney Dangerfield’s report from his psychiatrist. ‘You’re crazy,’ the psychiatrist said. Dangerfield protested, ‘If you don’t mind, I want a second opinion.’ The psychiatrist said, ‘All right. You’re ugly too.’"
Diversity often causes a rift between people and when we see things more completely it can be the cause for true celebration.

At this time I’ve invited Steve Crawford to come forward and share just a few thoughts out of his own experience on diversity.

My wife Debbie and I have been involved with the youth group probably about seven or eight years and when we were looking for a church and we were going from church to church. Every Sunday we would try out a new church. It was fine if I would show up like this. Everyone would greet me at the door and be happy to see me but then they would see me during the course of the week and I would be either riding my motorcycle or wearing a short sleeved shirt and seeing tattoos on my body and stuff like that.

Right away they started treating me totally differently than when I had a long sleeved shirt on. So I said, "Is this a church I want to bring my family to and be comfortable at?" So, we wandered around and one day I was talking to Susie Craig and Sally Colegrove about churches. We actually were in Honduras at the time when they said, “You ought to start coming around to our church – see if you like coming to the church.” So, it took about a month for that to happen. We started to come around and test the waters by wearing a short sleeved shirt. It was like I didn’t have any tattoos and I thought that was a great thing. I thought this was a pretty great place. We got more involved with the church and got to know a lot of the people here. Everyone accepted me for who I was not what I was wearing or what was on my arm. That’s the kind of church that I wanted to be involved with and so I started bringing my kids to the church – they fell right into the youth group – they have a lot of friends here – it’s the right place for my family to be.

Also, I was inspired to give back to the church so I signed up to become an advisor for the youth group. I threw myself whole-heartedly into it. Debbie and I came every week and then when Anna retired, David needed someone to take over the position – so Debbie and I took over JPF and SPF. We are doing both the groups now and we love it. We’ve made it every part of our lives and I just wanted to thank everybody for bringing their kids and just bring more kids.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Steve. The diversity that we are exposed to through others adds richly to the fabric and formation of our faith. Let’s turn now to our gospel lesson which Sue McCally read for us.

Jesus went into the house of a Pharisee to eat with him – someone different than himself. And while he was there a woman of the city – presumably a prostitute – came in and opened an alabaster jar and began to anoint Jesus’ feet. He didn’t repel her because she was different or beneath him. He accepted her gift and simply loved her. Now, the Pharisee made a snap decision that Jesus could certainly not have been a prophet of any renown – if he would allow himself to be touched by that kind of a woman.

She was a sinner. But then who of us isn’t? Jesus affirmed her gracious generosity – and loved her toward wholeness. Jesus wasn’t worried about what people thought of him or what they said about him. He shared his presence with Pharisee and prostitute alike. He dared to be different – not by making a statement with what he wore – or trying to dazzle and impress people. Jesus dared to be different through the depth of his caring.

One of our best known presidents dared to be different. But do you remember that Abraham Lincoln was called "a gorilla" and "a buffoon?" He was labeled by one of his peers, "an embarrassment to the republic." I wish I could tell you who those critics were – but nobody seems to be able to remember their names.

Our country was founded on the freedom of people to be different, think differently and worship differently. Yet, isn’t it amazing how so many want everyone to line up on the "right" side of an issue – theirs.

Take abortion, the right to die and gun control to name just a few. People seem to be so busy advocating their own viewpoint that they don’t take time to really hear those with opposing positions. What ever happened to truly understanding one another? No one said we all have to agree all the time.

In our Epistle lesson Paul reminds us that there is diversity within the family of faith. He says it this way,
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."
He then goes on to describe some of those different gifts. The gifts with which God has endowed us are worth celebrating and they are diverse. And here we’re talking about more than things, we’re talking about our very lives – our qualities, skills and persons.

Perhaps some of us feel we don’t possess in our persons very much in the way of gifts and can relate to Peppermint Patty of the Peanuts gang when she says to a teacher,
"Yes Ma’m…if this is the school for gifted children, I’d like to enroll…Do I think I’m gifted? I’m not sure, I usually get a few things for my birthday and for Christmas, but that’s about it…"
One of the twin-edged responsibilities of this passage from Paul is to both know and use our gifts on the one hand and to affirm different gifts in others on the other. That’s the beauty – that’s the richness of diversity in our family of faith. When was the last time you stopped to think of the gifts of your person that make you uniquely you which God in your very creation and development has given you?

From the inspirational pages of Guidepost Magazine comes this story which speaks of daring to be different because,
"One of the basic purposes of religion, indeed perhaps its only purpose, is to make people different and to give them the courage to be different.

E. Stanley Jones, the well-known missionary, told how this courage was given to him. When he was at college, it was the fashion among most of the undergraduates to scoff at anything connected with religion. Some chapel attendance was required, however, and on one occasion, the speaker challenged any student who was interested in a religious life to stay and talk to him afterward.

As the other students rose to go, Jones hesitated. A fraternity brother jeered, ‘Hey, Stan, going up to see Jesus?’ The man laughed, and for a moment Jones almost weakened. Then, he says, something shot fire within him. ‘Yes,’ he said, "I am.’ Later, he told his friends that this was one of the most important moments in his life, the moment when he lost his fear of the crowd."
It was Robert Schuller who coined the phrase,
"It takes guts to leave the ruts."
And so it does – and so it does. Always remember you are unique…just like everyone else.

Well, let’s return to the simple act of the woman which Jesus affirmed and his host made fun of.
"Daring to be different."
Jesus certainly did. And so did the woman. For he saw in her the rare ability to care rightly and faithfully. For to love much means to be forgiven much – and so she was. She opened her alabaster jar and out poured kindness, gentleness, sweetness, tenderness, love and care.

Surely Jesus wasn’t the only one who enjoyed what she did – for the fragrance of that ointment filled the house. Do not our acts – be they good or bad give off a fragrance too? We each have been given an alabaster jar – as it were – the very gifts of our person – each distinctive and unique.

How, when and where will we open ours? If it is in service, let us serve. If in teaching, our teaching. If in our contributions, in liberality (that means generosity). If in acts of mercy, in cheerfulness. So often we hold onto our alabaster jars waiting for that perfect moment – but that moment never comes - or perhaps we are afraid that if we give in such a way we will lose something of ourselves.

Variety is the spice of life. Won’t you open your alabaster jar today.
Lend someone struggling a helping hand. Reach out to someone suffering.
Lift someone up who is down.
Share a dream.
Return a smile.
Keep a confidence.
Listen to a child.
Listen to an adult.
Say something nice to someone you like.
Say something nice to someone you don’t like.
As Paul says in Romans, "let love be genuine." And the word for genuine literally means "non-hypocritical." Offer, as he goes on to say, hospitality, which is free and friendly space for other. It is respecting differences and diversity in others. And at the same time daring to be different yourself.

Unfortunately, the world and our culture make too much over differences – they get focused to the nth degree – and people so often want to be different in the wrong ways of being special and looking better. Yes, the world makes too much fuss over differences and not enough fuss over different ways to serve.

One of the strengths of our United Church of Christ is that we do affirm our diversity in the midst of our unity in Christ. We each know diversity in our own families. Families are complex systems made up of characters – each being what only he or she can be. So too, in our family of faith. And with all our differences – it is a great family to be a part of - because we are each enriched by the other.

Friends, we all come in different sizes and shapes with different backgrounds, preferences and ways of seeing reality. And in a world that is short on kindness and genuine love and long on conformity to the comfortable, we can dare to be different through the depth of our caring – and we can open our alabaster jars – sharing our spiritual and heart gifts – our very selves – such that the fragrance of God’s grace and love will linger for a long, long time.

Amen.