I Don’t Belong
Have you ever gone someplace where you just didn’t fit in? Do you ever remember being in a group and had the feeling that you didn’t belong? These feelings are prevalent when we move to a new city, or go away on vacation to a foreign country, or try to meet new people in unfamiliar surroundings. It’s awkward when we go to our significant other’s high school reunion or to a wedding where we just know the bride or groom. Equally uncomfortable is attending a party where we are the “outsider” and everyone else shares a common bond. Let’s say a co-worker invites us to his or her New Year’s Eve party. Once we get there we realize that we are the only one from the office invited and all his or her other friends are from the country club. All night long we must endure friends reminiscing about their golf game or tennis match and how Skipper got a hole in one, how Babs hit the tennis ball over the fence and into the pool, and that Billy Bob drove his golf cart into the creek. Even though we may know someone at a function we don’t always fit in and belong to the larger group. We need things in common to share a mutual bond. Generally speaking we bond with people that share our beliefs and similar likes and dislikes. That’s why, we choose friends that share our common goals, beliefs, and tastes.
Today I want to talk about relationships. Our epistle reading comes from 2 Corinthians 6:16 – 7:1. The passage speaks about our relationship with God. Our relationship with God is built on expectations and it prospers when we give back to God. Our relationship with God and with other people can only survive and thrive when we are giving people. Relationships fail when they are one-sided. Fortunately our Lord does everything He can to nurture our relationship with Him. Unfortunately, people prematurely cut God out of their lives because they don’t want a relationship with Him. Instead they want a god that they can boss around and tell what to do. When people cut God off they forfeit their blessing and enter into dysfunctional worldly relationships. How then can we improve our relationship with God?
God’s Expectations
Our relationship with God is built on trust, expectations, and mutual contribution. God expects things from us because of whom we are. In today’s epistle He calls us the “temple of the living God” and God expects great things from us because we are “holy” people. We are “holy” because His Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts and souls of His people. We are God’s temples. We are God’s homes. We are the place where God lives. You may be asking, how did He come to live in me? Look back to your baptism. At baptism we received the Holy Spirit and God took up residence in us. By extension, God not only dwells in each Christian, but also resides in the community of believers. God dwells in the midst of His people, He is present within us and is within this blessed Church. Since we are God’s residence, we can expect that God wants an orderly home.
Just as parents have ground rules for their children, God also establishes rules so we don’t mess up His home and ruin our lives. As a parent, I’m often concerned about my children’s friends and whether they come from “good” homes. I want to make sure that they will not influence or persuade my children to do improper or unsafe things. When my children want to go over to a friend’s house I want to meet their friend’s parents and make sure that they can be trusted. I want to be sure that my children’s friends and their families are responsible and will be a good influence for my children. We all know that troublemaker kids can lead our children down the wrong path and place their lives in danger. God also understands that the world can be dangerous for all His children. Just as a parent wants to separate their children from harm, God also wants to remove us from bad influences. God warns His people about the world in a passage that St. Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:11. The passage tells ancient Israel to move away from the pagan nations, to be separate from them, and to keep themselves clean from the pagan practices and beliefs. God wanted to remove Israel from the sinfulness of the ancient world. He knew that foreign influences would ruin His children.
Today our Lord wants us to be separate from the world’s corruption and wants His people to be distinct in the world. God hopes that Christians, (like ancient Israel) will make a clean break with the world because we are special and important. We are a new, holy, and blessed creation intended to be separate from the vile and perverse. God commands us to touch nothing unclean because He is afraid that we will become contaminated by the world and alienate ourselves by our disobedience. Our calling is unique; we are called to please God rather than be manipulated by the vices of the world. God’s expectations are for our benefit. They are there so we can receive His promises and blessing.
God’s Promises
When I was younger, my parents would not let me play with friends until my chores were completed. I was only rewarded after a job was completed correctly. In a small way I learned the correlation between work and reward. Our modern society also rewards accomplishment. For example, we would never consider giving a contractor their final payment until their work is inspected and completed. God too has his expectations regarding our conduct. God’s promise and blessing are His reward for our dedicated service and love. God is an intimate god who loves and wants to be with His creation always. St. Paul quotes a passage from the Leviticus 26:11-12 (Ezekiel 37:27 is another source) that sums this up. Here we read, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” God tells us that we are the temples where He dwells. God will live in us and dwell in our community if we want Him to, however, our temple must be in tip-top shape. Too often people claim to want God in their lives, but they have no place to put Him. Their spiritual homes are filled with the junk of sin so that there is no room for God to stay. We need to make room for God by performing a little spiritual housecleaning. None of us would invite a foreign dignitary or an important person into our homes unless things were in order. We would want to make sure that we cleaned the bathrooms, washed the floors, vacuumed the carpets, and emptied the trash. Certainly our Lord is greater than any guest we would entertain and we would want to make His “home” spic and span. We do this by resisting temptation and by devoting ourselves to serving Him.
Our Lord wants to bless us and His involvement extends beyond than just being a casual acquaintance. He wants to be a true father to us and wants us to be His sons and daughters. He is also a righteous God and He will withdraw His blessing if we rebel. God will not tolerate our disobedience. St. Paul quotes a passage from 2 Samuel 7:14 where God tells us that He wants to be our father. The Old Testament passage reads, ”14 I will be his father, and he will be my son.” St. Paul left out a second part of the passage that is equally important. It reads, “When he does wrong, I will punish with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.” Here is the context of the passage. God is promising David that He will bless his son Solomon as long as he is obedient. Consequently, when Solomon followed God, he and his empire were blessed. Unfortunately, Solomon disobeyed God by marrying foreign women devoted to foreign gods. Solomon’s wives later turned his heart from God. Solomon no longer sought to please God and sought to please himself by engaging in every sort of vice. Solomon’s great wisdom became folly as he learned that pursuing earthly pleasures is like chasing the wind. Solomon’s disobedience resulted in God withdrawing His protection and blessing. Our lesson is this: God will bless obedient children, however, if they disobey then they will be corrected. If we want God to truly be our Father, then we can expect Him to reward us when we are obedient and to correct us when we disobey.
Too often I feel that people think that God wants to punish them and that God is no fun. There is nothing further from the truth. Our Lord really wants to bless His children and have them enter into the joy of the Kingdom. Remember, didn’t God first place man in paradise? Here is the problem: God wants to bless us more than Solomon, however, I fear that many of us are not ready and able to receive His blessing. In my opinion, many of us forfeit the fullness of God’s blessing by our disobedience and ignorance. I’ll give you an example. Let’s say that I have unlimited money. What would you do if I proclaim that I will give anyone who can sit quietly for one minute one million dollars? I’m no Nobel Prize winner, but I think that this would be the quietest place on the planet for a single minute. Why? Because the reward is so great based on the small amount of work required. Now, the reward God promises us in His Kingdom is infinitely greater than my million-dollar reward. Why then are there so few takers? Why do people forfeit God’s reward for the cheap thrill, empty life of sin? Quite simply: it’s due to our ignorance of God. We don’t know what is at stake each and every day. People don’t know the fullness of God’s blessing and we tend to take things for granted. Our human minds cannot comprehend the vastness of God’s glory, the extent of His mercy, and the bounty of His blessing.
Decision Time
As today’s passage closes it challenges us to make a decision. We can either accept God’s promises to dwell in us and bless us or we can reject God altogether. God’s promises, however, come with a price. His promises are set in a context of warning and they are not unconditional because they bring with them responsibility on our part. Before we can receive our promise we must perfect ourselves in holiness and remove from us all contamination. The two Greek words for perfection (epitelein) and contamination (molysmos) are key to this understanding. Perfection (epitelein) is attained when something is brought to completion or to its intended goal. The term contamination (molysmos) refers to the corruption we experience when we worship other gods. The passage is instructing us that can become perfect when we achieve unity with God through holiness. Perfection, living in virtue, and serving God is our destiny. It makes us complete. On the other hand, we become corrupted in body and spirit when we follow the false gods in this world. We become perfect when we live our lives for God and His people and not for ourselves. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:16-20).
Conclusion
I began my sermon talking about awkward settings where we don’t feel comfortable and don’t belong. Good relationships involve the interaction and contribution by all parties. I believe that there are so many unhappy people in the world because there are so few good relationships. Most relationships in the world are one-sided and people try to exploit us. Many people are also deceived into believing that money can buy them happiness, that power can give them self-worth, and that a life of leisure will bring them peace. To attain these goals people are draw into playing “no-win” games like He Who Has the Most Toys, Wins, Living the Life of Leisure, and Climbing to the Top. Serving God and pleasing him are the only things that can give people tangible, lasting rewards. Unfortunately, many of us don’t realize that we cannot win worldly games because Christians are not anything like the world. Instead, we are “holy” people created in the image of the Almighty God and His Spirit dwells in us. This world is not really our true home and we are mere visitors here. We don’t belong in the world because we belong with God. The Kingdom of Heaven is our destiny and serving our Lord is our real vocation. Therefore, let us detach ourselves from a world that can care less for us and enter into an eternal relationship with a Father that wants to bestow upon us blessing rather than frustration. Let us bind ourselves with other believers that share our common faith, belief, and destiny. Amen.
