Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (B)
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
In the Name of the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thursday was “bring your dad to school day” at Camille’s school. She’s in the third grade this year. I had a great time, and I was indeed impressed. Long gone are chalkboards, pencils and notebooks—everyone has a WiFi-enabled tablet.
While we were having our lunch in the cafeteria, Camille noticed that the new principal was walking around, so she told me, “Dad, if she comes over here, let’s act nicer than normal so we can really impress her.”
“Impress”—what an interesting word!
On Thursday evening, I went out for a drink with a friend, and I decided to put on a nice sport coat, and I even decided to drop in a bright orange pocket square in my coat pocket just to spruce it up a little bit. As I was leaving, Malacy looked at me and asked, “Who are you trying to impress?” There was that word again!
And, as I was leaving the restaurant around nine o’clock, I kid you not, I bumped into another friend, and he said, “Charleston, I’m really impressed; I didn’t know you even owned civilian clothing!”
I heard some variant of the word “impress” on three separate occasions on Thursday, within the span of twelve hours!
And instead of exciting me and making me feel impressive, it actually convicted me.
Seriously, as I got into bed and half-pondered it, I had a rare moment of humility and self-abasement, and I wondered how much time and money I’d wasted over the course of my life trying to impress others for all the wrong reasons. It wasn’t an impressive moment.
Just as I was thinking about turning off my lamp and dozing off, I remembered I had to preach this weekend, so I decided to peek at today’s readings. And I was absolutely delighted to discover that the disciples faced a similar convicting situation.
In the ninth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, Jesus asks them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest.”
They’d been trying to impress one another, playing a little game of one-upmanship, by arguing over who was the greatest – over who was the most valuable.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall – who is greatest of them all?!?”
I remember reading a feature article in the Guardian a few years back about President William Henry Harrison. He took the oath of office in 1841, and he insisted “on standing outside in freezing weather during his inauguration ceremony without wearing a coat, because he wanted to show how tough he was” (the Guardian). He then delivered a two-hour inaugural address. The longest address on record gave way to the shortest term in presidential history, ending only a few weeks later, when he died of pneumonia! My, oh my, how far we will go to impress others – to be the greatest!
Yesterday afternoon I decided to Google the phrase “how to impress someone,” and only a mere 74,600,000 results popped up. The top link took to me to an article in Inc. Magazine entitled “How to Impress Anyone in 30 Seconds or Less.”
As a side note, I wasn’t impressed at all by the title, because I can hear the voice of my sixth-grade grammar teacher saying, “It should read ‘Thirty Seconds or Fewer,’ not ‘Thirty Seconds or Less.’”
Anyway, here’s how to impress someone instantly, according to the experts at Inc Magazine. You might want to get a pencil ready and write this down. They say you must:
· Feed expectations
· Stay positive
· Manage the mood
· Use sensory language
· Have a personal statement
· And learn magic tricks!
Surely, that article must be the most ridiculous, meaningless, bunch of non-sense jargon I’ve ever read!
May I ask you something serious? Who are you trying to impress?
Believe it or not, there are dozens of so-called “expert” social theories out there about why we try impress others – why we try so hard to be liked.
Many say we all have at least some form of mild social anxiety, so we need to compensate by trying to impress others so that we can fit in and all get along. A few say trying to impress others is our harmless little way we muster up the self-confidence we need in order to thrive. And a few say that trying to impress others even helps us discover what we truly want, need and how to get it. I’m not buying it.
So-called experts aside, the Church just calls our need to impress what it really is: original sin writ large – another case of that stubborn pride always demanding to be affirmed and liked by others.
But what if I suggested to you that we aren’t merely liked: we’re loved – and loved by the only one that ultimately matters.
What if I suggested to you that our ultimate sense of value – our ultimate identify – comes not from what others think, but from the reality that it is God who loves us most, forgives us most and who thinks the most of us, because He is the one who died for us and rose again to be in a relationship with us?
What if I suggested to you there is now no one left to impress?
“You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9.
And to drive it all home, Jesus “took a little child” – a local little boy or girl – “and put it among them.” You know that children in first century Capernaum weren’t highly valued; in fact, they weren’t valued at all. They were mere afterthoughts – barely seen and never heard. A child in that unimpressive village couldn’t impress upon anyone one impressive thing!
So, He put the very least impressive smack dab in the middle of those who fancied themselves the most impressive, showing them that real joy, real contentment — everlasting affirmation — comes not from impressing others, but from a child-like dependency and trust in the Father’s favour — in His endless goodness, mercy, and love.
And that is impressive!
“This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. Charleston D. Wilson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
18th Sunday after Pentecost
23 September 2018