December 2, 2012
I Want
- Matthew 20:20-28
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Leader: A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry? All people are like grass.”
Reader 1: My job is dissatisfying, and it doesn’t even pay the bills. I long for something different.
Reader 2: We’ve been married for years now. When will we have a son or a daughter?
Reader 3: I’d really like a nicer car. My neighbor and my brother-in-law just bought brand-new ones. Why shouldn’t I?
Reader 4: I’ve been sick for so long, I can’t remember the last time I felt healthy. Will God ever heal me?
Leader: All people are like grass.
Reader 2: There is so much suffering and poverty in the world. When will God bring justice and peace?
Reader 4: We really need a larger home. Our kids have to share bedrooms, and there just isn’t enough room when all their friends come over.
Reader 3: I don’t have any friends at school—I sit alone every day at lunch. When will I have someone to hang out with?
Reader 1: My children are grown and have moved away. I long for the days when all my kids were home with me.
Leader: All people are like grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall.
(from Reformed Worship)
Tis the season of wanting.
So we turn to that special book
When I was a kid it only came out just before Christmas.
Every family had one.
And every family cherished it, adored it, and searched its pages to fill the holiday with meaning.
No, I'm not talking about the Bible. I'm talking about the Sears Christmas Catalog!
Desire. Yearning. Hankerin’. Wishing. Wanting. These feelings are often so tied up with this time of year. Often, desire is expressed in ways that are cute and whimsical and harmless. “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth.” Or Alvin and the Chipmunks singing, “Want a plane that loops the loop. I still want a hula hoop.”
We encourage kids to make lists of their wants and send it off to Santa. Amazon stores our “Wish List” electronically so family and friends around the world will know exactly what we want.
Christmas has become a season of wanting. But to quote the famous theologian, Dr. Seuss,
“Christmas isn’t something that you buy at the store, Christmas, it seems, means a little bit more.”
A contemporary author (Unitarian Universalist minister Forrest Church) gives advice for living well in these words: “Be who you are. Do what you can. Want what you have.” (Love & Death: My Journey through the Valley of the Shadow by Forrest Church)
“Be who you are. Do what you can. Want what you have.” Not one of those is easy to accomplish. They are all intense challenges. But, that last instruction sounds most difficult: Want what you have.
When I first read this advice I will confess I had an image of the person who wrote it. Middle-age, good job, great family, nice house, comfortable, satisfied. That’s how I imagine the guy who is telling us to want what we have.
I learned, however, that the author was a 59 year old man who has suffered a recurrence of esophageal cancer, was given a terminal diagnosis and was told that chances were he would not live to 60 or to see his daughter’s wedding the following year.
But he wrote these words- Did I want cancer?
Of course not, but to obsess on the bad things that befall us squeezes out a just appreciation for the good. The time we waste on wishful thinking or regret detracts from the time we might devote to being grateful for all that is ours, here and now, to savor and embrace. When I was sick I remembered to want nothing more than the caring affection of those who loved me. Wanting what I had, my prayers were answered. ((Love & Death: My Journey through the Valley of the Shadow by Forrest Church)
The truth is that we often do not want what we have. How often do we say, or think, “I want my back to stop hurting.” “I want this loneliness to go away.” “I want to find love again.” “I wish I had a house like theirs.” “I want to have children.” “I want to get that raise or that promotion.” “I want my finances to look like they were before.” How often do we stew? Fantasize? Compare ourselves with others? Wanting what we have is a lot harder than we think. (From a sermon: "All I Want for Christmas" by the Rev. Thom Belote)
Unless we have
a God who made us and loves us
a savior who forgives us and frees us
a faith that strengthens us and sustains us
a community that welcomes us and nourishes us
Deep, deep down inside what is it exactly that we really want?
Is it exactly what we have?
Amen.