Called for a Purpose

Old North Church, Boston

2 Epiphany, January 19, 2020

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

Do you ever feel like you have labored in vain? I think the prophet Isaiah must have felt this way. “I have labored in vain;” he wrote. “I have spent my strength for nothing.” Similarly the author of Ecclesiastes once declared, “All is vanity. What do people gain from all they toil under the sun?” And then there is Jesus, who must have felt this way at times, most especially when he was dying on the cross.

Are there times when, despite your best efforts, you feel empty-handed, occasionally despairing, and wondering if it was worth the effort? We carefully construct our homes and churches, our job skills and bank accounts, our policies and programs only to see them wiped away by a fire, a tornado, an illness, or a sudden death. A change in leadership, a new way of thinking, or a shift in priorities. Do you, like me and Isaiah, ever feel as if you have labored in vain?

Today, I’m delighted to be preaching in Old North Church for the first time. It is a church of long and deep historic significance, and I can’t help but think of how our country began. Fighting for independence, with people divided within our own country, we built our government and our Episcopal church on the blood and backs of many people. We created bi-cameral systems, canons and constitutions, that are intended to preserve our democracy, guarantee our freedom, offer equal opportunity, and protect our human rights. People worked hard for these things!

Watching our political process these days, and the on-going challenges in our churches, cities, and throughout our world, I see the same old issues appear, disappear, and then reappear. “Is there anything new under the sun?” the writer of Ecclesiastes once asked. Sometimes I even find myself wondering, what’s the point of trying? If I put my time, talents, and money into this or that, will it really make a difference? Or will I labor in vain like Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, who was condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again, and again?

This world view may seem cynical, lacking in hope, and downright pessimistic, and who needs that, you might ask? I come to church to be inspired, enlightened, and hear some good news, not to be dragged back down the hill. As a Celtics basketball fan, I was even surprised to hear the players talk about their season as a long slow grind, and how hard it is to remain enthusiastic and consistent from beginning to end. 

Jaylen Brown, a rising star on the Celtics team, recently said, “The NBA season is “a journey,” and at times, it can feel quite repetitive. It’s easy for us to feel like we’re stuck on a hamster wheel, going around and around until the postseason arrives. Little things matter,” Brown said. “Just finding ways to stay energetic throughout the season is important, and we all have our various ways of doing that.” 

Recently, I joined a group of Christian businessmen who live in Minnesota. On January 1st we began reading one chapter a day of a book called The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. For 40 days, every day through email, we share our thoughts, comments, and questions with each other. Now I don’t agree with everything I read in this book but I do like the focus of those three words: purpose, driven, life. And I really like doing this activity with other people. 

Rick Warren claims that “without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty and pointless.” In other words, a life without purpose is vanity, and our labor is in vain. It’s like rolling a ball up a hill all by yourself, and never getting to the top or over it. It’s like playing basketball alone and never getting the ball into the hoop or knowing what it’s like to win. But our purpose as followers of Jesus, as disciples of Christ, is different.

In the gospel of John, beginning in the very first chapter, Jesus knows exactly what He is doing and why. And John the Baptist doesn’t equivocate. He testifies to the purpose of Jesus saying “Look, here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”  He is the Messiah, the Son of God, who when He was defeated on the cross, didn’t cry out to God, “Why have you forsaken me?” Nor when He was crucified, did Jesus say to God, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” No, in John’s gospel, the very last words of Jesus were, “It is finished.”

Now my Harper’s Study Bible tells me that this Lamb of God, identified by John the Baptist as Jesus, wasn’t your typical lamb used for ritual sacrifices in the Temple. No; bulls, goats, and sheep were used for that. Rather Passover lambs were slaughtered the night before the Israelites made their exodus from Egypt, and whose blood on the doorposts told the angel of death to pass over them. Pointing to Jesus, John declares, “Look here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Notice that John the Baptist uses the word “sin” instead of sins. Sins, I believe, are those nasty things that we do to ourselves and to other people throughout our lives. We cheat. We lie. We steal. We commit flagrant fouls that result in technical penalties, lost jobs, and even ejections from the game. Instead, the sin of the world is something existential, something deeper, something more systemic, like all those “isms” that we try to dismantle, like racism, sexism, and ageism. Or those powers and principalities that we cannot explain and show up in scary movies and our nightmares. 

Sin is evil, and we are not. Sin is death, and an outrage to God, who created us for life. And so, John points to Jesus who takes away that sin. This Jesus is our Passover Lamb, whose blood we see on the cross, who liberates us from oppression, and tells the angel of death to move along. This Jesus is the One who leads us into our own Promised Land.  

Instead of a hamster wheel, I like to think of our life as a journey that includes a carousel, a merry-go-round, like the one we see on the Boston Common. It is a ride that we can stop and take along our way. The colorful animals remind us of the beauty of all God’s creation. Whether or not we’re riding, sitting, standing, or one of the workers on the Common, we can hum along with the music, and wave to the people all around us. Sometimes we’re up, sometimes we’re down, and sometimes we just go round and round!

Most of us, at times, need to find ways of staying engaged and enthusiastic in our journeys, especially when life grinds us down. When the music stops playing, when we’ve been defeated one more time like last night for the Celtics, or when we’re just feeling as if we’ve labored in vain, we need to find meaning, joy, and purpose once again. Remembering our salvation story, and believing that God stoops and hears our cry, helps me to sing a new song. 

God’s particular purpose for Jesus was accomplished on the cross. God’s mission of reconciliation was finished when Jesus stretched out his arms of love so that everyone might come within the reach of His saving embrace. His purpose was to bring light and love into the world, and to show us that there is resurrection life beyond the grave. When the buzzer goes off at the end of the game, and the carousel stops going round and round, there is still a party going on in Paradise.

Here is our good news. Jesus did not labor in vain. The sin of the world is not only forgiven, it is wiped away. Here is our hope. Our hope is in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Death has been defeated and the victory is ours. When our world seems unfair, meaningless, or just boringly repetitive, there is a light that shines in the darkness, whose name is Jesus.

This year the Celtics acquired a new point guard named Kemba Walker. Not only is he an all-star, he’s a great teammate, who works hard and plays hard. Leading with love, and blessed by God, Kemba is a person of faith, who loves to win and never gives up. Although recent injuries and the flu have caused problems for him and his teammates, people can't stop talking about Kemba’s leadership style, his humility, and his poise. He is always ready to contribute to others, even when he’s sitting on the bench.

Do we labor in vain? Not if we remember that we are called for a purpose: to be rooted in the Life of Jesus and to reflect His Way of Love. To speak God’s words and to act in God’s ways. We are team members of the Body of Christ who have been set free to live and love, to work and play, to labor on. “Listen up, people. Pay attention,” said Isaiah. God knows us. God named us. God formed us. “Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear. Claim the high calling the Gospel gladness bear.” (#541 Hymnal)

When we believe in the good news of our salvation, we shall never labor in vain. In fact, we’ll shine like stars in the night. We become beacons of faith, hope, and love wherever we are and whatever we do; for we believe that in the end - God’s Love wins; and we are gospel bearers of that good news.

Isaiah 49:1-7

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-42

Psalm 40:1-12