“Playing It Small Won’t Cut It”

by Bruce J. Johnson

June 4, 2006

 

A Confirmation Sermon

 

 

A few weeks ago, Lois and I went to the Buckland Hills movie theater to see “Akeelah and the Bee.” As a result, we simply had to watch Thursday evening’s prime time broadcast on ABC of the 79th Scripps National Spelling Bee. Here were these middle school kids spelling words I couldn’t even pronounce! As you probably have read, a 13 year old girl named Katharine Close from Spring Lake, N.J. won the competition by spelling a word she knew—‘ur sprache’--- the definition of which I am still uncertain. What is a reconstructed, hypothetical parent language?

 

Others stumbled on “weltschmerz’ and “icteritious”----  and you know what—the spell check on my computer couldn’t spell them!

 

Welt-schmerz, (velt’ shmerts) by the way is German and means— world pain----a sentimental pessimism or melancholy over the state of the world. 

 

“ic-teritious”—of or relating to having jaundice.

(I was thinking that I could have worked with those words—for this sermon!)

 

What a remarkable performance by these young people!

 

I don’t know anything about Katharine Close and Spring Lake but Akeelah and the Bee is a fun movie about an 11-year-old youngster who is growing up in South Los Angeles, where her intellectual gifts are something to hide rather than things to celebrate. When Crenshaw Middle School holds its first spelling bee, Akeelah is a reluctant participant until she wins. Suddenly the Scripps National Spelling Bee seems like a real possibility, but only if she can learn to work with Dr. Larabee, a stern and proud linguist who refuses to let her pity herself or to use her upbringing as an excuse not to succeed.

 

Oddly, the quote that not only hangs on the wall of Dr. Larabee’s study but becomes central to the story is attributed in the movie to Nelson Mandela but is actually from Marianne Williamson. ( I don’t know what’s up with that!) but the quote is neat and I’ve included it in your bulletin.

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us….

 

I thought at the time and I remain convinced today on this Confirmation Sunday- that Williamson’s quote is just terrific. To each of our confirmands this morning we are meant to say the same thing--  “ You are children of God who were born to make manifest in this world—the glory of God that is within you. Moreover, because of what life is like these days--Playing small just won’t cut it--- it won’t serve a world that cries out this morning for more light--- more love --- more kindness and compassion, --- more forgiveness and mercy and peace and more  justice!!!!!! You have to play big!  

 

Last July, the comic section of the newspaper had a Peanuts cartoon that showed Charlie Brown and Lucy standing behind a wall alongside each other. This is the way the conversations went:

Charlie Brown: “You now what I wonder?”

Next caption: CB- Sometimes I wonder if God is pleased with me?

Next caption: CB- Do you ever wonder if God is pleased with you?

Next caption: Lucy with a big smile on her face: “He just has to be!”

 

Indeed, God is!

 

 

 

This week’s LIFE—the insert in Friday’s Hartford Courant---- has a remarkable picture on the front of it and the feature article was intriguing:

 “A Child from Every Nation”—the story of one’s man’s amazing quest to photograph the world’s children…. I might add—all God’s children.

There are 192 nations in the world. He is searching them out in New York City. He is up to 123. One look at these photos and you see the light within and lament what might happen to it and to them.

 

Helen Ubinas did an article for Thursday’s Hartford Courant about the violence in Hartford over the last week:

 

Kerry Foster Sr. didn’t want to talk about his son, at least not to strangers. He didn’t want to tell reporters who found their way to his Clark street home this week about how excited the younger Kerry was to be done with middle school, how he planned to play football for Prince Tech. How his only son was too busy with school and athletics and other activities to get in trouble. He didn’t want to talk about any of it. “People get things twisted,” he said. They assume that because the 15 year old was killed in a drive-by Sunday, he was associated with the thugs who turned Hartford into the Wild West this past week--- 16 shootings since Wednesday. “Come to the funeral Friday, he said, You’ll see what kind of a kid he was.”

They assume that the family lived in Hartford out of necessity. But living in the city where Kerry Sr. grew up, where he works as a firefighter, was a choice, his choice.

 

“It’s not where you live,” Foster told me as family and friends gathered. “It’s how you live.”

                                                                        (Ubinas, Hartford Courant, B1)

 

 

Confirmands- Alexa, Kaitlyn,Ian, Scott, Chris, Bobby, Becca, Sarah and Kara, - that’s really what today is all about. That’s what your choice, the choice to be confirmed is all about--- the choice of how you will live your life--- as a believer in and a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

On the preface page of the book that you received from the Diaconate, Jesus Speaks to Teens: not your ordinary meditations on the words of Jesus.

you will find this translation of Ephesians 1: 11:

 

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.”

 

No two questions in life are more important than those two. Who am I and why am I here or what am I living for?

 

Kids – Christ has an answer for you and challenges you to accept it. You are the children of God who are meant to shine--- not afraid of your light, not afraid of your power to make a difference in the world. You are meant to live for Him and his mission of peace and for His reign of love—that all God’s children will one day live as brothers and sisters--- in a spirit of forgiveness, overcoming differences and celebrating diversity.

 

Now, we know that it sounds like a “Mission Impossible” but it is not, and there is no code that has to be deciphered from some painting. You have bible, the sourcebook of our faith, you have the creeds and credentials of the church and those who have preceded you with their witness and work and most important of all, you have your own gifts--- of the mind and heart and soul. Trust all of these.

 

It is really quite simple: It is your time to play big. It is no time to take a icteritous view of the challenges before you. The reality is this-- WELT-SHMERZ- velt-shmerts and you and your Lord together are the world’s best and brightest hope!

 

                                                                             Amen