Knit In Mothers Womb

9Knit Together in Mother's Womb
 A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
From Sunday, May 8, 2011
Texts: I Peter 1:17-23; Psalm 139
“Knit Together in Mother’s Womb”

What does it mean to be a human being?
Listen to this piece I found recently:
If you can….. start the day without caffeine, get going without pep pills, always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, resist complaining and boringpeople with your troubles….
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, understand when loved ones are too busy to love on you, overlook it when loved ones take it out on you when something goes wrong….
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, ignore a friends limitations and never stand in judgment, never treat rich people differently than poor people,conquer tension without medical help, face the world without lies and deceit, relax without liquor, sleep without the aid of drugs, maintain no prejudice against creed, color, religion, or politics…..
If you can do all of that, then, you are almost as good as your dog.
What does it really mean to be a human being?
I was walking along 5th St this week and heard the exciting noise coming from therenovations of the John Marshall Hotel. I looked up and saw a man standing on the window ledge on the 5th floor, leaning out, and doing repairs to the outside of the window. Just looking at him gave me that queezy feeling. Is that what it means to be human?
I was in the line at the bank this week standing behind a woman, maybe in her mid-30”s. She had on very brief blue jean shorts and a skimpyblack tank top. Her hair was pulled back. Her nails were painted with a bright color. Her skin was well tanned and well worn. She was counting out lots of dollars and making some kind of payment. What was her life really like, I wondered. Who were her parents? Did she have children? Where was she going after leaving the bank? What DOES it mean to be human?
Because we keep a calendar on our wallin the kitchen, with faces from a Malawian orphanage, I keep thinking often about that little one year old boy with HIV/AIDS that I held in my arms last summer in that same orphanage, whose parents have died, whose family is unknown. What does it mean to be HUMAN?
I have been thinking about this question lots this week, especially when I think about those Navy SEALS flying through the night inhelicopters across Pakistan, sliding down ropes into an unknown situation, doing that stealth work, and flying out with the body of Osama bin Laden. What an amazing mission! Is that what it means to be human?
And following the announcement of bin Laden’s capture and death, there has been that conflicting and complex range of emotions. Finally, after almost 10 years he is caught and killed. Wefeel relief. We have seen exhilarating rallies, and shouts of joy. And then there are those words of Jesus that keep speaking in our hearts and ears: “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” And the celebrations about a death, even for a very evil man, bring clouds to my heart, and sadness, and confirmation that we have a long way to go before we know the full reign of God.
Whatdoes it really mean to be a human being?
To be human means so many things. We stand upright, have blood rushing through us, and have fingers and toes. It means to learn skills and do things. It means we have to work, pay our bills, and seek to sort out the circumstances of our lives. It means to have an imagination and to make plans. It means to know loss and failure and even incredible, stealthaccomplishment. It means to have conflicting emotions and deep compassion. It means to have connections that shape us, and passions that sometimes confuse us.
What does it mean to be human? It means too to have a mother (and a father). Today we are thinking about our mothers. For some of us these thoughts draw forth difficult and complicated feelings. All mothers are not good mothers. For...