Transcript
The Rev. Dr. Matthew William Kozlowski
Trading Your Sorrows
Here’s an idea to bounce off you: See what you think.
The Christian life is less about change; and more about exchange.
Exchange is to put something down and pick something else up. It’s a switch.
There’s a song we used to sing in my former church called Trading my Sorrows.
I’m trading my sorrows
I’m trading my shame
I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord
I’m trading my sickness I’m trading my pain
I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord
Guess what: I like this.This image of exchange—that’s good.
I don’t know everything about every person here. But I know this: Everyone who comes to church carries some sort of pain.
And if I stand here and say, “Change your pain into joy.” That’s a hard saying.
But if I say: “Take your pain. Hold it out. Look at it. It’s real.
Validate it. Process it. And then, think about what it would be like to set down that pain—SO THAT, you can pick up something else. Maybe joy.”
How’s that?
These past three Sundays—with the gospel readings we’ve heard—are perhaps my favorite part of the entire three year lectionary. (That’s the Bible reading schedule that we follow for Sundays) We’ve had three passages from the Gospel of John—long passages—that describe one-on-one encounters with Jesus. Two weeks ago it was Nicodemus with Jesus. Last week it was the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus. This Sunday it’s Jesus with the man born blind.
You could say that all three of these people experience a change. But a closer reading reveals exchange. Each one of them sets down something, into order to pick up something else.It’s a trade.
Can I show you the most obvious one first?
The Samaritan woman at the well.She comes with… you might say… thirst. Or unquenched desire.
No judgement here, but she has had a series of failed relationships. Perhaps she has been treated unfairly. Whatever the case, she is unfulfilled and empty.
Jesus says, “I have living water.” What he really means is I AM living water. She says, “Give it to me.”
She runs off to tell everyone about Jesus, and as she does so—there’s this little detail. Verse 28. Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
She leaves the water jar! Why would John include that detail.
You think there’s a deeper meaning there? Yes.
She sets down the very thing with which she was trying to quench her thirst; because now she has something—the Messiah—who promises to literally satisfy every desire of her heart.
Question: Do you have that kind of relationship with Jesus? Do you believe that he —and only he—can truly satisfy you?
Nicodemus. He comes to Jesus at night. In John’s Gospel—nighttime or darkness is a symbol of un-belief… Lack of understanding… or Doubt. Nicodemus asks Jesus his questions. How can this be? But by the end of the conversation Nicodemus has heard—spoken directly to him—the most famous verse in the New Testament: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
He sets down doubt and he picks up belief. Good trade.
Oregon Trail. Wagon wheel for three sets of clothing.
Ok today’s Gospel reading. The man born blind. Takes up an entire chapter of the Gospel of John.
What’s his trade? What’s his exchange? What does he set down in order to pick up something else? I would say shame. He sets down shame, and trades it for belonging.
You know, the man born blind is quite intelligent; and quite bold. My favorite line is when he says to the Pharisees—these powerful leaders who ask him: This man who healed you, we know he is a sinner. And the man born blind says,“ Look, I don’t know if he’s a sinner. Here’s what I know. PAUSE. I was blind. Now I see.”
In other words: you can’t argue with results.
So he’s clever and he’s courageous. But at the beginning of the story, he resides in the realm of shame. The disciple don’t even bother to talk to him—they use him as a philosophical prop. “Hey Jesus, who sinned—this guy or his parents.” And Jesus says, “No... this happened so that the works of God might be revealed in him.”
By the end of the story, Jesus seeks him out.They have a private conversation. Jesus says, “Do you believe in the Son of Man… (that great heavenly figure prophesied in the Scriptures) You have seen him. ”And the man says: “I believe.” And he worshipped him. He now belongs to Jesus.
Let me ask you this? To whom do you belong? To what do you belong?
Do you belong to your pain? Do you belong to your shame?
Maybe you say “No but I have pain.” Ok. Would you hold it out. Name it. Validate it. Process it. And then would you give it to Jesus… If he promised to give you something else?
We’re doing the Alpha Course, and on the day away we learned about a woman named Jackie Pullinger. She wrote a book called Chasing the Dragon. It’s the true story of how, when she was 20 years old, she felt called by God to go to Hong Kong—into the most dangerous neighborhood called the Walled City, to care for people and to share the gospel in word in deed.
Here’s a summary: “As she spoke of Jesus Christ, brutal gang-members were converted, prostitutes retired from their trade, and heroin junkies found new power that freed them from the bondage of drug addiction. Hundreds discovered new life in Christ.”
Allow me to switch gears for a second.
Today is New Member Celebration Sunday.
Membership. That means: I want to be part of this body. The church is the body of Christ, and I want to be a member of it—the body of Christ called Team Good Sam.
So it’s not just about voting in vestry elections. Although, thank you, members for voting in the vestry election.
It’s about saying, Yeah I want to be part of this. None of have it all figured out. But I want to be part of this body of people who—through Christ—are setting things down and picking things up. Setting down doubt; picking up understanding.
Setting down misplaced desire; picking up fulfillment.
Setting down shame; picking up belonging.
Let me close with this:
Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. That’s the most shameful death possible. Romans and Jews agreed on that. They didn’t agree on anything. But they agreed on that: anyone who died on a “tree” was cursed. And Jesus said, The Son of Man will be lifted up. In other words, he said: I will take the shame; so that you can belong.
Jesus was emptied, so that you could be filled.
He was plunged into darkness—he went into the night—so that you could step into the day.
If you believe that, and you get Baptized, then you belong to him.
And you get to start trading your sorrows. Trading your shame. Laying them down for the joy of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
