Sermon for 5-11-14

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What is a phone designed to do?

Now, that seems like a fairly simple question, and had you asked it 15 years ago, the answer would have been exactly what you would have expected.

But, as of last June, Pew Research reported that 61% of Americans now owned smartphones. And, when you look at a smartphone, does talking on it seem like the primary purpose? Yet, we should remind ourselves what we call it—a phone. But anyone who believes that the primary usage of it is talking isn’t paying a whole lot of attention. Maybe they’re busy texting.

Americans are constantly on their phones, even while driving, and not many are using these devices to talk. Verizon’s newest plans include unlimited minutes, because there’s no profit to be made in charging people on how much they talk. I’ve seen reports that 25% of smartphone usage is actual talking on the phone. Basically, we have little computers that can make a phone call if we really need them to.

What is fairly safe to say is that available options have changed the way we use our phones. We no longer have to use them just for talking, and so we choose to use them in many different ways. Some of these are very good—for example, a simple text message can now donate money to countless causes, and distant relatives can see loved ones through technology. Some are maybe not so good. Just ask Anthony Weiner or other individuals who have sent inappropriate pictures to the watching world. The basic fact is that phones are no longer used just as phones.

Now, the question that sits before us today is one of purpose. Simply put, what is our purpose? As Rick Warren asks, what are we here for? Why have we been made, and how are we to live in light of that? What do we need to know in order to fulfill our purpose?

First of all, consider this Genesis truth—you were made in the image of God. That’s language we use quite a bit, and often, when we use it, we’re encouraging one another to treat each and every person as the unique and well-loved child of God that they are. It’s easy to forget that someone is made in the image of God, especially as they’re weaving down the freeway with a sandwich in one hand and a phone in the other, or when they’re espousing hateful views in downtown Chattanooga. Regardless of how much someone may aggravate us or how deeply we may oppose them, the fact of the matter is that we are to treat them with love and respect.

It also, I believe, tells us something about our purpose, because we know quite a bit about God, and what we know about God can teach us how someone made in his image should live.

First of all, God is relational. This is the basis of the Trinity—God is, and has been, and forever will be, involved in a deep relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is an ongoing and constant relationship. We have not been made to live in isolation—we don’t work at our best that way. So we’re made for relationship.

Secondly, that relationship is rooted in love. We know that God is love, and that everything God does is loving. We don’t always understand that, but we trust in God’s love. Therefore we, too, are called to root ourselves in love and to let our relationships be defined by love.

Finally, we are called to be selfless. This is difficult for us, since we’re besieged by constant encouragements to place ourselves first, but God showed us the way in Jesus Christ, a man who consistently dealt patiently and kindly with others, even when they were intruding on him or demanding more from him. God shows us the depth of his love by sending Christ to die on a cross for us, to assumed with selflessness the punishment of others and to give freely the reward of glory that he alone deserved. God pours himself out in selflessness.

So if we are to live in the image of God, we need to let these three big notions frame our purpose—we’re to relate to one another, to be loving and to be selfless.

Now, how do we seek that out? What exactly does that look like in modern life?

Here’s where I want to stop and readthe 139thPsalm.

To read this Psalm is to be introduced to a God who loves each and every one of us as the unique creations that we are. To read this Psalm is to be astounded by the way God loves us. To read this Psalm is to be amazed at how God cares for us all. We know that God is love in a big way, and we know that Christ died for all, and yet we don’t always remember to believe that God loves each and every one of us as though there were only one to love, as Augustine says. God has made you as an individual, and he has given you unique and individual gifts and talents.

So my goal today isn’t to prescribe your individual purpose today, because each and every one of you has a different purpose, because God has made you separately, crafted you with a unique combination of talents and abilities and relationships, and God expects something different from each of us.

Often, we pressure ourselves because of what and who we are not. We believe that we are inferior in the church because we don’t do big or grand mission projects, because we haven’t adopted 27 orphans or because we haven’t given every dime away. We wonder if we’re living up to God’s standards, or if we’re dumbing down God’s call to fit into our life. We wonder if we’re living in to our purpose.

I’d like to counter that argument. The Kingdom of God is richer and better for those who adopt and for those who travel to do evangelism. We are better for this, but there is no hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. There is one level, and that is made up of sinners who have been saved by the grace of God, and we’re all trying to figure out how to live in light of that. Some recognize that their gifts lead them to travel or to give up what they have, while others recognize that raising their children in Godly homes or doing their work with integrity and supporting the work of others is their gift and ability. These are vital roles in God’s kingdom, just as important as any others. Do not for a moment believe that your discipleship is inferior to someone else’s because they have more stamps in their passport. Use what you have to glorify God.

This takes us to the Westminster Catechism, where the first question is to ask what our purpose is. The answer is simple: To glorify and enjoy God forever.

This is our purpose. This is what we were made for. We can do this in many and varied ways, and the different ways we do this brings glory in its diversity to the Kingdom of God.

But to do otherwise, to seek with selfishness our own glory or to turn our backs deliberately on the Kingdom of God, is to reject God’s call. It’s drifting away from our purpose. To live with no spiritual community, believing that a community cannot enrich your life and help you grow, is to drift from our purpose. To fail to love others and love God above all else is to drift away, to use your life less and less for the purpose God made it. How you love selflessly, who you love selflessly, and the spiritual community you form will be different for each of us, but it is critically important that we recognize the call of God upon us and use our time well to bring glory to God and to love one another here on earth.

Let us pray