What is the one thing you would do if you were guaranteed absolute success? That is, you were assured it would work out well for you. What is that one thing?
OK, I need two volunteers. [I give them each the end of a long sheet]. Ok, now think of a river. And the river is all the love and grace that God has in store for. But too often we create a dam (imagine a concrete dam), which holds back all that love, or all that goodness. That concrete dam is all your self-doubt talk. That you can’t do that one thing. That you’re not smart enough, or strong even, or witty enough to make it happen. And so we hold back all of that grace that God wants for us. As Henry Ford (the founder of the Ford company) said, “Those who think they can and those who think they cannot are both right.”
Now we can’t take down that dam. We want to, we try to. But its Jesus, through his death AND resurrection that is able to tear down the barriers that we put up. In the second reading, Paul talks about the Holy Spirit who will come to the aid of our weakness. It’s the Holy Spirit who breaks open our doubts and fears, and lets God’s love flow. [Have the volunteers drop the sheet]
Remember, there is nothing we can do to earn more of God’s love, nor is there anything we can do to lose that love. It just is.
So let’s say the flow of God is released. Think of a river that waters the field. Think of a wheat field as Jesus talked about in the gospel parable. The water comes flowing down and the plants get watered and begin to grow. Now think of yourself as a stalk of wheat in that field and you are invited to grow.
But the problem is that you’re not the only thing growing in the field. Along with you are some weeds. These are those people who keep pulling you down. These are the “negative Nellies” that we experience. Sometimes they are the people closest to us, sometimes its strangers. And we can want them to just disappear . . . get out of our lives. Or as in the parable to desire for them to be pulled out, destroyed.
But Jesus says that’s not going to happen. For the reality is that there will always be negative critics for you. You see this on Social media all the time, you will always hear about negative critics. We even hear this about our building project, but let me tell . . . it is happening. Because of a change of staff, we asked for an audit and the Bishop wants us to get through the audit then we can set a date for ground breaking.
[Joke] It’s like the story of the man who went to get his haircut in preparation for a big trip that he was going on. The barber asked about the trip. “What airline are you taking?” “Airflow airlines” “Oh they’re terrible, always late, they lose luggage and they have crashes.” “Where are you staying?” “At the Triple tree Addison.” “Oh, they’re terrible, dirty rooms, smelly.” “Where are you going?” “To Rome to see the Pope.” “Rome? Awful place, crowded, overpriced, and hot” Well the man goes and he gets back and eventually goes back to the barber. “How was the trip?” Fabulous! The flight was right on time, no problems. The hotel was great, clean and affordable. And I even got to meet the Pope. But he says to me, “Who’s the barber that gave you the terrible haircut?” Ouch, what goes around comes around,
Like famous poet from Marianne Williamson:
“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’s 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 manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”
So that one thing you want to succeed in? Give it a try. You have not yet experienced all the good things that God has in store for you.