A Journey Becoming Real

On Monday I had the opportunity to preach at our Logsdon Student led worship service. We had a Women in Ministry conference here on campus, and this was the final part to it. It was a really great day appropriately themed "Journey," and much of the day was about how far women have come in ministry, and how far we still have to go. I, along with many other young ministers, left feeling very encouraged about my calling.

Here is my sermon from that night entitled "A Journey Becoming Real."

 

"I'm a minister."

We've all been there. It's that time when you've met a new person, and the conversation reaches that point when they ask what you do. "A minister?," said with raised brows and confusion on their face as they try to think over everything they've said to you. We all know they're trying to think if they said something that you're not supposed to say in front of ministers. And once they've cleared their tongue… it hits them. This is a female minister. You sure don't see that every day. Some people may be intrigued enough that they'll ask more questions about what you do. Others won't know what to think, so they'll smile and nod, saying "It was nice to meet you" as they walk away. People will have many opinions to offer about our callings into ministry, and learning to graciously accept them and weed through the ones that matter is a huge part of our journey in ministry.

In Matthew 9: 9-12, we read the story of Jesus calling Matthew to be his follower.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

 ¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

 ¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'^[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I hope you have all had a chance to reflect on your individual calling today. Today, we gather here with a common bond, yet we all have different stories. Some of us in here may have been like Matthew. You felt the call and instantly followed it. For others, it may not have been so easy. There was a long process and struggle of accepting this calling. Whichever one of these you fit into, accepting our calling is the start of your individual journey to becoming real.

    I was at a conference a while back and heard an excerpt from a popular children's book. I'm sure that many of us are very familiar with the story, and today I want us to see it in a new light. Listen as I read:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

This small section of The Velveteen Rabbit speaks volumes of wisdom for our calling in ministry. "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit - "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." Among everyone of us in this room, the first step of becoming real on the journey is accepting the journey and your individual calling into ministry. It seems too easy to see it on black and white on a piece of paper: oh yes, just accept the journey and my calling. In all reality it is not that easy. In stepping out on this journey, you have signed yourself up for a unique road ahead of you. While more and more women are now walking along the same road, you must not forget who you are as an individual on that path. Know who you are: your strengths, your weaknesses, what you enjoy doing in your down time, what your heart is passionate about, how you are like others and how you are different. As you become real in your calling, remain true to who you are. You are a beautiful creation, and the Lord knows the makeup of you and he chooses to use your individuality in ministry.

Back to our story –

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The next step in our journey is the act of showing people the real us. This is a hard thing to do in ministry. In the passage I read early it said:

 ¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

 ¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'^[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I believe that those who are not called into ministry are a little mistaken about the ministers. You see, they might read a passage like this and put themselves in the role of the sick person who needs a doctor, or the sinner Jesus came to call, but if you asked where their minister fits, we might be the healthy who have come to help the sick! In all reality, we all know that we as ministers are the sick and the sinner in this passage, yet the Lord still saw something in us that he wants to share with others. In your individual journey, there is a fine line you walk with what to share with others.

The skin horse offers us much wisdom though:

The rabbit asked: "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

As you pour yourself out in ministry and love on others, your hair may be loved off. There may be times when you get a little battered and bruised. You will be busy. And tired. But to the One who called you to share his love, you will be beautiful.

    As you leave today, I want you to remember the truth of the Skin Horse. Becoming real is not something that happens at all once, but bit by bit. It's enough to know that for today, you are called to walk on this journey as a female minister. You may not know where that journey will lead you, or how the Lord will change and shape it over the years, but know that the Lord chose you, in all of your individuality, to follow Him and help out other sinners. So the next time someone asks what it is you do, you can smile and say, "I'm a minister."