This is a long title for a short sermon. It’s a spin-off of a memorable couplet from a study of human development, which typifies the adolescent stage of self-consciousness:
“I see you, seeing me. I see the me I think you see.”
In some sense, we never leave adolescence. Even as adults, we often consider what others might see when they look at us. (I see the me I think you see.) Every morning, each one of us selects clothing to put on, to give others a clue about who we are. Sometimes in a formal way, if I put on a nurse’s scrubs, or a police officer’s uniform. Sometimes more subtly, as when I put on a necklace made by our children. Perhaps a macaroni necklace that shouts out “I am a mom.” I put on my identity every day.
You can see that as individuals, we each seek to cultivate an identity. But we also seek to build communal identities. David Crum has been helping us think about our identities as families. In our family wellness program last week we talked some about how we identify what we value, as a family. We may not think of it in psycho-social terms, but we do have a folk expression that confirms that we tend to see families as identifiable units: “The apple never falls far from the tree.”
We also have an identity as a congregation. During worship this summer, I will invite us to think about our identity as a congregation. We will be building, sharing and celebrating our identity within the context of worship, in order to share our identity beyond this building and these grounds. I hope that we can help each other build a positive self-identity as a congregation, as a church community.
Today, we take an important step toward building our identity. Expressing gratitude for one another is an identity builder. Our gratitude identifies our values. We give thanks for that which we value. Today we identify ourselves as a congregation that values individual achievement and individual service. We value music, we value the dedication of those who show up for rehearsal every week. We value the years of study and practice that are the making of musicians.
We identify ourselves as a people who value education. We value those who teach, and those who learn. We value the sacrifices that families make for their children’s education.
We identify ourselves as a congregation that honors the rhythms and seasons of life. In recognizing our teachers and musicians at the end of the Church school term, we release them from service, for a time of “Sabbath,” a sabbatical season of rest, that they may return to their labors refreshed, or, that they may return to a different field of service.
A sabbatical is not the same as a vacation. Jan Kurtz is about to go on sabbatical from Central Lakes College. But we know she won’t be using the time to sleep in, wear her pajama’s all day and watch old movies on TV. At least not for long. Sabbatical is a time to be renewed by a change in routine. It is a time to turn one’s attention to something new.
As we approach the summer season, I ask that it not be a vacation from attending church, please. But let it be a season of entering church with a light heart. Knowing that you don’t have to come early for choir practice or stay late to teach or attend Sunday school or Forum. Come to be refreshed and inspired. Come to be renewed. Come to look and see one another and God and the earth in a new way. Come to help each other build, and celebrate, and share who we are as a congregation. Come, and build one another up in love.
