Signed, Sealed, Delivered...

 

I'm working on a sermon today, sitting outside near my apartment at the local coffeeshop.  Across the street from me is Railroad Park, an amazing green-space in the middle of the city.  Railroad park is always a hopping place with people riding their bikes and running.  I've seen a yeti doing yoga, kids tossing bread to the fish and turtles in the ponds, there's a place for skateboarders and renting scooters.  It's this amazing mix of people and personalities, from the rich sports-car drivers to the familiar faces of the homeless men joyfully petting all the dogs.  In the fall and spring, this was the place for students to get their homecoming and prom photos, all spruced up in their tuxes and looking like princesses.  There are food trucks, too and of course that dreaded ice-cream truck playing a never-ending loop of The Entertainer. It is from here that I have seen the most beautiful sunsets that remind me of the beauty of home.  This bustling place also reminds me of who I think God has called us to be as the Created.  

Of all the goings-on, there is one guy that rises to the top of my favorites list.  It's this guy.  He has a motorized skateboard and for hours each weekend he goes up and down the road as fast as he can.  The best part though, is that on his back is a big speaker from which he blasts great 80's music. What a guy! He brings a smile to face every time he speeds by because I know he is living so comfortable in his skin. 

     

Tomorrow I'm preaching on Ephesians 1, and it is chock-full of sermon material.  Perhaps what's brought this full-circle today is his blasting a little Stevie Wonder's, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered..."  Here's a snippet of the Scripture passage from The Message version: 

11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This down payment from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

Gosh, these words are powerful...not only are we chosen and invited into God's unfolding redemptive purpose in the world, but we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Marked uniquely in God's image, authentically created with purpose and creativity.  This offers us such reassurance that even at our messiest, God is right here in it all with us, continuing to work in and through us.  We humans spend so much time trying to fit the molds and meet the standards we perceive others require from us, when in reality God just wants us to buckle up, throw on our helmets and put ourselves out there in the world and love people.   

So there you have an overly-simplified, 5-minute Saturday night sermon.  I'm mindful tonight of my colleagues who may be taking hold of new pulpits in new places tomorrow, of the eagerness I feel in my own spirit to get back to doing what I know and love...and the anxiety that comes with wanting to do it all well.  Regardless of the vocation to which you have been called, my prayer for all of us is that we don't let anything get in the way of God's purposes for us and that we truly bring our authentically sealed-by-the-Spirit selves to this world.  

I wonder what songs you would blast while zooming along railroad park on your skateboard?  

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Devon