One More Thing with Pastor Tim Burchill 6.18.2023

Who Cleans Your Classroom?

    This last Sunday in my sermon, I talked about how looking at life through the lens of Jesus Christ changes the way we see the hierarchies and pecking orders our society lives by.  The cross shatters the labels we use: achievers vs. slackers, brilliant minds vs. not the sharpest tools in the shed; winners vs. losers.  The ways of God are not our ways, and the Biblical witness is that those the world overlooks are very often the ones God uses to bring attention to His power and wisdom.
    The following story is written like a fairy tale, but I have heard it told as a true story about a final exam given to soon-to-be doctors.

    “Once upon a time a rare kind of teacher gave his class a pop quiz. Amongst the many questions there was one – the very last one – nobody was expecting: ‘What is the first name of the woman who cleans your classroom?’
    “Many of the bright students thought this was some kind of joke. Many had seen the cleaning lady and even bumped into her several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s. When the time was up, all students handed their quiz with all but the last question answered. Nobody knew her name.  Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade.
     “’Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello”.”

    All the people you interact with (and even some that you don’t but should) are created in the image of God in the exact same way you and I are.  Whatever value the world might put on what they do, they are of sacred value in the eyes of Jesus Christ.  Genuine humility is not to put yourself down, but to see yourself as you really are among others who are every bit as valuable as yourself.  Humility is one of the most honored qualities we see in Jesus.  An out of control ego—even a whiff of narcissism—is the direct opposite of what we see in our Master and Lord.  It ought to be a warning light for us to pay attention to.
    Not many of you were nobility; not many were movers and shakers; most of you were ordinary women, men, and youth—more often overlooked than appreciated, wrote Paul.  And yet, God chose you and not the ‘beautiful people’ of this world to carry out his mission of reconciliation and grace.  Weakness and foolishness are not liabilities in the hands of Creator God.  They are the very qualities God looks for in those He plans to use for His greatest purpose.  For when the ordinary do the extraordinary, it is God who gets the glory.  And that’s where the glory ought to be.  That’s the way God advertises.  ‘Look what I have done through her.  I can do the same through you.’
    1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 is an important passage of scripture.  I’d put it on your regular reading list.  It is deep—filled with paradox and surprises—but it also can bear rich fruit in the lives of those who believe.