Wellspring UMC; Fourteenth
Sunday after Pentecost; September 2, 2007:
-Romans
8: 12-17; Matthew 20: 20-23
“Can
You Drink the Cup?”
The
other day I headed into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I didn’t usually think about the glasses in
our cabinets, but that day, as I looked at the various cups and glasses
assembled, it struck me that these were more than just instruments which held
liquid. These were object that held
meaning for me.
There
was a glass upon which at one time was the Welsh coat of arms, purchase by my
parents for me when my family traveled to
In
that cabinet there is a set of glasses received as a wedding present, plastic
cups picked up at football stadiums, and various styles of glasses which once
belonged to our respective families and became mixed when we were joined in
marriage. There are sippy cups, cups
with straws for the kids, and there is even a baby bottle tucked in the corner.
As
I stand at that cabinet, I can turn around and behind me is a cabinet filled
with mugs. Mugs given to me by
parishioners expressing God’s love. Mugs
given to me by my children as Father’s day gifts, some purchased and some
decorated and sealed by their mother, and there are even mugs advertising
prescription drugs, which Teresa has received over years of working in doctor’s
offices.
In
my kitchen are myriad cups, glasses, and mugs to choose from. Each is unique, and many of them hold a story
which remind us of days gone by.
Similarly, each one here is unique.
I
invite you to take a look around the room.
As you do, think about your life...your past, present, and maybe even
your dreams for the future. As you look
around, what do you see? What are
similarities and differences?
The reality is that there are
similarities and differences among us.
Each is given a different gift of life, and though we journey together,
ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide how they will live our
lives. Like the various vessels in my
kitchen, and your kitchen, each of us is given a cup of life out of which we
are invited to drink. The question is,
“Can you drink the cup” of life that has been given to you, and/or “How are you
drinking up life?
In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus asked that
first question of James and John. It is
an odd scene in
“Can my sons sit at your right and
left hands in the kingdom?”
To which Jesus replies, “What you
ask is about more than status.” He turns
to the boys and say, “Can you drink the cup?”
In other words, can you drink the same cup of life that I will be
drinking? Can you deal with the
suffering, the pain, the death? Can you
see the joy and beauty of creation, even among those the world shuns? Can you see it through to the end? Take it all in? Drink it to the dregs? Can you do this, then receive the fullness of
glory, resurrection, and new life?
Underlying the simple phrase, “Can
you drink the cup?,” Jesus was really saying, “If you follow me, you’ll see the
world as God sees, which is filled with both blessings and sorrows. You will go through pain and suffer at the
hands of others, but you will also be blessed to truly live. You’ll be blessed to integrated into
Creation, connected in relationships, and live freed by the Spirit of God. You’ll live life abundantly as I promise.
Can you drink the cup?” Can you drink in the cup of life...all that
life offers, good and bad...and receive it as gift from God. Jesus asks this of us, and in order to
receive the gift we must learn to hold life and lift it, before we drink it.
One
of the many challenges of raising children is teaching them to drink out of a
cup. The process begins with the full
protection of a rubber nippled bottle, progresses to a sippy cup, still
contained but able to drip. Then a straw
is introduced, introducing more risk of red Koolaid on the white carpet, and
finally, an adult cup – wide open and often spilled.
One
of the first things that must be learned is how to hold the cup, and with each
stage comes and evolution of the way it is held and the importance of keeping
hold of it. It’s one thing to hold a
bottle, it’s another to hold a juice glass.
But holding it is vital to drinking it down.
God
has poured life into our cups, and before we can drink it down, we have to
first hold it. We have to be willing to
journey head long into all that comes our way.
To recognize and receive the cup of sorrow and suffering and the cup of
Joy that is inevitable to life.
There
are those among us whose sorrow we know...those suffering from illness, broken
relationships, or mental/emotional crisis, and there is a greater majority here
whose sorrows we don’t know but are just as painful and debilitating.
Our
natural tendency is to shy away from the pain, run to safety, or simply turn
and try not to accept it, but that doesn’t work. That only leads to stress and heartburn, and
at the worst, neuroses. Instead, God
calls us to walk through the pain, knowing that God and others walk with us as
we hold our cup of sorrow.
On
the other side, it is just as important to hold the cup of Joy! So often we play down the joys of life. That can come in the form of not slowing down
to recognize the blessings of life, or as often happens with church folk, we
think that humility means we’re not supposed openly celebrate and receive God’s
gifts of Joy. That is hogwash by the way.
God
gives us joy and celebration as a means of bringing life and hope. To truly become who God needs us to be, to
fully drink the cup of life, we have to learn to hold the cup of joy, for in it
our thirst is quenched and we are fed by the God of all things.
We
hold the cup of life...our joys and sorrows, and in doing so we find the
strength and courage to lift the cup of life.
I have been to a few wedding
receptions and rehearsal dinners in my day, and one of the traditions at each
is a toast. Sentiments and good-wishes
are expressed by one, then all lift a glass in celebration of what has been
shared. That which is verbalized, that
which is named by one, is received and supported by the rest.
In these lives we’ve been given, we
are invited to lift the cup of life.
Individually and collectively we celebrate the blessings and share
them. We recognize that the gifts God
has bestowed upon us are not ours for the taking, nor really ours for the
receiving, but gifts for the sharing, and when they are shared, then God is
revealed and glorified.
In lifting cups of blessings we
celebrate our successes and share among friends what we are learning in life,
through bible study, and even through the giving of our time and money for
God’s purposes. We are bold to tell the
world, “Look at what GOD is doing in my life,” finding our faith and confidence
bolstered, and allowing God to use us as witnesses to God’s grace to
others. When we hold and lift the cup
we’ve been given, the very life of God is poured into us.
Once
we hold and lift it, then we drink it.
We take that which God has poured into our unique existence, receive it,
digest it, and allow it to nourish and change us.
Time
and again I have seen God at work in lives, and the most powerful, life-changing
experiences come when we are willing to fully receive what life has dealt
us. God’s life is most revealed when the
family who faces cancer goes into it, trusting God and leaning on others, aware
of their needs, struggles, and pains, but drinking in each moment as a gift of
God.
God’s
hope is seen in the birth of a child, when the family remains aware of the
miracle and learns from God, even as the child may only be an hour old. God’s truth is revealed to us, when we are
open to our own quirks and gifts, lift them up to God, then drink them down as
that which we makes us who we are. From
the good stuff at the top to the dregs at the bottom, when we drink all of life
in, we discover the fullness of God’s grace and wholeness God intends for us.
If we ever doubt that this is God’s
intention or don’t understand how do drink in life, look at Jesus. He took it all in.
James and John responded
affirmatively to Christ’s question, “Can you drink the cup?” Their response was not selfish nor intended
to be heroic, but arose out of Christ’s witness. They were disciples of the one who held the
cup of life and lifted it up, and so are we.
They saw how Christ lived into God’s gifts, received that which was
poured out for Him, drank down the good, the bad, and the ugly, and in the end
it brought Him eternal life...just as He promises to us.
So often we live with blinders on
and walking our own path, or we live insulating ourselves from pain or
struggle, and when we do we miss the fullness of God’s presence and do not
fulfill God’s intention and purposes for our lives. But Christ says to us, “Can you drink the
cup?” Can you let the “you” inside go,
and trust me?”
On
this table there are cups of grace...chalices offered as symbols of how God
transforms. They range from elaborate
cups to a cheap throw away cup one might find at a picnic, but each, when
filled with Christ’s life and blood, become sacred vessels.
Each
of us here are cups of grace, into whom God pours life. We are symbols of how God transforms. We come in all shapes and sizes, backgrounds
and beliefs. Some air on the side of
elegant while some may even feel cheap and easily thrown away, but each of us,
when filled with Christ’s life and blood, are sacred vessels, transformed for
life to transform the world. The key, however, to such
transformation is to receive the cup...the life we’ve been given. For us to hold all aspects of life and
examine them. To lift the cup up to God,
lift it to one another, lift it to the world, then drink it down to the dregs.
As we come to the table today, we
are vessels into which God wants so desperately to pour His love. Can you drink the cup? God knows you can, so come...drink to life. Amen.
*The sermon title and basic outline for this comes from Henri Nouwen’s book “Can You Drink the Cup?,” Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN., 1996