Sunday September 14th, 2025 Worship

I think I’ve told you before that one of the favorite movies in our house is Disney’s Hercules. From the soundtrack to the humor, it has me laughing every single time! One of the quotes that frequently gets stuck in my head is when Hades’ minions, Pain and Panic, screw up so just start saying “We are worms! Worthless worms!” Now, Pain and Panic give the line with a bit more dramatic flair, but it’s not that far off from the thoughts of Martin Luther either. In fact, many people aren’t aware that title “Lutheran” was originally an insult, and one that Luther really didn’t want to stick because he felt he was unworthy of having a church named after him. In his mind, this took the emphasis away from Christ. Remember, his goal was never to make a new church, but to help reform the Roman Catholic Church so that it was more faithful to the Gospel.
But, it isn’t just Luther or these fictional characters that want to dwell on their unworthiness, but it is picked up in the writings of 1 Timothy today too, when Paul essentially goes on to say that if he, the most unworthy of them all, can be called to teach the Gospel, then certainly that says something about God right there. He places all of the emphasis on God’s grace and mercy, acknowledging that it was of no merit or claim of his own that he came to this position as a teacher of the Gospel. This focus on unworthiness is something that is common throughout human experience, with there being a fine line between self-deprecation and humility. We are called to humility, as we recognize the gift of God’s grace that we didn’t have to do anything to receive. While, at the same point, as people created in the image of God, shouldn’t there be something to say about our inherent worthiness of love and respect? That’s not to say that it leads to arrogance, but as a form of praise to God when we are able to hear and truly take to hear the message that God calls us beloved, no matter how unworthy we feel of that title.
The Scriptural focus on unworthiness is often associated with people humbling themselves before God, rather than boasting arrogantly about how they are clearly the best person for the role; take the prophets for example. But, there is also a theme that is picked up in which other people want to decide who is worthy and who isn’t, and that is where God draws the line. We as humans like to play God, arguing about whether someone is going to be condemned by God or not, deciding who lives and who dies. That’s not the role that God gave us! Our calling is to love God and love our neighbors. It might be controversial to say, but I think often these condemnations are not an act of so called “love,” but are a way in which we try to shirk the responsibilities of our calls, declaring that this other group is somehow worse than us, so it’s alright. In that case, our worthiness does not come from God’s love, but our belief that we are better than others. It becomes another form of idolatry. But, as much as we want it to be, it is not up to us to decide what other humans are worthy of God’s love and grace!
I think that is the thing that is so powerful about the Gospel reading today, about the lost being found, and the religious leaders questioning why Jesus would dare be seen eating with the tax collectors and the sinners (Luke 15: 1-2). In doing so, in rejoicing in the lost being found, we are shown how God loves all their children AND there is more emphasis on the lost and those who have the most need of care. This doesn’t mean that the Pharisees and scribes aren’t important or that God doesn’t love them too, but there are people who are more in need of hearing the reminder that they are loved and worthy because everyone else wants to tell them about how they are not.
Especially when we are at the points where we feel the most unworthy, I think that is when we really come to appreciate the gift that is God’s love and grace for us. In those times when we are acting self-righteous, we take this gift for granted and want to dictate who else is worthy of receiving it instead of letting it settle into our hearts and shape the way that we exist in the world. The reality is that we are all going to make mistakes and we will probably all have times in our life when we feel like we can’t possibly be deserving of this love from God. Yet, as the whole arc of Scripture reminds us, the Biblical story is one in which God remains faithful even in times when humans have been unfaithful. And there have been many of those times documented in our Biblical canon!
This commitment of faithfulness and steadfast love is at the core of God’s being. It’s why I love the way Moses approaches the topic again in this reading from Exodus. When God is rightfully angry that the people God just worked so hard to bring out of Egypt are grumbling and complaining, unappreciative, and turning to other idols instead. God wants to put some distance between Godself and the people, telling Moses “Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt…” (Exodus 32: 7b). God is trying to push the actions and responsibility onto Moses, but Moses reminds God that these people are God’s beloved and God doesn’t actually want harm to come to them, going so far as to recall the covenant that God made with Abraham for his descendants to be more numerous than the stars and they will dwell in the land that was promised to them (Exodus 32: 13). That covenant can’t be fulfilled if God destroys them all in the wilderness. What Moses seems to be telling God is that this moment of anger and desire for destruction is not who God is, even when we humans royally mess up and can’t seem to accept the gifts that God is offering to us. Instead, God still loves the broken, lost, sometimes infuriating humans that God created in love.
This isn’t to say that we do not have to acknowledge our mistakes or that we are given free reign to do whatever we want to do in life. But, as I’ve mentioned many times before, this love and grace that we receive is the guide which helps us forward so that each day we become a little bit more focused on loving God and loving our neighbors. We are by no means going to get that perfect, but we are still sent out into the world to share the love that we have received. We aren’t supposed to be like the self-righteous leaders who scorn others for their life choices while we sit over here all comfy with these gifts from God. Instead, we are supposed to go out into the world, to love all the parts of it, even the messy, complicated parts that people would rather cover up because of fear and shame.
Our Scripture readings continue to remind us that, even when we feel like worthless worms, we are in fact still beloved children of God. By no merit of our own, we are given the love and grace of God made known to us through Christ’s death and resurrection. No matter what our history, no matter who we are, no matter who we love, no matter where we are from, we are given this gift. It is meant to be a part of our identity, something that seeps into every cell of our being to remind us of our worthiness and belovedness in a world that wants to put restrictions and limits on it. This is not a gift that we are supposed to hoard for ourselves, but to welcome others into so that they are reminded of their worthiness too. The world already likes to cast shame and fear, but what happens if we choose a different way of existence? Who knows all the ways we might be changed in the process if we’re willing to offer a bit more of that grace for ourselves and for others too.