Psalm 22:14-24; I Corinthians 12:21-27 Inside Out 7 15 18

Today’s sermon title refers to the Pixar animated film, Inside Out, released
in 2015. The premise of the movie is based on a psychological theory that
significant memories from the past determine our feelings in the present. Most
of the movie’s action takes place in the main character’s head, where her feelings,
Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, interact as she adjusts to living in a new
city. As you might imagine in an animated film, Joy is a major player. She has a
constant, upbeat patter, tries to be the leader of the group of feelings at every
turn, and is focused on attaining happiness for the main character.
I’ll be honest with you, every morning when I read the news I wish Joy were
the one leading the pack. The closest thing to Joy that we have felt globally is the
rescue of the Thai soccer team – and that joy was not a sure thing. There was
terrible anxiety through the ordeal among the players, rescuers, family members
and well-wishers around the world. Their eventual freedom from the flooded
caves rippled across the oceans to wash over us with relief and happiness for
these stranded boys and their coach. These are the feelings that we want to hang
onto. These are the stories we hope to hear every day to crowd out the
cacophany of frustration, confusion and pain.
It would be so wonderful to have a book of stories filled with happy endings
that we could turn to for a kind of joy-fix – an antidote to sadness. Even better if
that book were the Bible! There are a lot of good stories in here, but they don’t
all have happy endings. And yet, there they are. I’ve probably told you that when
I worked in spiritual care at a retirement center in Albuquerque, I led worship 3
times a week. I was 22 and really didn’t have a clue what I was doing! I
remember looking through the Psalms to choose a reading, and found Psalm 21

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that extolled the glories of God, grace, mercy and kindness. The Psalm continued
to include how God was going to vanquish the enemy through destruction,
mayhem and plunder. I solved the conundrum by simply drawing a pencil line
through the verses that I didn’t like. I wanted the Bible to be joyful, and I made it
so – the Rosewall Standard Version. After many months of scripture editing and
worship leading, it became clear that joy was not sustainable.
It was clear, but still the desire for unending joy remained. The part of
Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth we heard today, at first blush, seems like an
encouragement to a group of contentious Christians of how to play nicely
together: Don’t think you’re better than anyone else, you’re all valued the same.
The aim is no dissention. The desire is mutual respect and honor. And above all,
rejoice with those who rejoice. Share the joy! Be happy together! That’s what
being Christian is about, right?
Fortunately for us, it is about a lot more than that. The letter to the
Corinthians has much more depth than “stop fighting, be happy.” Paul’s message
does not stop at “no one is better than anyone else, we are all the same.” He says
that those who are considered the least valuable, the ones at the bottom of the
ladder, the people who are the most oppressed and beleaguered, those are the
ones who are essential to the community. Not just part of the community,
essential. More honored and respected. Most needed. Furthermore, “rejoice
with those who rejoice,” is not the be-all-end-all. Paul adds, “weep with those
who weep.” The key to a healthy community of believers is the inclusion of and
focus on where the suffering is.

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 For this reason, the Bible is the way it is. We open its pages not simply to
find an ancient version of cat videos to lighten our spirits. It is not a magic answer
book that solves our woes when we close our eyes and pick a random page. It is
an account of real life that we can connect to. It is especially useful when you and
I are unable to put words to our own suffering, or when we are alone and have no
one else to connect with. Scripture connects us with the larger stories of God’s
people. It gives us the opportunity to rejoice in the victories, and to focus on
where the suffering is, whether that is in the marginalization of children, the
victimization of people who were disabled, or the agony of those who are sick, as
we heard in Psalm 22. We cannot be fully together as a body if we ignore – or
draw pencil lines through – the parts that refer to the dust of death, starvation,
physical pain and emotional suffering. You and I are less than whole when we
deny the parts of life that challenge and trouble us.
So we not only rejoice with the children in Thailand as they came out alive
from the cave, we weep with the children separated from their parents at our
own border. We feel fully the uplifts and the devastation, ultimately feeling more
moved by the plight of those who continue to be in distress. Anguish binds us
more tightly together as human beings than relief. Misery may actually make us
more alive/ more connected to each other than happiness. Of course I am not
advocating for us to go out and create sadness and hurt! Only that we become
more aware of the woundedness that is already in our midst, and take note of
how important wounded souls are to the building of God’s beloved community.
Our notice of children in distress, our shared outrage at the rending of families
and, ultimately, our action to correct this wrong, is a sign of our wholeness as the
people of God.

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 The movie, Inside Out, affirms the essential role that sadness plays not only
in the richness of our individual psyches, but also in our ability to connect with
each other, take action, and find meaning – especially new meaning – in life. I
recommend seeing Inside Out as a way to understand how sadness helps us to
connect. I recommend listening to the news as a way to notice where the sadness
is in our world. And mostly, I recommend reading scripture as a way to witness
the lengths God goes to relate to the complexities of our lives, in particular the
painful parts, so that we can be more closely connected with our Creator. See the
movie, listen to the news, read scripture – just leave the editing pencil behind!
Amen.

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Psalm 22:14-24
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted
within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you
lay me in the dust of death. For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones. They stare and gloat over me; they
divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not
be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of
the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me. I will tell of your name to my
brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify! stand in awe, all you offspring
of Israel! For the Lord did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; the Lord did not
hide from me, but heard when I cried.

I Corinthians 12:21-27

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But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of
them, as he chose. 19
If all were a single member, where would the
body be? 20
As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21
The
eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the
head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22
On the contrary, the
members of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable,23and those members of the body that we think less
honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable
members are treated with greater respect; 24
whereas our more
respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the
body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25
that there
may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have
the same care for one another. 26
If one member suffers, all suffer
together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with
it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
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 The Waking
By Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?

I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?

God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?

The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do

To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.

What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.