2 Corinthians 13:1-14
My birthday is coming up this month. It will be a celebration, hopefully involving the zoo, paintball, go carts, or a movie. For some reason, I have this sense of wanting to go out and do something to celebrate my 31st. Usually, I'm okay with sitting around and eating cake and ice cream, but this time I want to get out and do something with family and friends - something that will bring us all joy.
The idea of celebrating birthdays sort of helps me see where Paul is coming from this morning. As a person who sees limitations as negative most of the time, Paul says to celebrate them. More than that, he says that we have the ability to test our faith - to see if we are solid or floundering. As a general rule in our society, we don't really celebrate our failures or limitations. Limitations, pain, and suffering are things to be avoided at all costs.
But what Paul is saying is, how we view our limitations directly affects how solid we are in our faith. First of all, I'd like to delve into the whole idea of limitations. I'm right in the middle of a situation in which I have a laundry list of limitations, and instead of celebrating them I have been banging my head against the wall trying to avoid them. In effect, I am writing this piece as a motivation for myself in my current endeavors.
A limit is a boundary between me and something outside of me. It means I don't have whatever necessary tool is required to get to point B. I'm stuck back at A. The phrase "take a leap of faith" comes in here. This phrase is used when these situations occur. I watched the opening premier of Superman the other night, and one phrase stuck out in my mind.
Superman went to see a priest. He was stuck in the middle of knowing who he was and knowing who he was destined to be. He knew he had powers that could be used for good, but also knew there would be opposition. He knew he would be rejected and shun as an outcast. After he confessed to the priest what was going through his mind, he got up and started walking out the door. As he was leaving, the priest said to him as one last bit of wisdom, "Sometimes we have to take a leap of faith first, and do the trusting later."
This sentence really stuck home with me. When I'm up against the unknown, I want my ability to trust to be 100%. In a way, I want all my ducks to be in a row before I decide to move on. Superman was debating whether he wanted to keep himself out of the public eye in order to prevent the rejection and opposition that would come. He wanted to let his limitations be the gauge that kept him where he was. Yet, with the words of the priest, he walked out the door with a sense that he had something to give the world, and he was going to celebrate that by "taking a leap of faith."
Paul says that the surest way to keep a check on our faith, is to take a look at our limitations - to give ourselves "checkups." In my current situation, my limitation is the fear of the unknown. It can do two things: keep me where I'm at, or be a cause for celebration for where I could go.
Jesus alludes to this in the sermon on the mount, when he says, "If you want to be my disciple, you must leave your . . ." The checkup Paul is telling us about is whether or not we are actually using our faith to venture into the unknown, that unfamiliar territory that we know is beyond where our eyes can see and our senses can be engaged. He's almost saying, "Have you used your faith lately to celebrate your limitations?"
Back to the birthday celebration. When people come together to celebrate anything, it's usually a landmark in life. It's a celebration of moving from one place in life to another. For me, it will be moving from age 30 to age 31. For funerals, it's moving from one place to another. For graduations, it's moving from high school to college, or from college to the business world. Celebrations are about transitions. Our limitations are here as landmarks, signs, of transition. They are our reminders that we were created to thrive, evolve, and grow, and to use the things that we were wired with to help make the world a better place.
Just as Superman had powers that could be used in amazing ways to help the world, he also had limitations. He could have chosen to put his powers on hold and lock himself up in the house with his mother, choosing to shelter himself from the outside world and build his own little comfort zone. Think of all the potential that would have been locked away. Think of all the good things that the world wouldn't get to witness.
Limitations are our signals of something more. They are causes for celebration. They are here to move us forward, out of ourselves and into something bigger than ourselves.
Today's Action: Give ourselves a checkup. What is one limitation in our lives? Are we viewing it as a signal of transition and celebration, or avoiding it to prevent rejection and failure? If we are willing, may we embrace this limitation as a catalyst for stepping into the unknown.
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