Teach us in all things to seek first Your honor and glory.

Grant that we may perceive the ways in which you are calling to us,

and grant us strength and courage to pursue those things

and to accomplish them.

Amen.

Last week I got my wedding ring re-sized.  Let me explain.  Two years ago, I dislocated my ring finger while playing basketball. I could not get my wedding ring over the knuckle and had to have the ring re-sized.  It took some time for the finger to return to its normal size, and when it did some months ago, I realized that I needed to go and get it re-sized.  But as many of us do, I put it off.  It kept getting moved to the next days to do list, then the next months to do list, and then…you get the picture.  Maybe you can relate.  Two weeks ago, I went running late one evening after it had cooled down enough to go outside.  At some point during my run, I encountered a pesky horsefly.  Several swats sent it away and I continued to run.  When I got home and got into the shower, I noticed that my wedding ring was missing.  I looked all around but could not find it.  And then it hit me.  The horsefly.  The swats.  The silent sound of my ring hitting the ground.  I thought I remembered where I was.  It was worth a try.  Julie and I got into the car and drove to the general vicinity of my encounter with the horsefly. With flashlights in hand, we began to look.  It was our very own quest for the ring.  It was late, dark and neither of us had much hope.  After several hours, I was about ready to give up the search and begin again in in the morning when I heard a loud scream.  Julie had found my ring.  I had looked over the spot where she found it several times, but did not see it.  Through persistence, good luck and pure grace, or maybe a little bit of all three, the ring was found.   It has now been re-sized and fits snugly on my finger.  I don’t plan to take it off any time soon. 

As I have reflected on this experience, three thoughts have come to mind.   First, in life and in love, always leave room for growth and change.   Second, never put off taking care of the important things.  Third, never take for granted the things you cherish the most, because they can be gone in an instant. 

We are in the heart of “wedding season” at the church I serve.  I have several wedding scheduled over the next month.  When I take the rings in my hand and bless them as they are given from husband to wife and wife to husband, I will have in mind my own ring, a band with no beginning and no end, an outward reminder of God’s never ending love that is the foundation of all loving, committed relationships, an outward reminder of the vows of commitment that were spoken to my wife and how those vows have sustained us and been a source of strength through times both good and bad.   And I will say a prayer for each couple that their love and commitment will be strong enough to handle the “dislocations” that come in all of our lives, expansive enough to grow as each of them grows and important enough that they will never take it for granted, not even for a moment.  And, if they ever lose it, I will pray that they will be able to find it and rediscover its meaning and power anew and afresh.

What does it mean to be great? In this day and age when business oriented best sellers help us learn how to get from simply being good to finally being great, I find myself yearning for a bit more.  Should greatness always be our goal?  If so, how do we define greatness?  

On February 4, 1968, the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his final sermon at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.   It was entitled, “The Drum Major Instinct.”  Reflecting on his words, I found them to be just as relevant today, if not more, than they were then.  Here is an excerpt:

“And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it, by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”

Instead of spending so much time and energy striving to get from good to great, could it be that we need to see ourselves as those called to go from a preoccupation with being great to a desire for being good.  

What would it mean for us on this Fourth of July weekend to truly strive as a nation to make sure that our greatness is always defined by our goodness?