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I always enjoy reading or listening to Canon Mark Oakley. He was at St Paul’s Cathedral, then at Cambridge, and is soon to be the next Dean of Southwark. I’m not sure whether he has an extremely efficient filing system, or a tremendous memory, but his writings are peppered with wonderful quotations. Reflecting on the community he is about to join, and that all he can offer them is the person he has become, and his resolve to try to make amends for when he has got things badly wrong, he writes: ‘As Maya Angelou observed, ‘I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‘I’m a Christian’. I think, ‘Already?’ [CT, `13/X/23, p.18].
And that says something to me about ‘becoming’ – ‘Am I a Christian’, is one way of putting it. ‘Am I becoming more Christlike day by day, year by year’, is perhaps a more interesting one. Becoming.
Our two Bible Readings this afternoon talk about ‘Becoming’ – becoming more wise, and becoming more loving.
In recent weeks we’ve had a number of Readings from the Book of Proverbs, and also from the Apocryphal, inter-testamental Book, Ecclesiasticus. Both of them are in the wisdom tradition, and both of them offer sections of pithy sayings, such as those we heard this afternoon.
Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake [wisdom], and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight [Prov. 18:5-7]
‘Get wisdom… get insight’ – become more wise, become more insightful.
Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus ever say, ‘You’re fine, I love you as you are, don’t change, you’re perfect!’. God accepts us as we are, but the Gospel is all about change, growth, becoming who God has made us to be. Read the Gospel of John, chapter 15 [:1-2]: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit’. That seems to be our choice – be fruitless and be removed; be fruitful and be pruned. No third option, just to be left alone.
‘Get wisdom… get insight’. The writer of Proverbs is giving good advice to his children – you have choices to make in life, and you are given the powers to make them. Choose wisely, and align your wisdom with God’s Wisdom. We’re called to learn from our mistakes, to become wiser as we become older, not to ‘Eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence’ [Prov. 4:17]. Rather we should follow ‘The path of the righteous [which] is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day’ [Prov. 4:17]. ‘Get wisdom… get insight’ – becoming more wise, becoming more insightful.
Similarly, when we turn to our second Reading, from the First Letter of St John, we’re encouraged to become more loving. ‘Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action’ [I Jn 3:18], and ‘Love one another, just as he has commanded us’ [I Jn 3:23b].

Both of our Readings talk about ‘Becoming’ – becoming more wise, and becoming more loving.

The full quote from Maya Angelou, from an interview on the occasion of her being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, goes like this:
I’m just like you – I want to be a good human being. I’m doing my best, and I’m working at it. And I’m trying to be a Christian. I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‘I’m a Christian’. I always think, ‘Already? You’ve already got it?’ I’m working at it. And at my age, I’ll still be working at it at 96.

She doesn’t call herself a Christian here. But she does talk about trying to be a Christian, becoming more Christian.

However, she also wrote a poem, with which I want to finish, as we reflect on how and whether we are becoming who God wants us to be. It’s called: I am a Christian.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I’m not shouting, “I’m clean living.”
I’m whispering, “I was lost,
Now I’m found and forgiven.”

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble
And need Christ to be my guide.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak
And need his strength to carry on.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I’m not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say… “I am a Christian.”
I’m not holier than thou.
I’m just a simple sinner
Who received God’s grace somehow.
Maya Angelou

AMEN.

Resources:

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/maya_angelou_634480 

I am a Christian – Maya Angelou