Refined by Reflection
Sermon for March 8, 2026 with Rev. Sheryl Padgett
Little Johnny and the Bumblebee
Little Johnny was sitting on a park bench in obvious agony. A man asked what was wrong.
Johnny said, “I’m sitting on a bumblebee.”
“Then why don’t you get up?”
“Because I figure that I am hurting him more than he is hurting me.”
There’s a bit of Johnny in all of us. We cling to resentment, pride, or old habits while thinking we are “winning.” Lent invites us to get off that bench—to reflect, release, and allow transformation. Resurrection is not stumbled into; we are refined into it.
The Refiner and the Silver
Malachi 3:3 says:
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”
A woman visited a silversmith to learn the process. He held silver in the hottest part of the flame and watched it carefully.
“How do you know when it’s ready?” she asked.
“When I see my image in it,” he said.
This shows the spiritual process: God’s presence is always attentive, guiding us through life’s “fire” to reveal our true nature. The fire does not destroy—it purifies and illuminates.
Wisdom and Personality
Spiritual Wisdom sees beyond appearances and invites reflection:
Why do I react this way?
What beliefs run my life?
Where am I “sitting on a bumblebee”?
Charles Fillmore wrote:
“Personality is a veil or mask worn by man that conceals the real, the spiritual I AM. Jesus shattered this mask and revealed Christ, the true man of God.”
Personality is not evil; it is incomplete. Reflection and wisdom help us see beyond it to the divine self within.
Jesus: Fully Human, Fully Divine
Bishop Shelby Spong said:
“To become divine is to become fully human.”
Jesus shows that holiness does not float above life—it works through it. His life demonstrates:
No tribal boundaries – Love crosses all divisions.
Wasteful love – Love extravagantly, without calculation.
Authenticity – Words and actions fully aligned; no mask.
Through reflection and the Lenten “wilderness,” we too can refine personality, reveal the Christ within, and embody divine love in daily life.
The Goal of Refinement
Charles Fillmore reminds us:
“When we awake in His likeness… then we shall see Him as He is. This… is accomplished by refining, spiritualizing, and raising both soul and body to higher degrees of power.”
Signs of refinement:
Patience replaces reactivity
Compassion replaces judgment
Courage replaces fear
Resurrection happens each time the divine image shines through our choices. Reflection reveals it; the fire refines it.
Affirmation
Through reflection, divine wisdom awakens in me.
The masks fall away, and the Christ within shines clearly.
I am refined, renewed, and revealed as the image of God.
