17th Sunday after Pentecost 2008 Proper 18

September 07, 2008

the Rev. Ken Kroohs

(Ezekiel 33:7-11; Ps. 119:33-40; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20)

LOVE EVEN OTHER CHURCH MEMBERS !

St. Christopher’s, High Point, NC

 

MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER   AMEN

 

          What is the most difficult thing for a church? .......... What is the most difficult thing for a church? ............. I suspect some people would respond: balancing the budget.  Others might say: finding a good preacher. ..... Some might respond it is getting everyone to help out.

 

          These and several others are reasonable responses to the question: What is the most difficult thing in a church?

 

          But because both Jesus and Paul spoke and taught on one answer ... and it is none of those I mentioned ... I have to believe they are on to something – that it is worth considering. 

 

          Remember that Paul in particular is speaking to churches.  Jesus spoke almost exclusively to people ... to individuals but by the time Romans was written some small communities of Christians ... what we call churches ... had been formed and Paul finds himself speaking more about community life.

 

          In fact, a large portion of the book of Romans is devoted to explaining how a Christian community should act toward each other.  So when Paul paraphrases Jesus and says all the law can be summed up in: “Love your neighbor as yourself” he is speaking first about other members of the church community and only then to relationships outside the community.  We tend to hear Paul speaking about our relationships with all others — and that’s true – but his immediate concern was relationships within the church.

 

          Before I go on let me emphasize that I know ... not just believe but know  St. Christopher’s does much better in these areas than most other churches!  Furthermore I know that I am far from perfect in these aspects so am talking about “us” and certainly not “you” — us.

 

          Paul discovered ... actually he was a rabbi, a temple leader, a leader of a Jewish religious community so Paul was probably not surprised to discover that living together as a Christian community is far from easy.  More directly, living together as a Christian community is not obvious.  It is not the way we were raised and I believe that is another proof of there being evil in the world.  Furthermore, living together as Christians does not happen without constant vigil and focus which is why, despite the fact that I know St. Christopher’s is better than most it is important for us to consider these passages.

 

          The key to understanding what all this means comes in understanding the word “love”.  As you may know, there are actually three Greek words which are translated as “love” in English.  Unfortunately we tend to hear the word “love” as referring to an emotional state or reaction.  That warm fuzzy feeling we get for another person.

 

          Neither Paul, nor Jesus speak about love in that way.  They are speaking about how we act towards each other rather than how we feel towards each other.  I find very helpful, and comforting the saying that Jesus never told us to like anyone but to love everyone.  Jesus never told us we had to like other people, only that we had to treat them with .... to us the words from our baptismal promises .... treat them with respect and dignity. .... And all of us, me and all of us fail at that from time to time.  The goal may be perfection but the hope is for improvement.

 

          Over the years I have learned that most of the time when two people disagree at the church they actually share a foundational desire.  Both people want the best for the church – that is the foundational desire, but they disagree over what is best or how to achieve what is best.

 

          If we can just focus on the foundational desire we can begin from a basis of agreement which will make the conversation go in a very different manner.

 

          Or even more important and more foundational if we can just agree that the question, the only question is: “What does God want for this community?”  Furthermore agree that the answer to that question is about the people and not the budget or the building or the gardens or the music —  all of which are tools, important tools make no mistake, but only tools to accomplish God’s plan.  If we can agree on that we can have a much more important conversation.

 

          For example, I have changed my opinion ... my belief and now believe that under some circumstances God’s plan for a church community is for it to remain small.  To remain, in essence a family chapel.  St. Christopher’s passed this stage several years ago but I understand there can be circumstances where the people in a religious community need to be almost exclusively focused inward.

 

          That said I also believe that God’s dream for most churches and most Christians is to be concerned about the members of their community while being largely focused outwards .... largely focused on the needs of those people without a Christian community to support them.

 

          Please notice that I used the phrase “I believe” – not “I know” or “it is a fact” because other people may hear something different from God.  Only when we together discern God’s call to us can we together discuss the questions within that context ... within God’s dream for us.

 

          The passage from Romans we heard today seems to be Paul’s attempt to summarize and emphasize the teaching from last week ... which is in the end of Chapter 12.  Here he says that everything is summed up in: “love your neighbor as yourself” whereas earlier he had described some specific examples of loving you neighbor.

          Paul began by saying love should be genuine – real, not faked.  Here I believe Paul may be touching on the emotional.  He still is focused on the practical – how we treat each other – but touching on things like respect and dignity.

          I am fascinated that Paul lists that first because I believe Paul is focused largely on people who did not yet know Jesus.  Paul was an evangelist – in the very positive sense of that word.  He wanted people to know God better so when he comments first on being real or genuine I believe it is partially because of what the newcomer would see in the community.  Would the newcomer see something different from the outside world, something worth being part of or would the newcomer see just another group of secular humans?

 

          What I find particularly fascinating about Paul listing that first is that when people who say they are Christian but do not attend church are asked “why not?” one of the most common answers is that the people in church are not real, not genuine .... are hypocrites - talking one way and acting another.  They are not living up to Paul’s teaching.  So what was important in the 1st century is still important in the 21st!

 

          I have told people who raised that issue with me to try St. Christopher’s.  They will not find perfection.  They will sometimes see us fail ... and notice again the word “us” ... but they will also find a community which is actively, continually trying to do better.

 

          Paul uses one of my favorite phrases: “out do each other in showing honor”.  Paul is telling us to put our competitive streak to good use!  And again, he is speaking about 21st century life as well as 1st century because too often, if we are honest with ourselves, we discover that some of energy we are putting into the situation comes from our ego rather than the facts.  We want to be respected.  We want to be appreciated.  We want to be found to be right.  So we seek to “out do each other” but not in showing honor!

 

          In today’s lesson Paul stress that we should live expecting the end times soon.  He explained what that would look like when he said we should:  not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers

 

          This week Paul said “Love does no wrong to neighbors” ... last week’s lesson focused that.  I am paraphrasing::  “bless those who disagree with you – even those who disagree with strong words and lots of emotion!” ... bless and do not curse. ..... Good advice inside or outside the church.

 

          But, if someone can show they always live up to that teaching we should rename the church after them!  They would be a saint.  Actually they would be greater than any saint whose biography I have read since one of the characteristics of saints is the willingness to say when they have failed.

 

          Paul also approaches “love your neighbor”  from the positive direction:   rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.  And Live in harmony with one another. ..... Notice again it does not say we have to really like the other person!  Living in harmony is about how we treat each other.

 

          Bishop Curry uses a portion of Paul’s words in his closing blessing: do not repay evil with evil but keep in mind what is noble. ........ Interesting word “noble”.  This is a very difficult phrase to translate from the Greek.  I checked nine different translations and no two were the same.  The constant was the sense of doing what we may not want to do, but doing what the people around us will see is not for us but or the greater good.  The fact that Paul soon talks about not seeking vengeance may help us understand his point.

 

          Our ego wants to strike back.  Our ego wants to get revenge, not to treat the other person well ... our ego does not get excited about “loving our neighbor”.

 

          Something else to notice in Paul’s teaching.  It is at once obvious and also easily missed.  Paul talks about what we can do.  In fact, in the earlier teaching he wrote:   “as much as it is possible, live peaceably with all”.  Paul focuses on what every therapist ends up telling virtually every client — the only person you can control is yourself.  We cannot control how that other person will react.  We can only seek to control how we react.  Paul, and Jesus say “love your neighbor” not “be loved”.

 

          Which turns us back to Jesus’ teaching today.  Unfortunately we don’t have time to go into detail but I think the first two-thirds anyway is clear.  And again it is what any therapist says at least twice a day: go and speak to the person.

 

          Let me end with what I said before — that St. Christopher’s, you - we, do much better than any church I know!  I do not want this to seem like a criticism but rather what it was, an invitation for all of us to seek to improve.  I was very tempted to focus on Jesus statement about prayer and ignore all this other stuff but decided that if Jesus and Paul gave it so much ink, we should at least focus on it for a few minutes!

 

          Let us pray: gracious and loving God, we acknowledge our failures and especially our failures to improve.  We ask for your continued guidance and live with faith in your mercy.

 

                             AMEN

 

We have previous sermons on our website.  To read an earlier recent sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermon.html.

 

CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation.  (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to:  ken@st-christopher.com)