August 28, 2011

August 28, 2011

Romans 12:9-21

Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other.

Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer.

Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home.

Bless people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them.

Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying.

Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart.

Don’t pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.

If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.

Don’t try to get revenge for yourselves, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. It is written, Revenge belongs to me; I will pay it back, says the Lord. Instead, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. By doing this, you will pile burning coals of fire upon his head

Don’t be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good.

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On October 2, 2006, immediately after I began work as you pastor, an unspeakable tragedy occurred in Nickel Mines, PA in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country. A man who was angry with God over the death of his infant daughter decided he would make God pay for that death with the deaths of some of his children.

The man burst into an Amish schoolhouse, shot 10 little girls, killing 5 of them before killing himself.

The world was horrified by the news, and strangers form around the globe sent $4.3 million to the Amish community to help cover their medical bills. Now, Amish folk do not have medical insurance, and so what they did with the money after paying medical expenses was shocking. They gave money to the emergency services who came to help, and they gave a large portion of the money to the family of the man who’d brought violence to their children.

But, even before the money arrived, in fact, on the very night of this tragedy, members of the Amish community went to the murderer’s home with food and consolation to the widow. But the most important thing they brought with them--forgiveness. The stunned world watched this play out as television cameras captured the Amish making their way to the man’s home with casseroles and pies.

The whole world turned its eyes to Nickel Mines. The world has become accustomed to bloodshed and slaughter--we see that all the time. But what fascinated the world was this notion of repaying evil with good. The whole world had a whole new “f” word to deal with--forgiveness: as foreign a word as most folks will ever know, spoken in a strange language--the language of love.

What a mixed-up world those Amish live in! They don’t even know when to be angry or vindictive. To be fair, one of the Amish men told a reporter that it’s easier to forgive an outsider for murder than to forgive each other for petty offences. One Amish woman explained that she thought it must be much harder to the mother of a murderer than to be the mother of a victim.

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Nickel Mines tragedy and the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, I have to confess to you that that “f” word is often foreign to me, too.

When I heard of Osama Bin Laden’s death, I was ill at ease. Sharon Watkins, our General Minister and President put it so well:

The death of Osama Bin Laden gives rise to conflicting emotions. There’s a kind of relief – even gladness – that he’s finally out of the picture. There is a sense of completion that a goal, long set, is now accomplished - maybe that’s partly where the celebrations have come from. There’s renewed sadness as memories of 9/11 come flooding back - I can’t imagine what it’s like for the people who lost loved ones in the attacks, who live with these memories every single day. There’s renewed gratitude for the people who were the first responders on 9/11. Gratitude for those who stepped up to answer their nation’s call to respond in the various ways, right or wrong, our leaders have felt necessary.

In the midst of these conflicting emotions, we hear Jesus say, “If anyone strikes you…turn the other cheek,” and “love your enemies.” And here today, we have Paul saying much the same thing--but perhaps even more powerfully. Paul quotes from Proverbs 20 & 25 when he advises to repay evil with good.

Now, I know that this is not the most realistic thinking. You may note correctly that you are neither Jesus nor Paul. You may note that we live in an extraordinarily different time than did Paul and Jesus, and such things as turning the other cheek, loving enemies and doing good to those who do us evil is simply unrealistic.

I agree. We live in quite different times. Jesus said what he said in the context of a people being burdened and belittled by an occupational army from Rome. And Paul was writing to a church which was under constant persecution from the Roman Empire. Yes, our time is different from theirs.

But the feelings of hatred, violence and love are no different. And we have the power to respond to whatever the world gives us with love in the name of Christ. We have the power to recognize that we don’t have to answer in kind when we are injured.

When we do answer in kind, Woody White, a United Methodist Bishop calls this line of thinking, “Christian, But…” thinking and we all have done it. There are times when being a Christian is impractical, inconvenient, illogical, even embarrassing--I’m a Christian, but.

As in, “I’m a Christian, but you didn’t see the way that blankety-blank cut me off on the 30!

I’m a Christian, but that woman cut in line in front of me a Kroger yesterday…

For Jesus and Paul, Christianity is not a thinking religion (well it is, but it doesn’t end there). Christianity is a doing faith.

Paul uses very active verbs in this passage long before he gets to the enemies part. Listen to these verbs:

Love - Genuine

Hate - Evil

Hold - Good

Love - One Another

Rejoice - Hope

Show Hospitality - Strangers

Some years back, former President Jimmy Carter wrote a book entitled Living Faith, in which he wrote about his personal faith journey and how it has influenced his life.

In it he wrote, “"To me faith is not only a noun, but also a verb." He went on to say, "In Christian tradition, the concept of faith has two interrelated meanings, both implying fidelity: confidence in God and action based on firm belief."

Carter was writing nothing new. Jesus said it long ago, and Paul wrote it down quite plainly. Living out our faith in concrete ways has two effects.

First, it reminds us of whom and whose we are. Secondly, this helps us see that genuine love is not just being nice to people. Secondly, genuine love has a moral orientation toward the good. When we show love toward someone, we are moving them toward God's goodness. To love someone is not simply to cater to specific likes and dislikes of that person. It is rather to act toward them in ways that help them experience more of God's goodness.

From time to time, it will appear that evil is winning battles all around us, but the Nickel Mines tragedy reminds us that Jesus Christ has already won the war, and each act of love is one more step in the triumphant march.

What do you think?