"Building Community"
Sermon Presented August 31, 2008
Romans 12:9-21
Last Sunday, we witnessed a gold medal win by the U.S. men's volleyball team over Brazil - the favorite and defender of the gold from 2004. We saw players, without the presence of their head coach during the first three games, win over seemingly insurmountable odds. We viewed the heart of Coach Hugh McCutcheon, a man whose family was attacked in Beijing the day after the opening ceremonies - leaving his father-in-law dead, his mother-in-law seriously injured, and his wife shaken. From my perspective, Coach McCutcheon kept his priorities straight by remaining with his wife at the bedside of his mother-in-law, while missing the first three games that his team played. He rightly believed that his assistant Coach Ron Larsen and his well trained athletes could carry on in his absence. When he returned, he led the U.S. team to a gold medal.
A good coach needs to motivate, energize and train the athletes with the skills and attitude they need to work together, play well, and enjoy what they are doing. A good coach teaches values by example! McCutcheon is that kind of coach.
Although the Apostle Paul didn't coach an athletic team, he knew his task was to coach the new Christians who were working to build community in Rome. Paul didn't know these Roman Christians personally. He hadn't been there yet! But he knew that his role was to motivate, energize and teach the Church how to become the Church - how to be the body of Christ. Because he wanted these Christians to understand who they were and the source of their strength, he wrote them a letter. I'm reading from that letter: Romans 12:9-21.
This text is framed in nearly identical thoughts - verse 9 reads: "Let love be genuine: hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good." And verse 21 - the concluding sentence reads: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Between these verses, we find Paul's teachings - his coaching - on how to overcome evil with love. He advises individuals and Christian communities to build up the community by acts of love and to maintain vital spiritual lives, and then he gives instructions on how to relate to the non-Christian world. That's a lot to cover!
Last week many of you watched the Democratic Convention on television. Those who watched and those who broadcast the event were looking for signs of division and anger spilling over following a hard-fought primary. We didn't see those divisions because the candidates and the delegates spoke positively of one another. This doesn't mean that they had loving feelings for one another. It just means that they exhibited loving acts toward the other - in many cases, I imagine, contrary to their feelings. We will watch the Republican convention this week to see how these delegates conduct themselves. To present a united front between now and November, both parties will want to sublimate their differences in exchange for unity, and both parties will try to motivate their base to win the gold.
I would love for the weeks preceding the general election to focus on the issues that define the candidates and their parties. However, I'm not naïve enough to believe that events leading up to this election will be any different than in previous elections. If we exhibit civility toward those we disagree with, our nation will be much stronger than we are now. Paul says that we are to do loving acts toward one another; show honor; be zealous in our service to Jesus and in our prayer life; be hopeful and patient in our suffering; and contribute to the needs of Christians as well as of strangers. Christians in both parties would do well to follow this advice.
Paul doesn't say to just be critical of evil; he says to hate it! Be passionate in your stand against violence, poverty, sexism and greed. Hate callousness toward the environment. But we aren't to leave it with hate! We are to hold fast to the good! We are to honor Christ and one another in personal humility.
Paul - as Jesus - calls Christians to bless those who curse them, live in harmony with others, and refrain from arrogance and haughtiness. He wants them to be fully present to one another so that they can truly celebrate the joyous times and mourn the bad times with both friends and foes. He advises them to leave vengeance to God, while providing for their hungry and thirsty enemies. The key is to do loving acts - even toward those we determine don't deserve the good. When we treat our enemies as friends, our charitable acts may inspire repentance from them.
Gandhi said: "It's the action, not the fruit of the action that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result" (source unknown.)
The Church universal and individual bodies of believers are fertile soil for unloving actions. We expect more from our fellow Christians than we do from others. We usually label as God's enemies those who displease us or who don't believe as we do. We punish them through rejection, avoidance or outright hostility. Christian love seeks peace and reconciliation - not suffering and defeat. God deals with us in love and expects us to deal with others in the same way.
Paul says: "Don't retaliate against those who do you wrong." If we have no power, we can't retaliate, but we can desire ill for our enemies. Those who have power - in business, church, family, neighborhood, city, nation and the world have the ability to carry out vengeance. Jesus said that "to whom much is given, much is required." Followers of Jesus are to refrain from vengeance - even if they have the power to enact it - and instead, do good. The greater our ability to retaliate, the greater our witness when we refuse to do so.
Some of you have heard me speak of Kathy, a minister I met at the Courage to Lead series of retreats. Kathy's daughter was violently murdered on the streets of Los Angeles the year before those retreats began. The murderer was quickly apprehended and awaited trial. During the time between his apprehension and the trial, Kathy met with Sr. Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking, and a woman who fights against the death penalty. When it was time for the sentencing hearing, Kathy was able to speak to the judge in favor of a life sentence with no possibility for parole rather than the death penalty. Her wishes were granted. Kathy had the power to end the murderer's life as he had ended the life of her daughter, but she chose to leave his fate in the hands of God.
When we understand that we aren't to take matters into our own hands, it frees us. We can still stand up for justice without meting out vengeance. Sometimes, even though we choose to work for a win-win resolution to a conflict we discover that the other party isn't interested in anything but "I win! You lose!" The text says we are to live peaceably with one another so far as it depends on us.
Yes, there is evil in the world. But God's people are to meet it in the way God meets it - with love and generous goodness. Hostility should be met with prayer, and violence with blessing. At times this seems an impossible task.
When I lived in Kansas, I attended a retreat center in Easton, KS called Shantivanum - once or twice a year. All of the retreatants wash and dry the dishes following meals. One time I was there, I met a Catholic priest whose former parish was in Topeka, KS - the home of Fred Phelps, the self-designated minister who travels the country with his congregation - made up exclusively of his family members - to disrupt church services and funerals by picketing with signs such as: "God hates Fags!"
This priest said that his congregation was frequently picketed, and he instructed his parishioners to bless the picketers instead of becoming angry and cursing them. He asked his congregation to live this text.
Every positive action projected in this text is a characteristic of love! Now keep in mind - love is not necessarily a feeling - Christian love encompasses loving acts. Genuine love involves something greater than the efforts of our individual hearts. It requires a healthy community life, spiritual vitality and living in peace with all persons.
Why do you attend worship services on Sundays? What does your attendance have to do with anything that's important? Well, if you attend only to satisfy your personal desires, you will be disappointed. When the music or the preaching is not to your liking, you will move on. When you disagree with a church member, you may want to find a new congregation where that congregant is not present.
However, life in community will have its ups and downs. It's by sticking with the community - growing together in love - that we grow as Christian disciples. People who church hop - trying to find that perfect congregation - are soon disappointed because none of us is perfect. When we interact with one another on a personal basis, we grow in spiritual vitality and in the ability to live and love. Then we can become the body of Christ.
So as Paul - the apostle and coach writes, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." By following his advice, we will grow as Christians and our Christian community will grow in proportion to the love we embody.
09/03/2008
