09-06-2020 Sunday Sermon

First Congregational Church
September 6, 2020
14th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 13:8-14
“The Heart of the Matter”
Rev. Dinah Haag, preaching

In light of this Labor Day weekend, I will tell you that my first job was in an orange juice factory, but I couldn't concentrate on the same old boring rind, so I got canned. Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe. After that, I tried working in a donut shop, but I soon got tired of the hole business. I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it. Mainly because it was a sew-sew job, de-pleating and de-pressing. I took a job as an upholsterer, but I never recovered.

There is a quote about Albert Camus floating around out there that goes like this. “In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that in the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there's something stronger, something better, pushing right back.”

My guess is that most all of us can identify with this thought - in one way or another, and we may even know people for whom that is truly true. Perhaps some of us are even pleased that Camus’ words are true for my own self - although I know it’s not true for so-and-so. In those moments that teeter between self-righteousness and confidence and self doubt, we get this morning’s scripture passage from Romans. In Labor Day terms, Paul wrote the Roman Christians a job description that has been front and center the last several weeks.  

Scripture  Romans 13:8-14
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The Day Is Near
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[c]

Thank you, Mike. I’m guessing that there are a fair number of people who don’t know my full background, so I will share with you that I tried working in a car muffler factory, but it was exhausting. I wanted to be a barber, but I just couldn't cut it. I became a Velcro sales rep, but I couldn't stick with it. I tried my hand at a professional career in tennis, but it wasn't my racket. I was too high strung.

Dave Simmons wrote a book called, Dad, The Family Coach, in which he tells the story of his daughter learning the heart of the matter. “I took Helen (eight years old) and Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?”

"Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing my error, I bent down and asked her what was wrong.

She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!”

She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched my wife take my steak and say, "Love is Action!" She had watched both of us do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house and Kings Arrow Ranch. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as I finished my errands, I took Helen to the petting zoo. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

I didn’t offer it because she was understanding the whole family motto in its fullness. It's not just "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. In giving her quarter to Brandon, Helen followed through with her lesson. She understood the taste and experience of the sacrificial family motto of love in action.

In my later years, I have thought about being an historian, but I can't see a future in it. I’ve thought about being an electrician, but I would find the work shocking and revolting, and they would end up discharging me. If I took a job as an elevator operator, the job would have its ups and downs, and I’d probably get the shaft. If I sold origami, the business would probably fold.

The Golden Rule of “Love your neighbor as yourself” is an ethic that’s as old as Leviticus 19:18 but also as contemporary (to Paul’s original audience) as Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:39.

And is there any timelier message for a world that’s so deeply divided about how to respond to things like a global pandemic, racial injustice and climate change? In a climate that politicizes nearly every moral issue, it’s naturally far easier to demonize people with whom we don’t agree than actively love them. It would be an interesting outcome if everyone were to read this passage everyday.

Love, as the Bible describes it, is primarily an action and an attitude. Scripture tells us that to love is to view and treat people as God in Christ would treat them. Those who love want only God’s very best for our neighbors as much as we want God’s very best for ourselves.

There are a bajillion other ways to show our love for our neighbors, including those we consider “unneighborly.” But perhaps one of the easiest, albeit tiniest of steps is to genuinely wish a person a good night’s sleep.

It’s the one thing that we all need, regardless of politics, theologies or passions. When we have enough sleep, not only do our bodies work better, but it becomes easier to refrain from belittling, insulting, hating or killing” our neighbors - either in pragmatic or theoretical ways. Christians who know that our time is short feel the urgency of loving our neighbors by not stealing or even cheating or swindling them - in physical, mental, spiritual and social terms.

And no one has to work hard to get any of us to understand that it’s not always easy to love real people. Some don’t always deserve our love. Others couldn’t care less whether we love them. Those realities have nothing to do with our loving neighbors.

Anymore, I don’t think I would take a job at UPS, because I don’t think I could express myself. I don’t think being a fireman would work, because I would suffer burnout. I doubt I could be a banker, because I lack interest and maturity, and would probably, finally withdraw from the job. If I were a professional fisherman, I doubt I could live on my net income. If I worked in a shoe factory, I wouldn’t fit in. They would think I was a loafer, and I’d get the boot. Someday, I will retire, and I’m sure I’ll find it a perfect fit.

Poet and retired pastor Stephan Garnaas Holmes put it out there so plainly. “We complain about people behind their backs, sometimes making up excuses - that we don't want to “hurt their feelings”— but talking behind their backs hurts their feelings.

We don't want to “make them mad”— assuming they'll get mad, and assuming that's bad, and assuming we can't handle that. All baloney. We do it because we are afraid to speak the truth, to stand for what we believe, to ask for what we want. We're afraid to cause them some discomfort, and to be OK with their discomfort.  So instead we whine, gossip, complain, and let it fester. And they don't learn, and we don't get what we need.

When we get to the heart of the matter, loving our neighbor is not always easy, quick, convenient, or even pleasant. God never promised any of those things. God has asked us to wake up, get dressed in the Light of Christ and behave decently, because that is our job. If we do our job, then God will take it from there.

It is tempting to claim excuses to love - excuses like age, or schedule or situation. We can’t put off loving - our selves or others as ourselves - to some time when we get around to it. None of us knows how much time we have left on this side of eternity, and the saddest thing would be if any of us go to our graves disappointed or lacking in that which God has called us to do - regardless of what the rest of society says we should or shouldn’t be doing or behaving. So let us get to it as we pray.

Holy and Heavenly God, in calm interactions, or in moments of anxiety or conflict, let each of us contribute love. In silence or in confrontation, in public endeavor or quiet prayer, in heroic action or mundane chores, let us add love to the world. Forgive us the missed opportunities, the moments we’ve pushed aside for whatever reason we think sounds noble. Nudge us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Keep us alert to opportunities to change the world in even the smallest of increments. Help us grasp the fact that love is primarily an action and an attitude, rather than an imagined utopia. Inspire us to want your very best for our neighbors - as we desire your very best for our selves. And all your people say, Amen.