Sermon

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (RCL, Year A, Proper 17)
August 31, 2008

The Reverend Arnold Taylor

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At the risk of insulting your intelligence, I’m going to expand on the words of St. Paul written in his letter to the Christians in Rome, a reading that you already have heard and inwardly digested. I take this opportunity to rag at literal interpretations, among other things.

St. Paul seems quite clear about what it takes of be a real Christian, but there are some nuances that I’ve had fun with and some that get right down to the bottom line. I leave it to you to decide which is which.

So, here we go: “Let love be genuine,” he writes. You can’t argue with that, huh? Well, there might be a temptation to show love in order to get a favor, and that’s not genuine, or keep on the good side of somebody - or, to spend a weekend in a motel. I’ve never had that happen, but I suspect that it does.

Paul’s counsel is that we give love without conditions attached. “Let love be genuine,” he says ! ...and I’ll say amen to that!

Then comes one that trips me up: “Hate what is evil hold fast to what is good.” Hate it! I thought Jesus taught that we should not have Hate in our hearts - ever. Rather, it’s our task to engage that which is evil, deal with it, as in “if your neighbor smites you on the cheek, turn the other cheek.”

That doesn’t mean to offer yourself as a punching bag. It does mean that we should stay engaged...work things out!

Remember the passage, “If you have a disagreement with a neighbor on the way to church, settle it before you approach the Altar. If that doesn’t work, get some other folks to help in settling the dispute. If that doesn’t work take it up with the whole church community. If that doesn’t work, cut off the relationship.” But first engage!

Nowhere does it say to hate the guy or gal over the evil that has been done. Rather, engage, and “hold fast to what is good.”

“Outdo one another in showing honor.” If we take that literally, it means we should engage in one-up-man-ship. I have problems with that. Does that mean that we should keep a score card of our honorable deeds - if any, as in “I did more than you did because I got ordained to the Priesthood!” Not on your life! It means that when honor is shown, it behooves us to recognize and applaud the good deed and build on it as a way of building the corpus of honor and integrity among each other, and in the community, and even in the world. Others might see that as a standard and do likewise.

“Never flag in zeal!” St. Paul writes. Remember Ellen Cardwell, that great former member, former Jewish gal who now lives in Lansing, Michigan?

While she was here in St. Mark’s it was said that she never did a job that she didn’t overdo it. Talk about zeal...! Bully for her - and Thanks! She and her husband Larry were good examples of what it means to serve with vigor!

St. Paul and I applaud that and commend that we never flag in zeal. Be like Sarah Rau, or Charlie Rupp, Sian Jones, the Honduras bunch, Lilly March and the Caregivers, Louise Walsh our Sr. Warden, or Heather Powers, on and on. Feel the zeal and join in!

To continue: “Be aglow with the Spirit of the Lord.” This we can take literally! Right? Let me hear the congregation say “Amen!” Be aglow with the Spirit of the Lord! (That’s part of the reason we receive Holy Communion - to get that glow within.)

“Rejoice in your hope,” St. Paul writes,“and be patient in tribulation.” Tribulation hits every one of us once in a while - for some, tribulation is constant!!! He says hope can get us through our tribulation, though. As the Buddhists put it (liberally paraphrased) “If there were no valleys of despair there would be no mountain top experiences.”

True, there can be times when the valley of despair feels more like burial; but when one takes an earnest shot at building on the good, there is hope that one can reach the mountain top. Been there, done that. Rejoice in that hope - one step at a time.

How? “Be constant (persistent) in Prayer.” Hey! That doesn’t mean that you should literally pray constantly. Come up for air - at least while I’m talking. Pay attention. It means don’t give up praying just because you’re discouraged, or tired. There comes a point, in my book, when constant prayer is an avoidance from doing what’s needed.

Rather, be consistent - persistent: Like Muslims, pray five times a day. We do - right? - prayer when we arise in the morning, grace at three meals (if we have three meals) and prayer when we go to bed. If we consistently mean business when we do pray, that should be enough.

Now, here’s a big one: “Contribute to the needs of the saints.” Who are these, the “Saints,” and what are their needs? St. Paul says that once you’re Baptized, you’re a Saint. Okay, some of us are fallen Saints, but bear with me.

Saints are those who do the work Jesus asked us to do, work that shows love and concern for one another, and a person doesn’t have to be a Christian to do that, because that’s the bottom line for all of us regardless of what religious approach we take.

Right here at St. Mark’s there are a bunch of Saints - teachers, preachers, folks who fill the food baskets, our youth group leader (dealing with teenagers requires to Sainthood). There are those who conduct Bible Study Class, programs for Senior citizens, and programs for seekers.

Here in this place one can find Saints helping in the soup kitchen, making sandwiches for the homeless, teaching children to sing and dance when they could be out stealing hubcaps. An AA group meets here. Dramas are produced here.

We have an office staff that must be made up of Saints because they hold this whacky place together, and keep the programs and ministry going. The Saint up there at the organ helps our spirits to rise. All that costs money & George Meng will say more about that later.

“Practice hospitality” St. Paul writes. Well, we wear name tags to minimize shyness in talking with someone we know but can’t remember their name. Likewise, we have pasties (name tags that glue on) for newcomers so that we can get their name on it and greet them by name.

Hospitality is a two-way street, though. Newcomers are urged to have some brass and introduce yourself. We’ll ask newcomers to stand later, so we can pounce on you and invite you to the coffee hour after church. For newcomers it’s free; so, please join us in the Parish Hall and let us be hospitable toward you.

The rest of St. Paul’s letter adds up to this: If you want to have a friend, you’ve got to be a friend. “Bless those who persecute you...Live in harmony with one another,” he writes.

“Never be haughty...” (Too big and self-satisfied to be able to reach out to that other person, no matter how lowly - or high-brow! Reach out to Others. Look for the good in them and help them to build on it.

Further, “Repay no one evil for evil,” to which I would add, “Repay no one evil for the suspicion of evil;” (Does that have any application in our day...?) but, “so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.”

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink. [Be a pal!] “For, by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” That sounds like a rather painful sequel to kindness, something that literally should not be done.

It means, in the flowery language of that day, that his face’ll get red. The enemy will realize he’s being mean to a nice guy - or gal, as the case may be, and that just might give him - or her - second thoughts, be amazed by the friendly gesture...and become a friend in time.

Okay, it doesn’t always work. It didn’t work with Hitler nor with Hirohito. We had to speak with them in the only language they understood; but recall that we followed up that time of horror with the Marshall Plan in Europe, the Berlin airlift, feeding hungry people, and building up the defeated nations, including Japan, rather than oppressing them.

Here’s the drill: “Do not overcome evil with evil, but overcome evil with good.” How many battles at home and in our communities could be avoided if hearts could operate this way? How many wars could be avoided if nations would give this a try.

To sum up: If you want to have a friend, you’ve got to be a friend. That’s why we say in this church that everybody’s welcome at the Holy Table - in friendship. The aim is that we might all gather something of the Spirit of the Lord within, out of which might come the zeal to be a friend to those next to us, to those who are less fortunate, and even to those who would do us harm.

The Gospel lesson would have us do good with zeal in order that we might get to heaven when we die. To me, that’s bribery - doing good in order to get something back; but I say unto you: Be a friend simply in order to bring the Love of God right into the here and now - just because Jesus asked us to and civic peace requires it. Period.

I close with a line from the Collect for this day:“Lord of all...graft in our hearts the love of your name, increase in us the religion Jesus taught, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works, through Jesus Christ our Lord,” or through the Spirit of the Lord, in whatever tradition is yours.

All this is intended to bring Glory to God the Father - or Mother, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen