See How He Loves

See How He Loves

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 30, 2012

at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia

Romans 12:15b

John 11: 28-37 

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

I really liked my sermon from last week, but I'm a little intimidated by this one.  For the last bunch of weeks I have been comparing these marks of a true Christian to the actual life of Christ, showing how the marks of a Christian are the very same marks of self sacrificing love that Christ bears. Today I will still do that, but I want to also try something a little different. I plan on going further to show how amazing the life of Jesus acts as an incredible revelation about the truly wondrous nature of God. So let's get started. The passage for this week is Romans 12:15b, "Weep with those who weep." Last week we were "rejoicing with those who rejoice," and now we are weeping, ultimate compassion. Let's look at where we've come on this journey.

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.^[1] 

Since this passage deals with weeping, that ultimate act of compassion, I wanted to show Jesus being an amazing example. Here is John 11: 28-37, titled simply in my Bible, "Jesus Weeps":

²⁸ When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴ He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  

There it is every child's favorite verse to memorize. John 11:35: "Jesus wept." Two words, easy to remember. But wow how important it is. What a glimpse into the personality of God, like no other we get, and the reaction of the people there to witness is awesome as well. They see Jesus weep and they say in response, "See how he loved him." Loved. Jesus Loved Him. God loved him. God loves us.

There are passages throughout the Bible that talk about God loving, especially throughout the Old Testament. One of the most famous phrases describing God's Old Testament love is "steadfast love." I decided to see just how many times it is used throughout, so I did a search, it came back 174 times. 174 times God is described as giving steadfast love. It was cool to see how God shows his "steadfast love" to all the big names of the Bible. It's like a who's who.

Jacob: Genesis 32:10 "I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown"

Joseph: Genesis 39: 21 "But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love"

Moses: Exodus 15:13 "In your steadfast love you led the people whom you redeemed"

King David: 2 Samuel 7.15: But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.

King Solomon: 1 Kings 3.6: And Solomon said, ‘You have shown great and steadfast love 

The list goes on and on, and the Psalms are also full of witness to the steadfast love of God. As I was scrolling through the list, it seemed like there were more psalms that had the phrase in it than those that didn't. It was like 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. and on and on.

Mostly the steadfast love that God shows deals with continued blessings, or setting free from bondage, or deliverance through a difficult journey, or the promise of future blessings. God's steadfast love is throughout the Old Testament, but it seems to be always impersonal. It seems as if there is a breach. Even at the burning bush with Moses, there is tremendous separation between Moses and God. Only once do we see the closeness, and that is before the fall, before Adam and Eve eat of the fruit, and then it all changes, after the fall. In Genesis 2-3, God and Adam had walked together in the cool of the day, but when God came to do that, after the eating of the fruit, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, and it seems we've been hiding since. I've always read that passage in Genesis, where God calls out to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" as God experiencing pain. Where are you? Why hide? What are you doing? Don't you remember my steadfast love? But no they hide. Do we hide because we don't understand God? Can we not see the history of humanity from God's eyes? What characterizes God? Anger, Jealousy, Wrath. This passage from John seems instead to suggest compassion, sympathy, mourning.

What causes Jesus to weep? Is it the loss of his friend, Lazarus? I don't think so because he must know he is about to raise him. What is it then? It seems to me that the answer to this question is at the very center point of this morning's mark of a Christian, "weep with those who weep." Look at verse 33, "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved." Jesus sees the people weeping, and he is moved to tears himself. What is going on here? The easy answer is compassion. Jesus is feeling the pain with the people here. He is mourning with them. He feels their loss, but I think it goes beyond that. Try to put yourself in Jesus' place, I know it is very difficult. Think of all that Jesus has seen, you know being the Word, as John's gospel, this very gospel opens, "In the beginning there was the word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God." This is who weeps. Think of everything that God has seen since the beginning. How many people have died, since that first "hiding" in the garden? Think of all the times when He must have thought, why don't you just see that I'm here, and that I love you? Why do  you put all of this pain on your own shoulders? Look at what Mary says, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus must be thinking again, when will they learn? When will their tears stop falling because they know that I am here. I'm never not here. My love is never far away. Open your eyes and you will see. And the tears fall. He knows that he will raise Lazarus. But listen to the people, again they believe in Jesus, but they see limits, don't they. "If you'd been here, he'd still be living." "Surely he who healed the blind man could keep him from dying." Limits of presence, and limits that death is an insurmountable unchangeable fact of life.  And Jesus weeps. I go back again to Genesis, this is the God who spoke things into existence. "Let there be light and it was." All things then created by God and in God's control, all that is, how then could there be limits even death? But we put them there don't we? and Jesus weeps.  

I've been thinking about crying this week. There is no one in my life now, who cries more than Coralee and Clara. And I've been thinking about how I react to them when they are crying. Clara is much simpler than Coralee. She cries for food, or when she is tired, or bored, tired of that toy daddy. She can't put words to it, but that is what her tears mean. I know because I know her, and I've watched her. Coralee is more developed, and she has many different cries. She has the I'm hurt cry, that is kind of a high pitch squeal. She has the I missed my nap, whining constant cry. She even has the trying to be as pitiful as possible fake cry. I tried to think about how I usually react to her crying. I don't think I've yet been moved to cry with her. I'm sure it will happen though, I mean I'm me, but it hasn't happened yet. I tried to think about why not? Mostly I think it is because I know that her crying is not a big deal. That it will pass, that it is temporary sadness, caused by a little transient pain, or momentary loss, or not enough sleep. I know what the solution is, so I don't cry with her. Now all of these apply to Jesus in this situation. He knows us. He knows that soon the cause of the pain will be lifted, as long as the pain is the death of Lazarus. He knows that these tears of sadness will disappear quickly into tears of joy, but yet he still weeps with them.

Thinking about Coralee and Clara have helped me get at this idea. I think Jesus weeps because he understands how hard it is to be human. He has compassion for us. He sees in human beings the amazing attachment and love we can have for each other, the depth of our feelings, the endless potential that we have to care, but at the same time he sees how lost we are, how we just don't understand what "Steadfast Love" really is, how deep it goes, and how truly limitless is it's power. As human Jesus knows that attachment, but as God Jesus also knows that the attachment to God never has to go away. There never has to be the separation that we feel, and the limitations that we see and feel must be, just aren't there.

Look at where this story goes from here:

³⁸ Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”

Limits. . . Jesus weeps.

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”  

Don't you see it here. "I knew that you always hear me." Look at what that suggests. Look at the difference between the faith and relationship Jesus has and the doubt, worry, and fear that the people have here. He says things, "So that they may believe that you sent me." Believing, faith, so that there are no questions about who and what is going on here. Then he says: "Lazarus come out." And the power of God is displayed, the power to cancel death. If God has this power what are we hiding for? And why should we weep?

We should weep because it's human to weep, just as its human to doubt the closeness of God. But if you are blessed to know in your heart that God is there, close to you in all of the moments when you need God most, then like Jesus, weep for all of the pain that you see around you, and all of the other souls who are seeking, searching, needing, and weeping. Hope like Jesus hopes that the pain that they are experiencing now, is another opportunity to have their eyes open to the boundless steadfast love that God has for them. A true Christian, if any of us could truly live up to that distinction, weeps and feels compassion because, knowing what a Christian knows, how sad would life be otherwise? Certainly cause to weep.

Take a look at the Prayer of Preparation:

Lullay, lullay, little child, why weepest thou so sore?

Needs must thou weep--it was ordained thee yore

Ever to live in sorrow, and sigh and mourn alway

As thine elders did before thee in their day.

Lullay, lullay, little child, child, lullay, lullow,

In a strange world a stranger art thou. 

How do humans see the world this way, alone, abandoned, afraid, and destined to weep and mourn, instead of the world of "Let there be light and it was," of "Lazarus come out," of "For God so Loved the world," How much of a blessing it is to know that God is there, that God is amazing in power, steadfast in love, and close enough to weep with us. How amazing it is that God has that type of compassion. How amazing it is that we are called to the same. May it be so!

 

 

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Ro 12:9-15). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Happy for You

Happy for You

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 23, 2012

at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia

Romans 12:15a

Luke 15: 22-32

Genesis 4: 1-5 

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

As we step further through the Marks of a Christian according to Paul's letter to the Romans, we get this week a challenge that seems so simple, and so natural, such an easy part of being a Christian, and what is really an essential part of being a human, at least on the surface, but when I started to think about it, when I started to study it, looking for positive examples of this simple act in our world around us and as exemplified through characters in the Biblical narrative, I found them hard to spot. We seek to do this very thing each week when we celebrate the joys part of our joys and concerns for prayer, but perhaps it is harder than I thought, when we are out in our lives outside of these walls. The simple phrase is this, simply, "Rejoice with those who rejoice!" It certainly seems simple enough, but in practice it proves much more difficult than it would at first seem. But before we begin, let's take a look back at the journey we are on. The Marks of a True Christian, Paul's letter to the Romans, 12:9-

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, 

And since I had trouble finding a good positive example of this, I went with the negative, which was a much easier choice. The Old Testament is full of folks who choose not to Rejoice with those who Rejoice, but rather envy those who rejoice, so I chose the first of such examples for the Old Testament Lesson, Cain. And for the New Testament I chose the elder brother character from the Prodigal Son parable. Luke 15: 22-32:

²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷ He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”^[1]  

It seems so simple, but why does it prove to be so hard? Why is it that when others have triumphed, and are rejoicing that we have trouble rejoicing with them? Why does Cain look to himself and his own misfortune rather than rejoicing with Abel? Why do Joseph's brothers become overcome with jealousy and envy toward him, so much so that they cannot speak shalom to him? It happens to so many, to Moses' brother Aaron as well. When our brothers and sisters get ahead, we feel like we are being left behind and instead of rejoicing with them at their fortune we instead become overwhelmed and overly concerned with our own perceived misfortune. It's all around us in our surface first, stuff oriented, win at all cost world we have built on envy. I'm completely disgusted by the politics in this election of both sides year, who use envy as a means to get ahead and further their agenda. Talk about the worst of humanity, but why is it that way?

Let's first look at Cain and Abel. The first aspect of the beginning of this story that gets to people, one of the first questions people ask is, why didn't God like Cain's offering? What was wrong with it? It doesn't seem fair. I mean there is Cain out there busting his butt, working hard, and for no given reason the offering he gives is "not up to par." Why? I'm not sure, but I've always thought that this question is missing the point. A different question comes to my mind, and that is, why does Cain give an offering to begin with? What does he hope to get out of it? What is his purpose? Because he must have had a purpose, he must have had a desired response from God, the response he didn't get. . . the positive one. Seriously though, there is no mandate for offering at this point. God has not asked it of him as far as we can see. God didn't ever require an offering from Adam and Eve either, just to not eat of the fruit. Who put Cain up to it? Was it Adam and Eve again, trying to earn their way back into God's good grace? Did they think they could again walk with God in the cool of the day if they, you know, sweetened the pot a little for God, brought him some of the fruits of their labor? But who was it that hid from God? Who was it that chose to hide, avoid and redirect the blame? It wasn't God. Is this now the peace offering? A new attempt to get back in God's good graces? Could the result be any more of a major backfire though. . . humanity spirals further and further down the sin abyss with the first murder, and I wonder is it because Cain's offering was refused, or because Abel's wasn't, and was accepted? Is it ok for us to lose as long as no one else really wins? Could Cain have rejoiced with Abel? Can we?

Joseph's brother's don't really seem to have a problem with each other until Joseph comes along and his father seems to favor him. The list is long. This topic of watching someone else win, and trying to be "graceful" always makes me think of award shows like the Oscars, where the camera shows all the nominees while the announcement is being made. Their faces just seem to freeze and the big forced smile comes across their perfectly botoxed face. Sometimes the smile looks real, and there is true rejoicing for the winner, but not always. Often you can see that disappointment squeaking through. Cain's mark seems to be present in us all.

What is the true cause for envy? We get glimpses of it in these stories, especially in the prodigal son because the brother speaks. I guess you could say Cain speaks too, and Joseph's brothers, through their actions, but here we have words put to the frustration. These words have always struck me. He says, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet. . ." Doesn't get it. . . Just like Cain didn't get it. . . Just like we often miss it. We don't earn God's love. There is nothing we can do, nothing we can offer, no secret bribe God is waiting for, no secret words to say, no special combination. Here is this brother, working for his father, as a slave, he says. . . why? Who forged the chains? Who shut the lock? Did he do it for a blessing? Did he do it for the fatted calf? Since when? When did his frustration begin? It seems not until his brother was blessed, for doing "nothing" or even worse for "devouring your property with prostitutes." The problem seems that we are blind to our own blessings, and misguided in our motivation. We are not thankful for what we have, if we ever feel the impulses that Cain and this elder brother experience. We are not thankful and are working for the wrong reasons, sowing resentment, and reaping bitterness.

I came across the sermon to the birds from St. Francis and was struck by a couple thoughts after reading it. Let's take a look at that now:

My little bird sisters, you owe much to God your Creator, and you must always and everywhere praise him, because he has given you a double and triple covering, and your colorful and pretty clothing, and your food is ready without  your working for it, and your singing was taught to you by the Creator, and your numbers that have been multiplied by the blessing of God--and because he preserved your species in Noah's ark so that your race should not disappear from the earth.

And you are also indebted to him for the realm of the air which he assigned to you. Moreover, you neither sow nor reap, yet God nourishes you, and he gives you the rivers and springs to drink from. He gives you high mountains and hills, rocks, and crags as refuges, and lofty trees in which to make your nests. And although you do not know how to spin or sew, God gives you and your little ones the clothing which you need. So the Creator loves you very much since he gives you so many good things. Therefore, my little bird sisters, be careful not to be ungrateful, but strive always to praise God. 

It made me wonder, are we envious of the birds. What do they do? They never sow nor reap. They get to fly. They don't pay taxes. And as St. Francis points out, they have much to be thankful for. Do we envy them? That is the thought that was going through my head. Do we envy the birds? If not why not? What is the difference then between them and our brothers and sisters whom we do envy? Think about it when you hear Jesus say, "look to the birds of the air" why are we comforted, rather than jealous? The answer seems to be in the next phrase, "Are you not of more value then they?"

As Hamlet says, "Aye there's the rub." Envy is the fruit of low self worth because you are doubting where you stand, doubting how you measure up with your neighbors, you know the Jones's everybody's trying to keep up with, and doubting where you stand in the cosmic marathon race, and you think others are moving ahead of you, unfairly, as if you've earned your position.

What makes us more valuable than the birds? Ever stop to ponder that? Especially because Jesus' words seem to take that idea as a given. What makes us more valuable than the birds? What makes us valuable to begin with? Is it because we slave? Is it because of the choices that we make? Is it because we go to church every Sunday? Is it because we are Americans? Is it because we have a good job? Is it because we have a strong perfect family? Is it because we are financially stable? Is it because we bring our offerings to God, looking for favors, looking for a leg up? Is it because of anything that this world seeks to measure us by. Nope.

Our value is based on the fact that we were made in the image of God, and is confirmed by the amazing gift of grace shown us through the love sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and so are the brothers and sisters that we have all around us. All of them, the celebrities we see on our television screens, the star athletes, the politicians, and those struggling for work, those fighting the disease of addiction, those cast aside by the world, and every other regular person caught somewhere in the world of in between. We are all blessed beyond any sense of our deserving. We are all way in the plus column, well in the black, or is it the red, I always get them confused. So that being said, there is much in this world for which we should rejoice. Amidst all the pain and the turmoil, the stress, the concern for the future, when people get glimmers of joy we should cherish them. We should share in them because like Jesus tries to point out with the birds of the air analogy, it should remind us of how good God is, how much he has given, and how much he continues to give.

Have you ever heard that "Farther Along" song? Do you know it? How misguided is it?  

Tempted and tried we're often made to wonder

Why it should be thus all the day long

While there are others living about us

Never molested though in the wrong  

That song seems to be a Cain carol, an anthem of the elder brother, a hymn to self righteous envy, a cry for misunderstood justice, a musical plea to the world that is so unfair, should I do one more, a melodic walk into the pit of bitterness, looking to the future for blessings, blind to those wonders of the present. You may figure it all out farther along, but rejoice now because God is Good, grace is amazing, for if the Lord would count iniquity, who could stand who could stand, boast not in anything else but in the Lord Jesus Christ, and if someone else gets a little joy along the way, celebrate with them, not because of what you do not have, but because it is another beautiful piece of evidence that God's steadfast love endures, that providence is real, and that there may just be hope for all of us sons of Cain, after all.

 

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Lk 15:22-32). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Yeah, You Heard Me Right

Yeah, You Heard Me Right

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 16, 2012

at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia

Romans 12:14

Luke 23: 26-38

Jonah 4: 1-10 

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

As I said last week, Paul seems to up the ante from this point on when describing what a true Christian looks like, as if that were possible. There has not been a phrase yet from this passage that I can look to and say that I truly reflect what Paul is describing, but here is where we start to get into the really hard stuff, even to wrap your mind around, even to simply agree with, because here we get into the raising up of enemies, the building up of those who seem to make your life miserable. Because this week's passage doesn't just have to do with enemies, but one greater than any philosophical "enemy" type, but is rather: "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them." Yes "Bless those who persecute you" and in case you missed it, there is the yeah, you heard me right double down, "Bless and do not curse them." But to put this in context let's look at where we've come. Romans 12 beginning with verse 9:  

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 

Then the beauty of this passage is that we actually have Jesus obviously doing just this, amidst ultimate persecution he blesses his persecutors, Luke 23:26-38.

 

²⁶ As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” ^[1] 

So there you have it, sermon over. Paul's description says, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them, and here we have Jesus, persecuted, on trial, carrying a cross, beaten, abused, jeered, cursed, abandoned, and he says, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Jesus gives us a perfect example of the very extreme version of this mark. There is no need really to illustrate it any better. In the face of all that hate, Jesus blesses, asks God to forgive them, taking the time to understand the other's viewpoint, that we simply are ignorant of what we do. We just sometimes are blind to reality, and we do things that are in everyway wrong, hurtful, hateful, and destructive. So he puts himself in our shoes, but what would we do in his? Could we do it? Could we bless, rather than curse those who are persecuting us at this level. I've never been persecuted at that level, but in the small stuff where I've though, hey this isn't fair, or hey why are they treating me this way, I certainly never tried to empathize, feel for, or even like whoever was doing whatever it was to me, not to mention, going a proactively selfless and blessing them. No not even close. Again I hold the mirror up, and if this is a Christian, I'm not sure what I am, but I'm not that.

Even though this passage is clear, and the example Christ gives us is perfect, I do think there is more to this text than meets the eyes. I said earlier we were blind, as humans I mean, that often we, as Jesus puts it, "know not what we do," but we also don't seem to know what others are doing either. We are so caught up in our own world, and our own perspective that the view of the other is far far from our ken, (I've always wanted to use that word, and in this context it is the best word, it's not just understanding, it's as if our mind just isn't big enough, doesn't function in that way).

One of the things I found this week in my research really opened my eyes a little bit, it made me think seriously about the way we relate to eachother as humans, and the lack of trust we truly have. Again I want to look at the original Greek of this letter because there is something quite astonishing. Remember last week when we were trying to get at "Extend hospitality to strangers" and we found the word that they translated as "extend" was "diokontes," which really meant to run after as if to catch, and we took that to mean a breaking down the walls and times, and a really seeking brand of hospitality. Now get this, the word that is translated as persecution in this passage is the same word. I know right, what kind of word games are you playing here Paul? How much is lost in translation. Get this: last week, "diokontes philoxenian." "Extend Hospitality to strangers. This week, eulogeite tous "bless those" do you hear our word Eulogy there? Then "diokontos humais" persecute you. So what was last week, extending, is this week, persecuting. Unbelievable.

How can that be the case? How can the same word be used in two sentences in a row, to refer to the absolute opposite of ideas, and that it would be completely lost in translation in English? Now I see where the translators are coming from, in the context, especially because it says right after, bless and don't curse, there would have to be a negative connotation, because you'd have to be a little lost, and in need of the "yeah you heard me" clarification: bless and don't curse. But I can't help but think that there is something more here than simply persecution, but a deeper poetic truth about human relationships, and the interconnectedness between hospitality and persecution, yes I said, that hospitality and persecution are interconnected.

Bear with me, if I was a lawyer, and this was a court room, I can imagine someone might have just said I object, "he's making irrational and irrelevant connections, and leading the jury down a rabbit hole, trying to downplay the persecution part, simply because blessing those who persecute us is impossible." Am I right, maybe, well I would ask the judge for a little leeway, simply because the new evidence of the same word being used in opposite ways has thrown us all for a loop, so leeway granted? Now I know what they mean when they say bully pulpit.

But yes hospitality and persecution interconnected. I've been reading The Hunger Games this past week. I finally finished the marathon book series I had been reading all summer and DeAnna had read The Hunger Games and suggested it to me. With the movie out, I wanted to check the book out before seeing the movie because you can never regain your imagination's freedom of a good story once you've seen the movie. Have any of you read it? Don't worry I haven't read enough to ruin it for you, but just enough to get me thinking about my sermon for this morning. The thing that struck me as related to this sermon was her lack of trust of someone truly trying to help her.

For those of you who are not familiar with the story. The Hunger Games is set in a future dystopian version of America, a nation called Panem. There had been a rebellion at some point that was squelched by the central authority, referred to as The Capitol. Since the rebellion in a way to keep order and the allegiance of the outlying 12 districts, the Capitol has decreed that there be an annual "Hunger Games," where a male and a female "tribute" from each district will be chosen, by draw or volunteer, to fight to the death in a huge televised manipulated natural terrain arena. One survivor the winner and 23 deceased the losers, pretty intense competition. The entire games are televised like a huge media circus, combination of the Olympics and reality TV. Now what got me is that the main character a young girl from district 12, who volunteered to save her sister from having to go, after her name was drawn, never can trust anyone. She is always concerned that anyone and everyone who is nice to her must have an agenda, which is interesting because she is wholly motivated by selfless devotion for her sister, but she is unable to believe that anyone would be selfless enough, and love her in that way, too, willing to sacrifice themselves for her. Now obviously her situation is extreme, in that there are 23 other folks whose life depends on her death, but it got me thinking, how often do we mistake kindness given to us, as motivated by the other's selfish motives? How often do we trust the other enough to take kindness as kindness, or is our guard always up, as if we ourselves were trapped in some kind of winner take all Hunger Games? How often do we even see Jesus' death as a way to manipulate us into following God? As if Jesus' sacrifice wasn't out of love, but just a convoluted system to get us in church and behaving. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that we attend, tithe, and behave. I don't think that's what John 3:16 says, but has our version of Christianity become so cynical and systematic that this is the reality? Father forgive us we know not what we do.

To a person who has lost trust in people, lost faith in humanity, persecution and hospitality look eerily similar. Wait, why are you helping me? What do you want? I don't want to be in your debt. It reminds me of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying as the Bundren family repeatedly responds to people who want to help them with, "Well we don't want to be beholden." We don't want to be beholden because real vulnerability of relationship is what follows. What follows is a need to look at the other rather than just at yourself, your own view, your own freedom? Much is at stake, when you accept that diokontes. "Someone running after you to try to catch you." What do they want? Paul seems to say, doesn't matter, bless them. Pray for them, trust them, love them. But wait, how will I know the difference? Doesn't matter, bless them, pray for them, trust them love them. But what if they mean me harm. Doesn't matter, bless them, pray for them, trust them, love them. But what if they have an agenda, hello, doesn't matter, bless them, pray for them, trust them, love them. How can you be serious?  How can I bless someone without knowing what they're motivation is? Doesn't it matter. No, Bless them, Yeah, you heard me right, bless and do not curse them.

If Jesus can bless his persecutors, real persecutors, and I can't think of any agenda worse, or punishment, or pain worse than crucifixion, what could someone do to you that would be anywhere close to that, so it doesn't matter, bless them, pray for them, trust them, love them. All of a sudden, again it becomes not about you  and your reaction, but about them, and their point of view and their needs. The girl in "The Hunger Games" loved her sister that much, but couldn't understand how anyone could love her that much. She was in need, but knew not what she needed. We can start with trying to love those who diokontes us "running after us" with hospitality, and eventually can grow to love those diokontes, "running after us" to persecute us, because the word is the same, there is no difference, just human beings, who all need the same thing, whether they are hospitable with a hidden agenda, whether they are sacrificing all for a loved one, whether they are persecuting others, they all are in desperate need of love, we are all in desperate need of love, and we continue to know not what we do, nor what we need, but Jesus knew, and he gives it freely, the ultimate blessing, of love, may we begin to truly learn it ourselves. Amen.

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Lk 23:26-38). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Strangers Among Us

Strangers Among Us

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 9, 2012

at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia

Romans 12:13b

Deuteronomy 26: 1-11

Luke 14: 7-14 

Let us pray,

Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

The NRSV chooses to place a paragraph indention at the end of this morning's verse in the marks of a Christian from Romans 12, so we've made it through at least what the NRSV chose to delineate as the first paragraph of this dense passage. There does seem to be a change of pace after this morning, in that after this morning, the passage gets even more radical. So far the Marks of a Christian have been ultra demanding, but next week we get into how a Christian is supposed to deal with enemies and hatred, pretty radical stuff, especially since we will talk about loving our enemies and overcoming hatred with love, but this week, although not so radical, is very difficult in our inward focused world, and that is Romans 12:13b "Extend Hospitality to Strangers," so taking a look back before proceeding forward:  

⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. ^[1]  

To pair with "extend hospitality to strangers" I chose a passage where Jesus is discussing hospitality in the parable of the wedding feast from Luke 14:7-14:

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; ⁹ and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹² He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”  

One of the ways that I sometimes get at what I want to say about a text on a given week is to think about what's most obvious. I try to get at what the cliche sermon would be for a given text. I think about all the sermons I've listened to and try to think about what the typical preacher would say about it, and then I try to tip that upside down, and go just a little deeper? I try to challenge the standard and see if there isn't something more waiting beyond obvious. So with this text I think the standard would be trying to get the congregation to look outside of themselves and to seek ways to become outward focused, to push people to greet visitors a little bit more friendly, to be more aggressive when it comes to inviting folks to the church, that maybe we should reinstate passing the peace to get us out of our seats and greeting each other just a little more. There are movements all across America as our the mainline denomination attendance is falling to try to reach out and grab people and bring them into our church, to be welcoming because that is what it takes to grow a church, and this passage sings out to do so. That's what I think the standard sermon for this text would be, and I'm sure you've heard that type of sermon before. Let's find ways to be more welcoming, so we can grow, grow, grow, sell, sell, sell, and feel better about ourselves. But is that hospitality, is that extending, is that what we are being called to do in this passage, or like most of these marks of a Christian, does it require so much more. Remember, as we've seen every week since we've begun this study, that the marks of a Christian parallel the marks of Christ, the marks of the cross, the marks of the nails through the hands and feet, requires more than just being more friendly, why would this week be any different? Why would this passage, and its demands, all of a sudden, be doable, checkable, simple, and barely nudging us out of our pews and our comfort zones.

Like we've done so often during this series of sermons let's look at the words. Extend in Hospitality to Strangers. Basically we are looking at three key words in English, the verb Extend, the object of what is being extending, "hospitality" and the recipient, "strangers." In Greek though what is 5 words, extend in hospitality to strangers, is simply two. Diokontes Philoxenia. Diokontes which is translates as extend, and then hospitality to strangers is Philoxenia. Let's talk Diokontes first.

The NRSV says "extend", but as I was looking it up in the lexicon I found it is translated many different ways, but based on the context is best looked at as "to run fast in order to catch a person or a thing." To chase, to pursue, to earnestly endeavor to acquire." This is much more aggressive, much more direct than merely to "extend." So the ante is raised, extend just falls far short.

Now let's look at the object, "strangers," skipping over hospitality because I want to spend the most time on hospitality, bringing our gospel passage into play. Philoxenia, a word that is typically translated as "hospitality to strangers" is actually a compound word. Philo, which we've seen before, "love" like in English Philosopher, lover of wisdom, or Philadelphia, brotherly love, as we looked at a few weeks ago, Philanthropy, lover of people, here we have philo xenia, lover of the stranger. Now when we think of stranger, perhaps you are like me, you revert back to childhood, and possibly it is different for you all because our society has greatly changed over the years, but think of what we now teach our kids about strangers. There is "don't talk to strangers;" "Don't take candy from strangers;" "Beware of strangers;" In Strangers there is danger. Was it like that for you when you were a kid? But here we are called to go out, actively pursuing strangers in love.

As our Old Testament lesson showed there is a grand tradition in the Bible of strangers, both in being a stranger and in caring for strangers. "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down into Egypt and lived there as a stranger. . ." It all begins with being a stranger, and many of the rites and rituals outlined in the Pentateuch are focused on remembering that as a people the Hebrews were once strangers, remembering that, remembering the vulnerability that a stranger experiences, remembering how God reached out his hand to help, how others along the way reached out their hand to help them as they were strangers in a strange land, throughout the history from Egypt to the promised land, to the divided kingdoms, to the exile, to the reclaiming of the land and the reestablishment of the temple in Jerusalem, the concept of care for strangers is central to the Jewish understanding of identity and responsibility. It's somewhat foreign to us in America, though it is ironic as this is a nation of immigrants and in such a nation of strangers, but rather than allowing our status as strangers bring us together we have let it tear us apart, maybe it is because we do not know who we are. Perhaps, and maybe forgetting that we are strangers and vulnerable is a major part of our problems.

I bring this up because this is the context for hospitality to strangers in our text. Strangers is not simply the people that we don't know, but the people who are on the outside, the margins of society, and to extend, rather chase, pursue, overcome, run after, is our call to them, quite more extensive than merely greeting our visitors, whom we do not know. It is interesting too, because the reaching out to strangers is in a way forging an identity. For the Jews it was part of their history, part of who they were as a people, and reaching out to strangers became a way of internalizing that unique status and position. Now look at us Christians, as we try to live up to the Marks of a True Christian, we too find our identity in our history as strangers, looking to Christ, our Lord, who was a stranger in this world, was cast aside. Remembering that heritage as a part of who we are and who we are called to be can really be centering and identifying for Christians.

And that brings me to hospitality. Do we understand hospitality any more in our culture? We are consumers we pay for people to be hospitable to us. Restaurants and hotels and the such have changed the idea of hospitality. In ancient times travelers were welcomed in, given food, given shelter. There were no such thing as reservations, no such thing as travelers checks, no such thing as McDonalds. Travelers had to rely on the hospitality of folks if they were to survive, and like most things in society where there is necessity there is invention. Because there was a need for people to be hospitable people were. It was understood, it was part of a code. In many so called underdeveloped societies in our modern times you still see these types of hospitality remnants. Are we truly so advanced? Remember what we teach our children about strangers, hitch hikers, strange knocks at the door. Think about it the next time at Halloween you see a "Trunk or Treat" and think about why there is a need for safety's sake to not have kids knock on strange doors. Where is the hospitality in our society today? Our fragmented distrusting world has almost completely forgotten the notion.

And so that leaves church. Are we hospitable to the stranger? Do we know what true hospitality is? Are our greeters and visitor cards and warm smiles enough? We've had visitors, we've had people we've never met walk through that door, but when was the last time we had a stranger, on a Sunday, a true definition of a stranger, the oldest definition, the wandering Aramean type definition? And yet this passage says that the "true Christian" doesn't just wait for the stranger to greet, who never shows up, but runs after the stranger, takes hospitality to the stranger, on the stranger's terms, on the stranger's turf. Hospitality on the run.

Now why? Let's look at what Jesus calls hospitality because he like me, seems to like to take common understandings and amp them up beyond the cliched norm. The first part of  his wedding feast parable deals with the humility needed to be hospitable. There is a lowering of self, so that the other, the stranger may truly be raised up. The I is lost, the I am such and such is lost, the we are such and such is lost, the us is lost, and it becomes about the other person. Not we are glad to have you, see the pronouns of inclusion and exclusion, we / you, but "he may say to you, friend move up higher." Radical, the stranger sets the parameters of the meeting, the guidelines, the status. Then the second part has to do with the why. Why humble yourself? Why extend hospitality? Why stick your neck out?

I've seen it across the country in meetings and focus groups and seminary classes we need to grow our church, we need to get people in, the church is dying, we need to be more externally focused so that we do not die. Again there it is we, we, we. Look at how Jesus explains hospitality.

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. 

They cannot repay  you, hello, it's not about you, it's about them. We extend hospitality not because we want to grow but because we care. We care about the stranger. We care about the stranger because we are strangers too, we were strangers too, Christ was a stranger too, and set an amazing example of hospitality by disrobing the heavenly honor, casting aside the crown, and becoming flesh, becoming one of us, a stranger amongst us, to save other strangers, so that we may all be found again, loved again, claimed again in God's house, in God's family, to live in peace and love and new found identity forever. So yeah we better greet our visitors, and yeah we better be as friendly as we can, but our hospitality cannot be bound by that door, and it cannot be bound by this hour once a week, it must be a hospitality that aggressively breaks outside into the world. Romans 12:13b Diokontes Philoxenia, Agressively pursue being a lover of the stranger, again the marks of the Christian are the marks of Christ, radical, extreme, immaculate, messy, personal, sustained with blood and sweat, and discomfort, and risk, and above all forged in the amazing possibilities of the ultimate definition of love. May God give us the strength. Amen.

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Ro 12:9-13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson

September 2, 2012

at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia

Romans 12:13a

Luke 10: 25-37

Genesis 4: 1-9

 

Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes

Help us to think outside our minds

Help us to be more than our lives

            For your eyes show us the way

            Your mind knows the truth

            Your being is the life.

Amen. 

This week our passage from the marks of a Christian is "Contribute to the needs of the saints, and I want to take this opportunity to look at how we take and care for each other. It seems like you cannot turn the tv on any more in this election year without finding the phrase brother's keeper, and at Blue Ridge the powers that be have decided that Brother's Keeper is going to be our theme and emphasis for the year. What we are going to get at is seeing if "contributing to the needs of the saints" and being a "brother's keeper" are the same or at least compatible. After choosing the Old Testament passage, from where we get the term "Brother's Keeper" I chose the classic parable of caring, The Good Samaritan. So we'll have all three in our freshly heard as we begin. Here is the Good Samaritan Luke 10: 25-37.

²⁵ Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.  “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” ²⁷ He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

²⁹ But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” ^[1]

 

Ok, so brother's keeper, it's a phrase that surrounds us in the modern lexicon, and it is used most often to imply that human beings have a responsibility to care for one another in this world. Of course we do, but I have always been somewhat uncomfortable with this phrase: Brother's Keeper. Here are a couple of reasons.

This phrase does not come from an example of the best of human relationship, but instead from the worst. It comes from the Cain and Abel story, the first murder in the Bible. Cain has just killed his brother Abel, and when confronted about it he replies with, "am I my brother's keeper," a smart alek way of evading the question, and from this we have taken the slogan for kind feeling and caring for each other.

And if this wasn't troubling enough we also have this issue of "keeping." What does it mean to keep? Keep what? Keep fed? Keep out of trouble? Keep in a cage? Keep in a zoo? The first thing I think of when I think of someone who keeps is a zookeeper. What does keep mean? The Hebrew word that we translate "keeper" is shamar, which can be used to describe a guardian, but also can be used in the same way that  you would "keep" the Sabbath. Fascinating.

The other thing that I find difficult is the idea of "I" am my brother's keeper, in that all the responsibility rests on me. I must do it, and if I fail, he fails. There is an exclusiveness in the phrase I am my brother's keeper because it's not we are our brothers keeper, but I am. That's a lot of pressure. Not only do I have to figure out my own way through this often confusing world, but also I'm responsible for "keeping" my brother. I think this is reflected in what Cain is saying. There is frustration in Cain's response to God alongside the shame he feels. Remember Cain is already upset with God for not accepting his offering. So you don't like my offering, and now I'm supposed to care about where my brother is? What do you want from me? Can I not do anything right? And yet, we choose brother's keeper as the care slogan.

The biggest issue that I have with the idea of keeping is the fact that many times we use it as an excuse to insert our own selves, our own values, and our own way of thinking into a situation that many times has nothing to do with us. Being our brother's keeper sometimes turns into a carte blanche to jump in and meddle, because it's not just love your neighbor, or help out a friend, there is "keeping" involved, and keeping seems to allow for I know better than you, or I'm trying to keep you out of trouble. I'm going to protect you from yourself. It is not a relationship of equal partnership, but of the keeper and the kept. At worst it leads to resentment, and at best you get the problem we've talked about the last few weeks: what if suffering, what if struggle, what if mistakes are important pieces of a person's development, and that by keeping the other safe we are not allowing them to live. You get that consistent problem of human action, unintended consequences. How are you going to know? It is possible that our human flaws and weakness render us incapable of being our brother's keeper in a positive way. God responds to Cain's question by saying, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!" Perhaps we are not as bad as Cain, murdering our brother with a rock, but we can look around at our world and hear the blood of our brothers crying out to us from the ground."

I want to pose that this morning's phrase, "Contribute to the needs of the Saints" is a more positive idea of what we as Christians are called to do, what loving our neighbors means an active and more concrete way. Specifically the first word, "contribute." A tribute in Roman times was a tax, and to contribute meant with the tribute or alongside. I like this because because there is working together. The aid that we are doing is not on an island but part of a larger program. We are playing a role, and an important role, but we are not all by ourselves. This is more important than may be apparent.

I chose as the prayer of preparation in your bulletin this morning, the closing lines from Act 1 of Hamlet. Hamlet has just seen a ghost, he has just confirmed some of his suspicions about his uncle and his mother, and has vowed to right the wrongs, but he says with regret, "The time is out of joint, O cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right!" He must insert himself into the relationships of others, and in other words it's all on him. He is alienated by his vision and alienated in his mission. How often do we feel this way about our mission in this world? There is something within us that makes us see the world revolving around ourselves, even when our attention is placed upon other people and their problems. We can put the weight of the world on our shoulders, feeling we are it. This is what Hamlet does, he even further alienates himself by "acting crazy." He does not confide in any one about what he is trying to do, but goes about it completely alone, and it almost destroys him. It is not until he breaks out of his prison, sees more of the world, sees how he must depend on others and on God, that he finally realizes there is more to the world than just him. O cursed spite turns into "let be," he can now focus on things outside of himself. It is one of the great ironies of the world that sometimes those on a mission of selflessness become the most selfish. They believe that their role to play is so important that they can do whatever it takes, even if it challenges their ethics and morals. You see this all over the place. It is one reason that power corrupts. Human beings have trouble with self importance, even when being selfless.

But no we are called to contribute. The Greek word that is translated contribute is even cooler. It is simply the word community stated as a verb. Greek is cool like that. The word for Community in Greek is Koinonia, the word that we translate as contribute is koinoneo, the verb form. Pretty cool huh. Who would have ever thought community could be a verb. I guess it would be communitize. So Communitize the needs of the saints. But the word that we translate as "needs" could be translated as duties, and of the saints could be translated of the Holy, or the Holy one. Communitize the duties of the Holy One. Be a part of the holy work. The verb itself suggests that we are not out on an island, but part of something bigger than ourselves. Imagine if Cain had seen his relationship with Abel in this way. Instead of competing with each other and their sacrifices to God, trying to outdo one another, leaving one winner, and one loser crying out from the ground, you get two individuals freely giving what they can, communitizing.

So now let's look at the Good Samaritan parable in this light. The religious leaders who all walk by the man lying in the ditch probably felt that the work they were doing was so much more important than that one guy. Perhaps. They might have felt that their congregations depended on them for so much that the business could not wait. They were probably doing good work, but at what cost. Then the Samaritan comes along. Helps the man. Does what he can, but then takes him to the inn and leaves him there. Leaves him for others to take care of. He did his part, but also understood that there was a point in time when his services, having been rendered, were finished, and that it was time for another to take over. How hard is this to do? Not only to help, but also to disappear, depend on others to finish, possibly allowing the other to get the credit for what you did.

So back to brother's keeper? Am I my brother's keeper? I don't think so. Instead let's lose the I; let's lose the my; let's lose the keeper; and let's lose the question; what is left? Simply, brother. I'm not my brother's keeper, but simply my brother's brother. Brothers, communitizing, figuring it out piece by piece, serving God, allowing His will to be done, for God is truly our keeper, an uniquely capable of the job. May we let God do the keeping and we can focus on the loving, the building up of community, communitizing, the freeing of each other to make mistakes, and to live because life is too precious, bumps and all, let us live, not be kept safe from life. May it be so, amen.

 

---

^[1]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Lk 10:25-37). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.