September 23, 2001
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Shall We Do? As was true of this time in our worship service in the last few weeks, this second reading and the title are not what was published in the September issue of our newsletter The Good News. Certainly recent current events and my own reflections have helped me hear a different word, and to present that word to you. So it is that we hear today another part of the letter to the Romans. In these days of anger, grief, preparation for war, and prayers for peace, people rushing to help and people too numbed to do anything. We face our own anxiety and uncertainty. Yet we cannot get away from the tug on our hearts that tells us that this is the time for faithfulness. In the letter to the church at Rome, Paul shows us what we might do in a time such as this. Like those citizens of Rome who were also members of the church of Jesus Christ, we struggle with what it means to live as Christians in a multi-religious society. Like them, we may feel besieged. We may not know quite what to do. We have seen some amazing sights in recent days. We have seen people grieve and we have heard stories of people who because they were delayed a few minutes, are alive today. Stereotypes have been put into question as we have seen supposedly self-centered Americans give millions of dollars to help with disaster relief. How will we now think of tough talking and tough acting New Yorkers who have shown themselves to be humble, helpful, and grateful in the face of all that has gone on in their city? The question for me is this, what is the role of the church in these days? How shall we treat each other and how shall we treat all of our neighbors - keeping in mind that the neighborhood we live in is global. Here is what we can do. We can show the world the real transformation that happens when we take Paul’s and live in the full reality of an ethical, right behaving Christians and love what is real. We can hate what is evil. Remember a few weeks ago, we learned that in the ancient understanding to hate means to set aside, to put away from us all that gets in the way of our relationship with God and with one another. What we put aside is not focused on persons, or nations, or religions, but on actions that destroy community. Take on genuineness, authenticity, integrity, and put aside that which brings about destruction, dishonor, and debilitating action. Hold on to what is good, what is constructive, honorable, and builds up the body of Christ and the faithfulness of all people. There are two parts to Paul’s instructions to the Romans. The first part speaks directly to the church. What shall we do? There are three things. We can treat one another with RESPECT. We can offer each other our love, our care, support, and appreciation. There are people who do great things around here, just as there are people here who did great things. They taught, they were elders and deacons, they painted, and built, and patched, and sang, they prayed, and led in outreach ministries. We are grateful for all the work that has brought us here and we can praise God that a new generation is doing these same things. We can outdo one another in showing honor. We do that by acting as if we are glad to be in each other’s company. We can smile as we greet each other, we can take moments before and after church to say hello. We can pay attention to who is here and who has not been here for a while. We can call, visit, and create the kind of church you want to be in and the kind that you want to invite others to experience with us. Then we can take the next step. We move to finding our PASSION for this church. We discover what it is we feel deeply about and we put our feelings into action. We are called to be zealous - diligent for the church of Jesus Christ as it meets here at 1049 East Broad Street in Columbus, Ohio, and to go from this place out as far as we can go to be the bearers of God’s good news. We are called to be ardent in spirit, to be intensely devoted to the Spirit of God, not only for ourselves, but in order to serve our Lord. What is it in the church that stirs your passion? If you do not know what your passion is, or how to express it, then find it as you engage in the MINISTRY of the church. I want to be clear, that by ministry, I mean the work of all of us, clergy and laity; deacons and elders; youth and older persons, choir and congregation, whoever you are, this ministry is for you. Paul identifies five parts of the ministry to which we are all called. We rejoice in hope. Celebrate that we will participate in a future that God holds for us. We cannot control or predict the outcome of the future, but we can work toward it. We can trust that God is in it. So while we may not know what the future holds, we can be glad that we know the one who holds the future. Rejoice in hope. Second, we can be patient in suffering. In other words, don’t give up. The Psalmist says that weeping endures for a night, but joy comes with the morning (Ps. 30.5b). This night seems long. Indeed these are troubling times for many of us. There are families in this country and indeed in many parts of the world who still do not know for sure the fate of their loved ones. They are as yet unaccounted for but were last seen in the Pentagon or the World Trade Center, or getting on a plane in Newark, New Jersey. There is a kind of national depression among us which we know is part of our grieving process. But I believe the affirmation of the gospel song that says, “I’m so glad, trouble don’t last always.” It does not, and when we hang in there, with God, God will stand in with us, and our suffering will become the blessing of knowing that God has been with us the whole time. Daylight will break. Third, we can persevere in prayer. These days call us to prayer. You may know that there are some pamphlets for you to take. They are located in a case at the head of the stairs in the education wing of the church and are called “Care Notes”. The one that caught my attention the other day is appropriately called, “Making Sense Out of Suffering”. The writer, a Catholic priest named Jack Wintz, says this about prayer. “Honest prayer is an important response to suffering. Trusting prayer is not candy-coated or anguish-free. We present ourselves to God as we are - rind and all. We tell God about our fear and confusion, our anger, depression, and bitterness at having our plans threatened or our dreams torn apart. We tell God how hard it is to let go and trust that good can somehow rise out of ashes of defeat.” Pray. Then, fourth, contribute to the needs of the saints. That is as we nurture the members of the church inside, and we reach out in ministry beyond our doors we are about the task of helping people lead changed lives. We contribute to the needs of the saints which is what our ministry is about. This time of difficulty and hardship presents a grand opportunity for us to tell the story of our faith in Jesus Christ. But more than telling the story, this is our opportunity to live the story and show the world what the church can do. We are called to all that we can to embody the good news of Jesus Christ. And the fifth thing we do, is to extend hospitality to strangers. We can look them up, open the door, tell them about the good news we have found and are eager to share. Last week strangers found solace, they found hope, they found healing in the church. And I am glad that the church’s doors were open for them. But surely we can open our doors not only when hearts are broken, or when we are angry, or depressed, and hurt. Certainly we can open our doors and ourselves to those who look to us for hospitality, for a place to worship, and grow, and find a spiritual home. When we act with respect, discover our passion, when we do ministry, we will have a kind of spiritual security. Then we can come to regard each other highly enough to challenge one another, to stand with one another, to hear one another, and to do it all in full and total respect for the personhood and personality of each other. Show hospitality. Welcome all people into this household of God. That is Paul’s word to Christians about how we are to treat each other. Then he talks to the church about how to treat all people, in and out of the church. All of us are seeing things through the lens of last week’s events and people are looking to the church for a sense of assurance. People are looking for an experience that touches the reality of their lives. They are looking for people of real faith. What do we say to them? What do we say to ourselves? I am so glad that in this present crisis most pastors are teaching and preaching that we should seek justice and not just revenge. Religious and political leaders are saying no to Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim violence. They don’t deserve the violence and the harassment, and no one is well served by it. Let go of misguided anger. I know that doing so may be hard work. It is so much easier to curse our persecutors, and to fight our adversaries. But that is not the work that feeds our souls. It may feed our ego, but that simply leads to endless cycles of cursing, violence, retaliation, cursing, violence, and retaliation. Instead Paul says feel empathy (identifying with people) and weep and laugh with them in celebration and in sorrow. Build relationships with people. When we do, we can find ourselves the companions of people who live humble and people who live with a certain amount of conspicuous consumption, and find joy and hope, and light in them all. There is one more really hard thing we are called to do. Paul writes to the Romans to engage in right conduct especially when the temptation to lash out is strong. We are not here to exchange evil for evil, but to act for the greater good. We hear the call to live peaceably and that means that we are about justice, and to leave matters of vengeance to God. We need not take that on for ourselves. It belongs to God, God has said so. Romans has given us an ancient word that is timely and relevant for our time. That is the power and the beauty of scripture. It can speak to every age in fresh ways. This is a word for right now. Dale Bishop is the Executive Minister for Wider Church Ministries in our partner church, the United Church of Christ. Before that he was the representative of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Middle East. He is fluent in Arabic and he knows the region well. Here is part of his perspective on the World Trade Center and Pentagon explosions. He says: “We pray, ‘Save us from the time of trial’ - in the more familiar translation, ‘temptation’. This is a time of trial - trial of our sense of community, trial of our ability to transcend prejudices against, and stereotyping of, Muslims and Arabs in our midst, trial of our ability to respond to the needs of others, including the need simply to be heard. But, for me, the most difficult trial will be the trial of our faith. Do we really in our heart of hearts believe that our faith teaches us to go beyond the ethic of ‘an eye for an eye’? What does our Christian faith mean if it does not require a radical challenge to the prevailing ethic, the predictable one, of revenge and retaliation? A time of trial indeed, and one of lethal temptation.” Finally, prayerfully we are admonished not to be overcome evil (which anger and pain can become), but we are to overcome evil with good. I want to close with a word for these days by another United Church of Christ colleague. Ralph Quellhorst is the Conference Minister for Ohio. His words echo my thoughts. He says, “Don’t misunderstand me. I want these terrorists brought to justice, but I also want us to act in moral ways, even when other people act without morality. “Alex de Tocqueville said in the nineteenth century, ‘when America ceases to be good, it ceases to be great.’ When Christians cease to have love as our motivating force in life, we cease to be followers of Christ.” I would simply add that the world will know we are Christians by the way we offer justice filled love and grace all in the name of Jesus Christ. What shall we do? Can we take the challenge of our faith and after prayerful consideration, feed our enemies who are hungry for justice and faithfulness? Can we give them the waters of hope and healing? Paul says that by so doing we will heap burning coals on their heads. I am not sure what Paul means. But I think when we do the nearly impossible work of loving our enemies, we are acting as faithful Christians are called to do. May we not only be good citizens with a story to tell, but faithful Christians who seek and pursue justice and at the same time trust God who has promised to watch us and take care of everything else. That is our story and it’s the one on which our faith is built. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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