Scripture Lesson: Romans 12:9-16
May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the call of the Holy Spirit to be one gathered community be with us all!
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ”
In this time of social distancing, health concerns, and missional challenges, being part of a larger (…) community is an intentional reality that I pray encourages each one of us in what God is doing and calling us to be as disciples of Jesus, as witnesses to the good news, and as hands, feet and voices of the divine mandates to solidarity, justice, peace, hope and love.
And what a Sunday to discern our part in these divine mandates! Today, many Presbyterian congregations are observing Intercultural Church Sunday. The 223rd General Assembly of 2018 called all councils of the Church to shift their life, work and worship in a way that demonstrates intercultural intention and commitment. And having lived for many years in Mercer, Union and Middlesex counties, I see every reason and possibility for Presbyterians in New Jersey – congregations, leaders and the shifting presbyteries – to be transformed by the intercultural reality the communities we live, work and worship already are. Perhaps some of you may be thinking it is easier said than done. I am perhaps more enthusiastic than most about seeing what will happen to Presbyterians in our region, and perhaps especially in New Jersey, if and when we embrace this call from the General Assembly to be an Intercultural Church. And what is more, I wager that the future of the Church – its witness, its mission and its social relevancy – will depend on how intentional we are in allowing ourselves to be transformed by the otherness that is becoming and already is the reality all around us.
And, of course, to make this call to discern our intercultural vocation and identity the more complicated, we are all having this conversation through a screen in a space I hope is safe and familiar for you. But a space we are not sharing together. I think I can say with certainty that on this 7th Sunday of Easter, and 10th-ish of Stay-at-Home, none of us would have asked for this level and length of isolation, nor could we have imagined everything that would need to be shifted.
And yet, this is the time the Holy Spirit is challenging us to be the Church, and (…) to consider – in worship and in Word – what should be the actions to become an ever more faithful expression of the message, the power and the identity of the Good News of Jesus. Many of us should know very well that God has a way with our plans. And in my experience God’s ways are usually to undo those plans. But in undoing our plans – plans we thought were strong, and got them through session, or committee, or the presbytery – what God does is to shift our attention and energy to that which is essential.
The Apostle Paul has lots to teach us about this. Today’s lesson is found in the letter to the Romans, chapter 12. And as he was writing this letter, Paul had all sorts of plans:
He was on his way to Jerusalem to bring an offering of financial assistance to that presbytery from sister presbyteries throughout Asia Minor.
During that visit, he was hoping that a special meeting of the presbytery of Jerusalem would be called to ask that he be commissioned to serve as a missionary to Spain.
In the meantime, he decided to write a letter to the presbytery of Rome, a group he perhaps knew only by reference, with a sort of statement of faith and vocation. It seemed that, if the way be clear in Jerusalem, Paul would ask the presbytery of Rome to take under their care the ministry he would facilitate in Spain.
Paul spent more than half of the letter talking about the goodness of God revealed in the gospel, justification by faith apart from the Law, and salvation for the justified by faith. Yes, so Reformed Christian of Paul. Also very Reformed Christian of Paul (if not downright Presbyterian) was this delicate balancing act in the letter - as not to heighten the sensitivity of Jews and Gentiles in the Roman Presbytery. Because Paul, indeed, had opinions about the supremacy of one group over another, and about political control in the church veiled as order, liturgy, and doctrine. But he also knew that his opinions and experiences notwithstanding, what was essential in ministry, mission and witness is not crafting the perfect plan, and certainly not being right. For truth and success in the works of the Gospel do not stem from our abilities. As a matter of fact, more often than not, truth and success in the mission of the Church emerges in spite of our abilities and resources.
Paul had learned that truth and success would emerge in his pastoral and missional work by remaining faithful to the Gospel he was called to share, and intentional in his pursuit of relationship. The ministry Paul was called into was one that challenged and even questioned everything he thought as normative and efficient. Paul was called to a ministry that would utterly place him with and among those he was raised to see - by the culture he grew up and trained in - as “other.” It took Paul all his time in ministry to learn there is a difference between the ways he knew, and the message he was called to share. What is important lies not in how we are going to do ministry, but on what we are called to be as followers of Jesus among those we see as different, but God sees as God’s children.
And it is beginning in chapter 12 of his letter to the Romans that Paul makes what I think is one of the most important contributions to the Church’s understanding of mission:
That Christian life and discipleship, and Gospel witness and proclamation is all about giving up all that we are to God and to neighbor
To allow that relationship with God and with the other to transform what we think is right, and our understanding of the world, even if it means transforming all of what you think you ought to be
To realize that all of this is possible because of the reality that propels all prophets, law and Gospel – Love!
Faithfulness is all about relationship
True relationships will transform you
Relationship is all about love
Love is all about God
God is all about salvation and reconciliation
And what better example of this than Jesus.
Some of you may be thinking, “that sounds lovely.” And at the same time many of you may be thinking, “but that’s easier said than done.” Well, I think in Ch. 12, beginning on verse 9, Paul provides us with a method:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
And two things about this method that challenges us today. The first one is that this is not a check-list. There is no diploma or certificate at the end of having accomplished these things. This is an invitation to a way of life. Engaging these as disciplines will lead us to stronger spirits, genuine relationships, and transformed lives. The second thing is that this will require intentionality. And the text itself gives us the way to keep our intentionality in check. Verse 12 calls the communities of the faithful to “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” Perseverance, Patience and Joy, I believe, will be the key to responding to the call to be an evermore faithful witness in and with the intercultural reality that the community around us already is and is becoming:
Because there will be many times when discomfort and fear of the unknown can gain the better of us, we will need to persevere and be reminded to what is it that God is calling the Church into.
Because there will be much to learn, much to question, and much to unlearn we will require patience. To learn, to question and to unlearn is not a book and classroom process. True learning will challenge who we think we are. That is a painful process that will require patience.
Because we will experience new things, and meet new people, and get to know people we thought we had figured out in a whole different way it will be well to remember to rejoice. There is joy in forgiving and being forgiven. There is joy in reconciling the errors of our culture and be welcomed into the culture of others. There is joy in realizing that our role as the Church is not to be right, but to preserve the truth. And the core of truth is love. And God is love. And God calls us all into love.
The challenge is great! The stakes are greater. Our communities need to know what love is really about. The Gospel compels the Church to be hands, feet, and voices of love. We need to become hands, feet and voices that are understood by the communities our churches are in. We literally need to speak a language that is understood by those communities. But it is not only that. To become this Church we are being challenged to become we need to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. What does love look like with the elderly in hospice care not being able to see their loved ones, those who are Presbyterian and those who are not? What does love look like with the undocumented essential workers who are not being afforded safety equipment nor labor protections, those who are Presbyterian and those who are not? What does love look like with Black folk who fear for their lives even in the most basic survival and daily activities, those who are Presbyterian and those who are not? What does love look like when in considering re-entry to face-to-face liturgical ministry some in our own communities might be left out if we go back into the building too soon?
What does love look like? What does reconciliation look like? What does justice look like? What does it all look like for all?
As we continue to discern together what are the ways in which God is challenging us to be the Church for such a time as this,(…), I beseech you seize the opportunity to be transformed, to be changed by otherness. And in being transformed, to pursue reconciliation, justice and peace.
Perseverance, Patience and Joy will guide us well in that journey, remembering that Faithfulness is all about relationship, True relationships will transform you, Relationship is all about love, and Love is all about God.
May it be so. Amen.