Life is funny sometimes. Yesterday (Saturday) I got a text message in the middle of a very busy Days for Girls kit packing day at the Pennsylvania Collection Point. The text message was from a friend, who had the flu, and had it bad. He needed someone to preach for him. With less than 24 hours notice, I said yes. I had a million reasons to say no, but at the moment all I could think to say was that I would be happy to help.
I looked for his email with details when I got home late afternoon. They use the lectionary, but he thought it would be ok if I chose my own text at this late notice. Someone would meet me at the piano at 10:10 to go over the order of worship.
I decided to use my Psalm 37 reflection but it was too short to be considered a sermon. So, I grabbed a commentary on Luke that I love (New Cambridge Bible Commentary) that Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington authored. I read through and made some notes and then went off to dinner with friends as planned. I went to bed early and had unhelpful dreams about the sermon prep.
I was awake about an hour before my alarm went off so I got to work. I was still sure that I wanted to write something instead of pull out an old sermon. It’s been over two years since I preached anything other than the period sermon. Luke’s message to Love our Enemies felt too important to push aside. In a few hours I had a rough approximation of comments that I would have had for a bible study. Together with the psalm reflection it would take the space of a sermon for worship.
The worship team was a little surprised to see me but after explaining the situation they were grateful I was there. The service went fine, not smoothly, but fine. I dropped the prayer requests and had to pick them up… ungracefully. Friendly smiling goes a long way…. this wasn’t my finest hour. But, I was determined to fill it with love and graciousness, and count on the Holy Spirit to get us all through. And it worked out. A below average sermon lifting heavily on the commentary (even the Fiddler on the Roof reference was inspired by the commentary) worked out in the end.
Greeting people after worship was a blessing to me. They were kind and thankful. A few of them mentioned that these were the words they needed to hear and they were struggling with anger, anxiety, depression since the election. I told them I was feeling the same but was holding onto hope and trying to add a little bit of kindness anywhere I could because that’s all most of us are able to do. A younger woman asked about my clerical collar and I explained I wear it so that people know I’m the pastor when I’m in a new setting or in a hospital or somewhere I would need to be identifiable as pastor. A couple of people said they were going to make chocolate chip cookies, one woman was going to the store after church to buy the chocolate chips. It made my heart happy, that was the only truly original part of this sermon.
This blog post is mostly for me to remind myself: that I can still preach even if it’s at the last minute. God is still showing up in worship and in the hearts of those gathered. And love will get us through.
For those of you still curious about the less-than-stellar sermon, I’ll post it below. If you read it, read it with love.
Luke 6:27-38
“But I say to you who are listening” is a great opening line. This message is for those who are listening, who are waiting and hoping to hear good news. And for those who are reading Luke’s gospel later, studying, trying to understand how to live well, this message is for you too.
This message is for the compassionate, the merciful and the loving. This is how we will co-create a more loving world.
6:27“But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you;
6:28bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.
This reminds me of the Fiddler of the Roof, when the Rabbi is asked if there is a blessing for the czar and responds, May God Bless and keep the czar, far away from us.
It’s a little silly but it fits the show, and this example gives us the idea to create a boundary so that your enemy doesn’t hurt you and still gets what they need. Everyone deserves to feel safe and loved, even our enemies.
Another way of thinking about this is to acknowledge that hurting people hurt other people. Sometimes the crabbiest among us need the most love.
Teachers will tell you that the student who needs the most love will ask for it in the most unloving way. And teacher know that it is their job to respond with love.
For all of us to love enemies means to show them mercy, and to care for their well-being despite their unloving ways.
6:29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
6:30Give to everyone who ask of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again.
(Levine and Witherington Gospel of Luke) It’s interesting that in a similar passage in Matthew, (5:29) specifies that if someone strikes you on the right cheek you should turn your left cheek towards them. Slapping on the right side implies a backhanded slap, one that a master would use against a slave, or an officer against a peasant, and is specifically about someone who would outrank you. In this instance, turning the other cheek is a symbolic way to say hit me like I’m your equal and is a form of nonviolent resistance. Here in Luke, the distinction of class and power is taken out, so if anyone hits you, on any side, turn the other cheek. In Luke, this is a nonviolent response to anyone regardless of rank.
In these verses, it seems that equality is sort of assumed and if we aren’t on equal footing with our enemies, it sounds like we might be in a position of being better off than those who are looking to hurt us.
So, if someone asks for something, give it, and if they take it don’t demand it back. Some nuance and context are needed that we don’t have. Certainly, there are situations in which you should not let yourself be used and abused. But I think Jesus’ point is that along with being nonviolent, we could also have compassion. Someone who steels food or clothing might need your shirt more than you do. Those of us with wealth and privilege would certainly be just fine if we gave up a shirt or a meal or $20. But the desperate person trying to take it, might need it more.
The point is, instead of being legalistic about what belongs to whom, perhaps we can view each other in compassionate ways and consider who is suffering and who is in need.
6:31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
6:32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
6:33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
6:34If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
6:35Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Treat others the way you want to be treated. Don’t do something to someone else that you wouldn’t like to have done to you. These are things that we say to children all the time. And even though most of us have heard the golden rule a million times, we sometimes still need to be reminded. This is the base level of how we expect people to behave in community with one another. In this context, Jesus is reminding us that this includes everyone, our friends, neighbors, and enemies. We are to treat everyone as if they are the beloved of God. Because they are the beloved of God regardless of your feelings for them.
If you only love those who love you or if you lend and expect repayment in a timely legal manner, you are participating in life at a very basic level.
Remember this message is for those of us who are listening, who are hoping, who are willing to work for a better world. Jesus is saying, love extravagantly, be generous, and in all things try to emulate our loving God.
6:36Be merciful, just as your God is merciful.
God is merciful, and compassionate, and loving. Jesus is asking us to do the same. The New Cambridge Bible Commentary defines compassion this way, Compassion “is literally a form of co-suffering, of understanding, deeply, the needs of others and then doing what one can to fulfill them.” (p. 183) Compassion requires empathy, a deep understanding of the suffering of others, and compassion requires action, to love others deeply and to do whatever we can to alleviate their suffering.
6:37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven;
6:38give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
Jesus is asking us to move beyond what is fair and legal in our dealings with one another. He is asking all those who are listening to be generous, kind, compassionate and non-judgmental.
Jesus is asking us to measure our love for others like we measure chocolate chips. The recipe on the back of the tollhouse semisweet chocolate chips says, to add “two cups” of chocolate chips to the batter. So, you fill up the cup, shake it so that they chocolate chips make a little more room. Then you add more chocolate chips on top so that you have to hold the cup with one hand and hold the avalanche of chocolate chips on top of the cup with the other. Then you dump the cup into the bowl with the batter. Look at it and decide to dump a few more chocolate chips in for good measure. And then you do it again.
We are called to measure our love for others like chocolate chips, again and again and again.
Benediction:
Friends, let us do all things without worry or fear or judgement. And let’s measure our love, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion like chocolate chips knowing that God is doing the same. God is giving us blessings in a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over and spilling onto our lap. Alleluia and Amen.
Period Pastor Pad 