SUNDAY SERMON
Proper 13, Year C
August 1, 2004
The
Rev. Dr. Jerry Harber
Epistle: Colossians
3 5 17
The portion of Paul's letter and the portion of the Gospel read today have something in common that should very much matter to us. Paul and Jesus both speak about qualities a believer possesses. Jesus speaks only of the notion that the acquisition of possessions-greed-keeps our focus on this world rather than on God. Paul tells us about being renewed by Christ Jesus and how that will show up in our daily lives and relationships.
In his very direct way, Paul says, "Put to death whatever in you is earthly." Another way to say that is "put to death whatever in you separates you from the person God has called you to be." Paul doesn't leave us guessing about the behaviors he believes show evidence of failure to be what God has called us to be: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, idolatry--in the sense of things at the center of your life--anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language, and lies.
Now for many who preach, this list is a gold mine. As they look at this text, they can almost taste the sulfurous smell of the brimstone and feel the heat of the fires of hell they are going share with the congregation. They feel delight as they know they are about to whip the souls of the assembly into godliness-or at least a good guilt trip. I know when I realized this was my Sunday to preach those were my first thoughts! I think Paul and Jesus, however, take no delight in having to point out the proof of our unrepentant selves. And the truth is, neither do I.
But while we take no delight in doing so, it's important to do so just the same. Important because it's far to easy for all of us to fail to see ourselves in this list. The reality is: it's uncomfortable to take seriously that we might really be sinners, so it's easy to see these horrible things as applying to someone else. Few, if any, of us are guilty of the sexual sins Paul enumerates, right? And, indeed, I'm sure none of us are guilty of all the sins in the list. But, at the same time, are any of us free of them all?
I've recently read in a couple of different places about the growing perception that there is a breakdown in our culture of simple civility-common courtesy. I may have noticed it, because that has been a peeve of mine for some time now. Road rage might be the ultimate rudeness, but taking a cell phone call in the middle of a movie or play differs only in the intensity of the rudeness. CEOs paying themselves astronomical salaries while laying off workers is not altogether different from keeping the change you're given at a McDonald's when the clerk made a mistake or cheating on your taxes. Each of these is about an inappropriate and inflated sense of self importance and, maybe worse, entitlement. All are reminiscent of the rich man in Jesus' parable whose thoughts were for himself and himself only.
And while it would be tempting to talk about the times the anger that Paul includes in his list might be appropriate, doing so would only be an attempt to take the stinger out of the message that our anger is often expressed in inappropriate ways. Just as it would be tempting to say that if you just automatically forgive people, letting them get away with mistreating you, that you may just be codependent and dysfunctional. That too would miss the point. In fact, the real point Paul may be making is that none of these sins need concern us if, to use his words, we "clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Or if above all, we clothe ourselves with love-appropriate concern and regard for others.
Paul's real bottom line is that we have been renewed in our baptism and become God's beloved children. So Paul is not so much telling us how to act as he's reminding us whose we are. And reminding us that because we are God's, we will want to be different. The rub is, these qualities of compassion, kindness and the rest don't seem to be very natural. Babies may be the most selfish and entitled people in the world. They can't help themselves. If they didn't demand attention, they would often be uncomfortable, and perhaps at worst, they might die. We can forgive them for this. But as they grow and develop, their behavior is expected to change. Pitching a fit when you don't get your way when you're six months old is one thing, but when you're an adult, that's another.
As we grow in the realization that we are God's children, and all that that means, these qualities--compassion, kindness, gentleness, meekness and patience--should become more natural for us. In a very real sense, it is putting on the new self because the old self died in baptism. Just as a crawling child eventually learns to walk and run, we too, should expect to become more Christ-like as we grow and develop as Christians.
But what if we don't find that to be so? What if we find we are still just as stuck in our old nature as we were ten years ago, five years ago, a year ago? What if we're no more kind, no more compassionate in our dealings with others, no more patient? What if our own sense of entitlement is still in the way? What if love still doesn't guide our actions? What does this mean for us?
I can only tell you what it means for me. Paul says the self is "renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator." What that seems to me to mean is that I've got to routinely take stock and compare what I am to what God has called me to be. I need to stop during each day and ask myself: what thoughts and feelings have dominated my day? Was I so lost in tasks that I didn't take time for people? Was I so stressed by a deadline that I was ill-tempered with others? Was I so caught up in feelings of resentment or irritation that my spirit was depleted my witness diminished? Did my thoughts and feelings today lead me toward a relationship with God or did they lead me away?
I have to ask myself if I took any meaningful time today to look for God through prayer, through the view out my office window, through the excitement of the child I saw running carefree down the hall? I have to ask myself if I showed any appreciation for my colleagues at work or for my wife? Was I so busy "doing good" today, that I didn't have time to "be good?" Could the people I interacted with today have detected that I am a Christian, not because I wear a collar or work in a church but because of the way I interacted with them?
You see, for me, if I don't stop and do that stock taking, I'm not likely to notice when I have slipped into my self-important and entitled self. Who I want to be and who God expects me to be starts to slip off like an ill-fitting garment. I wish it weren't so. I wish that the mind of Christ was so infused into my mind that I was just naturally all that Paul says we must be. Maybe someday. But not now. Now I still need to be focused and aware. Now I still need the frequent reminders that being in a Christian community can provide. Now I still need to stop and pay attention.
Do you have all this down pat? Maybe what helps me would help you. Consider it. And in the meantime, pray for me. And I will pray for you.