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Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – September 6, 2020
Centenary United Methodist Church Proverbs
21:1-8; Romans 13:8-14 This morning we are going to discuss what Paul
meant when he wrote to the community of believers in Rome, "Let us stop
doing things that belong to the dark. Let us take up weapons
for fighting in the light." (Romans 13:12b)
These are the words from the Good News translation of this Roman
passage. In our lesson Paul mentioned using spiritual
weapons twice. Since
he began this passage with these words, "The only obligation that you
have is to love one another," why did Paul consider using the word
weapon to describe a person's response that would best mirror Jesus'
teaching. In other translations, wearing armor
is used. In
Peterson's translation, he made no use of any words associated with
fighting, war, or using love as a weapon. Instead he wrote,
"Dress yourselves in Christ." Weapons can be used to attack but they can
also be used to defend ourselves. We can use the energy of love to
protect ourselves against temptations that can easily cloud our
reasoning with strong emotions such as: I did not deserve this! This is not fair!
Where is the justice?
I will not put up with this nonsense!
One day, you will get what you deserve and I will be delighted
when that day comes! Most of us have had such knee-jerk responses
when we have encountered by a bully, the betrayal of a friend, or
the death of a child from a brain tumor. When we consider the
devastation of homes and businesses that were completely destroyed
recently by Hurricane Laura, the question "Where was God?" can
overshadow keeping in front of us Jesus' teaching that he will be with
us until the end of the world.
(Matthew 28:20) Jesus used love as a weapon to guard against
the normal impulse reactions of our human nature.
Once when a soldier slapped Jesus for making a comment in the
presence of the High Priest, he responded: If I said something wrong, tell everyone here what
it was. But, if I am right
in what I have said, why did you hit me?" (John 18:23) What prevents us from becoming bitter with life's
twists and turns when our lives have been spent being kind and generous
toward others? It feels
only natural to express our feelings of sadness and the feeling of
being abandoned by God.
(Matthew 27:46) Jesus taught his listeners to forgive seventy
times seven because that quality is the experience of those living
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
(Matthew 18:23) Our forgiveness can be viewed as a weapon
that helps us to rise above responses that appear natural in our daily
lives here. We can understand thoroughly why Paul used military
terms when he said, "Put on the armor that God gives you so that you
will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks.
(Ephesians 8:11) Temptations can often appear to be stronger
than our power to resist. Loving energy helps us to understand that
all temptations only exist in this world.
In addition, this understanding helps us to remember that we are
angels of the light in physical form.
We have come here to help others understand what this world was
designed to do. This
world's energies were designed to bring out what is going on inside of
us. Jesus discovered
what kind of world into which he was born.
In addition, he also understood the reality from which he came.
According to the Apostle Paul: Jesus always had the nature of God, but he gave up
all that he had to become a servant.
He became a human being and humbly walked among humanity
reflecting how influential servants can be by accepting whatever
shows up in his life including his suffering and death. (Philippians
2:6f) What makes us different from Jesus is that
he discovered his identity when our true identity is hidden from most of
us.
Like Jesus, we gave up everything we knew for the sake of having
our spirits tested by the cross-currents coming from our earthly
experiences. We incarnated with infinite power to overcome our
world, but we also feel enormous urges to respond to the drama of what
is happening around us.
This is precisely the reason we came into our limited physical forms.
Our divinity will not surface in our lives until we display
the same weapons that Jesus did in our attitudes, our choices,
and our decision-making. Love
is the ultimate weapon that links us to our authentic nature.
(John 10:34f) Tomorrow we celebrate
Labor Day. In honor of that
day, let us consider what took place on an island.
The story of these island people illustrates the kind of
alternative that love offers when human nature appeared to
dominate their responses. Once there was a small
island where people lived together in peace. Most of the men were
fishermen while the women were stay-at-home moms nurturing their
families. One day a team of fishermen developed a product that
would provide an opportunity to increase their productivity. They
designed a massive fishing net that could be fastened between two boats. As the two boats dragged
this net through various schools of fish, they could catch enough fish
to feed most of the people on the island. The concept spread among
other fishermen resulting in chaos. Prices fell because there were
too many fish. Now, the fishermen were not earning enough money
even to maintain their boats or feed their families. A town meeting was
called and it attracted many emotionally distraught citizens. The
fisherman, who had invented the net, gave a presentation that described
a revolutionary idea that would sustain prosperity of everyone: While fishing has been
the way of life for most of us, we now have an opportunity for
widespread change. Some of us can devote more time to building
houses for others. Some of us could become teachers of our
children. Some of us could become bakers and supply baked goods.
Some of us could clear more land, plant gardens, and grow vegetables to
sell. Some of us could build sea-worthy boats so that we can
export what we catch, grow, and bake to neighboring islands. The island became a hub
of industrial activity because people developed new skills that were
useful to everyone. Their creativity spread through other islands.
Wars ended because most had learned to create products and sell
commodities that were needed by those living on other islands. The fabric of a society
had been brought together embodying God’s Wisdom. What was
that wisdom that was present since the beginning of time?
Self-interest gave way to the possibility of massive changes
that their society could make that would benefit everyone.
Love had become a weapon
that encouraged people to resist the response of feeling hopeless. People
could look within themselves and develop and share what they had found.
(Matthew 13:44) Loving energy began to
define everything that the people experienced by working together.
Almost like magic, doors which had been standing in front
of them unnoticed suddenly appeared.
It is fascinating what happens to our human nature when
loving energy causes people to transform normal boundaries of our
physical world into opportunities. Years
ago, a young woman had accepted guidance from her parents and many of
her friends to enter the legal profession. The logic was simple:
Once she had passed the Bar Examination, she could work for any agency
in the Federal Government. She followed through and secured an
excellent job just as others had predicted. Janet
eventually wrote a lengthy letter to me expressing her unhappiness with
life. She had gained 20 pounds and could no longer tolerate the daily
stress of life. She mentioned that she had nothing in common with
her peers. She had an excellent salary, but had lost her
identity. I
wrote back and asked, "When you dream about an environment that would be
compatible with your spirit, where do you go?" Her response was
immediate. She wrote about being outside in nature, about her love for
animals, and about dealing with people in a different environment from
one filled with cubicles and legal briefs.
Every verbal symbol she used to describe her dream told me that
she had missed the mark in her choice for a vocation. Her
spirit was communicating to her to follow her dream.
She took a risk and walked away from the lucrative legal
profession. Her
love of wanting to be useful in another setting became the weapon
that she used to resist the gods of this world of wealth and power. Once
she recognized her need to be faithful to her desires and not the
desires of others, a door that had been there all the time
suddenly became visible. After a year had passed, she responded to my
question. She
wrote, "I am happy again and thrilled to be alive in my own skin."
She interviewed and was accepted for a position at the Grand Teton
National Park in Wyoming. She
met and married one of the Park Rangers. Her spirit found a place to
express itself in a manner that had no outlet in the legal profession. The
Apostle Paul was correct when he wrote: Love
others as you love yourself.
You must do this because you know that the time has come for you
to wake up from your sleep. The night is nearly over and the daylight is
dawning. (Romans 13:10f) What
is amazing about life is that it is never too late to awaken from our
sleep caused by our world's agenda for our lives. One day we will open
our eyes to a new world.
What Jesus was teaching is that we can live in that new world now.
In spite of our age or circumstances, are we awake enough to
seize the moment to be fully alive?
CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER
Loving and always
merciful God, we are humbled by the responsibilities you have given to
us as your sons and daughters.
We live in a world that radiates a need to be embraced by those
of us who have learned the art of loving.
As we enjoy another Labor Day, help us to reflect on what we do
as a vehicle for nurturing others. Help us recognize, O God, that often
we are healed when we become the healer of broken relationships.
We ask that you give us the wisdom to turn every awkward moment,
every painful experience, and every challenging personality into a
private tutor for teaching us
patience, tolerance, and peace.
Amen.
PASTORAL
PRAYER
Loving God, we thank
you for the consistency of your spirit. With you, there are no
favorites. With you, there are no disappointments, failures,
hurts, or unmet needs. Your will unfolds all around us whether
anyone is noticing or not. With Jesus being such a prominent
figure in our lives, it is hard to imagine that the people living in his
world all died never knowing that your creative abilities were unfolding
in a rural community called Galilee. They died never knowing how
one life was beginning a process of altering the course of humanity with
a simple idea, "Learn to love one another."
Loving and always
forgiving God, Labor Day is only four days away from the anniversary of
the destruction of the towers of the World Trade Center, portions of the
Pentagon, and an aircraft filled with passengers in Pennsylvania.
May we learn that in spite of such acts of inhumanity, your will is
still unfolding in ways humanity cannot understand. And perhaps most of
our world's population will also have to die before we learn as a
collective to love one another. Yet our confidence and trust in
you remains resolute that regardless of what happens to us, your love
will one day prevail even among people who cannot understand your
nature.
Help us, O God, to
come seeking your spirit. Help us to avoid the pitfalls of having a
false sense of self-sufficiency. Help us to practice stillness and
patience as we reflect your creative will of loving one another. Bless
us now through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say
when we pray . . . |