How to be

Scripture Lessons: Leviticus 19: 1-2 and 9-18 and Matthew 5: 38-48 Sermon Title: How to be Preached on 2/19/17 Valentine’s Day was this past Tuesday, but I know that not everyone loves Valentine’s Day. In fact, I can think of two distinct groups who don’t like Valentine’s Day very much at all: those who wish they had a Valentine but don’t, and husbands. It’s true. Not many husbands like Valentine’s Day. I know that Valentine’s Day is a hard day for many people who have a good reason not to like it, but Valentine’s Day is a hard day for many husbands who don’t have a very good reason. I’ve heard it said a million times by a complaining husband, that Valentine’s Day is a conspiracy invented by the greeting card and candy companies, but the reality is that Valentine’s Day came about because of a Christian saint who lived in the Roman Empire. According to tradition, St. Valentine of Terni was arrested for preaching the Gospel during the reign of Emperor Claudius. During his imprisonment, it was reported that this saint slipped notes of encouragement to the other prisoners. These notes would have been the first valentines. But aside from these historic roots, which may not even be true, I want to defend Valentine’s Day against her critics because all relationships require certain action, whether that action makes sense to you or not. For me, when it came to love, to some degree that’s how it’s always been. I was in 5th grade and a girl named Katherine asked me to couple skate with her at the Sparkles Skating rink…holding hands. Doing so did not appear rational – the point of skating up until that point had been to skate as fast as possible, but you can’t skate very fast holding hands, though I did it anyway because when you do things for love it doesn’t have to make sense. Think of friendship in the same way – not everything you do for your friends makes much sense but you do it anyway. Every Thursday I wake up at 4:30 AM to run four miles with a group of friends. Does it make any sense to me to wake up at 4:30 in the morning? Absolutely not, but if you’re only willing to do things that make sense to you then you may end up with only you to spend time with. That’s why I think Valentine’s Day is important. It’s because you must show people who you love that you love them, and you do so by doing things that you wouldn’t normally do. So, while one might ask: “What logic is there in spending good money on roses that will wilt and die in a matter of days?” While one might ask: “Does it make sense to spend good money on shiny jewelry when she already has a box full of shiny jewelry?” Or “what sense is there in going out to eat when there’s plenty of food in the pantry,” I say, it doesn’t have to make sense to you because Valentine’s Day isn’t about you, it’s about her. Back to friendship, which operates by similar rules: We’ve now been away from Atlanta for 6 years and the friends who I still have there are those who I talk to on the phone, and I don’t like talking on the phone particularly, but I like these friends and so I do it. I am convinced that when it comes to love, we must try. All relationships require certain action whether that action makes sense or not, and it’s no different when it comes to our relationship with God. We read these Scripture Lessons for today and there are a million reasons not to take either of them seriously – for the advice here may seem illogical or idealistic. In fact, men and women alike, Bible scholars even, have for generations boldly proclaimed that doing what Jesus is telling us to do just doesn’t make any sense. Think about it – ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer.’ Do not resist an evildoer? Do not resist an evildoer? And just when you think it can’t get any more illogical Jesus goes and says, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Now let’s just let these words sink in for a moment. And, let’s be bold enough to admit, without fear of judgement or condemnation, that this could be the most counter cultural claim that Jesus makes to us, and I say counter cultural because our culture says again and again – “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, shoot him before he has the chance to do it again.” We live in a culture of self-defense, and you can tell that we, as a culture, admire those who can stand up and fight because we haven’t just watched Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies, the people of California elected him their 38th governor. Now let me be clear – I love people who are in to guns. In fact, on one occasion back in Georgia a Mr. Charlie Black told me that if anyone ever came into the church to shoot me I need not worry for he would get him first – and when he said this I have to admit that I had rarely, in my entire life, felt so loved. But here’s the thing about what Jesus is saying: he’s making a claim that we, as a culture, rarely, if ever, put into practice. My claim this morning is that we don’t put such a principle into practice, because like Valentine’s Day to a husband, non-violence to our culture just doesn’t make much since. And “turn the other cheek” isn’t the only one. Let’s just go through the list: -If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well – if a lawyer ever told me to do that I’d go find another lawyer. Then there’s - If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile – which is another challenge, for in the time of Jesus, a Roman legionnaire might well force you to walk a mile just as a police officer today might demand your proof of insurance, and just think of what you want to do when an officer makes this small request – or worse, when he really abuses his power. Then there’s -Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you – but if you do this in Atlanta, Georgia or Nashville, Tennessee you’ll be taken for everything you’ve got. I read these commands of Jesus considering what we do and conclude that it must be that these sayings of Jesus just don’t make sense, or why else won’t we do them? And yet, does that matter? Does it matter if Jesus calls us to do something that to us doesn’t make much sense? Doesn’t love call us to do all kinds of things that don’t seem to make sense? When I drive past a cemetery I see flowers. And for what? Can flowers be enjoyed by the dead? Can she smell them? Can he see them? I don’t know exactly, but more importantly, I don’t believe we should be so rational as to ask, for when it comes to love it doesn’t have to make sense. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son.” A rationally minded person might ask: Why? For what? Does it make any sense? Think about this world – think about this soul standing up here – think about you, think about your neighbor, think about what you see on the news and who you see in the mirror – do we deserve the love of God and can we ever? No. And yet God loves us still. Does that make any sense? Can you explain it? Does it sound safe or logical or rational? Hardly, but love doesn’t have to be. That’s why love is different from reason or common sense – it’s love. So, why should we do as Jesus commands? Why should we turn the other cheek rather than fill the ones who do us harm with lead? We must do such things out of love. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Why? Because that’s how God loves and if you want to be children of your Father in heaven who makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good you will do the same – you will love even if it doesn’t make sense. We read the same in our First Scripture Lesson from the book of Leviticus – when you reap the harvest, you shall not reap to the edges – for you leave that for the poor. -you shall not steal or deal falsely -don’t lie or profane the Lord’s name. -don’t defraud your neighbor or keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. -care for those with disabilities, judge without partiality, don’t slander or profit from the blood of your neighbor. -Don’t hate either – Why? Because “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Doing these things might not always make sense, but they don’t have to. All relationships require certain action, whether that action makes sense to you or not, and to be a child of God – you have to do them. To quote our friend and resident of our parking lot, Mr. Melvin Taylor, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.” And what Jesus is saying in Matthew and what we read in Leviticus is no different – talk is cheap – and we can say “I love you” again and again just as we can say “I believe” again and again, but what will we do? What do our actions say? Mahatma Gandhi has been on my mind as I read this Second Scripture Lesson, for as much as anyone else in history his actions embodied Jesus’ teaching of turn the other cheek. In standing up to the British he epitomized the non-violence and love for enemy that Jesus preached, but interestingly, he was not a Christian. With his mouth, he confessed faith in Hinduism but with his actions he preached our Gospel, while on the other hand, with their mouths, the British preached Jesus Christ, but with their guns and their oppression, whose truth did they proclaim? Doing these things – these principles of radical love that Scripture calls us to - it might not always make sense, but they don’t have to. All relationships require certain action, whether that action makes sense to you or not. That’s true for marriage. That’s true for friendship. And to be a child of God – that’s true as well – you have to do something. So, what will you do?