Love your Enemies?!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 17th 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 6:20-31
“Love Your Enemies?!”

Reading this scripture makes me think two things. 1) There are probably fifty-two sermons in this reading and 2) Does Jesus really expect us to follow this stuff? On the first point please know that I do not intend to cover everything or even touch on everything in this passage. It would either leave us here for a few hours or simply say so little about each thing that what I would say probably would insult your intelligence. And on the second point, this sermon is Jesus longest sermon so we cannot ignore it or explain it away.
My plan on answering this question is to focus on one part of what is called the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus comes down on a level place to be with the people and we receive the same message. The most troubling words in this passage to a people in the midst of its longest war in history, is to love your enemy. Love is a word that gets uses and abused by many folks. So what is Jesus talking about when he says love? Why would Jesus call people to love those who might not love us? Doesn’t he know that this might put our lives at risk?
As I child, I remember really hearing this passage for the first time. What I mean is that I realized that I was not supposed to hit back. Asking an adult I challenged this thinking when we are faced with bullies. That adult told me that Jesus did not mean we were called to be doormats so occasionally we need to stand up to bullies and punch them right in the face. There was something deeply troubling about that answer for me even then. But I did not like the idea of being the brunt of bullying myself. So I was left on my own to sort it out.
Jesus is not asking us to be doormats. In fact, Jesus is actually turning some things on it is head. First of all he was talking to people who had little hope of success of overthrowing the Roman Occupation. He was also talking to people who know what it was like to be repeatedly humiliated. So, just for example, when Jesus says turn the other cheek he is not suggesting we ask for another beating. Well, not really. (Show example of the cheek smack) Jesus is upping the ante on the bully. Without participating in the cycle of violence, his active challenge brought it to an end and gave the person in a subordinate position power.
This example is not simply about gaining power or turning the tables but creating a crisis moment so that transformation can occur. Jesus concern for the enemy is first our maintaining our own faithfulness and then the transformation of the other. So in participating in these actions requires a true love even for the enemy. It requires all our actions be guided by this principle of love. We are a people who are to engage one another in love even as we disagree with one another. It means that our way of interacting cannot be through lies, misdirection, and deceit. The church is not called to be a place where power politics are a refined art.
I believe it is not an overstatement to say that our mission, no matter what our institutional statement may be, is to be a community of love. But that requires us to ask what love is and what love looks like. Being a community whose mission is love, in action not simply words, and is probably the hardest thing I cannot imagine. Love is about letting someone be. But it does not mean to let them alone. It is a fine line between trying to fix someone and encouraging them to live their lives following Jesus. Letting someone be is not about making people become who we want them to be. To be a place that loves in this way means we would say to people: We are a people that know God has a plan for your life and wants you to use your gifts. We want to encourage you on that journey and are not interested in manipulating the outcome. In other words we are not trying to reeducated or argue, belittle, or manipulate someone into doing a particular service in the life of the church. To love in this way, to be a community whose mission is this is more difficult than anything I can imagine.
This is not the kind of mission most churches are interested in because of the difficulty. After all, it is easier to build a habitat house than to love your enemy. It is easier to give money than to give up well worn grudges. It is easier to have meetings and plan events than to engage the reality of strained relationships. It is easier to be busy than to be those who love. Jesus knows this and we know this to be true. The mission of the people of God is to do everything in our power to become the people God has created us to be. Mission is not something we do for other people or to people and it is not us doing something for others they cannot do for themselves. Serving others only loves if we provide those we serve to return the service and be open to being served ourselves.
So how do we become this community? How do we continue to encourage one another on our journey of faith? One way is through the acknowledgement and development of our gifts. This year we are providing Spiritual Gifts inventory. We want %100 participation. We believe that it will enable us to find out and refine the gifts we are currently using. But we are not setting you up for service. We believe that there is a place for all to serve in some capacity but we are not going to take your answers and assign you jobs to do. We are going to encourage you to do so but that will be on you. Our hope is that you will come to see that God indeed has a plan for your life and wants you to use your gifts and talents in loving ways. And the truth is that in order to get to the point where we can truly love our enemies we need to begin with ourselves and those closest to us before we can venture on that difficult road. May God encourage us in this journey as we seek to serve Christ in all our daily tasks. Amen? Amen!

Holy Grumbling Part 2

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
October 10, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 19:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 2”


Jericho was not Jesus’ destination. Jericho is a city that is about a day’s walk from Jerusalem and as a result became a common place to stop rest and replenish for the next day’s journey. It was a place used to pilgrims and travelers. Despite it being common for people to travel through Jericho, news of Jesus arrival caused a stir. Everywhere Jesus went a crowd was sure to follow and Jericho was no exception.
Crowds and followers are funny things. Ask anyone who has been to the pinnacle of a very public career and they will tell you the adoring fans can become detractors rather quickly. As a result, those who are able to remain at the top for a long time, politicians, sports figures, celebrities and others know how to play to the crowd. Unfortunately, Jesus did not do this and was not interested in playing to the crowd. And his encounter with Zacchaeus in Jericho was a prime example.
Zacchaeus was not a well loved figure in the city. He was the chief tax collector. As a result he worked very closely with the Roman occupiers. Zacchaeus would take what little money people had and as a result he became very rich. Now it is important to note that traditionally people have assumed he became rich because he defrauded people. However, the scripture does not say that. He worked in a position that allowed him to become rather wealthy.
He was also someone who was not welcome in the faith community and in the community at large. It seems that he was a natural outcast. In a society where the average height for men was five foot five, Zacchaeus was considered too short to see in a crowd. We are talking about a very small man. So, I am guessing that he faced ridicule most of his life for his slight stature. Despite or maybe because of this he became very rich but also even more isolated. He may have had everything he wanted but he was alone. But despite this, despite being excluded his whole life, despite knowing the crowd would not want him around, Zacchaeus knew there was something about this rabbi he needed.
We know the story; Zacchaeus climbed the tree and waited. This is when Jesus goes to this man in the tree. Jesus calls him by name and invites himself to dinner. This is no small gesture. Jesus is not hungry and looking for a free meal at the rich man’s house. Beyond that, Jesus then stirs up the anger of the crowd. Faced with this familiar encounter we need to ask ourselves what does this all mean? Martyn Percy answers this very question when he says:
…in the midst of a crowd bestowing their adulation he refused to side with their base prejudices. Zacchaeus is affirmed for who he is. He does not repent, contrary to how the story is usually read: he has no need to. Rather, a person who is despised is allowed to flourish, and he is now seen as a person of generosity. Consistently, Jesus sides with the ostracized, the rejected, the unclean, the impure, the (alleged) sinner. He is no crowd pleaser, he is their confounder.
Jesus goes to the one, who the community decided was not worthy, and said this person is no sinner. He is a child of God and deserving of a place in the community as well.

I think it is important to go back to something I said last week about table manners.
The Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. Our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples.
Throughout his ministry Jesus calls us to the places where we might least expect. The traditional, the socially acceptable, the proper are not rejected in God’s kingdom but expected to move beyond their comfort and move beyond the walls. The church of Jesus Christ is called to move beyond itself. The mission of the church is not survival but transformation. We exist not for ourselves but for doing just what Jesus did. The love of God is for all people without restraint without limitation. This is the message of the Gospel and we need to hear it again and again. We are a people who have been called to go… Amen? Amen!

Holy Grumbling Part 1

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
World Communion and Peacemaking Sunday
October 2, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 15:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 1”

A few weeks ago a handful of our high school students saw the new movie, Devil. I received many questions following that movie as to the nature of evil and the devil. As a result we spent the next two weeks of our Wednesday evening bible study looking at what the bible had to say. I looked up every reference to the words Satan, Demon, and Devil in the bible and all of them put together did not equal a whole page. I then took a very large concordance which has all the words used in the bible, Old and New Testament, and dropped it on the table. Next I took that sheet of paper and dropped it on the table. My point was that the amount of time the bible spends on the devil, demons, or Satan is far less than many movies would lead you to believe.
Unlike movies which show the followers of Jesus battling with the followers of Satan, the bible does not show such things. In other words, it is not as exciting as most movies and televisions specials might lead you to believe. Throughout his ministry Jesus does cast out demons and is tempted by the devil. However, the greatest struggles Jesus encounters are from the religious community. The greatest causes of Jesus frustration and even anger are reserved for the religiously observant and the disciples. In fact, a majority of the struggles Jesus faces are over who is welcome and who is pure enough to be part of the faith community.
When I hear the charges that Jesus is guilty of welcoming tax collectors and sinners my first reaction is to think how that the religious leadership is foolish and ignorant. After all, for those of us who know the stories, we expect Jesus to eat with the sinners instead of the saints. However, the religious community has a different set of standards. In the religious community we are supposed to first decide who are the sinners and then demand they repent before we are willing to eat with them and welcome them. The message from the faith community seems to be, “get right” with God as we think you should, and then we can talk. Get your life together, make yourself pure, do everything right, and then we will have a place for you in church. The church says, “Repent and then you are welcome here.” In contrast to this message we have Jesus who seeks out those who have been excluded ad goes and eats with them. Then and now this does not sit well with the faith community.
If there is one thing the faithful Pharisees know how to do is grumble. Hearing the grumbling of the ‘holy crowd,’ Jesus tells a story. Instead of arguing or preaching, Jesus tells a parable. The parables are well known to the church. However, this parable has a couple of twists. In fact, these parables make no logical sense, not then and certainly not now. When Jesus asks the question about who wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine sheep to find one lost lamb, the logical reasoned answer is that no one would. It is foolish and risky. To leave the ninety-nine sheep puts them all at risk. To do so is actually irresponsible. It is not good stewardship. But Jesus does not end there. He goes even further by commending the use of labor to find a coin which is not even valuable enough to cover the costs of the time spent looking. So when Jesus says, who would not do such things, the religious community must respond, we would not do those things it makes no sense. That is the offence of Jesus actions. Actions like this are foolish and a waste of time. And yet, Jesus says this is how God works.
Last week the Congress invited well known comedian Stephen Colbert to testify over the issue of immigration. For those of you who do not know Mr. Colbert, he is a comedian who plays a character that is modeled on the Fox News Commentator Bill O’Reilly. He was invited to testify because last summer Mr. Colbert took up the United Farm Workers challenge to work in the fields for a day. This invitation by the United Farm Workers union was intended to address the belief that migrant and immigrant labor are stealing jobs from Americans. It turns out that very few people were actually waiting to take those jobs, none in fact. While the investigation was little more than political theatre, Mr. Colbert’s answer to the final question asked of him left me speechless. Mr. Colbert was asked why he would bother with the issue of immigration. For the first time during the hearing it was clear that Mr. Colbert broke character and said, I like talking about people who don’t have any power. It seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are Migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave and that’s an interesting contradiction to me. And you know “whatsoever you do to the least of these my brothers,” and they seem like the least of these, right now... They suffer and have no rights. He went on to say that there are many people who are the least of these, these days, but this is where he feels compelled to spend his energy. While his testimony and presence at the hearing was ridiculed by many people, his final words left most of his critics unable to respond. In that answer he was not trying to score political points or to settle scores. Mr. Colbert was giving a public witness to his faith and the foundation for his actions.
When Jesus shared the parables with the Pharisees it was not meant to chastise them or to score political points or to show them up. Instead, Jesus is calling them to change. He was inviting them to repent of their judgmental and exclusionary practices. It is a message that is as timely now for the faith community as it was then. I believe Mr. Colbert is right that migrant workers are without a voice and are in need of our voice. But there are more people who are considered the least, who are considered unclean and who need people of faith to go out, eat with, befriend, and to share the love of God with them. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide then heterosexual teens. In the last month alone four gay teens have committed suicide because of harassment and bullying. Tyler Clementi was a college student who jumped off a bridge after his roommate, without his knowledge, taped him having sex with a man and posted it on the internet. On September 23rd, 13-year-old Asher Brown, from Houston, Texas, shot himself in the head after being persistently harassed by other students who thought he was gay. Fifteen-year-old Billy Lucas, of Indiana, hanged himself because he had been bullied for years over his sexual orientation. 13-year-old, Seth Walsh from Minnesota, died in the hospital eight days after attempting to hang himself. He too is said to have endured taunts and abuse for being gay from other students.
Growing up as a boy I remember the fear of being thought you might be gay. If you talked, walked, or acted a certain way or if you participated in certain activities you risked begin considered gay. What I remember as a teenage boy was that there was no fate worse than being thought to be gay. So as long as there were some boys who were considered Gay, then you were safe and would just stay silent when the bullies would go after them because you were afraid they would come after you instead. If you spoke up, you might get a reputation of welcoming and eating with gay people. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn anything in church which would help me navigate those difficult adolescent waters.
If you want to talk about people who have been sinners, unclean, and unwelcome it is gay and lesbian folk. Unfortunately we have much in common with the Pharisees on this one. We will welcome and share God’s love with the tax collectors and sinners when you change. But Jesus invites us to a different way of living. Instead, we are called to go to any place and any people who are being excluded and labeled sinner and outcast and eat with them.
The ‘eating with’ is an important piece particularly in the ancient society. I have come to believe that the Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. The simple truth is that the mission of the church is not to fix anyone or to convert anyone. The fixing, changing, conversion, transformation, and more importantly the healing are all in God’s hands. And, God has a tendency of doing all that in ways that are often surprising and often unwelcome by those of us in the church. Instead, our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples. Amen? Amen.

Holy Grumbling Part 1

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
World Communion and Peacemaking Sunday
October 2, 2010
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Luke 15:1-10
“Holy Grumbling Part 1”

A few weeks ago a handful of our high school students saw the new movie, Devil. I received many questions following that movie as to the nature of evil and the devil. As a result we spent the next two weeks of our Wednesday evening bible study looking at what the bible had to say. I looked up every reference to the words Satan, Demon, and Devil in the bible and all of them put together did not equal a whole page. I then took a very large concordance which has all the words used in the bible, Old and New Testament, and dropped it on the table. Next I took that sheet of paper and dropped it on the table. My point was that the amount of time the bible spends on the devil, demons, or Satan is far less than many movies would lead you to believe.
Unlike movies which show the followers of Jesus battling with the followers of Satan, the bible does not show such things. In other words, it is not as exciting as most movies and televisions specials might lead you to believe. Throughout his ministry Jesus does cast out demons and is tempted by the devil. However, the greatest struggles Jesus encounters are from the religious community. The greatest causes of Jesus frustration and even anger are reserved for the religiously observant and the disciples. In fact, a majority of the struggles Jesus faces are over who is welcome and who is pure enough to be part of the faith community.
When I hear the charges that Jesus is guilty of welcoming tax collectors and sinners my first reaction is to think how that the religious leadership is foolish and ignorant. After all, for those of us who know the stories, we expect Jesus to eat with the sinners instead of the saints. However, the religious community has a different set of standards. In the religious community we are supposed to first decide who are the sinners and then demand they repent before we are willing to eat with them and welcome them. The message from the faith community seems to be, “get right” with God as we think you should, and then we can talk. Get your life together, make yourself pure, do everything right, and then we will have a place for you in church. The church says, “Repent and then you are welcome here.” In contrast to this message we have Jesus who seeks out those who have been excluded ad goes and eats with them. Then and now this does not sit well with the faith community.
If there is one thing the faithful Pharisees know how to do is grumble. Hearing the grumbling of the ‘holy crowd,’ Jesus tells a story. Instead of arguing or preaching, Jesus tells a parable. The parables are well known to the church. However, this parable has a couple of twists. In fact, these parables make no logical sense, not then and certainly not now. When Jesus asks the question about who wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine sheep to find one lost lamb, the logical reasoned answer is that no one would. It is foolish and risky. To leave the ninety-nine sheep puts them all at risk. To do so is actually irresponsible. It is not good stewardship. But Jesus does not end there. He goes even further by commending the use of labor to find a coin which is not even valuable enough to cover the costs of the time spent looking. So when Jesus says, who would not do such things, the religious community must respond, we would not do those things it makes no sense. That is the offence of Jesus actions. Actions like this are foolish and a waste of time. And yet, Jesus says this is how God works.
Last week the Congress invited well known comedian Stephen Colbert to testify over the issue of immigration. For those of you who do not know Mr. Colbert, he is a comedian who plays a character that is modeled on the Fox News Commentator Bill O’Reilly. He was invited to testify because last summer Mr. Colbert took up the United Farm Workers challenge to work in the fields for a day. This invitation by the United Farm Workers union was intended to address the belief that migrant and immigrant labor are stealing jobs from Americans. It turns out that very few people were actually waiting to take those jobs, none in fact. While the investigation was little more than political theatre, Mr. Colbert’s answer to the final question asked of him left me speechless. Mr. Colbert was asked why he would bother with the issue of immigration. For the first time during the hearing it was clear that Mr. Colbert broke character and said, I like talking about people who don’t have any power. It seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are Migrant workers who come and do our work but don’t have any rights as a result. And yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave and that’s an interesting contradiction to me. And you know “whatsoever you do to the least of these my brothers,” and they seem like the least of these, right now... They suffer and have no rights. He went on to say that there are many people who are the least of these, these days, but this is where he feels compelled to spend his energy. While his testimony and presence at the hearing was ridiculed by many people, his final words left most of his critics unable to respond. In that answer he was not trying to score political points or to settle scores. Mr. Colbert was giving a public witness to his faith and the foundation for his actions.
When Jesus shared the parables with the Pharisees it was not meant to chastise them or to score political points or to show them up. Instead, Jesus is calling them to change. He was inviting them to repent of their judgmental and exclusionary practices. It is a message that is as timely now for the faith community as it was then. I believe Mr. Colbert is right that migrant workers are without a voice and are in need of our voice. But there are more people who are considered the least, who are considered unclean and who need people of faith to go out, eat with, befriend, and to share the love of God with them. Gay teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide then heterosexual teens. In the last month alone four gay teens have committed suicide because of harassment and bullying. Tyler Clementi was a college student who jumped off a bridge after his roommate, without his knowledge, taped him having sex with a man and posted it on the internet. On September 23rd, 13-year-old Asher Brown, from Houston, Texas, shot himself in the head after being persistently harassed by other students who thought he was gay. Fifteen-year-old Billy Lucas, of Indiana, hanged himself because he had been bullied for years over his sexual orientation. 13-year-old, Seth Walsh from Minnesota, died in the hospital eight days after attempting to hang himself. He too is said to have endured taunts and abuse for being gay from other students.
Growing up as a boy I remember the fear of being thought you might be gay. If you talked, walked, or acted a certain way or if you participated in certain activities you risked begin considered gay. What I remember as a teenage boy was that there was no fate worse than being thought to be gay. So as long as there were some boys who were considered Gay, then you were safe and would just stay silent when the bullies would go after them because you were afraid they would come after you instead. If you spoke up, you might get a reputation of welcoming and eating with gay people. Unofrtunately, I didn’t learn anything in church which would help me navigate those difficult adolescent waters.
If you want to talk about people who have been sinners, unclean, and unwelcome it is gay and lesbian folk. Unfortunately we have much in common with the Pharisees on this one. We will welcome and share God’s love with the tax collectors and sinners when you change. But Jesus invites us to a different way of living. Instead, we are called to go to any place and any people who are being excluded and labeled sinner and outcast and eat with them.
The ‘eating with’ is an important piece particularly in the ancient society. I have come to believe that the Pharisees did not eat with tax collectors and sinners for more than just exclusionary reasons. They do not eat with them because to do so means that they become equals instead of objects of mission to be served or sinners to be converted. If they do not eat with them they can maintain a distance. ‘Those people’ become objects of mission instead of a possible brother or sister in Christ. The simple truth is that the mission of the church is not to fix anyone or to convert anyone. The fixing, changing, conversion, transformation, and more importantly the healing are all in God’s hands. And, God has a tendency of doing all that in ways that are often surprising and often unwelcome by those of us in the church. Instead, our calling is to befriend people. Listen to them, learn from them. Go out and spend time in the fields in which they work. Do not tell people what you know they are seldom interested. Instead give them the time of day, get to know them ask them about themselves. In doing so you show the love of God in Christ because you let them know they matter because you listened. This is the mission of the church and it is our calling. We are called to risk our reputation for the kingdom of God. That is the calling of Jesus disciples. Amen? Amen.