31 August 2014 - A Lectionary 22
Text: Romans 12:9-21
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
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May the words of my mouth and the
meditations of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength
and my redeemer. Amen.
Today’s New Testament reading from
Romans 12 finishes out that chapter for us. Last week, we heard Paul’s words
about presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to God; today we hear a series
of imperatives (directions) all about love. Specifically, all about the love of
Christians.
We hear the word “love” thrown
about quite a lot. We may “love” coffee from a certain place. Maybe we “love”
the novel we just finished reading or “love” someone’s dress or shirt or shoes.
Even in the Church, “love” is a pretty commonly-used word:
“They’ll know we are Christians by
our …..”
“Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your …..”
“What feast of ….”
And how many weddings have you been
to with the lesson that begins with “Love is patient, love is kind…” and ends
with “…faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is
love.”[1]
Well, like those “love verses” from 1 Corinthians 13, this Romans passage was
also written by Paul, and so it makes sense that in Romans, as in 1 Corinthians,
we hear all about love, love, love.
Except Paul isn’t talking about any
old love here. Sure, the 1 Corinthians 13 passage is wonderful at weddings (we
used it at ours), but both in 1 Corinthians 13 and here in Romans 12, Paul is,
of course, writing specifically to church communities – in other words, to
gatherings of Christians not that much different than our church community here
in Grand Prairie. So when we read Romans 12:9, we need to read it with our communal eyes, not necessarily with the
romance of rose-colored glasses.
“Let love be genuine,” he says,
just putting it out there, and then he goes on to give us some specifics of
what genuine Christian love looks like. His list is long, and many of the
directives given are reminiscent of the Greatest Commandments to love God with
all our heart, with all of our soul, and with all of our mind, and then to love
our neighbors as ourselves.[2]
This is a list that is all about our relationships. Beyond that, though, I
would say that Paul is writing here about the actions we take within our relationships.
Once
upon a time, a woman lost her husband in a tragic accident. She was crazy with
grief, mourning her loss so deeply that no one could provide her with comfort.
At last, a friend took her to the house of a holy man, where the widow made
this sobbing plea: “Use your powers to bring my husband back to life! Surely
you are able to find a way to lighten my grief!”
The
old man spoke kindly to the woman, “Bring me a mustard seed from a home that
has never known sorrow. I will use that seed to remove the pain from your
life.”
Immediately,
the woman set out in search of the magic mustard seed. “First,” she thought, “I
will visit the home of a wealthy family. Tragedy is less likely to strike
them.” Soon, she approached a beautiful mansion, knocked on the door, and spoke
to the woman who greeted her. “I am in search of a home that has never known
sorrow. Is this such a place? Please – it is vital that I know.”
“Never
known sorrow!” cried the woman who had answered the door. “You have come to the
wrong house!” And as she sobbed, she began to describe all of the tragedies
that had touched her family. She invited the widow into her home to explain in
detail what had taken place. The widow remained for many days, listening and
caring.
When
she left to resume her search, the widow next visited a modest home about a
mile away. The experience was the same. Wherever she traveled, from mansion to
hut, she was greeted with tales of sadness and sorrow. Everyone found her a
willing and careful listener.
After
months of travel, she became so involved with the grief of others that she
forgot about her search for the magic mustard seed, never realizing that it had
indeed driven the sorrow from her life.[3]
The woman in this story is driven
to genuine love. She begins with a deep need for personal healing, but ends up
as a minister, listening to tales of woe and offering her support to other
people.
Beginning next weekend, and all
next month, we will – as a congregation – also be driven to genuine love
through our various service projects. Together, we will create things for those
who need love given to them. Together, we will work the soil of a community
garden. Together, we will put up a Little Free Library and we will plant a
wildflower area. Together, we will offer love and work and beauty to our
community.
My prayer is that we will do all of
this with genuine love – and so much more! – rejoicing in the hope given to us
through the great love of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
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