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SERMON OF THE MONTH
Pastor Beth has been out of the country serving with
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq since the beginning of the year.
What follows, in honor of Black History Month, are a series of reflections of
hers that aired on the local radio station in January, 2009, modified slightly
to reflect that a year has since passed.
February is Black
History Month, a time set aside each year to focus our attention on the
contributions of African Americans to the rich tradition that is America
throughout our existence as a nation.
Let us consider the contribution of
Dr. King, pondering his words that still ring so true today:
“We are challenged to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic
concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity . . . through our scientific
genius we have made of the world a neighborhood; now through our moral and
spiritual genius, we must make of it a brotherhood . . .”
Dr. King also said that the Biblical
command to “love your enemies, to bless them that curse you . . .might well be
the salvation of our civilization.”
In other words, tanks and bombs will
not save us from our enemies; loving our enemies will save us from our enemies.
I don’t know who your enemy is. But I
beg you to try Dr. King’s way, Jesus’ way: instead of the way of vengeance and
pay-backs, try the way of love and forgiveness.
***
A little more than
a year ago, we inaugurated the first African American to the office of President
of the United States. Decades ago, at his own inauguration, John F. Kennedy
famously challenged the nation: Ask not what your country can do for you; ask
what you can do for your country. So regardless of whether we are celebrating or
mourning our nation’s choice, let us consider what we can do for our still
very-new president in these trying times. We can pray for him. We can pray for
his safety and well-being. We can pray for his family. We can pray that God
grant him wisdom and courage, love and compassion for all our citizens. We can
pray that we unite behind our common dreams instead of dividing over our
differences.
And we can stop the language of hate.
If you are someone who uses that language, stop it. Right now. And if you are
someone who hears others use the language of hate about our president, refuse to
listen to it. Speak up when you hear it. It is nothing less than your duty.
***
A friend I know in
Chicago is working on her house, getting it ready. ‘Ready for what?’ I asked
her. ‘Well, Beth,’ she replied, the prayer concerns in my church right now are
all about people losing their jobs. Sooner or later, someone I know is going to
need a place to stay. So I’m getting ready. I think it’s the job of every
Christian,’ she said, ‘to get ready.’
My friend is right. But today’s hard
times are nothing new. The challenge, friends, is for each of us to be getting
ready, all the time.
But all too often, our ‘getting
ready’ as Christians has to do with the second coming: with getting ourselves
somehow ‘spiritually ready’ to greet God face to face.
That’s all well and good, but my
Chicago friend has a more immediate challenge for us; and it is the challenge of
God’s coming: are you ready for those who are coming to you for help?
Because they are coming.
So get your house ready.
***
Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. once said, “. . . any religion which professes to be concerned about
the souls of men and is not concerned about the social and economic conditions
that scar the soul, is a spiritually moribund [dead] religion.”
My sisters and brothers, how
different would church be if people in need could simply procure what they
needed, without having to prove their need or worthiness of help? If someone
unemployed was assured that a Christian would do all in their power to help them
find a job? If we addressed ourselves to the problems of poverty with the same
enthusiasm we devote to national defense? If we were as devastated, as angry,
over one hungry or homeless person as we are over attacks against our nation? If
every dollar we spent on our military budget as a nation had to be matched with
a dollar spent to ease the plight of the poor?
That, sisters and brothers, would
indeed be a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.
***
Decades ago, Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We have learned to fly the air like birds and
swim the sea like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living
together like brothers.”
He went on to say, “A solution of the present crisis will not take place unless
men and women work for it. Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.”
We cannot wish for something
different: we must work for it.
We forget that about Jesus – that in
addition to everything else, he was a hard worker.
To live together peacefully, as
brothers and sisters, we cannot simply wish for it.
Every husband and wife already knows
this: every good marriage takes work. So does every good society.
A good society is the work of its
citizens.
And we are those citizens.
The peaceable kingdom is not wishful
thinking; it is not impossible.
But it does require our effort.
So the next time someone says
something unkind to you, don’t respond in kind. Instead, forgive them.
The next time someone cuts you off in
traffic, don’t curse them. Instead, bless them.
The next time you have a chance to
hate, don’t. Instead, love.
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McDowell Presbyterian Church & Headwaters
Chapel