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Sermon March 21, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year B
http://lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Lent/BLent5_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__March_21__2021_-_Audio_
Video: https://youtu.be/pNEIgTF3Zss
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25
Are you, like me, trying to understand the brutal murders in the Atlanta area of mostly women of Asian descent? This latest violence came on the heels of rising reports and attention about the number of attacks on people who are of Asian descent in our country. Doesn’t it all cause you to just shake your head?
This recent violence was explained by Robert Long, the killer, as happening because he has a sex addiction and was trying to get rid of the temptation to act out in his addiction. I’ve been reading a number of articles in The New York Times about the intersection of animus towards people of Asian descent, especially distorted views of women of Asian descent tied up in our own country’s history; Christian understandings of sex, especially evangelical Christian views; and gun laws that allowed the killer to buy a gun just hours before his rampage.
An opinion piece in the Times on March 19, written by May Jeong says it this way:
“It is hard to know what motivates a person. Early reporting has pointed to the tension between Mr. Long’s religious beliefs and sexual behavior he saw as compulsive, and the way this tension may have warped him. But Mr. Long is also a white man born in 21st-century America, a country with a rich history of violence against Asians. A place where the previous president was among the first to call Covid-19 the “Kung Flu,” and the “China virus,” possibly sowing the seeds for the nearly 3,800 acts of violence against Asians — mostly women — that followed. Did this history allow Mr. Long to see murder as a way of eliminating “temptation,” as he has said — a way of viewing Asians as expendable?”
In our Gospel reading today we hear an oft-quoted saying of Jesus: Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. This saying is a little confusing, isn’t it? Surely, we are not supposed to go around living our lives as if we hate our lives.
And yet, can’t we all name things in the way we live our lives that we need to lose, that is things that grab our attention and focus in ways that distance us from God? Last week we talked about overemphasis on our own self interest to the detriment of working for the good and welfare of others. Overemphasized self-interest distances us from God. We’ve heard the words of Jesus in Matthew 19, answering the question of the rich man who wanted eternal life. The rich man insisted that he had followed all of the commandments. Jesus then tells the rich man that he must sell all of his possessions, give his money to the poor and come follow Jesus. (Matthew 19:16-30) Sometimes our attachments to our property distance us from God. Sometimes it is things we have learned and believed were true…things about people living in poverty or about the human-made categories of race or about science or about how our behavior affects our earth or how we use our financial resources.
What in our lives do we need to lose, so that we gain life? How are our lives just like that grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies so that it can bear much fruit? What needs to die so that we come near to God. What needs to die so we clearly say, like the Greeks in our gospel today, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”? It was a way for them to say they wanted to follow Jesus. It was the start of Jesus drawing all people to God through him.
Some of the things we need to lose are not easy to lose. Addictions are extremely hard to address, especially a sexual addiction. There is no consensus about the definition for a sexual addiction. Also, we really do not like to talk about sex and sexuality in our church life and from our faith perspective, so discussing what is exploitive, unhealthy, and against God through our faith is not easy. In addition, there is no consensus about what might be effective treatment. It is definitely challenging.
Questioning most of the aspects of how we live our lives is not easy, either. Doing so could upend our day-to-day existence. We may feel overwhelmed and not even know where to begin. And we do not know what this new life will look like either. There is plenty of uncertainty to deal with.
That is why we need our Christian community. We need a support group or a support system. We do not do this work alone. Some things, like addictions, will require some professional help and there are numerous support groups or 12-step groups that can help. I am here as your priest as a starting place and sounding board. You are all here, a loving and caring community. We truly want the best for each other, don’t we? We want each other to flourish and live the best lives in Christ.
Taking those first steps are hard. We have to admit what is distancing us from God. We have to reach out for help and support. We have to honestly admit some things about ourselves that we would rather ignore.
Yet, in the end, in losing those things in our lives, we save our lives and produce abundant fruit.
Amen
