Loading...Sermon July 2, 2017
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, LSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen, Newport, PA
Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 8, Track 1 Year A
//lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/Aprop8_RCL.html
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Please be seated.
When I was a teenager, my church youth group went on a trip to New York City. One of the things we did during that trip was see the Broadway musical, Pippin. Pippin is a young prince in England during the Middle Ages. The musical is about his quest to find his purpose in life and to also have an extraordinary life. Pippin tries one thing after another – war, political power, exploitive relationships. Nothing seems to provide the extraordinary, purposeful life Pippin seeks.
Finally, he meets a widow who has a son. Ultimately, Pippin realizes that the everyday work on the farm and the love that grows between all of them…the ordinary life… is the extraordinary, purposeful life. As the musical comes to a close, Pippin concludes that “if [he’s] never tied to anything, [he’ll] never be free.”
From now until the middle of September, we’ll be hearing Paul’s letter to the Romans. While many of Paul’s letters are written to communities he’s visited in person, he’s never met the Christians in Rome, so the letter is written to a community he does not personally know. These first Chapters basically lay out Paul’s theology and are known as Paul’s theological Last Will and Testament.
Once again, Paul lays out the stark choice for all Christians – who will we follow? After whom will we pattern our lives? Who will we be tied to?
Paul says we either choose sin, which is rebellion against God, or we choose God. Rejecting God leads to death, while choosing God leads to life….eternal life. And when we choose God...when we choose to be tied to God, we are then free.
Choosing God means our life together is transformed. For instance, “Biblical scholar N.T. Wright says if Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not.” (Reading Paul, Gorman, p. 44) Our centerpoint is God, not anything made by humans.
We love God and love our neighbors…that is our guiding principle. Not getting the best return on the dollar, or getting ahead or making the most money, or gaining the most recognition. None of these things are inherently bad, except when the pursuit of them does not reflect loving God and loving neighbor.
Paul says when we choose God, we are called into community where right relationships with God and with others – all others – are key.
We are also transformed into working for God’s justice, which is unlike the justice that we as humans usually create or seek. During Jesus’ and Paul’s time, there was Roman Justice. This justice, according to Bible scholar Michael Gorman in his book, Reading Paul,
“…resulted in a system of more justice for some (the elite) and less for others. Furthermore, it required a system of punishment and deterrence that included the shame of public crucifixion for those who threatened the order that Justice created. …Roman justice required the exclusion and even the destruction of anyone perceived to be a threat to the peace/the social order/justice.”
Reading Paul by Michael Gorman, p. 119-120
It’s a familiar pattern of humanity, isn’t it?
Gorman then goes on to contrast this human-created system, possibly a sinful system???, with the restorative justice of God. He says,
“It takes place not by inflicting violence on the enemy, but by absorbing violence on behalf of the enemy. Its extreme modus operandi is not to crucify but to be crucified.” Reading Paul by Michael Gorman, p. 120
We as the Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen are a body in this world and yet following Jesus Christ, so we are not of this world. We are a community that is willing to absorb the violence of the world, rather than answer it with further violence and retribution. We are about the valuing of all people because they are created in the image of God. We work for a system of justice that is equal to all. And we know that the justice of God does not require the destruction or exclusion of “anyone perceived to be a threat to peace/the social order/justice.” That is how we love God and love our neighbor.
So, come to the table and share the meal with Jesus Christ, our great high priest and our savior. It is in this time of worship and Eucharist that we are freed from the death of sin and transformed into the life-giving, eternal community of God.
Amen
