Romans 13:8-14
Proper 18 (23) - Year A
Paul's situation is both similar and different from Moses'.
How would you describe the similarities and differences between your situation and that of Paul and/or Moses?
I expect that it is no easier for us to deal with the issues that connect death with freedom or that call us to connect law and love.
In all these it is difficult to speak to the current situation and not some leftover situation from our past.
A key line from The Message is, "don't always be wanting what you don't have." This pushes us to consider whether or not we already have what is needed/wanted and simply don't recognize it.
We are loved, but we don't always recognize it and find ways of measuring love in ways that can never be met. We love, but we don't always recognize it and find ways of labeling it friendship, necessity, enlightened self-interest or something else.
The finishing touches are already being put on creation. These touches include clarity regarding love and go far beyond any three-fold categorization of agape, philia, and eros. This is a process that goes back far further than our awareness of belief. It is a process that extends far beyond our ability to implement the life of love.
A tricky part in all of this is not confusing the manifestations of love. Some are appropriate for some and some others for others. I expect it will take most of our life to work on this and we do need the help of others to dress us in Christ until we are able to so dress ourselves. Even with this trickiness, it is worth the work.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/september2002.html
Just before this (verses 1-7) we have heard the wonders of government (of course we need the warnings of Revelations 13) and how we are to go along with the law of the land, as it is ultimately from G*D. That is always a dangerous position that forever slides over to tyranny. Mixing church with state seldom is anything other than a temporary help for a technical matter as it keeps sliding away from a partnership to bless over into a conspiracy of self-interest. It is this common wisdom of "my religion/country, love it or leave it" that will be dealt a mortal blow as we read on
Here we hear a different story. It is not the law of the land that fulfills G*D's law, but the act of loving another (whether that is a legal love or not).
So it is now incumbent upon us to know what's what. What's up is expanding the limiting laws of the land that advantage some to the disadvantage of others (darkness) and to bring the light of a loving life to enlighten our personal hypocrisies and our communal discriminations and choose against them.
This appeal to love is worth provoking in one another. It is worth holding on to in the face of a temptation to legalisms that oversimplify the variations of life.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/september2005.html
New Orleans is a testing ground for the care shown one another. This test is for individuals such as myself and for institutions such as churches and schools and for governments large and small. When felt survival needs come around, what happens to organizing principles of loving one another and details in that of various "commandments" and such virtues as honor?
If there was any doubt about the preoccupation every level has with its own benefit (always leaving somone else's benefit to fend for itself) it has been revealed in the consequence of decision made years ago, by the current administration, and still by each of us. The consequence shows up in the Lord of the Flies or Mosquitoes or whatever fashion. Another way to put it is the invisible hand of Capitalism has been shown, the one that demands inequity to amass the most capital possible.
Where then does this passage fit in? What mercies of G*D have we experienced that would hold us in good stead should we find ourselves as dramatically cut off as those left in New Orleans (revealing how undramatically folks have consistently been cut off up to this time)?
Now that the covers have been thrown back and we see the consequence of knowing all manner of things which are inevitable and deciding to not keep up resources to care for them, will there be a shift in orientation? Will we see the callousness of paying off the rich with tax breaks when the result is so directly tied to such consequences? We can but hope a result is a new and larger appreciation for the progressive/prophetic perspective we have yearned for.
I don't usually agree with David Brooks but his editorial in the New York Times yesterday deserves a longer quoting:
The Storm After the Storm
"Hurricanes come in two waves. First comes the rainstorm, and then comes what the historian John Barry calls the "human storm" - the recriminations, the political conflict and the battle over compensation. Floods wash away the surface of society, the settled way things have been done. They expose the underlying power structures, the injustices, the patterns of corruption and the unacknowledged inequalities. When you look back over the meteorological turbulence in this nation's history, it's striking how often political turbulence followed.
"In 1889 in Pennsylvania, a great flood washed away much of Johnstown.... The flood was so abnormal that the country seemed to have trouble grasping what had happened. The national media were filled with wild exaggerations and fabrications.... Prejudices were let loose.
"Then, as David McCullough notes in "The Johnstown Flood," public fury turned on the Pittsburgh millionaires whose club's fishing pond had emptied on the town. The Chicago Herald depicted the millionaires as Roman aristocrats, seeking pleasure while the poor died like beasts in the Coliseum.
"Even before the flood, public resentment was building against the newly rich industrialists. Protests were growing against the trusts, against industrialization and against the new concentrations of wealth. The Johnstown flood crystallized popular anger, for the fishing club was indeed partly to blame. Public reaction to the disaster helped set the stage for the progressive movement and the trust-busting that was to come.
"In 1900, another great storm hit the U.S., killing over 6,000 people in Galveston, Tex. The storm exposed racial animosities....
"Then in 1927, the great Mississippi flood rumbled down upon New Orleans. As Barry writes in his account, "Rising Tide," the disaster ripped the veil off the genteel, feudal relations between whites and blacks, and revealed the festering iniquities. Blacks were rounded up into work camps and held by armed guards. They were prevented from leaving as the waters rose.... The racist violence that followed the floods helped persuade many blacks to move north.
"Civic leaders intentionally flooded poor and middle-class areas to ease the water's pressure on the city, and then reneged on promises to compensate those whose homes were destroyed. That helped fuel the populist anger that led to Huey Long's success. Across the country people demanded that the federal government get involved in disaster relief, helping to set the stage for the New Deal. The local civic elite turned insular and reactionary, and New Orleans never really recovered its preflood vibrancy.
"We'd like to think that the stories of hurricanes and floods are always stories of people rallying together to give aid and comfort. And, indeed, each of America's great floods has prompted a popular response both generous and inspiring. But floods are also civic examinations. Amid all the stories that recur with every disaster - tales of sudden death and miraculous survival, the displacement and the disease - there is also the testing.
"Civic arrangements work or they fail. Leaders are found worthy or wanting. What's happening in New Orleans and Mississippi today is a human tragedy. But take a close look at the people you see wandering, devastated, around New Orleans: they are predominantly black and poor. The political disturbances are still to come."
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/september2005.html
What time is it? Time to not let sin continue unchallenged.
A part of this is to remember the gift of blessing that came first so that we might sing a new song to one another and not just bring suit against one another, no matter how many witnesses we are able to round up.
There is more than enough to be divided up among us. To continue acting as though G*D and a religious impetus is a zero-sum game is false to the strongest and most steadfast tenet we have - wholeness / love.
So what will we bind on earth (another to our way of thinking) and what will we loose (a new song that is an old song - honor)?
- - -
my lamb is served with mint jelly
your lamb is tofu with mint leavesboth may be apportioned
according to the number presentboth lambs are without blemish
in themselves or in our eyesboth remind us of the fragility
of life and death and beyondboth prepare us for a new journey
we will remember until the nextso we call out to one another
owe nothing but lovethe lambs are gone into a good night
and awaken in honor fulfilledof the flesh we are born and grow
with such flesh we travel togetherfor life takes pleasure in life
and adorns the humble with honor
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html
The Message reports Romans 13:10 as: "You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love."
This advice for the present turns out to be very helpful whether you are looking at things in terms of readiness or envisioning a future where we don't play war anymore.
To be constantly on guard for every little misstep is exhausting. It does, however, make one very proficient in legalistic justifications as per literalistic fundamentalists who know the nth degree of truth about every jot and tittle in Scripture.
Very much like telling the truth eases one's mind (keeping track of multiple story lines and who has what information is tiring), having one golden orientation eases life toward joy and thanksgiving. In this case, instead of trying to live up to all rules all the time, it will be sufficient to focus on one behavior that resolves the rest – love others.
What is unexpected about this approach is that it turn out to be ready for every unexpected occasion. It is not silly liberal claptrap advocated by bleeding hearts. It is the needed following of Jesus' advice to be ready – ready by doing what he did, loving others.
Likewise, what is a world without war but a world of mutual care and love. We see it in the future. It is possible to move in that direction by what we do. Not only can we see it, we can have a hand in both preparing for this world without war and actually participating in it right now.
You can't go wrong when you love others. This is a progressive panacea. Try it, you'll like it. Realistically, you'll eventually like it. Its one difficulty is that it throws everything up for grabs in the shortrun - all our learned rules will band together against it until it becomes an ingrained way of life.
The night is far gone. We have wasted enough time in trying to always be ready and to minutely define a future before actually practicing some of it today. Let us live honorably by putting on the love Jesus had for others.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
When you add up all the "don't"s, they reveal a larger "do" – do love others as well as you do yourself.
Why not focus on the "don't"s? Won't that show your steely resolve to resist temptation? Isn't that the ultimate character test that proves leadership qualities?
No, because the negative of a proposition only carries with it power, not wisdom or life. It is better to affirm the larger purpose of bringing life to one another. To make it through one more day holding an addiction or threat at bay is laudable and common wisdom has it that this is a workable model in our day. But looked at through the eyes of fasting, we'd best have our eye on a larger picture and in its light we take a smaller part.
While "don't"s and "do"s can certainly be seen as complementary that may be experience and personality driven, a distinction of hierarchy and movement is crucial to our participation in life. Let's not mistake a curmudgeon or pessimist for one lacking a larger "do" picture. To confuse surface response and depth of understanding is not helpful.
We can posit that only having a "don't" approach leaves one self-absorbed and exhausted, ready to repeatedly fall off the wagon. It needs an affirmation within which the "don't" can make sense and express grace. Likewise, having only a "do" direction leaves one vulnerable to naivety and disillusionment. It needs the discipline of "don't" for clarity's sake. Our religious culture tends to desire an emphasis upon "don't" and our Jesus spirit leans toward "do". One's orientation in this regard is important.
To temper power with wisdom and energize wisdom, we need a picture larger than fact or truth – a vision of a better tomorrow connected to better living today. G*D and ourselves are putting some finishing touches on a larger wholeness than we have so far known. This takes a deft touch informed by looking at "do"s while knowing there will need to be some practical "don't"s along the way. Anything else will cause too broad a stroke and a smudge.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html
Jesus doesn't know chronologic time. You, however, know kairotic time.
This is the time to wake from our cultural comfort of pleasure in privilege. We are to live honorably with every one, even those who might be taken away from Paradise Earth newly Heavened.
In clock time there is always an excuse as to why we cannot love beyond our current limits. In honor time it is always time to get on with not only doing one's best living, but doing so publicly.
With ticks and tocks we are working with escapement mechanisms that are always running down. Even batteries have their limit, solar chips their length of life, and mainsprings their fatigue point. This is similar to every law, whether social or physical, it sets limits and pushing those limits wears it out.
Fulfilling the law, rather than keeping it going, is a relationship with others that does no wrong. We don't have control about how the other party is going to act, but we are capable of choosing to first do no harm and to, secondly, do good (love) to others, and thus exemplify or fulfill our creation responsibilities and image G*D.
So how does a refrigerator chart look to you for the week so far. As you tick off the harm you could have avoided and the good you could have chosen, have you seen an improvement over the week? If not, extend the chart to Pentecost last year - progress has been made? Do you have to go back as far as Easter of some previous year to be able to note some movement toward using love to fulfill law?
There is certainly Advent work to practice. If you don't already have a chart, you may want to choose to engage growing in love through a practical use of a chart.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/11/romans-138-14.html
Theory: Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Reality: Members of the church sin against one another.
What's a Christ to do?
Better yet, what are you going to do? Paul suggests living honorably.
How's the day gone so far? Been honorable, regardless?
How's the rest of the day look? Is honorable action still an option?
Just as being untruthful means more work for us as we try to keep all the little pieces of untruth in order, not being honorable ultimately means more work. May you lay the burden of not being honorable down.
Perhaps working on a common definition of honor would get us out of some of our usual binds. Honor is not the whole response needed to life's perplexing options, but it is a good start. Too much honor gets into honor killings, but honor is still a good start. You might want to make up a little card and look at it hourly for the next week. One version of the card might read, "Being honorable is the easy way, is my way."
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/09/romans-138-14.html
All commandments are summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In this regard, if you are in the United Methodist tradition you might want to consider supporting a Love Your Neighbor coalition working to transform the world by beginning with transforming The United Methodist Church. Anything you can do to help support this group will be appreciated. (In terms of disclosure, I am working their the legislative arm of Love Your Neighbor).
It is very easy to put off engaging differences, particularly where there is no room to move with one or another absolutist positions. Sometimes be clear in one’s affirmations is the only engaging that can be done.
This is not a reason, though, to put off our work. Whether of not others will engage with us, we can still live honorably and affirm where our trust is grounded.
Again, there is a temptation to have to be a holier-than-thou “honoring of self” that sets up its own absolute division into competing dualities (flesh and spirit, for example). If Jesus is incarnational, so are we and dividing Jesus from the manger and feasting and death only divides us from this wonderful Native understanding of Honor. (No, not retributive honor killings reflecting a fragile life, but an expansive and expanding honor to bring forth everyone’s best affirmations).
So, in the time remaining:
Live Honorably
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself