Romans 12:9-21Today’s reading is so full of beauty and grace that it’s like pulling up a chair to an all you can eat buffet. Rather than trying to get it all on your plate at once, I’m going to encourage you to read it again and again and again and just let it sink in.
For our conversation today, there are two words that I want to focus on and two images that I want to share with you. The words I want to lift up are “genuine” and “haughty.” This is not to be confused with the term, “genuine hotty,” which is probably so old that no one says it anymore and you can probably hear my children laughing at me from miles away.
Anyway, a “genuine hotty” is (or was) someone who is legitimately attractive. Back in the dark ages of social media, it was not uncommon for someone to try to curate or cultivate images that made others think that they were perfectly posed and professionally lit even while napping, and in some ways that have never really changed.
Keep all that in mind as we talk more about what Paul had to say to the church in Rome. It’s important to remember that our reading is the punchline, or crescendo, of a longer argument about God’s grace and mercy. It’s important to note that what Paul is talking about is a response to the grace and mercy of God, for once you know of God’s love, everything else flows from it like water moving from snow-capped peak to the flow of a coursing river.
Everything is either an affirmation or a rejection of the love that loves for the sake of loving! In the NRSV, Paul says to let that love be genuine. Other translations say that love must be sincere and that it must be shown without pretending.
Already you can see how this might be problematic if your goal is to be a “genuine hotty,” but maybe we can think about this a little differently. Maybe the attractive thing about following Jesus has nothing to do with looks. At least, not in the traditional sense. Maybe it has more to do with looking inside first and connecting what we do with who we are as God’s people.
That’s where the next use of the word “haughty” comes in. The NIV says, “do not be proud.” The CEB says, “Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else.” Pretty much every version goes on to say that we should associate with those that have “no status” in the world, but I really like the way the CEB follows it with, “don’t think you’re so smart.”
In other words, maybe you know some stuff, but knowing and loving aren’t the same thing. Knowing and being and doing are often wildly apart from one another, and what matters most, according to Paul, is whether or not we can be welcoming. Hospitality to those who cannot repay is the embodiment of grace and mercy. Being welcoming to strangers is the way that love becomes real.
Our congregation has learned a lot over the past few years about the importance of being welcoming, particularly after a disaster like a flood or a hurricane, and God willing, we will welcome more volunteers as our region recovers once more.
The thing is, storms will always come. They may also become worse depending on how we care for our environment. The same can be said about conflicts over politics, ethnicity, and fair treatment. All of it can boil out of control if all we ever do is to respond with self-centeredness and violence, as though we have the answers and those like us are the only ones wounded. When a black man with a knife is shot in the back we all are wounded. When a white teenager is driven by his mom to shoot at protestors with a gun he should not have access to, we all are wounded. When a middle-aged white couple feels so threatened that they believe they must point loaded guns with the intent to kill, we all are wounded, and we all need to find a way to heal these wounds together without creating more wounds to share.
It may sound silly to you, but the first time I learned about non-violence and responding to evil with love was in 4th grade. Mrs. Bridges pulled me into the hall for a private consultation because I was being disruptive. She was kind but stern, and I had no idea what was coming. I was terrified.
I’ll never forget what I got, though. She said, “I don’t understand it. I know your mom, and I know you come from a good Christian home. You have nice clothes. I can tell you’re taken care of. Why are you acting like this?” I stammered and said something about being picked on. She said, “Next time you let me worry about them. You can tell me. Just remember this, the Bible says that if you will be nice to people who are mean to you it’s like pouring hot coals on their heads.”
Maybe that was a bit much for a 4th grader, but I can tell you it stuck with me. It stuck with me to know that kindness is more effective than punching someone in the face. It stuck with me to know that Christians can help each other and that the Bible matters and knowing what it says is better than just knowing how to read it.
I don’t remember what else happened in that class, but I don’t remember having any enemies in that class. That does not mean that I am so naive that I think there aren’t some people and situations that can only be stopped with violence. Christian academics call that the “just war” theory and the fallback illustration is Nazi Germany. It is good and important that men and women of faith stood up to the fascist policies and the oppressive violence of Nazi Germany. It had to be done. Yet these people were not monsters, at least not all of them.
That brings me to the first image I wanted to share. [Inserts an image of Auschwitz staff members]. This is a photo of staff members from Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi death camp where thousands of Jews were systematically murdered. Some might say that their cheerful disposition is the very face of evil, yet these are human beings who think they are doing the right thing. They may even be baptized Christians.
They are so full of the belief that they are in the right, that the pain and suffering of others do not matter to them. I guarantee you that none of them woke up that morning and said, “Let’s personify evil!” yet their indifference is what gave permission to one of the greatest evils we’ve known.
I’m not sharing this image to make the “slippery slope” argument, but I’m also not denying the possibility that our indifference, our expectation that we are the ones that are building truth condos on the monopoly board, creates more space for evil to move in. While it is true that previous generations made unbelievable sacrifices to stop greater evils from taking place, nations still go to war, and Nazis and others like them still promote themselves in ways that divide and dehumanize others – and not just in Germany.
The hard truth is that we are still called to love. We are called to expect that love might change hearts that are genuinely haughty and self-absorbed into genuine hotties who attract by their love and joy. Maybe you’d like to see one of those? Here is someone that I would call a genuine hotty. [Inserts picture of a man walking through the rubble in Lake Charles while playing the guitar.]
Life goals – right here. This is Mitch. All I know is that he usually plays his guitar at a coffee shop in Lake Charles called “Stellar Beans.” This picture was taken the day after Hurricane Laura blew through town. I have no idea what he is singing or what he thinks, feels, or believes, but I believe this is an image that describes what Paul is talking about to the church in Rome.
In the aftermath of destruction, we proclaim God’s love. When everything is broken, we proclaim God’s love. There is no way to fake it. There’s no way to sit still while you're doing it. Just like the image of Mitch the Guitar Man in this picture, the presence of love transforms everything from longing to hope to spaces of hospitality and peace.
At least I pray that it may be so with me and with you, and to God be the glory – now and always. Amen!
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