1
October 15, 2017
How Will You Serve?
Galatians 5:1, 13-26
"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age. . . ." Gal. 1:3
A few weeks ago, I was listening to a book reviewer for the New York Times: Marilyn Sasio. She is a regular columnist andhas the greatest job in the world. She reads 200 crime and mystery novels a year, writes reviews on only the books she likes, and gets paid for it. As she described her apartment to us listeners, I could imagine shelves and shelves of books; books stacked on the kitchen table, books stacked in the hallway, books stacked everywhere. Apparently, if youwan to get your mystery novel on the Best Sellers' List, you have to go through Marilyn Sasio. So, when the interviewer asked her about her favorite crime or mystery novel, I was all ears.
I assumed she would name a book written by eitherAgatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but thenSasiomade a surprising choice: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I had never heard of it. Written in 1868, TheMoonstone, in its time, outsoldGreat Expectations--which did not make author Charles Dickens an endearing fan of Wilkie Collins. T.S. Eliot called The Moonstone"the first, longest and greatest of all English detective novels." And, so, with this stellar endorsement, I went to straight to Gordon Street Library, talked to my favorite librarian, Gayle Ott, and checked it out.
When published in1868,TheMoonstone was written as a thirty-two part serial in a Victorian British literary magazine, from January 1 to August 8th. It was written inweekly installments. But apparently Wilkie's story had such an amazing following that as the final installment of the story came closer and closer, people began to place bets on who stole The Moonstone,a mysteriously missing priceless diamond.
I have 450 pages to go, 450 long and cumbersome pasges to find out who committed the crime. But, this week, thumbing through this novel, I noticed that if I turn to p. 489, on that very page, the mystery of the missing diamond is solved. Indeed, on pg. 489, there's a fictitious police report that tells all. It's tempting, almost too tempting. I hear a small voice in my head saying: "Ken, why read the whole book when you can find out "who done it" by flipping to the end? And, after The Moonstone, move onto reading something lighter,like Great Expectations."
If only it were that easy.
On some days, skipping ahead to the end seems so much easier,so much more rewarding, than facing those daily tasks, those endless lists we create for ourselves: drive to work, put in the hours, pay the bills, get the kids off to school, deliver the kids to soccer practice, see what the President tweeted this week and what nation was offended by his tweets; go to a meeting at church, rush home, eat dinner, have a glass of wine– wake up the next day and do it all over again.
I once possessed a cynical coffee mug summed up life this way:
"Eat Fiber, Jog Every Day, Die Anyway."
Yes, on some days, wouldn't be to nice to simply turn to pg. 489 and find out how this life will all turn out. "Eat Fiber, Jog Every Day, Die Anyway?"––There has to be more to life than that!
I was talking to a guy on the mall this past week who, midway through our conservation, broke into an impassioned speech about life: "I tell my children all the time: they need to work hard, get an education, and save their money because you never know what tomorrow will bring."
How will this all turn out? That's what's he saying. That seems to be what were all asking ourselves these days.I can hear Jesus' answer to this question: He says to you and me: “People of God, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today." And yet, living in a world where fires burn pellmell in Northern California, destroying homes and lives while at the same time conflicting messages of global stability and instability prick our consciences daily, this familiar scripture passage may not be enough to allay our fears.
Understanding Paul's letter to the Galatians, to me, is in some ways like plowing through a long English detective novel. Indeed, in this letter,at times, Paul's logic appears convoluted and contradictory. There are opposing forces at work in Galatians, competing voices, competing teachers, and differences of opinion on what it means to be in relationship with God. While Paulpreached grace, freedom in Christ, and living by the Spirit, other preacherssought to subvert Paul's message by preaching on the law, reminding the people that there was an order to all this, and a violation to that order would make one a threat to the State and to Judaism. Simply put, some preachedthe rule of law and believed the law would save people from their sins. Yet what Paul meant by the law was not only living by the Jewish law or Torah or the laws written in the Book of Leviticus. He was also referring to living under the laws of Rome . . . and this understanding of the law, I believe, is not a great stretch in interpreting Paul's letter to the Galatians.
Remember, every day the people of Galatia were reminded that they were aconquered people. They were not citizens of Rome. They were slaves of Rome. They were absorbed into Roman society and, every day, those living in Galatia were informed through artwork, marble statues, laws, and decrees that they had lost the war and Rome had won. The Galatians were defeated and demoralized people, people forced to give up their identity, or else. Clearly, the laws were advantageous to the conquerors and disregarded the rights and humanity of everyone else.
And so, when Paul wrote this letter in 54 CE and Nero was in power, the way you got yourself killed was to talk about freedom:
"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke slavery. . . . For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence (i.e. doing whatever you like) but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."If however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."
Did you find the diamond?In this text, did you find the missing diamond?
Paul offers depressed and oppressed people a diamond, a new paradigm for living in relationship with God and each other. Instead of being slaves or servants to Rome, instead of living by the laws of the Torah, instead of arguing with one another, or competing, or devouring each other, Paul says you are now free to become servants to one another.
"For the whole law can be summarized in a single commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
In other words, in Galatia in 54 CE, serving and loving others was considered a serious threat to the laws of Rome.Really? Who could ever imagine that loving one's neighbor could be such a threat to those in power? So, my epiphany, my insight this week into this text–about the law, about Christian freedom, about living by the Spirit– is that,perhaps,we have been asking the wrong question.
Indeed, instead of asking: "How will this all turn out?" Perhaps, the question we should be asking ourselves is:"How will you serve?
And I ask this question to us not as a benign and gentle reminder that we ought to care for each other orthat it's a good thing to volunteer in our community orbecause it's stewardship season and we are asking you to support WPC with your financial gifts;I ask this question as a radical appeal to what you believe and how you act out your faith.
I never imagined that loving your neighbor as yourself could be such dangerous and empire-threatening statement. . . but maybe it is...maybe it is.
How will you serve the deported and the neglected?
How will you serve the homeless and the lonely?
How will you serve the planet, the air, the water, the land?
How will you serve someone who is hungry, someone longing for community?
How will you serve or be a slave or express your
love to the person right next you?
In my college days, probably twice a year, I dressed up as a clown and juggled at a nursing home in the area. I dressed in white-face and a brightly colored costume and brought my clown suitcase along with me. My suitcase held clubs, balls, various pieces of fruit, and a rubber chicken–all to throw in the air and catch. A dear friend of mine was the recreation director and she invited me to come for a few hours every year to juggle for her residents. It was so much fun.
Weaving my way past wheelchairs and nurses, I remember walking up and down hallways and into residents' rooms. I especially loved juggling right up in someone's face, and around their head and sometimes that person would smile. It was amazingly rewarding for me. To juggle, to share my gift, free of charge at someone's bedside and watch his or her demeanor change from sadness and loneliness to a momentary smile, to joy and delight. I felt so good doing this and I did it several times. But one time, I remember getting paid for doing the same thing–20.00 an hour–and it just wasn't the same. It was no longer my gift to freely share with someone, but a performance with expectations.
I have some radical and subversive questions to ask you:
What gift to do you have to share with others, free of charge?
Right now, this week, this month, today, how will you love your neighbor as love yourself? How will you serve?