The Rev . David R. Wilt s1

7 Epiphany A—February 19, 2017

Leviticus 19:1-2,9-18

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Matthew 5:38-48

The Rev . David R. Wilt

We live in the world. That is a fact we cannot escape. And yet, as people who profess to follow Jesus we are also called to address that world that we live in with a different approach.

Sometimes it feels like we swing from being way over on one side, seeking perfection and piety and doing the “right thing,” to other times, when we throw up our hands and just succumb to the frustration. The balance of this scripture passage is the tension between an “all about me” world and living in a world where relationships are important, where other people are important even if they are different than we are, where the common good of humanity does matter.

One of these is the world, the other of these is God’s world. As we mature in our faith more Godlike behavior and motivations define who we are.

On a daily basis we find it very easy to shake our heads in wonderment at some of the atrocities that the “all about me” world displays: Children shot dead while sitting in a car. Jewish Community Centers are threatened with violence. A teacher molests a student. Parents starve a toddler. These are just a few of the items that I picked up off news wire this week.

But, on a daily basis we also see random acts of kindness and understanding that defy our natural instincts:

When asked about the killing of a Catholic priest in France for which Isis claimed responsibility Pope Francis replied that before he could speak harshly about violent Muslims he would also have to address violent Catholics who kill their in-laws or own children, both of which had happened in Rome the same day that the priest was killed.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would look beyond his own torture, jailings and torment from racists to dedicate his life and die while preaching for co-existance and peaceful dissent to wrong doings.

Rosa Parks would withstand degradation and ridicule for exercising her human right to sit on an empty seat on a bus.

So many of you sacrifice your time and talent and treasure to support Holy Trinity in it’s ministries confident that even if you don’t know all the ministries it supports it is going to promote God’s realm.

The world seeks revenge, an eye for an eye. God’s realm does not seek the continued exploitation of one or any group. God’s realm does not deny the realities of racism or sexism, or harmful phobias based not on reality but simple fear and lack of understanding.

The world seeks revenge, an eye for an eye. Jesus suggests that rather than destroy the opponent that we take a different tack and extinguish the opposition. Jesus suggests that “do not resist an evildoer” actually points toward a deeper, more radical resistance, namely, noncooperation with the underlying premise of the hate and brutality involved in evildoing. Jesus’ suggestion, anchored in his statement “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” is not necessarily a defiance against a particular enemy but against the underlying cyclical effect of enemy making.

The gist of Jesus’ comments are a steadfast refusal to cooperate with harm and evil in whatever form it takes. This is totally consistant with Jesus’ basic position to “love your neighbor as yourself.

It us about understanding others and building relationships. This is not always an easy thing to do. So quickly we can form the wrong assumptions about others.

A man came home from work to find his new bride in tears. He held her, comforted her and asked her what was wrong.

Sobbing she said, “I tried so hard to make you a wonderful veal scallopini dinner. It was sitting on the stove and the phone rang. When I came back the cat had eaten the whole thing.”

The new husband patted her on the back and said, “Oh dear, dear dry those tears we can get another cat tomorrow.”

The crazier the world becomes the more focused those who call ourselves followers of Jesus must become in understanding what the real issues are. What are the real wrongs that are being committed? Who is really the victim and who is the aggressor? And, to do this we cannot react in kind. We cannot exact and eye for an eye, for that only leads to blindness on everybody’s part.

Remember when Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive someone and Jesus responded not once not twice but seventy times seven. Translated I would say Jesus was saying forgive until the transgressor no longer has the will or the purpose to commit the sin.

Make no mistake, Jesus is not talking about ignoring the evils that humanity can bestow upon other humans. It is about not becoming party to and part of the things that we detest in others.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, “Violence never really deals with the basic evil of the situation. Violence may murder the murderer, but it doesn’t murder murder. Violence may murder the liar, but it doesn’t murder lie; it doesn’t establish truth. Violence may even murder the dishonest man, but it doesn’t murder dishonesty. Violence may go to the point of murdering the hater, but it doesn’t murder hate. It may increase hate. It is always a descending spiral leading nowhere. This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn’t solve any problems.”
―Martin Luther King Jr.

We certainly are called to live in the world, but I believe we are equally called to live in contrast to the human nature of the world. If we do not where will the example of God’s love for this world come from.

There is a simple song that distinguishes all that Jesus calls s to do in one simple verse;

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

Songwriters: Peter Scholtes

That is the one thing that we have that is not ours only, but it is the one thing we have that if we live it and share it can change the world.