Sermon for Friends Congregational Church
“Controlled by Love”
Delivered by Lenni Lissberger
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Psalm 51:1-10; Luke 15-1-10
I love Psalms!
Especially Psalms of Thanksgiving, where you worship God, and your spirits are
lifted, and joy just fills your soul.
I also like other types of Psalms, but — a Psalm of Lament — at this hour of
the morning? It makes me want to say, “Get a grip David, you're the one who was
chasing Bathsheba.
Sin, sin sin. I have not been surrounded by so much sin since the last revival
meeting I went to. Or let me rephrase that — so much talk about sin.
There is just no way to make that word pretty. Sounds like it should be a
four-letter word instead of a three-letter word.
One of the current uses of the word irks me to no end — probably because it is
said more about me and other non-heterosexuals — “Hate the sin, but love the
sinner.” Another way of saying, I can do you all the harm I want—but I love
you.
That saying always reminds me of another saying by a minister I knew years ago.
Talking about the “sins” of the people visiting his congregation, he would say:
“Well, you can't clean a fish until you catch it.”
Well, I think most of us here in south Texas know how you clean a fish. You
take a knife and gut the fish — taking out everything you consider bad, (not
necessarily bad for the fish—just bad for you) leaving this shell of a body—not
a fish anymore—just a piece of meat. Then you consume it, and then you say,
“Man, I hate those entrails, those guts, but I love that catfish!”
I am going to share a secret with you. I am not a morning person, and that
Psalm just got me off to a bad start, so I'm going to switch over to the
passage from Luke where it talks about Jesus:
Jesus who
truly did love sinners.
Jesus who welcomed sinners
Jesus who ate with sinners (even though in that culture at that
time to eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners was
especially offensive, because the food laws were
what separated those who were “properly observant” from
the sinners).
And, those Pharisees and Scribes who were properly observant were very particular, and they grumbled a lot. Earlier in Luke, Chap 7 vs 33-34, Jesus points to just how particular they were.
For John the Baptist, he said, has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, “He has a demon'”; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
Jesus' accusers were never satisfied. They wanted to pull all the strings. They wanted things to happen their way. They wanted their religious figures to be under their control.
It's a funny thing about control. People who are powerful
have control. People under that control have two choices — comply or rebel —
and Jesus wasn't known as a rebel for nothing. He was out there pounding the
pavement in Galilee, talking
not about rules and regulations, but about God's love,
not about 613 commandments,
not even concentrating on just 10,
but on simply two, the two on which the laws and prophets depended.
The most important being: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The second being, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
But if Jesus was bringing a message of love, why were his accusers rejecting it? Because he wasn't doing it their way.
We have a strong urge to do things our own way. I have
actually left churches that were bringing the message of God's love because I
didn't like the way they were doing it. There was always some reason of course.
Either:
The music was too traditional — or, the music was too rowdy.
The sermons were too deep and scholastic — or, The sermons were too
shallow.
The people were too cold — or, the people were too touchy-feely.
There was no diversity in the congregation — or the services looked
like a meeting of the United Nations.
There will always be something we can use to rationalize rejecting the message of God's love, or rejecting a congregation, if we feel everything has to be our way or no way.
However, I do believe there is one good reason for rejecting a church, and that is if the message of God's love is absent.
If, instead of love, condemnation is being
preached;
If, instead of love, a church's doctrine is the message;
If, instead of love, discrimination is tolerated;
then I say, don't walk out the door — Run out the door! Because Jesus' message
is love.
And, where there's love, there's acceptance, not
condemnation.
Where there's love, you hear of God's devotion, not the church's
doctrine.
Where there's love, discrimination is not tolerated.
God's love for us and our love for God and our neighbors — this was Jesus' message.
One of the problems his accusers had with him was that he took that message on the road. He didn't confine himself to the temple, or the synagogues, or to the appropriate homes — least of all to the appropriate people.
He was a friend of social and moral outcasts.
He was a touch-er of the untouchable.
He was a lover of the unlovable.
He was a teacher to all who would open their hearts.
He was a healer of all who came.
And let me tell you, his roadshow got rave reviews. When the people heard he was coming they would line the roads. If they couldn't get through the door where he was speaking, they would break through the roof.
Is it any wonder in today's Gospel reading that tax collectors and sinners were coming near to Jesus to hear him? But also, the religious authorities were there, which gave Jesus a chance to try to explain through the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin how it is in God's kingdom. How much God loves the lost and marginalized.
I can see why Jesus might have a problem getting through to an educated or business person. Because, it does not make any earthly sense to leave 99 percent of your total net worth unprotected to concentrate on the lost 1 percent.
Well, in my case it would not make much difference, considering my net worth, but if I actually owned 100 sheep, I might call 911 on my cell phone to turn in a lost-sheep report, but I am not taking my eyes off those other sheep.
But that is the way it is with parables. They turn our thinking on its head—they open our minds to new thoughts. They give us a glimpse of the way God does things as opposed to the was we do.
But, Jesus had other problems. His accusers were aware that he wasn't observing all the hundreds of rules that institutionalized religion had set up. He was telling people that love was more important than rules and regulations, and worst of all the people were believing him. This man was out of control.
And to that I say, “Praise God!” For if he had not been, we would not be gathered here in his name today.
“But wait a minute,” you may be thinking, “we can't live in a society today without some kind of rules and regulations.” And to that I say, “You're probably right, but what should those rules and regulations be based on?”
Should they be based on the
interests of a powerful economic class?
Should they be based on the bigoted beliefs of some people?
Should they be implemented according to the color of your skin, or
who you love, or how much money you have?
There are many laws like that in this country, and we have an obligation to work to eliminate those laws. What we cannot afford to do is go along complacently in their control allowing others — and ourselves — to be harmed by them.
You may also be thinking, “Wow, this woman doesn't want to be controlled by her church, or by her government. She doesn't believe in any kind of control at all. She's an anarchist.”
No, I'm not an anarchist. I believe in law, but I believe that all necessary law is implicit in those two commandments: Love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
I frankly don't want to be out of control. But, the law I want to be controlled by, is the law of love.
I will leave you with this question. What are you willing to be controlled by?
Amen