“Let
love be genuine. Love one another with
mutual affection. Rejoice with those who
rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live
in harmony with one another.”
It
reminds me of something I read this week --- about an organization that did a
survey recently of visitors and guests to churches who felt positive about the
church they attended, and expressed an inclination to return and maybe make it
their church home. The researchers
wanted to know what made the good impression.
And out of all the things listed and identified as possible factors ,
including things like easy parking, accessibility, the age or attractiveness of
the building, nursery care, the technology used in worship, the music, the
preaching, the programs … the highest rated factor mentioned just about every
time was the friendliness of the people – the friendliness and mutual care that
the visitors witnessed among the members, and the way the visitors themselves felt
naturally included in that circle of care from the moment they stepped into the
building, or set foot in the parking lot.
And
that’s part of it, isn’t it?
“Let
love be genuine. Love one another with
mutual affection.”
That’s
part of what it a community of faith is like that is shaped by the spirit of
Jesus. And there’s more.
“Hate
what is evil [Paul says], hold fast to what is good. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take
thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for God to do whatever
judging will be done, in God’s own way and time.”
Lots
of things come to mind when I read these verses – things in the news and on
Facebook and talked about on-line and on the street and around family dinner
tables more and more these days.
Like
the hundreds of clergy and spiritual leaders of all kinds of traditions who two
weeks ago gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia in advance of the advertised
Unite the Right rally to plan how they might take a public stand against the
racism and the anticipated violence of the rally, and to be able to do it in a
spiritual and godly way. Over a few days
they let themselves be trained in the ways of non-violent resistance, they
shared about what it means to stand in the world rooted in love, and then out
of that spiritual preparation they took to the streets as a group dressed in
all their clerical robes, and at critical points along the rally route stood
arm-in-arm against the Unite the Right forces, face-to-face, up close, in
silent resistance, not fighting back, but also not backing down no matter how
fearful they felt.
“Hold fast to what is good [Paul says]… be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer. Do not be overcome
by evil, but overcome evil by good.”
And other stories, too, like the neighbours of a mosque on King William
Street in downtown Hamilton some months ago.
One night someone torched the front doors of the mosque in a failed
attempt to burn it down, and in response the residents of the neighbourhood
around the mosque – not Muslim themselves,
but good neighbours, mobilized themselves in overnight shifts over the next few
days and weeks to keep an eye on the mosque and keep it safe until repairs
could be made and better security systems installed.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with
all, [Paul says].”
Like the incident in Manitoba posted this week on Facebook, in which a
Muslim woman – a Canadian-born citizen from out West drove to Manitoba to visit
family, had to stop and ask directions at a parking lot in Pinawa – which, if
you know Manitoba, is pretty close to being in the middle of nowhere, and was
told by the man she asked help of, in very abusive language, to go home, take
off her head-towel (which is what he called her hijab), and leave Canada for
real (meaning, white) Canadians.
Probably fortunately for her, as she approached him to ask why he
thought he could say such things, and how he could identify himself as a Nazi
(which he did), two other people who happened to be nearby came to her defence
and told the man to leave her alone – that she has every right to be here and
not have to face such abuse.
“Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Contribute
to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
One last story that I read this week in a sermon posted online by a
United Church minister in Owen Sound, about Houston this week, and how two
different Houston celebrities responded to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
On one hand, there’s a mega-church in Houston – Lakewood Church, housed
in what used to be a giant multi-purpose sports arena with one of today’s more
popular television ministers as its pastor.
He preaches the prosperity gospel, telling people that if you are
faithful and generous in giving to God, and follow God’s rules for good living,
you will prosper – something he has done himself, and many of his followers
have as well.
When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston on Saturday the 27th, though,
with all kinds of notice and all kinds of people and organizations having spent
days preparing emergency shelters, that mega-church was locked up tight. And it wasn’t until Tuesday of the following
week after much public criticism that the church opened its doors to collect
donations for flood relief, and take in some overflow from other shelters.
On the other hand, Houston also has a well-known
furniture salesman known as “Mattress Mack” – his real name is Jim McIngvale,
who turned his two furniture stores into temporary shelters for hurricane
victims, and went online and on TV to be sure that everyone who needed to, knew
they could come and be safe in his stores – staying dry, being fed, and
sleeping on whatever furniture they wanted.
In an on-line video he said, “We sell home theatre furniture that you watch TV
in, they're sleeping on that. They're sleeping on recliners, sleeping on sofas
and love seats. We have sleeper sofas, they pulled them out and slept on
that. They're sleeping on hundreds of
mattresses throughout the store. They're sleeping on the couches - wherever
they can find a place that's comfortable, and God bless ‘em.”
And,
when some stranded people couldn’t make it to his stores, he sent out his
delivery trucks to help pick them up and transport them safely. He also brought in food. And told them to bring their pets along
too.
“Let love be genuine … Do not lag in
zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Contribute to the needs of the
saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”
I think this story of two different
responses to the hurricane reminds us that the Gospel response to things that
happen in the world is not automatic.
It’s not guaranteed.
In the world there is a struggle
always between good and evil, and between love and fear. And there is a struggle within ourselves as
well – no matter how religious or irreligious, how Christian or
other-than-Christian we may be – a struggle about what we will do – and be
willing to do, in any given situation as it arises, about the difference we can
– or even want to make, in our own big or little ways.
But there is no doubt as we look
around at the world we live in, no matter what happens the world is redeemed by
love, and as long as the Word of God is spoken into the darkness, and the
Spirit of God moves over the chaos of our time and is breathed into receptive
human hearts, the world is redeemed – one day, one incident, one choice at a
time. And we have a chance – always a
chance, to be part of it.
“Rejoice in hope [Paul says], be
patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
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