Staying in Debt
16th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 13:8-14
I told the group on Wednesday night that I couldn’t get my mind around the scope of the tragedy that Katrina meted out on the Gulf Coast and our nation this last week. More truth be known, like many of us, I’m on tragedy overload. While I was writing this sermon, I received word that my sister-in-law’s mother died. Since my Dad passed away, I have now seven friends who have lost parents. Personal tragedies are one thing, and then these events that happen with such regularity to our world – these events that we are “privileged” to watch unfold on our television sets – they happen with more regularity than any of us would like to admit. We are not calloused to them – but the sheer number of catastrophes dictates that we insulate ourselves from the impact of what has happened, if for no other reason than to protect our increasingly fragile psyches. After all, the day may come in the near future when the tragedy will be “our” tragedy, and we intuitively know that we must maintain a reserve of ability to cope – a capacity to rebuild – when tragedy truly hits home – when it gets personal.
At least that’s something of how I felt earlier in the week.
And then we come up against this scripture for today – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” And the ever popular scripture which follows – “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.”
I watched comedian Bill Maher the other night describe how a “real Christian” would respond to the tragedy. I am amazed at the willingness of extremists to castigate Christians – both those on the extreme left and the extreme right – their willingness, and the ease with which they call Christians into account. Maher denounces Christianity at every opportunity – a result, he says, of his Catholic upbringing – and I start to wonder about the “brand” of Christianity that he has experienced. His brand seems to reek of rules and expectations. I’ll admit that I know of that brand of Christianity, and if that was all I knew, I might react in the exact same manner.
But you and I have been exposed to a better expression of Christianity – an expression from which grace permeates at every turn. So, when we hear Paul say something like, “Let love be without hypocrisy,” or when he says what he says in our passage for today – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another,” – we resonate with that kind of teaching. There is room for grace in that expression of Christianity. In that kind of Christianity, we can even nod our heads when we hear the preacher say that he’s having trouble getting his mind around the scope of the tragedy, and finds himself on tragedy overload, precisely because we have been in exactly the same place. Grace measures our response in every instance of Christian application.
Now, there are two parts to the equation this morning. The first part is actually the second of the scriptures I mentioned a minute ago – “Love does no wrong to a neighbor.” It is more or less the Hippocratic Oath of the Loving Christian. You know the Hippocratic Oath – medicine claims this as one of the main precepts of practice – when treating the patient, “do no harm.” It actually says a lot more than that, but the main principle of the Hippocratic Oath which physicians claim is to “do no harm.” I have to admit, when I was younger, and my doctor would come at me with that hypodermic, I wondered if he had remembered his oath.
Most of us have broken this second part of the law of love – we have done something, we thought for the sake of love, and we harmed our neighbor. We shared a confidence – we thought, “in confidence” – only to discover that our confidant confided in others, and harmed our neighbor. We have meddled and cajoled and intimidated and otherwise compromised the personhood of another – all in the name of love. And then we were offended that the person toward whom we had “expressed our love” – we were offended that they took offense. Most likely, our reaction included an indignant, personal resolution that we “wouldn’t get involved again.” Strangely, in some situations, that may be the best application of the Hippocratic Oath of love – to stand at a distance and do nothing except pray.
That is where I have ended up this week – standing back and praying. I knew early in the week that I must go and help – but by most accounts, presence is not what is needed right now – especially in New Orleans. Money can be sent – lots of money. I was encouraged to hear how much had been received by the Red Cross. Our Missions Team and our Finance Team are going to meet and come up with a recommendation as to how we might assist in the coming days and weeks and months – and you will give graciously, as you always do. We may have to build a couple of more Habitat houses than usual, and I know that some of you will want to help with that. Some of our teachers will have new students in their classes, and some of us will soon stand shoulder to shoulder in the workplace with an American citizen who has been displaced by this cataclysmic event. Some of the areas in Mississippi can possibly use some physical assistance right now – but be prepared to sleep in your truck when you go. My point is that our help will be needed in future days – perhaps we need to consider taking a mission trip in the late spring to some area that needs rebuilding. Possibilities are myriad – as are the needs.
We will respond more in terms of the first verse of our pericope this morning – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” When I was in seminary, and Dr. Bruce Corley was teaching on this passage, he spoke of our obligation in terms of contemporary debt. We are a debt ridden country – more so than at any other time in our history. I heard a friend the other day remind a young person that the best practice – for life – is to remember to give 10% to God, and 10% to yourself – and you’ll always have plenty. I’ve tried to live by that principle, and there are times when it is difficult. It’s the long term discipline of paying God first, and then paying yourself, that actually works out. The young man asked me what to do with the other 80%, and I said, “Spend every nickle of it!!” Most of us are better at that part of the equation.
But then Dr. Corley said, “This is the debt we never finish paying.” Most of us have more debt than we want. Most of us are looking forward to the day when we pay off “something.” That always comes with a good feeling attached – to write the last check for that car that isn’t so new any more, to pay off Discover – we feel a sense of accomplishment and a sense of self determination that is satisfying.
There is a debt that we must never stop making payments on. We continue to owe the debt of love. We owe this debt to our Savior, and Christ asks us to repay this debt by showing love to our neighbors, our families, our world – without hesitation, with extreme gladness – abundantly and in every opportunity. We can’t do enough to love others.
I said to love with extreme gladness. Many is the time where that is difficult. I remember reading a cartoon some years ago in which the main character said, “God loveth a cheerful giver, but will accepteth a grouch!” That same kind of logic might apply to us when it comes to showing love to other people. We can show love without necessarily feeling love. Sometimes we do things for others when we don’t feel like it, or when they don’t deserve it (isn’t that all of us pretty much all of the time), or when it is difficult for some other reason. But we go ahead and “do” love anyway. I remember a counseling axiom which reminds us that we can experience love by receiving love and by giving love. It’s not always possible to receive love from others – we don’t control the actions of others. We can attempt to merit other’s love, and we certainly can manipulate others in an attempt to receive love. But the best way to receive love is to give love. And we can do that without motivation, without cause, without need, without prompting. We can love – indiscriminately and abundantly – and we can do so all of our waking hours, if we so choose. That’s the scope of what we can do. Sadly, it’s not the scope of what we actually do.
Love is given best when it is given with purpose and when the love which is given is personal to both the giver and the receiver. My extended family still exchanges gifts some years at Christmas – well, we really do it at Thanksgiving, which Tracy insists upon calling “Thanksmas,” and which I refuse to do. Anyway, most years, we draw names among the adults. Last year, I drew Laura’s name. That’s my sister-in-law whose mother passed away yesterday. I knew immediately what I would get her – she has a wonderful home, with lovely arrangements, and so I bought a vase while I was in Burnet last fall, had Miss Judy design an arrangement for it, and I thought it was a hit. It fits Laura and it fit me. There was a measure of both persons in the giving of this gift.
Love is the same way – we give our love – out of ourselves – but we give the thing that is needed by the person receiving the love. There is something of both parties in the giving.
Now, I want to make a point with this. There has been a tremendous tragedy – a life altering tragedy for many people – this week down on the Gulf Coast. We will respond best to this tragedy when several things come to bear. We must respond to this catastrophe with an attitude of repayment of our love to Christ, even as we serve our sisters and brothers in need. We will give what is needed – we will do no harm in the process. And we give something of who we are to the other person, acknowledging who they are in the process.
Today, I still don’t know how that will flesh out. Most of us don’t. We don’t know how we will be the presence of Christ to people who need to feel Christ’s presence. We don’t know how we will show the love of Christ, and our personal love, to people who need a loving touch. But we will be ready. We will see them as our neighbors, and we will gladly and abundantly repay our debt of love to Christ by serving them.
We will remain in that debt . . .
Richard W. Dunn, Ph.D.
Romans 13:8-14
I told the group on Wednesday night that I couldn’t get my mind around the scope of the tragedy that Katrina meted out on the Gulf Coast and our nation this last week. More truth be known, like many of us, I’m on tragedy overload. While I was writing this sermon, I received word that my sister-in-law’s mother died. Since my Dad passed away, I have now seven friends who have lost parents. Personal tragedies are one thing, and then these events that happen with such regularity to our world – these events that we are “privileged” to watch unfold on our television sets – they happen with more regularity than any of us would like to admit. We are not calloused to them – but the sheer number of catastrophes dictates that we insulate ourselves from the impact of what has happened, if for no other reason than to protect our increasingly fragile psyches. After all, the day may come in the near future when the tragedy will be “our” tragedy, and we intuitively know that we must maintain a reserve of ability to cope – a capacity to rebuild – when tragedy truly hits home – when it gets personal.
At least that’s something of how I felt earlier in the week.
And then we come up against this scripture for today – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” And the ever popular scripture which follows – “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.”
I watched comedian Bill Maher the other night describe how a “real Christian” would respond to the tragedy. I am amazed at the willingness of extremists to castigate Christians – both those on the extreme left and the extreme right – their willingness, and the ease with which they call Christians into account. Maher denounces Christianity at every opportunity – a result, he says, of his Catholic upbringing – and I start to wonder about the “brand” of Christianity that he has experienced. His brand seems to reek of rules and expectations. I’ll admit that I know of that brand of Christianity, and if that was all I knew, I might react in the exact same manner.
But you and I have been exposed to a better expression of Christianity – an expression from which grace permeates at every turn. So, when we hear Paul say something like, “Let love be without hypocrisy,” or when he says what he says in our passage for today – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another,” – we resonate with that kind of teaching. There is room for grace in that expression of Christianity. In that kind of Christianity, we can even nod our heads when we hear the preacher say that he’s having trouble getting his mind around the scope of the tragedy, and finds himself on tragedy overload, precisely because we have been in exactly the same place. Grace measures our response in every instance of Christian application.
Now, there are two parts to the equation this morning. The first part is actually the second of the scriptures I mentioned a minute ago – “Love does no wrong to a neighbor.” It is more or less the Hippocratic Oath of the Loving Christian. You know the Hippocratic Oath – medicine claims this as one of the main precepts of practice – when treating the patient, “do no harm.” It actually says a lot more than that, but the main principle of the Hippocratic Oath which physicians claim is to “do no harm.” I have to admit, when I was younger, and my doctor would come at me with that hypodermic, I wondered if he had remembered his oath.
Most of us have broken this second part of the law of love – we have done something, we thought for the sake of love, and we harmed our neighbor. We shared a confidence – we thought, “in confidence” – only to discover that our confidant confided in others, and harmed our neighbor. We have meddled and cajoled and intimidated and otherwise compromised the personhood of another – all in the name of love. And then we were offended that the person toward whom we had “expressed our love” – we were offended that they took offense. Most likely, our reaction included an indignant, personal resolution that we “wouldn’t get involved again.” Strangely, in some situations, that may be the best application of the Hippocratic Oath of love – to stand at a distance and do nothing except pray.
That is where I have ended up this week – standing back and praying. I knew early in the week that I must go and help – but by most accounts, presence is not what is needed right now – especially in New Orleans. Money can be sent – lots of money. I was encouraged to hear how much had been received by the Red Cross. Our Missions Team and our Finance Team are going to meet and come up with a recommendation as to how we might assist in the coming days and weeks and months – and you will give graciously, as you always do. We may have to build a couple of more Habitat houses than usual, and I know that some of you will want to help with that. Some of our teachers will have new students in their classes, and some of us will soon stand shoulder to shoulder in the workplace with an American citizen who has been displaced by this cataclysmic event. Some of the areas in Mississippi can possibly use some physical assistance right now – but be prepared to sleep in your truck when you go. My point is that our help will be needed in future days – perhaps we need to consider taking a mission trip in the late spring to some area that needs rebuilding. Possibilities are myriad – as are the needs.
We will respond more in terms of the first verse of our pericope this morning – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” When I was in seminary, and Dr. Bruce Corley was teaching on this passage, he spoke of our obligation in terms of contemporary debt. We are a debt ridden country – more so than at any other time in our history. I heard a friend the other day remind a young person that the best practice – for life – is to remember to give 10% to God, and 10% to yourself – and you’ll always have plenty. I’ve tried to live by that principle, and there are times when it is difficult. It’s the long term discipline of paying God first, and then paying yourself, that actually works out. The young man asked me what to do with the other 80%, and I said, “Spend every nickle of it!!” Most of us are better at that part of the equation.
But then Dr. Corley said, “This is the debt we never finish paying.” Most of us have more debt than we want. Most of us are looking forward to the day when we pay off “something.” That always comes with a good feeling attached – to write the last check for that car that isn’t so new any more, to pay off Discover – we feel a sense of accomplishment and a sense of self determination that is satisfying.
There is a debt that we must never stop making payments on. We continue to owe the debt of love. We owe this debt to our Savior, and Christ asks us to repay this debt by showing love to our neighbors, our families, our world – without hesitation, with extreme gladness – abundantly and in every opportunity. We can’t do enough to love others.
I said to love with extreme gladness. Many is the time where that is difficult. I remember reading a cartoon some years ago in which the main character said, “God loveth a cheerful giver, but will accepteth a grouch!” That same kind of logic might apply to us when it comes to showing love to other people. We can show love without necessarily feeling love. Sometimes we do things for others when we don’t feel like it, or when they don’t deserve it (isn’t that all of us pretty much all of the time), or when it is difficult for some other reason. But we go ahead and “do” love anyway. I remember a counseling axiom which reminds us that we can experience love by receiving love and by giving love. It’s not always possible to receive love from others – we don’t control the actions of others. We can attempt to merit other’s love, and we certainly can manipulate others in an attempt to receive love. But the best way to receive love is to give love. And we can do that without motivation, without cause, without need, without prompting. We can love – indiscriminately and abundantly – and we can do so all of our waking hours, if we so choose. That’s the scope of what we can do. Sadly, it’s not the scope of what we actually do.
Love is given best when it is given with purpose and when the love which is given is personal to both the giver and the receiver. My extended family still exchanges gifts some years at Christmas – well, we really do it at Thanksgiving, which Tracy insists upon calling “Thanksmas,” and which I refuse to do. Anyway, most years, we draw names among the adults. Last year, I drew Laura’s name. That’s my sister-in-law whose mother passed away yesterday. I knew immediately what I would get her – she has a wonderful home, with lovely arrangements, and so I bought a vase while I was in Burnet last fall, had Miss Judy design an arrangement for it, and I thought it was a hit. It fits Laura and it fit me. There was a measure of both persons in the giving of this gift.
Love is the same way – we give our love – out of ourselves – but we give the thing that is needed by the person receiving the love. There is something of both parties in the giving.
Now, I want to make a point with this. There has been a tremendous tragedy – a life altering tragedy for many people – this week down on the Gulf Coast. We will respond best to this tragedy when several things come to bear. We must respond to this catastrophe with an attitude of repayment of our love to Christ, even as we serve our sisters and brothers in need. We will give what is needed – we will do no harm in the process. And we give something of who we are to the other person, acknowledging who they are in the process.
Today, I still don’t know how that will flesh out. Most of us don’t. We don’t know how we will be the presence of Christ to people who need to feel Christ’s presence. We don’t know how we will show the love of Christ, and our personal love, to people who need a loving touch. But we will be ready. We will see them as our neighbors, and we will gladly and abundantly repay our debt of love to Christ by serving them.
We will remain in that debt . . .
Richard W. Dunn, Ph.D.
posted by the sojourning pilgrim | 8:09 PM
1 Comments:
very, very wonderful
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