September 7, 2014: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
What a summer it has been! In a sense, this is Welcome Back Sunday for me, returning from a two week staycation of sorts, and I look forward to what the next few weeks has in store for us as a faith community, and I hope you do as well.
And it is living as a faith community that is at the heart of both the Gospel and the Epistle readings today and next week, because faith communities are families, families that are grounded in a common faith experience, and like all families, it isn’t always easy to get along…in fact, it can sometimes be downright difficult. Maybe that’s why the next two weeks, both St. Paul, and Jesus, spend a bit of time talking about how to be a community of faith.
You see…it really has been quite a summer, and some of it was news that confounded, saddened, angered, and pained us – beheadings of journalists in war torn countries, rioting and racism in Ferguson, and it is in community, whether that is family, school, or faith, that we should be able to find peace and love – a respite from the ills of the world, and a vision of what is possible. But these passages of text are as relevant today as they were when first written down, because sometimes…well, living in community isn’t always easy – ask any kid who has to play in a schoolyard. It can be tough out there. And we teach our children some of these same things Paul and Jesus speak of today and next week – love one another, don’t talk about someone behind their back, etc.
St. Paul writes in the Epistle we heard this morning, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”
A passage in the Talmud (Shabbos 31a), the written Jewish Rabbinic teachings, says that when the famous Rabbi Hillel was asked to recite the whole law while standing on one leg, he raised one leg and said “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole law. The rest is commentary.” St. Paul is saying the same thing…as did Jesus in another part of the gospel.
Now, I posted an image to Facebook yesterday – it was of Jesus preaching to his disciples, and he is saying “Love one another.” His disciples say, “But what if they’re immigrants, or gay, or poor?” And Jesus says “Did I stutter?” Honesty, we seem to think it doesn’t apply to everyone.
But more than that, Paul is essentially saying not only that we should love, but that we in fact OWE love to one another.
What would that look like if we really lived it out? Imagine waking up and looking at debt in a whole new way. For most of us, debt is something we understand far too well, it overwhelms us sometimes – student loans, mortgages, credit card bills… Love is something we feel we give, not owe. But what if it was something we owed…what if we started the day owing love. What if, when we got out of bed in the morning we thought…how do I pay my debt of love to the world? What would that look like? I think it would change the world – and us.
There is a story I want to share with you… well, it’s is actually a viral internet video. “ The video, titled “Unsung Hero” and released on YouTube on April 4, is by Thai Life Insurance, and it racked up more than 3.5 million views in a single week. [the video is now posted to our website and facebook page] The 3-minute clip begins with a young man walking along a sidewalk, and notices a drainpipe spewing water. He looks over and sees a plant in need of water in a pot nearby, and so he stops to drag it over so that it is underneath the water. “Other acts of kindness follow: helping a woman push her food cart up a curb; feeding a starving dog from his own meal; offering money to a mother and child sitting helplessly on a dirty sidewalk, begging for money; giving up his seat on a bus to a standing woman; and leaving a bunch of bananas for an old woman.
Yet, other people scoff at his intentions with skepticism — the cook, as the piece of chicken is offered to the stray dog, and the eyeglass shopkeeper vendor, who shrugs as the money goes into the cup of the begging girl and her mother. Yet every day, the young man’s actions are repeated – he keeps feeding the dog, giving money to the woman and girl, and so on…and the voiceover, in Thai but subtitled in English asks, “What does he get in return for doing this every day?”
That is answered when we see him walking down the street – each day the plant begins to thrive, the dog – once nearly starved to death – gets healthier and begins to walk beside him, and with each passing moment, you can see by his smile that his heart is full. Then, one day, as he approaches the begging woman – he sees that her young daughter is no longer beside her. There is a moment when his smile fades a bit…where is the girl? Has she died? Was it all just a ruse? And then, in the distance, the girl appears in school clothes and a big smile appears on her face, his offerings have helped bring her back to school.
The narrator then says, “What he does receive are emotions.”
I have to admit, especially having worked at AIG, I never thought an insurance company could offer a good teaching moment, but that video shows how this debt of love can actually serve to pay not only the world, but our own hearts – to enrich us and those around us. I bet our other debts don’t do that. But this debt, if paid, has the power to change us – and to change the world. It is very much as Gandhi implored. Even if the oft quoted statement is not actually one that can be verified as his, this one, according to the NY Times, was actually something he did say, “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see what others do.” And that, easily translated in my mind would be that we must be the change we wish to see in the world.

Can you imagine how things might be different in Ferguson…in the middle east…in the poverty stricken places all over the world if this debt were paid every day by everyone of us?
See, the reason this was so important – the reason that St. Paul focuses on this (and we hear more next week) is that there is something at stake for God in all of this….how God wants to be revealed in the world – we are a manifestation of God in the world – we have to live that too! Everything we do is a reflection of our faith. When we love, we transmit the message of God’s transformative love. When we are indifferent, or do harm, we transmit the message that God is not one who cares.
I sometimes think it would be great if all Christians woke up and we all were…purple, or green, or something like that. Maybe, having everyone know that we are Christians it might help us live into it a bit. Most of you know I am a chaplain at Montclair State, and one day, I participated in the Muslim Student Association “Wear Hijab For A Day” event – Hijab being the Muslim headcovering. They taught me how to put it one, and the next day, I got up, prayed, and put on Hijab. I wore it to work, to seminary, to the grocery store, to the campus – everywhere. I was keenly aware that my every action was a reflection on an entire community of faith. The collar is like that too. Everything I do and say is a reflection of Christianity. What would it be like if we all were marked in that way? Would it change us?
I want to share one final story.
A woman was being tailgated by a stressed out man on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of her. She did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though she could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating man was furious and honked his horn, screaming in frustration as he missed his chance to get through the intersection, dropping his cell phone on the floor as he stopped short.
As he was still in mid-rant, he heard a tap on his window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered him to exit the car with his hands up. He was arrested and taken to the police station where he was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, another officer approached the cell and opened the door. The man was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with his personal effects.
The arresting officer said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the driver in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at her. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally… I assumed you had stolen the car.”
We have a choice – every day, we have a choice. The choice was made in our baptism really – the choice we make each day is whether or not we will honor that original commitment – weather or not we will fulfill or default on our debt of love to one another. Whether or not we will, in our lives, be a symbol of what it means to be in covenant with God.
“owe no one anything, except to love one another…” This is a debt we all carry.
What will you get in return for honoring this debt every day?…everything, and so will the world.” Amen.

Note: The sermon as written may not be as delivered on any given Sunday.

The Rev. Diana Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
September 7, 2014
Pent 13, Proper 18 – Year A – Track 1
1st Reading – Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
2nd Reading – Romans 13:8-14
Gospel – Matthew 18:15-20