Sermon: "Picking Cherries"

The Rev. Maureen R. Frescott

The Congregational Church of Amherst, UCC

September 3, 2017 – Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Romans 12:9-21

“Picking Cherries”

Something happened to me the other day that has likely happened to you as well if you rely on computers and online resources to stay connected to the world.   

I got angry at someone on the internet. 

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed looking at pictures from my friends’ vacation trips, reading the latest news about the devastating destruction of Hurricane Harvey,

and watching cat videos to take my mind off all the political finger pointing and pontificating that dominates much of our media these days,

when I came across a comment someone had made on a friend’s facebook post that try as I may I could not ignore.

You may have heard it said if you’re looking to ruin your day and lose all faith in the inherent goodness of humanity, just read the comments that people make on the internet.

Politics, religion, and sports seem to generate the most contentious and convicted discussions,  but regardless of the subject,

inevitably some cantankerous soul will manage to slip in an ill-informed or inflammatory comment that ignites an argument amongst strangers and sucks the joy right out of your day.

The kind of comment that gets under your skin and has you immediately composing a lengthy rebuttal in your head –

because when someone is WRONG on the internet, God knows it’s our job to set them straight.

The reality is, when someone says something online or on TV that we disagree with, turning off the computer or the television and walking away is usually the most effective response –

because doing so keeps us from jumping into a fray that only serves to waste time and energy and rarely ends well for anyone. 

Cognitive studies show that very few people change their minds when presented with an argument that contradicts their worldview, no matter how well-crafted, well-intentioned, or well-supported the rebuttal may be.

Which is why, after spending way too much time composing the perfect response to a stranger’s obviously ill-informed online comment, I hit the DELETE button, instead of hitting SEND.  

And after I read the scripture text for today I was glad that I did.

Paul’s letter to the Romans lays out what we call the Marks of Christianity -

A description of what it looks like to live as Jesus did in the world –

to really live it, from the center of our being.

Love one another.

Hold onto what is good.

Return no evil for evil.

Pray for those who persecute you.

Support the weak.

Strengthen the fainthearted. 

Help the suffering.

Extend hospitality to strangers.

Rejoice in hope.

Live peaceably with all.

Now, it needs to be said that Paul is setting the bar REALLY high here.

There are times when even the most devout and strong spirited among us struggle to live up to this grand and lofty list of ideals.

We know from her private letters that even Mother Teresa had dark periods where she found it difficult to hold on to what is good and rejoice in hope.

I would argue that we ALL get tripped up by the very first item on Paul’s list.  

Love one another.

Paul is of course quoting Jesus here and we know he was not talking about loving just our neighbor.

Or loving just the people we agree with. Or just the people who love us back.

But rather we are also to LOVE our enemies.

LOVE the people who hate us, the people who wish to cause us harm.

The people who stand for everything that we’re against and who wish to tear down everything that we stand for.

This kind of all encompassing love seems to perpetually hover just beyond our grasp.  But we’re called to reach for it all the same.

The rest of Paul’s list is equally daunting.

Return no evil for evil.

If we truly lived this out we would have a world where there is no war,  

no capitol punishment, no retaliatory violence of any kind.

Our very human understanding of justice would be turned upside down.

Support the weak.

Help the suffering.

Extend hospitality to strangers.

We may willingly throw all our good-hearted energy into supporting the weak and helping the suffering, but extending hospitality to strangers –

we often allow ourselves some wiggle room on that one –

it depends on where the stranger is from - and how they got here –

and the potential threat they may pose to those we love.

Pray for those who persecute you.

I admit that this is one that I struggle with.

I wonder if it applies to women who are in abusive relationships,

or people oppressed by a tyrannical dictator, 

or anyone who is powerless and exploited by the powerful.

And while Paul was referring to outside persecution experienced by those early followers of Jesus, I wonder if it applies when our fellow Christians are the ones doing the persecuting. 

You may have seen the statement that was released this week that was signed by over 150 conservative Christian pastors, theologians, and organizational leaders.

It’s called the “Nashville Statement” as most of the signers are members of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has its headquarters in Nashville, TN.

The 14-point doctrinal manifesto focuses on human sexuality and God’s will for creation, and states unequivocally that God created only two genders, male and female, which are fully realized at birth and have different roles in the human family, that sexual expression is limited to marriage which is to be between one man and one woman, and anyone who lives outside these constructs or supports those who live outside these constructs is at odds with God’s will and the Christian faith, and is unsanctioned by the Grace of Christ.

Imagine being a gay or transgendered teen and hearing this preached from the pulpit on Sunday morning.

Pray for those who persecute you, indeed.

After reading the Nashville Statement my first thought about the people who signed it was admittedly not very prayerful.

Rather I had the same feeling of righteous anger and sadness that I felt when I read the comment that I mentioned earlier, on my friend’s facebook page.

It was made by a woman who questioned the faith of Christians like me - and most of you - who supposedly defy God’s will by supporting gay marriage, transgender rights, divorce, and the ordination of women.

She accused us - her fellow Christians - of cherry picking scripture and the teachings of the Church, leaving behind what we don’t agree with or what doesn’t fit in with current cultural trends.

What provoked me to want to respond to this stranger’s comment is her conviction that one side in particular is guilty of cherry picking religious teachings, tradition, or scripture.

When the reality is, we ALL do it.   

Because it’s impossible not to.

Very few Christians, or Jews for that matter, adhere to every law and restriction found in Leviticus, Deuteronomy,  and other parts of the Hebrew scriptures, in particular the restrictions about not wearing clothing made of mixed fibers, not eating shellfish, and not touching the skin of a dead pig.

If we did, people who wear yoga pants, or enjoy a good Maine lobster, or play football for the New England Patriots would all be guilty of heresy.

And very few of us adhere to every teaching of the New Testament as well – where the followers of Jesus are told to sell all their possessions and keep a communal bank that all can draw from,

where owning human slaves is still acceptable as long as they’re treated well,

and where Paul instructs the faithful to refrain from marrying if possible, because marriage only serves as a distraction from the preparation for the return of Christ and the building of the Kingdom of God.

When it comes to living our lives according to biblical standards we’re all cherry pickers.    

Paul’s list of the "Marks of Christianity" is proof of that.

Every single one of us manages to miss the mark on multiple items on the list, repeatedly, and perpetually.

And I believe the God who created us and knows our limitations intimately would be cruel to expect us do otherwise.

It’s hard to fathom that a God who created a universe as big and as beautiful and as diverse as ours would place such binary restrictions on our ability to express who we are and who we love, and use those restrictions to place those who don’t fit into one box or the other outside the embrace of God’s Grace.

I may be picking cherries, but I choose to believe in the God of the Beatitudes who blessed the poor and the meek, the God of Jesus’ parables who spoke through a Good Samaritan and many, many persistent women,

the God that Paul describes in his letter to the Romans.

This God who when expressed through Jesus taught us to love our enemies, welcome the stranger, and pray for those who persecute us, who is forever challenging us to grow into a kinder, more loving, and more merciful versions of ourselves.  

This God who knows that our hearts and minds contain a complex and interwoven bundle of our genetic programming, our lived experiences, our prejudices and fears, and the learned belief that we are somehow not worthy of the love and that God offers us unconditionally.

I try to remember this when I encounter someone who has difficulty opening their imagination to a God who created the diversity we see in our world and loves each of us just as we are –

and therefore they cling to rules and manifestos and build boxes that we’re all supposed to fit into –

and they gather up the cherries that they’ve so carefully picked that give them a taste of this God who brings them comfort through structure and security - this God of judgment and wrath,

while swatting at the hands of those who prefer the fruit that has the sweet taste of a God of unconditional love and grace.

As a Christian, I love even those who accuse me of dishonoring the will of God.

I love them because at some time in their life they must have felt unloved.

I hold onto what is good in them, because we all have good within us.

I return no evil for evil.

I pray for them even though they persecute me and those I love.

I offer them support, strength, and help, because like all human beings they’ve lived through times of weakness, faintheartedness, and suffering.

I extend hospitality to them even though we are strangers and have yet to hear each other’s story.

I rejoice in hope that they might one day see and celebrate all the diverse colors of God’s rainbow.

And I will live peaceably with them even if they struggle to live peaceably with me.  

In The Message, Eugene Peterson's contemporary translation of the Bible, Paul lays it out like this:

"Love from the center of who you are…discover beauty in everyone."

Those two lines are at the heart of what it means to be a Christian,

because loving from the center of who we are

and finding beauty in every single one of God's children,

leads us to be generous and hospitable,

forgiving and peaceful,

humble and kind,

and full of grace.

Amen