INTRODUCTION: Today we have 2 Scripture readings. The first is from the Gospel of John and talks about a “new commandment” given by Jesus. The second reading builds on the teachings of the Gospel. Both readings challenged the churches of the first and second century to live in ways that reflected the love of God. Let us listen for ways this Scripture might continue to encourage and challenge us in today’s world.
Scripture:
John 13:34-35
34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’
1 John 4:7-12 7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Sermon: “Swimming Against the Tide”
A lack of civility seems to characterize much of our American public discourse these days, especially in the political arena. We hear about it every week in the news. But lest we think our day and age is worse than others, a journalist writing about political discourse in American History reminds us that “the early days of our nation saw politicians willing to draw guns to defend their political honor - most famously, of course, the duel between …Alexander Hamilton [and Aaron Burr] in 1804. [In fact] Dueling was so pervasive [back in that day and age] that many states tried to outlaw it, but the practice continued in the South until the mid-1800’s…” Also, the journalist writes about how “Today we lament the incivilities imposed [especially] upon women in politics. But in the 1830s in Philadelphia, while abolitionist Angelina Grimke spoke …[in] the first public debate between a man and a woman at Pennsylvania Hall, an angry mob armed with bricks and rotten tomatoes gathered outside the doors. Simply because a woman dared to debate a man in public! [Angelina managed to escape, but] Hours later, the hall was burned to the ground.” This kind of behavior sounds so outrageous that it’s almost unbelievable—but then, when we remember that this is truth, not fiction, it’s incredibly sobering, especially in light of the violence we’ve seen erupting in our society lately. (Quotes are from an article entitled: Think America is uncivil today? Just look at our past” By Ben Voth, Published: 23 July 2010, dallasnews.com.)
These true stories of incivility and violence from our country’s history made me think of this morning’s scripture readings—which call Christians to a MUCH higher standard of discourse and interaction than what was just described. Jesus says: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” After reading through the Scripture, my next thought was a question: did any of these historical figures who engaged in incivility and violence purport to follow Christ? To answer that question, I Googled the religious persuasion of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr—and discovered that both grew up in the Christian faith. In fact, Aaron Burr even studied for the ministry before becoming a lawyer. (Christianity today, article by Susan Lim, feb 15, 2016; Adherents.com) It was a little harder to research the religious persuasion of the brick and tomato wielding mob in 1830, but given that the whole country was in the middle of the Second Great Awakening, it is reasonable to assume that many of them were Christians. Yet, their incivility and violence fell quite a bit short of the behavioral standard Jesus calls his followers to emulate. Which leads me to another question: How can we, as Christians, effectively hold ourselves to the high standard of loving behavior that Jesus calls us to?
Church consultant, Gil Rendle has written a book called Behavorial Covenants for Congregations, which interim ministers are encouraged to read. It is a book that looks at the dynamics of how people behave in groups in general, and faith communities in particular. In this book, Rev. Rendle talks about how the culture around us has changed over the years. He doesn’t go back as far as the 1800’s, but he acknowledges that with each generation, behavioral standards in our country shift.
In the years following World War II, he says, working together cooperatively in groups was highly valued. “There was a high demand for order and consensus.” (Rendle, p. 9.) In general, people behaved with civility. So, if you were to pick up a newspaper from, say,1953, you would find more instances of people behaving in concert with Jesus’ commandment to love one another, simply because it fit with the values of the time. To use a computer analogy, loving one another—or at least treating each other with civility and respect, came more easily back then because it was the “default setting” of the time, the standard that most people understood they should aim for. (Rendle, p. 19)
However, Rendle points out that as the next generation emerged, the values held by the previous generation were called into question—as they always are. He’s not saying this questioning was bad in and of itself; he’d be the first to point out that there are the pro’s and con’s in any cultural shift. What he is saying is that the next generation (the “Baby Boomers,” my generation J) valued individualism over conformity to the group, and in this climate, competition and confrontation began to replace conformity and civility as cultural norms.
All that to say, our American culture in 2020 is much more confrontational than it was 67 years ago, so it is harder in our society today to find instances of people following Jesus’ commandment to love one another than it would have been in 1953. Trying to “love one another” in our society today is like swimming against the tide—it takes a lot more effort than it did for our parents and grandparents.
But, here’s the thing: even though culture changes, Jesus’ commandment to love one another doesn’t change. We’re still called to do it, even though it’s hard. Even though many people around us are not modeling love and civility, we, as followers of Christ, are still called to this high standard.
But there is good news. God does not leave us without resources. Jesus says, “I have given you a new commandment, that you love one another…as I have loved you...” Interestingly enough, the commandment itself is not new. We find the same commandment to love our neighbors in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18. What is new about this commandment given in the gospel of John is that it is based, not on our own strength or stamina, but rather on our relationship with Jesus. Or, in other words, it is our spiritual connection to the powerful love of God—God living in us, to quote our Epistle reading--that gives us the strength we need to swim against the tide and behave in loving ways toward our neighbors and ourselves.
The more grounded we are in God’s love, the less we are swayed by the uncivil, unloving behavior of others.
Let me give you an example. There is a wonderful book I re-read every few years called Let Yourself Be Loved, by a pastoral counselor named Rev. Dr. Phillip Bennett. In this book Dr. Bennett tells the story of a man named David (not his real name) who struggled with self-esteem and was easily pulled off center by the uncivil, unloving comments of people around him—and even by his own “withering self-judgment.” (Bennett, p. 22)
David came to Dr. Bennett for counseling, and they worked together to help David see himself differently—to see himself not in a critical light, but rather as a precious child of God, created in God’s image. Slowly, David’s vision of himself began to change, and
One day David shared a memory of golf balls he and his brother collected when they were boys. They lived next to a golf course and spent free time combing the area for stray balls. David had always imagined that the golf balls were hollow at their core. Finally he and his brother broke one open, unwinding the rubber bands inside: [He said,] “It seemed like miles of this rubber-band-like material. I was sure we would find a hollow center when we unwound this mass of rubber string. But I was surprised to find this very small but dense core at the center. [David went on to say] I see that golf ball as a metaphor for myself: I used to be afraid to unwrap all the layers inside me for fear that I would find an empty core. But instead I’ve found myself, and it’s solid. It’s such a relief. I want to tell other people who feel hollow and worthless that they really are worthwhile. Thank God I’ve finally been able to experience this solid part of myself.” (Bennett, p. 21)
Dr. Bennett goes on to say that the more we are in touch with the solid center of ourselves, the place where the Love of God resides in our hearts and souls, the less we are affected by the uncivil, unloving behavior of others. The more we are in touch with the solid center of ourselves, the place where the Love of God resides in our hearts and souls, the more we can, in turn, be loving toward others.
So, my friends, may we too, like David, find the solid core of ourselves, the place where God’s love resides in our hearts and souls. May we believe that our solid center is good and precious—and if we can’t quite believe it yet—may we ask God to help us believe it in time. And, unlike many of the behaviors we see in the news, may our behavior flow out of our loving center, and may people say of us that they know we are Christians by our love for each other and the world. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Franklin Federated Church
Franklin, MA
[A version of this sermon was first written and preached in May, 2010 in York, Maine; another version preached in Manchester, NH on April 24, 2016; another version was preached on April 29, 2018 in Manchester-by-the-Sea.]