Independence Day, Take Two (sermon, July 4, 2010)

Matthew 25:31-46
Galatians 6:1-16

Today, we Americans celebrate Independence Day. This day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, which took place on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence was primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, who himself said that it contained no original ideas. Instead, it simply reflected beliefs widely shared by the supporters of the American Revolution. As Jefferson explained nearly fifty years after it was written, the Declaration of Independence was “intended to be an expression of the American mind.” (1)

Well, here we sit, two hundred and thirty-four years later, and I can’t help but wonder: are there any words today that could serve as a single “expression of the American mind”? It seems that the United States of America today is not defined by unity but division. But of course, that’s not just true today. Back in 1776 there were divisions among the new American colonies as polarizing as the ones we face today; such divisions have existed for as long as human beings have attempted to communicate with one another. In fact, such divisions go back way farther than the founding of our country. How about the earliest days of our religion? Look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians, which reflects intense division between Paul and other Jesus followers, who had different ideas about what this new religion should look like and how it should be lived out. Divisions are nothing new.

On Independence Day we may wonder whether a country that feels so divided can ever truly be united. But as people of faith we are called every day to figure out how to overcome our divisions and live together as the family of God.

In this final chapter of Galatians, Paul gives us some ideas. He reminds us that although people in our communities of faith will disappoint us and may even offend us, we must treat them, not with contempt and anger, but with gentleness. We are to bear one another’s burdens, rather than simply becoming consumed with our own challenges and problems. We are to “work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

Sounds good, right? Hopefully, it sounds like what Christians do or at least what we should do and what, on our best days, we truly strive to do. It sounds good, but at times it can be confusing. What does it mean to “work for the good of all”? And who are the members of “the family of faith”?

That’s where this parable from the gospel of Matthew comes in. Last weekend at the Adult Bible School at Westminster Presbyterian in Akron, Amy Miracle used this passage in her talk about the life to come. She used it to focus on that part of the life to come most of us would rather not focus on at all: judgment. I’ll be honest, this is not one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It makes me squirm. But Amy pointed out several things about it that shed new light on it for me and actually helped me to see Paul’s argument in Galatians a little more clearly as well.

First, she pointed out that this story Jesus tells about the future judgment we will all face is a parable. It is not meant to be an exact prediction of the future; it is meant to helps us understand a little better how to be faithful disciples now.

So with that in mind, then what does faithful discipleship look like? Well, for one thing, if we want to know what Jesus might think about Paul’s command to “work for the good of all,” here it is: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” In other words, to work for the good of all means in particular to look out for those who are -- for whatever reason -- particularly needy and vulnerable. In the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, we hear again and again from the prophets that God’s people have a responsibility to care for the widow, the orphan, and the poor among them -- precisely because they are God’s people too. “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

This is a hard passage. It can feel constricting and divisive with the sheep on one side and the goats on the other, and neither of them quite sure how they got there. But in it, Jesus sets us free by breaking wide open the divisions and categories we so eagerly establish. It doesn’t matter who is in need, he says. It doesn’t matter how they got that way. It doesn’t matter if they are baptized or circumcised or if they go to church every Sunday. My way is the way of love. So when someone is in need, you love them. One way or another, you find a way to love them. You can overcome whatever divisions might separate you because you are free to love.

You may not typically think of professional basketball players as great examples of those who model Jesus’ call to love others and especially the least of these, but recently a former player died who had done just that. You probably never heard of him, because as basketball players go, he really wasn’t so great. Manute Bol was a giant on the court, standing seven feet, seven inches tall, and his greatest talent as a player was blocking shots. In spite of his mediocre game, he earned a small fortune playing basketball, but instead of spending it on fancy cars or ridiculously big mansions, he gave all of it to refugees in his home country of Sudan, refugees who have been suffering through a seemingly endless civil war. And he didn’t just send money, he went there in person to do relief work. While in Sudan, he contracted a skin disease that recently caused his death at the age of 47.

Manute Bol’s Christian faith compelled him to live a life of service to others. He said it like this: “God guided me to America and gave me a good job. But he also gave me a heart so I would look back.” (2)

To many people, Manute Bol’s life looks, if not foolish, then tragic. In the same manner, Paul is certain that the Jesus followers who arrived in Galatia after him and encouraged the new Galatian Christians to be circumcised had gotten totally confused about what it really means to follow Jesus. But here, as his letter draws to a close, he changes his mind: “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything,” he writes -- which is a little odd since he has spent so much time in this letter arguing about why it is so important that the Galatians remain uncircumcised. But at the end of the day, Paul knows that whether you are circumcised or not has nothing to do with your place in the kingdom of God. All that really matters is, do you know how much God loves you? Do you know what God has done for you? Do you know that you have been set free for love? And if you know it, do you act like it?

And you don’t have to be a millionaire professional ball player to love, either. Father Gregory Boyle tells the story of Speedy, a thrill seeker who lived in the projects and loved to take risks by going to neighborhoods where he did not belong, sticking his head in the mouth of the lion, so to speak.

One day, Speedy showed up in Father Boyle’s office and confessed that he had just walked home Karla, a girl he had a crush on, who lived in the neighborhood of Speedy’s worst enemies. Walking her home could have gotten both of them killed, and Father Boyle was furious. But before he could explode, Speedy quickly told him the rest of the story.

After walking Karla to her second-floor apartment, he heads down the stairs only to confront eight members of the dreaded rival gang. They aren’t just excited to see him, they are salivating.

Speedy takes off running and they chase him, throwing sticks, stones, bottles at him. But he wasn’t called Speedy for nothing. As he nears his own neighborhood, close enough to see it, he suddenly sees a woman from the parish named Yolanda. She doesn’t know Speedy well, but well enough to know that he shouldn’t be here.

“Come here,” she summons him. “What are you doing here?” He hangs his head. “Listen to me,” she says. “If anything happened to you, it would break my heart in two.” Now this woman, she barely knows him. She goes on, “I’ve seen you playing with your nephew in the park. What a good uncle you are. I’ve seen you feed the homeless at church. What a generous and good thing that is. If anything happened to you, it would break my heart in two.”

Speedy smiles at Father Boyle as he finishes the story. “You know,” he says, tapping his heart with his finger, “That made me feel good.” Eventually, because of people like Yolanda and Father Boyle who loved and valued Speedy, Speedy got out of the projects, got married, got a steady job, and raised three kids of his own. (3)

We have the freedom and the power to change people’s lives with love. Not because we are wealthy or privileged or smarter or better informed. Not because we are members of the right church or denomination. Not because we are Americans. We are empowered by the grace of God who loves us. That’s it, nothing else. Our freedom and power to love comes from God alone. Paul says it best: “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Only God can set us free from the world with all its divisions and judgments. As Matthew 25 reminds us, only God will judge our actions. And our God loves us and sets us free to love others. Today may we know the true freedom that only God can give, freedom that overcomes divisions with love...love that has the power to unite the world. Amen.

Endnotes:
1. Wikipedia entry “United States Declaration of Independence.” Read it here.
2. Jon A. Shields, “Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity,” Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2010. Read it here.
3. Father Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart. Free Press, 2010.