Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost / August 28, 2011
Romans 12:9-21
“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). The English translation misses the punch of this passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul started the sentence, “Love genuine!” There’s no verb and no punctuation. “Love genuine! Loathe (not just hate, but loathe or despise) evil, (and) cling (in other words hold on with all you are worth) to the good.” We all want love to be genuine. We do despise evil. And we truly want to cling to the good. And yet, so often there’s this gray area between good and evil. Sometimes the evil is very attractive, even seductive and we confuse it with good. How do we cling to the good when it is so often intertwined with evil? How do we despise evil while still genuinely loving one another?
Way back in 1986, Desmond Tutu preached in Duke Chapel. I remember eagerly anticipating his sermon because I thought he would preach on the evils of apartheid. Apartheid is a system of legal segregation that existed in South Africa throughout much of the latter half of the 20th century. The black people of South Africa were moved into townships where many families lived in one-room houses with dirt floors and no running water. Their children received a “Bantu education” – enough schooling to be good manual laborers and no more. Those who were allowed to leave the townships traveled long distances to jobs as housekeepers and gardeners. In other words, the blacks were very clearly marked as inferior, second-class, and sub-human.
I hated apartheid – it was not only wrong, it was clearly evil. I hated apartheid the same way I hated the Nazi extermination camps and slavery in the US. I was looking forward to this sermon. But Bishop Tutu did not preach on apartheid. Instead he started talking to each person in that crowded chapel as if he were having a one-on-one conversation with each one of us. I remember feeling like he was speaking straight to me as he told me “You are unique! You are precious! You are deeply loved by God!”
Friends, take a moment to hold up an imaginary mirror and look at your reflection. Perhaps, if you are like me, as you gaze at yourself the first thing you see is all your imperfections. Maybe you start with the superficial ones – like, “I need a haircut,” and “Where did that zit come from?” Perhaps you go straight to the deeper imperfections, wondering, “Why did I say that?” or “Why didn’t I do that?” I think there is a tendency in all of us to see our own imperfections, our flaws, our failings. Too often we see our shortcomings before we see our gifts and our blessings.
As you continue to gaze at yourself in your imaginary mirror, let me describe what God sees. God sees this incredible human being – weak and yet so strong, foolish and yet so wise, fragile and yet made in the image of God. God blew the breath of life into you and into me, so we carry God within ourselves. We are God carriers – each one of us! Imagine that for just a moment. We are God’s partners – God partnered with us – each one of us! – in creation. God calls us friend. You are God’s friend! You are unique! You are precious! You are deeply loved by God! I don’t know about you, but I sure like what God sees more than I like what I see!
Now look out into this sanctuary and across this nation and around the world – not with your own eyes, but with God’s eyes. Imagine the hungry right here in Alamance County. Imagine those who spent last night in jail. Imagine an old woman who is wheelchair bound. Imagine the drug addict who will do just about anything to numb his pain. Imagine the woman who was battered by her boyfriend last night. Imagine the child who is afraid to go to sleep at night. Imagine the young family that had no place to sleep. Imagine the men of the Taliban scheming in their hideouts. Imagine the people of Libya who are longing for freedom. Imagine the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. Imagine the blacks and the whites in South Africa. Now, imagine that God is saying to each one of these people: “You are unique! You are precious! I love you more than you can imagine!” Can you imagine that?
There is always a part of me that wants to say – even if I’d never say it out loud – “But God, he’s a terrorist! She’s a murderer! He beats his wife! She will cheat and lie and well, do just about anything! for drug money. How can you say to these people that they are precious? How can you say that you love them?”
Let me come back to Bishop Tutu’s sermon. The punch line and the only mention of apartheid came right at the end of his sermon. He said: //“The most blasphemous thing about apartheid is when it makes a child of God doubt that they are a child of God.”// I’ll never forget those words. Clearly apartheid did this, by making the black folks of South Africa feel less than human. Praise God that apartheid no longer exists! But we do it too! Every time we look in a mirror and fail to see a beloved child of God then evil wins. Every time we judge another person – seeing the sin but failing to see the sinner who is a beloved child of God – then evil wins. Anything that makes a child of God doubt that they are a child of God is evil.
Let’s turn together to our passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans. Find Romans, chapter 12. Follow along as I read this passage again, listening for the ways we are called to despise evil and cling to the good.
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ 20No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good. If The Evil is anything that makes a beloved child of God feel like they are not a beloved child of God then The Good begins when we affirm that every human being is a beloved child of God. When we begin to cling to that truth then we start looking for the beloved child of God in every human being – the good, the bad, and the ugly! When we recognize that Child of God, we will have a better chance of loving one another with mutual affection. We will want to contribute to the needs of others because we’ll see a brother or a sister in the other. We will naturally extend hospitality to strangers because we will see God in the stranger. We will bless those who persecute us – or at least we will not curse them! (We are still human after all!) We will gladly associate with the lowly. We will strive to live peaceably with all because we know that this is what God wants for all of God’s children – war is not the answer. We will begin to understand the importance of feeding our enemies – even if we aren’t quite ready to genuinely love them.
Maybe you’re sitting there thinking there is no way I will ever be able to love Osama bin Laden or Adolf Hitler – look at the incredible evil they have done! Or maybe you’ve been so deeply hurt by someone in your life that cursing them seems natural and forgiveness seems to be impossible. Vengeance is a natural response to evil and leaving it to God... well, look at poor Jonah. He knew that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and always ready to relent from punishing (Jonah 4:2). So Jonah ran in the opposite direction and ended up in the belly of a whale rather than going to Niniveh. We’d rather take vengeance into our own hands and hate our enemies and curse those who persecute us. But God’s Word says, “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good... Do not repay anyone evil for evil... but overcome evil with good.”
How can we do this? How can we embrace the good in those whose actions are so evil? How do we see the child of God in a person whose life is so contrary to the gospel? How do we see the child of God in ourselves when we know we are sinners who have fallen so short of the glory of God? The truth is we cannot do this alone; but with God all things are possible. God is good. We can overcome evil by clinging to God. We can overcome evil by believing Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. We can overcome evil by serving the Lord and persevering in prayer. We can overcome evil because our God took on flesh and lived among us as a human being revealing His goodness to us. We can overcome evil because when it seemed that Jesus had been overcome by evil on a cross, God raised Jesus from the dead, promising abundant life for all. Goodness is stronger than evil – on that we can depend. Just cling to God – our God will not let us down.
Bishop Tutu wrote the following words – words that may be familiar:
Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness;
Life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours, Victory is ours,
Through Him who loved us;
Victory is ours, Victory is ours,
Through Him who loved us.[1]
[1] The Faith We Sing (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 2219. From An African Prayer Book, by Desmond Tutu.
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