LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com
Date: Sept. 10, 2023
Scripture Lessons: Romans 13:8-14 and Matthew 18:15-20
Sermon: Love and Power
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells
One of the most powerful movements for social transformation in the history of the United States was the Civil Rights movement. Through the courts and through legislation, the movement was able to effect drastic change in the social, political, and economic landscape of America. And one of the major personages in this movement was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his mission to eradicate injustice from this land and its people, King employed a powerful force. Not a bomb. Not a gun. Not a landmine. Not napalm. No. In fact he was adamantly against the use of violence in any form. The force King and his colleagues mobilized to effect enormous change was love. The love we hear about in the New Testament. The love that led Jesus to the cross. The love associated with God that cannot be overcome.
Like many other leaders and philosophers throughout history, King reminded us that violence begets violence. If one country takes over another through war, this leads eventually to another war. Those who ‘win’ the war, will use violence and war as a tool. The only way to get out of the spiral of constantly perpetuating violence, is to use non-violence to effect change, non-violence that is rooted in love because only love has the power to overcome fear, hatred, and greed.
Dr. King had his house bombed with his spouse and children inside. He was stabbed. He got threatening, harassing calls on a daily basis. There were other threats of violence. He was beaten. He was put in solitary confinement in prison. He personally endured many acts of violence and hatred in word and deed. And instead of obsessing over his own safety, he was worrying about the 40 million poor people in America at that time. No matter their color or creed. And he was worrying about the Vietnam War and all those who were being killed and damaged in that debacle. And he was committed to ending racial inequality in the United States. His life was truly oriented around love – which is concerned not just with not doing harm but with doing good. In response to the bombing of his home, King declared, “Love is our great instrument and our great weapon, and that alone.” [A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by James M. Washington, p. 83.]
In his last and most radical address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King had this to say about love:
“And I say to you, I have also decided to stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s’ problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I’m talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I’ve seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.” [A Testament of Hope, p. 250.]
King’s message of the power of love sprang forth from the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemy. God is love. Love casts out fear. All of these teachings and more are embedded in our Christian scriptures. And King was a pastor, after all. This was the foundation of his life, his ministry, and his activism. Jesus preached a message of radical love. Especially for those who were considered ‘less than’ in any way by the society around them. King lived out of a commitment to that kind of love.
This morning, we listened to two teachings from the New Testament about love. Let’s talk about them for a moment. They shed some light.
The lesson from Romans emphasizes the commitment to love and fleshes it out with echoes of the 10 commandments. Don’t murder. Steal. Commit adultery. Covet. Love one another. The examples cited basically lead to defining love as ‘do no harm.’ Don’t do bad stuff. Don’t do bad things to other people.
But when we really delve into the love ethic of Jesus, it is so much more than ‘do no harm.’ It is ‘do the good.’ Take care of each other. Help others. Provide for each other. Heal each other. Create community where every one belongs and is safe and is cared for. It’s not enough to just not hurt others directly, the power of the love that Jesus talks about is evidenced in doing good for others. Whatever you have done to the least of these: Feeding the hungry. Visiting those in prison. Clothing the naked. Creating a world that is just.
So, as we look at the verses from Romans, yes, the core of our faith is to love, but it is much more powerful than ‘do no harm.’ We can almost see the message of Jesus being weakened, diluted, taking the radical edge off. Making it more socially acceptable. And less taxing to the believer. Maybe making it more attractive to potential new converts.
And when we look at the lesson from Matthew this is often cited as a strategy for conflict resolution within the church, where, not surprisingly, there are often conflicts between people. Just because you go to church doesn’t mean you don’t take issue with others and their ideas and behaviors. So a method of resolution is offered. But this process seems so mundane compared with Jesus’ stories with multiple meanings and radical implications.
Interestingly, the Jesus Seminar of biblical scholars does not think this passage is historically attributable to Jesus. Though I am no erudite biblical scholar, I agree. This is the anomaly I see in this teaching. The line about tax collectors and Gentiles. The implication in this Matthew passage is that if the conflict resolution process doesn’t work between members of the faith community, then you can treat the other person as a tax collector or Gentile – that implies write them off, stay away from them, don’t include them.
But, well, in numerous other places in the gospels we are told that Jesus was known for eating with tax collectors and Gentiles or sinners. He had a reputation for socializing with those who were outcasts, unclean, not socially accepted in the mainstream. When you notice how this verse stands out, and how inconsistent it is with the ministry and legacy of Jesus, we see again, how in the years after his earthly life had ended, those who were his followers were in some ways toning down his message. Making it less radical, maybe less demanding. Making it easier to accept.
When Jesus’ message is softened, yes, it is easier to accept. But it also looses some of its power. It’s like taking the batteries out of a toy. You still have the toy but it doesn’t do all the cool things it has the capacity to do. It doesn’t beep and blink and flash.
When Jesus’ message of love, of fierce, demanding, soul stretching love, for everyone, even the person who has abused you, terrorized you, traumatized you, is watered down, it looses some of its transforming power.
And in some ways the church has been offering Jesus ‘lite’ to people for centuries. And it is still happening today.
Dr. King had to explain the power of love that is seen in the ministry of Jesus over and over to, well, church people. In sermons. In churches. As well as to interviewers and marchers, many of whom were church goers. Because they hadn’t heard much about the unbridled power of love that is taught by Jesus and its implications for our reality and the injustices and horrors and violence and greed that characterize today’s world.
People may have known the ‘do no harm’ Jesus. Of course, don’t hurt anyone. And if you don’t think someone with another skin color is a full person, like you are, then you don’t have to worry about harming them.
But love is so much more than that. It is infinitely powerful. It is radical. it is transformational. And it cannot be controlled. When you tap into the power of love, you don’t know what will be called forth from you. You don’t know what you will have to face. You don’t know what you will be drawn into. It involves complete trust. When you examine the legacy of Dr. King, he might discuss different approaches and strategies for attaining civil rights but he would not compromise on love manifested in non-violence. Period. That was sacrosanct. And I have just listened to the biography of Coretta Scott King, who was married to Dr. King, and she was at least as adamant about the power of love and non-violence as he was – before she met him and after his assassination. Love is the supreme power for good in our lives and in the world.
Back in 1863 an enterprising German chemist named Julius Wilbrand developed the chemical compound, trinitrotoluene, that was widely used in industry as a yellow dye. Three decades later, in 1891, another German chemist, Carl Haussermann, discovered the explosive properties of trinitrotoluene and it is still widely used as an explosive today. We know it as TNT.
So here was this incredibly powerful substance being used to dye things yellow. And this is in a way how I feel about the message of love that has been give to us by Jesus. It has incredible power. And we are using it for largely innocuous purposes when it has the power to completely transform us and the world.
And while I am not a cynic, given our situation today, I would like to at least see us expect the power of love to be manifested as the writer of Romans envisioned: Never wrong anyone. Do no harm. To me, that sounds like a grand place to start with love! Who knows what the explosive power of love may lead to from there!
Amen.
A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.
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