Category: Sermon Texts

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.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
TRINITY 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: Dec. 17, 2023 Third Sunday of Advent
Scripture Lessons: Luke 1:26-38 and Luke 1:46b-55
Sermon: Star Power
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

The James Webb telescope continues to give us stunning images of the magic and mystery of space.  Ethereal.  Enchanting.  But of course the mission of the telescope is about more than captivating images that mesmerize and delight the human eye.  The telescope is helping scientists to better understand space and thus own very own planet Earth home. 

We see these glorious images of the stars but what really is a star?  I have read a number of scientific descriptions and I still find it mysterious and enigmatic.  Apparently dust cloud swirls of elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen coalesce through self gravity and ignite through thermonuclear fusion forming powerful balls of fire that emit light that travels 5.88 trillion miles per year.  The light from Polaris, the North Star, takes 320 years to reach Earth.

There are more technical ways of saying it, but stars are swirling balls of explosive energy radiating incinerating heat and light.   They have tremendous energy that transforms molecules, gases, and elements.  They are powerful, and uncontrollable.  And, of course, as we know from our sun, a star is needed to create conditions supportive of life as we know it.  

And yet we see stars as little glimmers of light shining in the night sky.  Far away pinpricks.  Like glitter strewn across the heavens.  Sparking much contemplation, poetry, philosophy, and wisdom. Japanese Manga artist, Natsuki Takaya reflects:

 “I love the stars.
Because they can’t say anything.
I love the stars.
Because they do not judge anyone.”

Yes, the stars can appear as passive and simple in their illuminating beauty. 

And when we think of Mary, we can see this heavenly aspect to the way she is portrayed.  Often with stars.  There are stars on the cloak of the Virgin of Guadalupe and she stands on the moon.  Other images of Mary also involve stars.  And she is seen as calm, pensive, steady.  A willing servant.  With an ethereal glow.

Recently a 15th century painting of Madonna and Child by Sandro Botticelli was rediscovered in a private home in the south of Italy.  It was moved there for protection during an Earthquake in 1982.  It is thought to be worth about 100 million Euros.  In the painting, Mary is sitting in a gilt chair, more of a throne really, holding the baby Jesus who tugs on her clothing.  Mary looks at the viewer, still, calm, composed, beatific.  Mouth closed.  Eyes open.  Benign.  [“Baker’s family hands back 100m Euro Botticelli they had for decades,”
Matthew Campbell, Santa Maria La Carita, The Sunday Times, 12/16/23]

We are used to seeing Mary this way.  Pondering things in her heart.  A serene maternal figure.  A source of comfort like the silent stars.  

But what about Mary’s song, the Magnificat?  It is anything but serene and still.  This hymn of the early Christians associated with Mary does not convey the peaceful reverie that we see in so many images of her.

Yes, she has submitted to God.  She has agreed to ‘Let it be.’   But this song does not portray serenity.  It portrays upheaval.  Reversal.  Energetic transformation.  Mary sings of the overturning of society, culture, and religion as we know it.  No more hierarchy.  No more patriarchy.  No more discounting of life.  Those who were on the bottom are lifted up.  The ones who were on the top are pegged down.  There is equality.  No more abuse.  No more hunger at one intersection while there is feasting down the road.  Mary’s song portrays a peace achieved as the result of tumultuous upheaval.  This is the manifesto of a revolutionary.  An insurrectionist.  Mary is the accomplice of a radical powerful God of transformation.  We hear it in these phrases:

         Strength with your arm
         scattered the proud
         deposed the mighty
         raised the lowly to a high place
         filled the hungry
         sent the rich away empty

It is not surprising that this sweeping manifesto is associated with a woman and not a man.  This was so subversive.  It could get a man in trouble.  But I imagine no one was worrying about what a woman was saying.

The magnificat presents a drastic, seismic disruption.  This is powerful imagery for the dynamic reversal of accepted life and culture.  This isn’t tinkering.  Or fixing a bug.   Or making a slight adjustment.  This is a cataclysmic reorientation of reality.  And notice that the past tense is used.  This is a song of praise to a God that has done these things.  Has created this reality.  There is no doubt.

I am imaging a world where the salary scale in a company is set up so that the person at the top can make at most 10 times what the lowest paid worker makes.  And if there is a profit at the end of the year, it goes into upgrading production and facilities and the work place.  Or the profit is equally shared as a bonus to all the employees.  The same amount for each one.  Or the company is encouraged to give the profit away to social service projects and the arts.   Things to uplift the community.  Or maybe there is no company, but a collective.

I am envisioning a world where there are no pan handlers at the end of the exit ramp.  At the busy intersection. In the parking lot at the shopping center.  Anywhere.  Ever.  And there are no houseless people or refugees.  Anywhere.  Because all people have enough to eat and a safe place to sleep.  And comprehensive health care including all reproductive healthcare.

I try to imagine a world without white male privilege.  Without the elites expecting exceptions and accommodations and to be served.  Where working people, and people with physical challenges, and people who have accents, are treated with respect and dignity. 

We’ve all seen it.  A clerk at the Social Security office is terse and dismissive with a person who has come for help.  Then someone like me is called and I am treated in a friendly manner, all concessions made to accommodate my need.  There is an eagerness to be of service. 

In the magnificat, the lowly are lifted up.  There is no more degradation for there are no longer any people who are considered ‘less than.’

This morning we want to remember that Trinity Evangelical and Reformed Church, later, Trinity United Church of Christ, was founded on Dec. 21, 1952.  In advent, a new beginning.  How appropriate!  We can well imagine those involved in establishing this new congregation being committed to equality and justice in that time.  The founding pastor, Rev. Bob Frey, was a member of Lakewood for many years after his retirement and he served as an interim minister at Lakewood.  Bob and Beth were very dear to many in the Lakewood congregation.  And Bob shared some stories about his time at Trinity.  He told of how a clergyperson from the national staff of the church was invited to preach at Trinity for a special occasion.  The person came and was hosted by the congregation and preached for the Sunday service.  After the service there was an impromptu meeting of the board the purpose of which was to entertain a motion to fire Bob Frey for inviting this guest from national.  That doesn’t sound right — until we learn that the national staff person was Black.  But the board voted to retain Bob and he did not recoil from his commitment to ending racism.  We can imagine that Bob and those who supported him had paid attention to the Magnificat.  There is no room in the song of Mary for any kind of bigotry or racism.  A church founded at Christmas knows that everyone is welcome at the manger.

The Magnificat is a radical stirring of the pot, challenging the status quo.  It is revolution.  It is disruption.  And it is re-creation.  And yet the images we see of Mary are so serene and passive.  It’s like the stars.  They look so peaceful and calm in the night sky and yet they are raging balls of fire.  The Mary of the Magnificat is hardly benign.  She is aswirl with passion for justice. 

I am thinking about Sojourner Truth and the other people who were enslaved who made their way to freedom guided by the stars.  Those glimmering lights of the night sky.  The stars were powerful guides to those seeking freedom.  They gave courage, hope, and direction to those who were seeking another world.

We are drawn in by the serene, calm images of Mary in part because we are seeking more serenity and peace in our lives.  But the witness of Mary shows us that we experience that solace and comfort and peace as a result of the passion and power of radical transformation.  To experience the calm and peace, the world needs to be changed so that peace can thrive and flourish.  This disruptive reconstruction is necessary if we are to know peace. 

This advent, let us seek this deep peace of the shining stars.  May we trust that like the power that transforms swirling clouds of dust into gleaming orbs with the power to shine light for eons, the power of Divine Love is seeking to work in our lives and the swirl of our world leading us to the freedom of peace with justice.  This advent season, may we let ourselves be drawn into the revolutionary vision of the song of Mary, the calm, blue clad passive young mother of our imagining.  Who trusts the power of the God of Love to re-create reality for all.  Mother Mary, come to us!  Speak your words of wisdom.  Amen.
___________________________
On stars, see:
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/what-is-a-star/
and
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve/


A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

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:  Nov. 5, 2023     All Saints Sunday
Scripture Lesson:  Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon:  Blessed!
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

‘Have a blessed day!’ the receptionist at the doctor’s office chimes as you take your leave.  ‘Have a blessed day!’ the clerk at the store says as you are dismissed with your purchase.  ‘Have a blessed day!’ decrees the server as they pick up your payment for lunch. 

Have a blessed day!   It’s a way of wishing good fortune.  Of expressing hope for good things to come your way.  Blessing is associated with favor, prosperity, health, and happiness. 

In the Bible to be blessed includes having lots of children and lots of livestock and lots of wives!   It’s about being privileged, having power, and being well off.  Someone with standing in the community who has money, family, good health, whose material needs are met, and who has influence in the community.  This is someone who is blessed.  Blessing connotes salvation, well being, and peace.

In the biblical context blessing is seen in opposition to curse.  Someone who is blessed is seen as favored by God and not cursed by God.   The Jesus Seminar uses the translation:  Congratulations!  The word blessed has associations with being fortunate and happy.

So what about the Beatitudes?  What about that kind of blessing?  Blessed are the poor in Luke, the poor in spirit in Matthew.  Those who are mourning.  Those who hunger and thirst, even for righteousness.  The merciful.  (Softies.) The pure in heart.  (Vulnerable.)  Peacemakers.  Who usually get attacked from every side.  The persecuted.  Why would you congratulate people for enduring suffering?
It’s like:  Have a blessed day.  May someone beloved to you die.  May you lose your job – and your house, and your car, and. . . May you be embroiled in a conflict.  What kind of blessing is that?

These beatitudes, this is not what we expect blessing to look like.  What is Jesus talking about?  

The way Matthew presents it, Jesus  immediately kicks off the Sermon on the Mount with a surprising reversal of the values and expectations  of his day.  He turns everything upside down.  It’s shocking and disturbing.  Jesus reverses what blessing is supposed to look like; health and wealth, power and status.  The expectations of rewards and punishments.  If you are good, God will bless you with prosperity and health.  If not, you will suffer.  And Jesus continues this kind of reversal throughout the Sermon on the Mount – turn the other cheek, love your enemy, and so on.  As one scholar observes:  “The beatitudes make most Christians cringe.”  [David Beckmann in Hunger for the Word:  Lectionary Reflections on Food and Justice Year A, p. 40.]

Maybe we cringe, but instead of walking away or shutting down or escaping or leaving this in the first century, where it was also incredibly controversial and unnerving, when we engage with the Beatitudes, we see there is more.  We see a God that is love, pure love, for everyone, no matter their behavior or circumstance.  We see a God that is merciful and compassionate.  Not vindictive and punishing.  We see a God that is with us through our darkest, most painful, most solitary moments.  We see a God that knows that peace comes at a price.  We see this today as people who are calling for a cease fire between Israel and Hamas are vilified.  We seem willing to pay the price for war, but not for peace.

This week a group from Trinity and Lakewood went to Metro Health to find out how we can support their work particularly with transgender youth.  We were told a story of a person who is transitioning who went to their church, their home church, dressed as the new gender.  In the middle of the service, in front of the whole congregation, the pastor stopped the service and demanded that the trans person leave.  Get out.  Immediately.  All I could say is, “That is so not Jesus.”  Just look at the Beatitudes. 

The beatitudes assure us that the presence and the power of Divine Love surrounds us, upholds us, infuses us, blesses us – especially when we need it most!  We can never be outside or beyond the scope of this compassionate, all loving God.  We are always in God. 

Yes, our faith puts us constantly at odds with the culture around us.  But our faith fulfills our hungers while the values of society leave us ever wanting. 

So many people say that when things have been at their worst, when they have been close to death, when they have been traumatized with grief, they have felt closest to Divine Love.  We know about this.  Many in this room have experienced this. 

You don’t hear that from people who have won the lottery.  Oh, I felt closest to God when I got that check!  You don’t hear it from the rich and famous:  Now that I have all this status, power, and wealth, I feel closer to the Divine. 

But you hear it from people who don’t know how they are going to take another breath.  How they will go on.  People who want to scream about the horrible problems that we are facing – many of our own making.  When things are bad, sour, seemingly hopeless.

We find our healing and wholeness in our dependency on God, on Love, on a higher power beyond us yet within us.  The Divine.  The sacred.  The holy.  Blessed. 

Today we will name those who have been saints in our lives.  Saints.  We have seen Divine Love in them.  They have blessed our lives.  Perhaps when we have been most in need.

May we accept God’s blessing in our lives and may we be a blessing to others. 

Have a blessed day!
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.

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: Oct. 22, 2023
Scripture Lessons: Exodus 33:12-23 and Matthew 22:34-40
Sermon: Intertwining Love
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Thou shalt not kill.  We all know this commandment.  One of the 10 given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  One of the rules for the newly forming Hebrew community that was to be a blessing to the world entire.  One of the commandments that some want to see posted in public places, on government owned land, to help the people of this country become a Godly people. 

Thou shalt not kill.  And yet, we do kill.  Armies and military operations kill.  Terrorists kill.  Freedom fighters kill.  Mass murders kill.  Abusers kill.  Parents kill.  Children kill.  Teens kill.  Husbands kill.  Wives kill.  Lovers kill.  Enemies kill.  And the state kills.  Capital punishment, state sponsored killing, just like in Jesus’ day only then it was by crucifixion. 

I grew up during the moratorium on the death penalty.  It was not part of my formational reality.  Of course it had been outlawed.  It is a flawed punishment.  It does more harm than good.  It is expensive.  And it makes killers of us all.  And yet that time of a semblance of sanity in our civic life came to an end. 

Some years ago, I was called up to jury duty and was considered as a juror for a capital trial.  I was horrified.  I thought if I am on the jury and the vote is for the death penalty, I will wake up every day for the rest of my life knowing I had a hand in killing someone.  Oh no.  I couldn’t do it.  Interestingly, of the 60 or so people considered for the jury, 4 of us outed ourselves as opponents of the death penalty.  I for moral and religious reasons; another older woman for religious reasons; and two middle aged, white male lawyers who both said because the system is imperfect.  I’m still not over being called up for that jury.  I hope I never am.

Lakewood Church has become involved in efforts to stop the death penalty here in Florida because several members have a passion for this cause.  So I have become involved in various ways including supporting the work of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, FADP.  Earlier this month, in the days ahead of yet another execution in Florida, there was a letter sent out by FADP about the person to be killed.  Warning:  It’s hard to listen to.  Here’s what was said about Michael Zack, a 54 year old white man:   

“We are executing infant Michael, who grew in his alcoholic mother’s womb and was born prematurely after her car accident. His military father left shortly after his birth, and his mother’s next husband was sadistically abusive toward Michael and his sisters. 

“We are executing three-year-old Michael, who had to be hospitalized after he drank a bottle of vodka and overdosed on the drugs his stepfather fed him. His stepfather threw him against walls, kicked him with spurred boots, and tried to drown him. 

“We are executing pre-teen Michael, who was so traumatized from the abuse that he wet his bed nightly through middle school. This only singled him out for more punishment – his stepfather forced him to wear his urine-soaked sheet around his neck, heated a spoon until it was red hot, and held it against Michael’s genitals. 

“The trauma in the Zack family didn’t end there. When Michael was 11, his mother was murdered with an axe. Both Michael and his sister were then sent to a psychiatric hospital in Louisiana, and Michael was later sent to foster care, where he was further abused.” [https://www.fadp.org/floridas-sixth-execution-set/]

I have to tell you, after I read all of that, I had to step away from my computer and just wash the dishes, something ordinary, mindless, to calm down.

 As I reflect on the life of Michael Zack, may he rest in peace, it seems like he grew up in a life devoid of love.  There seems to be no love in his life from birth.  And you can’t become a healthy adult with no love in your life as you grow up. 

Today we heard about the Jewish and Christian commandments around love.  These commandments come from the Torah, from Jewish scripture.  Love.  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  Love yourself.  And later Jesus adds, Love your enemy.  Why this emphasis on love? Because it is as necessary to life as air and water and food.  Jesus has come to bring abundant life, and to live abundantly, there must be love.

I think there are many ways that we may learn of and practice love in the course of our lives.  We may first learn love from parents or family.  We learn to love through friendship.  The giving and receiving of love.  Learning to navigate disagreements.  Learning to forgive.  This is all part of the process of learning to love. 

We learn love through romantic relationships with partners and spouses perhaps going deeper into the trust, forgiveness, and reconciliation; part of a truly loving relationship.  

We learn love by helping others, our neighbors, even people we do not know.  We find ourselves stirred by the sufferings of others.  By compassion.  This impulse comes from our common humanity.  And we find ourselves wanting to help someone or make life better for someone else.  And this is an expression of love.  A way of learning love through our impulse to help another. 

And maybe we are stirred to help another because we have learned healthy self love.  And so we appreciate the sacredness of another person, another life.  In the course of our lives, we may come to realize that love and care for ourselves is an affirmation of the sacredness of life and of the power and agency that we have been given.  Our self love can lead us to act with love toward others. 

We can learn self love by being loved by others.  This can help us to appreciate our worth.  The love and care that others show to us can help us to realize that we also need to take care of ourselves.  

We also may learn healthy self love through our Christian spiritual teachings and practices, through prayer and worship.  We come to know that we are beloved and so can learn to love ourselves and others.

I do want to pause for a moment to reflect on the concept of self love.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  The premise here is that we know ourselves to be beloved of God.  So as God loves us, we know ourselves as beloved children of God and we love others as God loves us and others.  But it seems to me, much of what is seen as self love around us today is not that kind of love.  It’s more self indulgence than self love.  We hear messages like show yourself love by adorning yourself with a piece of expensive jewelry.  You’re worth it.  Or buy yourself an expensive outfit.  Show off who you are.   Or reward yourself with that fancy new car.  You deserve it.  Or tone your body to perfection so that it is worth loving.  True self love is not tied to body image or frivolous consumption that fuels the engines of capitalism.

Authentic self love involves tending to the body and spirit in ways that foster true health and are life giving.  And sometimes that might mean putting yourself all out for someone you can’t stand.  You won’t see an ad about that.

When we truly love ourselves, we appreciate how gifted we are – what has been given to us.  And we are generous with how we love others.  We expect nothing in return.  There is no fear or perfectionism involved.  We’re all flawed and we all make mistakes.  Love is not based on performance.  When we truly love ourselves, then we love others because we recognize their belovedness as we honor our own.  So we are not going to hurt our neighbor or someone else.  We are not going to do harm.  We would not harm ourselves, so we will not harm another.

Now, how else might we come to experience and learn of love?  Maybe is it through quiet, through prayer, meditation, time in nature, that we come to experience ourselves as a part of a bigger reality that we can describe as infinite, unconditional love.  To look at the natural world around us, how beloved we must be to have been given this paradise as a home.

And here I am going to mention another way that we may come to experience and learn of love, though it is not specifically mentioned in our sacred texts.   Maybe we find love through, here goes, a pet.  It’s is no surprise to me that people are turning to therapy dogs and pets for solace and comfort and love.  We just got a new dog.  Anna is a three year old Newfoundland who was re-homed to us by her breeder in Fort Myers who is a friend of ours.  Mickey is a 60 something year old force of a woman with a long gray pony tail down her back and tattered clothes who weighs less than her dogs.  When I went to pick up Anna about a month ago, Mickey knelt down in front of Anna and said to her, in a very reverential tone, as if she were praying, “Thank you for living with me and for being my dog.  Now you are going to live with Kim and Jeff and your job is to bring them love and joy.”  So we may come to learn of love through our experiences with animals and pets. 

         Sidebar – Anna is doing a great job!

We may wonder where the capacity to love comes from and we may come to name the source of love God.  And in all of this loving, in our faith tradition, we see God.  For we say that God is love.  So all love then is a manifestation of God, Spirit, the One, Creator, however you may think of this essential force and name it. 

And in our experiences of love we may find that there is something more to reality than we knew.  A mysterious intimate force that draws us to another.  Maybe an impulse that comes from within us that we learn to name as the image of God.  Maybe an experience of God leads us to love.  Maybe an experience of love leads us to God.

I think we can come to love of self, God, and neighbor in many different ways, all life giving and intertwined and mutually empowering.  Love in one zone leads to love in another.  Love seems to expand.  To infect.  To multiply.  To creep and ooze from one area and relationship to another – from a friend to a stranger to Creation to yourself to God – and permeate all. 

Love of God.  Love of neighbor.  Love of self.   It all works together.  Really I think love of self is the most complicated.  Sometimes in pastoral counseling, someone talks about their issues and you can see that they are at the root of their own problems and they have the power to change the situation.  So sometimes I’ll ask, “If a friend came to you and told you about this, what you are describing to me, what would you advise your friend?”  Almost every time, they know exactly what should be done, what is best, how things should be handled, what is needed.  This is kind of like transposing ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ to ‘love yourself as your neighbor.’  And we pretty much know what to do.

We have the gospels that tell us of Jesus and how he is constantly loving people.  Let’s notice that his loving is prayer powered – he is often going off by himself to pray.  To center his spirit.  Let’s also notice how Jesus loves – he never gives anyone a fancy gift.  In the story we heard last week about paying taxes to Caesar, remember, he does not have even one coin.  Jesus is constantly sharing life giving love and he never gives an extravagant gift that glitters.  He gives nothing with strings attached.  He gives nothing to get something in return or to have someone beholden to him.  That is not love.  That’s manipulation and power play and self interest.  And we are not loving ourselves, others, or God when we become part of those kinds of dynamics.   

Love is the greatest force for good, for healing, for peace that there is.  And however love comes into our lives, from God, from family, from neighbors, from enemies, from strangers, from within, from pets, from nature, it will spread, and it will be life giving.  And there is nothing that can, in an ultimate way, over power love. 

So we have a story of Jesus calling out from the cross, ‘Forgive them, Abba, they don’t know what they are doing.’  Why is love so important?  Why is love  – of God, of self, of neighbor, and of enemy – the heart not only of our faith but of our life as human beings?  Because love is stronger than any force we know.  It has a transformative power that is unmatched.  Love even sways the heart of God away from punishment and wrath toward a wayward people to compassion and continued support as we heard from Exodus today.

We began with the story of the early life of Michael Zack who was executed here in Florida on Tuesday October 3.  Yes, he violated the commandment: Thou shalt not kill.  He was responsible for the murders of two women in 1996 and 1997.  He, too, was a victim – of fetal alcohol syndrome that left him cognitively, practically, and socially impaired.   And while in his early life Zack did not know love, we hear of the transformative, life giving power of love in Zack’s final statement before he was killed.  We listen to his words and hear the power of love:

“Twenty-seven years ago, I was an alcoholic and a drug addict. I did things that have hurt a lot of people—not only the victims and their families and friends, but my own family and friends as well. I have woken up every single day since then filled with remorse and a wish to make my time here on earth mean something more than the worst thing I ever did.

“When I got to death row, I substituted drugs and alcohol for happiness and positive relationships. I am so grateful to the guys on the row who took the time to teach me how to read and write. They changed my life forever because their love and support allowed me to have pen pals and friends all over the world. John, Susan, Maria, Anna, and David—I treasure you and the unconditional love you have shared with me all these years. The ability to read and write also led me to my beloved wife and soulmate, Ann-Kristin. I will love her for eternity.

“I make no excuses. I lay no blame. But how I wish that I could have a second chance, to live out my days in prison and continue to do all I can to make a difference in this world. To all my brothers on death row, please continue to help each other. Give each other hope and peace. Keep sharing the love and acceptance that you all showed a hillbilly from Kentucky.

“To all the lawyers, counselors, social workers, and volunteers who are working so hard to fix the juvenile justice and child welfare system in this country, I hope my story will inspire you to make a difference in a child’s life. You have the power to save another child from my fate. Your work is so important, and I love you.

“To all the drug and alcohol treatment counselors and family and friends of people who, like me, suffer from addiction: Never give up! I hope you understand how much you are appreciated and loved. Someone like you could have changed my life twenty-seven years ago when I was screaming out for help.

“To Brother Dale and Susan, God bless you, and thank you for being such a blessing to me.

“To Linda, Dawn, Stacy, Jessica, Amanda, and Diana, thank you for everything you have done for me all these years. You fought for me until my last breath, and I love you.

“And finally, to Governor DeSantis and the Clemency Board: I love you. I forgive you. I pray for you. Michael Zack  ###”

[https://drive.google.com/file/d/188udKAhnrmPRMpHQ6cPAm3i3Ll2A34Xn/view]

And they asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment.  And he said, To love.  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.