Paying it Forward; Sermon for Sunday September 4th, 2016 by Rev. Nicole A.M. Collins

It's funny what people see in things and see in others. Call it Human Nature or call it what it is— a stumbling block, but sometimes I think we take advantage saying to ourselves— “I'm only human,” or “it's only natural for me to want do this....” This popped into my mind when I was reading a commentary on Paul's personal letter to Philemon about Onesimus. The female commentator went on and on about oppression and dominance, without even talking or “touching with a ten foot pole,” the grace or the spirituality that Paul was truly sharing... She went on to say that Paul was a misogynist, an oppressor and so on. She saw the letter as more or less, a transaction and purely connected this historical restraints. It saddens and disturbs me that some people would look at scripture with such an empty and narrow gaze.

The truth of the Gospel and its intended effect upon us is often lost to our manmade stumbling blocks.   These stumbling blocks most often come from people and circumstances that we allow to turn our hearts away from that spirited walk Christ is needing for us to sojourn in order to be the disciples He needs us to be. The other lectionary or Revised Common Lectionary, commonly used, completely drops off the last two verses of today’s Gospel where Jesus not only reveals our need to respond but defines our purpose as disciples!  How can we grow from the Truth if we refuse to be salt and light, if we refuse to even listen!

But then these stumbling blocks override the heart, alive and beating, with the Living Word of God. I don’t know how many people saw the connection here but the law passage from Deuteronomy almost sounds like a scene out of the movie, ‘Ghostbusters.’ The scene I’m thinking of is where the spirit says: "Choose or perish!" The passage from Deuteronomy has us hear God say: “¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…” The spirit in the movie continues to say: "You have chosen, the destructor..." Both snippets from the film and the scriptures sound kind of harsh I think, but then sometimes getting to the point, truth of the matter—you need to face that harshness to be encouraged to see, hear and realize the light of the Gospel. This is what the cost of discipleship is truly all about.

My mentoring pastor’s conversion story came to mind when he found Christ through Campus Crusade evangelists.  Their four spiritual laws sound similar in some senses to the instructive voice of Jesus hoping to encourage the disciples to see, hear and realize what counting the cost of discipleship entails in order to reveal that great purpose and goal God has for us all—our calling.  In regards to my own conversion and calling to serve, those Words came through the hymn, ‘Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness.’ I needed to hear God’s agape—unconditional love, pouring forth from those very words as both a healing balm and an opening door to my heart, where He needed me to grow in order to go with His Gospel’s goal.

Philemon, unlike in a lot of passages from the Bible, is not only a personal letter from St. Paul but is speaking about the heart in a different way. The root word here talks about the heart, splanchna (in the Biblical Greek) as being the guts, innards of the person's deep faith. As I have preached in many a sermon, the heart is that first church where the Holy Spirit works in order to transform and mature us to that final freedom that the kingdom of God grants us.

Here Paul makes a confessional, pastoral statement of his heartfelt empathy for Onesimus. Onesimus is no longer seen as a slave but more of a Brother through Christ for Paul. Their relationship changed from a worldly shaped one to a Godly shaped or transformed one through Christ.  One of the beautiful images that come from the Old Testament is God seeking for our hearts to turn to him. This turning of the heart we understand now through Christ as transformation—this truly is the goal of our spiritual walk. Going back to the other side of that beautiful statement, the writer of Deuteronomy lays it right out there  in saying— “choose life or choose death.” Well people of God, what's it going to be? Where are the stakes involved? In the here-and-now of today do we feel confident to answer Christ challenges to us?  It is a tall order but the ultimate end is truly a blessing and the goal of our calling.

I believe it was the rock legend, John Lennon who in jest, said that the Apostles were “thick and ordinary” alongside whole bunch of other things that got him into a lot of trouble.... but when you think about the Apostles, they were those early rugged, pioneer  followers of Christ. Christ sought out the ordinary everyday people to prove a point. The Apostles did have a lot at stake and if they were unsure of themselves they needed to get it straight—are they going to fight the good fight of faith or not? Were they up for the challenge?  As we know from the greatest story ever told, many of the disciples surprised us with their final spirited walks’ end.  Thomas evangelizing India and beyond. Peter’s account became a significant source to the development of what we know today as the synoptic Gospels. The latter Apostles Paul, Luke and a host of many were those truly instrumental to laying the foundation of the early church.

Jesus Words, in many of the Gospel passages, pushed that radical envelope of challenge to us: Are we ready to take up that cross and follow Him?  The problem today is that more often than not, we are more inclined to take up the cross to our own self concerned, self-righteous agendas over and above that of the Gospel’s. How can we understand and comprehend the radical call from Christ for us to transform, change, in essence, turn our hearts toward Him with a selfless and devoted love, to both God and neighbor? It is not possible if everything we do is centered around a righteousness for the self alone. The answer is in striving to walk that spiritual walk by paying it forward through love, kindness, mercy, compassion and all those beautiful spiritual fruits, a willing heart can bear.

As some people know I am a sixties buff, I love a lot of 60’s music. That one Hollies song, "pay you back with interest," came to mind in thinking about Saint Paul's prayerful urging to Philemon for Onesimus’ sake to be seen through the eyes of brotherly love through Christ.  What is happening here however, is not a transactional plea for mercy, but it is a transformational appeal to love, brotherly love to be precise—an act of paying it forward, counting the cost of discipleship.  Love as we have learned through Christ is the end of the law. This is a love that teaches us to be those New Natured people that proliferate the Kingdom of God.

We need to open our eyes as well as our hearts to realize that the New Nature is light and Leaven. It is truly the essence of real life through Christ at the center of our lives.  What an amazing observation in faith that Paul makes when talking about his own heart.  Christ has become so infused to his person that he knows the obedience and joy that living into the lifestyle of Grace truly means.  This requires a FAITH that has to be heard, seen and lived in what I would like to call: “an extra bold, Hollywood size, sign reality of the heart.”  Faith is both that blessing as well full of those challenges may seem to feel like a curse, especially when the world persecutes you and torments you with the Evil One's agendas...

My husband and I have been avid watchers of this really interesting TV series called "Resurrection." Some episodes I've seen are very intriguing. This is not only to see how they're "playing around" with some Christian motifs but how they are also playing around with science and science fiction. Some episodes have been troubling to watch because it almost seems as if they're dismantling the whole purpose of death and New Life. For instance, they have their stereotypical Hollywood view of an Evangelical pastor seeking to destroy the coming of "evil...." versus a group of people called returns who are the resurrected people (by aliens... ) from their former lives. 

By the time of the last two episodes of this series it had me sadly seeing them rob people of the spiritual meaning of New Life.  Much like the commentator I complained about at the beginning of this message with her complete avoidance or "blank spot" about Paul's purpose in his personal, pastoral letter to Philemon; I saw the series rob the notion of Resurrection not only from what we know to be the gift of Christ but also that we have the capacity for New Life through the New Nature planted within us by Christ to be reaped.

What we must realize in order to truly live into being and becoming boldly intentional Disciples of Christ is that we must allow the Holy Spirit to turn and shape our hearts to the Gospel truth! Because the truth of the Gospel is love in these forms—brotherly, unconditional, familial, in order to breaks those chains. Love indeed, breaks those chains of the shallow self-concerned life that we put ourselves into bondage for.  This is that Earthly death that even the Old Testament law writer of Deuteronomy cautions us to be aware of.  As 21^st Century followers of Christ, there must be hope and there must be promise but this takes both a prayerful humility and intentionality to realize throughout your life’s spiritual walk.

Let us Pray:

Gracious and Loving God,

May we be encouraged to see, hear and realize

Your Gospel Truth and its calling upon our very hearts

To boldly grow and go with Your Living Word

Which shapes and transforms us to break the chains—stumbling blocks

Before our spirited walk to fully love and live

For You and our neighbor

AMEN

September 4th, 2016; Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 18; Year C; SOLA Lectionary

Sermon By Reverend Nicole A. M. Collins

Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-35

The link below is to this sermon's delivery at the Grace Hub's house church service at 8am:
https://youtu.be/vJxuSNwkzN4