Proper 28 B + Irritated into Love (ACL+ and MCL+) + 11.17.24

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Irritated into Love
Hebrews 10, Mark 13

St Paul’s Emmanuel, Santa Paula, and All Santos, Oxnard
The Revs. Alene and Melissa Campbell-Langdell

 I will ask it again this week: how are you doing today?  I don’t mean the automatic check-in response that we are conditioned to give one another.  There’s a place for that basic level “fine” that simply says, “I don’t need you to stop and pay attention to me right now.  I’m not in immediate crisis.”  However, today I’m asking something more.  Take a quick internal scan and note the feelings that are there.  If you’re like me, there are a multitude: fatigue, anger, hope, gratitude, love, fear, grief.  How about you?  Anyone else care to throw out a few emotions stirring in the pot this morning?

(Pause)

The disciples in our reading from Mark have a few emotions of their own to add: pride, wonder, worry, shock, fear, sorrow.  The disciples have been admiring the size and grandeur of the temple.  And for them, this wasn’t just a building.  It was a symbol of their faith, a sign of the presence of God in their lives, a representation that despite the oppression of Rome some stability had remained.  Look, Jesus, see!  What large stones! What an amazing institution that has lasted for so many years.  And after reminding them that nothing is permanent, that “all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2), Jesus cautions the disciples against being led astray, against being deceived.  Commenting on this passage, Karoline Lewis noted, “What you want the Kingdom of God to look like…is also what leads you astray.” [1]  Anytime we begin to place our faith in a program, an institution (no matter how noble), or anyone or any thing other than Jesus, we are bound to be led astray. Throughout Scripture (and history) those who spent the most time trying to decipher prophecies or understand what God’s coming into the world would look like were almost always (always?) wrong.  It was only after Jesus’ death and resurrection that the disciples were able to look back at the prophecies and say, "Oh, that’s what that meant!”  Just because the temple gets destroyed doesn’t mean God’s will has been thwarted.

So here we are today, with the swirl of emotions from the past two weeks, and the only one we are really cautioned against is fear.  “Do not be alarmed,” (Mark 13:7), Jesus says, and a part of me shakes my head and laughs.  How, exactly, am I supposed to follow that?  Yet, here, our ancestors in the faith may have some words of wisdom for us.  Starting with the Apostle Paul, there are three “theological virtues” which have been named as essential for living out the Christian life in the midst of turmoil: faith, hope, and love.  We don’t use virtue language much these days, so maybe we could translate faith, hope, and love as the Christian superpowers for living.  And much like the way video games and fantasy envision superpowers, the Christian superpowers faith, hope, and love are both given as gifts by God and strengthened by us in daily practice. 

Recently I watched the TV series, “A Gentleman in Moscow” based on the book by Amor Towles (Paramount, 2024).  The show begins during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and follows a former aristocrat who escapes execution through a friendship with someone of a different class.  We watch as he navigates life in this new upside-down world by holding on to his values of treating others with respect, refusal to betray others, and love of beauty.  One is left at the end with a sense of peace, of calm in the midst of storm, of joy in a life well lived despite the horrors of revolution and war.

How do we combat fear in those times when it feels and looks as if our world is falling apart?  Perhaps we lean into our superpower values. The preacher of Hebrews expands on this trilogy of faith, hope and love, starting with faith.  The writer of Hebrews begins today’s passage with the basic reminder that we are God’s people no matter what.  The work Christ did is already finished.  We have already been made holy.  God’s law is already written on our hearts.  We have already been completely forgiven for every mistake and every time we failed to follow.  We are not dependent on any temple, church building, or institution to come with confidence, with faith, into God’s presence.  Katherine Shaner points out that for the writer of Hebrews, “Our hope is what we confess.  Our faith is what God has done.”[2]

The next superpower value is hope. As Christians, our hope does not come from something of this world, but rather we hope in the resurrection which follows death. As we hear in the New Zealand Night Prayer, “The night heralds the dawn.” We hope for what we do not yet see. Last week at our diocesan convention, Carter Heyward reminded us that hope has two daughters, anger and courage.  If you feel those two emotions along with hope right now, you are not alone!

Anger is a natural reaction to many events we see around us especially when it seems like justice has been thwarted or when we see fear being stoked. But the good news is that anger can bring us to love.  The word translated here in the letter to the Hebrews as “provoke” in the phrase “let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds” could also be translated as “irritation.”  It’s only other use in the New Testament refers to the “irritation,” the disagreement, that caused Paul and Barnabas to separate in Acts 15:39.  How are we all irritated into love and good deeds?

When I (Pastor Alene) asked Kathy Wilder of Camp Stevens about being irritated into love, she began to tell a story of someone who just really irritated her. That irritation caused her to dig deep and learn more about herself by remaining in relationship with that person. You might say that, using her example, love in the Christian context is a commitment to community. We don’t always agree with each other, but we remain in conversation and in community, and that is love.

But this love is often hard won, and getting to love can feel like tumbling around in space for a while. A friend of ours recently got a rock tumbler as a gift.  One places small stones in this machine along with some liquid and then the machine tumbles the rocks against each other for days or weeks until the rocks have become smooth and shiny and their beauty can be seen.  These rocks, renewed and fresh after their tumbling, remind us that love is the container that holds the community together when we are scraping and hitting against one another. And that the process is worth it because it renews us!

There are many things that might arouse our irritation and anger these days. This could discourage us. But how about seeing this as a sign of hope.  Anger tells us that things are not the way they are supposed to be.  Anger reminds us that the world is not a just place.  It is right to be angry when people are being hurt, mistreated, or abused.  Irritation is normal in any community where people bring their whole selves. We cannot help but tumble against each other like rocks sometimes. Sometimes our values will clash.  Sometimes our personalities will clash.  But whether it is the big anger at the injustices of the world or the daily irritations of our neighbors, friends, family members or the person who sits across the church from us, the preacher of Hebrews tells us to let it push us back together.  Stay in the rock tumbler.  Allow the irritation to move you to good works.  Whether that is a donation to the cause of justice or volunteering closer to home or caring for that same neighbor that has pushed your buttons, the good news is that we will come out of this renewed. We will be colorful and smooth after all we have been through, and we will have helped each other get there. God’s love remains the container that holds it all together- let’s lean on that. And let’s lean on hope too. Hope for a better world. Not just in the resurrection and the world to come, but hope for a world that is even now becoming more loving and just in our midst. We are just tumbling a bit before we see the light!

Amen.

 

 


[1] Karoline Lewis, Sermon Brainwave #992: Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Ord. 33B) – Nov. 17, 2024 (Published November 5, 2024).  Available online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/podcasts

[2] Katherine Shaner, Working Preacher, “Commentary on Hebrews 10:11-14 [15-18] 19-25.” (Published November 18, 2018). Available online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-33-2/commentary-on-hebrews-1011-14-15-18-19-25-4

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