Acts Of...
Luke 10:25-37
This last week nine men showed up to paint the house. One of them was appointed to come in to take off windows so they could be painted, and so I was running around, putting the dog in the crate, keeping the cat inside, keeping Theo from helping too much, trying to finish getting ready to leave for the day, and unlocking all the windows in the house. In the midst of all this the window guy was chatting with me.
"So this is a parsonage?"
"Yes."
"What church?"
"Hope UMC."
"So you’re the pastor’s wife?"
"No, I ‘m the pastor."
"You’re the youth pastor?"
"No, I ‘m the pastor."
"You’re one of the pastors?"
"No, I’m the pastor. The only pastor. The whole pastor."
"Wow." Just then the window frame he was working on completely disintegrated and came apart in the hands of the man standing on the ladder outside.
"So what about the Methodists?" he said.
What about the Methodists? I didn’t get to answer his question -- it was a little hectic just then -- but I should have told him to come to church this month. I’m preaching a series of sermons about Covenant Discipleship, but really I’m sharing the heart of of what it means to be a United Methodist. Because Covenant Discipleship is about practicing what it means to be a United Methodist.
There are several parts to Covenant Discipleship: two parts are mercy and devotion, and the two ways you do them are public and private. You end up with four areas: justice, compassion, worship, devotion. They conveniently make a cross. Each week the Covenant group meets to discuss how they are doing in each of these areas in their Christian life.
It's very United Methodist. But the phrase in front of each phrase is the most United Methodist: Acts of.
We do acts of these things. It’s not whether you wrote a dissertation on the proper role of the bread in the communion ceremony, its whether you worship with other people regularly. It’s not whether you memorized the Gospel of Mark, its whether you pray regularly in some way. It’s not whether you read a book about justice issues, it’s whether that book inspired you to write to your senator. It’s not whether you feel compassion for people, it’s whether you DO anything about it.
Take the story of the Good Samaritan. We are supposed to know that he is the mortal enemy of the man lying beaten on the ground. We are supposed to know that the three men who walked on by were community leaders who would be expected to do the right thing. We hear that the Samaritan man “had compassion” for the wounded man. That’s the end of hearing about his interior thoughts. There is no discussion of, “he reminds me of my brother.” “Even though he is my enemy I know I should do this.” “I would want someone to help my son, or brother, or me, if we were lying there.” No, “well, I don’t like this guy but here I go anyway.” Just verbs: he tended the wounds, put the man on his donkey took him to the inn, took care of him, paid the bill.
At Covenant Discipleship the actions are smaller, so far, but they are more about what we do in our daily life than what we feel. If the postal service was worried that email would take over their business the CD group is doing their part - they send cards all the time to people they feel need a touch of compassion. They act compassionately to people at work they are struggling with. They think about how to treat the hassled mother in the grocery line. They hold doors open. They work at behaving compassionately to family even if they are tired.
The feeling part plays a part, of course. I saw Huston Smith a few weeks ago in a room full of Unitarian Universalists, 1 other UM pastor, and he was asked, “What is true and what is false?” He said, “That which enlarges your heart is true. That which leads to love is true.”
The feeling compassionate is important, but action doesn’t have to depend upon it. The feeling should move to enlarge our hearts, but the action also works to move us to love. Studies have shown that marriages that behave in loving ways retain the feeling better than those who don’t practice the daily art of kisses and affection. Acting changes the heart.
My vet remembered I was a minister this week and then he said, “What about those poor Amish children? It makes me so sad.” He expressed the sadness, the compassion we all feel for this horrific situation. Yet how do we ask the next question: what can we do? Maybe nothing, but is that true? Can we send cards and letters? Can we send flowers? Can we pray? That is action.
United Methodists by no means have the corner on compassionate action. This week we should just sit down and watch what the Amish have done and take notes. They have displayed amazing compassion. When Carl Roberts killed several of the girls in the schoolhouse in Lancaster County, the Amish community went to his family and said, “We forgive you.” Many people would say it is too soon to forgive, but this forgiveness is not cheap. It comes from living in a culture that practices non-violence, compassion, and is steeped in God’s love
And then we hear what the girls themselves did. The oldest girl, a 13 year old, Marian Fisher, saw what was happening and asked Roberts to shoot her first, hoping this would save the younger girls somehow. Then her younger sister, 11 year old Barbie, said, “Shoot me next.” Barbie was shot but survived. Marian did not.
That is compassion. Marian and Barbie had hearts large enough to hold all those girls in that room. Their hearts were large enough to care for the others and put themselves aside in the most complete and horrible way possible. The newspaper said, “God really had to be present in that schoolhouse.” I imagine these girls came from generations of practicing what it means to be compassionate.
Our hearts break when we hear these stories. We want to cry. But may our broken hearts lead to enlarged hearts so we can hold more of God’s people in them. May our tears pave a way for a response. And may God give us the wisdom to know what we might do.
This last week nine men showed up to paint the house. One of them was appointed to come in to take off windows so they could be painted, and so I was running around, putting the dog in the crate, keeping the cat inside, keeping Theo from helping too much, trying to finish getting ready to leave for the day, and unlocking all the windows in the house. In the midst of all this the window guy was chatting with me.
"So this is a parsonage?"
"Yes."
"What church?"
"Hope UMC."
"So you’re the pastor’s wife?"
"No, I ‘m the pastor."
"You’re the youth pastor?"
"No, I ‘m the pastor."
"You’re one of the pastors?"
"No, I’m the pastor. The only pastor. The whole pastor."
"Wow." Just then the window frame he was working on completely disintegrated and came apart in the hands of the man standing on the ladder outside.
"So what about the Methodists?" he said.
What about the Methodists? I didn’t get to answer his question -- it was a little hectic just then -- but I should have told him to come to church this month. I’m preaching a series of sermons about Covenant Discipleship, but really I’m sharing the heart of of what it means to be a United Methodist. Because Covenant Discipleship is about practicing what it means to be a United Methodist.
There are several parts to Covenant Discipleship: two parts are mercy and devotion, and the two ways you do them are public and private. You end up with four areas: justice, compassion, worship, devotion. They conveniently make a cross. Each week the Covenant group meets to discuss how they are doing in each of these areas in their Christian life.
It's very United Methodist. But the phrase in front of each phrase is the most United Methodist: Acts of.
We do acts of these things. It’s not whether you wrote a dissertation on the proper role of the bread in the communion ceremony, its whether you worship with other people regularly. It’s not whether you memorized the Gospel of Mark, its whether you pray regularly in some way. It’s not whether you read a book about justice issues, it’s whether that book inspired you to write to your senator. It’s not whether you feel compassion for people, it’s whether you DO anything about it.
Take the story of the Good Samaritan. We are supposed to know that he is the mortal enemy of the man lying beaten on the ground. We are supposed to know that the three men who walked on by were community leaders who would be expected to do the right thing. We hear that the Samaritan man “had compassion” for the wounded man. That’s the end of hearing about his interior thoughts. There is no discussion of, “he reminds me of my brother.” “Even though he is my enemy I know I should do this.” “I would want someone to help my son, or brother, or me, if we were lying there.” No, “well, I don’t like this guy but here I go anyway.” Just verbs: he tended the wounds, put the man on his donkey took him to the inn, took care of him, paid the bill.
At Covenant Discipleship the actions are smaller, so far, but they are more about what we do in our daily life than what we feel. If the postal service was worried that email would take over their business the CD group is doing their part - they send cards all the time to people they feel need a touch of compassion. They act compassionately to people at work they are struggling with. They think about how to treat the hassled mother in the grocery line. They hold doors open. They work at behaving compassionately to family even if they are tired.
The feeling part plays a part, of course. I saw Huston Smith a few weeks ago in a room full of Unitarian Universalists, 1 other UM pastor, and he was asked, “What is true and what is false?” He said, “That which enlarges your heart is true. That which leads to love is true.”
The feeling compassionate is important, but action doesn’t have to depend upon it. The feeling should move to enlarge our hearts, but the action also works to move us to love. Studies have shown that marriages that behave in loving ways retain the feeling better than those who don’t practice the daily art of kisses and affection. Acting changes the heart.
My vet remembered I was a minister this week and then he said, “What about those poor Amish children? It makes me so sad.” He expressed the sadness, the compassion we all feel for this horrific situation. Yet how do we ask the next question: what can we do? Maybe nothing, but is that true? Can we send cards and letters? Can we send flowers? Can we pray? That is action.
United Methodists by no means have the corner on compassionate action. This week we should just sit down and watch what the Amish have done and take notes. They have displayed amazing compassion. When Carl Roberts killed several of the girls in the schoolhouse in Lancaster County, the Amish community went to his family and said, “We forgive you.” Many people would say it is too soon to forgive, but this forgiveness is not cheap. It comes from living in a culture that practices non-violence, compassion, and is steeped in God’s love
And then we hear what the girls themselves did. The oldest girl, a 13 year old, Marian Fisher, saw what was happening and asked Roberts to shoot her first, hoping this would save the younger girls somehow. Then her younger sister, 11 year old Barbie, said, “Shoot me next.” Barbie was shot but survived. Marian did not.
That is compassion. Marian and Barbie had hearts large enough to hold all those girls in that room. Their hearts were large enough to care for the others and put themselves aside in the most complete and horrible way possible. The newspaper said, “God really had to be present in that schoolhouse.” I imagine these girls came from generations of practicing what it means to be compassionate.
Our hearts break when we hear these stories. We want to cry. But may our broken hearts lead to enlarged hearts so we can hold more of God’s people in them. May our tears pave a way for a response. And may God give us the wisdom to know what we might do.
posted by Michelle at 3:06 PM
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