Sunday Homily - September 6, 2020 - Stewarding God's Love

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Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 33:7-11

Psalm 119:33-40

Romans 13:8-14

Matthew 18:15-20

I.

When you think of the word "love"

 what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Is love something you feel?

 Well, if you watch any romantic comedy or Christmas family special,

   often love is depicted as some sort of romantic feeling of affection.

This is one kind of love, that is for sure.

 But is that the main one you think of?

What about the love shared between friends,

  a bond that isn't necessarily romantic,

   but a love for each other that transcends time and place?

    If any of you have a dear friend from childhood that you still keep up with,

     you probably know the deep friendship type of love. 

For you parents or grandparents out there,

 what about the love you have for your kids?

  That is a very very powerful type of love,

   one that, if your children are in danger, 

    you would literally jump off a bridge or step in front of a car for them. 

     It is a kind of love in which we would readily give our lives

      for our kids.

All of these kinds of love are true and powerful.

 But there is also a deeper complexity to each of these loves

  than we sometimes like to talk about.

Because romantic love, while powerful,

 is not just something that keeps going on its own,

  invariably powered by affection and emotion alone. 

   Romantic love is a love that has to be cared for by our actions.

    Remembering each other's birthday or anniversary

     are great and all,

      but if you only think about your relationship with your significant other

       ONLY two days a year,

        that relationship will start to show wear and tear pretty quickly, won't it?

The love shared between friends,

 that deep bond of friendship,

  also doesn't just keep going on its own.

   Work has to be done to maintain them,

     often intentional and often a lot of effort is needed,

      especially if you and your dear friends live far apart. 

       Letters, phone calls, text messages,

        these are all great,

         but if you never get together,

          it is hard to maintain that deep friendship that you have together.

And yes, even parental love takes work.

 Honestly, it is exhausting most days,

  because guess what?

   You love your kids

     but come on parents:

      there are some days where you also might have a deep affectionate desire

       to chuck them out the window. [Figuratively! Only Figuratively!]

        Parental love is powerful,

         but parental love is also a love that teaches kids how they should behave.

          And that means a lot of work goes in to correcting misbehavior.

           And that gets exhausting.

But all these various sides of this big word "love"

 culminate most clearly in where that love first originates.

  And for us as Christians,

   love first and foremost was not ours to begin with,

    but a gracious gift from the One who first loves us:

     Jesus Christ, Our Lord. 

II.

Love shows through in each of our passages from Scripture this morning,

 but not all in the same way.

For example,

 take the prophet Ezekiel's words this morning,

  where God sends out a warning of judgment to Israel

   calling the wicked to repentance.

But notice that Israel has a responsibility toward even those who are going astray,

 and they are not called to just idly sit by.

  God even says as much:

[The LORD says] "If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life."

And why is this?

 Because Israel themselves have gone astray.

  But, just as God always does in the prophets,

   God does not wish to visit his judgment on them,

     but rather that they are saved:

"As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

Anybody feeling some parental love right here?

 God Our Father is doing the hard parental type of love right here

  in calling His children to turn from their destructive ways.

   Anyone who has had to have a tough talk with their child

    knows a little bit of how God might be feeling at this point in Ezekiel.

     

And yet, this is a healthy side of love, right?

 Love doesn't desire that anyone goes on in destructive or self-destructive living,

  but rather that they get better for good.

   And that takes some long-term, hard core love.

How about Jesus's command in our Gospel passage?

For us as Church,

 Jesus sets some rules,

  not just for confronting someone in sin,

   but also for us being transparent and calling each other to holiness in the process.

Notice how Jesus desires reconciliation between all members of the Church.

 Jesus starts small:

  when one person sins against you,

   don't go spreading rumors or griping against someone else.

    Instead, just go to them when it is just you and them, one on one,

     and just talk it out.

      Which, by the way, resolves MOST interpersonal problems that we have.

But Jesus also is very clear about what happens if the problem persists.

 If the issue is bigger, and there are more witnesses to what has happened,

  a confrontation might actually be appropriate.

   Because it is not just love for the one who sinned,

    but love for the protection of the victim. 

     There are indeed some cases in which someone in their un-repentance

      simply needs to be wished the best and for both to part ways.

       Because, again, Jesus desires wholeness of the community,

        and that means transparency, protection, and repentance. 

And last but certainly not least,

 St. Paul's Letter to the Romans

  speaks of a holistic love

   that incorporates all of this

    into just a couple of sentences:

"Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."

And the reason why Paul exhorts the congregation in the words of Scripture

 is so that we are ready for when Christ returns and the dead are raised.

  We are to persevere in love,

    repent when we are wrong,

     and strive to show forth that perfect, sacrificial love of God toward all,

      so that we are prepared to receive God Himself,

       for as 1 John says,

        "God is love."

III.

For as much as we might talk about stewardship

 as pertaining to finances, or ecology, or building maintenance, or seasonal programming,

  stewardship begins rather with what God has done for us.

   I mean, its right in the name "steward"

    we are taking care of something that is not ours to begin with.

And the first thing I think we all need to remember about stewardship,

 because September is stewardship month for us at Trinity Parish Church,

  is that stewardship begins with remembering

   that we are first and foremost stewards of God's love. 

We are stewards of love in our romantic relationships,

 caring, nurturing, striving for that love

   that is an affective reminder of God's intense love for us.

We are stewards of love in our friendships,

 keeping in relationship over time, distance, and space,

  and caring for one another in our various times and circumstances.

We are stewards of love in our familial relationships,

 teaching, leading, and celebrating the love of parent for child

  all the while persevering even when it gets tough.

Stewardship begins with remembering God's love for us,

 and that this love was given as a free gift to us through Jesus Christ Our Lord. 

Because, in the end,

 physical stuff will come and go.

  But the relationships that we have with people are the things that are the most important,

   because all of the Law of God is summed up in this word:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart,

 and with all your soul,

  and with all your mind,

   and with all your strength;

    and love your neighbor as yourself.

     There is no commandment greater than these."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.