Reverend Ref +

SERMON LENT II YEAR A

Hate is easy. It’s wrapped up in self-righteous, legally-justifiable fear. It is self-righteous because we believe that we have all the right answers. We are so sure we are right, that anyone who believes differently from us is seen as nothing more than a stumbling block, put in our way to trip us up and then to be kicked aside and discarded. We are so sure we are right that we refuse to listen to opposing viewpoints. We are so sure we are right that it’s easy to condemn the other side to hell. After all, if you’re not with me, you’re against me. And that leaves me no choice but to hate that which might destroy me.

It is legally justifiable because we rely on laws of all kinds to shore up our position, no matter how wrong it is. The Nazis legally exterminated the Jews and others who were a threat. Our country has legally enslaved and abused blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans. We legally bar certain people from entering this country.

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me." Really??

We legally turn these people away every day. Refugees from Cuba, Cambodia, Africa, and people from Mexico who come here escaping terrible conditions at home or chasing the American Dream. But we consistently pass laws to protect the interests of those in power. That poem on the Statue of Liberty has become a joke.

We do it with laws of the state, and we do it with laws of religion. We are really good at picking out those biblical laws that support our personal bias, while ignoring those that we count as trivial, or make us uncomfortable. We would rather attack those people who violate our interpretation of biblical morality than to seriously ask ourselves why we ignore the edict to treat the alien as a natural citizen.

Hate is based on fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of a loss of power or control. Whites hate minorities because of this. Americans hate aliens because they take jobs away from honest people. Northwesterners hate Californians because they screw up our way of life. Straight people hate gays because they are different.

Hate is easy. All you need to do is find someone different from you who challenges your lifestyle and/or your belief system.

Love, on the other hand, is hard. Just ask any parent or anyone who has been married for awhile. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies. Love the alien. Love one another. Can you love a neighbor who lets his dog run free and strews garbage all over your yard? Or does "other" things in the yard? Can you love someone who threatens your way of life? Are you willing to love the person in the other pew, or the other parish?

Love is hard, yet we are called in both the Old and New Testaments to love all sorts and conditions of people.

We are living, I think, in dangerous times. We have a presidential administration that has polarized our country like never before, and that operates from a position of fear. Our country, currently, is not high on the list of World’s Most Admired. ECUSA seems to be splitting apart at the seems, mainly over the issue of homosexuality. People who voice their opinion, on whatever topic and whatever side, are attacked with the most base of arguments.

And into this fray, we are called to stand and love. That may be the hardest thing in the world to do: to stand up while being attacked and say, "I love you."

There’s a song by The Bare Naked Ladies called, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time." I think it sums up where we are perfectly. "When you’re lovers in a dangerous time, sometimes you’re made to feel as if your love’s a crime."

By being open and welcoming and willing to love the Other, those people who are legalistic or "morally superior" (whatever that means) or just plain afraid will attempt to make you feel that loving someone is a crime.

It’s a crime because you don’t "make a stand." It’s a crime because you allow "those people" to be treated with dignity. It’s a crime because you aren’t following the rules. It’s a crime because you are failing to condemn those who don’t march in lock-step with those of the "true faith."

Hate is easy. It would have been easy for God to give up on us. It would be easy for God to hate us based on our actions. It would be easy for God to hate us based on how often we neglect him. But God didn’t, and God doesn’t and God won’t.

Into this mess, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, not to condemn, but to save" through love. And look where that got Jesus.

Hate is easy. The question is, do you have the guts to stand up and face the world in love?