And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.     1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

I hope you will take the time to read the New International Version of this passage that is sometimes referred to as the “Love” chapter.  Its used at weddings and funerals and is one of the most profound passages of scripture in the bible. 

My focus for today is the final portion. As we reflect on 2020 and move swiftly into 2021 this is a time when we could lament all that has happened, but we won’t. I don’t need to remind you of all the loss that has taken place in 2020. It is pretty obvious. What I’d like you to ponder is what remains.

Yes, there have been challenges and there will be more to come. The year has started with violence in the U.S. Capital and Covid 19 continues to rage on throughout the country, but in spite of it all we still have much to be thankful for.

The passage of scripture  indicates that these three remain: Faith, Hope and Love.  Biblical scholars have mentioned that these three are placed in different order depending on the circumstances. The Church at Thessalonica struggled with hope, so the order was Faith, Love and Hope. The Church at Corinth had many issues and the members lacked love for one another, so the order was Faith, Hope and Love. Lord knows we need Love in these difficult times. My friends the greatest of these is Love.

James Calhoun

(Synopsis of a sermon by Dr. Frank A. Thomas, Professor of Preaching at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana)

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. No not just for some, but for everyone.

Lord, we don’t need another mountain

There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb. There are oceans and rivers enough to cross. Enough to last ’til the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.  What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  No, not just for some, but for everyone.

He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’
— Luke 16:27-31

We pray for unity. We pray for healing.

We want to be open, we want to be kind. We are commanded to love.

But how can we have unity with someone who rejects our humanity? How do we have dialogue with someone who refuses to accept what is demonstrably true? How can there be healing when we cannot even agree on the disease?

This is a challenge not only for this moment in time. It is not simply a matter of civics or politics. This is a question of our Spirituality and the practice of our faith.  In this story from Luke’s Gospel it is a matter even beyond life and death!

For Luke’s audience the question was “what do we do about people who refuse to believe in Jesus, who rose from the dead to invite us into eternal life and a life of community now?”
Jesus says, “Look. Some people just won’t accept the truth.”

I must note that here, in this “Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus,“ the rich man, who is in the place of torment for his sins, refuses to acknowledge that he has been wrong.  He is still living in his sin! He still expects poor Lazarus, in heaven, to be his servant. He first wants Lazarus to go to hell with him, and ease his discomfort and tend to his needs. Then he asks that Lazarus go serve his brothers by taking a message to them. As if they would pay any more attention to him now than when he was alive!

So often today, the poor, the oppressed, the victims of and descendants of systems of hatred, are expected to be gracious and to explain themselves and their hurt to those who have hurt them, who have benefitted from those systems, or who simply haven’t had the same experience. I admit that as a white man trying to prove that I am not racist, I chafe at a person of color telling me “it isn’t my job to educate you!”  I don’t want to think that I am that rich man, but I certainly am not Lazarus in this story. If I won’t listen to “Moses and the Prophets” why would I listen to the voice of one rising from this death?

Father Abraham has not been harmed by the rich man. Still, he does not give the rich man what he wants. The rich man doesn’t even understand the problem. He just knows that he is in agony. He continues to exist in his brokenness. Perhaps someday he will understand, repent, and be saved. But Luke doesn’t have Jesus tell us that. Abraham, however does stay with him, and listen to him in his self-inflicted pain.

And there is the answer for us.

We can’t force someone to acknowledge the truth. They must come to it on their own. The alcoholic must hit bottom. 

Evangelism is not supposed to be about beating someone until they accept Christ. It is sharing the Good News of God’s love, and about being with them in their struggle. We present the truth of the law, the prophets, and Jesus. We live as persons who have risen from death. The chances are good that they STILL won’t listen… Until they are in that moment of need. Until they have the realization that they are hurting themselves. Until they understand that they have been lied to.

And so, to live in community is to recognize that we will not agree. Some will reject your humanity. Some will question your motives. Be gracious. Do not accept a lie, but do not return hate for hate. Respond to hate with love. Respond to lies with truth. Ask genuine questions.

There are many people hurting right now. I want to believe that the events of Epiphany will provide a moment of Epiphany for this nation. We are broken. We are hurting. We are hurting each other. We as a people must repent.

It is not your job to unlock the door of someone else’s own personal hell. You can’t. But you can point out, as C.S. Lewis wrote, that “the gates of hell are locked on the inside.”

Show us the lock, Jesus, for you are the key. Help us to see the arrogance, selfishness, hatred, pride, privilege, greed, partisanship, tribalism, and so on which imprison us. Save us from this hell, and from these forces of death. Help us to seek the truth, uncorrupted by pundits, provocateurs, and profiteers. Help us to know others as beloved and to be known as your children. We pray this in your holy, loving, name. Amen.

On Sunday we will celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. We will have an opportunity to remember our baptism and renew our covenant with God. I invite you to have a bowl of water nearby as you attend virtual services.  The questions for the message are:

1. When have you experienced cleansing or healing?
2. When have you experienced purification or transformation?
3. What in your life and in the world requires a return to the basics and fundamentals?