Love

Text: Luke 1: 68-79

Focus: Love

Function: Advent

Form: Story-telling

Intro:

It IS advent and I am choosing to refuse to let hope die even though this has been another horrific week.

I have often subscribed to the notion that our entire nation with its new/politics/religious voices and cycles has been manipulated by crisis after crisis.

I remember brother Paul Grout, at a men's retreat in Southern Ohio ask the question this way: “what are we supposed to be afraid of this week?”

I want there to be a Hope Church of the Brethren throughout the 21^st Century, so, my apologies to those who are not engaged in the new Internet age of communication.

Many times, I envy the simplicity. I wonder how much more peace I could get if I just turned off the Internet.

But, the fact is, we get more and more community out of Social media than we used to.

Kathy and the kids are constantly sending videos and pictures back and forth in a way we never imagined when we were young.

My mom's best friend, a few doors from her in the Nursing home gets to see her daughter, who is working on the front lines in the Congo to stop human sex trafficking via the wonder of the Internet.

But, as small as it has made, it has also become a tool of great division. I have seen terribly doctored videos claiming all kinds of crazy stories. Through it, young Dylon Wolf was radicalized as a Christian Terrorist and murdered 9 people at Mother Emmanuel Church. The week before, another man was radicalized into terrorism because of videos he vies by a group claiming to represent Christ released highly edited and misleading videos about what goes on at Planned Parenthood. Last week, a young man was radicalized into terrorism by ISIS and began the first ISIS inspired act of terror.

Most of those extremes would not have come and would not have been created so quickly if it wasn't for the way the Internet has changed our culture, for better or worse.

And it has created new groups of friends, and new sets of enemies.

A distant friend of a friend of mine on Facebook, a person I can't figure out how I even know them from posted a rather disturbing comment about the perpetrators in California with a challenge to unfriend her if I didn't like it. Which, for those who are not FB users, means that I would no longer see the cute pictures and comments she makes about her life.

So, I typed in OK and waited a half a day and clicked the unfriend button.

And, a casual acquaintance like that is part of social media.

But there are a few people who truly don't like my position on gun violence, war, civil rights for every marginalized group because it is commanded by God for us to love everyone, even our enemy and other classic Christian values that have defined what is, or should have been the Church from the beginning.

I read a quote by Herman Goring during the Nuremberg trials: “All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works in every country.”

I want to remind Christians that just because we are crying out Love Your Enemies, it doesn't mean that we are not patriots.

And some family members take exception to it.

It goes back to what can be talked about at Thanksgiving dinner.

There are people who have strong disagreements with my theology and Christian World view who I am not willing to defriend in my life or in my family or in my church.

I think it was Scot who said “Sin could be defined as breaking community.”

I have two atheist friends who get quite upset with things posted by my twin brother.

Now, for years, his Facebook Profile Picture, for those who don't use it, it is the snapshot that one uses to define themselves, was him standing at the rock where the other Political Party was started.

He is a true believer and as sincere as I am in every regard.

And my other friends are constantly asking me if Jesus actually said, or implied some of this stuff.

It is a very difficult relationship to maintain.

Yesterday I was with the District Ministry Commission. Our District Executive was there. And I know that many people here know, love and respect him.

And yet, there is no one like him. He is caught in the middle between extremes in our denomination and we were talking about some future work within the district and he was reminding folks that they have to love and care for both sides of the church.

Nate can do it because he is family to both sides.

And I am not talking about his genetic connection between so many people. Nate is a brother to all of us.

We could disagree with him, but we can't let him go. Somehow we will be an incomplete body without him.

A bird needs both its right and left wings to fly.

Otherwise, if it can fly at all, it is simply going to go around in circles and not get anywhere.

I mentioned that it seems as if our government is only working in crisis mode and the media is really happy with it because it gives them a reason to sell us news and keep us in fear over the future.

Last week and the week before that indeed had terrible, awful news, and it is so bad that the news is being common. I can't imagine.

But we. BUT WE. BUT WE live in faith, not fear. And we are not willing to let go of love and its power to reconcile.

Fear is one of the biggest sources of prejudice and evil. It is the opposite of faith and the harbinger of violence.

There are people at that dinner table that we have to be there with and because of the bond of love that goes beyond our ideologies, we will extend to them the bond of love regardless of how they treat us.

And we are not going to do this because we are better people. Fear is common, we just won't give in to it.

We aren't going to do this, this facing of our fears and knocking down hatred with love, because we somehow are smarter, richer, more influenced, more evolved, more enlightened or better at anything.

We will do this because God's Holy Spirit is in us and we will prove that love conquers a multitude of sins. AMEN?