The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany

7 Easter, May 24, 2009

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being. We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You've probably heard the phrase, "Christians are called to be in the world, but not of the world." But what does that mean? Jesus' prayer from John's Gospel that we just heard read, was beseeching his Abba to send his followers out into the world as he was in the world; that is, in the world, but not of the world.

What does it look like to be in the world, but not of the world? The overarching answer is; followers of Jesus are sent to take Christ's love into the world. But broad, overarching answers like this don't really help us understand, all that much, what is required. We need to unpack it, and we need to also ask, is such a command even realistic or possible? After all, we have to live realistically in the world don't we? We can't just quit our jobs and go from place to place like Jesus' apostles did, proclaiming the love of Jesus. This after all is the 21st Century. How do we live in the world but not of the world in this day and age? We have mortgages that are increasingly hard to pay. We have to feed our self and our families, and we have bills to pay and hopefully save for our children's college education. It would be very wise also to save for a healthy retirement. Is it not ok to do all those things and also just enjoy our lives? Human testimony would say, to take the love of Jesus into this competitive world is not possible and still do what we have to do to survive.

Well then, do we call God a liar? Do we say to God, "You sent Jesus to show us the way you would have us live our lives to no avail? It is impossible for us to follow His Way in this complicated world." Is that our response to Jesus' commandment? Do we say that to each other and to God? Because you see, God's testimony is that it is possible! I firmly believe that it is possible; perhaps not easy, but definitely possible to work in the world - even be leaders on the world stage - pay our bills, put our kids through college, save for retirement and have an enjoyable life, and do all that while spreading the love of Jesus with all whom we come in contact with. In other words, we can be in the world and not of the world. Let me describe the difference as I see it.

I think I've told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again, because it made such an impression on me, and it has come up for me because of a comparison of a business interaction I have just engaged in. Quite a number of years ago, my youngest daughter Marty and I were trying to make a left turn out of a very busy intersection in Arlington, Texas. We were at this soccer field, and the traffic was chaotic with people pulling in and out. Well, I had a collision with another car. I felt that it was my fault and immediately admitted that it was my fault. I was told by a number of people afterward that I should not have admitted that, but let a police officer decide who was at fault. But I really believed that it was my fault, and so why wouldn't I be honest about that? The way of the world would say, I might not have been found guilty of being at fault; maybe the other person would have been, and then it would have been her insurance that would have had to pay. But that would not have been the truth in my mind. Can we be loving in the world and not be truthful? Well, when I admitted that it was my fault, this woman who I had the collision with, and at first was very hostile and defensive, but then dropped her defensive manner, and we commiserated about the horrible and chaotic traffic and exchanged our information in a very congenial manner.

My insurance company asked her if she was hurt in the accident. The "smart" thing for her to do, some would say, would be to say yes. That way she would be sure to get more money, or at least a very quick settlement. But the right thing to do, the loving thing to do was what she did. She was truthful. She said no. And the right thing for an insurance adjuster to do in his or her job would be to pay what was her due without delay. After all, we pay our premiums in good faith. We should expect to be treated honestly. But often the way of the world does not work that way. People lie and say they are hurt in hopes of getting a big settlement, and insurance adjusters pay only the smallest amount they can get away with, or pay nothing if they can get away with that. And so we do these business interactions with the expectation that the way of the world is the way we are going to be treated and so we must operate in the way of the world in order to protect our selves. Self-interest is the way the world operates; it does not operate with the good of the other in mind; it certainly does not operate out of truth and love.

Well, I was driving an older car, and so I didn't have collision insurance on it. So I knew it was going to cost me a lot to have it repaired. I took it to an auto body shop to get an estimate, and when I went into to their office, I went in feeling very defensive, expecting to be treated the way the world works. I fully expected to be giving an astronomical bid. I felt like I was at their mercy. I did not expect to be treated with love and honesty. This was a business after all. They were going to get all they could get out of each customer, especially those who were naive about their business. That, after all, is the way the world works. But that's not what happened. The owner and the manager of this auto body shop went to a lot of trouble to find used parts for my car and saved me about $2000. And the owner said to me several times with real love and concern in his manner and voice, "You be careful now. We don't want to see you back in here."

This business made a good living. They had plenty of customers. I cannot tell you how many people I sent to them, and I am sure everyone who received that kind of love and honesty did the same. Bob recently remembered a car dealership that we did business with in Conroe, Texas. One quite often goes into such a business, again, with their guard up, expecting to have to play the game well, or be fleeced out of a lot of money. One expects this because more times than not this is what happens. This is the way of our competitive world. Unless you like the game and are good at it, it is not a fun experience. But this dealership in Conroe was different. They sat down with Bob and showed him the blue book value of the car he wanted to trade and the blue book value of the car he wanted to buy, and then they made a very fair offer. Everything was open, transparent, honest and above board. There was no hard sell or pressure. We did all of our business with this dealership and sent many people there as well. People from all over south Texas came to do business at this car dealership.

It's amazing how a person can immediately tell the difference when they come across people that are in the world, but not of the world. There is a transparency about them and about all they do. Integrity, honesty, care, fairness, love can be seen almost at once. It shines through the darkness of this world. And though rare, it is amazingly refreshing and delightful to come across it. Jesus in this prayer to his Abba prays that God will give his followers the power to avoid the temptation to become part of the world's methods. We can so easily be sucked in out of fear or greed or anything that promotes self -interest in whatever forms it takes. We so easily separate in our minds, our religious life and our everyday ways of survival in the world. We so easily justify the way we act out of our own self-interest; because we believe to act any other way simply doesn't work in the world.

Jesus came to teach the way of self-giving love, because it is the way of eternal life. But often in our day-to-day affairs, we don't even consider "eternal life." Most of the time we don't consider what that means or even concern ourselves with it. "Eternal life;" what relevance does that have for us now, in the world? Do we even believe in eternity, in eternal life? When we partake in the Eucharist and say the words of institution, Jesus' words, "This is my body; this is my blood; do this in remembrance of me;" part of what we are called to remember is that all we do has eternal significance. Jesus said he came to give us eternal life. We might want to give that deep consideration. His Way is the way of eternal life.

I believe this means that acts of love are the only things that can last eternally. Everything else is like chaff in the wind, even if it seems otherwise, even if it seems to produce great riches. In reality, anything that does not come from love is like chaff in the wind; eventually anything that does not come from love will be destroyed. God is love; only the fruits of love are eternal. And love can be acted out in everything we say and do. It does require our constant effort and attention and prayer. But it is possible entirely possible to live in the world but not of the world. It does work. It is the way of expanded life in this world and throughout eternity.

"Glory to God whose power working in us can do more than we can ask or imagine; glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus forever." Amen.