12th Sunday After Pentecost, August 31, 2014

The Epistle: Romans 12:9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

     Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Reflections: Are you as surprised (or chagrined) as I am? My memory of St. Paul’s inspiring (if daunting) exhortations is virtually wiped out by his next-to-last line. To be kind to my enemies in order to “heap burning coals on their heads” could not sound more unchristian. Is this what Jesus had in mind in the sermon on the mount? I think not. To be fair, the church doubtless has found ways to understand this passage.

However, today I’m interested in exploring why this passage so scandalizes us.

First, we’re taught that the bible is the Word of God. But there are many different ways of understanding what that means, ranging from the direct dictation of God all the way to writings by human beings under various degrees of inspiration and insight.  The more we get to know the bible as a whole, the more we realize that it is complex and rich. In fact, the more we reflect on it, the more we see that interpretation is always a matter of the whole bible—not merely particular verses.

But besides the nature of scripture, our reaction to this Pauline passage tells us something about ourselves. It confronts us with the fact that we expect the saints to be perfect—and not just the saints. One of the most common complaints by people who don’t go to church is that we’re a bunch of hypocrites. This criticism reveals a common misconception, even within our own ranks: that we expect Christians to be perfect.

The fact is, however, to be Christian is to be in process, not to be finished. Alan Jones, former dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, says that we are each on a “journey into Christ.” And so, while we might be scandalized by St. Paul’s invective, we might also take heart that the saints—exactly like us—were imperfect. We are in process, for, as St. Paul says in Colossians, our life is “hid with Christ in God.”