September 7, 2014 – Romans 13:8-14
Romans 13:8-14
The Hawaiian Shirt Sermon
Lectionary 23 – September 7, 2014
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
Last week I was in Vegas. Really.
I went for three nights and two days with a friend who was visiting.
Basically we went just to get away for a couple of days and because it was cheap. Really cheap.
We didn’t do any of the things that people normally do in Vegas.
We didn’t go to the fights. And we didn’t gamble.
So I didn’t have the opportunity to amass gambling debt,
and say to the people I owed money too that, hey!, the apostle Paul says
‘Owe no one anything but love,’
so how about instead of my paying you I give you a hug?
Didn’t get a chance to do that.
We did have a chance to laze about an outdoor pool in some exceptionally hot sunny weather.
And that was nice.
And we did drink some tropical cocktails at Frankie’s Tiki Room.
Now Frankie’s is not on the Strip – you gotta go some to get there.
So my friend and I took a cab over to this run down neighbourhood.
We got to the neighbourhood early and poked around some antique and vintage shops before
walking to Frankie’s, about a 15 minute walk from where we were.
Now because we were going for tropical drinks at Frankie’s,
we were wearing our Hawaiian shirts –
very appropriate clothing for the future we had in mind for ourselves!
We got to chatting with the owner of the last shop we were in, being our friendly
north-of-the-border selves.
Because of the way we’re dressed, she asks us if we’re going to Frankie’s.
And we say Yes! We’re planning on walking there!
Now when we say that, she gets this concerned look on her face.
She looks at us carefully and says, You guys are from Canada, aren’t you?
And we’re like, Yah! How can you tell?
And she just says, “Well, just look at you!”
Apparently we have “friendly Canadian” written all over us.
Then she says, “This is a rough neighbourhood.
You guys are gonna get beat up if you walk to Frankie’s looking like that.
Let me call you a cab.”
She is genuinely worried about us, right?
But we say, Oh, we’ll be fine.
And she’s like, “No. You’re going to get beat up dressed like that.”
And we’re saying, It’ll be okay.
We’ll call you when we get there so you know we arrived safely.
And then she says, Okay, but you better put on your best bad ass faces. Let me see ‘em!
And that’s when I say, “Uh, I don’t think our faces are gonna make any difference
since we’re dressed in these Hawaiian shirts.”
So we go, and we walk to Frankie’s, and it’s a beautiful evening, and we arrive safe and sound.
No trouble.
It turns out we were dressed appropriately for a party.
But not so appropriately for the journey there. Hm.
This week, Paul addresses Roman Christians who are trying to live Christian lives in
the heart of the Roman Empire.
The Christians Paul addresses in Rome have adopted values that are at odds with
the values of the Roman Empire.
They value forgiveness rather than vengeance.
Peace rather than violence.
Concern for the vulnerable rather than privilege for the few.
In short, they have adopted the value of love for all rather than for the few.
This makes them vulnerable to the bad neighbourhood of the Roman Empire.
It’s okay, says Paul: you’re journeying into a new day, into God’s future.
You’ve put aside the clothing that the Roman Empire says is appropriate:
the clothing of armour, of shield and sword and self-protection.
Instead, he says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ – and the word for “put on” is the same word
Use for clothing yourself.
You’ve been clothed, he says, by God in your baptisms with the clothing of light,
and of love, and of mercy and grace.
Compared to that armour of the Roman centurion, your white baptismal garment of
grace might seem flimsy and may seem to offer you little protection.
And it’s true that this garment will not protect you from getting hurt.
But it does allow you to be about Christ’s work of loving.
It’s a love that comes from outside yourself – and allows you to love as you have been loved.
A new day is coming, writes Paul.
God’s future day of peace, and justice, and healing, and the well-being of
creation and of all peoples.
That will be a party day!
That day is dawning even now in your loving actions on behalf of your neighbour!
So get dressed for the party now!
Take off your armour and put on the clothing of grace!
Dress appropriately for the party that is coming!
And walk your way there through the neighbourhoods of darkness – and share a little light.
Lives characterized by loving your neighbour bear witness to the coming party,
to the alternate future God has in store for all creation.
Dress for – and live as if – the party were already here.
Cause let’s face it: with all the armour of self-protection we carry around,
it’s hard to love your neighbour.
It’s tough, I would think, to be joyful in a suit of armour.
It’s also tough, I would think, to hold someone’s hand, or dance, or bandage a wound,
or feed the hungry, or give the thirsty a drink of water.
Paul says: get rid of it. Donate it to Value Village.
And put on the garment of love, the appropriate clothing for the party of love that is coming.
But this is not easy.
In the Christian Century this week I was reminded of the book The Year of Living Biblically by
A.J. Jacobs.
Some of you have read this book.
In it, he writes of his attempt to follow all of the Bible’s laws and rules for one year.
He thinks that if he acts a certain way, he will become more faithful and come to more belief.
His plan is to act like a faithful person, so that he will become a more believing person.
Sometimes we think that if we believe something, our actions will follow.
But in this case he thinks that if he acts a certain way, faithful beliefs and attitudes will follow.
It begs the question: what comes first? One’s beliefs? Or one’s actions? Which has priority?
Well, according to Paul, the answer is, “Neither.”
Neither our beliefs nor our actions comes first.
What comes first is the love of God in Christ for us. (Joann Haejong Lee, Christian Century Sept. 3, 2014, p.18)
In our baptisms, whether we are adults or infants –
before we could believe or do anything this love came to us.
And clothed us in light and grace and love – like the beautiful white baptismal garments
the infants we baptize often wear.
We are clothed in this love and grace our whole lives long.
The acolytes and the assisting ministers and I wear our white albs as a sign of this:
that we have been clothed with love first of all by a loving and gracious God,
who has dressed us appropriately for the coming part of cosmic love and
communion.
Who has dressed us as a way of saying to us,
“I love this world, and I want to bless it with light and love it with grace and
I want you to help me.
Wake up to the day that is coming.
Sometimes the neighbourhoods of this world look dark and dangerous.
But I want you to walk through them clothed in my light and love so that you can
love your neighbour as a witness to the day that is coming.”
Our Hawaiian shirts offered my friend and I little protection from any beating we might get!
They’re made of rayon, right? Pretty flimsy material! Not very protective!
But we were dressed appropriately for the party at Frankie’s once we got there –
and we had a blast!
God has dressed us appropriately in grace for the day that is coming,
the day that is indeed already dawning through our own love of neighbour.
So let us anticipate that party in our celebration of Holy Communion this morning.
Let us joyfully share the good gifts of creation and anticipate that day when
everything in heaven and everything on earth will be in loving communion,
joined together by the love of Christ.
And let us recommit ourselves this fall to the ministry of loving our neighbour,
of being vulnerable in love in this very neighbourhood,
of taking our light out with us from this place – and letting it shine –
dressed appropriately for the party that is coming.
So together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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