Did Jesus say “Pick up your sox.” or “Be who you truly are.”?

So Paul had reviewed all of these wonderful things about grace and forgiveness...and now in these concluding chapters of Romans we get what sounds like good parental advice:

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another... etc.

And we do just what our kids do – we turn it off and stop listening.

But actually, Paul is not nagging at us in this passage.

Our translators haven't done us a favor here, for the verbs are not imperatives, but rather, indicatives!

It is not “pick up your socks” nagging, “hate this, hold onto that.”

Rather, he is saying: “Love is genuine. It hates evil and clings to what is good.

He is stating what is the case, not demanding a list of do's and dont's.

Paul does not reduce the Christian life to a series of nags.

Instead he is encouraging us to

“Be this; you are this.

Baptism has made you over this way...”

For 11 chapters, Paul has been using every literary technique – argument, story, hymns, poems, reason, and humor – to tell the little church at Rome who they really are.

He doesn't bother pointing out that they are only a handful of people in the capital of a mighty empire.

He tells them a greater reality:

that they are a royal priesthood, God's own people, first citizens of a new kingdom, and other similar ideas.

every bit of their lives right now is lived in relationship with the Lord Jesus.

therefore, we are not conformed to the world, Paul says, because we are part of the new world.

therefore we serve the Lord, because we have been served by the Lord.

therefore we practice hospitality because God has been hospitable to us, strangers.

therefore we bless those who persecute us because Christ blessed us who crucified him!.

This is ethics done a different way.

We don't go around with a check-list, saying:

I do this...I don't do that...and when I'm through the whole list, I'm Christian!

Rather, we recognize:
“This is who I am as a child of God; therefore I want to act in ways that are congruent with this definition.

Because we are fallen children of God together, we do not treat each other as governments tend to do, for that is often about power and domination.

Instead, our relationships are based on shared conversation and mutual assistance in the name of Jesus.

Here's the picture of a Friday night, with the teenager standing impatiently on one foot and the other while a parent holds the car keys.

One approach is to say: “You will do this and not that because I say so....”

I suppose every parent has said something similar, with about the same poor level of effectiveness.

But what if the parent started out the little chat with: “Remember who you are.”

Remember that you are a child of God.

Remember that you are beloved of the Lord, and that gives you every good reason to deal gently and respectfully with those around you.”

There are lots more indicatives than imperatives in that approach.

The conversation may be longer than the old fashioned moralistic lecture, but it can be profoundly more effective in the long run.

What if we were reminded of this crucial fact of life, every day?

What if tomorrow morning, when you and kids or spouse are ready to leave the house, you took an extra 5 seconds and made the sign of the cross on each other's foreheads with some phrase such as:

Remember who you are.

Remember to whom you belong.

Remember that Jesus loves you.

Remember that you are baptized.

any of which is more profound than:

Remember your lunch money.

Might this gesture and this 5 seconds make a difference in our day and our lives?

One day a man walked up to Jesus and asked him what he had to do in order to be a disciple.

He wanted a checklist, so Jesus gave him an impossible list.

The man went away sorrowful, not realizing that Jesus was not demanding fulfillment of a list but only acceptance of who that man could truly become as a child of God, a member of the body of Christ, in relationship with Jesus and with all other believers through Jesus.

Jesus offered him grace, a gift, but he thought that he wanted a rule instead.

Jesus was calling him to be who he truly is, not merely to fulfill a list of things to be done.

In very human terms, it is the difference between saying sternly “Pick up your sox.” together with the smart-alec reply “I picked them up last week.”

or the alternative discussion

Who are you in this household?

--a freeloading boarder?

--or a member of the family who cares and says and does because of love.?

How we treat one another properly begins with thanksgiving for all we have and are through Holy Baptism.

As we remind each other about that, we will be

--rejoicing in hope

--persevering in prayer

--being ardent in spirit

--outdoing one another in showing honor

--living in harmony with one another

--contributing to the needs of the saints

--overcoming evil with good...

...all of the things which Paul listed for the Romans.

It truly is ethics done in a different way.

Usually we talk about “justice” as our goal.

But Jesus seems to be interested in something more than mere “justice.”

Remember that he told a story about a farmer who hired workers in the morning, noon, and right before quitting time...and paid them all the same wage.

Was that just? No; something greater.

Remember that Jesus told another story about a younger son who demanded a share of his inheritance while his father was still alive, and wasted it.

Upon his embarrassed return, his father gives him a great party.

Was this just? No; something greater.

Remember Jesus on the cross turning to one of those crucified with him and saying “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

What that just? No; something greater.

A South African woman was forced to watch both her son and husband being dragged away and murdered.

When the culprit was brought to court,

she was asked what should be done.

She said, “This man has taken away from me all that I had!But he has not taken away all of my ability to love. I want him to find the place where my husband and son are buried, bring me some dirt from that place, and I want him to come and visit me twice a month.”

She understood what Jesus was saying.

Was that justice? No; something far greater.

Do you hear the point?

God does not give us what we deserve;

he gives us love that we don't deserve!

We are saved and redeemed not because of who we are and what we have done, but because of who God is and what he has done in Christ Jesus.

As we hear that, as we wrestle with making that the defining part of our lives, what is it that you and I should desire to be doing?

Then we see clearly that Paul's list does not consist of nagging “pick up your sox” burdens, but joy-filled proposals for action as we discern who we truly are.

What a statement!

What a gift!

What a life! Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.