Let It Begin With Me

Rev. Alan Claassen
Romans 12:9-23 Matthew 16 21-28
September 21, 2008

Children’s message: a story attributed to St. Francis. It was the story a village that was being terrorized by a wolf. St. Francis is said to have struck up a deal with the wolf. The wolf would stop eating the pets and little children of the village if the townspeople would simply leave a bowl of food out on their doorsteps for the wolf to eat each night. St. Francis’ plan worked.

I have another wolf tale for you this morning, called…

The Wolves Within.....
An old grandfather told this story to his grandson who came in to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story,” said the grandfather.

"I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do; but hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking a poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But..... the other wolf...... Ah! The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all of the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing."

"Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."

This morning’s passage from Romans is about choosing which wolf within us we are going to feed. Feed with our thoughts, habits, actions.

This morning’s Gospel passage is about the inherent difficulty that may well arise within our world when we say that we have chosen the path of non-violence, and non-violent resistance. For Jesus himself paid the ultimate sacrifice, giving away his very life, by proclaiming that we should love our enemies and not seek to destroy them.

Which wolf do we feed with our thoughts, habits, and actions?

The one that is good and does no harm, lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended or

... the wolf who fights everyone, all of the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing."

The one we feed is the one who wins.

Paul makes it very clear in Romans which one we are to feed. "Let love be genuine. Bless those who persecute you, repay no one evil for evil, and never avenge yourselves." Nothing could be clearer than what is listed in these verses.

There are those in our world today, in our American religious and political spheres today that claim to people of Christian values. They seemed to have skipped this passage.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. For evil response to evil only creates more evil. It make take years or decades but and violent response to evil brings about more evil.

But that wolf within that is quick to temper, quickly says that non-violence is wimpy, can’t work, and the poor need to find their own way out trouble, they found there own way into it. And we ourselves may read this passage and simply say, out of the kindness of our best hearts, it just can’t be done. It’s too difficult, I may get hurt.

And in a way that is correct. It is too difficult, to do alone. It is impossible if we only have the tools of our “do-it-yourself,” greedy culture. But Paul is speaking from the vantage point of one whose ego is no longer the center of his awareness. Through his mystical vision on the road to Damascus, and the tending of the followers of Christ who baptized him and care for him, Paul became one who spoke with the mind of Christ. The one who taught reconciliation, forgiveness, non-judgment, and non-violence.

Which brings to mind for me the story of a woman that we all know.

We all know Rosa Parks; the African-American woman who participated in the bus boycott organized by a young preacher, Martin Luther King Jr. We all know that Rosa parks refused to go the back of the bus. She refused to participate any longer in the culture of domination that told her and her people that she was inferior.
We all know about Rosa Parks. But do you know what helped Rosa Parks, stay put at the front of the bus? Do you know about the Citizenship Schools founded by Miles Horton?

Well, I didn’t until just a few years ago. Miles Horton was a white man who went to the hills of Tennessee, in a poor rural part of that country near the North Carolina state line.

And he found people who did not know how to participate in their own government. They did not know their rights as citizens of this country. Without education democracy cannot survive. So he taught the people.

He began this work in the 1930s. By the 1950s he was holding classes and workshops where white folks and black folks were study together. Two of his students were,
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks.

Rosa Parks gained her self-acceptance and lived the dream of all people living together through her participation in these schools, which included all races studying together. She got to practice the beloved community in this citizenship school and then take it out into the world.

I think that is how the Apostle Paul saw what he was doing in building those first communities that followed the way of Christ. He was trying to create places of safety and support, worship and prayer and service where people could experience a vision of something that they could take out into the world. He was creating communities that fed the better nature of our humanity.

Now we all know that Rosa Parks had to go through a lot of threats and misrepresentation. This is carrying her cross as is said in the reading from the Gospel according to Matthew. Carrying her cross. Not hiding it. Not staring at it. Not running from it. Carrying it. Moving forward. Being pulled forward. Why? Because she belonged to a vision of the beloved community that she had seen with her own eyes. Just as Paul belonged to Christ, the one that helped him see the world with new eyes.

One of the things that I most appreciate from the Romans passage is the verse,
“Hate what is evil, love what is good.” I can be angry but I must temper how I may express my anger. The “wolves within” story said it well, “He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”

The right way is a very powerful way and it is a way that breaks the cycle of violence without getting rolled over and playing dead. It means speaking out against those who take more than they need at the expense of the poor. It means sometimes getting in trouble for doing the right thing, even to the point of risking security, comfort, and life itself.

There is one other verse in the passage from Romans that I want to lift out before closing this sermon.

“If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.”
So far as it depends upon you.”
I am reminded of a quote from the Dalai Lama.

He said that each one of us should ask ourselves this question,
“What can I do to preserve the beauty and wonder of the world, and,
What can I do to eliminate the anger and hatred in the world,
in that part of the world which I touch?


What can I do to preserve the beauty and eliminate the anger and its root causes
in that part of the world which I touch?

This statement encourages us to ask and to affirm, what can I touch? Not what can’t I touch, but what I can touch? It empowers us into action rather than the despair of being overwhelmed. It asks us to be clear about that which does depend on us. I think it also encourages us to allow ourselves to depend on others sometimes, too.

Our sphere of influence begins right here, and within in our homes, and at the check out stand and coffee shop.

As members of the United Church of Christ our touch reaches around the country and world through the offerings that we give to special offerings such as Neighbors in Need, which is coming up in a few weeks.

Our touch reaches out to families who have no homes as we places our coins in the simple cardboard boxes provided by Habitat for Humanity. And our sense of compassion and call for restraint is awakened when we follow that Habitat for Humanity calendar and see how richly blessed we are.

And in this election year our touch extends all the way to the County Supervisors, Congress and the White House.

What can I do to preserve the beauty and eliminate the anger and its root causes
in that part of the world which I touch?

Today is the International Day of Peace which was founded by the United Nations in 1981. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

By creating the International Day of Peace, the UN devoted itself to worldwide peace and encouraged all of mankind to work in cooperation for this goal. During the discussion of the U.N. Resolution that established the International Day of Peace, it was suggested that:

"Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."

International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire – personal or political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time. Declare a personal ceasefire with someone, some group, and some candidate in the world that you can touch. Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to humankind.
Imagine a world.

In this passage from Romans, Paul has some words of advice for us that will help us feed the good wolf. As Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message, “Love from the center of who you are, don’t fake it. Don’t burn out: keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be inventive in hospitality. Surprise your enemies with goodness.”

We are enabled to do this through worship, prayer, study, and service. Don’t try this at home if you are trying it alone. Let God help. Give God something to do, by trusting the incarnation of the Holy Word in Jesus Christ. Let us, explore the possibility, so far as it depends upon us, to live peace, to love genuinely, to hold fast to what is good.

And may both wolves within us, learn how to get along.