14th Sunday after Pentecost (August 30, Fr. Guiliano)

 “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.” For many Sundays, we have been considering St Paul’s Letter to the Romans. And I am sure that some of you feel like you’re suddenly on solid ground, familiar territory. We have left behind the chapters on sin and justification by faith; we’ve left behind the chapters on baptism; we’ve left behind talk of predestination or the relationship between the Church and the Hebrews. Instead, Paul is describing the Christian life in detail.

 The difference is sort of an illusion. Everything Paul says in this chapter is meant to build on what has gone before. 

As Father Joe explained last week, Paul urged us to offer ourselves to God, soul and body. We are to make of ourselves “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable.” And we are to do it in response to God’s abundant mercy. 

What Paul does now is show us what that looks like: what it looks like within the Christian community, to live as the one body of Christ; and what it looks like in our relationships with those outside the Church. We could sum up our calling in two words: love, and blessing. 

We are to love one another genuinely and “with mutual affection,” and we are to show kindness and offer tangible blessings to strangers and enemies. 

These two features get at key aspects of our life as Christians. We are, on the one hand, a new community. We have been drawn from many families into the one family of God. Whatever our other loves and allegiances, we are to show loyalty and honor to one another within the Body of Christ. Paul’s phrase “Love one another with mutual affection,” could easily be translated “Love one another with brotherly love” or “familial love.” In the first century, Paul was addressing a society intensely focused on familial bonds, and in our time too, it is easy for us to be drawn only into the needs of  relatives. Paul reminds us that the Christian calling is wider: to love this group like a new family. 

“Outdo one another in showing honor,” he says. “Contribute to the needs of the saints,” that is, to the needs of those in the Church. We all have responsibilities in caring for our families and loved ones; and Paul says, look around. Here is your family. Here are your loved ones. Whoever loves the Word of God; whoever has gone down into the waters of baptism; whoever has been made one with Christ – they are yours. And you are theirs. So “Love one another.” 

And don’t forget that God draws the circle of love even broader than this. We can see this truth, particularly in two phrases this morning. “Extend hospitality to strangers.” And “bless those who persecute you.” 

It turns out that it is not enough just to love our family in God. Love must abound for those we have not yet met and for our enemies.

How many of you have seen The Odyssey this summer? Well, even if you haven’t, I’m not going to give away the plot; the story has been around for thousands of years. However, in Christopher Nolan’s telling, The Odyssey revolves around homecoming and family, but also around the kindness and hospitality shown to strangers and enemies. It is the foundation of a good culture.

Nolan’s Odyssey is almost a story of Christian virtue. Even though the characters are constantly invoking “Zeus’s law” of hospitality, the story tamps down the glory of war and tamps up the theme of love, that the film seems more indebted to the teachings of Christ. I have read some reviews that criticize the film for being so blunt with its message: did we really need nearly three hours of entertainment just to tell us how important it is to show kindness? 

I think we did. We have lived through years of anger and suspicion directed toward our neighbors, toward those of other political tribes, toward other states in our union -- “Californians,” Easter Coasters, Southerners who aren’t good Midwesteners -- toward refugees and immigrants, toward foreign nations. 

Many of us have retreated into the comfort of our homes, our families, our closest circle of friends. OR we sit alone in our rooms with our AI companions. We hold everyone at a distance. We do not let ourselves encounter those in need, lest we see our obligation to them. We shut our eyes to bad news. We know that the Gospel calls us to love our enemies, but we find it easier to hate them. 

So, yes, I think a three hour blockbuster with a simple ethical refrain might have been exactly what we need. And maybe, just maybe, we also need what Paul offers in Romans 12 – not just an exhortation to offer our lives to God, but a description of what it would look like if we did. Listen, even if you know these things. Listen. He says: “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.” I was sitting at lunch once when a friend and I were describing a mutual acquaintance who makes our lives difficult. We talked about this person for a while, trying to puzzle out how they tick, and why they act the way they do. We relayed a litany of sins. But I was really struck how we ended. One of us said, “Well, I pray for them every day and try to keep them out of my mind.” On the one hand, it was a good example of how neither of us was interested in revenge, and we were fulfilling Christ’s command to pray for our persecutors. On the other hand, it’s insufficient. It’s not enough.

Christ calls us to more than an attitude of neutrality, in which we lob “bombs of prayer” from a safe distance. We seek a holy life, a life of love and blessing. It’s not enough just to pray for enemies. We must also bless them with our actions. Paul’s example is immediate, and drawn from the book of Proverbs. “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.” 

Evil is constantly seeking the victory in our lives. Someone wrongs us; we want to wrong them in return. We look for opportunities to seek revenge, when we should be looking for blessing. 

We always take Jesus as our model. In his suffering and death, he poured out blessings upon the world; by his blood, all sins are forgiven. He prayed for his persecutors from the cross itself, saying “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” Our lives have been transformed by that forgiveness; we have seen how love alone can drive out hate, and end the cycle of violence. 

Take this reading home. Think of two tangible ways you can embody its teaching better. 

How can you show greater love in the Christian community? 

How can you show greater love and blessing to strangers and enemies?