Psalm 36: 5-12; Romans 13: 8-14
The other day I was incredibly tired, and unable to focus in the morning. A certain little creature that lives with me had kept waking me up much of the night. Following my usual routine, I went to the kitchen to make coffee before my shower. Once done, I prepared to enjoy a nice and delicious cup of coffee. The first sip seemed a bit off. The second had the consistency of wet sand. My worst fears were confirmed. I forgot the filter and had a coffee pot full of coffee grounds. And no, I did not eat my way through the coffee.
Having a filter is important. It protects from gross things coming through. It stops the bad from getting into the good. Some of us lack a filter. If it pops into our head it comes right on out our mouths. I understand this well. My admin when I worked in the Macon office got me a mug for my birthday that says “No Filter.” Yet in Romans, Paul talks about how we filter our walk of faith through the commandments Christ gives. Now I am aware that of all people to talk about filters, Paul is perhaps the most ironic one.
Paul writes that the way to follow what Christ says is to filter everything through the two greatest commandments: love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. A friend once said to me that Paul’s words are very true. If we live our lives assessing whether our actions follow those two commands, we will be doing as Christ says. Everything we say, everything we do, every action we take should be prefaced with our asking whether it aligns with two things: love of God and love of neighbor.
Paul tells us that all the commandments—not coveting, murdering, committing adultery, stealing—all of these can be summed up in love of neighbor. If you love your neighbor, you won’t cheat with their spouse. If you love your neighbor, you won’t steal their stuff. If you love your neighbor, you won’t kill them. Loving one’s neighbor means filtering out the bad behaviors and treating them in the way Jesus would. We filter out unkindness, distancing, othering, prejudices, and actions of actual harm to them.
There are two big bases for this. First when we talk about neighbor, we have to remember the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus provides a very expansive definition of “neighbor” to include literally everyone, even the person proper Jews were warned to stay away from. But this understanding also follows the scripture that God is not willing any should perish. It is in and through us and our love of God and love of neighbor that people see what makes faith so powerful.
If we live in love, we are an attractive welcome to all who need a place to belong, to love God in a family that supports and encourages, and a place where saints are made and sins are left behind. I’m reminded of a story between a church and a bar. A man went to church with his wife. During the service, he was told that he was sitting in the wrong part of the pew and needed to move. His phone accidentally went off in the prayer. Several members scolded him after the prayer. On the way out, the pastor fussed at him for ruining such an important time. His wife reprimanded him all the way home for being so brainless and embarrassing. He never went to church again.
That night he went to a bar, and while still nervous, he spilled his drink. The waiter came and apologized and gave the man an extra napkin. He was provided a replacement drink at no cost. A janitor came and mopped it up saying, “No problem, sir!” And the manager, who was making rounds, she came up and gave him a hug saying, “Hun, we’ve all been there. Don’t worry.” He went to the bar almost every night. Moral of the story is that people will go where they feel welcomed and loved.
One of the worst things we can do as followers of Jesus is to make the bad habits, poor behaviors, and bad things seem more attractive than our faith. A friend of mine was watching this street preacher a few days ago. The man was fired up and talking about finding faith to avoid hell and eternal punishment. He specifically targeted this business-looking woman, and she replied, “You’re just mean, I’d rather take my chances with hell. Your religion looks just as bad.”
Now, it’s easy to simply chalk this up to evil and wickedness simply permeate society so much, people of faith can’t do anything about it. But I think, if we simply default to the idea that things are just to wicked to make a difference, we are getting ourselves out of accountability and mission. It has always been easy to scare people into faith as an alternative to eternal punishment. But we live in a society where hell feels like the present and not an eternity. Scaring people no longer works. In a world where people don’t think about the afterlife, we have to talk about the power of faith in this life.
The Psalm gives us the words. God’s love is vast as the heavens. God’s faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. God’s righteousness is like mighty mountains, and God’s justice is as the ocean depths. All of humanity finds shelter, and God loves human and animal alike. Imagine if we changed the words, “Find Jesus or dies and suffer for eternity in fiery misery,” to the following: “For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts.” This is what faith means to us, and how we live our lives.
One of the most important things for Paul, as an evangelist, was the need to adapt the Gospel to context in which he preached. He never changed the fundamental message and meaning, but the way he preached it changed based on whether he was in a Jewish setting, Greek setting, or some other location. He adapted the WAY he presented faith, so that every culture could understand and grasp the meaning.
In the same way, we have to modernize how we share the Good News. Vastly more people are on social media than read print magazines. Much fewer people worry about the afterlife. Many live in a place of stressful budgets, worry and strife in the national politic, and lean much further into science than faith. Living a life of love means we adapt the way we share the Good News to reach those who need to hear it. And we must do this with a sense of urgency.
There is too much hate, animosity, violence, and ill-feeling for us to take part in the same. But this idea of a filter—that all our thoughts and actions get filtered in this test of loving God and loving neighbor is a good way to do a hard reset. Not only is this a question of grace and redemption, but it is also best practice in life. Jesus didn’t just leave us with a message of redeeming love, but in his life, we also see the best practices for living our lives on earth. In filtering all we do and say through this lens of love, we also live in the best example we have—the life and love of Jesus himself.
Filters are an important part of life. When it comes to my coffee, I certainly don’t want to chew the grounds all morning. If I’m making a custard, I want to filter it in case any of the eggs solidified and made scrambled eggs in the heat. If I’m swimming, I don’t want to forage through algae and leaves in the pool. And if I’m talking in a group, I certainly don’t want every thought in my head to come out of my mouth.
Likewise, filters are important in our faith. Jesus tells us, and Paul echoes, that even though there are hundreds of rules, laws, and commandments, there is a simple way to follow. You don’t have to keep track, make tick marks in every column of behavior—good or bad—or do any other guidance method. Everything you do, everything you say, everything in life, ask two questions: Does it show the love of God, and does it show love of neighbor? In doing that very thing, we will follow Jesus just as he told us to do.
Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18H5bzSmD7/