Oct 6th: Being There for One Another, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.
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Rev. Dr. Steven Koski
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Being There for One Another with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: A Braver Way A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: Matthew 5.43-44; John 8; Psalm 19; Colossians 3.12,15.
Join us this Sunday, either online or in person, to hear a powerful message on choosing love over malice, even in divided times. Let’s come together to reflect, breathe, and open our hearts. All are welcome.
Transcript:
Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address, tried to heal a broken and divided nation’s soul, when he said, with malice toward none, with charity for all, as we near the election, there’s plenty of malice to go around, and not much charity. Jesus said, you’ve heard that. It was said, Love your neighbor, hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. It’s not surprising that immediately after Jesus told us to love our enemies, he said, Pray, pray for those who persecute you. I don’t think he invited us to pray, to pray for those we hold in contempt, to change them, but to change us. We’re not encouraged to love our enemies so that our enemies will be different. We’re called to love those we find hardest to love, so that we become different when we choose malice toward none, charity for all you know, doing our best to love those we find hardest to love, we come as close as we can to A Jesus shaped love, the radical invitation to love with a Jesus shaped loved in this political season and in every season, isn’t actually to disagree less, but to learn how to disagree better. A Jesus shaped love is able to disagree without dehumanizing and demonizing the other or or actually losing sight of your own goodness. There’s this remarkable story in the Gospel of John, where, where Jesus de escalates the anger of a group of men intent on violence. And in these tense, angry, divided times. I’m curious what we can learn from Jesus in this story, it’s from the Gospel of John, chapter eight. Here it is. At dawn, Jesus appeared in the temple courts. People gathered around Jesus and and he sat down, and he began to teach the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group, and they said to Jesus, Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses commands us to stone such women, what do you say? Now they were using this question as a trap to discredit Jesus, and they kept questioning him. Jesus bent down, and he started to write on the ground with his finger. He then straightened up, and he said, Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. And again, Jesus stooped down, and again, he wrote on the ground. And at this one at a time, the men began to drop their stones, the stones in their hands, and they walked away, the older ones first, until Jesus was left standing with the woman, and Jesus straightened up and he asked her, where are they? Has no one condemned you. No one, sir. She said, Neither do I condemn you. Jesus declared, go now live the life that God intends for you. Okay, So picture this scene with me. Jesus is teaching a group of religious leaders drag a woman into the circle, their faces red with anger, and they claim this woman has violated the holiness code in the Book of Leviticus and the and the punishment is death by stoning. Now these men don’t care about this woman. There’s no regard for for her as a human being. I mean, they treat her in the most demeaning and dehumanizing way. They’re simply using her to try to humiliate Jesus. So much of our public discourse today. It is seems to be aimed at trying to humiliate the others. Now, the law of Moses specifies death by stoning. Roman law forbids the Jews from carrying out executions. So they’re challenging Jesus. Will Jesus obey Moses or Rome? Now the crowd is in a frenzy. The Angry Men have a have a tight grip on the stones they’re ready to throw. You know, it makes me think, what stones are you holding? What stones are you holding ready to throw? Where are you directing your malice? Where are you projecting your anger? And what’s fascinating is how Jesus de escalates the situation and he responds to the conflict in a creative way, leading to a new path, not just for the woman, but for the Angry Men as well. And in these tense, polarized, angry times, Jesus offers us a braver way. So first notice in the story that Jesus doesn’t react. He doesn’t escalate his own emotions to match the emotional intensity of the Angry Men. One of our greatest spiritual challenges right now in protesting the ugliness of spirit that we witness is to not simply be a reflection of that same ugliness in how we protest. Jesus stays calm. He takes a deep breath. The story says, He bends over and write something in the dirt. What on earth is he doing? Jesus slows things down. He just makes space for everyone to take a breath. That’s what our society needs right now, to take a breath, to loosen the grip on the stones in our hands. We’re living. We’re living right now in a constant, constant state of fight or flight, where wisdom, compassion, empathy, don’t stand a chance. Jesus gives everyone a moment to breathe now listening. Listening is the only way enemies have a chance to become friends, and listening is impossible when your emotions are high. Now, imagine a heated, contentious political debate. I’m sure that’s not hard to imagine, but imagine one of the candidates say, says, I need a moment to take a deep breath my anger, my anger is getting in the way of listening, and I want to be able to listen so that I have a better understanding of of your point of view. So let’s take a deep breath together. In fact, let’s go outside for a moment, take our shoes off and walk in the grass and bare feet and just breathe, and then we can return and and continue our conversation. Sound absurd? Absurd? Well, I think what’s really absurd are the kind of conversations that we’re continuing to have of just shouting, condemning, judging one another without listening, one of the greatest gifts that God has given us is is the space between what happens and how we choose to respond. Now for most of us that that space right now is razor thin, so we end up reacting out of anger and frustration rather than responding from a place of wisdom and compassion in this time of heightened anxiety and anger. I really believe we need to double down on spiritual practices that will widen that space, that will allow us to slow down, take a breath, loosen the tight. Grip on the stones that we are holding. Jesus stays calm, inviting everyone to take a breath. And then Jesus bends over. Remember he writes something in the dirt. Well, what did he write? What did he write? We actually have no idea, but whatever words that he wrote in the dirt changed everyone’s energy. I think Jesus reminds us, Words matter. Words. Words have power. Words create, words destroy words build up, words tear down, words heal, words hurt. Psalm 19 says, may the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, be acceptable to you, O God, before opening our mouths to speak, Socrates suggested the Triple Filter test. Am I sure that what I’m going to say is true, is what I’m going to say kind Do I really need to say it? And is it helpful? Imagine if we took a moment before we open our mouths to actually ask ourselves, will the words of my mouth improve upon the silence in this time of conflict and heightened anxiety, do your words build up or tear down? Do your words heal or cause for their harm. Jesus wrote something in the dirt. I don’t know what he wrote, but whatever he wrote, de escalated the anger and loosened the tight grip they had on the stones in their hands. Words matter. And then Jesus said, Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw the stone in your hand. Jesus amazingly shifted their focus. Now these these Angry Men were projecting all of their anger condemning the woman. Jesus invited them to look into their own hearts. He invited them to accept responsibility for themselves. Have you ever noticed when you’re pointing a finger at someone condemning someone, there are actually three fingers pointed back at you. There’s a sign at the entrance of the University of Indiana hospital. This sign reads, it’s right there at the entrance, and you can’t get in the door without reading it. And it says, Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space. Your words matter, your behavior matters. Our patience, our teams matter. Take a slow, deep breath, make sure your energy is in check before entering. Thank you. Now, imagine if that sign was actually placed at the entrance of of every building, every doorway where leaders meet, every place of business, every church, every home, every heart. Please take responsibility for the energy that you bring into this space, we are the guardians of our own sacred energy. I actually think that’s what the Apostle Paul had in mind in Colossians three when he wrote, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. So one by one, those Angry Men dropped their stones and they walked away. And Jesus said to the woman, go, you are free from condemnation. Go. Now see. Step into a new story. You know, I really wonder what happened. What happened next? What happened to those angry men who were so ready to throw those stones they held so tightly? I wonder what happened. But because we all have stones in our hands ready to throw. We live in a world addicted to dealing with conflict by throwing stones. I don’t want to imagine that, just as the grace of Jesus caused those men to drop the stones in their hands. I want to imagine that same grace release the tight grip that fear, hate and judgment had on their hearts. I want to imagine that because I need to believe, I need to believe a new story is possible for us. I need to believe a new story is possible for our world. I want to imagine a world where there is malice toward none and charity for all. Now it seems impossible to imagine our divisions can be healed, but God’s love can do what our love can’t. So for the next few weeks, leading up to the election, I want to challenge us to a braver way love and pray for your enemies, not so that they will be different, but so that you will be different. Breathe. Breathe. Widen the space between what happens and how you respond. Remember words matter before you speak. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it helpful be the guardian of your own sacred energy, taking responsibility for the energy you bring into every situation, and above all, let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. You know, in a world, in a world like ours that lives like a clenched fist, choosing to live with an open hand in a tender heart may not only change the world, it just might change you. May it be so. I.
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