Romans 12: 9-21

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 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 them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "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.

Philippians 4: 8-9

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

John 1: 14-18 (from "The Message", a paraphrase of the Bible by Eugene Peterson)

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word." We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, this endless knowing and understanding--all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.

Sermon Text

Our denominational calendar suggests that we celebrate this Sunday as Young People in Church Sunday. Maybe we should suggest to the schedulers an earlier date for this observance, because many college students by this time have already left to begin a new school session. We'll be sure to celebrate with them when they return, which may be Christmastime. But today is still a good day to think about even younger young people in our congregation, who will be going back to their local schools soon. This morning lets take a few minutes to think about how we might be good guides for them.

When young people become parents, most realize that they have a big, big responsibility now, namely, raising very impressionable little people so that they will grow into mannerly, kind and considerate citizens instead of self-centered jerks. Wee people must be taught to respect others in numerous ways, and they must learn self-discipline. They must learn to put off immediate gratification sometimes in exchange for a better reward that can come only by sacrifice. They must learn to forgive others when they themselves have been wronged, and say they're sorry when they themselves have done the wrong. They must be trained to stick up for others who have been unjustly treated; to tell the truth even when that hurts; to pitch in and help somebody obviously in need. They must learn to avoid getting violent when anger makes them very angry. It would be advisable for them to learn the courtesy of being on time (because that's a form of respect too). They must mind what they say to people (because words can cut like a knife sometimes, and start quarrels very difficult to unknot). They must learn not to complain when things don't always go their way, and work with others and make concessions to them sometimes, so that together they can move forward. In short, wee people must learn to care for other persons just as much as they care for themselves, and to care for themselves very deeply and courageously.

That's a tall training order for parents, isn't it! I have just begun to recite the list of essential dos and don'ts. How can grown-ups possibly assemble all the necessary articles for a moral code for their charges? With the world changing as fast as it is, won't we inevitably fail to anticipate something that might be essential to our children for their journey? How can we show them the right way to live? That's the question of my sermon this morning, which is entitled, "Showing How to Walk in the Way."

"The Way" was the first name for Christianity. Early followers of Jesus spoke of his way of living as "The Way". If you try to spell out the virtues entailed in that Way, the list grows very long indeed. Paul's moral advice to the Christians in Rome serves to illustrate. Listen to what the Way of Jesus involves, according to Paul:

"Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;

love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 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 them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God. . .Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Now, that is all excellent moral advice. But, it's overwhelming, taken in one gulp, right? I mean, it leaves you gasping for breath. It's impossible to grasp the whole picture of a follower of the Way from that long litany of imperatives. I dare say it's the same with the parental tapes that play in your brain and mine. We didn't fashion our way of living by pasting all those tapes together so that they constituted a moral ensemble, now did we? Of course not. Children's minds don't operate that abstractly. We first fashioned our way of living by emulating the people who gave us the tapes. And for quite a while we didn't reflect much about what the tapes said. The reflection came much later, if at all. At first we found our way by walking as the big people did, our parents and grandparents, or our coaches, or teachers-- our heroes, whoever they were. We followed people, not rules. That's how we first found our way; and for many grown-ups, people are still more important moral guides than rules are.

Peter dug this. He really understood people. That's why he summarized his moral advice to the Christians in Philippi this way:

"Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."

Now, we moderns might find that advice very presumptuous and haughty. Who does Paul think he is, holding himself up as a model of the way of Jesus? Doesn't Paul make mistakes too? How can anyone dare to say that they are a good model of the way of Jesus, the Son of God?

Well, I think that if people can't be good examples of that way of living, then the way of Jesus is in big, big trouble. Because Jesus, you see, is dead. He died over two thousand years ago. And newcomers can come to understand the way of living that he incarnated only by seeing it re-incarnated in people that they can speak to now, and embrace, and follow. We are all imperfect re-incarnations, of course, but we are nevertheless the only flesh that the way of Jesus has these days. So, if our wee people can't learn to follow the way of Jesus by following us, then they won't learn it at all. Forget their figuring it out by moral rules. That won't work. They have to see the way lived. And either they will see it in the people they look up to, or they will not see it at all.

How important it was that the way of God, the Word, became flesh in the person of Jesus! I keep returning to the first chapter of John's gospel. It is so central to the Christian message that I cherish. "Moses gave us the basics," says Peterson in his translation of that passage, but Jesus, by the way he lived made God "as plain as day."

You know, when you compare the morality of Christianity to other religions, we Christians have little to crow about. For we are not the only people who stand for justice, or compassion, or forgiveness, or devotion to something higher than self. It is not unique moral rules that recommend Christianity. The Way, Christianity, is valuable precisely because Jesus made God as plain as day. The Way of Jesus is a personal way. In Jesus, John wrote, we saw God's glory, gift upon gift upon gift, just overflowing! Think of how deeply you may have been moved by a very loving person in your lifetime, someone not perfect, but nonetheless so lovely! Someone who lit up your life, and maybe still does. And then, multiply that feeling maybe a hundred times, and you will understand the impact of the incarnation of the way of God in Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is dead, but his spirit lives on and looks for embodiment today. We all can host that spirit. We don't have to be perfect. We just have to be open, willing to let that spirit take root in us and bear good fruit for generations to come. There are wee folk looking for you to show the way, the way of God. Won't you open up and let the spirit of Jesus become incarnate in you, not only for your benefit, but for the wee people who need someone to follow?