OCT. 23, 2005 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
LEV 19:1-2, 15-18; PS 1; I THESS 2:1-8; MT 22:34-46
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we believe and in believing we obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev. 19:2).
Love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind…(and)
love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:37-39).
Life is kind of holey (h-o-l-e-y, as in hurting or wounded). Whether we’re tots, teens or too tired to talk about where we stand on our trip through time, we all know what it’s like to have our feelings flayed, our hearts hurt, our bodies battered, our egos bruised. Each hit we suffer is a wound to our person - it leaves a hole in our hull, a scar on our memory. And after too many such hits and holes, the pain starts to leak out.
Throughout my 21 years of ministry, I’ve taken my share of shots, like a toy duck in a shooting gallery. Some I’ve deserved and others not – it kind of goes with the territory. But after one of those calls that I simply had to endure, I was left feeling kind of punctured. So I talked with a pastor friend and recapped for him what had happened. When I was done, he said, I wonder what kind of hole they’re trying to fill by being so angry at you?
That was a good insight, helped me process what had happened. It reminded me of something I’d heard decades ago. A survey of the inmates jailed in San Quentin showed that 100% of the prisoners had been abused as children. Their problem, in a sense, was that they tried filling the holes in their lives by putting holes in the lives of others.
We’re all tempted to do that because we’re all kind of holey, as in full of holes and hurting, both because of things that have happened to us, and for things that we’ve done to ourselves. What are some causes of the holes in our lives? -failures -betrayals -pain -disasters
-death -finances -family problems -???
This is the nature of the world in which we live: it is defined by an emptiness, a lack of love, an aura of ill will, a state of un-grace.
And how does the world suggest that we fill those holes, stop our pain?
-chemicals -eating -shopping -stealing -hurting others -???
In short, we are encouraged by the world to practice any thoughts, words or deeds that are defeating, demeaning or destructive: to ourselves, to our relationship with God and to our neighbors.
Now, you’d think that the church would be a good place to find some help. So let’s say that you walk in here today heavily burdened or hotly bothered- either way empty of love and in need of something. And what do you hear? You should be holy as the Lord is holy; you should love God with all your heart, soul and mind; and you should love your neighbor as yourself!
Now, does that sound like good news… or something else?
There are a lot of should's in these sentences, but the truth is: they’re meant to be there – and this is why. They function kind of like those anti-theft devices at famous museums that we’ve seen in the movies. When a thief grabs a painting or a gem, the alarms scream, the lights flash, the windows slam shut and the doors all close…every avenue of escape is sealed.
It seems that something similar is happening here to us. At times we come to God thinking that we can sneak in and steal away with just enough blessing to take care of our need. But, what we discover today is that as our lives are h-o-l-e-y, God’s Word is directed at us w-h-o-l-l-y! It is meant to surround, enfold, encompass, infuse and envelope us.
It’s kind of like going to the doctor for a hangnail only to end up having brain surgery! This Word from the Lord tells us that there is hope to help our hole-filled hearts…but it is a prescription, a protocol, a program of recovery that just starts with the heart, then works its way through our bodies and throughout our entire lives.
When Jesus says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind, we wonder: well, I don’t know if I can do that…it’s so total! But the Lord simply smiles, and nods, takes us by the hand and brings us into the fold saying, You’ll be fine! Trust me!
And the next thing you know, we find ourselves wholly hemmed-in, bound-up, tied-down, strung-out, nailed, glued, tacked and packed, sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever. It’s the very same promise that is made over us at our baptisms.
In short, we are claimed by God and then commanded by God to practice all thoughts, words and deeds that are generous, gracious and good: for our relationship with God, and with our neighbors, and in that way for ourselves. Which is exactly how the Lord calls us to be holy (h-o-l-y).
At a very basic level, to be holy simply means to be set apart, chosen, elected…for God’s purposes, God’s intent, God’s will for life. You’ve heard of many: Moses, who was set apart to set the Israelites free; Jonah, who was set apart to save the Ninevites; David, who was set apart to rule God’s people, Peter, who was set apart to start the Church, Mary Magdalene, who was set apart to greet the Risen Lord, and Paul, who was set apart to spread God’s Word to all the world.
That’s quite a list of heroes, isn’t it? Yet take another look at that cast of characters. Moses = murderer; Jonah = rebel; David = adulterer; Peter = denier; Mary = sinner; Paul = persecutor…yet God set them apart, made them holy, used each and every one to accomplish heaven’s will for life.
Now, take a look at yourselves. You may very well wonder for what purpose God has set you apart. You might very well feel moved to ask How can this be with me? Well, the same is true for me, and the good news is that we’re in good company. Young Mary asked the same thing of the Angel after learning that she was being set apart to give birth to the Lord: How can this be with me? Yet the angel’s response to her is the same as it is to us. God’s Holy Spirit will take care of it completely, totally, wholly.
There are many different approaches to plugging those painful holes in our hearts, our spirits, our lives, and God can work through them all. For years a man I know tried out various theories of why he hurt even as he looked to blame others for his pain.
Then one day we talked and he sounded better than I’d ever heard him. I asked what was going on and he said that a new counselor had him in reality therapy. What’s that? I asked. Basically, he said, it’s the idea that life stinks, so what are you going to do about it?
And I say thanks be to God for such worldly gifts that can help us with certain holes in our lives. But there is nothing so effective, so life-giving as the prescription for healing from Jesus in our Gospel. For to love God wholly and to love our neighbors passionately is to let that mysterious healing help of God’s love work upon and through our wounded hearts.
The truth is that love fills in the holes of our lives – certainly the love we receive, but also, and maybe even more importantly, the love that we give. For when we embrace the notion that we have been made holy, set apart to love God and love our neighbors, then our lives, too, will be filled with that holy, healing, healthy love that knows no boundaries, that knows no end. Thanks be to God who is and ever will be holy, holy, holy. Amen.