2nd Corinthians 5:11-21 The Same Here and There
At a Friendly’s
Restaurant in Sagamore, Massachuesetts, a couple left a 16 year old a $200 tip
on a $12.39 bill, encouraging her to “follow [her] dreams and never give up.”[i]
A $500 tip was left for a waitress at a Mimi’s Café on a $39 bill in Fresno California
in order to help with her wedding.[ii] On
Mother’s Day, a Raleigh, North Carolina a Waffle House waitress, and single
mother of three, received a $1000 tip after serving a 3 am customer a Texas
Bacon Patty Melt and coffee.[iii] All of these were amazing acts of generosity
left by gracious customers. None of the
news articles said anything about the faith of those generous benefactors.
On the other hand, there
is the story of a pastor who was part of a large party at an Applebee's in the
St. Louis area. When her portion of the
bill came, $34.93, it had an 18% tip added (which comes out to $6.29). The pastor scribbled out the tip, wrote a big
“0” in its place and left a note saying, “I give God 10%, why should you get
18%,” and signed her name to the bill, adding “Pastor” in front of her
signature. This was wrong in so many ways, the biggest of which is the idea
that our tithe is a tip to God for a job well done.
Why share these
stories? Because the contrast between
the first three and the last one, is reflective of stories I have heard too
often. It was only a few weeks ago that
I was eating in one of my favorite places and was talking with one of the staff
members. Our conversation had gone many different directions and somehow ended
up on her least favorite day to work. She told me she really disliked working
on Sunday's. That kind of statement excites us pastors. I asked her why. I just knew she was going to say that she
disliked working on Sunday's because it made her miss church. What I thought would be music to my ears
suddenly turned into nails down a chalkboard as she said, “the worst customers
we have come on Sunday’s, either on their way to, or just after leaving church.”
It was a couple of
Christmases ago that I had a conversation with an employee off one of our local
“big box” stores. We know that during the Christmas season many of these stores
open early. They run sales that start on
Sunday. And for many of their special sales or the most popular items, they
advertise that quantities are limited. This person shared with me that she
could not get over the number of folks dressed in their Sunday-best who were
pressed against the door waiting, pushed and shoved their way in, and if they
did not get what they were there for because it sold out, would develop major
attitudes, that may or may not have included colorful language.
Does anyone else see the
problem here? The folks either enjoying
breakfast or lunch, or doing some Sunday morning Christmas shopping, were
either on their way to, or had just left from, church. We presume that their churches are like ours
and they gather each week to praise to God, to hear, or maybe even proclaim,
God’s Word, and to be in fellowship with other believers. Yet, outside of worship, when they would move
from here to there, they were a completely different person, sometimes with
language that didn't praise God, but used God’s Name in vain, even calling down
God’s curses upon a person or situation—some of their attitudes and actions reflecting
“do unto others before they do unto you” rather than “love your neighbor as
yourself”[iv]
or instead of showing an understanding “the first shall be last and the last
shall be first”[v]
they act out “I will be first and no one will be before me,” or instead of
mirroring the attitude of Jesus who “came not to be served, but to serve,”[vi]
they demand “serve me now!”
It is no wonder that one
of the top reasons that people say that they do not go to church is that it is
full of hypocrites. I used to think that
was simply a cop out, but, my brothers and sisters, the reality of it is
true. If we are a different person out
there than we are in here, we can't simply way we are all sinners, that becomes
our cop-out, to cover the fact that we are hypocrites, we're not truly who we
are claiming to be, that we're not truly who we are supposed to be.
James, often thought to
be the brother of Jesus knew this concern when he talked about how dangerous
the tongue is:
“…no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who
are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from
the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and
sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.”[vii]
James is reminding his
readers that their mouths ought not to be used for both praising God and
cursing their neighbor. James would say
that the person who comes to church and worships God and then curse the person
that cut in line at the K&W has a faith problem—that their relationship
with Jesus is not where it should be, and that their praises of God are tainted
by their attitude and language outside of worship. In other words, their attitude and behavior
out there discolor what they do in here.
My brothers and sisters,
Paul tells us that once we come into a relationship with Christ, once we have
surrendered our lives to God’s control, we are changed: “If anyone is in
Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything
has become new!” This happens, Paul
says, because God reconciles himself with us, God brings us into a relationship
with Him through Christ, and sets before us the same task that He gave His
Son. We have been given the ministry of
reconciliation. We are supposed to be about
bringing others into a relationship with God through Christ, we have been given
the task of reconciling the world to God.
Pauls says, “we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his
appeal through us….” Paul reminds the
church in Corinth and reminds us that we are called to represent Christ to the
world. Paul reminds us that our primary
work for God is not gathering here, our primary work is out in the world. It is not enough to be Christ-like when we
gather with one another for worship. Our
time of transformation in worship should result in lives that are transformed
as we go out the doors into the world.
When folks see us, they
should see lives that have been transformed by our relationship with Christ,
that they might be called into that same relationship. That means that our lives out there, should
be the same as our lives in here. As
ambassadors for Christ, we stand as His representatives towards all we
meet. In other words, when someone meets
any of us, they should feel like they are meeting Jesus…whether it is at the
doors of the church or the doors of Best Buy…whether it is at the table of the
fellowship hall or the tables of Texas Road House…whether it is in the hallways
between Sunday School and Worship or the hallways between classes…whether it is
working side by side preparing meals at Good Shepherd Kitchen or working side
by side on the assembly line.
When we do this, we
reflect the power of God at work in our lives, for it is not we who change
ourselves, it is the power of the Holy Spirit with Christ living in and through
us as we completely and wholly surrender our lives to Him…it is us not living
for ourselves but living for him who died and was raised for us. It is then that the world sees grace at work,
it is then that God at work, it is then that those who see us, no longer see
hypocrites, because when we are the same here and there, they begin to see not
us, but Christ…
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
[i] http://myfox8.com/2015/07/25/man-leaves-teen-waitress-amazing-tip-with-inspiring-note/
[ii] http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/strangers-give-soon-be-married-waitress-500-tip-video
[iii] http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article9129425.html
[iv]
Matthew 91:19
[v]
Matthew 19:30
[vi]
Mark 10:45
[vii]
James 3:8-12
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