Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Matthew 22:34-46
2nd Sunday in Lent
I always appreciate how much love
goes into preparing, presenting and sharing in our coffee fellowship following
our faithful time here in the sanctuary every week. It continues our being together in caring
community and worship as we celebrate God’s provisions and hospitality. And so I’m delighted to tell you that in a
few weeks, on Palm Sunday, we are going to have a particularly special coffee
hour. It will be hosted by our wonderful
Board of Deacons who have decided to try something new.
This something came about as the result of conversations about the “job
description” of the Deacons – namely, that they are called and ordained to be exemplary caring servants to all who are in great need within the
church and across the world, in a way that models and extends the love of Jesus
Christ.[i]
So what’s the new way of demonstrating this that we’ll all experience
during Palm Sunday coffee fellowship? They
are going to provide a bold new way for us coffee drinkers to get a love buzz. And even if you aren’t a coffee drinker, I
trust you’ll get caught up in the love
buzz too once you hear about what and, more importantly, whom we’ll be
serving to the glory of God.
You see, the coffee that will be
brewed and served is actually named “Love Buzz.” It’s an organically grown French Roast blend
with flavor notes of chocolate brownie and caramel to it. I know new things can sometimes cause
anxiety, but doesn’t that sound good? And you know what’s even better about it? The organization behind this coffee. They are called “Equal Exchange.”
I’m pleased to say that the
Presbyterian Church (USA) has had a partnership with Equal Exchange since 2001.
The core mission of this organization is to
build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and
environmentally sound. It
accomplishes this by being one of the largest worker cooperatives in our country,
meaning that it’s owned by all its employees in equal portions instead of by
outside shareholders or a small group of founders or partners. I’ve valued supporting this coffee company business
model for many years. I’ve done so
because coffee is “the U.S.’s largest food import and second most valuable
commodity only after oil.”[ii] And because
of many reports about how our brothers and sisters working for big coffee
plantations in Latin America, Africa and Asia (where most coffee comes from)
are paid extremely low wages and labor in poor working conditions. This is an unsettling truth about social and
economic injustice brewed into most cups of coffee. Added to this is the unfair trade practice
perpetuated on small farmers when middlemen exporters take advantage of them by
paying below market price and keeping a high percentage for themselves.
I find this whole issue really is
worth further study and discussion on another day. But for today, I’m just very pleased to
announce that our Deacons have pledged to help some of the money we spend on
coffee to reach the hardworking farmers who grow it. Other sister churches I know of and have
served do the same. So the “Love Buzz” we’ve
ordered through the Presbyterian Coffee Project will not only be the smell and
taste of the organically grown ground coffee beans, but also the feel good knowledge
that we’ve faithfully supported fair trade and demonstrated our loving
solidarity with global neighbors in need.
As the website for the Presbyterian Coffee Project reminds us, “a warm cup of coffee in our hands is perhaps the most tangible daily
connection we have with farmers around the world. It represents warmth,
hospitality, fellowship, hard work and life’s pleasures both fine and simple.”
The availability of coffee for us to
consume is something easily taken for granted.
I know I take it for granted several times a day. You
and I may stop to consider the cost difference between what we and our loved
ones pay at Starbucks and at gas stations, but I suspect we generally don’t
consider any possible deeper costs.
Digging deeper, giving closer examination to things we experience every
day is a crucial part of this Lenten season, this period of repentant,
prayerful preparation to receive the Good News of Easter. Actively practicing this each day is a way of
holding ourselves responsible and accountable for how faithfully we are serving
in the great economy of our Lord’s merciful love.
Examination is what find happening
in this morning’s lesson from the Gospel according to Matthew. Jesus had been
openly challenging the prestige, social position and presuppositions[iii] of the
Jerusalem Temple religious leaders by turning over tables and telling agitating
parables. With fear and hostility, they
responded by continuously questioning him, hoping he’d implicate himself as yet
another false Messiah. They wanted him
out of the their traditional picture.
In reply to all of this, Jesus
managed time and again to silence them all with holy words of truth that evaded
their traps. It all came to a head when
they asked a great political hot-potato question in their Jewish culture. They asked him which of the 613 commandments
in the Law of Moses was the greatest. They
were testing him to see if he would say they were all equally important or if
they should be graded according to the ways they were practically applied.
Jesus immediately gave them the
definitive answer. He didn’t respond
with any new sort of profound sound bit.
He instead spoke the traditional truth they all knew by heart. In doing so, Jesus dared them to examine
themselves by its light. Quoting Moses’
words to the Israelites woefully wandering through the wilderness, he replied,
“You shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.” Jesus then added the divinely commanded
corollary to this, “And a second is like
it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There’s no question about it -- true,
authentic love is what a relationship with God and with one another is all
about.
Jesus then further turned the
questioning on the religious leaders who were testing him. How well did they understand these two great commandments? He asked
them “What do you think of the Messiah?
Whose son is he?” They replied,
“The son of David.” True enough, Jesus was from David’s family
line. So perhaps they got partial
credit on this exam. But Jesus knew
what this answer really meant. He knew that
with all their heart, soul and mind they were expecting the Messiah to be a
great warrior king like David. Jesus knew
they were still fixated on violent, worldly, prideful power plays as the path
to salvation for Israel over national enemies.
He knew that they were not awaiting the way of their true and only
Messiah. The way of the Cross … of holy,
sacrificial love, peace and justice for all … of suffering through the
wilderness alongside every sorrow, threat, oppression, hurt and horror of the
whole human race and of taking on death itself in order to bring about new
life. His question silenced them and
further fueled their desire to do away with him, which, of course, advanced our
Lord on his mission of demonstrating the full power of divine love.
There is no question about it – we are
commanded to love God and love our neighbors. These are mutually interdependent
realities. We cannot truly love God
without having love for all God’s children, our neighbors. We cannot truly trust that God loves and
cares for us if we aren’t loving and caring for others. This seems so simple to understand,
right? But living what we profess is
invariably not easy to do. And we generally
aren’t very comfortable being challenged in our faith, being reminded of our
failures. We want to fill our cup and
not have to think about anything deeper than its bottom and whether or not we
want a refill.
Our Lenten journey calls us examine
ourselves and our human connections. It
calls us to intentionally turn away from sinful realities and turn more fully
toward trusting that Jesus died and rose again for the sake of true, authentic love
– that which God shares with us and which we then share with one another and on
across the world. We can’t and won’t
ever give and receive this love perfectly.
But you know we can always do?
Through faith and by the grace of God in Jesus Christ? Keep
generating some holy love buzz in
familiar and fresh new ways! Amen.
2 comments:
Awesome!
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