Retreat Morning Prayer HomilyFebruary 7, 2023Romans 13:11-14
It was the late 90’s
The course was called:
PAUL: MYSTIC, MISSIONARY, AND THEOLOGIAN
It was a great class…got me all hyped up on PAUL
So, naturally, I took all that HYPE to my Pastor, Fr Steve
And I asked him “Why doesn’t anybody ever preach Paul?”
(that was my passive-aggressive way of asking him why HE never preached Paul)
And he said…
“Well…for starters, A 7 minute homily just won’t do for Paul
No…no…Paul needs at least a Seminar!”
This morning though
Because I exegeted this Assembly so, so carefully
And I know that all of you have already had that seminar
Some of you 5x over
SO…here…a homilette will do;)
CONTEXT
Just before this morning’s few verses
Paul upends our notion of OBLIGATION
Just pay taxes to whom taxes are OWED
…respect who is DUE respect
…honor who DESERVES honor.
And then there is an “About-Face”
A complete change…like Paul is speaking a foreign language
The language is Christian
“Owe no one anything, except love”
He is no longer talking about taxes, and bills, and respect, and honor
Owe nothing except love…
It’s a debt that can never be settled!
And so Paul is inviting the Christian community to be on the offense when it comes to
…in seeking the good of the neighbor.
NOW-BODY-CLOTHES
This mystical Pauline move
from Obligation to Love
It’s so hard
I think we humans are just hard-wired to speak the language of
obligation and deserving and balancing the scales
But Paul has some help for us
He’s the guy who uses the language of
Groaning…and birth pangs)
He’s keenly aware that we are living in the meantime
…And this makes PAUL passionate about helping the Christian Community
The BODY OF CHRIST of Rome…and US
for the long haul
The Body of Christ …Paul’s stickiest image of the Church
so key, isn’t it?
So key to imagining a church alive…with a heartbeat
…living in the power of the Holy Spirit
And it’s from this body language
That we arrive at today’s clothing imagery
It is a favorite of Paul’s
He uses it in Gal, Col, Eph, 1 and 2 Cor)
Bodies need clothes!
Today Paul says…
NO…he exhorts
Exhorting is what my mother did every Sunday morning from the bottom the steps:
Wake Up!
Get Dressed!
Paul is a MASTER of stickiness
CONCLUSION
Wake up and get dressed…things we do every day
Wake up out of whatever darkness has befallen you
Wake up out of whatever pettiness and disunity is currently plaguing your community
Wake up and get dressed!
Wake up Cindy or Ed or Mike or Ken
Get dressed in that baptismal gown
You know the one…gathering dust in the back of the closet
Put it on!
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ as you did on your Baptismal day”
That’s Paul’s perfect advice for living in the meantime
Do it today and every day
Do it and you will find yourself living into a newness of life where
Owing nothing but LOVE
STICKS!
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