7th Sunday of Easter Sermon by Rev Graham

 

1 PETER 4:12-14; 5:6-11

 

“Like a roaring lion your adversary the Devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour,” that someone could be you or me, or all of us, what is a Christian to do?

Peter admonishes us to discipline ourselves, keep alert and resist ol’ Lucifer while staying true to our faith by being humble and giving up any anxiety we may feel to God’s care.

He further reminds us that our brothers and sisters are facing the same kinds of situations as we are, we are not alone.

Now, our undisciplined gut reaction may be to focus on amassing as much physical might as possible, where can I buy an AK-47 or a 357 magnum? Maybe I should watch a bunch of Dirty Harry movies to prepare myself for any conflict that lies ahead – (imitates Clint Eastwood) “Go Ahead Devil You Punk, Make My Day!”

Hmmm I’m not sure if that sounded more like Dirty Harry or Reagan?

As reassuring as that power trip might seem initially, it is not the disciplined response that Peter is calling for. Peter wants us to humble ourselves like where Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “All who exalt themselves will be humbled and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” We hear it more directly in the 4^th chapter of James “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”

 I was trying to imagine how hard it must have been for Simon the Zealot for example, to let go of the physical techniques on which he had come to depend upon for protection and instead, trust and follow Jesus.

This leads us to deal with the key dichotomy of today’s lesson; how do you stay humble and yet push back at the same time? First of all, remember no one is promising that through your adherence to the faith, you are going to change anyone’s mind. I often hear sermons focusing on trampling upon the forces of the Prince of Darkness. The goal here is not necessarily to conquer the oppressor, but to merely resist his influence.

 

One of the key problems that can truly inflame us today are the persecutorial words that we hear from our elected leaders and some neighbors too. When accused, often we will search for the right words or argument that will shut them up, vanquish them, leave them speechless. Facebook provides us with many of these examples.

But ask yourself this; when have you ever found yourself in a heated discussion where someone shouted so loudly at you or shamed you so badly or blamed you so thoroughly that you suddenly stopped and said “gee, since you put it that way I now completely see the errors of my ways, what was I thinking? of course, you are right!” - remaining humble can definitely be a challenge. When I was a kid, Disney animated the old Uncle Remus Story about a Tar Baby. For those of you who are under 50, let me give you a quick synopsis. Published in Georgia in 1879, Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear want to catch Br’er Rabbit so they construct a rather sticky doll/snowman made of tar and turpentine which they place along the road.

 

 

Br’er Rabbit comes along and tries to engage the doll in conversation who of course doesn’t respond. Br’er Rabbit takes umbrage at the lack of response becomes so angry at the Tar Baby’s refusal to speak that he starts slugging and kicking the creature repeatedly, each time finding himself getting increasingly stuck until he cannot extricate himself. So too, if we abandon our humble directive, can find ourselves hopelessly mired in frustration and hate.

We can also be unsuspectingly led astray by well-intentioned like-minded groups. My wife and I were in Biloxi Mississippi at the last No-Kings protest. There was a leader with a bullhorn leading call and response “No Kings” might be the call – “No Kings” would be our response but they then I heard the call to “lock him up!”
Now I had heard this before when Hillary Clinton was vilified by her opponents during the election of 2016 and I remembered Michelle Obama saying “when they go low, we go high” so didn’t join in with the rest of the crowd but I also didn’t think to ask the leader to switch to something else and without anyone to voice their resistance, the crowd just kept chanting their support for essentially, the abandonment of due process.

We have seen the news cover groups of people, linking arms, filming with their cell phones, organizing watch alerts but there hasn’t been as much coverage of individual acts; the kinds of personal resistance that can take place.

As we have heard many times from very our own, very tall tuba player, Steve Vangel, we host an organization called Braver Angels in our church on the last Wednesday of each month.

This is an organization dedicated to 7 Core Tenets and Rules of Engagement:

 

• The "Braver Angels Way": Express views freely and fully, treat others with respect, and welcome opportunities to engage with opponents.
  
  
• Seek Understanding, Not Victory: Listen to comprehend, not to counter or "teach" the other side.
  
  
• Disagreement Accuracy: Avoid exaggerating, stereotyping, or painting the other side with a broad brush.
  

 

• Speak for Yourself: Use "I" statements, sharing personal experiences and beliefs rather than representing an entire political party.
  
  
• Avoid Contempt: Eliminate personal attacks, sarcasm, and labeling (e.g., "tree-huggers," "wingnuts").

I remember speaking with one person who couldn’t stand the “Libtards” who lived in “Commie-Fornia”

• Find Common Ground: Look for shared values and areas of agreement, even if minor.
  
  
• Acknowledge Blind Spots: Recognize that everyone, including ourselves, may have blind spots and that both sides can learn from each other

 

In practical application of those tenets, we also use some key skillset tools represented by the acronym LAPP 

• Listen for what you can agree with.
  
  
• Acknowledge the other person’s perspective.
  
  
• Pivot into sharing your own perspective.
  
  
• Perspective: Share your own viewpoint while staying respectful. 
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In summary, these are just some of the ways that we can counter evil while still remaining steadfast in our faith, resisting the Devil so that he may flee from us.

I would like to encourage all of you to join us here at a Braver Angels meeting on the last Wednesday evening of each month and I would like to invite you today, to share with our church family at the coffee hour, some best practices that you may already be using.                      Amen