PAR FOR A CHRISTIAN
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As in golf, the way to play to par for a Christian is by paying attention to the parts of one’s game. Not grip, stance, etc. But things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, as mentioned in the book of Galatians. |
June 21, 2009
Galatians 5: 1, 13-25
Luke 10: 25-28
Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack
Prospect United Methodist Church
Bristol, Connecticut
Even folks who don’t care about golf have probably heard about the US Open that is being played on Long Island on one of the world’s most difficult courses. If the rain ever stops, the ending is likely to be fantastic.
I used to golf a lot. Beginning in the late 70’s, three other ministers and I never missed a warm weather Thursday playing 9 holes at Sleeping Giant Golf course in Hamden. Then I moved to Avon in ‘83. There I found a fellow church member who had a flexible schedule, and we too played religiously once a week.
Sean, my golfing buddy in Avon was a psychiatrist. And, frankly, Sean the psychiatrist was nuts – in the best possible way, of course. Every Summer Thursday for the better part of seven years we played.
Usually the course wasn’t busy. But when it was we’d often get paired with another two golfers to make a foursome.
“So, what do you do?” one of the men with whom we were paired would invariably ask. Sean was such an extrovert he’d blurt out first “I’m a psychiatrist.”
Well, that wasn’t what the other golfers wanted to hear. They knew their every move would be watched closely. They feared their heads would be examined.
“And what do you do?” they’d ask me hoping against hope that I wasn’t also a psychiatrist. But when I said I was a minister I could tell that they were no happier. Now they not only had to watch how they acted, they couldn’t cuss.
Until a couple of years ago, I hadn’t played for 17 years. The last time I was scheduled to play, but didn’t, before my 17 year hiatus, was with a woman who was a member of the Stamford church. Oh, did I mention she was 85 years old? She asked me to join her at her club in Greenwich for a round of golf.
Well, how could I refuse that? Besides, odds were at least fair that I’d beat her. But, something came up, I forget what, and we had to postpone our match and never got to play.
Then, a few years after that, while I was a district superintendent in New York, I heard that Mildred died. And left the church 2 million dollars. I’ve wondered if our not playing was actually providential.
I did take up golf again a couple of years ago with my son. The good news is that I’m no worse than I used to be. However, if I ever get serious about it, I’ve decided, I really will need to start all over, at the beginning and take lessons.
In golf, every little thing matters a whole lot. Your grip on the club, the set up, the stance, the swing, the choice of club. If one thing is out of whack, then your whole game will suffer.
Par, of course, is the score everyone aims for. Par for each hole is this fantasy number of strokes that supposedly a good golfer will take in getting the stupid ball in the hole. Par usually depends on how far it is from where you begin. A hole that is 500 yards away would always be a 5. A hole that is only 120 yards would be a 3. A par 4 would be something in between.
I tell you all this about golf at the risk of boring those who have never played because I find in golf’s goal of par a pretty good metaphor for living the Christian life. If I live my life up to par for what God wants then I’ve got to figure God is pretty satisfied.
To continue the metaphor, as in golf, the way to play to par for a Christian is by paying attention to the parts of one’s game. Not grip, stance, etc. But things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, as mentioned in the book of Galatians.
These qualities are not known as techniques or strategies; they are known as fruits of living the Christian life. That is, if one is living a Christian life it will be obvious because that person will be known for love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
At the risk of over-simplification, these fruits can also be used as a sort of barometer or measurement. That is, we can examine each fruit (joy, peace, patience) to see which parts of our game we’re succeeding at and which parts we’re not so good at. Taken together, they can be used to help us measure our progress in the Christian life.
Now, fruit may sound a bit odd in conjunction with the Christian life. But, it does make sense: an apple tree may have nice blossoms, but its goodness is measured not by how pretty it is but by the quality of its apples.
This is what St. Paul who wrote the letter to the Galatians was trying to say. And Jesus too. He said about those who follow him, including us, “by their fruits shall they be known.”
So for the next seven weeks we’re going to look at these fruits mentioned by Paul, one at a time. With the goal that they can serve as lessons of a kind to the end that we might live our lives closer to par.
The first fruit is love. How much time do you have? Where do you begin with the subject, love? For better or worse, I’m going to spend the least time of all on “love,” because of a quirk in the Greek text which goes unnoticed in the English translation. “The fruit of the Spirit,” writes Paul is love – singular.
What he’s trying to say, according to some scholars, is that all the rest -- joy, peace, patience, etc., are further ways of describing love. Are part and parcel of what a life of love looks like. If we were to re-write it today we should write “the fruit of the Spirit is love [colon] joy, peace, patience, etc. Which is to say that the fruit of Christian character is love as expressed, lived it, witnessed, evidenced by joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.
To define love in action as Paul meant it we must, therefore, unpack all the other words about love. This will be our task in the weeks ahead.
Despite all I said about love being fully defined by the other fruits of the spirit, I want to say a few words, although very few words, about love, New Testament style.
Love, New Testament style, is not at all what we usually mean when we talk about love. Most all the love we talk about is conditional love. I love Dunkin Donuts coffee today, but maybe tomorrow I’ll try something else and then I won’t love Dunkin Donuts coffee most of all. I love certain people, but it is conceivable that they might do something or turn on me and I might not exactly love them any more.
Love, New Testament-style, is not conditional. Rather, love as Jesus bids us love is like God’s love for us. It is unconditional love.
Agape is the Greek word used in the New Testament. It means unconditional love. Agape is the word used to describe God’s love for us. It means that there is nothing we can do to cause God to stop loving us.
Accordingly, as Jesus taught, the goal for us is to love the world and its people in the same way -- unconditionally.
Of course, we never get perfect at this unconditional loving even as we can’t shoot a hole in one on every hole. Even Tiger Woods messes up badly occasionally. But, by the grace of God working in us, we can find ourselves getting closer to being a scratch golfer, that is, scoring par on most holes.
Now, when we think of loving unconditionally like Jesus, we usually think of loving in some heroic kind of way. Throwing ourselves in front of a bus while pushing another person out of the way. Or, some would say, giving one’s life in war. Or the like.
But, actually, unconditional loving is best lived out not in heroic singular moments, but in smaller, daily sacrifices. The kinds of daily sacrifices that are not beyond the likes of any of us if we will only look around and see who needs our love unconditionally.
For example… Hair is important to young men, particularly when they are pursuing young women. And Manuel Garcia was always doing that. And that’s why it was doubly devastating to him when, after being diagnosed with cancer, he began to lose his hair as a result of radiation treatments.
According to his pastor, Barry Johnson, at first Manuel tried to cover it up with a wig, but it was the wrong color, and didn’t have his beautiful natural waviness. Next, he tried a hat. But he thought that looked goofy. Finally, during one hospitalization he just gave up and shaved his entire head.
The last lock hit the floor of his hospital room at about 10 in the morning. It was a long day. Visitors weren’t allowed until 6 pm and Manuel dreaded their arrival. All day he kept looking in the mirror. And, even though he was 23 and as macho as he could be, he cried.
He closed the door to his room at about 5:45. At 6 PM he heard the first knock. “Come in,” he said. When he looked up he couldn’t believe his eyes. It was his kid brother, Julio, 19 years old and bald as a bowling ball. He had shaved his head, too. About the time they quit laughing at each other, his best friend, Alfredo, came through the door. Same deal. Same response.
And so it went for the next 30 minutes as, one by one, his best buddies came through the door brilliantly bald.
Then somewhere around 8 PM when all were gathered around his bed, in defiance of hospital rules, eating pizza, came the crowning touch. A loud banging at the door hushed their conversation and in walked Manuel’s father and grandfather, both of whom 24 hour earlier had sported beautiful snow-white hair, but now, they too, were completely bald.
Manuel is one of the lucky ones. According to Johnson, he ultimately conquered the cancer that was haunting him. Johnson also says, to this day, Manuel will tell you that the best treatment he received in the hospital occurred on what his nurses and friends like to call “bald-headed night.”
Genuine love, non-self-absorbed love, unconditional love, “agape,” as modeled by Jesus, doesn’t look to its own interests first, seeks what it perceives to be God’s will, seeks the welfare of the other, is willing to sacrifice. Cares. Really cares.
The fostering of this love in everyday life will be our goal in the series of sermons in the weeks to come. But, to get to our desired end, playing to par, we’ll have to be willing to work on our game. To take lessons. To learn how to practice joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
All to the end that the gift of love, the fruits of God’s Holy Spirit will, in us, be tasty indeed.