People of God Who Do Good- Becoming Real

Real or not real? In the book series The Hunger Games, the main character Katniss Everdean begins to struggle more and more knowing the difference. And so she will make a statement and then ask her friend Peeta “Real, or not real?”

At one point she looks at Peeta and says, “You love me. Real or Not Real?” Peeta would then say Real.

When it comes to love, we want to know that it’s real. I used to play silly games to try to determine the answer. I would grab a flower and pick off the petals- He loves me. He loves me not. I would take a deck of cards and somehow determine my future mate. I would ask Jim “do you really love me?” I wanted to know that it was real.

Today as we explore the second of the General Rules which is “Do Good” the passage begins by saying “let love be genuine.” The Message has it as “love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.” Let your love be real.

How does love become real? Paul gives a whole list of short exhortations about what this looks like not unlike his passage in 1 Corinthians 13. One after another, Paul is saying, this is authentic love- It is mutual affection. It is love that goes above and beyond. It serves the Lord. It rejoices in hope. It waits through the suffering. It laughs for joy in celebration, and cries with you when you are sad. It doesn’t think it’s better than you. It doesn’t stab you in the back but instead offers you a drink and asks if you are hungry. This kind of love, real and authentic love, doesn’t tire of doing good.

Lately it seems like we have to say that we are doing everything “in love.” I don’t know what we are doing the rest of the time then. I hear that a lot. I say it myself a lot. I mean this “in love.” I’ve noticed this is sometimes followed by something less than loving. Kinda like when we say “bless them.” We aren’t really blessing anything. We criticize “in love.” We exclude “in love.” As long as it’s done “in love,” it’s ok right? As long as we have good intentions.

I hate to tell you, but even on our best day, we can’t make enough goodness and love on our own, because goodness and love are not man-made. Our ability to “do good” has little to do with our supreme moral character or intent and everything to do with the heart of God. If we are going to “do good,” we must start with the source (look at 12:1), the One who fills us with all measure of grace and renews our minds. Real love is what happens when we have been filled with real grace.

I remember watching my parents growing up. My dad was a pharmacist and he owned his own store. I recall watching people from all stations and experiences of life file in and out to get medicine. He had this little box filled with slips of paper and names and figures. I never really understood it at first. Then one day, I realized it was the box of people who could never pay and that he would never recover the cost. They weren’t wealthy. They suffered with mental illness. They were blind. They lived alone with homes were in need of repair. These were the people my parents loved to visit. In those visits we would hear stories. We would sing. We would exchange gifts . Here in these spaces, my parents became a witness to me about what real love looked like.

We learn a lot about goodness from watching those around us don’t we? Latoya Thompson, the MS Conference lay leader gave a wonderful laity address that I encourage you all to go watch on the Conference Facebook page. It was such a passionate sharing of what it means to #BeUMC. During her address she shared how her favorite paragraph in the Book of Discipline is paragraph 127 entitled the ministry of the laity. It says “the witness of the laity, their Christ-like examples of everyday living as well as the sharing of their own faith experiences of the gospel, is the primary evangelistic ministry through which all people will come to know Christ and The United Methodist Church will fulfill its mission.”

Did you catch that? You. Your life. Your voice. Your hands and feet. Your story. Your everyday, ordinary and bold acts of love is the primary ministry through which people will come to know Christ and by which disciples are made. How you love becomes the witness that reveals the heart of God. Not just how you love your friends, but those who rub you the wrong way, who annoy you, who you don’t really want to know. Maybe they are your neighbor, your coworker, your family even, or even a stranger who sends hate mail.

Several years ago a woman named Ozlem Cekic was one of Denmark’s first female politicians who was Muslim. She began to receive a lot of hate mail. At first she just deleted it, but it kept coming. Then one day she decided to respond. Not only did she respond , she invited the other person to meet her for coffee and a chat, what she came to call #dialoguecoffee. Over time, she has met with hundreds of her haters. She could have blocked them from her life. Written them off. No one would have blamed her. They were strangers after all. But instead she tried to get to know them. She fed them. She invited them into her life.

People are watching our witness. They want to know: real or not real? You may or may not be surprised to know that there was some debate at Annual Conference, some passionate speeches for and against different issues. Bishop Swanson was talking about how several years ago two clergy got into a shouting match with each other, just yelling back and forth.After it was over Bishop watched them and he said they were running to find each other. They just collided, hugging each other and saying, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

Some of my dearest friends and colleagues are on the opposite side of the fence from me on a lot of issues, but when we see each other, oh friends there are no fences. We are running to each other with arms open and loud grins on our faces. And if you see us together, you’d never know what divided us. Oh that others would see the church together and not know what divided us but instead see the authentic love of God that brings us together for good. Goodness is what it says overcomes evil (12:21). Goodness is how we put on the armor of light. Goodness is what we are called to live out in the local church, within the state, and at a global level.

One of my favorite things about Annual Conference was being together and hearing what good we have done together. We heard witness of Global Ministries and UMCOR. We heard witness of the Methodist Children’s Home who will now be building another home in honor of Bishop Swanson. We saw witness of camp ministry across the state, of rehabilitation and medical care. We heard witness from the effort to end racism for good and from our response during the pandemic to keep the connection alive. We even commissioned our first missionary within the conference. It was good stuff.

However perhaps I should tell you that your reputation precedes you. I had people running after me down to tell me about you. Your witness. Your heart. Your service. More than one talked about you sending them to seminary with a scholarship. Others talked about the people in your community. They talked about your goodness, about your love.

At closing worship they began to sing the song “Goodness of God.” The woman had a beautiful voice and she kept singing, “your goodness is running after. It’s running after me. Your goodness is running after. It’s running after me.”

Maybe you’ve had a hard time seeing that the goodness of God is real. I hope that you receive it today, and that as you leave this place is runs after you. That it chases you down and won’t leave you alone until you are transformed by it.

That we would be a community so overwhelmed with grace and filled with love that people look at us and say “It’s real. Real grace. Real love. Real Salvation in Christ. Real goodness. O Lord, make us real in you.”