Rev. George Miller
May 7, 2023
Romans 1:1-7
For the past month we’ve started service a new way- saying our opening statement
in Espanol and English.
This bit of inspiration came from one of our online Spanish speaking worshippers
who said it would create a more inclusive experience for those not born in
America.
Think about it- as a church, we are blessed to be made up of people not
just from the north, south, and Midwest, but from Canada, Cuba, Granada, Haiti,
the Netherlands, Philippines, and right now Fe is watching us from Norway.
So…if we wanted to say hello to all the nations present today or online,
we would say -
Salut. (sa looo)
Hola. (oh la)
Hello. (TO which the response may be “liming around”)
Bon dia. (bon dee ah)
Hallo. (ha low)
Kamusta. (com o stah)
Hallo. (ha loo)
What’s up!
An unexpected gift of saying our greeting in Spanish is rediscovering
just what we are saying.
In English we say “Welcome.” In
Espanol it’s “Bienvenidos.”
But get this- Bienvenido is made up of 2 words.
Bien- which means “well”, “good.”
Venir- which means “to come”.
So Bienvenido means “It is good to see you, come in and join me.”
When we say Bienvenidos, we are literally saying to our Spanish worshippers
“It is wonderful to have you come and join us.”
Now…think of what we say in English – “Welcome.”
Welcome! Did you ever realize that
‘welcome” is two English words put together that mean “It is well to see you,
come into our space.”
So the very first word anyone hears from us, regardless if you speak Spanish
or English is “Hey- its great to have you enter into our home.”
Wow.
Bienvenidos. Welcome.
It is good, great, well, wonderful to have you and I and us share the
same space and time, together.
Salut. (sa looo)
Hola. (oh la)
Hello.
Bon dia. (bon dee ah)
Hallo. (ha low)
Kamusta. (com o stah)
Hallo. (ha loo)
What’s up!
So now let’s look at the next word. “Emmanuel.” This is a Hebrew word meaning “God With Us.”
So when we say “Bienvenidos a Emmanuel” or “Welcome to Emmanuel” we are
saying “It is awesome to have you enter the place where God is With Us!”
Next- “We have a passion for God and compassion for all.”
“Passion” is a strong emotion, a feeling of love that overtakes your entire
body from head to feet.
“Compassion” means love that comes from the very place where life begins. “Compassion” literally means “Womb love.”
“Compassion” means a level of love that is like that of a Mother.
“All” means the whole of existence, including everything and everybody
without exception.
So when we say our opening words of worship, regardless if we say it in
Spanish or English, we are saying
“It is great to have you join us in this place where God is With Us. We deeply
love God with our body, mind and soul; we love everyone just as if we were
their Mother.”
“Bienvenidos a Emmanuel,
Donde tenemos pasion por Dios y compassion or todos.”
“Welcome to Emmanuel where we have a passion for God and compassion for
all.”
Magnificent. Fantastico!
…except perhaps for the “ALL” part.
“All” is a rather tall order.
To say “All” means: even those we don’t
know, those we don’t like, those who don’t like us, the man who broke our heart
and that one relative we all wish wasn’t part of the family tree.
To say “All” means you acknowledge that person’s personhood, regardless
of their ability, their income, or their immigration status.
To say “All” means you acknowledge that person’s personhood regardless of
their addiction, appearance, ability to tithe, volunteer or attend every week.
“All” is perhaps the most difficult word of all, because if you
truly have a passion for God and a mother’s love…
…you are always finding folk who test your patience, work your nerves and
are no good for your own mental or spiritual health.
This is what Paul is getting ready to deal with in his letter to the
Roman Church. Today, we hear the opening
part of his letter.
The part where he is like “Hey! It’s
me! Brother in Christ! Grace to you and besos!”
Don’t be fooled by the seemingly sweet undertones in today’s reading, because
soon after all the southern-style niceties are done, Paul is about to go deep
into it.
Paul’s letter to the Romans is going to give us a glimpse into just how
hard it is to say you have a passion for God and compassion for all.
For right after these verses of sugar and spice, Paul is going to call
people barbarians, foolish, gossips, insolent, ruthless, haughty, inventors of
evil, and perhaps worse of all “rebellious towards parents!” (gasp!)
Paul starts off sweet but by the end of chapter 1, he is sour, sounding
like he is ready to slam the door in each and every person’s face.
The reason why is simple- Paul is someone of passion.
But perhaps too much passion that he allows it to get the best of him.
Sometimes Paul’s passion for God comes across more manic than sensible.
The other issue is the compassion for all. Paul is living during a time in which many
people are finding out about Jesus, and each person is coming to the Roman
church bringing their own experience, their own traditions, their own ways of eating,
and hair care.
There are those who’ve never eaten pork in their lives sitting next to
someone who reeks of bacon.
There are those who never work on Saturday sitting next to day laborers
who just got off the field.
There are those who’ve been circumcised since birth watching babies run around
with everything intact.
There are those who have tried their best to follow the Jewish way each
and every day sitting next to
a loud speaking woman in a cotton blend with pearls in her hair who’s
talking smack about her mama.
The church in Rome is at the place in which they are soooo welcoming that
the diversity could split them apart.
Paul is coming from a place in which he doesn’t want them to lose what
they have. He doesn’t want folks to
think the grace of Jesus means there can be a free-for-all of sin, audacious behavior,
and abuse of bodies.
How Paul addresses this, we’ll get to experience each week in May.
Loving God can be easy.
Loving others can be hard.
Having compassion for those you’re closest too can seem like a
no-brainer.
Having compassion for those you barely know or don’t like is something
else.
Let us take this walk together and here what God has to say.
Amen and amen.
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