Westminster Podcast
Westminster Podcast
"Is that really you?" | Rev. Dr. Donovan Drake preaching | 08.30.26
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The child receives the gift, and the parent says, Now what do you say? And the child shyly responds, Thank you. If the parent had not intervened, what would the child be left to think? I'm lucky? I'm chosen, I'm just happy to have. I don't know. I just think we're born that way. We're born to be survivalists, we're born to be consumers, we're born to look out for what's best for me. But the parent is seeking to transform the child into something different. Making the child aware that life is not about you, it's about living in community. What do you say? Because this is a gift. Someone sees you, someone cares about you. You didn't do any of this on your own. What you are is receiving love. What do you say? Well, by the 12th chapter of Romans, the Apostle Paul is appealing to his children to say thank you. Over the previous chapters, he's made us aware of the gift that has come by the way of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are to say thank you. And this is the way we are to say thank you. I'm about to read a list. It's a list of about 30, 31 commands. And I want you, as I read this list, be thinking about if this list is really you. So from Romans 12, verses 9 through 21, hear the word of God. Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with mutual affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal. Be ardent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in suffering. Persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, says the Lord. No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will keep burning coals on their heads. Do not overcome, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. This is the word of the Lord. Paul says, What do you say? And this is the way we say thank you. Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to that which is good, love with one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor. What do you say? If your enemies are hungry, feed them, live in harmony with one another. What do you say? Bless those who persecute you, do not curse them. What do you say? Be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer, extend hospitality to strangers. This is the way we say thank you. There are 30, 31 commands that Paul calls us to do. How did you do? I'm pretty sure I didn't get a passing grade. I could argue that Paul is returning back to his roots. Going back to the law, follow these commands. I could argue that Paul is turning into a Methodist. They have a method, a Methodist method towards sanctification, a holiness movement. Do these things. He must have switched denominations because just a few chapters ago he was Presbyterian. I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate, for I know that nothing good dwells in me. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want to do is what I do. Shooby dooby doo. Now that's Presbyterian. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. Even the good that we do is tainted by our sin. Cue the bagpipes, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. There's nothing we can do to make God love us anymore. There's nothing we can do to make God love us any less. We're chosen. We try to walk on water, but we keep failing, and Jesus keeps reaching out. I don't know what to do with the list. Do we do the list just because we're supposed to do the list? Be kind of like Jesus going to the cross. Well, I better get this over with. I don't want to think Jesus doing it that way. I want to think that it's love, his love, his love, his love just led him to the cross. I don't want to fake the faith. Prophets railed against false faith. Does the Lord want a thousand rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? God says, I can't be fooled. I can't be bobbed. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with your Lord? You can't fake faith. You remember that time when Jesus got really angry, he was in the temple and he just lost it, turned over the tables and fashioned a whip? He did that not because the Girl Scouts were selling cookies in the parlor. He was angry that the temple had become a safe place for robbers. That is to say, the people who looked religious with their white robes and their stoles and their clean washed hands had just turned the temple into a safe place. They did their injustice out there, but they just looked so loving and kind and pious, walking around looking holier than thou. That's not being humble. That's not doing justice. That's not loving kindness. I remember going on a mission trip to the Appalachian Mountains with adults, and we got to a home that was just it was a mess. It was a just a mess. We got out of the van and some of the adults just started picking up the trash that was around the house. People just threw out the window. They just threw their trash out the window. A group of adults repaired the floor. Meanwhile, the family that was in the house spent the week sitting on the porch watching it all. And one of the adults in our group said, I don't know what we're doing here. These people don't even care that we're here. And don't hardly care at all. I remember being in a pickup truck with Charlie Woodward, who worked with the Appalachian poor in Maine, the Rural Community Action Ministry, and he said, Donovan, what I learned is that we are not born with common sense. We have to be taught it. And my job is to teach people, and they learn. They learn that you drip the faucets so that the pipes don't freeze. They learn that when the sewer lines back up, you don't just keep using the sewer line. They learn. Elsie said, I'm that way with God. I have spent much of my life sitting on the porch and don't hardly care. Paul said, Do you know the gift? Do you see the gift? What do you say? You can't be fake. You need to be authentic. That word is used a lot in Christian circles, and to tell you the truth, it kind of crawled all over me. I had a friend in my last church whose dad attended my church, but he attended another church, and we'd go out for lunch, and he'd just tell me about his preacher. He's just so authentic, he'd say. He wears a t-shirt, had no pulpit, drives a motorcycle. And I said, I sleep in my underwear. Does that count? Authentic, authentic. What is authentic? What does authentic mean? The idea of authentic, authentic Christianity comes from that old philosopher with the funny name, Sorn Kierkegaard, who wanted people to know why they exist. And he was very much like Paul railing against people conforming to the age in which they live. Don't get all caught up with that state and religion stuff wrapped into one. Don't do that. Don't do what other people are doing just to do it. He argued for taking a leap of faith. And taking a leap of faith, what that results in is you finding your divine purpose. Something you can't fake. And I'm Presbyterian enough to believe that we cannot do that on our own. As Paul says, we're just ordinary people, we're clay jars. We have this treasure in clay jars to show the extraordinary power is from God. And it's not from us. And I suppose I'm Methodist enough to say that we do need to show up. And in perhaps something that we taste and see, we are moved by the Spirit to sacrifice something of ourselves for whomever we come in contact with. I think the only thing authentic about me and authentic about you is that I'm me and you're you. There's no one who's ever been, whoever is, whoever will be, like any of us. We're one of a kind. Authentic. If you hadn't heard the news this week, a lot of authentic people died in Nepal. Lord have mercy. If you hadn't heard the news this week, Dolly Parton died. I hope that doesn't come as a surprise. But it was a surprise when it came. What a rare thing she was. This woman who knew she was fake. She would say things like, It costs a lot of money to look this cheap. People asked me how long it takes to do my hair. I don't know. I've never been there, she said. She said, Dumb blonde jokes don't bother me. I know I'm dumb. I know I'm not dumb, and I know I'm not blonde. That's what she said. Here's a woman who's totally made up. Embodying our culture, conforming to the age. Do you think she was trying to tell us something? That this is what we do. We spend our life looking, faking it, trying to fit into some part that isn't really who we are. I don't know. But it was her leap of faith that made us fall in love with her. How underneath the wig, the makeup, the glitter, the heels, there was something so authentic. Some found truth for which she could live and die. In a world full of lies, she was honest. And we love that. In a world full of self-grandizement, she was self-deprecating. And we love that. In a culture that's so mean, she was kind. And we need that. She gave grace and received grace. Wigs, makeup, false eyelashes, all faults and fate, but she took a leap. She made a sacrifice. And this much is true. She was true. She was authentic. You can't fake the truth. We know that. We know that. We know it in our hearts. And the world the world. The world says to Dolly. Thank you. Did somebody have to tell us that? Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to that what is good. Love one another with mutual affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer, extend hospitality to strangers. Do not overcome evil with evil. Overcome evil with good. Thank you.