Sermon: Hatred

The Rev. Julia W. Messer
June 10, 2012
Mark 3:20-35

Hatred

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.  I wish I would be able to amend this statement to say nothing is certain in life but death, taxes, hope and love.  Unfortunately this is not true for all, but what is true is that we could almost guarantee the addition of another, hatred.  Nothing is certain in life but death, taxes and hatred.   

We live in a world where people can hate us simply because of the fact that our personalities may clash or people may dislike us over a perceived slight. Some people may hate something about us, such as the color of our skin, sexual orientation, the political party we associate with, or even our nationality.

It is human nature to try to distinguish who we are from who we are not. It is normal to notice people’s differences; the problem is when we use it to harm others or to continue to perpetuate hate. Think back to high school…it is humanity at its rawest.  Us vs. them. There were people who were cool, athletic, dorky or grunge.  Think of the rate gossip spread though the school.

It’s no different today. Read a newspaper article online; some of the comments people post are nice but some of them are downright mean!  Look at Facebook, blogs, and other digital mediums.  They are new ways for people to communicate and can be used as a way to stay in touch with friends.  Unfortunately some use them to bully or hurt other people. These resources are not negative or positive in of themselves; it just depends on how we use then.  They become a problem when we use our words, our actions, or other mediums, and turn them into weapons to hurt others.

Jesus faced these issues in his day. When Jesus stood in front of the crowds, the scribes tried to discredit Jesus by calling him the ruler of demons or actually Satan. To this Jesus replied that people are forgiven of their sins, except whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that if we do this, we can condemn our souls as unclean souls. What exactly did he mean?  This sentence can be taken in two ways. The first is if a person declares his unbelief in the Holy Spirit. The other way to look at Jesus’ statement and to examine more closely what blasphemy means. The definition of blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a religious deity.  So to blaspheme would to be to insult or continue to show contempt for the deity. This is not do and done act; I take this to mean that if one consciously leads a life that is filled with continued acts that are insulting or show contempt for the divine then one is said to be blasphemous .

This can take form when there is a deliberate continued attempt to injure or harm another person using God’s name. It is by our actions over a lifetime that are done out of hatred toward others that we harden our hearts. Then we make it blasphemy when we use this hate and say that we do it in the name of God.  And let’s face it, history is filled with these acts from the Crusades to slavery.  Today it would begin by posting mean replies to articles, or spreading gossip about others, or to continue to hold hatred for another person.

To understand the link between the two in today’s society, I think it is easier to understand if we look at what we stake our faith on. We believe and know that we belong to God, that we are loved by God, and we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Then it stands to reason that when we hurt another one of God’s creations on a regular basis, we then blaspheme.

The Gospel goes further to explain this with the parable that in order to steal from a house of a strong man, one has to first tie up the strong man. What I take this to mean is that people have to make the choice to let the hate enter into their homes, into their lives, and into their hearts. They have to tie up their conscience -- what they know is right, so that a negative can happen.

We can choose to listen to the naysayers, the people who will try to hurt us or condemn others. It is a choice to then pass it on the hatred or take it on.

This belief is in every culture. For example in China there is a parable about a simpleton who came up to old wise man and said horrible things to him. While he was insulting the old wise man, the old wise man listened in silence, but when the simpleton finished, the old wise man asked him, “Son, if a man declined to accept a present to him, to whom would the present belong to?” The man answered, “To him who offered it.” To which the old wise man replied “Well then, I decline to accept your abuse, and request you to keep it for yourself.”

This is exactly where Jesus was; he was at odds with the crowd, his family, the scribes, and the evil that was being put out there. Imagine the scene:  the crowd closed in on Jesus so much so that he could not even get enough room to eat.  Even his own family and those he loved went to him to try to restrain him. Yet Christ spoke the truth. He loved those around him even when they pressed down upon him. But what Jesus did next was to separate from all that hate that was bearing down on him and spoke what was true. He distinguished himself from him and them; he separated the truth from hate.

The same is true for us. Do we choose to pass on the negative about another person or do we change the action and pass on the good? Instead of posting about what is wrong post about what is right. Instead of saying God was not with them, take a look at the situation and instead of wondering if God is on our side, wonder if we are on God’s side.

 These may seem like small actions not comparable to Jesus’s guiding truth about blasphemy.  But that is where we may start to slip and then we may never recover ourselves. For you see it is these small seemingly insignificant actions that make up our habits and our habits shape how we live our lives. How we live our lives is who we are. And if we are blasphemous then THAT is what Jesus condemned. That is what makes our souls unclean.

In closing I end with the collect from today: Let us pray:

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding, may do them, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Collect for the 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 5)