The Art of Standing Together

August 27, 2000

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

The Republican and Democratic national conventions

have been on.

How many of you felt motivated

to watch Survivor?

Next week we'll talk about Survivor,

but before we get there

we have to talk about the dynamics

of standing together.

It is a piece of a much larger puzzle

that we'll get too.

Last week we began to talk about standing together.

Sticking together.

Zygology.

Community.

Getting along.

One of the components that Paul offered

is the need to live in love

and to speak the truth.

When both honesty and compassion

are practiced within the church,

links develop

between surprisingly diverse groups of people,

and the body of Christ is strengthened.

Sounds good, huh.

But when it comes to practicing honesty and compassion,

we may just find ourselves at a loss,

particularly in moments of crisis.

Consider the following examples:

To a 60-year-old recent widow:

"Don't worry. You're young and attractive;

you'll find someone else."

To a woman whose husband died of lung cancer:

"You have to meet this man.

His wife also died of lung cancer."

To a man whose 26-year-old daughter died of AIDS:

"If she hadn't been that way,

God wouldn't have struck her dead with AIDS,"

and

"It was just a purification thing."

To a woman who suffered a miscarriage:

"It is probably for the best."

To a woman whose 25-year-old son was killed by a drunken driver:

"At least you have four other children."

To a man whose elderly mother died:

"Oh, well, 79."

To a young man whose 19-year-old brother died of cancer:

"I know how you must feel losing a brother."

And to the boy's mother:

"I know it's not the same,

but I really empathize

because I lost my dog."

To a woman whose husband committed suicide:

"Are you going to get a dog now?"

-Jane E. Brody, "Mourning, a time when words often fail," The New York Times, December 7, 1999.

How about,

(truth) I don't know what to say right now,

but (love) I'm here.

Today we are going to deal with a text

that elaborates on how we prepare ourselves

to "speak the truth in compassion"

Read text: Ephesians 4:25-5:2

The lotus blossom.

With its almond-shaped petals

of dazzling whiteness,

the lotus is a flower

of catch-your-breath beauty,

and is revered

throughout the world.

It is the national flower of India,

a sacred flower in Hinduism

and it figures prominently

in the lore and practice of Buddhism.

No surprise, then,

that the lotus also pops up

as a corporate symbol

and is used to name a variety

of commercial products.

Lotus is the name of a car,

a perfume,
a spreadsheet application,
a corporation.

It is the design motif

of a striking temple in New Delhi.

It is a position

in yoga meditation techniques.

The lotus is also a well-recognized metaphor

for spiritual growth.

Here's why.

The lotus begins life

as seed

buried in the mud of a pond.

It begins its growth in muddy, dirty water,

shooting a tuber up to and through pond scum
until its green, round leaves

spread out on the surface.

The stem of the flower

rises another 10-12 inches

above the water

where the blossom

with its pure white petals open,

provides a stark, but beautiful contrast

to the muddy environment in which it thrives.

Not hard to spot the spiritual link here.

But few have bothered to ask the question,

let alone sought an answer,

as to how the lotus blossom

is able to keep its petals

so blindingly white.

No one,

that is,

until Wilhelm Barthlott

of the University of Bonn

began an extensive study of the epidermal surfaces

of more than 10,000 plants,

including the lotus.

He found an apparent contradiction:

Smooth leaf surfaces

were usually the dirtiest, and

rough leaf surfaces

tended to be cleaner.

Normally,

we associate smoothness

with beauty,

roughness with -

well,

not so beautiful.

Hans Christian von Baeyer,

chancellor professor of physics

at the College of William and Mary

in Williamsburg, Virginia,

commenting on this paradox, explains:

"The label of my wife's New Improved Body Wash proclaims,

'Revitalize your skin

with delightful fresh peach renewal cleanser.

Washes away roughness

and replenishes moisture

for soft, smooth skin.'

What is said to be washed away

is roughness,

not dirt,

and the skin afterward

is called smooth,

not clean.

'The cleanest -

and roughest -

of all in Barthlott's research

was the lotus petal.'"

We'd say the petal has

the texture of velvet.

Yet,

when placed under an electron microscope

at a magnification of 1,200,

the micromorphology of the plant skin

reveals a textured, pointy surface

somewhat resembling the surface of a board

with a forest of nails

protruding from underneath.

Dust particles may fall on its surface,

but the morning dew,

or a few drops of rain,

wash them away

without even wetting the petal itself!

The lotus blossom

is morphologically programmed

to be self-cleaning.

What is unwanted is kept at arms length.

Or nail's length as the case may be.

How important is self-cleaning?

It's so important that

the cat box in the hallway

is a Litter Maid self-cleaning litter box.

We will only buy stoves and ovens

if they have a self-cleaning function.

You can get

self-cleaning garlic presses now,

as well as

toilet systems, water filters, water heaters,
gutter guards, steam irons, countertop juicers
and kitchen exhaust fans.

That's why

when Dr. Barthlott announced his research

a couple of years ago,

the corporate world sat up and took notice.

Last year,

a "self-cleaning" exterior house paint

was introduced under the brand name

"Lotusan."

Anyone have non-stick pots and pans?

The most lucrative application

of this lotus biotech development

may be the possibility of

a self-cleaning paint for automobiles,

making washing cars a thing of the past.

Now suppose we apply

a soultech version

of the biotech lotus morphology

to our spiritual lives.

This is precisely what the apostle Paul suggests

in his letter to the Ephesians.

In the verses immediately preceding today's text,

he alludes to

the dirty and muddy nature

of the cultural water

in which we live.

Those in the world,

he says,

do not have this ability

to be morally self-cleaning.

They live

"in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened

in their understanding."

They live in

"ignorance and hardness of heart.

They have lost all sensitivity

and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness,

greedy to practice

every kind of impurity" (4:17-19).

La vida loca.

I think we know what this means...

usually hits about 14...

it is an attitude of immaturity...

one that says,

"Hey, I'll try anything once...

if people are doing it,

it must not be so bad...

it can't be wrong

if it feels so right."

And we long for this

and call it freedom...

and we become greedy

to practice every kind of impurity.

Leads to an ambiguity

of right and wrong.

Of course,

Paul has a remedy.

It involves the adoption of

a radical new morphology

in which Christians

"put away [their] former way of life,

your old self,

corrupt and deluded by its lusts,

and [are instead]

renewed in the spirit of [their] minds,

[clothed] with the new self,

created according to the likeness of God" (4:22-24).

The apostle makes it clear that

the purpose of the self-cleaning function

is to restore us to

the pristine image of God himself

so that we might be in community with others,

might see in others

the pristine image of God.

Let's see if it works.

The DSM manual

is the criteria for diagnosing

mental disorders and illness in people.

(Let me also say here

this is not intended for us to look at others

and diagnose them.

It is intended for us to look at ourselves.)

The criteria for anti-social personality disorder...

(and only three need to be met

before a diagnosis is made.)

1. History of illegal or socially disapproved activities

   beginning before age 15

   and continuing into adulthood.

2. Failure to show constancy and responsibility

   in work, sexual relationships,

   parenthood or financial obligations.

3. Irritability and aggressiveness
4. Reckless and impulsive behavior
5. Disregard for the truth

Paul does not use a scientific method.

He uses a spiritual eye

that values the community of faith

more than any other.

Paul writes of five ways to nurture community...

specific ways we speak in love and truth.

1. Deal in honesty.

   We are to stop lying

   and tell the truth (v. 25).

   Paul links this to our new spirit natures

   as members of the same body.

   We would no more lie to one another

   than we would slap ourselves in the face.

   A lie hurts both the one lied to

   and the one who lies. (DSM#5)

2. Be civil in disagreements.

   "Do not let the sun go down on your anger,"

   the apostle says (v. 26).

   The word "anger" that Paul uses

   appears only here in the New Testament.

   It is better translated

   "provocation"

   and reinforces the justifiable anger

   one may have on occasion.

   In other words,

   don't let your anger provoke you

   to demonize and destroy a person

   with whom you are angry.

   Even righteous anger

   must be dismissed before the day's end,

   i.e., turned over to God.

   This practice is a reminder

   that we are merely instruments in these battles

   and need not be personally antagonistic or hateful. (DSM#3)

3. Be gainfully employed.

   Idle hands are the Devil's workshop.

   "Thieves must give up stealing"

   and get a job (v. 28).

   Paul's point here

   is to warn Christians

   not to return to our former way of life.

   In Christianity

   as in Buddhism,

   there is such a thing as

   "Right Livelihood."

   Stealing is not one of them. (DSM#1)

4. Value spiritual life.

   Don't grieve the Holy Spirit (v. 30).
   This highly anthropopathic expression

   reminds us that by nurturing our spiritual lives

   (telling the truth, expressing righteous anger, encouraging others),

   we can bring joy rather than sorrow

   to the Holy Spirit,

   who mediates the presence of Jesus Christ to us. (DSM#2)

   Pay attention here especially,

   for if you are engaged

   in spiritual discussion

   you will be dealing with one of these things...

   constancy and responsibility in work,
   sexual relationships,
   parenthood or
   financial obligations.

5. Avoid hate speech:

   bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, slander, malice.

   Here is yet another reminder

   of the power of words and passion to injure others.

   Dr. Laura,

   while not changing her viewpoints,

   admitted recently that

   her words have caused pain.

   In school,

   jocks tease the nerds,
   and the geeks plot revenge.

   Gossip and slander

   rip at the fabric of our communal life.

   Such lowbrow conversation

   has no place in the life of a Christian. (DSM#4)

Paul's overarching point here is that

we are to place speaking in love and truth

to each other

above all things.

I read my final words today

from Gary Zukav's book, Soul Stories. p51

During World War II

the Nazis put a man named Victor Frankl

into a concentration camp.

They did the worst things that you can imagine to him.

They killed people that he loved.
They tortured him,

and took away everything that he had.

He worked in the bitter cold

and slept on boards

in a frozen barrack.

There were so many people on the boards

that no one could even roll over!

He had just enough food to starve slowly.

One morning

his work party was stumbling down a rocky road

in the dark.

In the icy wind,

while the guards were shouting and hitting them with rifle butts,

Victor realized something that changed his life.

He realized that his highest goal--

the "ultimate goal"--

he could reach for was love!

Victor did not become a victim.
He did not hate his persecutors

and belittle himself.

He did not say,

"Why me?"

or

"This is unfair."

When you say those things

you have no power.

Victor stepped into the greatness of his soul.

Instead of making himself into

someone who hates, vows revenge, or collapses in humiliation,

he made himself a hero

who strives to love no matter what.

PS. The lotus has another characteristic.

The plant's stalk is easy to bend in two,

but it is very hard

to break or separate the two parts completely

because they have many strong, sinuous fibers

that tenaciously hold on to keep the plant together.

to point to the tight relationship

of members of a community of faith.