January 30, 2022 – Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

One of the challenges of preaching on days where we have readings that are so well-known, like the one from 1 Corinthians today, is that people often already have an opinion and so they think they know the reading in and out. And so familiarity breeds a challenge. Virtually everyone loves these words we hear today. Virtually everyone thinks that they know what they mean, and to the preacher, it often seems virtually impossible to find anything new and different to say about them. The familiarity of the verses, though, encourages us to dig deeper and to seek new perspectives on God’s word for us. 

Recently, one of my seminary friends asked me to watch a 15-minute video posted by a Jewish Rabbi about how our understanding of God and love is misguided. Rabbi Manis Friedman said, “You know, nobody is Jewish because it’s been a good experience. If you do what God needs from a Jew, you feel like a Jew. If you do what God needs from a non-Jew, you’ll feel like a non-Jew.” 

The Rabbi continued on, “Look, God is infinite, correct? God’s infinite in all ways? God’s infinitely strong? God’s infinitely wise? God’s infinitely patient? So God must be infinitely vulnerable.” In our society, we tend to understand vulnerability as a weakness, and not a strength, so I’m going to ask you to hear me out, and then I’ll connect this with today’s readings. Psychology, in fact — as I understand it — is based upon the fact that vulnerability actually comes out of strength.

What if a husband said to his wife, “I love you very much, more than anything in the world” and she answered, “I’m not interested”? He then responds by saying, “Oh, you’re not interested? Well, your loss!” He is emphasizing that he is not vulnerable — his claim that he loves her is not true, but mere manipulation. Why? Because we cannot love without vulnerability. You can’t love me if you don’t need me. 

So how exactly do we respond to God’s love? We respond to God’s vulnerability. We are responding to what God needs. “What God needs” — how many times have we stopped to think about what God needs from us? 

The truth is that God really needs us. It’s hard to refuse and it’s hard to resist. If God needs ME, everything changes and it’s a whole new story. I thought I needed God and I resented it because I hate feeling dependent, but God needs me. I’m a necessity in God’s plan. I complete God because just being God isn’t enough for God. What if what we do really makes a difference to God? Doesn’t that rewrite the story? This sounds freeing, not dependent. 

It’s no longer “You’d better behave yourself or you’re not going to go to heaven!” Is that really what it’s all about? If it’s all so meaningless to God and God isn’t vulnerable and it doesn’t really bother God if I break one of the commandments, then why is God going to send me to hell? Just to be nasty? If so, I don’t want to hear from God. God created problems in the world. God’s testing me. God is tempting me. And if I fail, God will punish me. I don’t want to hear anything about this God. I don’t want to know this God. But if God appears vulnerable and God really needs me and what I do makes a difference to God, I’m ready to hear more.

There’s a story of a twelve-year-old girl who got it into her head that God was angry with her. She’s depressed, and her father calls her religious leader to talk with her. He puts her on the phone and the leader says, “So God is angry at you.” She answers, “Yeah.” The religious leader responds, “I’m so jealous!” She replies, “What? I’ve seen several religious leaders, two doctors, a few psychiatrists, and nothing has helped.” The leader simply said, “I’m so jealous because you’re twelve years old and you can get God angry. When did you become so important?” The problem immediately disappeared.

We have things really distorted in our heads if we think that we can get God angry with us. We need to hear the compliment. Our creator is angry with us. God noticed us. God noticed what we did. What we did bothers God. How did we get to be so important?

Whether God loves us or hates us or is angry at us, we need to hear God’s vulnerability. How can God become angry if God isn’t vulnerable? How could anything we do bother God if God is not vulnerable? And if God isn’t vulnerable, what kind of relationship can we possibly have?

God is infinitely greater than we are. We are a little vulnerable. God is infinitely vulnerable, and that makes God infinitely lovable. We don’t NEED love from our children, but we desperately want our children’s love. Why? Because they are our children. Why do we need love from our spouses? We need love from our spouses because they are our spouses.

If you remember back to Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye asks his wife if she loves him. She responds by singing a song about laundry and dishes and cooking. She is telling Tevye she is giving him her love. She has given herself to him for 25 years, and she is his. She tells him that all he thinks about is love and he needs to grow up. It’s not that she wants love from him, but she wants his love — not anybody else’s — because nobody else is hers. His love is important, and in fact, because they are married, every hair on his head is precious to her. Not because she likes hair, but because it’s HIS hair. So instead of saying “I love you,” you should be saying, “You I love, because of who you are.” Not because love is important, but because it is YOUR love.

It’s the same thing with God. I want God’s love not because I want to be loved, but because I want God in my life. In John 13, verses 34-35, we read, “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” (CEB) See how important love is? Rather, see how important our fellow humans are? They are so important that you want to love them. “Love doesn’t make importance. Love is the feeling for those things that ARE important.” If you don’t love them, they’re still important, so love them tomorrow.

Let’s look at today’s Gospel reading. Do Jesus’ former neighbors treat Jesus with love? I think we can all agree that they don’t. The more difficult question for us is whether Jesus treats his former neighbors with love. On the surface, I’d say that we’d answer no. But this is Jesus, who is to be the model of love in all situations. Love doesn’t always show itself the same way. But underneath it all, love is always kind. Love is always accepting. Love can confront; love can provoke. Love can make us call out the injustice we see going on in the world and support those who are being mistreated.

We worship love. It’s Christian to love. But the idol of America is love. Instead of saying “I love God” we should be saying “God I love”… You are my God, that’s why I’m into you. Not because I need anything from you God, not even your love.

Instead of “I love you”, we should be saying “You I love.”
Because you are important.
Because you I need.
So, you I love.

My friends, vulnerability is freedom. Once we are free, we can change the world. And that’s what we live for … to change the world and to make the world Godly. Humans are important to God. God needs humanity. So our humanity is what God loves — eternally, without end.