SERMON 06-21-26 Pentecost 4A, Annunciation, Richmond Hill, GA

Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 69: 8-11, (12-17), 18-20; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39

"Is there anything I can do for you today?"

In the 1993 there was a Romcom movie classic called Groundhog Day and I must admit that it is one of my all-time favorite films. It was the story of Phil Connors a cynical, arrogant, and self-centered TV weatherman who despises his job and looks down on ordinary people. Other characters in the story includes colleagues Rita (producer and focus of his desire) and Larry (the field-based cameraman). Phil leaves the big city of Philadelphia with this crew and travels to a small town (which he hates) Punxsutawney, PA. The trip was an unwelcome assignment to cover the annual groundhog festival.

By some strange, unexplained phenomena, Phil's trip becomes so much more, and he finds

himself trapped in a literal time loop, forced to relive the exact same day over and again. Initially, Phil uses this loop for selfish pleasure, manipulation, and reckless indulgence, realizing his actions have no long-term consequences. However, this self-centered lifestyle eventually leads him to deep despair, emptiness, and hopelessness.

In the film we watch Phil go from cynical and mean curmudgeon, to a debaucherous, no-

holds barred hedonist to a sanctified, transformed, and re-made servant leader. Phil's true transformation begins only when he surrenders his ego. He stops trying to manipulate the day for his own gain and instead begins using his time to serve, protect, and love the people around him. By dying to his old, selfish identity, he is radically changed into a compassionate, joyful, and completely new person. If you have seen the movie, you remember when Phil had been transformed his new life benefits everyone around him. There was a particular moment in the movie I will never forget. It was obvious Phil was a new person because at the end of the film, his

new mantra and the focus of his life became manifested through this one question he asked those he met each day, "Is there anything I can do for you today?"

The Way of Love: Family against Family?

In today's gospel reading, Jesus speaks in a way that at first blush, seems very abrasive, out

of character, and his words seem to contradict the Way of Love to which he had called his followers to live. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. " The words of Jesus, taken at face value are hard to hear. It seems like Jesus was saying he came not as a peacemaker, but he came to create chaos, division, and violence. That phrase has been used for the purpose of division by individuals, nations, and religious organizations for centuries. However, violence and division were not the values Jesus was advocating for his followers.

Listen to the next sentence he included, "For I have come to set a man against father, daughter against mother, etc." If you consider the language of the original writer of this gospel, the nuances of that language makes it obvious that Jesus was using an extreme metaphor to describe what it means to follow Him; the Way of Mercy, Peace, Justice, Acceptance, Equality, and Love.

Jesus was teaching us that there must be a clear division between what it means to follow his teaching, and what it means to follow the way of the world (self-absorption, consumerism, reckless independence, and "it's all about me and mine"). Jesus said, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. " If we consider "sword" as used in the Koine Greek, the word is μάχαιραν (maxayran) which means a small knife that is used for hunting and field stripping game. In other words, Jesus used a gruesome metaphor (field dressing game) to describe how to follow Jesus means we must "cut to the chase. " Following Jesus requires that we choose a clear-cut way of living that others can see who we are and whose we are. Jesus further explains that living God's way versus the way of the world means we must make a choice and that decision will come with a cost, maybe even our closest relationships. Jesus used examples of losing familial connections as an example of the extreme requirements to follow the Way of Love and how doing so changes those relationships. He said to choose the Way of Love will cost you relationships with others, maybe even your father, mother, daughter, daughter-in-law,mother-in-law and further, choosing to follow Jesus risks peace and the quiet peace found in your household.

To follow Jesus means we must put our loyalties, our commitments, our emotions, and our relationships in their proper alignment. Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. " In other words, place Christ at the center of your life, giving Him your absolute devotion, loyalty, and love and all other loyalties (family, country, political party) must align thusly. Then he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself. "By the way, that kind of love might come in conflict with your closest

relationships as well. Following Jesus Way of empathy, mercy, and self-giving or "Loving God and

loving neighbor" requires us to change ... a change that looks a lot like Phil Conners'.

Change is Brutal

Changing who we are and how we live, or rather being transformed by the Way of Love is not

easy and it is often brutal. None of us like change, but change is inevitable and it is part of our daily existence. Jesus explains that change required is like losing ourselves only to find our true self. In the movie Groundhog Day, Phil initially tries to "find his life" through selfish indulgence and control, which only brings him spiritual death and misery. It is a perfect illustration of Jesus’ warning that "whoever finds their life will lose it."

Phil is only freed from his prison when he stops living for himself. This mirrors the call to

take up the cross and "lose your life for my sake." True transformation and new life only happen

after the old, arrogant self is surrendered. Jesus notes that a disciple is not above their teacher but is called to be like them. Phil shifts from demanding that the world serve his ego to becoming a humble servant to the entire town, reflecting Christlike love.

One reason I love this movie is because it is a modern-day depiction of the kind of life Christ

calls each of us to live, the changes we must make in our souls to do so, and the cost it takes to

follow Him. Phil Conners may represent the kind of life many of us have lived before, only to find

emptiness, bitterness, and despair.

Losing and Finding

There is new life, joy, peace, and fulfillment when we choose love, mercy, compassion,

empathy, equity, and service. These are the values Christ calls us to live. Losing our life or losing a

life lived only for ourselves and self-preservation leads to death. We find life only in emulating

Christ. Like Phil the transformed and new man who found his life in dying to his old self, we too can bring new life to others.

After reaching ultimate despair, Phil spends some of those repeating days trying to end the

pain in some unhealthy and life-threatening ways only to discover deeper pain and misery. One

day, Phil found a homeless man that he began helping and trying to save from his own despair, and only to lose him to death, despite all his efforts to help. Phil then discovered that through small acts of love, he found new purpose. Then all changed for him and Phil worked to make himself a better man for Rita (his love focus in the movie). He learned she loved music and wanted a man who played an instrument. Day after day he went to the same music teacher to learn piano, an instrument he had never played. In the end, he showed off that new gift to others (and her) playing an upbeat jazz piece for the audience at the post-Groundhog shindig. Rita happened to be there and saw Phil in a new light. Phil changed and he did so for someone other than himself.

As the movie continued Phil served other people in the community earning their love and

admiration and changing their lives in ways he could not have previously imagined. The Falling

Boy: He catches a young boy falling out of a tree every single day, mastering the exact timing

required to save his life. The Choking Victim: He performs the Heimlich maneuver on Buster Green the city's beloved mayor, saving him from choking at a diner. The Flat Tire: He changes a flat tire for an older woman, earning her gratitude. Medical Aid: He assists other locals, such as "fixing the back" of an injured man. There were so many other moments like these that Phil changed his life and in so doing, he changed the lives of others beyond imagination. This is the Way of Love that Jesus calls us to live.

How to Live the Way of Love

Imagine if we lived life grounded in the value of losing our life and finding new life. Imagine

at work, you see the struggling co-worker whom everyone has forgotten, and you ask, "Is there

anything I can do for you today?" Imagine helping the elderly woman at the store trying to carry her groceries to the car, and you ask, "Is there anything I can do for you today?" Imagine your spouse whom you have had an argument with recently, and you realize what you've done, then ask, "Is there anything I can do for you today?" Imagine the struggling immigrant family down the road, who in these times cannot seem to find their place living in constant fear and you ask, "Is there anything I can do for you today?"

This is the question Christ asks us in the despair, fear, and subjugation heaped on so many

of our neighborhoods and fellow children of God in so many neighborhoods today. Jesus sees no

divisions and looks past our ethnic, racial, theological, and political digerences that we wield, and

he "cuts to the chase. " Jesus reminds us that we ALL are sisters and brothers, children of God. With loving arms, he calls us to be like him, to be like Phil Conners, and with wide-stretched arms he asks, "Is there anything I can do for you today?" Then he commands us to go forth into the world and live our lives for those around us. I know it is a hard thing to hear, like a sword that cuts to the chase, but sisters and brothers, living beyond ourselves is only way we will find our life ... our life in Christ. Sisters and brothers, "Is there anything ... I can do .. for you ... today?"