The Super Power

Paul's instructions for how to live the way of Jesus seem like simple common sense. But if you compare these actions to our instincts of fight, flight, or freeze, they are most complex and enlightened behaviors. In light of the world's common behaviors, they are more like super powers.

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These words always seem so easy when we're reading it. 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. These instructions that Paul gives us to live as followers of Jesus, not just individually, but as a church community, the living body of Christ. Bless those who persecute you, it says. 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. These instructions seem so simple, even basic. In some ways, it all sounds like common sense. In fact, they seem so common and basic that sometimes we skip over them as if we already know it all. Or we've oversimplified them and say, yeah, yeah, I get it. Just be a good human, treat others the way you want to be treated. But I submit to you today, dear friends, that these instructions are actually not basic, not simple, and definitely not common. In fact, I want to make the argument that these may be some of the most complex and enlightened thoughts and behaviors of all humanity. Think about it this way. The simplest, most basic thoughts are our fight, flight, or freeze responses. Our primitive survival instincts. When we feel a threat or fear, whether it's an actual physical threat or uncomfortable emotions, the most primitive part of our brain tells our body to respond in one of these three ways. You all know these survival responses. I don't have to explain them to you. But these responses show up in more ways than with physical threats, like facing down big scary animals. That fight response shows up when someone criticizes or insults you. And your instinct is to insult them back. Something challenges your dominance, so you respond with more aggression. It's not just our personal safety that's challenged. Maybe it's our perspective or our understanding. When others try to destroy what we hold sacred, our instinct is to do the same to them. We see this in how animals respond to threats by making themselves look physically bigger than the threat. A bear stands up on its hind legs, a cat arches its back, the hair on a dog's back ridges up. We do the same. We want to look superior to the threat. But instead of making ourselves look bigger physically, sometimes we try to make them seem smaller with insults, criticizing, and dehumanizing them. Paul calls this repaying evil for evil. Or maybe we respond with flight. We run away from the danger or discomfort. Again, not always physically. Sometimes something makes us feel uncomfortable, even emotionally uncomfortable, and our instinct is to make it go away as quickly as possible. We see this in times that it's hard to sit with someone in their grief. We search for something to say or do to make them feel better. And we want to get distance from the discomfort. Or we can't handle it, so we just don't show up for them at all. The freeze response shows up differently than the proverbial deer in the headlights instinct. Maybe we get so overwhelmed and so overstimulated, we just give up. We do nothing. And we fall into despair. These instinctual primitive responses are what is most basic, simple, and common. So much so that Paul's instructions require a more complex, enlightened approach. Instead of our fight instinct to respond to threats with more aggression, Paul parrots Jesus' instructions to bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them, he says. Instead of trying to make yourself seem bigger or better than something, he says to outdo one another in showing honor. And do not be haughty, claim to be wiser than you are. Instead of our flight response to get away from threats and discomfort, Paul says to extend hospitality to strangers. In other words, make space for them. And even if it triggers an uncomfortable emotion in you, he says, to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Show up and be present for others, even if it sparks grief and sadness and discomfort for you. And when we freeze and give up, he says not to lag in zeal. Be ardent in spirit, rejoice in hope, and be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. All of Paul's instructions of how to live this way of Jesus boil down to things like showing empathy, having compassion, creating spiritual connection with one another. It's living with a sense of hope, not fear. It's seeking a way of love. Again, when we think of these things as basic or not hard or maybe not even serious, but these are actually the most complex and enlightened thought patterns we have. They require more cognitive thought and emotional intelligence. They require us to use all the parts of our brains, not just the primitive parts. And so when we discount Paul's instruction as basic common sense, it's anything but it's really enlightened thought. It's on par with the most complex mathematical and scientific thinking there is. Moving beyond our fear-based instincts and practicing these things like empathy and compassion and hospitality and forgiveness, and most of all grace. In fact, in a world where primitive responses like fear and insults and isolation and dehumanization and competition and greed are so prevalent, empathy and compassion and connection and love, those are superpowers. They give us the ability to know and understand the world differently than most. They tap into abilities that many don't have the capacity for. And collectively we often reject. I'm not saying they make us superhuman, but they are definitely superpowers. You all have heard me say it many times. This is why we exist as a church. To support one another through life, to ease one another's burdens. To share life together. Because life can be difficult for everyone. We all experience pain and loss and disappointment and failure and suffering and even death. And the only thing we really have in life are relationships. Everything else is an illusion. And so when the only thing we offer one another are those basic fight, flight or freeze instincts, it makes life harder and more lonely. And it's what's sucking the life out of our world. Yet the church exists to use these superpowers of love and empathy and compassion and connection. To let us know that we are not alone, that we are loved, that we belong, that life is beautiful, and that we are held by something that is superhuman. That's what we've come to celebrate today. Why we've come together in one united worship service and to have our block party. It's more than just a fun way to have lunch together. It's to gather as one, as the body of Christ, and to stand in our mission field of downtown Little Rock that we have served for 195 years, and to proclaim the superpower of God's love. To remind each other, and to remind the world that we are still committed to living in genuine and mutual love and holding fast to what is good. That we are committed to honoring one another. And that when even life gets difficult, we will rejoice in hope and we will persevere through any suffering with patience and prayer. And that we will welcome and make space for the strangers. And that no one is alone. Because we rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep. And as fractured and lonely as this world often feels, we will live in harmony with one another. I know it seems simple and common. But I promise you to the world out there, it's our superpower. Amen.