Sermon for August 30, 2026: Once More with Feeling based upon Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21 Marks of the True Christian (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)

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. Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; 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 arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

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     Starting this last week and continuing for about ten days, school will be starting for many people in our church. Who here has started school already this week? And, who begins next week? Anybody after Labor Day? I think some of our college students and staffers have already started back. Back to school usually comes with some feelings, right? What kind of feelings can come up as we get ready for school to start? Even if you’ve been done with school for a long time, what feelings do you remember?

     The thing about starting school is that you’re gonna do it with feelings! You probably don’t even have to try to have the feelings or make them visible in your face or in how you act. They just show up and sometimes do want they want whether we like it or not. One of the things we can learn to do is pay attention to our feelings and how our bodies want to react to them. Sometimes how our bodies want to feel the feelings is fine and good! Crying, laughing, jumping up and down, shouting, squishing up into a little ball... all of those things are ok to do in the right space. Sometimes, though, we feel like we want to hurt someone or do things that might hurt ourselves. That’s a less helpful way for feelings to come out.

     I mention all this stuff about feelings and how we act on them because our scripture reading for the day is about how to let what is in our hearts shape how we act. The apostle Paul, who wrote what Sharon read for us today in a letter to a church in Rome, was trying to help them figure how to live in the world in a way that best reflected their feelings toward Jesus. Paul followed Jesus’ teaching: If you love Jesus, you behave in loving ways towards other people.

     Who can remember some of the ways that Paul described how a Christian should behave in the world?  (invite people to paraphrase the following):
12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good;
12:10 Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
12:11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord.
12:12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in afflictions, persevere in prayer.
12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
12:18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord."
12:20 Instead, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

     None of us are perfect and act exactly like Paul thinks Christians should act all the time. Sometimes, we’re mean. Sometimes, we get scared and let the fear make us forget what’s most important. Sometimes, we encounter something new and don’t know what to do with it yet. Especially in times of tension and change, we can slip out of the behavior that represents how we want to live in the world. As I was thinking about today’s scripture, I remembered a story about a kiddo who had a hard day at school once. Since we’re talking about making the best of the school year, it seemed like a good time to share it with you all again.

     This is a true story. It happened to a woman named Dolly Parton when she was a little girl. Dolly would grow up to be a songwriter, singer, actress, and businesswoman who shared a lot of money to help other people and animals. She died this week. She wrote her first songs when she was five years old and learned to play the guitar when she was seven. She sometimes wrote stories about real things that happened to her. One of them was called “Coat of Many Colors.” It is one of her favorite songs that she ever wrote. A few years ago, Dolly worked with an illustrator named Brooke Boynton-Hughes to turn her song into a book. And I am going to read that to you.

(You can buy the book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/coat-of-many-colors-10th-anniversary-edition-dolly-parton/74f2b85486ad6cf2?ean=9798217140640&bkshp-astro=t)  

(you can read the lyrics to the song here: https://genius.com/Dolly-parton-coat-of-many-colors-lyrics )

     So, remembering our Bible story from today and the story Dolly shared about her childhood, do we think that the kids at school who made fun of Dolly were acting like Paul said Christians should act? Some of these kids went to church with Dolly, by the way. And most of them went to some kind of church in the community. Right! Paul never told Christians to be mean to people who wore different clothes or who didn’t have money for new clothes. In fact, he said to help people when they need it. That’s probably why someone gave Dolly’s mom the old pieces of cloth to begin with: To help her have enough fabric to make clothes for her kids. Dolly’s classmates could have been nice like that person was, but they weren’t.

     What are some things that Dolly’s classmates could have said that were more in line with how Paul thought Christians should treat their neighbors? (Wait for responses) Those are all great ideas! Also, I want to point out that Dolly tried to teach them about gratitude and beauty when they were mean to her. That sounds like something Paul would have appreciated. I hope she talked with her teacher about it, too, though. If lots of people are picking on you, an adult should be there for support and to make them stop. One of her friends might have tried to stand up for her, too.

     I hope everyone has a good beginning of the school year. And, if you already started school and it hasn’t been great, I hope that it gets better. I gave this sermon the name “Once more, with feeling” because everyone who is going back to school is trying school again, but in a new year. I hope the feeling you can start with is love- love from God and your church, love from your family and friends, and care from your school. I also hope that you can start with excitement and joy. If worry or dread pops up, like they do sometimes, I hope you have someone you can talk about those feelings with. I can be one of those people, and so can other people here at church. That’s part of being church: taking care of each other in the midst of challenges in life. That’s another thing Paul said. Our church will also offer a blessing today to help show the love we know God has for you and we have for you. May the harmony we share today be carried with you into your school. And may you have the support you need so that this school year is a success.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors, illustrated by Brooke Boynton-Hughes (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 2016)
Lyrics to "Coat of Many Colors": https://genius.com/Dolly-parton-coat-of-many-colors-lyrics
Nancy Lammers Gross: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-22/commentary-on-romans-129-21-7
​Illustrated Ministry's Backpack tags and liturgy: https://store.illustratedministry.com/collections/backpack-tags/products/you-and-me-were-neighbors-backpack-tags
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