The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost - The Rev. Colette Hammesfahr

 Ephesians 4:25-5:2 

Remember the Titans is a movie that came out in 2000 and it’s based on the true story of Herman Boone. Boone, an African American, became the head coach of the football team at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia.  

It was 1971 and the city of Alexandria was going through desegregation. Through a federal mandate, one white high school and one African American high school were closed, and all the students were sent to one school, T.C. Williams High School. Before closing, each school’s football team had their own head coach. When it came time to select a coach at T.C. Williams High School, Herman Boone, the African American, was hired over the highly Bill Yoast, the successful white coach from the other school. Herman Boone was chosen to lead the Titans.  

The movie tells the story of a team, racially divided. There is conflict with the players off the field as well as on the field. Both coaches, Boone and Yoast, struggle with anger and prejudice. Anger at each other. Anger at the school board. Anger at the government. Anger at the citizens. The city becomes at war when an African American teenager is killed by a white store owner. The town, the school, the team are at a point of total collapse and destruction.  

If you enjoy team sports or if you’ve been watching the Olympics, you will know that a team cannot be successful if they don’t have trust and faith in one another. They can’t be successful if they are angry at one another. Slander, lying, dishonesty, lack of forgiveness…none of those things are what make a team successful.  

Today, we heard in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that slander, lying, dishonesty, and lack of forgiveness will ruin the (big “C”) Church. We cannot build community, we cannot build God’s Church, if we are not imitators of God. Paul tells us, don’t just love God…imitate God. This is how we live out our baptismal covenant. When we are baptized, we throw out the old self and become a new self. We are a new creation, and the Holy Spirit now works through us to keep us focused, to be a part of the body of Christ, to help one another.  

Paul also tells us that to imitate God, does not mean we are to live a perfect life. We can’t do that. To imitate God means that we open our hearts to let the Holy Spirit work through us and in our lives so that what we do and how we act reflect the love and forgiveness we received through Christ when he died on the cross.  

If you have been watching the local news, you will have seen the devastation of the communities in North Bryan County, those communities on the Ogeechee River, after the flooding from hurricane Debby. Water is so high in some places, cars and trucks are totally immersed. Rescue boats have to take extra care when navigating the river, so they don’t hit the submerged cars.  

I live in South Bryan County, in Richmond Hill. As of yesterday, we had not seen the full effects of the flooding. The water on the Ogeechee River had not reached its peak yet and now they are saying it may not be until Monday or Tuesday that the waters may start receding. Friday, Highway 17 was closed to and from Savannah due to flooding. By Saturday, streets were flooding in several neighborhoods within the city and people were not able to get to and from their homes. With the rising water, water encroaching onto people’s driveways, there was a huge fear that before long the water was going to rise into people’s homes. It was inevitable.  

On Facebook, there was a huge outcry for help. There was a need for helping hands to fill sandbags at the First Baptist Church, across from one of the suffering neighborhoods. Yesterday, with my shovel, I headed to First Baptist Church. My friends, when Paul tells us to don’t just love God, to imitate God…God was sitting on top of those piles of sand. The heat index yesterday was almost unbearable, yet not one person was complaining. Heavy, heavy bags were being lifted into the back of pickup trucks and no one person complained of the back breaking work. The church set up a tent with snacks, water, and Gatorade, and people were encouraging, at times begging, one another to take a break and rest. Mennonite women, in their long dresses and white head coverings, coming with their young children to do hard labor for people they did not even know. People of multiple backgrounds, multiple denominations, multiple ethnicities, all shapes and sizes, working side by side to protect their neighbor…God’s children. These people, not just loving God…imitating God.  

Paul tells us that the whole purpose in our lives is in giving ourselves for others. It’s about communal care. It’s about not giving false messages to one another…about speaking the truth. And it’s about not letting pride and shame keep us from speaking the truth. It’s about being angry…but being angry for the right reasons. Not being angry against one another but instead being angry towards the things that are wrong in this world, like homelessness and prejudice, and a million other things I could name. It’s about forgiveness and understanding. Lies, anger, theft, foul language…all offenses that when pointed against us, we must forgive. Not just loving God…imitating God.   

In Remember the Titans, the Titans football team first clashed in racially motivated conflicts. They soon found racial harmony and triumph. Through the leadership of both Coach Boone and Coach Yoast, they slowly gained support from the community. The team learned to communicate honestly and trust each other despite their racial differences, moving them from hostility to unity. The coaches who once struggled with anger and prejudice, learned to manage their feelings and channel them into positive leadership and teamwork. The players, initially divided by racial tensions, let go of their bitterness and forgave one another. Their compassion and mutual respect lead to a strong and united team. The team followed the example of their coaches, who learned to promote fairness, discipline, and unity. In the movie they showed sacrificial love for one another, putting the needs of the team above their personal prejudices. Not just loving God…imitating God. Building community through truth, love, and forgiveness.  

This week, I’d like you to think about your own lives. Are you, are we, choosing the path of unity and reconciliation or are we allowing old divisions and prejudices to keep us apart from one another? What steps can we take today to foster genuine love and understanding in our communities, as Christ calls us to do?  

There is a transformative power of love over hatred and division. Martin Luther King, Jr. says this, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” I encourage you to be bearers of light and love in the world today. Amen.