What is the difference between ethics and morality?

In exploring the meaning of words, I like to start with a dictionary! Interestingly, “ethics” and “morality” each have multiple dictionary definitions.

 The definitions of “ethics” generally speak in terms of a system of moral principles or rules of human conduct. It can also be understood as a science, or study of, morality. From a study of morality, one can presumably discern rules of conduct which will promote ascertainment of the highest moral ideals. Ethics is a derivative of the Greek “ethos” meaning “custom” or “moral character.” Ethics implicitly assumes a freedom of choice, including the freedom of whether one wishes to inform one’s choices with moral understanding.

 If “ethics” is the thinking about what is moral, “morality” itself is the caring about what is moral, about what is right. Socrates asked “What sort of life is worth living?” Morality is about character and choices. It derives from the Latin “moralitas,” meaning “manner” or “character.” Morality begs for a standard, for one can only care about choices in reference to some measuring post.

 The two words can really not be understood apart from each other, for morality leads to ethical formulations, whose content is informed by morality.

The Bible and Christian Ethics

The most important verse in the Bible which, for me, is THE overarching reference point for all ethics is Mark 12:31: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

            I am satisfied that by “neighbor” Jesus meant each person we encounter and, by extension, all people in the world. Jesus’ life, ministry and example reached out to all. All humankind are children of a loving God and precious to God. All people are equal in that respect, none lesser and none greater. As children of the divine, each and every one is owed all that “love” implies. To love others is the earthly reflection of the command to love God.

            Ethics addresses behavior. Behavior almost always affects others. The most perfect behavior to which we can aspire is Christlikeness, ushering in the Realm. If ethics, or at least Christian ethics, is to invite me to Christ-like behavior, it must reflect the twin commands “to love” which Jesus himself called the greatest commandments.

“Our Way of Life”  

King of Peace Metropolitan Community Church

St. Petersburg, FL

March 22, 2009

Scripture Readings:

Psalm 107:1-3,17-22

Ephesians 2:1-10

Harvard University is a place of deep-rooted traditions. One them is that seniors gather in chapel on Commencement Day. A few years ago, this chapel gathering was addressed by the Rev. Peter Gomes. Rev. Gomes is a Harvard professor, theologian, author….and  openly gay.  Rev. Gomes told the graduating seniors, “You are going to be sent out of here for good, and most of you aren’t ready to go….you are entering the fellowship of educated men and women and yet (here he paused for emphasis)  you – know – just – how - dumb – you – really – are.”  Needless to say, he got their attention, then went on to assure them that God will be with them, that God didn’t bring them this far to leave them alone. His message was that God will stand alongside us in our work, in our lives.

That’s also the message from both the readings from Psalms and Ephesians this morning. But it also connects our lives and our work to the resurrection of Christ. What does the resurrection have to do with our daily lives? It is an historical event, but it is also an event that continues to have profound meaning in Christian lives. I would call it the “living resurrection.”

It lives in us today as a liberating event. Liberation, and the human freedom it brings, are subjects near and dear to my heart, and perhaps yours as well. Almost everyone here this morning remembers the powerful images of the Berlin Wall being torn down by the very people it separated.  You probably also remember when young Chinese men and women threw themselves in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square.  More recently, GLBT sisters and brothers stood on city hall steps in an East European capital where free speech and basic human rights are denied, covering their lips with rainbow tape in a powerful expression of freedom’s cry.

Our quest for freedom springs, I believe, from a yearning for spiritual wholeness, a spark in our hearts kindled by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians says that death is being liberated into life and separation is being transformed into unity.

This liberation has been called a Christian rags-to-riches story, a story of what was, what is and what will be. The first part of today’s reading is sobering and difficult, describing our former life imprisoned by sin, calling us “dead” and “children of wrath.” This imprisonment feels very real. Each of us can easily recall something we have done which we knew to be wrong, something we regretted, wished we’d never done, something that, for certain, God marked against our account. Something we wish we could take back, but can’t. It’s imprisonment of the worst sort. Imagine being in the highest security prison in the world, confined 24/7 for life, with no hope of parole and no way to escape. That’s how it is to be captives of our own past, and no matter what we do, there is no escape from it.

How can we escape from the inescapable?  The middle section of our reading begins with “But, God.”  “But, God.”  Let those two words sit with you for a moment. Some people have said that those two words sum up the whole gospel! And what follows is one of the most eloquent expressions of the resurrection in the entire New Testament. “But, God, who is rich in mercy” – you know what mercy is, don’t you? It’s the withholding of well-deserved punishment. “But, God, who is RICH in MERCY, out of the great love with which God loved us.” If we deserve punishment, and God is a just and fair God, why on earth wouldn’t God just dole it out? THAT is the profound measure of God’s love for us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which God loved us EVEN when we were dead through our trespasses…” So, even in the face of knowing our deepest failings, how far short we have fallen of Christ, EVEN THEN God’s love for us is unending. Wow!

And, if you haven’t already fallen off your pew, listen to what comes next. “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which God loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses” – here it comes – “ made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come God might show us the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” Can’t you just feel the prison walls crumbling? Let there be no doubt: We have just been freed from our imprisoning past that was inescapable.

Have you noticed that we are ALREADY free? “You were dead,” “God made us alive.” PAST TENSE! It’s already done! The work of Christ for us is finished! Salvation is already ours!  Now, when an evangelist asks you, Have you been saved?, you can answer YOU BET I HAVE!

Well, you say, If that’s true, what’s the problem and why are we here? But I ask you, Have you accepted salvation? After all, it’s one thing for God to grant it, it’s quite another thing for us to accept it. It’s hard; after all, it’s a free gift, it doesn’t cost us anything. How can that be? you say. Nobody gives me something for nothing or, if they do, it’s probably not good for me.

I want to engage in a time-honored King of Peace tradition, of talking about someone who’s not here. I hope you’ll forgive me…..oh, of course you will, you want to hear the story too! I had an appointment with a member of this church.  It was late in the afternoon and he suggested we stroll down to a coffee shop on Central for some java. As we walked across the church parking lot, I asked how he was doing, to which he replied, Fine, if I could get rid of this headache. So I reached into my pocket and took out a packet of Goody’s headache powder. I always carry a couple of them on me. But Goody’s is a southern thing, and my friend was a Californian. So he drew back, in some horror as I made to hand him the Goody’s. He said what’s that? And I said it’s a headache powder, but he was totally unconvinced. I quickly understood his reluctance, after all, it’s an unidentified white powder in unlabeled wax paper…..  I said to him I can’t believe you don’t trust me! Now, what was he struggling with in those moments?

YES, FAITH! The same thing we all struggle with when we hear that God is giving us something for nothing.  How can that be? That was too easy. Why would God save a life like mine? I haven’t had a chance to redeem myself yet. The good news is that it’s already done!

When you think about a God who would forgive us EVERYTHING we have ever done, and about a God who has already forgiven us anything we WILL EVER do, and about a God who would sacrifice Jesus on a cross for us, NOW, when our reading talks about “the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness towards us,” NOW we can begin to get an idea just how extravagant and expansive that love must be. THAT is the loving grace by which God has bestowed the salvation of our very lives. That is what we celebrate during Lent….the living resurrection of our own lives.

If God has given us this free gift of life with Christ, does God have some purpose in mind? YOU BET! You just knew there had to be a catch! And, the last part of our reading reveals it.”By grace you have been saved”  – it’s God’s free gift, you can’t do ANYTHING to earn it, even if you wanted to, even if you think you HAVE TO. You can’t. And here’s the kicker: “For we are what God has made us (let THAT sit with you a moment), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

What’s going on here? We can’t earn our salvation by doing good works, but God wants us to do good works? What we need to understand is that we are not saved BY good works, but FOR good works. The works which God has ordained, from time before time, to be OUR WAY OF LIFE. THAT is how we thank God for grace, working for “thy Kingdom come, on earth.”

Our old way of life is gone, carried away by our salvation, our NEW way of life is here, a life already exalted with Christ. A life freed from the chains of the old to live and work alongside Christ, doing God’s work, in THIS life! THAT is what God has “prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

One last thing. Don’t despair if you walk out of here today feeling less than perfect, feeling as if you’re a failure in living up to Christ. Don’t give up if you stumble. As Rev. Gomes told the graduating seniors, God will be with us. God knows that becoming more Christ-like is a work in progress in each of us.

We’re like the little boy in Sunday school who kept disrupting the class, week after week. Finally, his exasperated teacher had had enough, and asked him “Why do you act like that? Don’t you know who made you?” To which the boy replied, “God did, but he ain’t through with me yet.”

God ain’t through with us yet either. During this Lenten season, as we draw closer to Easter, I pray we will also draw ourselves closer to the true meaning of “Christ, crucified and risen,” in our lives today and in our lives which we fashion for our futures. Each time a wall comes down, each time we reject the Tempter, each time we uphold justice and righteousness, we are liberated from an old life and resurrected in a new one. As God’s children and Christ’s church, THAT is “our way of life.” What will YOUR life in Christ look like? What will OUR life in Christ’s body, the church,  look like? Let us claim the resurrection; this IS our time and OUR place, to live OUR WAY OF LIFE.

Closing Prayer: God of the resurrection, Author of our salvation, the One who lifts us up in life with Christ, imprint your Holy Spirit upon our hearts this day, and all days, to guide and energize our lives in your service. Open our hearts and minds and bodies, that we may eagerly grasp the plan that you have for each of our lives. Bless this, your church, that we may truly become the body of Christ. Individually and in community, lead us into our way of life as you have prepared it for us. We pray for all this in the name of the Christ whose life, death and resurrection brings us new life. Amen.