Butter Battle Book Matthew 5: 38-39 1 Cor 13: 4-7

What if? A question that I frequently ask myself when I look around and see situations that deeply trouble me. What if we acted on the words of Christ? What if we lived into who Christ calls us to be? What if we acted like the beloved instead of misbehaving in a way that doesn’t glorify God? What if?

What if is also a question I frequently asked myself each and every time I’ve read Dr. Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book. While some of the books we are exploring are ones that I’ve had since childhood, and others I had actually never read prior to preparing for this series, this particular book was one I picked up while in college. What if the Yooks and the Zooks saw each other as children of God instead of enemies? What if the situation didn’t have to go this far? What if there was a different way to handle conflict? What if?

We are now in the second week of our month long sermon series looking for gospel truths in Dr. Seuss’s children’s book. The thing I love about children’s books is that there are deep universal truths in them that we are trying to teach our children, that we often need to be reminded about as adults. Today I want to address the biblical way to handle conflict.

The ‘C’ word. No one really wants to talk about conflict in the church. We seem to think that if we don’t talk about it then it might not exist - both within our corporate gatherings or in our individual lives, but this just isn’t the case. Conflict is part of life, because God has created us as unique individuals with different ways of communicating. But even if conflict is a part of life, it does not have to define how we interact or get in the way of glorifying God.

Christ knew that his disciples were going to have conflict. They were going to have people on the outside looking in who didn’t understand them and would try to stir up controversy in order to bring them down. But they also argued amongst themselves about who was the greatest and how to go about their mission of being disciples. The book of Acts shows the early church ripe with conflict between followers of Peter and followers of Paul, the Gentiles and the Jews, the authorities and the disciples, the list goes on and on. 

But Jesus teaches his disciples to travel a different path when it comes to times of trial. To not follow the law as it is written in scripture, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but to do something new, something unheard of, and not seek revenge. Remember back to what happened prior to the law stated from Exodus about equal retribution - a person would feel wronged and would end up taking revenge to the degree they felt they were due. People were killed. Wars were undertaken. Families were divided. And that was all just in the book of Genesis. So when the Israelties were on their way to the promise land they were told that things were going to be different - no longer was it going to be open season on seeking justice - instead it was equal - an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth - just pushment that was no more than that which was culturally necessary.

However, Jesus taught his disciples on the sermon on the mount, and the way he lived his life and ultimately died his death on the cross, that it was no longer about things being fair and equal - instead it was about living in a way that honored God and honored your neighbor, even when they deeply wronged you. Instead, you are to pray for your enemies, and turn to offer your other cheek to them after they slapped you on the first. 

Now before you get upset and start claiming that Jesus is asking us to be doormats, remember that Jesus’ teaching about turning the other cheek is culturally nuanced as well. If a believer offered to one who struck him the other cheek, the person striking him or her would have to commit a cultural fo-pa - hitting with the demeaning side of the hand or with the lesser dominate hand - which was considered unacceptable. Essentially by offering the other cheek the violence ended instead of breaking out in a full fledge war or beating. 

Paul takes Jesus’ teachings one step further when he speaks about love. While 1 Corinthians 13 is a popular passage to read at weddings, it is actually speaking about how to love one another in community, specifically as followers of Christ. Paul tells it straight - he says what love is - patient and kind, and what love is not - arrogant, boastful, or rude. While we may agree with that cognitatively at first, Paul then pushes it a bit further - love does not insist on its own way.

How many of the conflicts we find ourselves in arise out of one of two things: either we insist that we are right and others are wrong or we don’t communicate well with one another? The irony of The Butter Battle Book of course, is that the fighting started over something as silly and simple as how to eat butter on bread. But from there, as things often do, they escilated. First to one Zook using a sling shot at one Yook to a full out war. We may laugh at Dr. Seuss’s example, but we do the same things in our own lives today. The different path of the way of Christ asks us to listen deeply to other people and try to understand where they are coming from - to not judge them for which way they eat their butter on bread, to use the metaphor of the book, but to listen and ask questions first. Let me be clear, we don’t need to agree in order to not be in conflict. But we do need to respect one another and treat each other as children of God. How could things have been different from the Yooks and the Zooks if they would have sat down and had a conversation about what they disagreed on - a real conversation - that didn’t start out with the agenda of convincing the other party that they were wrong, but just to listen and then honestly state where they were coming from? What could have been different if they looked at the world from each other’s perspectives before drawing the battle lines? What could have changed if they first and foremost didn’t see an issue before them, but other children of God who have value far above and beyond their differences?

Brothers and Sisters, it is sin that tells us something as simple as how we eat butter on our bread should define us. It is the love of God that declares that something bigger lays claim over us - that we are children of God. For far too long we have fought about things that don’t matter. We’ve become so distracted by our selfishness that we have forgotten how to behave as the redeemed children of God. When we act this way we are not following the commands of Jesus Christ to love God and love our neighbor. 

God has sent us out into the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, and some days we simply do a very poor job. We get caught up in the excitement of conflict and allow it to wash over us - instead of acting as Christ would act. We let things escalate instead of seeking to be in a relationship with those not like us in order to share the love and power of Jesus Christ. We seek to argue instead of listen. We demand to be heard instead of showing our love to others. Oh Church, is this what Christ died for? So that we could be the loudest? The best? The winner in our own eyes? 

I will be the first to admit that not all conflicts can be solved simply by listening. But I will also attest that listening will prevent things from spiraling out of control in misunderstanding. We’ve all heard the old story of the Hatfields and the McCoys - generations after generations fighting - out to destroy each other - but neither remembering quite why. The conflict took on a life of its own. We do the same thing today - both inside and outside of the church. 

Who are the Yooks and the Zooks in your life today? How is Christ calling you to respond? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? Hitting back? Trying to one-up the person with the biggest and latest argument. Or by a different way? 

Jesus Christ changes how we deal with conflict because Jesus Christ changes our sinfulness - changes who we are. The love shown on the cross and love that we are to show as the Church, bears, believes, hopes, and endures. May you go out into the world to be the radical, loving, listening, creative hands and feet of Christ, shining forth the new path set forth by the cross.