Gravitas and Playfulness
Written by Jay Wittmeyer
December 29, 2024 - Ephesians 4: 11-16
I title this sermon--an August Christmas or an august Christmas. The pronunciation is a little tricky but ironically, the meaning is similar. August the month, is named for Augustus Ceasar, of course, as July is for Julius. Augustus was a name given to him by the Roman senate , his birth name was Gaius Octavius. Augustus was chosen because it conveys the idea of the venerable one, revered, honorable.
Being August was a Roman virtue, the highest virtue. The term embodied a sense of duty to Rome, and a sense of honor. It was anchored in spiritual devotion. The Romans described this virtue as Pietas, piety, as in filial piety or familial piety. Augustus embodied Family Loyalty, Religious Devotion, and State Loyalty. We would say he had gravitas. He was serious about serious things, reliable, trustworthy, ethical, and had a willingness to rise above petty politicking to do the right thing. A man of his word, a religious man.
When individuals marry, and they give their vows—they are often more serious at that point in their lives than they have ever been. That is gravitas. To be fully serious and fully committed above and beyond one’s own preferences. Lincoln used the phrase, “they gave the last full measure of devotion.” This is pietas. Juniors in high school are often very august, considering the direction of their lives.
Pietas is the opposite of being childish, immature, selfish, narcissistic, complaining , or grumbling. It means to be in control of one’s faculties, reliable, predictable, cautious but not intimidated or fearful, not reckless, not fickle, not childish, not given dramatic. It is a leadership quality. Neither Nero or Caligula were august; more gravy than grave. Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius were.
As we sit at the junction between 2024 and 2025, it is a good time for serious reflection--on what has occurred and how we managed ourselves, what we achieved and how we spent our time. What can we be proud of, and what would we like to re-do, and to consider then the decisions that will meet us in 2025.
A few months back I had to cast a vote to close Elgin Academy after 185 years of non-sectarian education. That was hard. It required a functioning board to face reality and do the right thing. As we enter 2025, I am not here to tell you what to think, but only to encourage you to be serious in your thinking, to be reflective, discerning. The Brethren have been historically described as pietists, Count Well the Cost, the founder, Alexander Mack, was fond of saying.
For the past five years, I have been working as a peacebuilder in conflicted institutions. This year in particular I have dealt with some very signficant churches and cathedrals in towns like Bethlehem Pennsylvania, former home of Bethlehem Steel, and Rochester NY, former home of Eastman Kodak and in Akron Ohio, former home of Firestone, and other churches in other towns and cities that had strong industries that financially floated the towns and the churches in them, big, beautiful churches.
But those days have changed. And just as many of those companies, like Kodak, lived in denial, so too did the towns and so did the churches. Too often the decline in church membership, and giving, was met with in-fighting and blame; denial and superstition. Denial of the trends and reality around them and superstitious that some miracle would walk through the door and save them. Joel Osteen preaches that God is sending ravens to bring morsels of food. I encourage semnos-the Greek term for seriousness, gravitas.
I’ll highlight the term Semnos in the New Testament
In Phillipians, Paul writes,
Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
1 Timothy 3:8
INT: Deacons are to be dignified, grave, not double-tongued
To Titus, Paul writes, Titus, teach what is consistent with sound instruction. 2 Tell the church to be temperate, serious, (Semnos) self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.
To be self-controlled 7 in all things, offering yourself as a model of good works and in your teaching offering integrity, gravity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,[a] 12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior,[b] Jesus Christ. 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
3 Remind them to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water[a] of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is sure.
“I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.
Paul finishes with this-remember he started with, gravitas, and finishes with this—
Titus, avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, 11 since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self condemned.
On January 21, 2025 is the 500th anniversary of Anabaptistism. It is interesting to look at the family tree of schisms. Lots of quarrels about the law and other useless worthless discussions. The United Methodist Church just split again-it has a knack for uniting and splitting. Maturity is to recognize what a petty quarrel is--distraction to good works.
Dogmatism is not gravitas, it is the exact opposite it is rooted in a protective layer of anxiety and immaturity. It is narcissism with moral rage. Dogmatists cannot engage in dialogue.
A great example of the difference is in the Christmas Carol. If Dickens had set the cultural revolution addressing child labor, and the social disease of ignorance and want, in France, the novella would have turned violent. Fred would have conspired with Bob Cratchit to bring down Scrooge in a violent manner, perhaps with guillotines. By contrast, The story begins with Fred’s entrance into Scrooges’ office and his invitation for Scrooge to engage Christmas with him and his new wife. Mature, sound in his arguments, Reasonable and friendly. This is gravitas.
America is caught up in its own divisions, so is Canada and England, and elsewhere, and church members get pulled into these divisions. I certainly do.
In May, I think, Cheryl Brumbaugh Cayford wrote an excellent article on the US military. I read it the same time the Economist reported that the US was spending more on serving its debt, interest payments, then on its military 864 Billion. That number will be a trillion this fiscal year. What could we do with a trillion dollars-we could hire 10 million new teachers, that’s right. 10 million. Or give each of the 15 million college students some 60k. each one. 60 k. But we have chose to go down the debt road, so there is no money for that.
In 1969, the Norwegian government discovered oil in the North Sea and a means of extracting it. There was a great fight in the parliament over all the immediate needs of the nation for social services, education, and infrastructure. But, as the narrative transpired-Norwegians said our winters are long and summers are short, let us set aside some funds. The Norwegian Sovereign fund is sitting at 2 Trillion. Norway has set aside over 300,000 for every ctizen in the country-no one worries about healthcare or retirement.
What did we do in 1969-went to the moon, build the great society, stopped communisim in its tracks, and we borrowed heavily to do it and continue to do so, and now the debt servicing is at approximately 20% of our federal intake. We lack funds. This is a real problem and will take serious-minded leaders with gravitas to see it through. I am not too hopeful.
In 2025, we will all have our challenges, as citizens as Christians as members of the Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren. We must no longer be Children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine but bearing with one another in love, grow into maturity in the faith.
