Sunday, January 24, 2016

Together, One (Epiphany 3C)




Together, One
Homily delivered for the Third Sunday after Epiphany (Year C)
The Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D.
22 January 206
8:00 a.m. Said and 10:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist
Trinity Episcopal Church
Ashland, Oregon

God, give us grace to feel and love,
take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

In recent weeks, I have heard several sad stories about people in churches near and far away, Episcopal and otherwise, getting their feelings hurt over this or that and deciding to walk away from that church and community.  Whether they fled to another church or decided to stop out of church altogether for a while or forever, they left with a desire to no longer engage with the people they felt had hurt them.  There are always different sides to every story, and I don’t want to belittle or make light of the hurt suffered by anyone.  Some, to hear the bare facts of their story, had good reason to be upset.   But in every case I have heard, the people who caused the hurt did so unintentionally, and wanted to repair the damage.  But those leaving just could not bring themselves to even talk further with those who had offended them.  Maybe it is the dark winter days or the weather; maybe it was suffering just one too many slights, so perceived.  I am always sad to hear such stories, or, worse, to witness them unfolding.  It is like watching a marriage break up, or friends of long standing arguing and saying they never want to see each other again.    

Don’t misunderstand me.  I am not saying there are never situations that we need to walk away from.  Sometimes love requires us to go separate ways, still in love.  I am saying that such walking is always a sad thing. The judgment implicit in walking, even if necessary, is by its nature emotionally at odds with the gratitude we rightly feel at the grace of God in our lives.  Gratitude makes us more ready to accept things in our life, even hard ones.  Gratitude predisposes us to continue to engage with those with whom we are relation, especially when they hurt us, and not give up on them. 

Today’s scriptures all in one way or another talk about how we react to God in our lives. They contrast fear of condemnation and joy and gratitude at God’s love.  They show that such gratitude and joy brings us into relationship, lasting relationship without condition or judgment, with others who share the experience of God’s love.  

In the Hebrew scripture reading, the scribe Ezra reads the book of the Law before the people who react by bursting into weeping, totally dismayed at its severity. The leaders react with a pretty heavy-handed effort at liturgy control.  Here, it is not a question of telling people when to kneel and when to stand, and how to respond verbally with such phrases as “thanks be to God.”  Rather, here you have to smile, be happy (or at least act happy). No weeping or mourning allowed, only feasting and sharing that feasting with the poor, because “LAW IS GOOD” no matter what! 

The Psalm says that we can learn much about God in looking at the beautiful and wondrous stars and planets in the skies above us, as well as by reading the Law, a “perfect” and “sure” teacher that “revives” and “makes wise” the heart by stirring it up to awe (that’s what the word “fear” means in this context) and prayers that our words and thoughts be acceptable to the God thus revealed. 

The Gospel reading is Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ first public sermon. He reads from the prophet Isaiah, like Ezra reading from the book of the Law.   But importantly, he picks and chooses what he reads.  He quotes from Isaiah 61, beginning

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,” 

So far, so good, at least in the translation of Isaiah that Luke is using in writing up the scene.  But then, instead of the next line, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,” Jesus ends the reading by throwing in a line from another part of Isaiah (58:6) and saying: 

to send out into freedom those once downtrodden,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

He deliberately deletes Second Isaiah’s reference to “the Day of Vengeance of our God” and replaces it with a line from Second Isaiah’s great song about what true worship is:

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to send out into freedom those once downtrodden,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
 (Isaiah 56:5-7)

Jesus applies this doctored passage to himself, to the present day of him and his listeners, and thus announces his mission.    By deleting the reference to the Day of Vengeance, Jesus marks a distinction between his message of Good News, hope and forgiveness, with John the Baptist’s more fear-inducing focus on the need to repent before the coming Day of Doom.    Jesus is to break the bonds, and then send out those who were once downtrodden into freedom, as sent ones, or apostles, with his message of liberation to others. 

We will read of the congregation’s reaction to Jesus’ sermon next week.  But the bit of the story we read today tells us that Jesus’ mission is to bring joy not fear, hope not despair, continued relationship, not judging others and giving up on them. Jesus’ ministry and message was and is one of joyous gratitude, one of Good News. 

In today’s epistle reading, Paul likens the church to a body with all sorts of different body parts.   The very diversity of the body’s different parts is a good thing, and makes the body strong.   Paul calls on us to get along, and to value and respect—even honor—diversity.   “Let not one part of the body say to another, ‘I have no need of you!’” 

The news from the Anglican Primates’ Meeting two weeks ago caused hurt here in the Episcopal Church and among others in the Communion who share our understanding of the Gospel’s call to radical inclusion and hospitality.  The story was, quite frankly, misreported by the media, and the news was not as bad as it appeared.  We were not sanctioned or expelled—the primates deliberately eschewed such language.  The consequences flowing from broken trust due to our changing our marriage canons without consultation or apparent consideration of the moral teachings of other provinces in the communion were no worse than anything we had previously suffered in this whole story.    

If we are not willing to suffer for our standing with the marginalized and oppressed, we are not really standing with them at all. 

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s response was basically a call for us to live the Gospel and follow Jesus in this hard situation.  We will continue to follow the Spirit and the clear implication of scripture about Gospel justice and inclusion for our Gay and Lesbian brothers and sisters, even as we continue to engage and walk with our more traditional-minded sisters and brothers in the other provinces. 

You see, there is no such thing as “The Anglican Church” worldwide.  It is a Communion—a coming together of one out of many: together, one.  The very idea involves a tension:  “together” implies many, “one” implies a sharing.  We are autocephalous, or self-governing, churches, united in bonds of affection and shared origins.  And the primates decided to continue to walk together, despite differences, because none of us should say “I have no need of you!” 

As St. Paul in this passage notes, the key here in healthy community life in the Church is grounding ourselves in Christ.  It demands not just toleration—holding our noses and putting up with others’ habits and ideas that are not so attractive to us—but also truly honoring each other.  It also means continuing to engage with those with whom we are in relation even when it hurts. 

Let us not give up on each other!  Let us not say, “I have no need of you!”  Let us focus on being heralds of Jesus’ Good News—of liberation, healing, reconciliation, and love.   Let us work to set the captives free and break every chain that ties us down and holds us back.  Let us honor and respect all our fellow human beings, especially those closest to us—be it spouse, family, parish, church, or communion—and  embrace the glorious diversity that God created us for. 

In the Name of God, Amen.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Tony, for this. And man, did I read Nehemiah differently! I read your sermon aloud to Kathleen--always helpful to me, hearing it voiced. I only wish I could have heard YOUR voice, rather than my own!

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