No Divisions Among Us! What?

No Divisions Among Us! What? 

I have been thinking a great deal about the Church, the People of God and our Country.  There are overlaps between these three groups but they are not necessarily the same.  In preparing to preach on the Third Sunday of the Epiphany I spent some time wandering around in 1 Corinthians 1 and in Matthew 4.  I want to use these two scriptures from the Christian Bible as a foundation for my reflections on “life as we know it,” in the church and in our nation. 

“Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^* by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose”(1 Cor. 1:10).  St. Paul is kidding, right?  After spending more time with this passage I concluded that what he is talking about is not the details of our faith, or even the details of the political reality of his time or ours.  What Paul is talking about is that we be united in “the same mind and purpose.”   

That purpose is not to think the same theologically or politically, to be baptized in the same way with the same amount of water, or to agree as to whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only or from the Father and the Son.  No, that purpose is to be united in bringing the good news of Jesus and of God’s Kingdom to the world.  

But, what does this mean?  Does it mean that all of God’s children have to “accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior?  Does it mean that we have to understand the Bible, or even Jesus in the same way as every other Christian?  Perhaps, looking at Matthew 4:12-23 will shed some light on these questions.   It may even broaden the possibilities of just who might be included in the Kingdom of God.

“12 Now when Jesus^* heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.’ ¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’^*” 

Apparently Jesus began to move around in areas that were not all Jewish, that included “the Gentiles.”  Perhaps this is Matthew’s way of saying the same thing John wrote in Chapter 3 of that Gospel: 17 ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  Jesus appears to be proclaiming a message of the Kingdom of God to Jews and Gentiles alike.  Jesus goes on to proclaim that “the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light.”  We all sit in darkness on occasion.   This may be the darkness of lack of opportunity, or inability to see the Kingdom of God in the world or in our lives, the darkness of depression, confusion, frustration or anger.  The light brought to the world by God’s Kingdom shines on all of these as well as on the darkness of sin.  We in the church sometimes forget this. 

Jesus goes on to call the four fishermen: Peter and Andrew, James and John to help him proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, the good news of health and healing and justice and light in the darkness to all the people they meet.  The Collect for the Third Sunday of Epiphany in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer echoes this call and extends it to us in our day.  “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ to proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world my perceive His glory in His Marvelous works”(BCP, p. 215). 

It is my sense that this Gospel from Matthew at least opens up the possibility of the Universality of God’s Kingdom.  That the light is intended for all people and that perhaps this understanding can get us past the “unhappy divisions St. Paul talks about.  What really matters to most of us is the way we treat people.   

“Sadly, within Christendom, many are taught the exact opposite: that doctrines, traditions, theologies, and distinct beliefs are the only things that do matter.  This is what separates churches, denominations, theologians and those who are saved or unsaved.  Historically Christians have been tempted to categorize the Bible into various beliefs that are either, inspired or heretical, good or bad, right or wrong, with no room for doubt or questions or uncertainty. What matters to me is: when I am sick you bring me a meal, I don’t care whether you are Calvinist or Arian; when you help my grandmother carry heavy load of groceries, I don’t care what you believe about evolution.  (Feel free to add your own issues here.)  What matters to me is that you love me and others in deep and meaningful and authentic ways.  Nothing else really matters” (from a Facebook Post) 

I suspect this just might be the reason God sent Jesus into the World.

Hope and Promise

Hope and Promise 

For those of us who are people of faith, people who believe that God, or a Higher Power, cares about what happens in this world and inspires us to do something about it, hope and promise are a key to our existence and to our relationships with all people.  We live in a world in which “bad things happen to good people,” and just as certainly, “good things happen to bad people.”  At the same time we see and experience a life that is also filled with joy, love, and life giving relationships.  In short, we have faith that life is a journey filled with hope and promise for all. 

The fifth century BCE Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah proclaimed this hope to the people of Israel at a time of exile when they saw and experienced very little hope or even the promise of hope. 

“A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. . . .The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. . . . He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. . . .

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. “(Isaiah 11:1-9) 

The first time I heard this scripture, I was around six years old, standing on my front porch with my mother and father, listening to a nice man share with us what the Kingdom of God could and would look like.  I found out later that the man was a Jehovah’s Witness and that they, in fact, spent a lot of time knocking on doors and sharing their message.  God uses us all to touch people in ways we may never know or recognize.  My Dad had served in the Second World War and we were in the middle of “The Cold War,” and for a six year old, this message of peace, promise and hope was nothing less than a miracle. 

Sixty years later (as of this past Tuesday, but who’s counting), the world is still torn by “wars and rumors of wars.”   With politics and civil debate in this country more hostile than ever, with everyone believing their side is right and the other wrong, it is time to open our eyes and ears, to hear and see this message again and to hear and see others, all others, whether we agree with them or not, and for us to find this long awaited hope and promise.  Righteousness wins! 

Several years ago, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa wrote a book, No Hope Without Forgiveness, in which he described his work with the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” after the end of Apartheid in that country.  Apologies for horrendous acts were made by the perpetrators and accepted by the victims or by their families in the case of the many murders that had taken place.  Very few people in the world gave this effort much hope for success. Thankfully most of the world was to be proven wrong.  This may well be one of the greatest examples of hope and promise that has taken place in our world to date.  “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” 

If this can happen in South Africa, it can happen in nuclear negations between the West and Iran.  It can happen in negations with Israel and Palestine, and it can even happen in negations between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.  After all, as Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazines states, “God is not a Democrat or a Republican.”  Some may suggest that this is naïve, but lots of people suggested that Desmond Tutu was naïve as well.   

What can you and I do to help bring about this hope and promise?  We can read, study and stay informed about history as well as current events.  We can assume, rightly or wrongly, that those with whom we disagree are as diligent as we in staying informed.  We can acknowledge that we do not have all the truth or all the answers and admit that we may even be wrong, and we can engage in dialogue with others, preferable in conversation rather than on social media.  I have discovered, the hard way, that throwing Facebook posts at each other is not really a conversation, changes no one, and often passes on opinion, incorrect information and closes down any real, and dare I say, intelligent conversation.  And just as an aside, it would probably be good to refrain from calling any of our nation’s leaders Fascists or Communists or Satan or Idiots (feel free to add your own list of unhelpful epithets. 

So; hope, promise, new beginnings, knowledge and honest, open conversation.  Do we believe this? Do we believe it will bring about change in our world?  Isaiah did, Desmond Tutu certainly did.  This might just be a time for us to join with all that is Holy and bring about “Peace on Earth and good will to those whom God favors.”

 

 

 

2014, A Vision Of Hope

2014, A Vision Of Hope 

My birthday, actually the day after, seems to be a good time to look at the New Year from the perspective of a member of the human race, the people of God.  As 2013 came to an end I reflected on the joy brought to me by my relationships with others, on the good things that happened to me and to others in our country and the world, and on the horrors that still continue to plague a world and a nation in which many of us have recently celebrated the birth of the One we call the “Prince of Peace.”   

Most frustrating for me has been the postings of internet “sound bites” which may are may not be true, and the angry responses of those who take exception with the postings, myself included.  What is sad and damaging about this is that most of the people who post and respond are “people whom God favors” and loves.  Friendships have been destroyed, communication has been broken, and the ability to hear the truth in the words and beliefs of another no longer exists for many people in our nation.  Therefore, before we look at hopes for the New Year, I want to suggest a way in which this might be done that is more productive than what we have been doing. 

How fortunate, then, that Fr. Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation for my birth day, January 7, gives us a place to begin. 

"What the. . . .Yes, And approach allows you to do, quite frankly, is to be non-reactionary and non-rebellious.  You do not need to prove that your statement is the last and finalstatement, which is what the ego always wants to do.  Rather, you just ask others to consider it.  

Abelard and Lombard laid the foundations for what we call Scholastic philosophy. When Scholastic philosophy was at its best (in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries), the development of an idea proceeded by what the great teachers called the questio (Latin, “to seek”).  Our English word “quest” may come from that understanding.  The systematic asking of questions opened up wonder and encouraged spiritual curiosity

by drawing out pros and cons for answers to the question, thus refining the question itself instead of just looking for the perfect answer.  

Unfortunately, in later centuries this practice degenerated to needing answers, and preferably certain answers.  We moved from wondering to answering, which has not served us well at all.  This need to be right reached its nadir in what we today call fundamentalism, common in almost all religions, and in most political discourse today." (Richard Rohr, January 7 Meditation) 

With these reflections from Richard Rohr as a foundation, I invite you to walk with me into the New Year, with all its hopes, dreams, dangers and opportunities.  Can we hope that our political system will magically correct itself and that everyone will “love one another?”  No, but we can hope and pray that our representatives can learn the lessons that Rohr shared with us in today’s meditation, and listen and look for truth where it might be found, and learn from each other.  And we can definitely not follow in their footsteps if they do not change.  We can treat one another and one another’s beliefs with respect and honor.  I would suggest that part of this will mean being very, very careful about things we post on Facebook or the internet.  We must research the “sound bites” we post to make sure they are true, and when we do post something, make sure that it is something that can be read and discussed and thought about, and not just a “sound bite.”  I will go as far as to suggest, even as much as I love Rachael Maddow, that we refrain from watching cable news and talk radio, that we read more and talk to one another more with the purpose of learning rather than “being right.” 

We live in an exciting and very complicated world.  The world economy will continue to become more and more globalized, regardless of which Party is in congress or the White House.  Factors such as cost of labor, technology, lobbyists and lots and lots of money floating around will continue to affect our lives and our economy just as much and sometimes more than our government and political parties do. 

What is important in the New Year?  Certainly Health Care and the high cost of health care will continue to affect us all.  I believe that health care costs will continue to rise whether “Obamacare” is successful or not.  I recommend: that we strive to make it successful, keeping the parts that work and changing or doing away with the parts that do not.  This will have to be a bi-partisans effort,  looking to define the question and find the answer rather than trying to be right or get re-elected. 

The deficit and continuing to reduce it is important, believe it or not, to both parties.  As this is done, it will be by establishing just taxes for all and fair and meaningful budget cuts, while maintaining appropriate social safety nets to protect the elderly, the poor, the unemployed and the truly disabled.  One obvious part of deficit reduction is the creation of new jobs to replace those lost to the recession of 2008, technology and the global economy. 

Lastly, for the purposes of this essay, is Immigration Reform.  The Senate has reached what appears to be a good compromise, not perfect, as no compromise can be, but a beginning.  It is up to the House now, to work with the Senate to make this happen.  Again, if we who are not in Washington can respect one another and hear one another, then perhaps we can encourage our representatives to do the same.  Two points to consider: one, we are a nation of Immigrants, and two, immigration today is very much a result of the global economy. 

Living on a planet of seven billion people is complicated, especially when the natural resources of that planet have been shrinking at the same time as the population continues to grow, and more nations are using them in greater amounts.  But, we have a nation and a world filled with very intelligent and creative people who have the ability to Look at the world and say, as Bobby Kennedy did forty years ago, “there are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why...I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? 

I invite all of you to join me in this Vision of Hope