|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Ezekiel 33:7–11 |
Psalm 119:33–40 |
Romans 13:8-14 |
Matthew 18:15–20 |
A few months ago, Rotary International held its world convention in Chicago, celebrating 100 years of the service club. Thousands of Rotarians throughout the world attended and the city of Chicago was a gracious host.
One of the things that disturbs me the most in the tragic aftermath of Katrina is that I suspect that if the Rotary Convention had been in New Orleans at the time of the hurricane and had been evacuated to the Convention Center, water, food, and transportation would have arrived days sooner to rescue them. Of course, most Rotarians are influential and leaders in their communities and are not poor or considered a marginal labor force.
The Biblical tradition makes no distinction between the influential and the poor. Indeed there is a lot more emphasis on the morality of human justice and the abuse of power and wealth than the sins of human sexuality. Indeed if our society concentrated more on the Biblical emphasis of ensuring justice, problems involving sexual immorality might be considerably lessened.
There are times that Jesus really upsets his disciples and throws out disturbing questions in the midst of communities and synagogues he visited. Jesus would not have hesitated to bring up the terrible conditions in the New Orleans Convention Center and asked some upsetting questions or made tough comments.
John the Evangelist reports that a turning point of Jesus' ministry in Galilee occurred when some would-be disciples complained about some difficulties with Jesus preaching. "After Jesus had said these things, some of his disciples said, 'Master these are hard sayings', and they left and no longer went with him."
Of course any particular saying of Jesus or any specific Bible passage for that matter, can be taken out of context, and distort the Good News beyond recognition. On the other hand, it is dishonest to dismiss the portions of the Gospel that pinch us. A Gospel which fits perfectly into our own lives and plans without reproach is a false Gospel,
The people of God are those who let the Biblical phrases and ancient understandings of the Word resonate in their hearts and who struggle with connecting the resonance of the Gospel with their life today. Like Jesus we are called to raise and consider the disturbing questions of how people are treated, especially the most vulnerable.
On the first leg of our summer vacation, we visited the large farm property in Hancock, Massachusetts. Situated in an expansive valley of the Berkshire Mountains it was a major community of Shakers for over a century and a half. The Shakers were a communal sect who understood their existence in terms of glorifying and worshipping God and following the demands of the Gospel. All that they did was to point to the purity and glory and goodness of God. They had an exemplary dairy farm. Some made furniture and because cabinetmaking was seen as a way of praising God, every piece of furniture was made as perfect as possible. Joints fitted evenly, the backs of cabinets were finished as carefully as the front, and the designs were neat and clean. They mixed paint, formulated to last for decades. They invented gadgets and machines, to show forth the graciousness and ingenuity of God's creation. They are credited with making the first manufactured flat broom. They were wonderful neighbors, taking in orphans and welcoming whole families who just needed a place for the winter; they opened their schools to those in their neighborhood. In their business dealings they were scrupulously honest and straightforward, for any other way would disgrace God.
Now the Shakers never rigidly followed an ideology or felt bound by tradition. They eagerly embraced and even tried to improve upon many modern advances of technology and agriculture. They were usually the first to wire their dwellings with electricity and phones. They loved fast automobiles and even heated their garages. That was O.K., as long as God came first.
The Shakers never saw themselves as upholders of society's values; their communal system and the practice of strict separation of the sexes were extremely radical, yet their love for children, their concern for the welfare of their neighbors, their honesty and integrity became legendary. Because loving God meant loving one's neighbor.
Visitors today whimsically admire their quaint simplicity and their craftsmanship, but I wonder how many understand that the Shakers set out not to live a quaint life, but above all else, to live a Holy Life; not to be inventors and craftsmen, but to be responsible stewards of God's earth; not to be admired for their joy and quiet piety, but to worship God and be open to where the Holy Spirit was leading them as best they could; not to be better than others, but to be disciples rather than simply admirers of the Gospel from a far.
What would the Shakers like on their tombstones? That they made good chairs? That they invented the modern broom? Hardly! Rather, that through the example of their community life and labor, God was glorified and a vision of the Gospel was realized and witnessed.
At this point in our national life, struggling with the hard questions that are raised by the Gospel seems especially necessary. They also help clarify what we might want on our tombstones. They help us evaluate the stuff the world wants us to buy into. If you think Jesus gives disturbing questions or raises controversial issues, listen to what the world dishes out. Not so many years ago, a CEO of a major corporation remarked, "What I want to see above all, is that this country remains a country where someone can always get rich. That's the one thing we have and that must be preserved." Like any quote, that can be taken out of context and distorted, too, yet it is reasonably easy to sense what was meant. Take a minute to think about that. Would you like your tombstone to read, "Here lies someone who above all else, got rich"? Is that what you want your grandchildren to remember about you, that you finally got rich? That you amassed more than your college classmate or your sibling? Don't chuckle, for I would suggest that thousands play the lottery weekly precisely in the hope of getting richer than everyone else.
Jesus' hard questions challenge us to take the pursuit of a Holy Life seriously; call us to struggle with connecting our life and work with a vision of a new world; and call us to ask the meaning of Jesus' words. At the heart of it, it is precisely because of the hard questions the Gospel raises that we are here today, to give thanks and offer praise, to be strengthened to live as disciples, and to take the hope of the Gospel into the world.
And
I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
