- Micah 6:1-8
- 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
- Matthew 5:1-12
- Psalm 15
"He has told you,
O mortal,
What is good,
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice,
To love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God"...
O mortal,
What is good,
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice,
To love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God"...
This is what the Lord
requires of us. Jesus tells us today we are to be those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness. And in Scripture, it
is clear that righteousness means being aligned with God. Following God’s law
as God intended, this is how we are to know wholeness, how we can be filled, be
satisfied, experience peace and Shalom.
And let’s be honest. It
doesn’t look much like anything else we see around us. Because all around us, we often see the
opposite of the Gospel. We hear the opposite of the Gospel. We are invited to
take part in the opposite of the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus Christ compels
us to move and act from our common humanity with one another rather than as a
reaction to our differences. The life
and ministry of Jesus calls us to acts of compassion and mercy instead of acts
of division and self-preservation.
And those of us who hunger
and thirst for righteousness, we who are the church, we cannot control what the
world chooses. We cannot control what our neighbor chooses. We cannot control
how our governmental leaders live and move and act in the world. But, like Jesus, as one human living among
the beautiful and diverse mosaic of humanity, we can control how we live and
move. We can control how we enact and manifest God’s Kingdom through our
actions, our words, our choices and responses.
So when we hear and see the opposite of the Good News, as today’s
prophets and ministers of the Good News, we must be willing to point to the
Truth. The Word. The life-giving, life-saving love of God.
And beloved, God isn’t
interested in America First or Belgium First or China First. In fact, that nationalistic notion goes
against the message of the Gospel. God
doesn’t look on this earth and see borders and boundaries. God sees a Creation
designed as a home for the Kingdom---and not just any Kingdom---but God’s
Kingdom, God’s dream, God’s people. Where all are equally deserving of having
enough, all are equally deserving of experiencing freedom from oppression.
God’s Kingdom where the alien is treated as a citizen, the hungry are fed, the
homeless are sheltered and the lonely are welcomed. As Fr. James Martin reminds us this week: “It
is Christ whom we turn away when we build walls.” Whatever we do for the least
of these.
And beloved, this isn’t about
politics. This is the Gospel. The Gospel
should shape our politics because the Gospel, the Word, the Christ named Jesus
is our exemplar. At least, this is what we confess and what we pray. And if we truly desire to follow Jesus, then
we dedicate ourselves to become those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
I see this happening here at
Intercession Episcopal. Our leaders put forth a vision of moving beyond our
walls in order to build connections with those who currently do not find
themselves within the “borders of faith.”
We have called forth, empowered and equipped a team of missioners to go
and build relationships with our neighbors, to extend God’s table of mercy,
grace and fellowship out into our wider community. And they in turn, invite
us—as fellow missioners---to join them as we seek to love God by loving our
neighbor. Loving our neighbor by listening and hearing their stories. Seeing
the face of Christ as we look into their eyes. Loving them by simply being with
them, listening and loving them. And by listening, learning what gifts our
neighbors have, what riches they bring to the table, that we so desperately need.
For, as followers of the Good
News, as those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, we know that when our
sister or brother is strengthened, we too are strengthened. We know there is no
them or they---there is only us.
Let me tell you a story about
the Warming Shelter hosted here at Intercession and run by Evergreen Community
Initiatives. I was volunteering on Thanksgiving night—well early the next
morning if truth be told—and one guest was having a hard time sleeping because
he had a terrible cold---coughing, struggling to breath deeply, to get
comfortable. A few weeks later, one of
the Evergreen staff told me there might be an ambulance coming that night
because the man with the cold was refusing to go to the doctor and he was
getting worse and worse. Through a
variety of events, he did end up going to the hospital that night, but not by
ambulance, and not a moment too soon. His
oxygen intake was so low that they immediately intubated him. He was in the
hospital for several days. I am happy to
say that he is doing much better.
I saw him last week when one
of our Missioners, Jodi Otto, along with several volunteer missioners, extended
our table by making and sharing breakfast with the Warming Shelter guests and
volunteers last Saturday. The man who
had been so desperately ill was there and in fine spirits, enjoying the food and
conversation. As I shared coffee with him, he told me he had
something for me---and something for the person who organized the meal. He gave
me and Jodi a box of chocolates he had bought on clearance at Walgreens. Something
he had bought and put away for himself, but instead, shared it with us. The
widow and her mite. An act of sacrificial love and thanksgiving.
Beloved, I also see
Intercession Episcopal embracing the Good News by realizing we are called to
unity with our Lutheran brothers and sisters. That by making room for one
another, by striving to live together in the midst of our differences, we are
becoming more of whom God calls us to be---the Living Body of Christ made up of
many parts, many people, many stripes and colors—that diversity is our
identifying and reinforcing characteristic, not uniformity.
We are on a tremendous
journey. It is challenging, it is risky, it is demanding, but we were made for
this. And that which feels as if it is beyond our capabilities, we can be
assured God will provide-----provide what is needed to continue moving forward,
to flourish and thrive. This is our hope. Hope is not optimism. Hope stands on
the firm ground of conviction. Our
conviction is Christ and the life we see and follow in Jesus.
This is not something that
can be done halfway. It is a life that must be lived wholeheartedly. Recently, I was having a discussion with
someone about a controversial topic and he said: Why do you have to bring the
Church into it? I didn't say anything in
response at the time. But as I thought about it, I realized a truth that I had
never really claimed for myself before: Whatever I do—whether I am discussing
something with someone or serving someone or loving someone or ignoring someone
or complaining about someone or being angry about something----I bring the
church into it. Because I am the Church. At all times. It is my first identity;
it is who I am. There is never any time I am not the Church for I am always a
living member of the Body of Christ. It isn’t a set of clothes I can take off
or a uniform I can hang in the closet or a door I can close and retreat to my
other life, my other world. In every moment of every day, I am the Church. I am
always a piece of that beautiful mosaic of Jesus. And beloved, so are you.
So, let us rejoice! We are on a journey of Gospel proportions,
with Gospel implications, and Gospel realities. We are living the Paschal
mystery of Jesus---the mystery of sacrificial love bringing freedom, the
mystery of surrender providing strength, the mystery of death bringing forth
new life. Let us give thanks and rejoice. We are One just as the Trinity is
One. One with God, with Jesus, with the Spirit. One with our neighbor, our
enemy, our friend and our stranger.
"He has told you,
O mortal,
What is good,
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice,
To love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God"
O mortal,
What is good,
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice,
To love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God"
No comments:
Post a Comment