Living into our Baptismal Covenant

A sermon delivered to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church
Sunday August 18th, 2019

Let us for a moment transport ourselves back to the United States of the 1950 & 60’s.  It is the height of the civil rights movement.  There is unrest in many parts of the country.  The country is divided over issues of a person’s race.  The Episcopal Church stands by its policy of separate but equal allowing for the segregation of worship spaces to continue.  Eventually in late 1959, an organization “The Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity” was formed.  Their purpose was to dismantle racial divides inside and outside the church.  At the time, a young seminarian, Jonathon Myrick Daniels, heard the words of Isaiah and responded with, here I am send me.  Jonathan, traveled to Selma Alabama and worked for racial justice in the United States.  He listened to the words of Jesus and ultimately gave his life to the cause.  Jonathon Myrick Daniels was shot and killed shielding Ruby Sales, a young black girl from a deputy sheriff.  

You may be wondering why I bring this story up today?  

How does the 1960’s civil rights movement relate to today’s gospel?  

The reality is that we are once again living in a civil rights movement.  This time the rights are not based upon whether someone is black or white, but rather what nationality you were born.  Before you think I am taking sides on a political issue, let me emphasize, this is not an issue based upon political lines.  This is an issue of our baptismal covenant.  In our baptismal covenant, we promise that we will strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.  This is the issue today, like the civil rights movement of the 1960’s that is dividing households.  father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law, as Jesus says.  I would add to the list Christian against Christian.

Throughout the Gospel of Luke, Jesus announces a new community -- he calls it the kingdom of God -- that is governed not by power but by equity, where all those in need are cared for, where forgiveness is the norm, where the poor are privileged, where wealth is shared rather than hoarded, and where the weak and lonely are honored.  This is the kingdom of God we, as Christians, are called to create in this world.  It is a kingdom where we strive for justice and peace while respecting the dignity of all humanity.  Notice, there is nothing in that kingdom discussing immigration rules, but rather a discussion on the treatment of those immigrants once they are here.  People are free to disagree on the issue of immigration, but as Christians, we cannot do anything but condemn treatment that doesn’t allow dignity for all of humanity.  For Jonathon, his passion as a follower of Christ became the commitment to human equality.  We too are all called to that commitment with Christ as our example.  Following the one who went willingly to his suffering and death, we are given the ability to face, with grace, suffering and even death, knowing that all can be transformed by God. We believe that ever human being has been created uniquely and given a unique call. When we hold to and live by such beliefs, others can feel threatened and even reject us. But that is no grounds to turn away. Rather, it is a challenge of the situation to show the passionate transforming love of God.  Quite simply, commitment to Jesus overrides all other commitments – even to that most basic form of relationship: the family. Even with the most happy, the most congenial of families, a person can hear a distinctive calling, a stand taken in conscience that goes against the others callings and stands generally accepted within that group. In a very real sense, Jesus’ words offer consolation for all in such a situation. Divisions will come – even in the best of families – and we must be prepared for them. Yet in spite of our differences, even divisions, we can still chose to love and to be loving.  Division doesn’t have to mean hate.  I once again refer to Jonathon.

After a protest with the police Jonathon wrote this:

"After a week-long, rain-soaked vigil, we still stood face to face with the Selma police. I stood, for a change, in the front rank, ankle-deep in an enormous puddle. To my immediate right were high school students, for the most part, and further to the right were a swarm of clergymen. My end of the line surged forward at one point, led by a militant Episcopal priest whose temper (as usual) was at combustion-point. Thus I found myself only inches from a young policeman. The air crackled with tension and open hostility. Emma Jean, a sophomore in the Negro high school, called my name from behind. I reached back for her hand to bring her up to the front rank, but she did not see. Again she asked me to come back. My determination had become infectiously savage, and I insisted that she come forward--I would not retreat! Again I reached for her hand and pulled her forward. The young policeman spoke: "You're dragging her through the puddle. You ought to be ashamed for treating a girl like that." Flushing--I had forgotten the puddle--I snarled something at him about whose-fault-it-really-was, that managed to be both defensive and self-righteous. We matched baleful glances and then both looked away. And then came a moment of shattering internal quiet, in which I felt shame, indeed, and a kind of reluctant love for the young policeman. I apologized to Emma Jean. And then it occurred to me to apologize to him and to thank him. Though he looked away in contempt--I was not altogether sure I blamed him--I had received a blessing I would not forget. Before long the kids were singing, "I love ---." One of my friends asked [the young policeman] for his name. His name was Charlie. When we sang for him, he blushed and then smiled in a truly sacramental mixture of embarrassment and pleasure and shyness. Soon the young policeman looked relaxed, we all lit cigarettes (in a couple of instances, from a common match, and small groups of kids and policemen clustered to joke or talk cautiously about the situation."

In the face of a divisive environment, the love of God was still present.  We are once again at a divisive moment.  We are faced with a situation where people no longer treat others with respect and dignity.  We can stand by and watch or we can follow the words of Christ.  We can become examples for a broken society by remembering  our baptismal covenant: persevering in resisting evil, and when we fail, repent and return to the Lord, seeking and serving Christ in all people, loving your neighbor as yourself, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of all human beings.  We have agreed to these in our baptism, now is the time to put them into action.  We must follow the words of Jesus, working to ensure all people are treated  with respect and to stop the injustices in our country and depending upon the circumstances of our lives, that may be a very divisive call.  One that promises no peace at all, except the peace of God.

Amen

Rejected by Jesus

The Golden Girls was a sitcom in the 80’s about 4 women living together in Florida.  It showed their lives in a unique manner.  Each of the woman had their own quirks and intricacies.  They were different and yet the same.  The theme song began with the words, Thank you for being my friend.    As adults we learn that friendship is something that can’t be forced, it occurs organically.  For children it is somewhat different.  I remember being in elementary school and it was common for kids to ask each other, Will you be my friend?  It was a difficult time waiting for the other child to respond.  We hoped that they would answer yes, I will be your friend, but sometimes the answer was no.  We were rejected.  Those are difficult memories to recall.  The feelings were sadness, sorrow, maybe even heartache.  So imagine just how much more difficult it would be to walk up to Jesus and ask to be his follower and be rejected?  Rejected by Jesus?  Just for a second imagine that?  Jesus, the messiah, rejects you as his follower?  It sounds like something that wouldn’t happen, like something out of the twilight zone, and yet in todays gospel reading it doesn’t just happen once.  It happens 3 times!  Three different would be disciples come to Jesus and Jesus says no.  So why?  What are the criteria for being a follower of Jesus? Let’s take a look. 

The first example is easy, the Samaritans want nothing to do with him or his followers as he is looking to Jerusalem which is not where their Holy City was located.  This example is like walking into the Phillies stadium wearing a Mets jersey or an Eagles game wearing a cowboys jersey.  The two groups are just completely incompatible.

The first would be follower says, I will follow you wherever you go.  Sounds reasonable to me.  A disciple of Jesus should understand that Jesus doesn’t stay put.  But then Jesus comes back with his answer, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Really? To make it in modern terms, the man is saying to Jesus, I want to be your groupie, I want to follow you on tour and benefit from your stardom.  It seems Jesus sensed that the follower was looking for an easy life rather than what life as a disciple really entailed.

Jesus then makes an offer for the second person to follow Jesus.  That man asks that he go bury his father first.  And with that response, Jesus responds with friend rejected.  Is burying a family member really that unreasonable?  In traditional Jewish custom it was the responsibility of the family to care for the dead.  Jesus sounds harsh here, and more than a little insensitive. But what he’s trying to say is this: If you want to be my type, you have to focus on life, not death. Put your energy into proclaiming the kingdom of God, not into digging holes for dead bodies. Jesus certainly knows that corpses need to be put in the ground, but he assumes that there are many spiritually dead non-disciples that can do this particular duty. If you want to be a disciple, your focus has to be on the kingdom and nothing else.

The third person comes and says I want to follow, but first let me say my goodbyes.  As people that know the story, we already have some indication about Jesus answer.  When Jesus called James and John sons of Zebedee, they just left their nets on the beach and started following him.  So we can imagine Jesus will say no. But in this instance Jesus says no with a lengthy reason about plowshares.  Now I am no farmer so I had to research this one.  As it turns out, this is what it means: “to look back from the plow (whether to family living or dead) was to risk cutting a crooked or shallow furrow and thus ruining the work altogether! There is no place for looking back or even trying to look in two directions at once (being “two-faced”); rather, would-be disciples must be single-minded in purpose, setting their faces like Jesus on the task at hand.

If Jesus said no to these people, where does that leave us? What might be the things that hold us back from following Jesus?  How do we deal with the issue of personal responsibilities while also facing Jerusalem?

Is Jesus really asking us to forgo comfort, duty and family in order to follow him on the path to the kingdom of God?  If that sounds like a relationship that isn’t very enjoyable, we would probably say, thanks but no thanks.  But that isn’t what He is offering.  Jesus is offering us a life of joy, fulfillment and unconditional love.  He just needs to ensure that we are serious about being in a relationship with him.

Today’s Scripture teaches that happiness will come if we are compatible with Jesus in several important ways. First, we need to share his determination to travel to Jerusalem, and this means seeing our final goal as resurrection life with God. If we end up putting all our passion into places that promise us money or power or fame, then we will find ourselves falling out of relationship with Jesus. It is only by traveling with him to Jerusalem, and moving with him through sacrifice to new life, that we will discover our deepest fulfillment as human beings.

Next Jesus asks us to put our faith in him, rather than in any of the creature comforts of this world. We are challenged to trust Jesus to give our lives meaning and balance and security — not our bank accounts, pension funds, media rooms, luxury sedans, hot tubs or high-speed Internet connections.

One of the shocking discoveries of life in the 21st century is that true satisfaction doesn’t come through a high standard of living and an endless array of attractive luxury items. Many of us thought it would, but it doesn’t. Instead, inner peace comes through a life that has meaning — meaning that can be found by following Jesus.

Finally, we are challenged to look ahead, not back. It is so tempting to gaze to the past and wonder why our lives turned out the way they did, so easy to second-guess ourselves and play “what-if” games with the choices we have made.

In the examples provided in today’s reading, we are shown what it takes to enter into a relationship with Christ.  Jesus is asking us to not look back but rather to focus our eyes forward on the everlasting life that God has promised us through Jesus Christ.  Each week as we gather around the altar to receive the Eucharist, we look forward by remembering the gifts given to us as disciples of Christ.  In the sacrament, we reinforce our lifelong and eternal relationship with God, a relationship where we will never be rejected by Jesus, but rather Jesus extends his hand saying, Thank you for being my friend and follower.

Keep your fork

Keep your Fork, The Best is yet to come

It’s hard to imagine a world where today’s commandment from Jesus is followed and lived out.  Love one another as I have loved you.  All we have to do is turn on the TV or open an internet browser and we are reminded that we live in a broken world – one that does not conform to Jesus commandment.  The brokenness of this world breaks into our lives on a regular basis.  Most likely, we all know someone that has been affected by addiction, violence, hatred, or suicide.  Brokenness surrounds us.

Yet, Jesus, when he spoke those words, was not aware of our world.  When he spoke those words, it was Maunday Thursday, he was celebrating a meal surrounded by his apostles.  The passage takes place right after Judas leaves to betray Jesus and before Jesus tells Peter you will deny me three times.  Jesus himself was surrounded by brokenness: brokenness in his world, brokenness among God’s people and even among his group of followers. 

In the midst of the turmoil surrounding him, Jesus still tells his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”  At that moment, the disciples can’t even begin to understand the magnitude of those words.  Shortly, they will see what that love looks like.  Words of forgiveness to those who put him to death, words of assurance to a criminal crucified by his side.  Even words of restoration to Peter, who is given 3 opportunities to profess his love for Jesus.  But most importantly, Jesus willingness to give even life itself in order that they and we might come to know a life with God. 

   

That is the type of Love that Jesus commands his followers to offer and 2000 years later, we are still struggling to come to terms with that commandment.  We look for caveats to get out of loving one another.  That person isn’t worthy of love, that person does things against scripture, that person..  In reading what Jesus said, there is no BUT, there is no unless.  There are no conditions on the love Jesus calls us to offer to one another.  It is just love.

While we are making strides to obey his commandment.  We haven’t gotten fully.   There are still tears, pain, suffering.  Rather than offering the love of Christ to each other, giving of ourselves for the other, this world still has animosity, apathy, and ill-will.

Some people find it difficult to comprehend the love that Jesus spoke of.  And to further complicate that love, we have the reading from Revelation this morning.   Where the writer hears a voice saying, “God will wipe every tear from their eye, Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”  Isn’t the writer in his passage talking about a time when Jesus commandment is fullfilled?

Let me tell you a story:

There was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. So as as she was getting her things “in order,” she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also requested to be buried with her favourite Bible. Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her.

“There’s one more thing,” she excitedly.

“What’s that?” came the pastor’s reply.

“This is very important,” the woman continued. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”

The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked.

“Well, to be honest, I’m puzzled by the request,” said the pastor.

The woman explained. “In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners I always remember that when the dishes were cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming… like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful and of substance! So I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder, ‘What’s with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them: ‘Keep your fork… the best is yet to come.

The fork is a sign of what Revelation is talking about.  There is a new heaven and a new earth as the old has passed away.  Chaos is no more.  God has come to live among the mortals.  The peace of the Garden of Eden has returned.  The reading lets us know that Jesus death and resurrection signal that the brokenness, heartache and disappointment that we sometimes experience in this world do not get the last word.  Our death is now simply a doorway into God’s glorious presence.   Jesus commandment of love will be fulfilled.   

For now, as we continue to work toward living into Jesus command, we have to work at seeing that time when possible.  For Christians, we that love here in this place, where God definitely dwells with God’s people, in the word and sacraments.  For they are a foretaste of the joy, we will encounter after our deaths.  Currently there is mourning, crying and pain, but our faith knows that even now all things are being made new, and so therefore we must keep our forks because the best is yet to come.

The holy intimacy of a relationship based on love.

Jesus does something extraordinarily simple and yet profound in our gospel reading tonight.  Jesus gets up from the table, wraps a towel around his waist, and begins to wash the disciples feet.  I’m not sure about you, but other than my own feet and the feet of my son, I had never washed anyone else’s feet until I came to a service on Maunday Thursday.  I remember attending the first service, watching as people came forward and both washed and had their feet washed.  Sitting in my seat, I swore I would never allow someone to wash my feet.  Feet are a very private intimate part of our bodies, something we cover up when we are in public.  And yet, here was a whole group of people exposing their feet and allowing a stranger to touch and wash them.  I wondered what was I missing?  What would allow someone to become so vulnerable as to expose their feet? 

It wasn’t until I saw a movie called The Second Chance, that I finally understood the significance of Jesus foot washing.  In the movie, the main character is a pastor of an inner-city church with lots of neighborhood issues.  He feels that he is too good to be their pastor.  In the pivotal scene, he realizes his error and gets down and washes the feet of the church janitor, a man that is learning disabled.  The janitor protests while the pastor cries.  The pastor had finally realized his wrongs. I was in tears watching it.  The importance of foot washing finally dawned on me. 

NT Wright describes it like this:

nothing could have prepared me for the sense of holy intimacy that went with the simple but profound action of washing other people’s feet. Feet are very basic things: not pretty, not ugly, just basic. Down to earth, you might say. Washing them is both very mundane (we all have to wash our feet, and we do it so regularly we hardly think about it) and very close and personal. Washing between someone else’s toes is an intimate action. It is a moment of tenderness^[1]

The holy intimacy of a relationship based on love.

Last year, as my mother lie unconscious and dying, I found myself sitting at the foot of her bed massaging her feet.  It was something I did unconsciously. An act of love for a woman that had given so much of herself to our family.  Rubbing her feet was an act of love and intimacy for someone that had nothing she was able to give back.  It was the final loving l act I could provide her. 

In many ways, Jesus washing the disciples feet was also his final act of love.  Tonight, we remind ourselves that it is his grace and love which unites us one to another and into the family of God. It is his love which binds us forever. It is our work to follow his example, to get down on our knees as servants, to let go of ourselves and our egos, and to become vulnerable for and to Christ. 

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^[1] Tom Wright, John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 42–43.