May the God of peace hold me by my right hand and guide me, Who is a Shepherd to shepherds and a Guide to guides; In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Good morning! Hi! I’m the new guy! As such, I want to thank the community at the Church of the Redeemer for welcoming Beka and me into your fold. You guys have been really great, and we have been absolutely overwhelmed by your gracious hospitality, your generous spirit, and your patience with my near-constant stream of liturgical gaffes. Sorry Father Fred.
And while the memories are fresh, I wanted to say a couple things about the Junior and Senior mission trips. First, you should know, as if you didn’t already, that all, and I mean every, to a person, without equivocation, without hesitation, all of our kids did an amazing job. I am so proud of them; whether it was painting a house a crazy blue in the middle of the tropical summer, or weeding through rows of potato plants in the rain, our kids showed a ton of grit. And beyond that, they were really fun to be around. I couldn’t be more humbled to have the opportunity to be with them.
The second thing I’d like to say about the trips, with many thanks to the truly great chaperone team, is how much I enjoyed working with Chris Wood. Here is a man that is a truly gifted young minister, not to mention a great husband and father. I can see why the parish community is going to miss him, because I will too. But, by the Church of the Redeemer letting go of one of her own, she gifts the wider church with someone who is really going to bring his A-game to the priesthood. And as someone who is excited to be his brother priest one day, I can’t wait to see where God takes him and his family as they respond in faithfulness to His call on their lives.
Which is to say, have fun this winter in Wisconsin. Don’t forget to buy a snow brush. You’ll be in my prayers.
Now let’s talk about the Bible. You know, it’s kind of crazy that I pulled the Gospel lesson we heard today. You see, one of the guys on the Asheville trip was asking some pretty insightful questions one night, one of them being:
“Jesus said we have to love our enemies right?”
To which I responded:
“Yeah, he said that.” Profound answer, I know. Did I mention I went to seminary?
Anyway, his next comment carried the wisdom of the ages. He simply said:
“But that’s really hard.”
And he’s right isn’t he? It is really hard to love our enemies. And there’s a few things about Jesus’ instruction in the fifth chapter of Matthew that make it even more intimidating. For example, this teaching is in the greatest sermon ever preached by the best preacher there ever was: the Sermon on the Mount. This is one of the longest sets of instructions that Our Lord gave to the disciples, and man is it a doozy. You see, Jesus has this way of saying something like: you know that thing you aren’t supposed to do? That thing that the law prohibits? That’s nice and all, but it’s really just the start. Jesus has his followers get at the root of the issue, doesn’t he? I mean, we tend to think that murder equals real bad. But Jesus teaches that murder is too far down the line; his followers shouldn’t even insult each other. And of course, there is that whole eyeball ripping out thing in verse 29. Which seems a little strong, but then, a wandering eye is kind of a big deal.
What I’m getting at with all this is that throughout the sermon on the mount, as well other parts of his teachings, Jesus is about getting his disciples to focus on what some of the moral background of the law and commandments: murder begins with anger, adultery with that wandering eye, and so on. By the time we get to “love your enemy and pray for those that persecute you,” we are seeing the root of that command as “love your neighbor.” And this is where Jesus pulls out the theological big guns as far as I’m concerned because he tasks his followers with learning to love as God does, which is really, really, getting behind the scenes of the commandments.
So if we are to love our enemies and persecutors, using the same divine rationale that God uses in sending the sunshine on the good and the bad, and allowing the rain to fall and the just and the unjust, we are kind of in this bind that my young friend described before: it is hard to think like God; it seems insurmountable that we could be, as Jesus tells us in verse 48, to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect.
But what if we heard that seemingly impossible command not simply as an ought to; but as a promise, as a get to? Here’s what I’m thinking: If it is central to the Gospel message that God became man in Jesus, it’s possible that the implications of that happening is that we can become more like God. And, luckily for us, we have been given a means by which we can participate in that Godliness and we do that every Sunday. You see, by faith and by partaking in the mysteries of the Holy Eucharist, we can move towards that goal of seeing people more like God sees us; treating them more like God treats us. That is, with generosity, blessing, grace, patience, and forbearance. Put shortly, by faith, in Christ, we can be good.
With all that in mind, and since it is patriotic Sunday, I thought I’d make a loving, if critical suggestion about the country in which we live. There are times, when it seems like we as Americans have trouble with the loving our enemies as our neighbors thing. The reasons are often complex, and those complexities in the American situation can breed cynicism, and sometimes a rationalization for our treatment of one another. But I think that when people take seriously the teachings of Jesus, especially the ones I was just prattling on about it, that’s what makes this country great. When we as Christians and as Americans hold up the standard of the kind of love-in-action that Jesus calls us to, think of what are capable of; think of all we have accomplished. Now, I am being intentionally vague here, because I want to speak to a diversity of opinions here. And the fact that I want to, and can, speak to a diversity of opinions is one of the things that is cool about a church like ours in a country like ours. So this week, let’s take the opportunity to count our blessings, for our freedoms especially. But let us also take stock of our opportunities to love, not only with the neighbors that we have an affection for, but with those with whom we have our differences.
Thank you for listening. I’m looking forward to getting to know you guys.
Keep each other in your prayers
