Proper 7-A (6/22/08)    
Gen 21:8-11; Rom 6:1-11; Mt 10:24-39

Parish Church of Christ the King, Oshtemo                            Fr. Joseph Neiman

Theme: “So do not be afraid; you are of more value than sparrows” (Mt 10:31)

What are we to make of these disparate and challenging sayings of Jesus which are presented to us today in the Gospel narrative? I know one thing for sure, the angel that has charge of counting the hairs on my head has a declining job!

We are in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew. Last week we heard Matthew tell us that Jesus taught: “ ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Mt 10:16).This section today stresses that the disciples and us are sent out to share in Christ’s mission and ministry in the world, and we can expect to encounter discord and suffering as a result of what we are “to proclaim from the housetops,” even in our own families.

When I say this to you, I would not be at all surprise that some of you just shut off your ears thinking this is the same old stuff: nice pious teaching about what we should do, but what is basically irrelevant to normal life, and certainly contrary to family values. We think this in our generation because we have separated religion from life, we see believing in the words and deeds of Jesus as something that is good to do, but certainly not at the core of our lives, and not something we should be talking about to others.  

We inherited this outlook from the Enlightment of the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  “The Enlightenment" refers particularly to the intellectual and philosophical developments of that age (and their impact in moral and social reform), in which reason was advocated as the primary source and basis of authority. Developing in Germany, France and Britain, the movement spread through much of Europe… The signatories of the American Declaration of Independence, and  the Bill of Rights …were motivated by "Enlightenment" principles. The era is marked by political aspiration towards ….  greater rights for common people, attempting to supplant the arbitrary authority of aristocracy and established churches.”[1]

This way of thinking sets ourselves and our reason as the ultimate authority over our lives: we are in charge, what we choose to do is up to us. We can do whatever we want to do with our freedom and our rights. It is centering our lives on ourselves, and in North American culture, that also means our greed for possessions and our striving for recognition and status above others. We answer to no one but ourselves.

The Enlightment era was also filled with optimism: things are getting better, we can accomplish anything, and indeed we have accomplished much with technological development. But now, today, that seems like a bubble that has burst as we confront the depression in our lives both from within ourselves as we struggle with our fears and wants, and from outside our selves as issues of the environment, energy, terrorism, natural disasters and inflation are heaped upon us.

You see, our social science culture tells us our lives have various aspects or compartments: there is our family, family of blood and family of choice. There are our friends and neighbors. There is work and the various relationships it brings. There is our recreation and our avocations. And finally there is our religion and the Church. And today many seek churches which have like minded people with whom they can relate as friends. Religion and church become an option, like the country club or the Rotary. You can join if you are interested and benefit from it, but it is not the core of our lives. It is an option.

An ancient monk, Benedict of Nursia in Italy, who was born in 480 AD, was profoundly disturbed by the corrupt nature of the Roman Empire. He wrote a Rule of life to guide disciples of Jesus, a rule which subsequently became the foundation for numerous monasteries and a way of life for ordinary Christians throughout the centuries. He wrote this rule because he saw a decline not unlike our own in the Roman Empire. He stresses, as Sister Joan Chittister OSB says, “The economy was deteriorating, the helpless were being destroyed by the warlike, the rich lived on the backs of the poor, the powerful few made decisions that profited them but plunged the powerless many into continual chaos, the empire expended more and more of its resources on militarism designed to maintain a system that, strained from within and threatened from without, was already long dead.”[2]

Benedict, and most spiritual teachers throughout Christian history, know that “the spiritual life is not a set of exercises appended to our ordinary routine. It is a complete reordering of our values and our priorities and our lives. Spirituality is not just a matter of joining the closest religious community or parish committee or faith-sharing group. Spirituality is that depth of soul that changes our lives and focuses our efforts and leads us to see the world differently than we ever did before.” [3]

Ronald Rolheiser, in a book called The Holy Longing, say this about spirituality: “Spirituality is not something on the fringes, an option for those with a particular bent. None of us has a choice. Everyone has to have a spirituality and everyone does have one, either a life-giving one or a destructive one…. Hence, spirituality is not about serenely picking or rationally choosing certain spiritual activities, like going to church, praying or meditating, reading spiritual books, or setting off on some explicit spiritual quest. It is far more basic than that. What we do with that fire [deep within us], how we channel it, is our spirituality. Thus we all have a spirituality whether we want one or not, whether we are religious or not. Spirituality is more about whether or not we can sleep at night than about whether or now we go to church. It is about being integrated or falling apart, about being within community or being lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or being alienated from her. Irrespective of whether or not we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any explicit religious idea, we act in ways that leave us either healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What shapes our actions is our spirituality”[4]

What do you and I do with the fire within? What shapes your actions? What motivates you at the most basic level? You can answer that question by reflecting on the stream of thoughts that run through your consciousness regularly, and by reflecting on your behavior, particular when you remember that there was something disturbing about what you did or said.

Faced with the massive challenges of life today, some disciples become deeply depressed or choose to withdraw into their own worlds and seek survival above all else abandoning religion believing that God has failed all of us by allowing such suffering in the world. Some choose to form their religious clique filled with charismatic prayer and the warm, fuzzy feelings that can come from being together in a loving community of like minded people.

But I do not believe that is what Jesus wants from us, the disciples he is sending out like sheep in the midst of wolves, disciples who are to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Mt. 10:16). We hear the clearest statement of this teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of John:  “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.” (Jn 3:17).

If we are to be disciples “like the teacher” or “servants like the master,” we are to pattern our lives on the words and deeds of Jesus, and this will, as Benedict put it, profoundly change our very outlook on life and others. Jesus came to transform the world, to change us, humanity, from the brokenness into wholeness, from death into life. “I came that (you) may have life and have it abundantly” Jesus says, John tells us (Jn 10:10).       

So what is it that we are to proclaim from the housetops? As an example, first of all, we proclaim in Christ’s name the immense value of each and every human being, whatever race, culture, creed, status, orientation, and all those other characteristics we use to describe people. We promised when we were baptized or when we renewed our baptismal promises that we would “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving (y)our neighbor as (y)ourself” (BCP p. 305). Each one of us a beloved son or daughter in whom God is well pleased (Mt. 3:17).

That is a message which will bring us discord and perhaps suffering, especially from people who believe, for example, we need to kick all immigrants out of this country because they are consuming our resources. Let’s build the great Wall of America, as Time magazine describes this week about our Mexican border.

Secondly, we proclaim in Christ’s name that all people have basic right to share in the resources of the earth given to us by our Creator, and to live in peace. We affirm this also in our baptismal promises noting we will “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being” (BCP p. 305).

This is a message which will bring discord and perhaps suffering especially from people who are looking at hoarding the resources of food, of oil, and of water? And what about health care?

I am well aware there are political and economic ramifications to each of these and other issues, but there first of all must be a will to resolve these massive issues, a will that takes into count not only our self interest but that of other persons in the world who are of infinite value in the eyes of God just as we are. With the great push toward the November elections, we all need to have some knowledge of the “E” issues of our time, and relate these simply as citizens to the Gospel of Christ. The “E” issues are the economy, energy, the environment, emmigration, ecumenism, email and the use the Internet. 

We are part of a church that regularly takes stands in the public forum on such issues, sometimes without much attention to whether or not our position is clearly based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ or whether it is simply part of our prejudices. That’s another disucussion.

We personally also speak regularly about politics and the issues facing us individually and in our country. But does what we say flow from our relationship with the risen Lord or from what our culture and some significant others have taught us to say. Most of us feel uncomfortable speaking as a witness to the Gospel in the public arena.

Yet, Fr. Henri Nouwen, one of the outstanding writers about spirituality in our generation, tells us: To be a witness for God is to be a living sign of God's presence in the world. What we live is more important than what we say, because the right way of living always leads to the right way of speaking. When we forgive our neighbors from our hearts, our hearts will speak forgiving words. When we are grateful, we will speak grateful words, and when we are hopeful and joyful, we will speak hopeful and joyful words.

When our words come too soon and we are not yet living what we are saying, we easily give double messages. Giving double messages - one with our words and another with our actions - makes us hypocrites. May our lives give us the right words and may our words lead us to the right life.”[5]

For your homework this week (I give homework and let the good Lord do the testing), I ask you to find a quiet place alone, light a candle if this helps you to focus, and reflect on these questions. What are my core values? Are they derived from my faith or from the opinion of others? What is the basis of my spirituality? What do I do with “the fire,” the madness or wounds of my heart? Most of all, why do I say and do the things I say and do? Ask to the Lord to help you go beyond the clutter of our anxious minds to the inner space where he can speak to you as you seek answers.

God bless you and keep you this day and always, and remember the good Lord loves you more that you can ask for or even imagine. Do you believe it?