St. John’s Church,
Getty Square
3rd after
Epihany
1 Corinthians 7:
29-31
Psalm 62: 6-14
Mark 1:14-20
When I lived in Poitiers France I participated in the
University Chaplaincy and I met a lot of very memorable people. One person I remember a great deal, Michelle
(a pseudonym) had long blond hair and always had a very genuine sweet
smile. It was not a fake smile, or a put
on smile, or a temporary smile like some people carry. It came out of a place of peace and
calm. She told me people sometimes ask
her why she always has this smile and she would tell them,”Because God is so
good and I am thankful for my life.” She
was a student but she struggled in deciding what she intended to do with her
life. She lived very simply.
I stayed with her in her apartment when I went to Poitiers
in part to attend her wedding to Jean-Denis (a pseudonym) and I noticed a very
used prayer corner, complete with Bible, Candle and Icon of Jesus. Jean-Denis lived in an intentional community
called Emmaus and it was a place where homeless people could come and
live. They would eat and pray
together. I am not sure about what other
ways they helped the homeless, but I admired the dedication of both
Jean Denis and Michelle. Both of them
were very well respected in the church at Poitiers and at their wedding there
were some ten priests at the altar.
I tell you about her because I think Michelle is an example
of someone who seemed to me to be living the kingdom of God. She dwelt in this world as all of us do, yet
she had a peace and a joy that came from above.
I have been privileged to know a few people in life who I think reflected
this reality, however, most of the people I admire are like me, they are on the
path to that place, but struggle, and maybe even fight and resist the whole way
there.
Sisters and Brothers, when Jesus calls his disciples in today’s
gospel, and asks them to follow him, I see his asking them to follow him into
the kingdom of God, to live in the world but to reside in the kingdom of God,
to live by god’s wisdom, to trust completely in God, to seek the will of God in
all things, to not be afraid, and to have quiet confidence and solid hope that
God’s purposes are not thwarted. I am encouraged
by the fact that the apostles seem more like me than Michelle. For each of them their discipleship to Jesus
was troubled and a struggle, like mine, but the tradition conveys that many of
these common ordinary people, even fisher people, that Jesus called, showed a
peaceful powerful joy by the end of their lives. They truly followed Jesus.
When the gospel today says the disciples left their father
in the boat with the hired, this is a jolting phrase. In our culture it is not unusual to go off
into the world on one’s own and to leave father and mother. However in Jesus day this was a huge
break. It tells us that Jesus was
calling the disciples to do something huge, life changing, even a shift in their
identity and loyalties.
I propose this is what St. Paul describes in our Corinthian
readings. St. Paul was very clear that
life in Christ is living in the world in a very different way. He describes all of these every day major
parts of our life, marriage, grief and joy, business as things we do as if not
doing them. Some have interpreted this
as meaning a very rigid life, an austerely ascetic life, where we are married but do not have relations
with our partner, or as a rejection of emotions, where we keep a very steady
emotion and are not moved by grief or joy, or where we shun commerce and live a
life like that of a hermit. I truly do
not think so. I think that is too
concrete. I think that kind of reading
probably misses the main point.
St. Paul is saying we live in this world, we marry, we have
our emotions, we conduct our life affairs, just as human beings will do, but
all along we keep such great hope and faith in God, that it is as if we are not
living in the world. There is a way in
which we are truly and fully present to the world, but we also transcend the
world by having utter confidence in God.
It is this strain in our faith that causes many people to
make positive comparisons of the Christian faith to Buddhism. In fact one of the most popular Buddhist
writers of our day, Thich Naht Hahn, claims to be both Buddhist and Christian
because he sees Jesus as someone who invites others to enlightenment. He
believes Jesus asks us to dwell in this world where there is so much suffering
and violence but to be the presence of peace, love and joy.
And that is what I saw in Michelle. I saw in her someone who brought the peace,
love and joy of Christ, to her everyday living.
And I pray God will make me more like that.
As I prepared for today I came across a very good
observation about this kind of life. The
author points out that living in the world as if not, that living the life of
Christ, means two things. First, by
God’s power we escape the fears that beset us and so are freed from gripping
anxiety, but also that we gain a new urgency to do the kind of things Jesus
would have us do. Our greatest passion
is no longer to struggle to survive in this world, we give that to God. Our greatest passion becomes to do the things
Jesus would have us do.
To do this we must have an active prayer life. If we are not intentionally focusing on God
in prayer, if we are not seeking fellowship with other Christians as we are
here doing today, if we are not seeking
the strength we receive in this liturgy of word and sacrament, I do not see how
we can accomplish this call to have peace and hope. If we do not pay great attention to God I
think our weak human nature will succumb to the assaults of a troubled world.
If we stay connected to God and other people of faith, he we
focus on service of others, we escape what 12-step group participants might
call the prison of self. Instead of
always thinking of ourselves, our needs, our hurts, our wants, we make a
positive effort to serve other people and to relieve their hurts and
needs. We no longer just see horrible
things in the world, we see places where we can take the mercy of God, and show
love to others.
And of course the others do not always act lovingly. Frequently they are users, abusers,
dishonest, selfish, ungrateful, ill-behaved people. And we have to learn to respond to people
like that with compassion and great wisdom.
Sometime our hearts will go out to them because we will perceive in them
great need for spiritual healing , and yet we feel helpless seeing them stuck
in a prison of hurt, avoidance, and in self delusion, the very opposite of
humble wisdom. We can serve others, we
cannot rescue them. Much prayer will be
required as soon as we come to understand the sufferings of those around us.
And yet some of the people we reach out to, some will hear
the call of Jesus to follow him. They
will take his hand and embrace the path of forgiveness and healing. They will start down a path which seeks first
God’s kingdom. They will say a prayer
that truly means, “Thy will be done.”
They will find Jesus through our love and compassion. And Jesus will turn and say to us, “See, I
told you I would make you fishers of people.”
Let us pray, sisters and brothers, that God will cast out
our fears. Let us pray that the Holy
Spirit will give us confidence in God.
Let us put our whole trust in God and invite him to address the hardships
that beset us. Let us open our eyes to
ask him where and how he would have us serve others. Let us pray that we might in some way help
others find Christ’s offer of peace and love.
In doing these things I think we truly live in the world as though not
living in it. In doing these things I
think we truly leave all and follow Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment