Go and Do Likewise--Sermon, St. Luke's ELCA

“Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher, he said what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there? He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself”

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a story we all know. It is one of the most well-known stories of the New Testament. It is a story that many who aren’t even Christians know. It is a piece of the world’s literature that in just a matter of 5 verses tells us what it means to be a neighbor—what it means to love humanity enough to be considered part of God’s kingdom.

But it is the final words of this passage that has always stopped me. “Go and do likewise.” This is not merely a nice story. It is a commandment. This is not just a nice piece of literature which after read gives us more insight into human nature or what Jesus would do. It is a piece of literature that calls us to action.

The lawyer who asks the question is not asking for information from Jesus. He is challenging Jesus. He is calling him into an argument. Jesus doesn’t answer the lawyer’s question. He does like any good rabbi would do, he turns what might be a path down some theological rabbit hole, back on the questioner and gets the lawyer to answer his own question.
For us the question of “who is my neighbor” confronts us everyday. What allegiance do I owe to those I don’t know? What allegiance do I owe to those who might harm me? Jesus tells us in this story that our allegiance has to do with our being human, being a part of the human community that makes us neighbors.

This week I heard a speech on the radio by the grandson of Mahatma Ghandi. When he was young and living in South Africa as a part of the Indian community under apartheid, he was beaten up by a group of white youths for not being white enough. A few months later he was beaten up by a group of black youths for not being black enough. He said the rage that he knew was so detrimental to his living in South Africa that his parents packed him off to India to live with his famed grandfather. It was there that he learned the principles of non-violent pacifism that he now tries to teach the world in keeping with his grandfather’s legacy.

His grandfather taught him that the key to knowing peace is to address the same issue that Jesus does in this story. When we are willing to recognize that the entire world is our neighbor and that we are called by God to love even those who might wish to do us harm, we have begun to understand what it means to “go and do likewise.”

The ministry of Jesus was not about the salvation of our souls as much as it was a call to humanity to realize that we are inter-related, that we do not live on this earth in some kind of compartmentalization that allows us to ignore others. The kingdom, the inheritance which we are promised is a result of our working together for the betterment of society, the ending of conflict, the learning to live in peace with humanity and all creation, to not just love God but to love others as ourselves.

Rajmohan Ghandi learned from his grandfather that to live into what it means to be non-violent doesn’t just mean not fighting. It means a radical living of life that does not force others into warring positions. It meant first dealing and disciplining one’s own anger into life-giving living--using one’s own anger to bring about health and wholeness to the greater society rather than allowing one to fall into vengeance or the cycle of payback.

Now I have to admit that even when faced with Martin Luther King’s non-violent approach to social justice when I went to Selma back in the 1960’s, I was never really “sold” on his methods. I have felt until just recently that if your position was “righteous” then you should live by that righteousness and more or less let the chips fall where they may. But being right doesn’t always help a situation. And one person’s “righteousness” may not be another’s and then the cycle of violence continues. In order to bring change into a situation one must be willing to love beyond measure—one side must be willing to set righteous aside for love to be experienced.

The story of the Good Samaritan gives us a vision of how to live life that goes beyond righteousness. It provides us with a method by which we can address the divisions in society that says we must always go farther than what is just.

The Samaritan, like all Samaritans were discriminated against by the Jews in the first century. The Jew that was beaten and left for dead was tended to by the Samaritan above and beyond what was necessary. But it was that service that was beyond reason that confirmed the concept of eternal life. It was the Samaritan who even though he was considered unclean by the Jews and outside the chosen people, who was not a neighbor by any sense of the word in Jesus’ day; it was he who was assured eternal life.

We could just leave this story in the First Century as Jesus illustrating that salvation was not just for the people of Israel. Luke used the story of the Good Samaritan to show that Jesus meant the faith to be for all the nations of the earth. But the story is too good for that—and I believe that the reason that the Bible has meaning for all ages is that we may look at this story to address the issues of our own age.

If we are to have peace in our world, if there is going to be a way that the US is going to be able to address the growing world-wide unrest, we must be willing to understand that Jesus calls us to a kind of radical peace-loving that goes beyond national interests. Our Christianity demands facing what we do in the light of the Gospel and allowing ourselves to live a way of radical peace. We cannot demand that others live in ways that we are unwilling to live.

If we are going to demand of others to live according to democratic principles, we cannot deny those basic democratic principles in the face of terrorism or any other reason. We cannot deny the basic rights of people interned at Guantanamo or captured in Iraq if we are going to demand that Afghanistan and Iraq must have democratically developed governmental structures. We cannot demand of people who are not used to capitalistic forms of economics to develop consumer-based economies when we are going to control those economies artificially through sanctions. We cannot punish others if we are going to call others into a reformed way of life. We must be willing, like the Samaritan in the story, to go farther, without rancor, without demanding satisfaction of those who hurt us, and serve them. It is the only way we are going to understand how radical God’s love is for us. It is the only way that I think that we are going to “inherit eternal life.” It is the only way we are going to relinquish the tail of the constant spiraling of retribution.

Now, I am not talking about salvation here. That is already worked out for us. I am talking about taking responsibility for our own anger at whatever the issue is and going beyond it. The hope of the Gospel message is that God believes us capable to bring peace to our world. We are saved to do just that. God has loved us into being so that we can live together with respect and care for one another. This applies to us whether we are dealing with things here in the 4 counties of Central NY or whether we are dealing with people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, South America or where ever.

Most of you know that I have had real problems with my bishop in the Episcopal Church. I would love to stay angry at that man who has treated me and others so unfairly. I have all the reasons in the world to stay angry at that man. But about 2 years ago I realized that that anger was eating me up. I was not being the kind of Christian that I had vowed to be at my baptism. I needed to let go of that anger. I needed to further my understanding of what it meant to be the Good Samaritan. Has this changed what the bishop has done to me? No. And given the man, I doubt if he is capable to come to any kind of reconciliation. But I have put that anger at the service of God by calling myself to be about Christ’s service in a different way. This act has changed me. It has drained the fierceness of my righteousness and allowed me to see that God has called me to another way to live out my vocation as an ordained minister of the faith by serving among you, Lutherans. By learning to do something else with my anger, I have learned that God wants a kind of peaceful approach to life in my denomination over issues that I once thought combative. I have learned that God loves my bishop just as surely as God loves me. It has been humbling yet redeeming at the same time. I still love my Church even though I have to take a bit of a vacation from it. I still care about my bishop even though he continues to hurt me and those I love. I still care about the clergy and laity of my diocese and work for their betterment in the faith. It is the only way I can “go and do likewise.”

As Barbara Crafton said yesterday in her daily message of spiritual nourishment: “There are enormous tasks ahead of us. Ahead of each of us, in our own little lives, and ahead of all of us as citizens of the world. Our approach to the environment is one: the issues are so large, the danger so immense, the numbers so great. The magnitude of it overwhelms us. And so we do nothing. We give up.” But what the story of the Good Samaritan does for us is to show us that in just what WE do in our daily lives impacts upon the whole world. What we do in our lives creates the environment in which caring for others can be done, that going beyond the “righteous” to the loving does work. That is the hope of the Gospel.
Perhaps we as a nation need to find some other way to use our anger. We must be like the Good Samaritan, even though we have been hurt by terrorists, we must find a way to love beyond the hurt so that our nation does not continue the cycle of vengeance with which we are faced. We must be willing to bind up wounds rather than continue the fight if we are going to understand the “eternal life” to which Jesus invites us in this parable.
We, each and every one of us here, have places where we must “go and do likewise”. We must be willing to look at the places of anger and figure out how we can love in spite of it. We must be willing to turn our anger into ways of caring. How can Lutherans and Episcopalians come to a place where we can set aside what has separated us in the past so that we can embrace the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ to a world that is afraid of organized religion? How can we take the terror of 9/11 and turn it into love so that we can be a people of peace rather than a people of vengeance and retribution? How can we come to the place where we need not fear anything in the name of Jesus Christ so that we can be about loving those who would ignore us, or disdain us?

I invite us all this week to look at our anger and ask where we can put it to work as love. Where can we bring the hope of the story of the Good Samaritan to people in our own lives? Where can we go the extra mile to be Christ’s own? How can we reorder our lives to live lives of non-violence --because the story of the Good Samaritan is one that symbolizes God’s extravagance of love? What is God’s call to us to “Go and do likewise?” AMEN

Message from Integrity--

A MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH

We are absolutely committed to this Church and we are absolutely committed to the Continuance of as broad a diversity—including theological—as is possible for us to maintain together. This commitment is, in part, a commitment to continued messiness and frustration … Liberals and conservatives, progressives and traditionalists, must learn to live together in this Church or there will be no Church in which for us to live. But learning to live together must mean “mutual deference” not moratoriums or some insistence that we all convert to being “moderates.”

My second message to the church at large is that we are not going anywhere. Gay and lesbian Christians make up a significant portion of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. We will continue to do so after General Convention 2003 no matter what happens. We will not attempt to get our way by threatening to leave. I ask those on all sides of this debate to make this commitment as well.

Now three comments especially for our conservative brothers and sisters. First, we do not desire for you to go away. Yes, some sympathizers with our movement have said from time to time that it would be just as well if you did. Of course, some of yours have said the same about us. Let us together commit ourselves to finding every way possible to move forward with our debate without threatening either schism or purge. It is simply not necessary for us to do so.

Second, we do not desire to force same-sex blessings on you or anyone. We do desire to enable them in those places where the church is ready to receive them as a blessing but is not able to because of an understandable desire for some level of national recognition. Of course we will continue to work towards local communities desiring to bless same-sex unions. Of course you will work to keep them from doing so. We ought to be able to live with each other’s efforts on that level. Third, we do challenge you to stop scapegoating lesbian and gay Christians for every contemporary ill in the Church, particularly for our current state of disunity or the potential for the unraveling of the Anglican Communion.

You know as well as we do that the issues are far deeper than human sexuality. They are issues of scriptural interpretation and authority, including the very different polities that exist in different provinces of the Communion and whether or not local autonomy is a defining characteristic of Anglicanism. Issues of human sexuality are just one tip of that very large iceberg and if sexuality went completely away tomorrow, the iceberg would still be there.

This movement is not about getting our way or else. This movement is a means to further the healthy debate within the Church, to deepen it on a theological level, to begin to articulate how we see the blessing of same-sex unions as a part of the Church’s moving forward in mission rather than hindering mission. We believe that it is time for the church to claim the blessing found in the lives of its faithful lesbian and gay members and to further empower them for the mission of the Church. We are trying to find a way forward in this endeavor that holds as much of this church we love together as possible. We ask all our fellow-Episcopalians to join us even if they disagree with us.

The Reverend Michael Hopkins
Past-president of Integrity USA
Rector of St. Luke and St. Simon Cyrene, Rochester NY

Comment: What an important distinction that Michael+ makes. Living together while holding widely diverging opinions has always been one of the marks of the Episcopal Church. It was one of the things that attracted me to Anglicanism and the Episcopal Church. I do not stand for the expulsion of those who do not think as I do. I DO, however, expect those who do not think as I do not to try to expel me from the Church, either.

I have been known to say that those who support such programs as CANA and the other groups that work to undermine the Episcopal Church have already left the Episcopal Church. I stand by that statement because actions that try to set up alternate structures in the Episcopal Church for governance that are not in keeping with the Constitution and Canons of the Church tear at the total fabric of the Church, not just the particular opinions of individuals or minorities in the Church.

Friday Five:

Friday Five: At RevgalBlogPals, a blog around women clergy issues often challenges us to discuss various topics. Today’s questions are interesting because they force me to think about things that I normally wouldn’t.

1. Personality tests; love them or hate them? I enjoy them. The Myers-Briggs I have referred to for many years as a way to understand myself and others. It allows me to cut folks some slack when I find that their ways are different from mine. I have never done the Enniagram but would like to. It just would give me a few more areas to explore than does the Myers-Briggs.

2. Would you describe yourself as practical, creative, intellectual or a mixture ? I am a mixture. It really depends on the amount of energy I have for things. I like writing, developing different ways to address issues or problems, but if energy is short, I work at trying to be practical, how can I get something done with the least amount of energy.

3. It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame; have you had your yet? If so what was it, if not dream away what would you like it to be? I would like a final chance to be a representative to my judicatory council.

4. If you were given a 2 year sabbatical ( oh the dream of it) to create something would it be music, literature, art.....something completely different...share your dream with us... A two year sabbatical? Way too long! If the sabbatical is there for one to improve one’s skills to do ministry in the original setting, it is far too long to be away from pastoral ministry. I have been on a ‘forced sabbatical’ for the past 3 years and it has been hell. But I have learned that centering on what is basic is an important part of faith life. Being with out income, with out meaningful work has introduced me to centrality on Christ alone for my meaning and it makes all the rest of life clearer.

5. . Describe a talent you would like to develop, but that seems completely beyond you. Cleaning house. But I think at my place in life I will have to accept that I can’t do everything. Tee Hee.

Bonus question: Back to the church- what does every member ministry mean to you? Is it truly possible to encourage/ implement?Every member ministry is where all members of the congregation understands that they are called to ministry the same as the clergy. I want people to understand the joy that comes when they understand this call from God. There is a temptation to just see that every member ministry is to take the pastor off the hook. But it is really helping all the baptized to realize their calling. And I truly believe that when the majority of the parish has an understanding of their own calling, the ministry of the parish becomes enlivening to all.

Luther-alian for a season

We were told at the beginning of our covenant, Call to Common Mission with the Lutherans that there were so many things that we held in common that there was no reason why we shouldn't be able to share in each other's churches. And I am sure that theologically that is quite true. But there are many things that are different--and with a difference that is quite marked.

Theologically, we are close enough that there IS not much difference. But when it comes to Faith and Order and customary the broadness with which we began our Lutheran/Episcopal dialog begins to narrow. Just like when I preached on Reformation Sunday, I realized how I am not really reformed. Much of my thinking still shows in my Roman Catholic roots. I don't have there deep rooted aversion to papism that my Lutheran coreligionists have. I find papal stuff tiring but not a threat to my faith.

Bishop Jerge made a quiet observance between the understanding of priest and pastor that I had never caught. The pastor is never an intermediary and always concerned for the sheep. It readjusted my POV. Pastors seem less ready to be prophets but that is ok. I think it might be healthier for the congregations in the long run.

I preached my first sermon on Justification last Sunday and felt really in deep water. Once I got going, I found we were on the same page, I am just not that comfortable preaching on theological or confessional issues. I am by far ready to discuss how the Scripture addresses what is going on in our lives than Paul's theological principles.

I do find differences in what congregations consider important. Lutherans tend to be much more organized than Episcopalians. This may be because I am less organized than my parishes seem, but I don't think that it is only an individual thing. People in my bible study READ their materials before the class! Amazing! They have studied their passages and have something to say about them. I really have to be prepared for them and it holds me to a higher standard of teaching.

Music is important to them, as much as for Episcopalian. Of course their traditions are somewhat different. Though I am surprised by the commonality of the hymns, the performance practice is quite different with much emphasis on hymns sung in a style that can only be classified as lustig.

I am warming to the Lutheran understanding of bishop, too. They recognize that bishops are administrators. They don't expect them "Father in God" or pastoral gurus. There is no understanding that somehow the Church revolves around them. The church begins truly at the bottom and is filled with laity who accept the responsibility for their congregation. There is not a matter of "turf". It is a matter of ministry and everyone is a part of it. This may be due to the fact that I am serving in family-style congregations who know what it means to run their own church. But I think that it also means layfolk accept that they are part of how things work. Episcopal churches tend to make much more of the delineation between clergy and lay, I believe, to the detriment of the Church.

This season in the Lutheran church is one that I greet with some anxiety and some real excitment. I want to be able to serve the Lutheran people in my charge with a quiet care that is not caught up with church fights that are foreign to them. I want however to make a difference in calling our two denominations to Common Mission in a way that is healthy and accepting of our differences. That is the point of our covenant. But also don't want to trip over some important piece of what it means to be Lutheran in the process. I am on the edge of my church as it is. And yet it is on the edge that God has me in relationship to the ELCA. It will be interesting to see if we can find the commonality that will make us whole as Christians.

The Future of the Church

What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life…. The long painful history of the Church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led…. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love. Henri Nowen

What powerful words by Henri Nowen! And they are so timely. This week Bishop Ely from VT made a presentation on Small Parishes to the clergy of the Diocese. There were many good messages in his presentation. But in each the bishop was clear that the ministry of small parishes must be seen as important and viable.

It is my experience that small parishes can't be killed off by bad clergy, or top-down programing coming from diocese or national church. Larger churches can be affected in that way. But small churches exist because they care for each other and are maintained by the laity. They are not especially moved by the acts of juridical bodies. They are about trying to be as Christian as they possibly can be by their lights and they are willing and able to fund that ministry but not a whole lot more.

In short, they are not tempted by power as Henri Nowen states. They are generally about the hard work of love. And love in the small town, the small community is difficult. It means that people have to take one another for what they are. There is little to buffer the rough edges of personalities in small communities. There are no strata of society in the villages, no veils of phoniness behind which one can hide. In small towns 'you are what you are' and everybody knows it. There is little mystery allowed an individual and consequently there is little power attributed to those who special gifts.

Like Jesus in Nazareth, it is impossible to be a prophet in one's hometown. You are just Joe Blow or Susie Stitch and nothing more than love is expected of you. And if you try to work your miracles in small towns, no one is going to pay attention. They may, however, love you no matter what you do.

In the light of what is happening at the upper reaches of our Church--in the diocese, national and international realms of the Church, I believe that it will be the small churches in small towns that will carry forth the mission of Jesus Christ. It will be the small churches that you can't kill with a stick that will last and be the place where ministry will continue in love. The continuing mission of Jesus will be played out despite diocesan, national or international programing. There will be a certain nod to those who arrogate power unto themselves but it will be in the small congregations that God's love will continue to be shown forth.

These small parishes will not need to report their minstries to the diocese. They will not need to evaluate their work or fill out forms. They will just continue to love the people Christ brings to them. They will not need a bishop to teach them how; if anything, the wise bishop will learn from them. And the Church will survive in these small communities where food is grown and life is basic.

Statement of the Global Center

Declaration of the Anglican Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (Global Center)

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:2-3

“By this all men would now that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

We the Anglican Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, who sign below, gathered in San Jose, Costa Rica from the 18 to 22 of May 2007, renew and ratify our position proposed in Panama, better known as the Global Center, in which we call the Communion to preserve its participative nature, diverse, ample and inclusive, characteristics which we consider essential to Anglicanism and at the same time our contribution to the Christian tradition.

Since our last meeting, our concern has grown because of the polarization regarding the biblical and theological positions manifested in the Anglican Communion, during the last years; positions known as Global North and Global South, non reconcilable in their character and putting the unity in the Communion at risk.

In the midst of this painful controversy, we do not identify with either side, because they don’t fully represent the spirit of our thoughts.

It has been proven in our relations that we greatly represent the plurality and diversity that are universal characteristics of Anglicanism and that we hold different positions on the themes that are presently discussed in the Communion. However, we have also experienced that the plurality and diversity we represent has become a rich source for growth, rather than a cause for controversy and division.

We unanimously express our determination to remain united as members of the same family and will continue to come to the Lord’s Table, together.

We invite our brothers and sisters in the episcopate, as well as all the members of the Clergy and laity who identify with this vision, to join together and work for an effective reconciliation, interdependence and unity in the diversity of our family of faith and so preserve the valuable legacy of which we are guardians.

As disciples of Jesus, called to live out the mandate of love (St. John 15:17), we declare our commitment to be together and with all our strength, struggle for unity, as an act of obedience to His will expressed in the Holy Scriptures. Trusting that the Holy Spirit, whose descent we are about to celebrate on the Feast of Pentecost, will guide and strengthen us on such a difficult journey.

The experience of these few days confirms our conviction that, we will make it with God’s blessings. Of this, we are sure and now we return to our dioceses comforted and full of joy and hope.

Comment: I know a surprising number of these bishops and admire the strength and the gentleness of such a statement. I think that their willingness to comment from the center and claim the center says much about the sense of theology and ecclesial development that is happening in this part of the Anglican Communion. I believe there may be more statements from the those who consider themselves part of the Global Center. I have much more hope for the Anglican Communion that I have had over the past few months.