To listen to The Reverend William R. Nesbit, Jr. deliver the 9:00 AM sermon from this week click here.
To listen to The Reverend William R. Nesbit, Jr. deliver the 10:45 AM sermon from this week click here.
Saint Charles' Episcopal Church – Saint Charles, IL
The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 5 - RCL Year A
Sunday June 8, 2008 Genesis 12:1-9 – Psalm 33:1-12 – Romans 4:13-25 – Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
The Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
"Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
Wherever did we go wrong? Why must we again and again relearn what this simple phrase means? How did he do it? "And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples." How did he do it? How did the perfect man so effortlessly attract sinners? The people who most needed his help. They surrounded him, flocked to him. People who were radically uncomfortable with themselves somehow found comfort in the one who by his mere presence must have brought their sin into stark relief. What did he do and how did he do it? And how can we do it too?
There is an uncomfortable truth in our Gospel this morning. This encounter is not unusual, it is what Christ expects....of us! You remember that little bracelet with WWJD on it that was popular some years ago? What would Jesus do? This is the answer to that question! This is what Jesus does! Can you imagine any of the notorious sinners of our times coming to be with us for a meal and feeling comfortable, nay even welcomed? And yet we still call ourselves followers of Christ, do we not? Why don't we act more like him? Wherever did we go wrong?
Well I can tell you one place right off the bat. We rely too much on rules. We rely on rules because it makes life so much simpler. We all started with the Law, a code of behavior given to Moses by God. Jesus came in fulfillment of the Law, to bring it to its logical completion, the new Law of Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. This new law is more about relationships, not about rules. Practically the first thing the church did was forget this new reality. Throughout its history the church has developed and quantified a series of rules. They have done this to make it easier for us believers to get along in the world. Sadly, it also makes it easier for us to be judgmental of others as well, something we do all too well. We all know what a sin is. If I were to ask you, I'm sure you could all come up with a pretty comprehensive list of sins. But there is one thing we would all probably miss. And it's soooo obvious.
In the catechism in the back of the Prayer book, (pg. 848) sin is described as a distortion of our relationship with God, other people, and all of creation. I love this definition because it makes sin something between you and God and that makes it harder for us to be judgmental of anyone other than ourselves. It is a relational definition. The problem with a list of sins is that a list of sins changes over time as the people making the list change. Different sins move up and down the list, some even moving off the list completely. It used to be a sin to be left handed. Now I, as a left hander, can even be the rector of a church. A categorical list of sins can change over time. A relational definition of sin will not change over time, but as a tradeoff, it will require a lot more work on the part of all the parties involved. The Episcopal Church gets a lot of flak about being soft on sin...you know the old joke, in the Episcopal Prayer book they don't have the ten commandments, they have the ten suggestions. But you know what? I like the company we're in. There may be a lot of tax collectors and other notorious sinners in our midst, but Jesus is certainly here too. Not that we don't make mistakes, but when we are doing it right, we're not really soft on sin, we're just soft on the sinner.
This summer, from July 16 to August 4, the Bishops and Primates from all the provinces of the Anglican Communion will be meeting at the Lambeth Conference in London. This gathering has been happening about once a decade since 1867. They have a lot of things to talk about. Many of the things to talk about, center around how we are going to stay in communion. Some folks even go so far as to say if we are going to stay in communion, but they have it all wrong. Communion is a gift to us from God. God's will for us to live together in communion with others who are different than ourselves comes out of God's own identity; out of the internal communion of the Trinity. When Jesus sits down for a meal with tax collectors and sinners, he does so out of his own identity – it is who he is. There is nothing that those tax collectors and sinners have to do to earn themselves a place. Jesus comes to them where they are. Surely they are changed by the interaction, who couldn't be, but that comes after the fact. They don't have to promise to change before they get the invitation.
"For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." In the months and years, and even decades ahead we must constantly remember that we are all sinners and that God forgives all our sins and their sins as well. God calls us all into communion not because we are good enough, but because God is big enough. Communion is not easy – It shouldn't be. Communion is not unanimity. It shouldn't be that either. The Anglican Communion we live in today is a pale shadow of the ideal Anglican Communion that exists now only in the heart of God, just as we are pale shadows of the ideal people we were created to be by a loving God.
As we stand on the threshold of another Lambeth Conference we must own up to the fact that the Anglican Communion isn't quite what it should be and the part that we have all played in that reality. We have gotten lazy and sadly we are getting lazier still, as we try to define our communion with rules and forget the law of love. We have let the importance of real communion get lost behind our craving for the ease and comfort of surrounding ourselves with people who think just like us. And when our ease or comfort is threatened we respond too often, not with love, but with more rules. Rules like, "If you threaten the comfort of our communion, you will be excluded."Or "If communion becomes too uncomfortable for uswe will walk away and make our own rules." We have allowed rules to get in the way of love. I repeat, Communion is not easy – It shouldn't be. Communion is not unanimity. It shouldn't be that either.
It would be bad enough if this were just a problem at the world-wide level, an argument between Primates and Bishops. But we can't even seem to get it right at the local level. Can we honestly say that we have any kind of communion with even our neighboring Episcopal churches, let alone other denominations in our area. Sure, we have a whole laundry list of reasons why we do it right and they don't, but doesn't that miss the point? If we could only hang on to each other as tightly as we hang on to our lists, what a wonderful world this would be. On my dark days, I sometimes wonder if Jesus, at his second coming, will even recognize the church. I guess the good news is, and it really is good news, is that at least He will invite us to dinner when He comes!
Folks, I think it only fair to warn you that my vision for St. Charles' Episcopal Church is as a place very much like the house at which Jesus is seen having dinnerin this mornings Gospel. A place where all are accepted and even sinners are welcomed. Where mercy is shared in abundance. A place where if you need mercy you will find it, and if you do not need mercy you will show it to others. A place where the peace of Christ which passes all understanding, lives and breathes. We're doing pretty good so far in our small church with a big heart, but we have a city to change, and maybe even a whole diocese. Every change has to start somewhere. Why not here? Who knows, we may even change the world. Amen.