Reconciliation. That's the theme for
worship on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost in the Revised
Common Lectionary. For lots of churches, this Sunday is, as we at
Faith Lutheran of Philadelphia call it, “Welcome Sunday.” It's
the day of family reunion when summer travelers return to the pews
(we hope!) and kids return to Sunday School. It's a day of getting
folks together to celebrate.
Recently, we've had a quite a bit of
festiveness at Faith in celebration of the first same-sex wedding
held in our congregation. This was a pretty big deal for a little
blue-collar church. Some time back, the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America began to use the term “Reconciled in Christ” for
congregations which were welcoming to same-gender oriented people.
Certainly, if nothing else, the Church should be a place of
reconciliation, but I noticed when I worshiped at “Reconciled in
Christ” congregations back in California that these parishes tended
to become “the gay church.” Reconciled in Christ looked an awful
lot like Segregated in Christ.
Similarly, on our last Welcome Sunday
we welcomed our “renter” congregation, the Beth-El Church of God
in Christ, to join us in worship. Their wonderful pastor, The
Reverend George Nash, preached a sermon so orthodox that Martin
Luther himself could have written it. Still, I seemed to detect a
small amount of squeamishness when Beth-El's choir took to the
chancel and began to worship in the manner consistent with their
African American Pentecostal tradition. There just seems to be
something about this which makes middle class white Lutherans a
little uneasy.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is often
quoted as saying that Sunday morning worship time is still the most
segregated hour in America. Perhaps it's a good thing that today's
lessons (Ezekiel 33:7-11 and Matthew 18:15-20) focus on our
responsibility to our neighbor and Christ's desire to see hearts
corrected and brought back into the fold. It is the Church's
responsibility to bring folks together, black and white, gay and
straight, and all other shades and varieties. Yes, it's been a pretty
tough order for most of our history, but that fact shouldn't keep us
from trying.
I love the fact that Jesus'
instructions on reconciliation in Matthew's gospel is the model which
ELCA constitutions use to correct erring church-goers. Once in my
ministry I had to resort to these instructions, and I'm happy to
report that they proved practical. Jesus seems more concerned about
reclaiming a family member than punishing a discipline problem.
That's the spirit in which Christians need to approach all schisms,
differences, and disagreements. We need to ask, “What do we have to
do to bring people together when they are hurting and injuring each
other?”
I know. Sometimes we just can't get
reconciled with people who don't want to be reconciled. If
you're like me, the news of two American journalists, James Foley and
Steven Sotloff, brutally beheaded by the radical Islamic group called
ISIS does not make me want to go out and kiss a Muslim. I'm also all
in favor of doing justice and punishing the wicked. But I want to be
careful about the spirit in which I approach it. Hatred only breeds
hatred. A desire to be a victor will have to make someone else a
victim. There must be a better way.
I feel a little less powerless,
however, when I read in The Lutheran magazine about the work
the Lutheran World Federation is doing to aid the victims of the war
in Gaza. The LWF's Augustus Victoria Hospital on the Mont of Olives
in Jerusalem has Christian, Muslim, and Jewish staff all working
together for humanitarian goals. Somehow, this institution has broken
through the walls of segregation and reconciled people of three
different faiths. It can be done.
Jesus promises us in this pericope that
whenever we agree with each other, we have God's blessings for
success. Even Gentiles and tax collectors were not locked out of
Christ's compassion and grace. Let's accept the challenge to correct
in love and keep striving for togetherness.
Thanks for visiting, my friends.
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| Augustus Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives, a place of reconciliation. |
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