St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church
3800 East Third Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
(812) 332-5252
Sermon for the Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost (September 2, 2007)
Liturgical Color: Green
Reverend Doctor Lyle E. McKee
"A Different Approach to Life"
Grace to you and peace from our loving God, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
As I read this lesson from Luke's gospel, two recent events spring immediately to mind.
You may already have anticipated the first. With this passage before us about banquets and luncheons, I cannot help but think back to last Sunday. You may recall that it was an exceptional day—bright, low humidity, temperature in the 80s rather than what has seemed relentless 90s. It was exceptional too for the way we celebrated the 25th anniversary of my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament—just long enough after the day (August 8) to keep me wondering.
The day was particularly meaningful—for the presentation of gifts during worship, for the picnic luncheon at the home of Jane Warner on Lake Lemon, and for the additional gifts and cards offered there. Thank you so much for honoring that milestone in ministry, and especially for the book—prepared by Missy Eichmiller and Sandy Arnold depicting special people, events, and congregations along the way. The book is available on the ushers table for you to peruse. So is one other gift made by a new member, Tim Kirsch. The other gifts I received are no less appreciated than these, but they have significance that is better enjoyed less publicly. I will treasure always your kindnesses. And I am humbled by your thoughtfulness.
How timely, then, to read the reminder in today's gospel to remember my place-to find glory not in my actions but in the profound benevolence of the one who gives himself totally for us:
When you are invited, go and sit at the lowest place...All who exalt themselveswill be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
and
When you give a banquet, invite those who...will not be able to repay you. Then you will be blessed and repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.
I can never repay the debts of gratitude I owe the people of St. Thomas. I appreciate so much the banquet of remembrance and food. And I offer my gratitude. But I also want to recognize with Luke and Jesus that ministry is always done in partnership with others and that all glory belongs to God.
The other event that comes to mind occurred yesterday. Some 15 of us from St. Thomas sat around a table with Alejandro Alfaro, Program Director for Sister Parish for a conversation that lasted about two and a half hours.
Some of you know about Sister Parish; many of you have only a passing acquaintance with it. A "sister parish" is a parish with which we stand in a long-term relationship, solely for the purpose of building understanding, affinity, and mutual care.
St. Thomas started our connection with Sister Parish way back in 1991. The first delegation to our first sister parish was in 1992. We have now sent about half a dozen delegations to Guatemala—the last in 2005, and have brought a few delegations here from the south—the last one in 2003.
It was informative and encouraging to sit with Alejandro yesterday. He lives in Guatemala, but has been visiting with congregations here in the north that have relationships with parishes in Guatemala and El Salvador through the Sister Parish organization. It was helpful to engage him in conversation about how we might be better advocates with our sisters and brothers in Chichipate as they struggle with injustices perpetrated upon them by nickel mining companies, how we might improve our level of communication with our friends in Guatemala, and how we may best work with the Typing School that we worked with the people of Chichipate to initiate in the year 2000.
I wanted to say something about yesterday's meeting for three reasons. First, I think many of us need to be better informed about our mission work through Sister Parish. Second, we will be engaging in conversation as a congregation—as many as wish to do so—related to our connections to global mission in general and about our relationship with Chichipate specifically in a process of expanding the extent and significance of our international mission. And third, the mission of Sister Parish seems quite relevant to the gospel story under our consideration today.
One of the ways in which Sister Parish summarizes its mission is in a simple phrase: Solidarity not Charity.
Solidarity—standing alongside, participation with, accompanying on a journey, knowing and caring. NOT charity—not handouts or creating dependency or judging or looking down upon or feeling superior or giving to others as if we are the ones most blessed and they are the ones in need. This Sister Parish relationship is about meeting Christians of another place and getting to know them as they are-valuing and appreciating their culture as it is, valuing and appreciating the people as they are, living with them and eating their food and worshipping with them during our trips to see them, having them live with us and eat our food and worship with us when we bring them to visit among us here in the north.
Solidarity not charity. Embracing not judging. Honoring not condescending.
These phrases sound much like what Jesus is teaching us in the gospel. "Take not the more honored place." "Judge not yourself better than others." "Presume not position, place, or status." "Be humble." "Ignore those things that don't really matter." "Seek not personal glory, but glorify the God who loves all equally."
Although we have struggled in recent months to get a handle on how we continue to accompany our sisters and brothers in Christ in Chichipate, Guatemala, we still stand with them in prayer and concern, knowing them as full partners in the work of Christ in the world. In many ways, our bond with these people that many would think of as foreign is defined by the kind of table fellowship that our Lord invites through Luke's story today.
When we celebrate the Eucharist in this worship service, we share in the Body of Christ with all Christians everywhere. Though we can't see them with our eyes, our Mayan friends are also standing around this altar receiving the gifts of Christ through this sacrament—grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, solidarity, unity, purpose, mission. They stand with us in spirit as we stand with them around their altar this day—with no pride of place, no presumption of privilege, no elitism of culture or condescension of charity. We stand as equals in the Lord, face to face around the circle, all aware of the need of God, all graced with gifts for the sake of community and mission.
Do you see it? Can you begin to imagine it?
And do you begin to grasp the manifest import of this vision?
How often do we read the paper or watch the news or scan the blogs and say to ourselves, "Wow! I'm glad I don't live there." or "Those poor people and their backward ways; we ought to go help those folks out. We ought to take what we know to them and teach them what it really is to live—or govern—or worship—or relate."?
It occurs to me that this is our all-too-simple knee-jerk reaction not only to the plights of politics and natural disaster that we view from a distance, but also to mere depictions of foreign ways of life. That response is often as automatic when we travel to places where cultural practices differ from our own—or when we view documentaries or read books. In our presumption of place, we condescend so easily. We are quite taken with ourselves and our powers. We think we should do something.
And often—not always, but often—what we really need to do is not act but relate. Get to know. Honor. We need to begin to allow ourselves to peer into the hearts and minds and souls of a culture and a people quite different from those with which we are familiar but which—believe it or not—nonetheless contain an integrity, beauty, coherence, goodness, and truth of their own. Even if they came to know the fullness of who we are, they would not choose our way of life and worship. They are quite fine the way they are, thank you very much.
This isn't news for many of you, but it may be news to some. And I believe it is inherent in the Good News of today's gospel. When we enter into any situation of circumstance or thought with any sort of presumption of superiority, control, or privilege, we are thereby profoundly hampered in our ability truly to enter that situation. We overlay our values, our needs, our goals—rather than looking for the gifts of others and the blessings we and they might be with and to one another-in mutuality, honor, and respect.
In many ways, when we enter upon experience in this fashion, we fail to enter at all. We have pre-judged and pre-set so much that we fail to be present. We dispositionally turn aside what gifts we may have offered or received. We overlook the blessings that may have been shared.
As you come to this table on this day to receive this bread and this wine with this particular group of people, perhaps you could begin to practice what Jesus recommends—yes, even now. Come forward cleansed of any concern that you or anyone else might get a bigger piece of wafer—or, when we use a loaf, whether it's a crust or the center. Put aside thought of self-consciousness—what folks might be thinking of you or how you look or what you're wearing. And put such considerations out of your own mind regarding others. It matters not whether the person next to you wears shorts or slacks, sandals or shoes, skirt or shirt. It matters only that they are here, now, aware of their need of God and of this gathered community seeking grace and mission. Ignore place and privilege—which is blessedly easy in this circle of fellowship enjoyed in the round.
And as you come, imagine our Mayan friends standing here too. Shorter, darker than most of us, with differing language and customs. But here just like you for God and community, forgiveness and purpose.
And as you come, embrace them in your mind, heart, and spirit as full members and partners in the work of Jesus Christ. And, if you are able, expand that imaginary circle to include the ones from whom you are estranged. Add in the Christians in Iraq. Toy with the idea that a Muslim or a Jew might be included in God's circle. Try to think of the sort of person you imagine to have no place whatsoever—no way, no how. And then, push your spirit to overcome that presumption and try to envision yourself shaking their hand as they join us around the circle.
That is how radical and transforming and gracious is the message of our Lord today even as he tells us to humble ourselves rather than revel in exaltation. That is the meaning of table fellowship, of communion, of a unity that is beyond any cultural means of conceiving and yet that fully embraces all cultures equally and graciously.
Just imagine. And let that imagining begin to shape you and this community in ways that we don't impose—but that God holds out as the unexpected blessings of divine hospitality. It is not about us; it's about God and what God has done, is doing, and will do.
For those who submit themselves to the moment exult in the blessings God has in store. Amen.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto eternal life. — Amen
