17 Pentecost, Year A, RCL

Proper 18

Ezekiel 33:7-11
Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

Good Morning. It is wonderful to see SOOO many of you here today. It’s the beginning of a new year (a new school year, a new program year.) Many of us have been far and near over the summer months, but today is a high holy day in the life of the church year – it’s the first day of Sunday school! And many among us who have been away have found their way back to this gathering place. I’m glad you’re all here. Welcome.

September marks the cultural end of summertime, and the return to “normal life,” back to the school year, back to business as usual, and that means coming back to church – getting back into the routine of seeing friends and family on Sunday morning and re-forming this community that we call the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour. Welcome home.

It is a cultural truth that summer vacation often includes taking a break from church. I am not naming this with the intention to make you feel bad for missing a Sunday here and there. I know as well as you all that many of you have had family to visit, weddings to attend, and rest-time and vacation/Sabbath that you have needed to take for yourselves and your families. I’ve had Sundays when I’ve been away too, and for many of those I am grateful – both for the opportunity to rest and learn from other places. Being away also means enjoying that wonderful feeling of returning home, returning to the familiar. It feels good to come into a place and be greeted by familiar faces, and a setting where you know your place, you know your way around, you know where you are going. Welcome back.

But of course, as this community re-gathers, re-forms, we are still in a bit of a wilderness – we are still worshipping here in the hall, and so those long memories of the way we do things around here, the way we’ve always done it, have been shaken up, and set aside for awhile as we continue looking forward to the completion of our church’s building restoration, renewal and return. [We welcome your call please hold.]

And of course, as some of you have been gone and have now returned – there have been other changes in the community – new faces can be seen at coffee hour as people new to Rock Hill, or the Episcopal Church, or to the Christian faith have joined us along the way, both those who have found us over the summer, and over the years: new babies, new students, new families, new companions who have gathered here with us today – and those who will find us in the coming months and years. The church is after all an institution made for those who are not yet members. Welcome to this community – it is newly re-formed today – because you are here, and we’re glad you’re here with us.

As a community it is important to remember that gathering is what we do – it is who we are. Though we go out in many different directions, experiencing the world in as many ways as we are in number, we remain connected in this place, through this tradition, through the relationships that are woven together in the fabric of our life together. We gather with purpose : to worship God, to giving thanks for our lives and all of creation, to share stories from scripture and our lives, to invite and welcome others into our fold, to grow together through the years as we laugh, give birth to new things, and weep and say goodbye. We gather to share meals – some that nourishes our bodies, others that nourish our souls. We are a diverse community, but there is one light that gathers us in – that draws us close to one another and to God and that which is at the center of our life together is Christ.

In our Gospel for today we are reminded of the fact that even in Christian community, there is, inevitably, conflict. As in your own family lives, as in your office, as your school hallways, as in traffic jams, there are tiny annoyances and great hurts that separate us from one another, from our community and from God. How do we live in peaceful community together when one has been wronged by the other? How do I pretend that what separates me from you can be ignored? The truth is – it cannot. The truth is we do and we will hurt one another, whether it’s intentional, accidental, thoughtless, or premeditated. We are absolutely capable and in all likelihood going to hurt others and be hurt by others in this community.

When a hurt has been perpetrated we will react. Just as when a hurt or injustice has taken place on a large scale and entire communities are motivated to respond, so will we on the most intimate level in one way or another respond to a hurt that has been done to us. And when it happens close to home, in our church home, that is the worst kind. But if we believe in community, and we believe that Christ is at the center of our community – then truly we have consolation in that. The Gospel describes a method of conflict resolution – one that is not easy – one that takes time and honesty. One that takes both sides listening to one another – and remembering that despite all that separates us from one another it is Christ’s love for all of that unites us still.

As we re-gather and re-form as a community, we have the opportunity to meet one another, to listen to one another, to hear where we have been, and to see how we have grown and changed. Who will we be as a community? How will we move forward together in this new year as we embrace the challenges that will face our community? And how will we forgive ourselves and one another for the conflicts of the past? You are here – and that is the first step – you are here, and we are glad, because we cannot be this community without you. And showing up – facing the questions, facing the challenges: that is the first step in resolving conflict and moving forward.

Allowing others to hear your heart, your need, your hurt, your hope, that is the second step – sharing who you are with those around you and asking for their help to stand and face the unknown – standing together to face that which separates you from your neighbor. How else will conflict be resolved if it is never brought into the light?

Finally, as a community gathered, the church at large is called to embrace both the one who has been hurt and the one who has brought that hurt to the other. Being a community – being this people gathered means being present to both parties, and living as witnesses to Christ’s love all sinners. When the community answers this call it acts as the body of Christ.

This does mean that we are called to judge one another as to who is right or wrong – but rather to allow both sides the space to be loved so that they might willingly face what they are accountable for. Alone it is hard not to feel justified – self-righteous. But in a community that seeks to be whole, neither side should be left alone. For it is in our time gathered that Christ’s presence dwells in our community, and its actions. It is in our actions of faithful worship, of returning and welcoming one another, of embracing and listening to one another in times of conflict and in times of celebration that we live into our call to faithful, Christ centered community.

You are here: welcome.

We are here: together.

Christ is with us.

In times of peace, in times of conflict, in times of wilderness and waiting, in times of return to the old and growing into the new: See each other, hear each other, embrace each other, for when we are gathered in community, Christ is with us. Amen.

Delivered by The Rev. Mary Catherine Enockson

Sunday, September 7, 2008, The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, Rock Hill, SC.