Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-11
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Diseased. Outcast. There is something terribly wrong with them. So wrong that they may not be in community with everyone else. Their only refuge? The mercy, alms, and cast-offs of passersby who take pity on their pathetic lot in life.
They groan and sigh, and hunger, and wait, together. They are isolated from the ability to support themselves and their family, from the ability to worship in the temple, from the opportunity to eat the food they desire – available only in places they may not go. They are victims of their own society’s prejudice against them, and they have no recourse.
Though the nuances are subtly different, the same experience of isolation from community exists in our contemporary context. Children and high school students struggle with social labels that result in extreme bullying. Young adults experience it as they transition from the educational environment into the work force. Single adults face it as they intermingle in coupled social circles. Family bread winners struggle with it when employment status changes and the implications of an unplanned early retirement or a job search at a later stage in life than expected. Family members experience this as they or a loved one faces a major health issue limiting energy, and opportunity for social interaction.
At some point everyone feels the impact of isolation, of separation from the “pack.” Everyone feels alone in their struggle and their own pain. At some point everyone thinks, “You don’t know how I feel.” Many of us grow in the experience of coping with the pain, and manage to not only survive, but even let go of or escape the things that cause the pain. Some, however, experience this isolation to the point of no return – with no hope for what lies beyond the struggle of today, having no skills, or adequate coping methods, they shut down entirely – completing their isolation, and the opportunity for recovery, giving up on the possibility of healing. Lately we have been surrounded by stories of the loss of life resulting from this kind of personal isolation, exacerbated by stories of intentional targeting of those in pain.
I’m speaking to you of course about the number of young people who have taken their own lives as a final resort to escape the constant pain caused by the bullying of their peers regarding their perceived (whether claimed or not) sexual orientation. These young people, were scared, struggling, targeted, abused, and in need of community -- just like all of us. Just like the lepers Jesus saw as he walked toward Jerusalem.
Jesus saw the need, a need that was apparent to anyone who walked by these lepers every single day. He saw their isolation, their affliction, he saw their need and he responded to it. He didn’t ignore it. He didn’t walk by. He didn’t leave it to someone else. He put an end to their isolation by healing that which separated them out from the community that rejected them. And he sent them on their way to receive permission to return to society.
The isolation that we are familiar with, that we struggle with ourselves, or that is taking place in the world around us is not always so obvious, nor is the gap between hurt and healing so easily bridged. We can’t wave our hands and make that which separates us from one another disappear. But there are some things we can do. There are some steps we can take. There are some bridges we can build, together, over time.
We can start by begin honest with one another. There are things we do not agree on. There are thoughtful reasons on every side of every issue, and we simply do not, and cannot and will not always agree on everything.
But it is not adequate to avoid the conversation. We have to talk about it. We have to be willing to face the things that are hurting us together. Violence hurts us. Violence that is committed in word and deed – in things done, and things left undone. When a child is tormented day in and day out – it hurts us. When a child feels that it is okay to torment another day in and day out – they do this because they learned it somewhere. It is not adequate to say children are cruel. Adults are cruel. Adults constantly criticize and attack and communicate with violent words and actions shouting over blue lines and red lines, shouting from pulpits, and press conferences. Where do children learn these attitudes and behaviors that belittle and dehumanize and demean? They learn it from us. They learn it from they way we talk at our dinner tables and in public forums about those who are other – those who are not worthy, those who have something so wrong with them they should be cast out, and left alone to die of the disease they are afflicted with.
My job here is to preach the Gospel. To point to the hope that we share in the resurrection of Jesus Christ – that what he taught, and called on us to live by and to pass on were the deepest truths about how we might come to know God, and to know his love for us. One thing I know for certain – the Jesus we receive through the Gospel believed in community. Believed that no one should be left out of community. Believed there should be none who are outcast
We are not called to agree with one another. We are called to be in community with one another. To allow ourselves to learn from one another. To listen to one another and to speak honestly with one another. We must look at that which ails us, and we must respond. What ails us today is not the fact that there are people in the world who identify themselves as Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/and Transgendered. What ails us is the fact that to admit, with vulnerability, this truth in the world is to place a target on ones head. What harms us, is not just the horror of the violence that is being done through verbal assault, physical abuse, and much worse, but the fact that there are people who are so desperately in need of something that they resort to these deathly measures. What they need – what they all need – those being harmed, and those committing the acts of violence – is community – a place where they belong, where they are heard, and where they have the opportunity to learn from those around them.
We live in a complex time and a complex place. There are so many different experiences and values and stories and teachings that shape who we are as individuals. In the Gospel this morning 10 people afflicted with disease are healed. The term leper here is a general term, one that does not necessarily refer only to a person with leprosy. 10 suffered from something, possibly 10 different ailments. And 10 were healed, and quite possibly responded with 10 different responses – only one of which was to turn and give thanks and praise to God. But it didn’t matter. Each was seen, each was in need, and each was healed, regardless of how they responded. Each was given the gift of being returned to community.
On this day, in the wake of the pain and suffering that has been inflicted on us, and on those who are so isolated, violence against themselves and this world is their only cause of action – let us pray, let us see, and let us respond to those in need of healing.
Don’t move on. Don’t ignore. Face one another. Listen. Learn. And may our faith, in the Lord Jesus Christ make us well. Amen.
Delivered Sunday, October 10, 2011
The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
5 Easter, Year C, RCL
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here in the pulpit on a Sunday morning! There have been Cinnamon Roll breakfasts with Youth Mission Sundays, Holy Week events, a trip to Washington D.C. with our Senior High Youth Group, and most recently I have returned from a Jr. High Spring Retreat called New Beginnings: an event that gathers youth leaders and participants from around the diocese for a weekend of conversation about Jesus, about where and how their faith life is practiced in their day-to-day life, and how they might show and share the gifts of faith, hope and love with their friends and family.
New Beginnings is a place where young people age 11-14 are challenged to take a fresh look at the things they have learned as children and think about them in a new way – the way that an adolescent ought to explore them – with questions, with curiosity, with friends, with songs, with the voices of fellow young people who are also asking questions, and naming convictions of the truth that Jesus is the Lord of Love, the Prince of Peace.
When you think about spending time with 90 Middle School aged youth – you probably think of gawky bodies, boys yeh high and girls yeh high, gossip and drama, gross jokes and grosser smells. Add in a fairly rainy weekend this time around, and my guess is you wouldn’t be looking forward to it.
But the thing that is amazing to me about these youth events, and it happens every time – the young people who lead them are motivated by the positive experience they have had in that place before, and they want share that with the young people who are gathered, this time around. And those youth leaders, in their words, and actions, express that love in their small groups, in the skits they put on, in the talks they give, and in the way that during the Saturday night talent show where everyone cheers and cheers for every single person or group that is willing to stand before the community and offer their talent, their vulnerable self, really, to the community. They cheered equally for an air band as they did for an ensemble of musicians who put together an impromptu performance incorporating clarinets, box drums, guitars, violin and saxophone. They cheered for the young man who sang along to a popular radio song and for another young man who was so nervous he could barely get his impression of Darth Vadar out – that’s right: “Luke, I am your father,” is apparently a talent
The thing that these Middle School Youth model, and do so well, so much better than adults is that same pronouncement that Jesus made to his disciples in our Gospel text this morning.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Middle schoolers who are going through so many changes, physically, emotionally, socially, young people who are anxious about the adolescent community – will they accept me? Will I have a place to sit at lunch tomorrow? Will I ever get to the illustrious goal of being a teenager and the ultimate freedom – a driver’s license? For one weekend, these young people who are in the midst of so much change and inner and social turmoil, come to a place where everyone is welcomed like an old friend. A place where everyone is invited to share what they are thinking in their own words. A place where the joys and the struggles of being a Christian, whether a baby baptized or someone new to the whole church thing – all of this is shared, is honored, is recognized as having value, and is made clear that we would not have been whole without their presence with us.
Just imagine if every time you came to your church community – you had that feeling. The feeling of being a place where you were valued, not because of your paycheck, or your home value, or your activity as a citizen, but simply because we would not be whole without you being here.
Jesus was no fool. We human beings come in as many varieties of personality, culture, flavor, style as there are stars in the universe. We are bound to disagree. We are bound to have struggles with one another – and sadly we sometimes allow those struggles to lead us to build walls around ourselves, to work very hard to separate us from them – to be a people that sanctify our identity over our communal life – we are American individualists, after all, we enjoy the gift of the freedom of self expression. Jesus knew that his disciples would not always be on the same page, they would not always agree, they would not always desire to work together, to listen to one another… But, he makes it very clear, that at the root of our relationship with Christ, and therefore our relationship with one another must always be love. Not fear. Not walls. Not personal gain. But love. Love for one another that attempts to reflect the slightest glimmer of the brilliant spotlight that is God’s love for us.
At New Beginnings the way that we show this to one another is with a special little something called a Warm Fuzzy. A Warm Fuzzy is a symbol of the love that belongs to each one of us as a result of God’s love for us. It is made to be given away. Without being given away it becomes cold and shrivels up and turns into a cold prickly, as the story goes. At the closing Eucharist of New Beginnings, youth turn to one another and offer a warm fuzzy saying this is a warm fuzzy and it means I love you. They don’t just offer one to the person on their left or right. They move about passing fuzzies and hugs to people they have met, gotten to know, and have learned they are free to share in the love that has been shown to them and that they too want to pass on.
As our community attempts to follow the command that Jesus gave his disciples, love one another as I have loved you, may we be followers of the example shown to us by our youth. May we welcome one another, and welcome the stranger. May we seek to listen to one another, honoring our differences. May we be so drawn to the center of Christ’s love that we seek others with whom to share that love, with all our hearts, and hugs, and warm fuzzies. Amen.
Delivered: Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, Rock Hill, SC
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
It’s been a while since I’ve been here in the pulpit on a Sunday morning! There have been Cinnamon Roll breakfasts with Youth Mission Sundays, Holy Week events, a trip to Washington D.C. with our Senior High Youth Group, and most recently I have returned from a Jr. High Spring Retreat called New Beginnings: an event that gathers youth leaders and participants from around the diocese for a weekend of conversation about Jesus, about where and how their faith life is practiced in their day-to-day life, and how they might show and share the gifts of faith, hope and love with their friends and family.
New Beginnings is a place where young people age 11-14 are challenged to take a fresh look at the things they have learned as children and think about them in a new way – the way that an adolescent ought to explore them – with questions, with curiosity, with friends, with songs, with the voices of fellow young people who are also asking questions, and naming convictions of the truth that Jesus is the Lord of Love, the Prince of Peace.
When you think about spending time with 90 Middle School aged youth – you probably think of gawky bodies, boys yeh high and girls yeh high, gossip and drama, gross jokes and grosser smells. Add in a fairly rainy weekend this time around, and my guess is you wouldn’t be looking forward to it.
But the thing that is amazing to me about these youth events, and it happens every time – the young people who lead them are motivated by the positive experience they have had in that place before, and they want share that with the young people who are gathered, this time around. And those youth leaders, in their words, and actions, express that love in their small groups, in the skits they put on, in the talks they give, and in the way that during the Saturday night talent show where everyone cheers and cheers for every single person or group that is willing to stand before the community and offer their talent, their vulnerable self, really, to the community. They cheered equally for an air band as they did for an ensemble of musicians who put together an impromptu performance incorporating clarinets, box drums, guitars, violin and saxophone. They cheered for the young man who sang along to a popular radio song and for another young man who was so nervous he could barely get his impression of Darth Vadar out – that’s right: “Luke, I am your father,” is apparently a talent
The thing that these Middle School Youth model, and do so well, so much better than adults is that same pronouncement that Jesus made to his disciples in our Gospel text this morning.
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Middle schoolers who are going through so many changes, physically, emotionally, socially, young people who are anxious about the adolescent community – will they accept me? Will I have a place to sit at lunch tomorrow? Will I ever get to the illustrious goal of being a teenager and the ultimate freedom – a driver’s license? For one weekend, these young people who are in the midst of so much change and inner and social turmoil, come to a place where everyone is welcomed like an old friend. A place where everyone is invited to share what they are thinking in their own words. A place where the joys and the struggles of being a Christian, whether a baby baptized or someone new to the whole church thing – all of this is shared, is honored, is recognized as having value, and is made clear that we would not have been whole without their presence with us.
Just imagine if every time you came to your church community – you had that feeling. The feeling of being a place where you were valued, not because of your paycheck, or your home value, or your activity as a citizen, but simply because we would not be whole without you being here.
Jesus was no fool. We human beings come in as many varieties of personality, culture, flavor, style as there are stars in the universe. We are bound to disagree. We are bound to have struggles with one another – and sadly we sometimes allow those struggles to lead us to build walls around ourselves, to work very hard to separate us from them – to be a people that sanctify our identity over our communal life – we are American individualists, after all, we enjoy the gift of the freedom of self expression. Jesus knew that his disciples would not always be on the same page, they would not always agree, they would not always desire to work together, to listen to one another… But, he makes it very clear, that at the root of our relationship with Christ, and therefore our relationship with one another must always be love. Not fear. Not walls. Not personal gain. But love. Love for one another that attempts to reflect the slightest glimmer of the brilliant spotlight that is God’s love for us.
At New Beginnings the way that we show this to one another is with a special little something called a Warm Fuzzy. A Warm Fuzzy is a symbol of the love that belongs to each one of us as a result of God’s love for us. It is made to be given away. Without being given away it becomes cold and shrivels up and turns into a cold prickly, as the story goes. At the closing Eucharist of New Beginnings, youth turn to one another and offer a warm fuzzy saying this is a warm fuzzy and it means I love you. They don’t just offer one to the person on their left or right. They move about passing fuzzies and hugs to people they have met, gotten to know, and have learned they are free to share in the love that has been shown to them and that they too want to pass on.
As our community attempts to follow the command that Jesus gave his disciples, love one another as I have loved you, may we be followers of the example shown to us by our youth. May we welcome one another, and welcome the stranger. May we seek to listen to one another, honoring our differences. May we be so drawn to the center of Christ’s love that we seek others with whom to share that love, with all our hearts, and hugs, and warm fuzzies. Amen.
Delivered: Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, Rock Hill, SC
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