Sermon
St. Simon’s on the Sound
Proper 25 – Twentieth Sunday after
Pentecost
Luke 18:9-14
In Luke's gospel, Jesus' last words as he hung on
the cross were, "…Father forgive them; for they know not what they
do." This brief 10-word phrase is one that I have never seriously
thought through until late this summer, when preparing for our new Book Study
group, I read a sermon given by Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled "Love in
Action."
The sermon is found in the small but powerful
book, "The Strength to Love." In the sermon King writes, "A
second lesson comes to us from Jesus' awareness of man's intellectual and
spiritual blindness. "They know not what they do," said Jesus…The men
who cried, "Crucify him," were not bad men but rather blind men. The
jeering mob that lined the roadside that led to Calvary was composed not of
evil people, but of blind people. They knew not what they did. What a
tragedy!"
King goes on for the remainder of his sermon to
eloquently describe the many human tragedies that have occurred as the result
of man's blindness. Tragedies that span time immemorial from the crucifixion of
Christ up to and including the world of segregation and hatred in which he
found himself.
Wars have and are being fought. People have been
and are being persecuted; killed; exterminated. Ignorance and prejudice have
caused and are causing irreparable damage to countless men, women, and
children. And why, says King – because "They know not what they
do." Blindness was and is their besetting trouble…”
This sermon of King's is for me a disquieting
reminder of the imperative nature of the church's mandate to take up, with a
renewed commitment to Christ, its role as a leader in healing divisions that
continue to deepen among people throughout the world. Divisions brought about
by blindness - the inability to think and act with understanding, compassion,
and love.
The church's mandate to, "Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
that I have commanded you." (Matt 28:16-20) has never been more
relevant.
It is a mandate to counteract blindness, and to
bring about “good will among men.” It is a mandate to heal divisions that stem
from entrenched positions assumed through ignorance, prejudice, and fear.
Divisions that create an atmosphere of blaming, anger, and hate. An anger and
hate that has, and is, creating pain, suffering, and chaos throughout the
world. It is a mandate to bring about healing through forgiveness and love.
Last week, in his opening address to the
Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said,
“The
United States is being torn asunder within by the inability to be in deep
relationship with each other and yet hold differing positions and convictions.
“I
really believe that Jesus was right. That the Way of Love, doesn't mean the way
of agreement. But it means the capacity to love each other, and therefore, to
seek the good together. Whether we agree or disagree.
“Dr. King once said, “History is replete with
the bleached bones of civilizations that have refused to listen to (Jesus),”
who said love your enemies, bless those who curse you.
“This country must not become a valley of dry
bones. And frankly, the only way is the way of love.
“There is no other way.”
Now is the time for us, the church, to leave
behind the comfort of home; to go into the world as both disciples and
prophets; to enter into conversations and ways of being that will forge paths
that lead to healing the wounds of hatred and divisiveness that grow more
evident with each passing day. Conversations and ways of being that point us to
God's grace – God's desire for his beloved children to live lives of peace and
abundance.
What does all of this mean for those of us
sitting here in Ft. Walton Beach and those Episcopalians who reside throughout
the entire Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast?
How do these messages from Martin Luther King,
Jr. and our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, impact our day to day lives if our
goal is to go forth into the community as disciples and prophets? What is it
that we can do that will facilitate healing in our chaotic and divided world?
To be effective, our conversations and ways of
being should listen to Jesus' words, "Forgive them; for they know not
what they do." Our conversations and ways of being should reflect the
knowledge that reconciling these divisions can only come from recognizing that
God alone, not we, but God alone, is the judge of all mankind.
Luke's gospel reading today points to this
reality - that God alone is the judge of all mankind. Luke begins with the
phrase, "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.” (Lk 18:9)
The parable goes on to describe two people
praying in the temple. A Pharisee who is giving thanks that he is "not
like other people" who, in essence, are flawed, not worthy; in some way
"bad." And, a tax collector who, in humility and shame, has hidden
himself at the far edge of the Temple courtyard, unable to look up – to look
God in the eye, so to speak, as he asks for mercy.
The contrast between these two
men is quite evident. The Pharisee makes a claim to righteousness based on his
own assessment of his accomplishments as a man of God, while the tax collector,
knowing he has many faults, relies entirely upon the Lord's benevolence to
forgive his sins.
The pharisee appears to have no
need for God. Rather than being grateful for his blessings, the Pharisee
appears smug to the point of despising others. In his mind there are two kinds
of people: the righteous and the those who are sinners - those who are not
worthy. He is grateful that he can place himself among the righteous - those
worthy of God’s blessing.
The tax collector, on the other
hand, isn't so much humble as desperate. He is too overwhelmed by his plight to
take time to divide humanity into sides. All he recognizes as he stands near
the Temple is his own great need for forgiveness. He stakes his hopes not on
anything he has done or deserved but entirely on the mercy of God.
That's a big difference – One
man is judging his worthiness through his own eyes; the other, is asking God
for mercy.
How easy to fall into the role
of the Pharisee. Indeed, do we not find ourselves in this category every day -
see ourselves through the judgement of our own eyes - no one else’s, let alone
God’s? How easy to think, “I go to church. I pray on a daily basis. I donate to
causes that help the needy. I am a good person.”
Sound familiar?
I certainly am no different than
anyone else. I frequently find myself in the Pharisee category. However, more
and more, the Pharisee category makes me very uncomfortable. When I feel that
discomfort, I say to myself, “Clelia, you are blind. Your blindness is
preventing you from being a true servant of Christ. You need to forget about
yourself and seek God’s way for you, not his congratulations for your personal
achievements, which, by the way, matter little in this troubled world.”
The link here between King’s
sermon and his observations about blindness and Luke’s gospel is, of course,
righteousness. Through our sense of righteousness, our self-satisfaction, we
become alienated from God. And, when we are alienated from God, we no longer
see the “other” through the lenses of discipleship. The lenses of forgiveness
and love. We see the world as “us” versus “them.” We are the right ones, the
good ones. Everything is fine on our side of the fence. It’s those “others” who
are the problem.
And thus, acts committed in
blindness, the blindness that King refers to when he points to the importance
of Christ’s words, “Forgive them, they know not what they do,” acts of
violence are brought about.
There are two important points
here. The first is Christ’s cry to God, “Forgive them.” The torture and
sadness of the cross was an act of love carried out for us. Our promise of
eternal forgiveness given in a moment of torture and suffering. Through an act
of love and forgiveness, we are forgiven - loved and forgiven, eternally.
The second is the sin of our
righteousness and the obligation we have to the cross to get beyond our
righteousness and into the world to offer the same forgiveness and love that we
have received from God.
God sent Jesus so that we might
receive eternal forgiveness and love. Jesus sends us to do the same.
This is not easy work - going
into the world to offer forgiveness and love. To understand and participate in
the healing of the other. But it is the work that God has given us to do.
Let us not be blind. Let us not
fall into the way of those who know not what they do. Let us have the humility,
courage and discipline needed to lift the scales from our eyes and, with God’s
help, to know what we are all about as we forge the path of discipleship - the
path of forgiveness and love.
In his book, Journey to the Common Good, Walter
Brueggemann, as usual, eloquently paints for us a picture of
what prophetic life entails when he writes, “Those who sign on and depart the system of anxious scarcity
become the history makers in the neighborhood.”
With God's help, let
us know what we do. Let us become “history makers in the neighborhood.” AMEN
