Proper 22A – Oct. 8, 2017 -Commandments, Community, and Caritas
Readings
for the day are found here:
I wonder – and I have started sermons like
this before – are you feeling more than a little battered by the terrible news
that seems to surround us right now? From the horrific murders in Las Vegas, 58
dead, to a truly devastating and seemingly never-ending hurricane season which
has destroyed the property, infrastructure, and lives of people in places that
could least afford it. It’s been a very
hard week – this past week. Lord, whose
world is this anyway?
What can our lessons say to us of this
past week? Can something written so long
ago actually have bearing on our present experience? I want to suggest to you
that the Scripture can and does speak to us in the present moment because it is
breathed over by the Holy Spirit, the living Spirit of our Living God, who
animates it and speaks through it to our hearts, minds, and spirits here and now.
This past summer,
VBS focused on the Ten Commandments and here they are today in our Old
Testament reading. Not so much with the
little kids, but the bigger kids and I had some substantial conversation around
the Sixth Commandment – Thou shalt do no murder. They wondered, was there ever
a time it would be OK to take another life?
What about soldiers? What about self-defense? What about accidents? (fourth and fifth graders ask great
questions!). I couldn’t help but think
about those heartfelt conversations right here when I heard about the terrible
happenings in Las Vegas. And, what of the murderer himself? So many
questions, so much blaming, so much anger.
People are struggling to understand what would bring a man to do such a
thing. As horrific and heinous were Dylan Roof’s actions, we understood pretty quickly that he was driven by hatred
of black people, radical racism, and the desire to start a race war in
America.
We don’t know anything at this point about
the motivation of the killer in Las Vegas. But,
whatever else we might say, we certainly can say he had forgotten the
Ten Commandments. Did he ever know them? Surely, the prohibition against murder
is one of the deepest commitments of our shared life. His brother said that he really did not seem
to have any kind of beliefs. I was struck by the description of him as a loner,
a lone wolf, and it’s a description we have heard over and over again of folks
who have acted in this horrific way. The
picture emerges of someone who is utterly isolated, detached, living a secret
life- even if surrounded by others…
Now, there are plenty of isolated, detached,
lonely folks who live lives that do not result in mass murders but I cannot
help but be struck by the similarity in description. And, it leads me to wonder
if being engaged in community is not, in part, an or even the antidote for the
kind of radical isolation which produces such profoundly violent and
destructive behavior. I am not
discounting other factors – the ease of acquiring such murderous weapons,
mental illness or the actions of evil itself, but I do want to point to the difference it makes when we are in
community (which you know something about),
in relationships of accountability, support, and compassion with each
other. St. Paul says bear one another’s
burdens. When we detach or reject
community, we lose not only each other, but part of our own identity as well as
some of the supports that safeguard our communal life.
Our God has created us as relational
beings—think about the Trinity itself – it is a community of being - and when
we are in Christ, we are taken up into the very life of that community. The mystery is that we become more deeply who
we are as we grow into the likeness of Christ. So, too, with community.
God gives us the Ten Commandments to
function as a kind of protective hedge for our lives. My rabbi friend, Ed Friedman, said “You
Christians would say- God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son. We Jews would say- God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Torah – the commandments, the Law.” And our psalmist today reminds us that God’s
commandments are “…More to be desired … than gold, more than much fine
gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey
in the comb.” (Ps. 19.10)
I
kept trying to say to the kids this summer, God doesn’t give us the
commandments because he wants to load us up with a bunch of rules, but because
they keep us from injuring each other and injuring our relationship with God
. Rather, God wants us to learn to say,
“I will not... (whatever it is), because it will hurt me and others and
injure the bond of community.” The
commandments help define the way we live
together –and taken with Love God with your whole being and Love your neighbor
as yourself – these are life-giving. And, when we share them as values, they
help us remember who we are and whose we are.
The tenants in this morning’s Gospel
reading had certainly forgotten that – they had forgotten that they were only
tenants and not owners—and, remember, the owner was not asking for the entire
harvest only for his share. Commandments
like – do not steal, do not murder, do not covet come to mind. The tenants rejected the commandments, and
they rejected the son.
This story has a strong allegorical
feature to it, and we really can’t look at it without noting traditional
interpretations: the vineyard is God’s people- an image used over and over in the Old
Testament with roots in Isaiah; the tenants are the rulers and religious
leaders; the wall – the commandments; the servants or slaves- the prophets, and
biggest twist is the addition of the son – rejected and murdered.
If you think about it, this owner was
incredibly patient – almost absurdly so, for, in real life, the wicked tenants would
have been arrested and put to death immediately the first go round.
Thinking of this in connection with
ancient Israel is a good place to start
but it doesn’t end there, because
it does come to us.
Have we
forgotten whose we are, have we
forgotten whose world this is? What fruit does God desire from our lives? You are his vineyard, and he waits patiently to see what the harvest
will bear.
He calls us to live in community with each
other and with himself - holding fast to
the covenant. Will we?
He calls us to faithful stewardship of all
that is entrusted to our care – that which we normally think of as ours – the
people of our lives, our wealth, our homes, any talents or abilities - whatever
we have in this life – it’s all gift..
He calls us to live faithfully – to love
one another as we have been loved, to love God and love our neighbor – not
abstractly but practically – he calls us to live rightly – that is , justly…
So, then, how shall we live in the face of
tragedy? We are not impotent and we have
some choices.
In the wake of Las Vegas, I observed an
argument on social media – one side would say – praying, thoughts and prayers.
The other would say, enough with the prayers, it’s time for action. These are not separate – not an
either-or. I want to offer a model, a
rhythm, to you from the world of
Franciscan monasticism. It goes like
this.. First, we pray – listening deeply. Then, arising from prayer, we discern an
action to undertake. After engaging in
action, then we reflect- how did it go?
Do adjustments need to be made? Pray, act, reflect and all of it held in love.
You well know that action without prayer
or reflection can really miss the mark.
And, prayer without action can do the same. And, prayer, action, and reflection not grounded in love does harm.
So, beloved, pray, act, and reflect. Begin by listening to each other (Paul
Tillich, theologian, says the first duty of love is to listen). Don’t be afraid to act. Hold onto to each
other, and, above all, stay grounded in
love. For the sake of Jesus. Amen.
JTCO- St. James-Santee, McClellanville.
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