Readings of the Day:
Sermon:
Last Summer, I served at a church in Atlanta. It was a small congregation. Which
meant that I often helped the priest and staff do tasks like cleaning up branches
from a falling tree.
This was fairly early in my time there that we were picking up these branches. And I still didn't know the priest very well at this point. We were both trying to figure each other out a bit. So we began with a conversation that many in ministry start with. Seminary.
I told her I was finishing up at Sewanee. And she told me she had gone to a Central Divinity School of the Pacific. And seminary rivalries being what they were, I have to confess, I wasn't sure what to make of this knowledge. I wasn't sure what it would be like working with her for the rest of the summer.
One of the main programs this church had was a center for those living with various mental illnesses. And during last summer, the director of that program left to take a job elsewhere.
As you can probably imagine, change is difficult for a population like this. So there was a lot of anxiety about what was happening.
And then our priest got up one Sunday and spoke about the matter. She told everyone, "Yes this is a change. Yes it is sad. We've gotten through this sort of thing before. And we will get through it again. We are still here. We are still open. And Jesus still loves us all."
It was in that moment I realized that this priest was in it for the same reason I was. She was there to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it didn't matter where we had gone to school. It didn't matter what we agreed or disagreed on. I realized in that moment that for me, if someone else was ready and willing to serve Jesus with me, it didn't matter what they thought or where they stood on anything else. We were good.
This priest in Atlanta and I were divided by which seminary we went to. By what group we belonged in. And something similar is going on in the reading from Galatians today.
Paul is writing this letter at a time when the church was at a crossroads. Were we going to hold onto our Jewish roots and require circumcision and Torah observance for all who proclaimed the Gospel? Could you really be a follower of Christ if you were a Gentile? Basically, there was a divide in the church between whether you belonged to the Jewish faction or the Gentile faction.
This was fairly early in my time there that we were picking up these branches. And I still didn't know the priest very well at this point. We were both trying to figure each other out a bit. So we began with a conversation that many in ministry start with. Seminary.
I told her I was finishing up at Sewanee. And she told me she had gone to a Central Divinity School of the Pacific. And seminary rivalries being what they were, I have to confess, I wasn't sure what to make of this knowledge. I wasn't sure what it would be like working with her for the rest of the summer.
One of the main programs this church had was a center for those living with various mental illnesses. And during last summer, the director of that program left to take a job elsewhere.
As you can probably imagine, change is difficult for a population like this. So there was a lot of anxiety about what was happening.
And then our priest got up one Sunday and spoke about the matter. She told everyone, "Yes this is a change. Yes it is sad. We've gotten through this sort of thing before. And we will get through it again. We are still here. We are still open. And Jesus still loves us all."
It was in that moment I realized that this priest was in it for the same reason I was. She was there to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it didn't matter where we had gone to school. It didn't matter what we agreed or disagreed on. I realized in that moment that for me, if someone else was ready and willing to serve Jesus with me, it didn't matter what they thought or where they stood on anything else. We were good.
This priest in Atlanta and I were divided by which seminary we went to. By what group we belonged in. And something similar is going on in the reading from Galatians today.
Paul is writing this letter at a time when the church was at a crossroads. Were we going to hold onto our Jewish roots and require circumcision and Torah observance for all who proclaimed the Gospel? Could you really be a follower of Christ if you were a Gentile? Basically, there was a divide in the church between whether you belonged to the Jewish faction or the Gentile faction.
What Paul is trying to say to the Galatians, and what he has been leading up to these past few weeks, is that these divisions don't really matter at all. In the end they are meaningless.
Paul tells us that "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
At the end of the day, our factions, the things that divide us, don't matter. It
doesn't matter how well, or how badly, we follow the law. Because all has been
made well by Jesus Christ, our Lord. All of us have been offered the gift of grace
in the death of our Lord and Savior which we so desperately need. We are all
brought in to be together, not to be separate, but to be one as a community in the
name of Christ Jesus. Because "as many of you as were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourself with Christ."
In the end there is only one thing that defines us. Only one thing that marks us for who we are. Only one group, one community worth being part of. And that is the community of the body of Christ.
In the end there is only one thing that defines us. Only one thing that marks us for who we are. Only one group, one community worth being part of. And that is the community of the body of Christ.
We live in a world where it is easy for us to be divided. To look at the differences
and not at the God who draws us together as one. It is easy for us to look at one
another with suspicion instead of saying "I'm for Jesus. You're for Jesus. Let us
go forth in the name of Christ."
But we are so fortunate to live in this great community. A community where Christians of all denominations can come together for recreation and service. And I have been a witness to this. I've been pulled of the street to be welcomed into this community by Baptists. I've seen other denominations from other towns come and worship with us. And I've seen Methodists come and help us and work and paint beside us.
It can be easy for us to fall back on our previous prejudices though. At least it is for me. There are times, even after my experience in Atlanta, where it is hard for the rivalries that divide us to not seep in. Where it becomes easy to allow our differences in schools, denominations, or persuasions in personal belief to get in the way.
But we are so fortunate to live in this great community. A community where Christians of all denominations can come together for recreation and service. And I have been a witness to this. I've been pulled of the street to be welcomed into this community by Baptists. I've seen other denominations from other towns come and worship with us. And I've seen Methodists come and help us and work and paint beside us.
It can be easy for us to fall back on our previous prejudices though. At least it is for me. There are times, even after my experience in Atlanta, where it is hard for the rivalries that divide us to not seep in. Where it becomes easy to allow our differences in schools, denominations, or persuasions in personal belief to get in the way.
Here is where it is particularly important to make Jesus Christ our one and only center in all that we do. Because it is through Jesus that we are all bound together, in spite of our differences. It is through Christ that we are able to forget all other allegiances. It is through Christ Jesus that we are invited to love others, just as He loved us. And loved us so much that in spite of all our faults, he came down and died for us anyway so that we could have new life in him.
With Jesus at the center, we can continue to be the wonderful community of Christ-like love that we are. And we can even grow in that love, to become even stronger. Even better. Even more Christ-like.