Proper 11 C_9th Sunday after Pentecost, RCL
July
21, 2013
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, Silver City NM;
Brian H. O. A. McHugh
[Amos 8: 1-12
; Psalm 52;
Col 1: 15-28;
Luke 10: 38-42 ]
In over 45 years, I have never used the same sermon
twice, and never intend to. However, it is
nice to be in a new place, because I can use illustrations that you haven’t
heard before! In the summer of 1989, I went to Oslo to officiate at the wedding
of the son of a friend and his Norwegian fiancé. Afterwards, I spent 3 weeks in
Italy. A friend helped me get a place to stay at a Benedictine monastery; the
monks welcomed me even though I was not a Roman Catholic. Hospitality is one of
the greatest principles of the monastic life; we know it mostly in the 5th
C. Rule of St. Benedict, which says: “Welcome all guests as Christ”. One day, I
hiked five hours to another monastery, planning to arrive for lunch which the
abbot told me was at noon, but as there was no telephone he couldn’t confirm. My
hike took longer. I arrived almost half an hour late! I was ushered into the
refectory by the guestmaster … and all the monks were sitting … waiting,
listening to the Lector. I was seated, the abbot rapped the table, and lunch
began in silence. The guestmaster, who spoke some English and who has
permission to talk, leaned over and whispered, “We were expecting you”. How
they knew I was coming, I never discovered
- though don’t get distracted by
that little mystery. My point is that they subscribed to Christian Hospitality which
required that they await my arrival.
The Gospel story today is primarily about two issues
in Christian practice: Hospitality, and
dealing with Anxiety or Worry. Jesus visits Martha and Mary. Mary sits and
listens to Jesus. Martha is doing all the work to offer hospitality to Jesus …
but she is stressed and cranky. That worry and distraction, Jesus points out to
her, is getting in the way of being hospitable. Of course there is nothing
essentially wrong with serving; Jesus “came to serve”. This story is, as is
almost always the case, about us as
persons baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. It speaks to one of
the central themes of Jesus’ teaching:
that our relationship with Him and with God is meant to transform us, bring us into the fullness
of our Being. We all resist this in various ways throughout our lives -
which we all know if we are
honest. Transformation, change, growing, evolving: these are our greatest inner
challenges. Worship and community and “religion”, if effective, bind us on the
path towards transformation into fullness of Being as a component of the
profound Mystery of Life. To be transformed, God, as the “ground of Being”,
must be at the center, breathing Life into us as God does into Adam and Eve. Jesus
is not chastising Martha for serving; we are all called to serve. Rather, He is
gently chastising her for letting her chores displace Him in her heart. To be
one with God, we must not be distracted by worry and anxiety or anything else
from offering hospitality in our hearts to God and to the powerful transforming
message of Jesus’ Gospel.
“Hospitality” derives from the Latin root, meaning
either a place of healing – a hospital
- or a person who welcomes
another into their home – a host. Offering hospitality is to invite others into
our loving hearts, where Life and wholeness can be found. It is not surprising
that the Eucharistic bread we eat is called The Host. When we receive it, we
receive God into our lives who brings healing and wholeness and peace. We offer
hospitality to God, as Mary did, and we receive God’s hospitality in the form
of God’s gift of Life and unconditional love.
It is not surprising that Jesus so often says, “Do
not be afraid”, or, “Do not be anxious”. Fear and anxiety profoundly hinder the
process of evolving into “the full stature of Christ”.[1]
Jesus understood fear. He wrestled with that fear in Gethsemane. He went to
Jerusalem to face it down. And when Peter tried to dissuade Him, He firmly
rebuked him. Read again the words of the Epistle. It is a stirring call to
remember Mary’s choice - to listen to God first above all things, to
be transformed into His likeness, to act with His uncompromising love.
Sound scary? I think it is … if we forget that we are now living in the full embrace of God’s
love; if we conform to the standards of culture and society and economics
which demean us and others; if we buy into spiritual paths which
lie to us.
In our World, we are highly susceptible to all
these. I see and feel the anxiety and worry and fear in the World and in our
land -
and I experience the effects of it in my Life. Rampant militarism and
glorification of force; pervasive
violence on every social level; the power of vast wealth to deprive
millions of the basics for life; hate for and fear of “the other” barely hidden
under a veneer of politeness … a veneer being stripped away in the media these
days as politicians and supposedly religious people spew vitriol; “Stand your
Ground” laws; unconfronted bullying of young people for various reasons, including
NM gay teenager Carlos Vigil who killed himself in Los Lunas this week. The
list goes sadly on.
I would worry more … but then I remember “Think
globally, Act Locally”. Most of us are going to contribute to the
transformation of the World in small ways. I recall this little story from the
Desert Mothers and Fathers: “A brother came to visit a hermit. As he was talking his leave, he said:
‘Pardon me, father, for I have caused you to violate your rule.’ But the hermit
answered: "My rule is to refresh you and send you back in peace."
I think that’s what worship should be for us.
I
think we need to remember the lesson of Mary, sitting at Jesus’ feet. God,
God’s compassion, must define us. We need to ask ourselves daily, “Is how I am
behaving, acting, thinking, believing consonant with the person and ethic of
Jesus? Am I open to transformation?
We
come to this altar to be transformed into the image of God, to accept God’s
hospitality, to offer God the hospitality of our hearts, to support each other
on this Journey of being Christ-like. And more importantly, to go and help
break down all barriers which would separate us or any person from the love of
God and from each other. If we are faithful in “small things”, God will
transform the World.
Sermons
are not, in my mind, for telling anyone what to believe. They are to encourage
a conversation. I look forward, at Coffee or any other time, to hear your thoughts.
