| Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, This is the eve of a painful anniversary, which will figure largely in everything we say and do in church this Sunday. As I prepare to preach (we'll be at Grace Church, Pomeroy), I am amazed at the way the lectionary intersects with 9/11. I am taking the liberty to share with you some of my thoughts as I reflect on these readings, partly because it helps me to focus my own heart and mind, and partly because you all are very much in my prayers in this difficult time for our nation and for the church. In our Gospel reading (Matthew 18:21-35), Jesus teaches us that there can be no limit to our obligation to forgive and our willingness to forgive. I struggle with this. There are a few people in my life whom it is very hard for me to forgive. And even if they are dead or are far away, I find that I must forgive them over and over again, since old hurts don't go away. Yet Jesus says, if we want to follow him, we must wish our enemies well, pray for them, and stand ready to be in a restored relationship with them. How do we do this without helping the wrongdoer at the expense of the innocent? Certainly, we must condemn anyone who harms others, including those who have harmed us. Jesus was quick to expose any kind of cruelty or failure to show compassion. Standing up against hatred is central to Christian teaching. Whether or not this should include the use of force is an as-yet-unresolved question, but refusal to put up with the abuse of power or of persons is something we are all called to by virtue of our baptism. So how do we square this with Jesus' command that we should forgive? The key lies in remembering that we also have done wrong and have been forgiven. It is one thing to condemn wrongdoing out of a sense of moral superiority. It is another simply to name evil when we see it, because we have seen it in ourselves and refuse to be a party to it. Then it's not about us and how we measure up relative to others, but about the moral law under which we all stand condemned, one way or another. Surely this is what Paul is saying when he urges us to avoid competing with one another regarding who has the most faith or who lives the most exemplary life (Romans 14: 1-12). But Paul is talking about how Christians relate to Christians. We can easily apply this to how we relate to anyone who has made common cause with us. How do we extend this kind of generosity to those we don't have anything in common with? The answer, of course, is that there is no human being or human group with whom we have nothing in common, since Christ died for all. Many of us - myself included - are still angry about the murder of over three thousand people on September 11, 2001, as well as the violation of our security, our territorial integrity, and our honor. Today's readings do not deny any of this, but they challenge us to transmute our anger into fierce and uncompromising forgiveness. We can be fiercely forgiving when our conscience is clear, not because we believe ourselves to be blameless, but because we know that we, too, are forgiven sinners. This, it seems to me, sums up the whole mission of the church. Every piece of our Christian journey is meant to form us into a people that speaks truth, insists on justice, and endlessly forgives. This is what Jesus demands of us and what the world desperately needs from us. But we can only dare to commit ourselves to such a life if we know that we are cherished by Jesus and always surrounded by that love. May our worship this Sunday make us strong in this knowledge. For if we live, we live in the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's (Romans 14:8). God bless you all. |
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