The Myth of Separate-ness - A sermon for April 28, 2013

A Sermon for April 28, 2013 (Pascha 5, RCL C)

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for The Church of Saint Mary

Texts:             Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; John 13:31-35

Primary Message:  there are no good people, and no bad people

Call to Action:          see yourself as a member of one humanity

Title:               The Myth of Separate-ness

O God, grant us continual grace to hear and receive your word, and to respond faithfully. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

My dear friends: this morning, I want us to consider together this morning something that I will call “the myth of separate-ness”.

You know this myth. It’s talked about commonly, and it’s been in the news quite a bit lately.

This myth of separate-ness was common in the days of those first apostles of Christ. After all, it was central to their very identity as a nation.

Now the process of unraveling that myth begins with this story about Peter’s visit with Cornelius, the Roman centurion. What did we hear there?

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”

In the world occupied by Jesus and his disciples, humanity was divided into two parts: us and them. Or to be a bit more clear, the men of the world were divided into two categories: us the circumcised, and them the uncircumcised.

I must say, to be frank, this mark of separateness is rather peculiar. I mean, how did the people in Jerusalem know that Peter ate with uncircumcised men?

Did Peter – or anyone else, for that matter – conduct an inspection?

You know what I mean, though I doubt that we need to speak any more about that!

As we know, it is one of the most normal, most natural things that we can do to separate the world, to divide humanity, into us and them. Right?

What about deciding who are true Mainers, and who are the ones from away?

Oh, I‘ve heard about that one plenty of times already.

It is said that the older of the two Boston bombers, Tamerlan, had protested against the idea that Muslims might celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving. He said that this belonged to the kafir, to the non-believer, and that it had no place in the lives of Muslims. 

The myth of separate-ness. Us and them. Here we see the same pattern repeated again. The world is full of such examples, and we must ask the question of ourselves as well. We are not let of the hook so easily.  

Who among us is NOT tempted to replicate this pattern? To define the “us” and the “them”?

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and thank God that you do not make such distinctions on the basis of skin color and any other such ridiculous matter.

I believe that WE are tempted  to divide people in a different way.

Who among us does not – perhaps even unconsciously – make a mental distinction between us “the good people” and them “the bad people”?

I heard an interview this week with a recovering survivor from the bombings in Boston. As this young woman lay there in the hospital bed, she said, “I don’t understand how anyone could do such a thing.”  

And I thought to myself, “Really? I understand it with no problem at all.”

Bear with me now. This may not be the most pleasant line of thinking, but I believe that it is vital for us to grasp this point.

Do you see how easily that young woman made the distinction between us and them? Between the good people like her, of course, and the bad people who do such horrid things in the world?

My friends, let’s be very clear about this. That distinction is a lie.   

I understand how angry young men like the Tsarnaev brothers, like Adam Lanza, like James Holmes, like Timothy McVeigh, and like so many thousands of others could do such horrible acts of violence, because I was an angry young man once who did a number of stupid and foolish things.

And who knows what could have happened to me if  - during those years when I felt lost and yet wanting to do something important with my life – if I was influenced by the wrong people, or brainwashed by some crazy ideology, or if I had some chemical imbalance in my brain!

There but for the grace of God go I.

I understand it with no trouble at all, but I confess that on this score, I am willing to give all of you women a pass!

99% of all horrible actions like this are done by men – by angry young men.

Women seem to be immune to that dangerous blend of anger and adrenaline and misanthropy and testosterone through which young men must swim.

But the overall point remains the same, regardless of your gender!

There is no class of good people on one side, and a class of bad people on the other.

What there is, is one humanity. Human beings in a variety of shapes and forms and colors, with varying abilities. All made in the image of God. All fallen and broken by sin. All in need of healing. All in various stages of recovery.

Thomas Merton famously discovered this spiritual reality while standing at the busy corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in downtown Louisville, Kentucky in March of 1958, in the middle of a regular business day in the shopping district.

Even though he was a monk who lived an isolated life of silence and prayer, he realized right there that there is only one humanity. As he wrote in his journal:

“I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all these people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separate-ness… [As monks], we belong to God. Yet so does everybody else belong to God…This sense of liberation…was such a relief and a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud. And I suppose my happiness could have taken form in these words: ‘Thank God, thank God that I AM like other men, that I am only a man among others.’” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 153-154).

Like waking from a dream of separate-ness.

The first step in truly loving others as Christ commanded is to refuse to deal in illusions and falsehoods, and to recognize our common reality.

In each one of us, no matter what skincolor or gender or age or intelligence, no matter what abilities or mental competency, no matter what markings we do or do not have on our bodies – inside each one of us, there is tremendous potential – for good and for evil – potential to build and to destroy.

Do you know this truth about yourself? Do you know this truth about others?

Peter and those first disciples were being taught this lesson by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit is still teaching us this lesson today.

“And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18).

Let us give our thanks and praise that God has given even to me, even to you, that repentance that leads to life. Amen.

Children’s Message

Good morning!

Let me ask you a question: who is invited to live in God’s house forever?

Am I invited? Are you invited? How do we know? Because God said we were invited!

This morning, we heard a strange story read from the Bible about a giant sheet and lots of different animals.

Did you hear it?

Saint Peter was praying and he saw a vision. Do you know what this is?

A vision is seeing something real but which is not actually there.

Peter saw a vision of a large sheet floating down out of the sky, and in that sheet were all kinds of animals. Wild animals, reptiles, birds.

And maybe it looked a little bit like this! (Acolytes unfurl sheet).

When Peter saw this, a voice told him, “Get up, Peter! Kill and eat.”

He said, No way! I’ve never eaten any food that wasn’t special, wasn’t holy.

But the voice of God told him that it was ok to eat anything.   

Now, guess what? Let me tell you a secret. This story is NOT about food at all, and it is not even about animals!

Do any of you know what it IS about?

It’s about PEOPLE! All those different kinds of animals represent different kinds of people. And all different kinds of people are invited to live in God’s house.

If they want to, they can live with God now and forever. Even you and me are invited. Everyone, no matter what they look like or what kind of abilities they have or don’t have – God has spoken, and God has invited us all to live with God forever. Now that’s good news, isn’t it? Let’s pray.  

We Are Vulnerable

A Sermon for April 21, 2013 (4 Pascha, RCL C)

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for The Church of Saint Mary

Texts:             Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; John 10:22-30         

Primary Message:  vulnerability is a means of grace in our lives 

Call to Action:          trust God and do not build walls to protect yourself

Title:               We Are Vulnerable

My dear friends: what a tough week! It’s been yet another difficult week for our nation.

Innocent people enjoying one of the great traditions of New England – the Boson Marathon – attacked. Some killed, many maimed and injured. An entire city in lock down while a massive manhunt ensued.

And yet here we are gathered together this morning to celebrate.

In the Church, we call this “Good Shepherd Sunday”, the day each year when we pray the 23^rd Psalm and we celebrate with joy that Christ is our Good Shepherd.

How do we put these two very divergent realities together?

What does the shepherding of Christ have to do with senseless terrorism in the real world?

The day after the Boston bombings, LZ Granderson wrote an editorial at CNN.com expressing well the change reality of our nation.

LZ Granderson - It Can Happen Anywhere

“If September 11, 2001, was the day everything changed, then April 15, 2013, serves as another reminder of that change, of our frailties and of a new reality in which "it can't happen here" has been replaced by "it can happen anywhere."”

I feel this new reality and I know that many of you do as well.

We are vulnerable. And we will always be vulnerable.

Nowhere are we sealed off and isolated from the anger and hatred and violence which infects humanity.

So what do we do with this gnawing sense of vulnerability?

Last week, while driving in New Jersey, I saw a bumper sticker which read as follows: “To-Do List: Pray, Vote, Buy More Ammo.”

May I humbly suggest to you that this is not the way to go! It may perhaps be the most common response when people feel vulnerable or out of control, but it’s clearly misguided.

Don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not speaking of second amendment rights and the freedom of law-abiding citizens.

What concerns me, and what I know with certainty concerns God, is the state of our hearts.

If your sense of vulnerability leads you to buy weapons and to install security systems and to regard strangers with suspicion, then you have missed the boat!

I know that it’s not easy. Truly, we are vulnerable on so many different levels in life, in so many ways. I know that twisting feeling – I get it right here, just under my sternum – when I feel particularly vulnerable and defenseless and insecure.

It is not a good feeling.

It is not easy, but I know that we can live in our vulnerability without fear.

No, even more than that. We can embrace it, and see in our own weakness the birthplace of new life.

Just over 2 years ago, a TED Talk by Dr. Brene’ Brown was posted online and it quickly went viral – it became popular. ((TED Talk by Dr. Brene' Brown)

For those of you who do not know, TED Talks are brief talks given by remarkable people about their passion, their research, their experience.

These videos are available for free on the internet, and many of them offer amazing insights.

Well, this talk by Brene’ Brown was titled, “The Power of Vulnerability”.

Her research found that embracing our vulnerability is essential to a fully and healthy life. This is what she said:

“Vulnerability is our most accurate measurement of courage. Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.”

What about you? Do you want to push away anything that makes you feel unsafe, to guard and protect yourself from all danger? Or are you able to embrace the vulnerability of your life and to live with courage?

This is why faith matters. This is how trust in God makes a real difference in life.

It allows us to face an uncertain, unpredictable future with courage, with positive confidence that God is doing something, and will do something good, no matter how bleak or troubled things may look from our perspective.

After all, we are The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin.

Do you remember how vulnerable Mary was when the angel Gabriel spoke to her?

Of course, he had to re-assure her and say, “Do not be afraid”, because the message he brought to her was truly terrifying!

Do you remember how vulnerable a young woman is in that patriarchal culture when she is accused of adultery? And with no reasonable means of defense, she was completely and utterly vulnerable.

And yet, we see her as one full of grace – that is what is says right there in the stained glass, “Ave Maria, Gratia Plena = Greetings Mary, full of grace”.

That grace allowed her to embrace her vulnerability with hope and courage. And in that openness of heart, of spirit, she conceived the One we look to in love as the Messiah, the One we follow as our Teacher.

She is our template of how an ordinary human being can reject that spirit of fear which causes us to withdraw, to hide, to shield ourselves from the dangers of life.

She is our model of how we can embrace our native vulnerability, and in so doing, conceive of something beautiful and good and life-giving.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

There is no protection from the basic reality of life on earth: we are vulnerable. Life is full of dangers. Life here is fragile.

Of course, our communities need to take common sense measures to provide security, to protect the innocent among us. But we must NEVER let that feeling of insecurity to creep into our hearts.

Instead, let us embrace the truth of our vulnerability and, by faith, know it to be true: nothing, and no one, can ever destroy that eternal life which Christ shares now with us.

And in that knowledge, let us live with openness and courage.

Let us conclude with a prayer offered this week by our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, in response to the attacks in Boston. Let us pray.

Gracious God, you walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death.  We pray that the suffering and terrorized be surrounded by the incarnate presence of the crucified and risen one.  May every human being be reminded of the precious gift of life you entered to share with us.  May our hearts be pierced with compassion for those who suffer, and for those who have inflicted this violence, for your love is the only healing balm we know. May the dead be received into your enfolding arms, and may your friends show the grieving [that] they are not alone as they walk this vale of tears.  All this we pray in the name of the one who walked the road to Calvary, [our Lord Jesus Christ]. Amen.