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Isaiah 57:14b-21, Ephesians 2:11-22, Mark 6:30-44
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev. W. Lee Shaw
I know we each have one or more individuals in our life or from our past that has been extremely helpful in nurturing us to be the best type of person we can be. I have been blessed to have many such people during the course of my life who I have learned from and become a better person because of their place in my life. One such person was my maternal grandmother, Grandma Nettie. She helped raise my sister and I and was a steadying and guiding influence in my younger days. Was she perfect? No, she had some unique faults at times. But she was loving and trustworthy. My early lessons on trust were from her. I believed her. And she had some down to earth wisdom. For instance when a person has does something wrong or made a horrible mess of things, she would say, “Well he is born but not buried yet.” There is still hope.
During long summer afternoons with bored grandchildren her patience would sometimes wear a tad thin. When asked about something to do she would say, “Spit in your shoe and jump over it.” Well, the first time she said that, I did just that. Felt silly and had a wet foot after words. I also had a lesson on discernment from her as well.
I never did, however, stop believing her and her love for me and care about my life. How I wish we, we as Christians, could just take that leap of faith and believe what God has opened for us and said to us through scripture; to see Scripture as an old, trusted friend with new truths yet to be revealed to us. Yes, of course with discerning hearts and minds, but with an openness to be changed, transformed, made new.
I find this especially true with the Ephesians passage today. “...you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ...has broken down the dividing wall...the hostility between us...that he might create in himself one new humanity...thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God...through the cross...through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father...no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.”
In our world, in our beloved church, there is so much that divides us. We have made a habit of building dividing walls between us, rejecting the very passage we just read. We stand, I fear, in judgment for those things that do not build up the body of Christ and which do not respect the dignity of every human being. We have become obsessed with being “right” and being “orthodox” and being “true to the faith handed down to us” that we forget the faith of the rest of the household of God who share in our baptismal waters the promises of God to us.
A bishop I greatly respect, Cate Waynick of Indianapolis wrote: “It is not commanded that we be theologically correct. It is not commanded that we be morally perfect. It is commanded that we love one another.”
We need to find again that space of grace to allow us to see in one another the face of Christ, to see in one another a beloved child of God. We face off as liberals/conservatives, orthodox/reasserters, right/left, progressives/traditionalists, etc. I read something from an unexpected source on this very thing: “The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it's right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try to understand each other's point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross is a clue.” (Bono of U2.)
Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross. Maybe we need to look at what we bring to the foot of the cross that blinds us from seeing the grace there for the person next to me as well as for my self. Maybe this is what I need to offer up to God to help me see the other as a child of God, beloved of the same Creator who made and sustains me.
I take a cue from the Gospel account of the feeding of the five thousand in Mark. The disciples were unsure about how to go about this seemingly impossible task of feeding so many people. Jesus simply asked them to bring to him what they already had: In this case five ordinary loaves of bread and two fish. A meager offering before such great needs. Jesus then took, blessed, broke and gave it back to them to share. And all were fed. The needs were met.
Perhaps we need to offer to God the simple offerings of our life, the meager things that we have that blind us from seeing the potential for change and the promise of hope. Perhaps we need to also offer to God the simple parts of our life that we feel could not possibly do any good to anyone.
In so offering, we invite God to take us, bless us, break us and give us to the world. In so offering, we give what we have to be transformed by God to meet the demands of our life, the needs of our day, and the desires of God for us. Perhaps then as we offer the meager parts of ourselves, we will have a deeper appreciation for those things offered by others, those different from us, those in a different place than us. Perhaps then we will be able to live into the distance of grace covered on the cross.