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Living to a Higher Code Yr A Epiph 2 -January 20,
2008 The Rev. Tom Trutner
As we read about the call of Andrew and Simon Peter and so many, many
others in the Bible, we are reminded of the call that we all have as Christians.
We have a vocation in the very truest sense of this word. It is not just
the job or profession we choose. No, our vocation begins with God’s initiative.
The word means to be “called” or “called out,” - the latter implying that each
of us who listens to the Word of God and commits herself or himself to it, no
longer lives by the values of ordinary society, but lives by a higher code and
strives in every instance, in every situation, and with every person, to bring
compassion, justice, and peace to bear. These are the values of God as we
understand them in the biblical message, as we understand them in the life of
Jesus.
I often wonder when I read about Andrew and Peter and James and John and
all the rest, if they had any idea what they were getting into when they
responded to the call of God? Do we understand it? Have we counted the cost it
might ultimately exact from us to be followers of Jesus? Can we acknowledge the
heroes of our faith down through the ages and convince ourselves that we would
have the faith and courage to emulate them?
I think of Andrew, who was fastened to an X shaped cross by angry pagans,
flogged and left to die. Peter, who was crucified upside down on a cross because
he did not think himself worthy to be crucified like Jesus. I think of Stephen,
our patron saint, who confronted the religious authorities of his time and
faithfully witnessed to his Lord and Savior - and as a result was dragged out of
the city of Jerusalem and stoned to death. I think of Thomas Beckett, Archbishop
of Canterbury in the 12th century, who followed his Lord and not his King, and
was ultimately struck dead by the swords of the King’s minions.
I think of Agnes who was martyred in Rome in the 4th century because she refused
to worship Roman deities. I think of Thomas Cranmer (who, more than anybody,
gave shape to our Book of Common Prayer in the 16th century), who made many
foolish compromises to please the crown. He finally came to his senses, refuted
the King and confessed his devotion to Christ - and for this he was burnt at the
stake in Oxford in 1556. I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in the 20th century who
as a young theologian in Germany rebuked Hitler and the 3rd Reich. He was
offered safe sanctuary in the U.S., but declined this saying, “If I am to
participate in the reconstruction of Germany after the war, I must be a part of
its suffering now.” Bonhoeffer was executed just days before his concentration
camp was liberated.
There are so many others who followed the call of God, a call that required
them to risk livelihood, and maybe even life, in order to be faithful witnesses
to God and to the values espoused in the Bible - often values that are at odds
with the world around us.
Tomorrow we celebrate the life of another great Christian, Martin Luther
King, Jr., and again, we are forced to ask ourselves very tough questions about
what’s right and what’s wrong - and do we have the faith and courage to do what
is right.
Recently, I read a quote from one of King’s speeches, a passage I had heard
before and admired very much. As I read it again, I was stunned at how relevant
it is, not only for the particular issue he was addressing when he said it, but
to the whole ethical posture of the Christian man or woman when confronted with
a situation or decision, whether large or small.
King said, “On some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ And vanity comes along and asks
the question ‘Is it popular?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor
politic, nor popular, but a position must be taken because conscience says ‘it’s
right.’”
King well understood the ethic that flowed from the life of Christ: the
ethic of self-sacrificing love. “Love one another as I have love you,” Jesus
said. “This is the way all people shall know that you are my disciples.” It is
not an easy ethic and Martin Luther King, Jr. found this out. He was killed by
those who didn’t like his color, who didn’t like his character, who didn’t like
his politics, who did not want to see him succeed. But King’s faith and courage
and conscience were shaped by his understanding of Jesus the Christ, and in the
end he could do no other than to stand up against the injustice of racial
discrimination. King stood for what is right - and he died for what is right.
His life is a great lesson for us.
Throughout her history, the Christian Church - when she has been at her
greatest - has seen people rise up who have understood this law of love.
(Conversely, it has been when she has allowed the principle of expediency to
prevail, or a craving for popularity, or when she has taken a less than noble
way out of a problem, that the Church has been at her worst). The Church’s
greatest saints understood the necessity of a sacrificial love, a persevering
love, a love that bears many burdens, a love that doesn’t shrink from the truth,
a love that is sometimes painful --- a love to which we are all called as
Christians.
I would like to tell you a couple of true stories to illustrate this point.
The first comes from a collection of poignant anecdotes at the time of World War
II. It is told by a man who had a friend who owned a nursery where he grew
roses, and it was bordered by another nursery owned by a family who had
immigrated from Japan. When that day that shall “live in infamy” occurred and
Pearl Harbor was struck and destructive seeds of hatred were sown throughout
America, the Japanese owner of the “competing” nursery, along with his family,
were taken off to a concentration camp in Nevada. However, instead of being
relieved by the demise of the competition, the friendly nurseryman next door
immediately made plans to take over the Japanese family’s nursery and operate
the business for the absentee owner. The roses grew to maturity and were
marketed. Books were kept and profits deposited. This man was called a fool, he
was ridiculed, threatened - but he simply stated that if he was a fool, it was
for Christ’s sake - to echo St Paul.
When the war was over, and the imprisoned family returned, they expected to
find their nursery in shambles and their business devastated. Instead, they
found a thriving enterprise maintained by a neighbor who had almost lost his
life guaranteeing the future of his friend. This was love in action; Christ was
in the midst of this. This good neighbor had done what is right.
The other episode took place at St. Paul’s In Oakland in the midst 1970s.
Many Cambodian refugees were coming into the city as a result of the ravages of
the war in southeast Asia, and Don Seaton, the Rector of St. Paul’s, offered the
help of the parish in whatever way possible. Soon quite a number were showing up
on Sunday and at other times of the week. At first, Don and the Vestry of the
Church gave these good people room for meetings and a very welcoming hand. Then
it was decided to have the Gospel said in their local language as well as in
English at the 10 am Sunday service. As time went on, more and more showed up,
so it was decided to let a Cambodian minister frequently assist the clergy and
also preach on occasions.
Needless to say, there were grumblings and they mostly centered around the
idea that these people would be better off someplace else, perhaps so they could
worship and congregate “with their own.” It was hard for some in the
congregation to understand when they spoke and it was felt that the extra
reading of the Gospel took too much time. On he whole, they just didn’t seem to
fit in very well. Etc. etc. etc. The people who were grousing were well-meant,
and those that I knew seemed to be wanting to do the right thing. But the sum
total of their observations was clearly antithetical to the cause of Christian
love, was foreign the values of Christ. These were attitudes that came more from
a place of expediency, of fear.
Fr. Don Seaton and other leaders of the Church were spurned by many, but
they did what was right. They were courageous, they were compassionate, and they
were faithful to their calling as Christians.
We are all going to have make some terrifically difficult decisions in the
weeks and months ahead as a nation, and perhaps even as individuals - thorny
problems which will call for hard thinking and moral discernment. We could take
the path of least resistance and pretend that these issues are not there. We
could escape to comfortable, feel-good religion. Or we could confront the issues
that lie before us with courage and compassion, and with an openness to each
other.
Let us remember our calling, and perhaps we can be guided by the the words
of Martin Luther King; there is the popular way, or the expedient way, or the
fearful way, but these ways will lead to frustration and defeat. The way of the
well-grounded Christian conscience, backed up by courage and faith, is the way
to which we are called. It is the way of Christ.
And so, in a few minutes we will come the Eucharistic table. We will have
confessed our shortcomings in the face of God’s law of love, and we will ingest
the very life of Christ with the promise to renew our lives and our wills, to
love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our
neighbors as ourselves.
And having done our very best with faith and courage, may we embrace each
other in the Body of Christ and may God’s peace and blessing be with us all, and
with us always.
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