7 Pentecost, Proper 10B
11 Jul 2021
Climbing another rung of the ladder brings us to the rung of community. I all too often hear the word and think of a place or people living in one place; perhaps if I am in an expansive mood a group of people held together by a common bond or common interest.
These all define communities of one sort or another, but they really don’t define Jesus’ community. Steven Charleston uses the word “tribe”. For him human beings are in total one tribe. We each possess a common spiritual nature, that of being human. Reclaiming our common humanity is the vision he sets before us.
Try to imagine a world where we viewed every other person as “one of us”. I occasionally can glimpse such a world, but so often it recedes into the mists and what I see are the stark differences that divide us. Divide and conquer; perhaps that is the first method of the evil one. Leaders of nations or political entities of all sizes, business executives, club presidents, all down the line, misuse the idea of community and tribe to lessen, to shrink, to enclose because it serves their purposes.
Charleston likens a community of faithful to a labor union. It is not a sing kumbaya around the campfire sort of thing, but rather a group organized and working because the forces of darkness are out there and because only as a community, standing together, are we able to repel those forces. This is how I see us as a church community; this is why I am part of a political community. Yet if we are to be bold with our vision, our small groups are not the community that we need to create.
The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, * the world and all who dwell therein.
"Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? " * and who can stand in his holy place?"
"Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, * who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud.
If we have not faith, blessing, or hope, we will not have community. I liken it to feeling lucky. I have heard it said that people who feel lucky ARE lucky. You will see the good things that are happening and find the dollar bill on the sidewalk.
Community is like stone soup. Written shortly after WWII ended, the story tells of three hungry soldiers who arrive in a town where the town folk have hidden all the food. They ask the villagers to contribute ingredients to make a soup and all refuse. So they build a fire, put a large kettle of water over it, and throw in rocks and start to stir and stir and stir. Soon a curious villager comes out and the soldiers taste the stock and one says, “Hmm. A few carrots would really help this; the villager goes and returns with some carrots for them. They do this in turn with everything needed to make a tasty and nutritious soup and everyone crowds around in hopes of tasting the delicious concoction. And you know what? There was enough for everyone; no one was left either hungry or unsatisfied. That is the power of community.
Remember the story of the loaves and the fishes? Isn’t that really a story of community more than a miracle? Perhaps when Jesus said to the disciples, “You feed them” they banded together with all the crowd to come up with enough to feed everyone.
Community means we believe in abundance and not scarcity. There is enough in the world to prevent anyone from being hungry; it is the lack of a sense of community that keeps us from realizing it. There are enough resources in the world that if we would be willing to share, no one would be without shelter and clothing.
Community means thinking big. In this state of Iowa we have those who would welcome immigrants for the talents they bring and because it is the moral thing to do; there are those who would prefer immigrants not come because of a belief they will consume more than they give or, worse, because they are not like us. In the 1850’s attempts were made to prevent Black people from coming to Iowa, less than a decade after virtually all the indigenous people were driven out. In the 1970’s Robert Ray helped facilitate hundreds, if not thousands, of SE Asians coming to this state. Are we the better for it? I would give my answer as a resounding “yes.” Now what I see is xenophobia. Our current governor feels that unaccompanied minors are someone else’s problem.
When will we take Jesus’ words to heart? Was not his vision of the kingdom of God one of community? Even those who opposed Christians were amazed at how they clung together and helped one another, often at risk of their lives. For at least a brief time they had overcome what Bishop Charleston calls a fear of diversity. Forces all around seek to divide us; race or gender or gender identity are not new ways to divide us. But what if we stand together?
“The acceptance of diversity is the beginning of unity-and of community.” I will repeat that: the acceptance of diversity is the beginning of unity-and of community. To understand that you must know the difference between “rugged individualism” and individuality. The American myth is founded on the idea that the individual is supreme and the idea that you have a right to take what you want. Community revolves around convenience; you are allies with someone as long as you both benefit. Bonds come and go; there is no real community as Jesus would have it. For indigenous Americans, the honoring of individuality was normative. Everyone was included but you lived within the bounds of what was good for the community. One is predatory; one is not. Jesus honored the individual; he accepted their uniqueness, yet what he preached was for the good of the community.
Why is that so hard for us? Why is it so hard to make voting equally accessible to all who qualify? Why is our legal justice system based on punishment rather than restoration to the community? Why do we still have a policing policy that is based on racism?
I do not have pat answers for any of those questions, and hundreds more questions about justice. But I tell you I feel in my heart of hearts that Charleston is correct and that the world would be turned upside down in a wonderful way if we actually believed we were of one community.
What if we really read Paul’s words with the idea they are true? In the reading for next week:
For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. …… for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
We are destined to be one family, with all of its differences and all of its warts. As long as we have breath, we MUST strive for community as Jesus envisioned us. It is only in community that we become free!!
And let the church say….Amen.
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