August 15, 1999
Isaiah 56:1 [2-5] 6-7 /Psalm 67 /Romans 11:13-32 /Matthew 15:21-28
The Gospel today is particularly difficult because Jesus refers to this woman as a dog, unworthy of his time and effort, or at least that's how it appears. However, the lessons work together quite well, all of them speaking of this tendency for us to demand exclusiveness in the church — to decide who ought to be in, who ought to be out — and God's constant insistence that he wants everybody.
In Isaiah it had to do with the Gentiles, God-fearers who worshiped in the synagogues. They feared they would somehow be turned out in a purge. God's comforting words said they would all be included. St. Paul said that he, a Jew, was sent to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles, to bring them to salvation, and, at the same time, cause those who have rejected Jesus as Lord in the Jewish faith to come to salvation with them. Then there was the story of the Samaritan woman who demanded attention from Jesus; he gave it to her, including her as a person of faith within the purview of his healing power.
Today the point gets made for us that it is God's purpose to include us all. The exclusive claims of the one God are to monotheism — total devotion to him — not excluding others from him, even those who don't worship him or who worship him improperly.
We keep getting that wrong. In the church today, we have all kinds of battles about who does or doesn't belong. There are litmus tests of who is or is not truly a Christian. There are the tests of who is in good standing in the church and who is not; who are the proper subjects for evangelism and who are not; who do we not want to invite in — ethnic groups or racial groups, economic groups, age groups, one or the other. There is a battle raging in certain portions of the Episcopal church today between what some would call the "orthodox" and some would call the "revisionists." We tear ourselves apart with these battles about who is properly or improperly a member of the church. It's a terribly tragic situation that is addressed by today's lessons.
The truth of the matter is that we are all God's children. God is calling us to unity within the family and this unity doesn't necessarily mean agreement. It simply means respect, forbearance and confidence that God is in charge.
The church develops all kinds of screening behaviors to keep people out. More often than not, the screening behaviors that we adopt in the church to keep people out are much more subtle, such as not putting signs out to help people find us or keeping the doors locked. There was a parish I'm familiar with in another place that had uniformed guards at the door. They weren't really guards, they were simply ushers in dark suits and boutonnieres who stood at the doors at parade rest. They were a formidable group of people to approach, not exactly a welcoming group that opened doors and bid you in with a smile.
Many places, and there is one in this diocese, are rapidly growing, but have no parking lot. Now how do you grow without a parking lot? Well, that is the challenge of downtown parishes as people move back to the cities. Crowded services prevail — insisting on having two services on a Sunday when both of them are full to the rafters, instead of starting a third one because it would be too much trouble for the organist, the choir or the priest. There are all kinds of interesting ways of keeping people out.
Among you are those who don't talk to one another, especially to the stranger in our midst, because he or she might be a charter member of the parish. You know: "I do not recognize you; welcome to St. Margaret's." "Well, I was here at the beginning, I have known all the rectors, and I always come the third Sunday of August." All kinds of things are done that don't welcome people into Christian fellowship.
It is important for a congregation like ours that is growing and is truly trying to bring people to Christ to review our own ways of living so that we don't get complacent, doing what worked yesterday — thinking it is going to work tomorrow. We must continually ask ourselves, "Are we welcoming people today, inviting people and enabling people to come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ?"
The point of all this is to say it is God's purpose to bring all to his holy mountain. Everyone is a proper subject of evangelism. Everyone is a proper member of God's family — even if we do have wrong ideas, even if we are narrow minded, even if we are (whatever - fill in the blank ) that others may not appreciate. We are called into the church to be open, to welcome people to Christ and to be the agent for change in their lives — just as we are agents for change in each other's lives. We are called to grow in grace, to grow in peace, and to grow in love and knowledge of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In the seminary, there was a word I was told never to use, the word "should." Back then, it was said that if you tell people they should do things, it just adds guilt and there is enough guilt in the world. Well, there is a good kind of guilt, too, the guilt that comes from knowing you have committed a sin and need to change your life. There are some good "shoulds". We should, for instance, fulfill the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples.
One thing we should do to proclaim the Gospel is to speak to strangers in our midst every week they are here; those who raise their hands and say we have never been here before. We must also include the ones who are strangers in our midst who may be, in fact, charter members, but who are not part of our grace-filled life, or who have recently returned. We should issue those invitations, not just to participate by sitting in the pew, but to come up higher and to be an integral part of the Gospel, an integral part of the mission and ministry of this place.
We all know people who are either unchurched or unhappily churched. We all could invite one person or one family every month and not run out of friends who need the invitation. This fall, let us all commit ourselves to inviting one of God's people back home at least once a month. Why should you do these things? It is quite simple, really. It is because people need to know God.
They need to know Him in a fellowship, in a community that loves God already, one that doesn't have all the answers, but is continuing to seek, just as they are. We need to invite, to welcome, to speak because God desires those who are not part of this community of faith to be part of it, to know him and to love him. We need to do these things because we who call ourselves Christians have the only voices to speak the word of God, have the only hands to embrace the world with his love. We are the only source of God's grace to the world around us. We need to share that.
We aren't going to have a parish meeting to decide whether or not it is a good idea to continue to grow. We aren't going to have a parish meeting to decide whether or not it is a good idea to bring others to know the Lord. That was decided on Ascension Day when Jesus gave the great commission. What we are going to do is commit ourselves to continue to do the work of God as best we know how, and change when we need to change to do it better. We want to proclaim the word of God by healing the sick: the sick of heart, the sick of soul, the physically sick, the lonely. We are going to proclaim the word of God by teaching about Jesus and his love for us and showing that love, by welcoming the stranger, inviting those who are outside, by serving each other in Christ's name. In other words, we are going to do our work by doing the work of the Lord and doing it in our time.
If you are here for yourself today, that is great. I hope you receive a blessing, but it is not enough. It is not enough to be here just for yourself. If you are here out of duty because you are in town, you are a member of the church and somebody has to be here in August, I am glad you are with us this morning. But that, too, is not enough. It is not enough to worship out of duty. If you are here because the rest of us need you, we are grateful because we do, but that is not enough. If you are here because you come together to be refreshed with the sacraments so that you can go out again this afternoon to work for the Lord in the salvation and healing of the world, then that is, indeed, enough. God will fill you with his power and give you his commission today. If that is why you are here, it is enough, and so, at eleven o'clock, let us get back to work. AMEN
The Rev. Dr. Robert Certain
rgcertain@stmargarets.org
August 15,1999