June 2, 2002
A missionary was shipwrecked, tossed into the sea he washed up at the edge of a remote native village. Half dead from exposure to the elements and the wreck of his vessel, he was taken in by the villagers and nursed back to health. Subsequently he lived with the villagers for the next twenty years.
During that time, he confessed no faith. He sang no hymns; he preached no sermons. He neither read from nor taught any Scripture. He made no personal faith claim. But when the villagers became ill, he attended to them, sometimes long into the night. When the people were hungry, he gave to them from his own supply of food. When they were lonely, he was available to talk. He tutored the uneducated, patiently. He always took the side of those who were wronged. And there was no human condition among the villagers with which he could not and did not identify.
After twenty years had passed, other missionaries came from the sea to the village and began talking to the people about a man named Jesus. After hearing the stories about Jesus, the natives insisted that he had lived among them for the past twenty years. One of them said to the missionaries, "Come, we will introduce you to the man about whom you have been speaking."
The missionaries were led to a hut, and there they found their long-lost, fellow missionary who had been given up for dead.1
"The People of the Way," is the earliest title given to Christians. They were known for the way they lived in the world, not just for what they believed. Those earliest Christians, those People of the Way, weren't much for being "saved"—and then gathering to talk about being saved. They were not so much into being "churchy," or into simply "saving souls," as they were into bringing their faith to bear upon the hurt of the world. If Jesus did the will of the Father, then his first disciples followed his example. And now it is our turn to do the same.
Remember the words of Jesus: "Now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples."2 And you heard what he had to say today: the one who will enter the kingdom of heaven is the "one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Certainly by his example Jesus indicated that the will of the Father is that the hungry should be fed, the thirsty given drink, the naked clothed, those sick or imprisoned, visited, strangers and sojourners, welcomed. By word and example he forgave those who harmed him and reconciled those who were estranged from God and neighbor. Clearly, the will of the Father was and is biased toward action.
Just before he spoke the words of his commandment, Jesus knelt at the feet of his disciples and washed them. He told them that he had given them an example, he invited them to imitate him—the one whom the Father sent. The greatest among them would be the servant of them all, according to Jesus. When asked the way to the Father, Jesus indicated that he was the Way, and his way included serving others.
And yes, it is true that even if we imitate Jesus perfectly, if we love as deeply and perfectly as Jesus, if we serve others with heroic perfection, it will fall short of God's glory. Paul teaches us that it is impossible to earn our way into the kingdom of heaven; that is God's gift to us. It is grace. But once God has hold of us then we are launched into doing the kind of works that Jesus did in obedience to the will of the Father. Our faith, moves by grace beyond the mere confession of being saved into the activity of bringing that knowledge into our homes, into our workplaces, into our neighborhoods and schools, into our community as we serve others as Jesus served, as we love others as Jesus loved.
There is a story from the Desert Fathers (5th Century mystics whose works and words can still inspire us today) that looks into the contemplative life and the active life. This story celebrates the wonder, the majesty, of getting off the couch, getting out of bed, and doing the will of the Father.
A brother once put this question to one of the elders: "There are two brothers, one of whom remains praying in his cell, fasting six days a week, and practicing much austerity. The other spends all his time taking care of the sick. Which one's work is more pleasing to God?"
The elder replied, "If the brother who fasts and prays were to hang himself up by the nose, he would not equal even one act of kindness of the one who takes care of the sick."
Jesus said, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." We must move beyond merely hearing, we are called upon, by our Lord, to loving acts on behalf of all God's children and all of God's creation.
One of the last things we do as a community gathered in worship is to ask God, our Father, to bless us into action. Just after communion, filled at God's table, in union with our Lord, we make this most familiar request:
". . .now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord." We ask the Father to help us move beyond mere words into the kind of action that heals and comforts, strengthens and renews our neighbor and ourselves.
And a quick look at what we do as individuals
and what we do as a church, nourished,
nurtured, inspired and encouraged by what we do here in worship,
reveals that God has gotten a hold of us, and has responded to
our prayers. Of course, the promise is that there is more to come,
and even better.
By education and profession we are teachers, nurses, physicians, social workers, dietitians, therapists, pharmacists, police officers, paramedics, and fire fighters. We are the helpers and support personnel in offices and institutions where healing takes place, where learning is promoted, and where the safety of the community is assured.
As individuals, we volunteer in hospitals and schools and food programs. We make blankets for children in Africa who have AIDS. We support the work of our church in the world through our contributions to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund and the United Thank Offering.
As individuals, we belong to and have leadership in community organizations like Rotary, Optimists, Soroptimists, Junior League, Scouting, youth sports, and more. We participate in the decision making of cities and counties, our state and our nation. We open our doors to Alanon and AA so that men and women fighting addiction may have a place to gather and promote healing.
Every Monday members of our congregation pick up food at the FIND warehouse and distribute it to those who are hungry. We go as parishioners to lead worship at the Villas Retirement home. Together we dreamed of a ministry called St. Margaret's Episcopal School, and today that dream is real. And I believe God will continue to call us, as a congregation, into other ministries in the years to come. We are everyday people, graced by an extraordinary God and sent into the world to continue the ministry begun in Jesus in obedience to the will of the Father.
Just as God so loved the world that he gave his Son, so it is that God continues to love the world through the ministry of churches like ours. So it is that God continues to love the world through individuals like us, as we respond to his grace and do the work he has given us to do.
"Grace is intended to be spent, not hoarded. There are no warehouses of grace for people of faith."3
So we pray, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do. And, let our light so shine that others may see our good works and give you the glory. Amen.
The inspiration for today's remarks come from the Postscript piece of Synthesis, June 2, 2002.
1 Synthesis, February 9, 1992
2 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.
3 H. King Oehimg, Synthesis, June 2, 2002
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
June 2, 2002