The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany

Proper 21–B

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Ministry is meant to be shared; it is meant to always extend and expand. Our Old Testament reading and the reading in Mark's Gospel show that God always intended this to be so. But we humans tend to like to have our private and privileged groups. It seems that every human enterprise has the tendency to classify those who are "better than"all others, and we humans have the hubris to think that we can decide who those people are. Competition is inevitable when this happens. And this occurs in the church as well as anywhere else. It happens in all Christian denominations, in all religions in fact, and even in all spiritual pursuits that are supposedly outside of "institutional" religion.

We end up competing in so many ways: what tradition is best, what ministry is the most important, what music is best, what theological opinion is correct, who should have the highest places of honor; it goes on and on. When this happens there will be those who are made to feel less worthy. What happens to those who are made to feel this way, less spiritual, less valuable, less acceptable to God? Many unfortunately believe this evaluation, and this is what Jesus simply could not tolerate. In fact, he was so adamantly opposed to anyone being made to feel this way that he used very strong language and metaphors to express just how opposed He is. Religion that does this becomes dull, stale and loses its vitality and becomes ineffective. It loses its ability to open and transform hearts. Salt and fire are things that enhance and purify. They have transforming properties. Religion that loses its ability to transform is worthless.

There have always been theological disagreements in Judaism and Christianity. I think that is inevitable. It is inevitable because we are dealing with such an overwhelming mystery.

God is so beyond our comprehension, and yet, paradoxically so intimately available to us. It's challenging for the human mind to embrace such paradox. I think Jesus surely understood that there would be disagreements. But what I think he was concerned about is how we disagree. Do we do so with the acknowledgement that we are limited in so many ways, and so then when we disagree do so with a disposition of humility? Or, are we so convinced that we are absolutely right and so disagree with one another with hubris? I've told you in previous sermons about my ordination process to the priesthood. Coming out of the diocese of Ft. Worth, where they did not agree with the ordination of women has giving me a lot to process and think about with regard to how we go about expressing theological disagreements. After I had gone through a rigorous ordination process in the Diocese of Dallas, I was asked by a committee from the National Church to come to Ft. Worth and discuss my experience of dealing with that diocese.

This committee had come, without permission into the Ft. Worth Diocese to investigate if the newly passed canon, that all dioceses had to ordain women, was being honored. I think they wanted me to really give a scathing testimony about my experience. Well, it was not an easy experience to be sure. But I said, that while Bishop Iker and I disagree about the ordination of women, and while he did not feel he could ordain women, he did not put a stumbling block in my way. In fact, he facilitated and made the path clear with the Bishop of Dallas for me to enter the ordination process there. Bishop Iker was always gracious and respectful to me, and he even sent me a letter telling me that he was praying for me during my ordination process. Furthermore, he allowed me to do my internship in a parish in Ft. Worth so that I would not have to drive all the way to Dallas everyday.

Now, I did not have that experience with a number of the clergy in Ft. Worth when I went to a clergy conference there. I went only at the request of the Rector of the parish where I was doing my internship. I would not have gone otherwise; I certainly did not go to thumb my nose at anyone in Ft. Worth. What I experienced at that clergy conference was such intense hostility and rejection from most of the clergy there. I was not expecting anyone there to agree with me theologically or even endorse my ordination process, and I certainly was not expecting to change anyone's mind. But I was expecting from ordained clergy, who took vows to teach and preach and lead people to be followers of Jesus Christ to be at least be civil, to be loving, to be gracious. Instead what I experienced was fear! I saw this amazing jocking for position; it reminded me of being back in Jr. High School. Again, Bishop Iker was about the only one that showed any kind of hospitality or graciousness.

We continue to have theological differences, and they are dividing this denomination, but we are not the only denomination that has differences. But at least we tend to air our differences; we talk about them, we wrestle and struggle with them, and I think that is good. I think as long as we do that we are less likely to put stumbling blocks in anyone's way. But we must be very careful in how we wrestle, struggle and disagree with one another. We must do so with humility, realizing that we are all in the same boat together. That is the boat of being human beings who are flawed and limited. None of us have all of the answers. We are just like Jesus disciples, trying to learn and a lot of times getting it wrong, sometimes seriously wrong. Understanding that, can we say, "this is my opinion, but I may be wrong?"

Both sides of the issues facing us–the progressive side and the conservative side–have shown great hubris in their behavior to one another. Anytime hubris is present, so is a stumbling block. Both sides have been acrimonious, vitriolic, and ready to cast out those who disagree with their opinion. None of the parishes I have served have been homogenous in their theological opinions. There is always disagreement. Actually, I think this is a healthy thing. But a community that remains healthy, loving, safe and faithful to Jesus Christ will agree to disagree while still loving each other and praying together, and sharing our Lord's Supper side by side.

In other words, the ways in which we express our disagreements must not end up becoming a competition, but rather a collaborative effort to seek the will and truth of God. If we do that, how can we ultimately go wrong? When we are truly trying to seek the will and truth of God, competition is seriously misplaced; where competition is present in ministry, a hubris and selfish self-serving disposition is at the center of that ministry. Jesus is adamant that he will not tolerate that disposition. It's not that hard to discern when this disposition is present. It's not at all hard to know when a competitive spirit has entered into ministry. Because when this disposition is present there will be those who feel of less value and worth. Jesus was telling His disciples, this is evil.

"Evil has a reputation that involves doing something negative that is easy to see. The real evil Jesus worries about is the evil that poses as something really good."? One way to avoid this evil is to realize that we need each other! We need the voices and gifts of many, even–and maybe most especially–the voices and gifts of those we disagree with. We avoid this evil by realizing we are, each and every one of us, limited. We are designed that way. God intends for us to need each other, to be interdependent with one another. Therefore, we may be right in some of our opinions and wrong in others. So, we must commit to loving each other despite our differences and commit to listen deeply and compassionately to each other, especially to those with whom we most disagree.

We must remember always Jesus' commandment to love our enemies. He really meant for us to do that! We put stumbling blocks in the paths of those we refuse to love and accept as of equal worth and value. Jesus warned us most adamantly about that. We must take His warning very seriously! Amen