reconciliation – Candle in a Cave

A young youth pastor began his work in a very conservative church with Scandinavian roots. The young man was rather forward-looking and creative, but his church… not so much. One day, the youth pastor decided to show the youth group a missionary film—a simple, safe, black-and-white, religious-oriented movie. The film projector hadn’t been off an hour before a group of the leaders in the church called him in and asked him about what he had done. They asked, “Did you show the young people a film?” In all honesty, he responded, “Well, yeah, I did.” “We don’t like that,” they replied. Without trying to be argumentative, the youth worker reasoned, “Well, I remember that at the last missionary conference, our church showed slides…”

One of the church officers put his hand up, signaling him to cease talking. Then, he emphatically explained the young man’s error in these words: “If it’s still, fine. If it moves, sin!” You can show slides, but when they start movin’, you’re gettin’ into sin.

All y’all need to stop fidgeting out there. You’re sinnin’!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it would seem that, in many cases, so is sin.

A story comes to us of Blessed Alcuin of York. (Alcuin was a preserver of great Christian texts, which is why we still have the Collect of Purity, which we say at the beginning of each Mass: “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from you no secrets are hid….”) The story says that when he was eleven, he woke in the middle of the night being attacked by vicious demons. Why? He believed he was not as zealous as he should be and had a taste for classical literature. In his fear, he cried out, “O Lord Jesus, if thou wilt deliver me from [these demons’] bloody hands, and afterward [if] I am negligent of the vigils of the Church and of the service of lauds, and continue to love Virgil more than the melody of the Psalms, then may I undergo such correction…” (Source)

So, movin’ is sinnin’, and so is Virgil. The list goes on. However, regardless of what is and what isn’t, the Church is responsible for being a guide. Not to act as judge and jury but as counselor and reconciler. This is not only the role of the Church; it is also true for us all. If we sin, we are called to be reconciled to one another long before the Church gets involved. Unfortunately, we as individuals are about as good at it as the Church has been.

According to our Gospel reading today, there is a correct way for Christian people to go about correcting one another, but, like the Church, we take a more antagonistic and confrontational approach. Speaking of the early days, one of the Desert Fathers said, “In the beginning, when we got together, we used to talk about something, and it was good for our souls, and we went up and up, and ascended even to heaven. But now we get together and spend our time in criticizing everything, and we drag one another down into the abyss.” Say it ain’t so? Yet, if we seek to be reconciled to one another properly, we can often make amends, but on occasion, it needs to be taken to the next level.

According to the Gospel, the next step is to bring in two or three others. Think of it in terms of arbitration or mediation. You’re not looking to go out and find people who will “be on your side” so that you can gang up on the other person, but instead, you are looking for those who might help facilitate a conversation, bringing about peace. If this fails, the next step is to bring it to the Church. Why bring it to the Church? Simple. The Church always gets it right.

You disagree? Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” We are more than three, we are Christians, and we are the Church, so naturally, Jesus is with us and unquestioningly signs off on everything we decide.

The date: November 27, 1095. Place: Clermont, France. An excerpt from the speech: “Under Jesus Christ, our Leader, may you struggle for your Jerusalem, in Christian battle line, [that] most invincible line, even more successfully than did the sons of Jacob of old—struggle, that you may assail and drive out the Turks, more execrable than the Jebusites, who are in this land, and may you deem it a beautiful thing to die for Christ in that city in which he died for us.” The author of that speech was Pope Urban II. It was the call to the first of the eight major crusades, and it is estimated that five million individuals died during them. Was the Pope alone in his call to fight? No. Who agreed with him? Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, to name a few. Certainly more than two or three.

Do you think that Jesus was in the midst of this? Do you think that was something Jesus wanted His most Sacred Name attached to? When two or three come together, do we always get it right?

Today, we look at these events and say they were definitely wrong, but if you ask the individuals involved, they would tell you they were spot on. They would say to you that they had heard the voice of God, had come to an agreement in the name of God—Deus vult!—were definitely right, and Jesus was with them.

So, if such colossal errors can be made, how can we know we are on the right path? How can we know that Jesus is truly with us? Perhaps this is heresy, but given our track record, I’m not at all convinced that we can. However, I do believe that we can move in the right direction. Return to the first step, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” That is a good and holy way to act, but one of the first things you must ask yourself before confronting that person is, “What is my motivation? Why do I feel the need to go to that person?”

Why ask that? So often, our motivation is not as pure as we would like to think. “They made me feel bad, so I’m going to make them feel guilty. I want to hurt them like they hurt me. I want them to know they didn’t get away with anything. Or worse, I’m going to tell them so that I can do what the Bible said so that I can then go out and tell everyone!” Ever done that? No? Never? See me for confession after the service cause you know you just lied.

If someone sins against you, before you go to them and attempt to be reconciled to them, ask yourself, “What is motivating me to go? Am I seeking to fulfill some personal agenda, or to change them according to my way of seeing things? Am I hoping to force them to apologize, or do I truly want to be reconciled to them?” You see, reconciliation is partially about right and wrong, but primarily and more importantly, it is about restoring a broken relationship, so until you can determine what is motivating you, you will not be acting according to the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” However, before we begin, we must first determine what motivates us. If that motivation is not based on reconciliation and relationship, then before we can attempt to bind and loose others, we must first bind our own sinful nature and let loose the love of God within us.

When someone has sinned against you, for there to be forgiveness and reconciliation, you—not the sinner—will have to do the hard work. When you begin that work, check your motivation so that the sin that was committed against you does not cause you to sin in response. As Jesus taught, be “gentle and humble of heart” (Matthew 11:29) and allow the Spirit of God to work through you.

There are times when we and the Church must act with all authority upon those who sin and are unrepentant, but we must first exhaust all other options given to us by Christ.

Let us pray:
Heavenly Father,
through the obedience of Jesus,
Who offered His Life in the service of all;
help us with Your Kindness.
Make us strong through the Eucharist.
May we put into action the saving Mystery
we celebrate in the Mass.
Protect us with Your Love
and prepare us for eternal happiness.
Amen.

The best I can tell, this is a true story…

A family was sent out into an area to do missionary work, and there were very few services or access to some foods, one of which was peanut butter. This family must have been somewhat like me; I love some peanut butter, so they made special arrangements with a friend Stateside to send over an occasional jar of peanut butter to have with their meals. Soon the news of this regular supply leaked to the other missionaries in the area, and they became quite irritated. Apparently, all the other missionaries considered it a mark of spirituality if you did without those things that the local people could not have or have access to. The other missionaries said, “We believe since we cannot get peanut butter here, then we must not have it with our meals, we must contextualize, we must be like the native people, we must sacrifice for Christ. We must bear the cross by not having peanut butter.” Personally, I think Jesus would have liked peanut butter, but that’s just me. Anyhow…

The young missionary family did not give in to the legalistic pressure and had the peanut butter secretly shipped in and ate it with their meals. However, I suppose they went out with peanut butter breath, and it was discovered they were still eating it, so the pressure grew more and more intense—all for a jar of peanut butter. Ultimately, the family was so discouraged by petty legalism that they left the mission field in disgust.

Thank goodness those other missionaries could keep the faith by not eating peanut butter. If they didn’t stop it there, those radical missionaries might have started ordering some lovely plum jelly to go with their peanut butter.

This week in my studies, something small about our Gospel kept my attention. Jesus said, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” I’ve always looked at that statement and focused on the result—Jesus came to save us and accomplished this work through the Cross. When I read it this week, I kept returning to the two words, condemn and save.

You know the definition of the word condemn, but so that we’re thinking the same, from the Oxford Dictionary, condemn means to criticize something or someone strongly, usually for moral reasons, and can include sentencing someone to a particular punishment, especially death.

If we use Jesus’ words with that definition, Jesus said, “The Father did not send me to sentence the world to death but to save it.” Understanding this, St. Paul can say, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

Jesus did not come to condemn. He came to save. Again, St. Paul tells us, “For in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19-20) When Jesus said that he came to “save,” we can understand that He came to reconcile us to God.

Put together, Jesus said, “The Father did not send me to sentence you to death but to reconcile you to Himself.” So the question is: if this is why Jesus came, then why do we still condemn one another over everything and anything, including a spoon full of peanut butter, instead of seeking ways to be reconciled with God and to be reconciled with one another? Answer: It is far easier to condemn someone than it is to save them, to be reconciled with them. To condemn someone only requires words. To save or be reconciled to them is going to cost you something.

On the sixth day of creation, the Book of Genesis declares, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” “God said…,” God spoke us into creation, and He can just as easily condemn us and speak us out of creation. To condemn is easy; it only requires words, but to save…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

To condemn is easy. It only takes words. To save… that’s going to cost you something. St. John says to us, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16), and a few verses on, he says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

God the Father could have easily condemned us. He could have spoken, and it would have been over. Instead, he chose to pour out His grace by giving His son so we might be saved. That grace—that salvation—was costly to God, for it was accomplished through a deed: the death of His Son on the Cross.

In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Grace is costly, because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a person his life, and it is grace because it gives a person the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: you were bought at a price, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us” (p.47), and when we condemn others, we cheapen the grace that has been shown to us by the Father.

The Psalmist writes:
Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him.
Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers,
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
Refrain from anger, leave rage alone;
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
(Psalm 37:7-9)

As Christ Jesus has not condemned us, we should not condemn others. As Christ has saved and reconciled us to the Father, we should give of ourselves so that we might be reconciled to God and to one another. This is not easy work, it will likely cost you something, but it is God’s work.

Let us pray:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace:
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Tag: reconciliation

Sermon: Proper 18 RCL A – “Motivation?”

Sermon: Lent 2 RCL A – “Condemn and Save”

Share this:

Share this: