The Cathedral Church of the Nativity
Sunday ~ September 7, 2014
Sermon: Matthew 18:15-20
The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa
I once was presented a baseball cap from a group of newly
ordained folk I worked closely with in the diocese of Virginia. It read, “It’s all about relationships”. This, my mantra, to them, sharing my “rocket
science” wisdom about the keys to successful ordained leadership, “It’s all
about relationships!”
Seems simple enough, and I am sure you have heard in one
way or another that mantra come out of my mouth here! Simple, to the point, to be a Christian, to
live the Christian Life, It’s all about relationships! That means invite relationships, pay attention
to them, celebrate them, grow into them, and enjoy them. Seems simple enough, right?
Of course relationships suggest one other reality. To have them means you live in community, not
in isolation. Simple enough, right? Like the “old television show” Cheers, we like
the idea of relationships, in a community where we can be honest, valued, at
peace to enjoy one another’s company, and “Where everybody knows our
name”? Simple enough, right? Except of course when it’s not simple or even
easy. Which, by the way, is most of the
time.
I think the line that doesn’t fit on my hat is what comes
after “It’s all about relationships”. And that is, “it’s hard but good”! I think all of us gathered here in this
context, that is church, would agree we all want relationships, and that
requires people, and that equals community.
As we enter into the teachings of Jesus in today’s
gospel, I believe we are invited into the mantra. It’s all about relationships, and it’s hard
and good! I believe what Jesus invites
early followers into is the affirmation that a desire to be in relationship and
in community is assumed, but the depth of that experience is hard work. What
kind of community you will become depends on how hard you are willing to work
at it. Because to be human and in relationship means by definition that it will
be imperfect. So the skinny on the
teaching:
1.
Community
is people in relationship. When there is
people there is sin. That means we by
definition, sometimes by circumstances, get into “distortion” in those
relati
onships.
2.
When
“distortion” occurs and we are involved, we are supposed to do something about
it. Jesus suggests going to the person
we are “in distorted relationship with” and try to work it out. (radical)
3.
If that
doesn’t work, Jesus suggests taking some others from the community who are affected
by this distortion, not as those seeking to take our side, but those who can
support the core values of the community and seek the good of the whole.
4.
If that
doesn’t work, then we know things are sensitive and Jesus suggests then
treating an offender as a gentile or tax collector, which means really work a
lot harder to do everything you can to uphold the community core value and
reconcile, because Jesus’ track record with tax collectors and gentiles was to
include, show mercy and forgiveness.
Simple right? Relationships?
Community? “It’s all about relationships; it’s hard but
good”. So what is so good about it is
that of course the more we work on it, the more we come to a place of authenticity.
The harder we work to invite, nurture,
to grow deeper in trust, the deeper community grows. At the end of the day, this teaching from
Jesus, it seems to me, is about “real community”, authentic community. The kind of relationships and community
capable of growing us in depth through acceptance, inclusion, honesty,
truthfulness, accountability and forgiveness, even as we live and love
imperfectly.
I have been assigning homework lately. David Lose of the faculty of Luther Seminary
in St. Paul, Minnesota, building on the assumption of this passage being for
Jesus about authentic community built on hard-working relationships suggests
this question. What kind of community do
you seek in this congregation? Do you
seek a social opportunity? Do you seek
intimacy and an opportunity to find meaning? Do you want a place that can both encourage
and hold us accountable? Are you looking
for a place where we can be honest about our hopes and fears, dreams and
anxieties? Are you looking for a place
where you can just blend in, or are you looking for a community that can make a
difference?
Ponder these things. If you have a moment, reflect on them. And email me; I’d be interested.
It’s all about relationships; it is hard but good. Amen.
