They are Us

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia
Epiphany VI, Year A
February 16, 2020
The Rev. John Taliaferro Thomas
 
Can you believe they did it?  I mean, they have no regard for history.  They went about it unilaterally too.  They just abused their power and authority and did it.  Never mind that it has international ramifications.  The rest of the world looks to us for guidance and stability – for standards of fairness and due process.  They know that fully half of us cannot abide by their actions, but they went and did it anyway.  Can you believe they did it?
 
They did.  In 1973, Major League baseball allowed for the American league to apply the designated hitter rule whereby one player from the field can substitute a batter, making it possible for pitchers, in most cases, never to have to step up to the plate and bat.  Can you believe they did it?
 
And then, they did it again, with no respect for history.  This time, they were more clever and more devious, trotting out a bait and switch kind of trial period.  But there were international ramifications.  Others look to us for good order and continuity.  When they did it, they risked scrutiny and scorn and deep division.  Never mind all of that.  In 1979, they changed the Book of Common Prayer in the Episcopal Church.  Can you believe they did it?
 
Of course, I am exaggerating outrage to make a point and sometimes a story is the best vehicle to soften the blow of truth when it lands in the room.  And I could go on to minimize the upset and acknowledge that baseball has continued in all of its peculiar glory with a compromise of the designated hitter rule.  I could also point out that the old chestnut of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer in the Episcopal Church was preceded but the first in 1552, with substantial revisions in 1559, 1604, and 1662.  And, somehow, the Church has managed worship, grow, and weather all kinds of changes.  My father likes to say that nostalgia is not what it used to be.
 
Nevertheless, the hard truth has landed on us in the exclamation point of our lessons for the day.  To deny their heft or skirt their direct application to our common circumstances would be safer, but doing so would miss the point entirely.  We continue to have a serious problem with them.
 
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus goes straight at them: murderers, arguers, adulterers, divorced people, false witnesses, and those who swear profanely.  St. Paul goes after them: the jealous, the judgmental, the quarrelsome and those who are smug and self-satisfied.  Even Moses goes after them: the hard of heart, the hard of hearing, and those who serve the myriad of false gods the world sets up as superior to the One God.  Clearly, they are lost.  Clearly, they do not know what is right and what is wrong.  Clearly, they are headed for deep trouble – unless they amend their ways.
 
For those who are paying attention, it is painfully clear that our nation, our culture, and our whole system of public discourse is fragile and fractured.  They have substituted labels, soundbites, and tweets for face to face collaboration.  They have given into division, fear, and hatred as tools for building support and rallying their followers.  They have sidestepped all of the traditional and normative habits of respect and decorum, sinking to defiance and derision to signify their power and influence.
 
The problem of today’s texts is that we have to read them whole.  We have to listen to what else is said and what else is implied in them.  For sure, murders are wrong, but Jesus reminds us that we have murderous rage at times.  For sure adultery is sinful, but we have unruly wills and affections, even if they do not come to action.  For sure, we can bend the truth toward our own liking.  We love to pass judgment to make ourselves feel better than others, and let’s be honest about the false gods of beauty, wealth, power, and status that we chase like my dogs chase squirrels.
 
We have a problem alright.  And it is this: they are us.  They. are. us. 
 
Somewhere in our souls, we have allowed our vision, our understanding, and our feelings to become bifurcated.  It is not new, but it has become more strident as problems to be solved, and issues to be debated are more and more complicated and nuanced. 
 
So, it goes this way.  We identify with a tribe.  We champion loyalty to the tribe.  We dismiss all those who are not in the tribe.  We allow a double standard that makes it ok for the leaders and the voices of the tribe to say and do things we would find unconscionable if those outside the tribe do or say such things.  And then, we insulate ourselves from the others, seeking comfort in echo chambers of information and like-minded indignation.  If we get to thinking yeah, they do that.  If we are thinking yeah, that is their problem, we are, suddenly, part of the problem.
 
There is a solution.  It is really difficult.  But it is not out of reach.  Moses puts it this way: “Choose life.”  St. Paul puts it this way: “you are God’s field, God’s building” in this world.  Jesus makes it personal: “first, be reconciled with your brother or sister and come to terms with him or her before you get to the place of judgement.”
 
The way of Christ is the way of love, and love overcomes division every day of the week.  We do not have to play by tribal rules.  In Christ, there is only one family and nation: that of God.  They are us and we are them.  As David Zahl says in his book, Seculosity:
 
"We always lose when we keep score. No one wins when we play the blame game.  Whatever cliché you prefer, the truth is plain: self-justification and love don’t mix, not over the long haul. Love, at its core, transcends emotional bartering. It cannot flourish when one or both parties feel like they’re always playing catch-up or in danger of  getting fired."
 
When I consider the value and witness of Jesus people in this time and place in our world, I believe with all of my heart that we are the people with the language of love, the heart for reconciliation, and the umbrella of grace to counter the current tide of anger and division.  It may be true that some will continue shouting, but they will lose their voice if we do not respond.  It may be that others continue in tribal warfare, but we can opt out of that worldview and render it inert.  We can come side by side and should to shoulder in confessing that we are not perfect or purely righteous, but we have a clue as to how to love even when it is hard.  What the Church offers the world is this: our witness to the Truth.  The Truth is love in action, and in that action, nobody loses.  Wouldn’t it be great if the world would look upon the Church and say: Can you believe they did it?  They showed us the way of love, and it saved us.  All of us.  Can you believe it?