The Sermons at Calvary
By Father Richard Humke
HOW DOES THE GOSPEL DIVIDE?
August 15, 2004, 15-C, Calvary
Church
Jeremiah 23:23-29
Psalm 82
Hebrew 12:1-14
Luke 12:49-56
Stanley
Hauerwas, a theological writer and teacher, is said to open one of his classes
each year by reading a letter from a parent to a government official. The parent complains that his son, who had
received the best education, gone to all the right schools, and was headed for
a good job as a lawyer had gotten involved with a weird religious sect. Members of that sect now controlled
everything he did, the father said, and had taken his money. The parent is pleading with the government
official to do something about this religious group.
Then
Hauerwas asks his class, "Who do you think this letter is
describing?" And the answers are
varied, though of course many think it is the Moonies or some such group.
And
then he tells them that it is one of a group of letters we have from 3rd C.
parents concerning a new religious group called "Christians." Those parents were not happy parents!
It
reminds me of the few times in my ministry when young persons seemed to be
interested in the ordained ministry. Their parents, no matter how active in the
Church themselves, were obviously less than pleased with the idea. Better they go into law or medicine or
investments. Why waste those good
brains on the ministry!
Some
years ago I had the good fortune to know a young woman who had done many
interesting things in a relatively few years.
She wanted to go to seminary, and she wrestled inwardly for a long time
until she finally decided that she had to do it. There was no putting it off any longer. Some friends and colleagues were supportive;
others thought she was insane. But her
quite wealthy parents, whom she had hoped would support her, never did
understand why she was doing what she was doing. They said to her, "There are so many losers in the ministry. Why do you want to do that?"
And
of course, Ted Turner of CNN fame basically said the same thing about you when
he called Christians a bunch of losers.
Jesus
said in today's Gospel: "Do you
think that I have come to give peace on earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division!
From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and
two against three...father against son..." (Lk. 12:51-53)
Though
this wasn't a prophecy in the sense of foretelling the future, it was a
prophecy in the sense that Jesus had such insight into human nature that he
knew there would be divisions in following him. This only sounds strange to us because now Christianity is so
tamed, so house-broken, so pedestrian.
For a number of centuries at the beginning of the Christian era that was
not so, and there was bound to be a price paid. The stories of the early martyrs of the Church tell us the price.
The
Gospel is a strong message that demands that decisions be made, no matter how
painful they are; and this will mean divisions.
In
one sense we are only too aware of the divisiveness of all religion today. All around us religion divides: in Ireland between Catholics and
Protestants; in Israel among Jews and Christians and Muslims; in Sri Lanka
between Hindus and Buddhists; in India between Muslims and Hindus; increasingly
in Muslim countries between Muslims and Christians. We know from the daily news about the divisiveness of religion;
and now we have these words of Jesus that tell us that the Gospel -- this very
Gospel that comes from the one also known as the Prince of Peace -- is going to
be a divisive Gospel.
He
does not, however -- and I hope you take note of this -- he does not say that
such divisiveness must issue in hatred and killing. He means, I believe, that the Gospel is so important that it is
bound to cause conflict among those who hear it differently, even in
families. People are going to
hear it differently; they are going to see its importance in different
ways. And there will be
conflict.
The
Gospel divides church families as well, of course. There are the Southern Baptists, that large and prosperous body
of Christians that we know so well in the South. They as a family are divided on some very substantive
matters. But we also know that at the
bottom of it is the issue of power, which masks itself in high-minded language,
as it does so often in church matters.
Who controls the institutions?
Who has the votes at convention?
Who makes the budget?
Roman
Catholics are divided, far more than their large numbers might indicate, by
serious differences over the role of women, and sexual issues, and the place of
laity, and the control of Rome. Because
it is an authoritarian church these divisions often are not so public as ours;
but nonetheless, there are deep divisions among them.
And
heaven knows, we Episcopalians haven't escaped by any means. We have been divided, or are still divided,
over such things as the role of women; abortion; homosexuality, particularly in
our leaders; and various other social issues.
The
magachurches are almost always independent congregations and, therefore, seldom
find themselves divided in such a way.
They don't belong to a family of churches, or if they do, such ties are
very weak. They are only accountable to
themselves, and usually a charismatic preacher sets the tone for the
congregation and calls the shots. And
if you don't like what that congregation believes and does, then that isn't the
place for you.
Those
of us who belong to a family of churches -- in our case, the Anglican Communion
-- do not have the luxury of being responsible only for what is said and done
locally. When an Anglican with some
degree of authority (or perhaps just a newsworthy person) in Boston or New York
or London or Topeka or Dallas or Nairobi does or says something provocative, it
comes home to us. That's the price of
belonging to the Communion of Saints, and I wouldn't want it any other
way. That's the way that the Church
Catholic has always known it.
The
Gospel message today is a message that we might wish to ignore, if only we
could, but the truth of the matter is that Jesus is, of course, right: his Gospel divides. How I hear the demands of the Gospel
may be very different from how you hear them. What the Gospel demands of
me and therefore, what I demand of the Church, may be different from
what you hear it demanding of you and therefore, what you want the
Church to do.
No
priest has been ordained very long without knowing that most people want a tame
Gospel and not much more than the reinforcement of what they already
believe. So he or she knows that
strains will always lie ahead.
It
isn't divisiveness in the Church that continues to surprise me so much as it is
how long and how active people can be in the life of the Church and still
never, never "get it" -- never connect the Gospel to anything in the
rest of their lives outside of some few issues of personal, often sexual and
guilt-producing, morality.
I
have a great deal more respect for the person who differs from me on some
political or social matter, but who has wrestled with the Gospel to reach his
conclusions, than I do with the person, no matter how "religious" he
or she might appear to be, who has neatly compartmentalized religion so that
the Gospel and the rest of life never meet.
The
Gospel is quite revolutionary, that is, it stands our usual values on their
heads. Most of the time, I must admit
to you honestly, I find ways not to hear the strong message of the Gospel. But sometimes I do let it in, and
when I do, I know exactly what Jesus means in today's Gospel reading.
Richard
H. Humke