A Homily presented at St. Paul s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio by Marcia Brown, Shaker Heights High School Senior on Sunday, June 7, 2015

Transcription

1 A Homily presented at St. Paul s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, Ohio by Marcia Brown, Shaker Heights High School Senior on Sunday, June 7, 2015 Mark 3:20-35 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. I don t know much about God. I just know he s up there. Somewhere. Probably beyond the stratosphere and the ionosphere and all those other things with cool names. He s definitely there, watching intently. Mass phone data collection, godly edition. In reading this passage and having to somehow understand it and tell you about it, I was quite intimidated. Nevertheless, I will give it my best shot. On this recognition Sunday, when we admire the triumphs of so many; the senior graduates and acolytes, our Christian Formation volunteers, our Education for Ministry graduates and others who have finally attained their goal, this passage of Mark reflects the efforts of these followers of Christ. Jesus is saying to his family by blood, yes, you are my family, but so are all these folks. Perhaps he didn t use the term folks, but I m sure the sentiment was the same. No matter their sin, no matter their background, if they are attempting to follow Jesus, they are his family. Sometimes it s hard for us to understand that, it s not easy seeing everyone as family especially when we just don t like some of those people! But when we come to this space each Sunday to worship, we are expressing our faith in God, signifying that we want to be like Him and do His work. That means we must treat all those who do the same as our family. It s God s great expectation of us. In Luke 12:48, the Lord said that, From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. We re the whom that has much because we have faith in the Lord.

2 In the Magnificat, a text I have sung many times with Dr. Nelson and the choir, both here and at Trinity Cathedral and St. Thomas church, Mary speaks about God s actions towards those who have and those who have not. She says, He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. It seems that Jesus sees every person as a member of his family. To me, that s a beautiful message. Those who seem least likely to be taken under his wing such as prostitutes and tax collectors, are the ones he wants to be included. And so in our own time, those our society ostracizes are to Jesus, all members of his family. Jesus defines his family by saying, For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother. As for us here at St. Paul s, we are privileged to experience God by our side. We know that in doing His work, we are part of his family. From us, Jesus expects more. We have the capacity to give more and to do more, and so He expects more. He expects that we act in our faith and we don t forget it. To do that, we cannot be divided amongst ourselves. We cannot see some members of Christ s family as more important or less important than others. When Jesus walked this Earth, He redefined family. He recognized all who do His work as all members of His family. This idea that a house divided cannot stand is so intrinsic to our faith that it s written in Mark, Matthew, and Luke. I think God is trying to tell us something here. Perhaps he s saying that when we fight among ourselves, when we put some of us above others, when we forget others humanity, we are weakening all of us, and we are most definitely not doing God s will. Humans are social creatures. We seek and adore the company of others -- for the most part. Even introverts like to be with other people sometimes. God knows this -- He created us in this way so that we might help one another. If we see in others parts of ourselves, perhaps we can see God, too. Then, we are fortifying a unified house.

3 Then, we are being built into a unified house. Then, in God s grace, to see others as like us, we discover what it s like to be in that fortified house. I have found this year that by sharing my faith with friends -- even if they follow a different religion -- I feel stronger and more connected to God. God manifests himself on this Earth in more ways than we realize -- and finding those relationships and connections, even unexpected, are what builds us up. They construct our relationship with Christ, preparing us for an unpredictable future. When we are kind to each other, when we offer ourselves in service to one another, we are also offering ourselves to God. We know that. Imagine, if you can, that by reaching out to other persons from any part of this Earth and offering yourself as a friend, as an aid, or in service of any kind, you are continuing the work of God. When we recognize the plight of the most destitute as our own, because we are all children of God, then we are doing His work on earth. Our less fortunate brothers and sisters are not be the easiest to help, but they are essential. In preparing for the future, I ve found it certainly helps a lot to call on God for guidance. Even when we feel the life He has given us is so imperfect and unfair even to the righteous, we must retain our faith in him. He really does have a plan. He is teaching us that even in the most difficult times we can treat all others as family even those not exactly like us. For we are after all, according to DNA science, 99.5% biochemically similar. I don t believe it s God s will that terrible tragedies happen. Why would He let those Nepalese people suffer so? Why would He allow torrential rains to wash away lives in Oklahoma? Why would He allow a car to fly off a Gates Mills road? Might it be to allow us to feel compassion and reflect on how to help mitigate the effects of these events? Is He telling us to ask ourselves, How can we help? I certainly think so.

4 If we grieve and we feel a great weight in our hearts, then we are compelled to act justly and improve the lives of those around us. In the St. Francis Prayer, we say, Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace. We are asking that God help us improve our world, even in small ways. We are asking for His help in countering terrible tragedies effects. So when Mark -- and Matthew and Luke -- write that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, God is really saying to us that we must not act against our brothers and sisters in Christ. No, rather we should seek God s help in doing His work. His work of helping the disabled, bringing solace to the depressed, tutoring the disadvantaged, praying for the victims of natural disaster and perhaps sending whatever aid we can their way, is essential to the foundation of a unified House of the Lord. Finding work that benefits others is what makes the world go round. It s not easy. On this recognition Sunday, when many of us are moving on from here to other places, to college, another job, perhaps a new location, we might find that our new friends don t share the same understanding of God s work. We must, at least, ask that God be with us when we do His work. We must ask too, that He be with our new friends and lead them towards this unified family. In Christ, we share one bread, one cup, but we share one house, too. A house made up of family from all walks of life. A house that has been the site for miracles and tragedies because of our free will. In the end though, God gives us opportunities to treat our neighbor as our mother or father or brother or sister. And in doing so, we are doing God s will on Earth. That is the house of God upon which our faith and our relationship with Christ is built. In the final verses of today s selection of Mark, Jesus says, But no one can enter a strong man s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed

5 the house can be plundered. This is the house of God -- of course there is a strong man to guard it. Yet, we too are the guardians of the sanctity of the Lord s house. With this charge, we have a welcome burden. It is not easy but it is worth all of our humanity to treat those inside the house as our family, and society s misfits and outcasts with the same respect, and especially to welcome them into the house. Let us pray now for the strength to preserve and uphold and strengthen this unified house of the Lord in the words of St. Francis: Grant that I 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.