SERMON PREACHED BY
THE RT. REVEREND DAVID C. BANE, JR.
AT CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
ON THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
4 MAY 2008

 

 

Jesus said to his disciples, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." -John 14:15-21

 

I want to express my deep appreciation to both Bishop Duncan and Father Lewis for their kind invitation to be with you this morning. It is an honor to share this day as I believe that the promises at baptism and confirmation are the most important ones we will ever make as they truly set the priorities of our lives. As I told Harold, I was born and raised in a suburb of Pittsburgh..West Virginia. Actually, I spent my childhood in Morgantown where we passionately love the Steelers, but have a more problematic attitude toward your Panthers. I can vividly recall my childhood days when I saw some rather graphic messages written in soap on the downtown store windows the night before the West Virginia/Pitt football game. Those of you who are football fans will understand why those signs may return after last year's game! But I dare not go down that painful road.

 

Let me just take a moment to encourage you if I may. First of all, I want you to know that Bob Duncan is a friend of mine and I care about him and his family and their welfare. If I were in trouble he is one of the first people I would turn to. He and I do not end up in the same place with regard to our response to the current tensions in the Episcopal Church but that has not affected our friendship nor our mutual respect and affection. I am aware of the strained relationship between Bishop Duncan and many of the leaders and members of Calvary and it makes me sad. In a beautifully written piece he called "A Fork in the Road" your own Walter Bowman spoke of how his heart breaks over our inability in the church to love one another as Christ loved us. As one who recently retired after ten years as a diocesan bishop I share Walter's distress. My own hope and prayer is that as the future unfolds the world out there will one day look at how we handle our conflict and say, "Look how they can love one another in the midst of serious differences." We are not yet there, but when we do get to that place, and it will only happen under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I believe we will have proclaimed the Gospel in the most powerful way. I also believe that such a place is not one we can envision or plan for and the road there is a mystery that can only be found by loving one another in ways that hurt and require sacrifice from each of us. The celebration of the diversity and uniqueness in this building this very morning can be a step on that road. As you all move into whatever lies ahead do not ever forget the Great Commandment to love God and one another. As our Lord said so clearly, "there is no greater law than this." We talk a big game about this, but when the arguments begin we tend to move it to the back burner. Let's not do that anymore.

 

I have discovered that as a retired bishop there is some real freedom for both you and me. What I mean is that since I have absolutely no canonical authority over you, I can say whatever the heck I want to and you are free to totally ignore every word with no heartburn for any of us! I feel some liberation in that which is a good thing because there is a chance that what I am going to say this morning will upset you. And I suppose I should confess that that is my hope and my intent.

 

As I read about Jesus in the Gospels there is something remarkable to me, a characteristic that is truly startling. That is that what you see is what you get! There was not a time in his life when his actions were at variance with his words. His behavior always reflected his identity, who he was. Psychologists today might call him a "fully integrated person." Do you know anyone like that? Do you know people whose actions are always in complete accord with what they say? Of course, the real question, and the annoying one is, "how does this work out in your life?" In other words, what is the relationship between your identity and your behavior? If they complement one another you have a sense of inner peace. If they are in conflict you feel some emptiness or inner confusion.

 

This has some radical implications for those of you being confirmed or received today, and I might add, for all of us who have taken on the vows of the baptismal covenant at some point in our lives. When we repeat them together in a few minutes notice that the first promises define who we are by what we believe. We establish that we are those disciples Jesus is talking to in the Gospel. Then, it is as if we say, "OK Lord, we have signed on as your followers. Now what?" The second part consists of five promises that spell out the behavior Jesus fervently wishes us to exhibit. In a Good Friday meditation your rector said it this way, "We quench Jesus' thirst by loving our neighbors as ourselves." This is the very heart of the matter and it is troubling when we notice that there are no "outs," no exceptions, no fine print. We are to "respect the dignity of every human being," including those who make us crazy. We are to "seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves" including those we disagree with on every big issue. And we all say together, "I will, with God's help."

 

OK, here is the part that will probably tick you off. You are not going to keep those promises. Most of you probably won't even get out the door this morning before you break one of them. You, and I add myself to the group, are going to abandon Jesus just as surely as those first disciples did when they realized the personal cost of following him. Oh sure, we mean it when we promise to seek Christ in all persons, that is until we see that conservative, that liberal, that gay person, that black person, that white person, that overweight person, that person who cheated us or lied to us, that one who we just cannot stand to be around.well, what about seeking Christ in them? What about respecting the dignity of that one we are certain is going to hell and we wish the appointed time would hurry up? Oh yes, we are all terrific at generalities, but we struggle with specifics. That is, for example, why we prefer the good old anonymous General Confession over any antiquated idea of actually having to explain ourselves to another person who might actually ask some pointed questions. I call this the "Peter Syndrome" in each of us. We quickly say, "Oh yes, Jesus, I love you and will be with you all the way.wait a minute, are those soldiers I hear coming..?"

 

My friends, and I hope we are still friends, we so often miss what Jesus is trying to teach us because we are so busy majoring in the minors. Although he didn't talk about such things, we get all exercised about who is right and who is in charge. Now, this is completely understandable and in times such as these most people agree that you just can't just lay down and let others walk all over you. There are certain wrongs done to us that require righteous retaliation. Isn't that a great phrase, "righteous retaliation" I just made that up! I mean, come on, are we expected to hang on the cross ourselves? Whoops, now there is one of those specific questions that can annoy us. The problem we have had from the very beginning of the Christian faith is that we just can't seem to grasp the truth that we are not supposed to fit into this world. We are not supposed to spend our lives jockeying for power and working to serve our own wants and needs first. Yes, we promise to work for justice, freedom, and peace, but for others, not for ourselves. When we make these vows we are signing on to be members of a radical group that does not live by the commandments of this world, but by those of Jesus Christ. Yikes! I don't see a lot of evidence that we fully comprehend the incredibly revolutionary nature of the demands of the Gospel. It is unrealistic in human terms and the cost of living a Gospel life is extraordinary, but wouldn't it change the world to see such behavior on the part of Jesus' disciples, even in the Body of Christ itself?

 

Now let's consider one more little phrase we use a lot, and certainly as part of the baptismal covenant. The church knows that keeping these promises is beyond the ability of sinful human beings and covered that base by adding the words, "with God's help?" But what does that mean? Are we saying that since we know we can't really pull this off ourselves we are hoping that God will do it for us when things get rough? Do we hope that when we see that neighbor who makes our blood boil God will temporarily suspend our human nature and enable us to love that person? Or, is it something much deeper and more profound than such an easy answer? Could it be that the help we hope for from God is what Jesus did on the cross? Could it be that the help God provides is a way for us to forgive and to ask forgiveness as a way of life, a "Rule of Life?" That is a quite different thing, isn't it?

 

We all know that forgiveness is an important part of being a Christian, but we tend to "yes, but" it to death. We see it as unrealistic in some situations or not applicable in others. This is the heart of our problems in the church and in life for that matter. The cross is primarily about one thing - forgiveness, God forgiving us and our forgiving one another. Period. No outs. No "yes, buts." There is a very good chance that everyone here this morning is harboring at least one "yes, but." There is that one situation in our lives where our first response is to begin explaining. Sorry, but that won't work. This is more of that annoying specificity of the Gospel. Remember that while Jesus spoke to crowds, he was talking to the individuals in that crowd, and that includes you and me.

 

Speaking of that liberation of being a retired bishop I can tell you what I found in very short supply in our church: self-awareness and acceptance of personal responsibility. If those two factors are not in the mix it is virtually impossible to get to forgiveness. Your rector mentioned in another of his sermons (He made me read all of them before I was allowed to come) that it probably is not healthy to refer to the congregation as a "flock of sheep" for obvious reasons. We are unique and special and one-of-a-kind creations. But as I watch the behavior of many of us it certainly appears that there is a strong tendency to get caught up in the emotions and passion of others. There are cries to hold people accountable for their behavior from people who are in no way accountable themselves which is a recipe for, well, for what we have right now.

 

I love being with a group of truly diverse people who are together because they want to understand and to be understood, not necessarily to ever agree. I know that I rarely learn much about God or life or myself or other people when I am with only like-minded folks. It is certainly comfortable and often quite encouraging, but not very challenging or stretching. And this is the part where I really feel stupid because it doesn't seem to me that other people see it this way. Aren't our differences part of God's plan? Am I missing something here? Aren't we always more full and complete when we mingle our differences together? Now, when this becomes an effort to coerce or convince or control or judge, the differences become dangerous and threatening. I fear that we are losing the will and the ability to truly be present with those who are different and that circles right back to the baptismal promises.

 

My point is this. If the giving and receiving of forgiveness is not at the very center of our faith as followers of Jesus Christ, it will be impossible for us to proclaim the Gospel by how we live our lives because our actions are not in line with our identity. The first step is always to look deeply into our own heart, with God's help.

 

I'd like to close with my favorite prayer from the New Zealand Book of Common Prayer. Although it is called a Prayer for the Night I think it applies to the Christian way of life every day. Let us pray:
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be. The night is dark; Let our fears of the darkness of the world and our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In your name we pray. Amen.