Seventh Sunday after Epiphany 20 February 2022
(Genesis 45:3-11, 39-40 Psalm 37 1Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50 Luke 6:27-38)
“Walking Together . . . Going Far!”
It is an African Proverb that begins my sermon today. Simply said: “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to go far, walk together with others.
For me, this proverb encompasses The Refugee Resettlement Partnership here in this community. More on that in a few minutes; but let me begin with the Scripture readings for today.
In the Gospel text we hear a continuation of the Sermon on the Plain begun last weekend. Today we pick up the very next verse from last weekend. Today we are challenged to an ethic of generosity, especially when living in a hostile world. Jesus calls his listeners to love their enemies, to bless and give, even to those who curse and take. He is urging his disciples to behave in a way that is considered imprudent by many, sowing generosity where nothing is expected to grow.
The Gospel of Luke takes seriously a God who uses people and events to reveal God’s purposes in history and God’s love in the created world. The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, pastor and peace activist, emphasizes this very theme in his book, Credo, when he writes of the active nature of faith. He says: “It is terribly important to realize that the leap of faith is not so much a leap of thought as it is of action; for while in many matters it is first we must see, then we will act; in matters of faith it is first we must do, then we will know. When it comes to faith, most often we must dare to act wholeheartedly even when we might not possess absolute certainty.”
Sloane Coffin, who lost his son, Alex, at a young age in a tragic accident, believed that a living faith perseveres, even when signs of life are hard to find and when the future looks dim.
I will suggest this to be the depth of faith that propels us in the work of helping to settle families coming to us from war-torn countries of the world. You all know, as do I, how we live in a fearful society devoured by anxiety; yet our Christian mandate is not to draw into a cocoon of safety; rather, to be out and alive in the world in concrete action.
The Refugee Resettlement Partnership here in Gettysburg is made up of eight faith communities who have formed a trusting relationship with each other. In my mind, it is one of the best recent examples from our Adams County community of working together. As we have come far, we still have farther to travel.
Last Saturday a family of 10 was welcomed into this community of Gettysburg. The collaboration to arrive at this moment has been beyond amazing! The family is moved in, getting settled, with the younger ones beginning school this week. I had the sacred honor of visiting with this family yesterday. They welcome guests with holy hospitality. As we sat together, I couldn’t help but allow my mind to admire the tenacity of these beautiful individuals in surviving the trauma of a war-torn country. We were served Afghan tea and a platter of various dried foods. Because I had my oldest grandson with me, I learned that the word for “grandfather” is ‘boba.” We are here together! We are here together!
The Leadership of The Refugee Resettlement Partnership have been truly appreciative of the generous response from this congregation and the community, in general. So many of you have reached out in offering support in various ways. Thank you!
We now walk this path learning how best to encourage this family to self sustainability without smothering them; integrating them into a different culture is a way that we honor and respect their own customs, their culture, their food choices and living decisions. To support them but not to control them; to care for them but not be overprotective of them—this is the journey of welcoming faith we now travel in this precious, unique way!
The Sermon from the Plain reminds us that Ministry can never simply be about maintenance; it is about gathering, about embracing; it is about welcoming home “all sorts and conditions” of people. It is about trusting the truth of the Gospel, the Church becoming the place to be practicing the gathering of a Gathering God.
Here’s Good News. Beyond the world of exclusion and rejection and hostility, there is a world of welcome that sees “the other” not as a threat or competitor, but as fellow travelers on the pilgrimage of humanity. That alternative world is signed by the water of Baptism, by Bread and Wine—known by lives that reach out and touch, in order to heal and reform.
More Good News. We all belong. We belong to each other, because compassion has been shown to us; and because compassion has been shown to us, whenever God’s demanding compassion comes, life begins anew.
Our Baptismal washing requires us to end our indifference, our competition, our arrogance, our despair. Our Baptismal washing becomes the very foundation for the hope of the world, that together we become a “dwelling place for God,” because “when you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to Me” [Mt. 25:40].
In a society that too often judges people by their looks, religion, or culture, and treats people as “inside” people or “outside” people, Jesus calls us to welcome everyone as equal and as members of the family of God.
St. James Lutheran Church, the Gettysburg community, and The Refugee Resettlement Partnership may be only tiny specks in this humongous humanitarian project of welcoming more than 74,000 Afghan refugees to date—but we are important specks and necessary fragments. The daunting Christian responsibility is to engender a capacity for hope and the courage to embrace the plan of God.
“If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to go far, walk together with others. Let’s go far together! “salaam alaikum . . .wa-alaikum as-salaam!”
Let all God’s people say, “Amen. “
Sermons at St. James Gettysburg 