Rev’d Jane B Bearden
Trinity Episcopal Church, Haverhill
Year A Proper 9July 3, 2011
Interesting Gospel reading we have today. You might not have noticed it is a split lesson. Part of the scripture is left out – maybe for brevity but usually because the compilers of the lectionary did not feel that the omitted text contributed to the overall point of the lesson. The part that is missing today is a severe condemnation of the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Jesus compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah for not heeding the warnings of John and the call to discipleship that he himself was making. The lesson seems like a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Neither John the Baptist with his fire and brimstone nor Jesus with his love could broach the stone cold hearts of the people. But the part that caught me today was that little line. “Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” Wisdom here, in spite of the feminine pronoun alludes to Jesus himself and to his deeds. We know this from the part of the scripture that is missing… “if the deeds of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented” Jesus is telling us that the Truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth is to be discovered in his actions, in his deeds of forgiveness of sinner, his acceptance of the dispossessed, and the ways in which his love heals those who are hurting.
I have a book in my office that I like read to children. The book is by Douglass Wood. You may be more familiar with another of his children’s books call “Old Turtle”. This one is called “Old Turtle and The Broken Truth” It begins with
“Once in a beautiful faraway land - That was somehow not so far
A land where every stone was a teacher
And every breeze a language
Where every lake was a mirror - And every tree a ladder to the stars…”
Into this world came a blazing truth. But as it fell it broke apart. One part went off into the sky and the other fell into the beautiful land. At first crow and the other animals find the broken truth, but they see no use for it. It is heavy and so the broken truth lies on the ground unheeded. Then one day a man finds it. He sees that there are words written on the tablet. It reads: “You are loved”
This knowledge of the truth fills the man with great joy. He runs back to the village and shares it with all his friends. They too are filled with joy, But they only see this truth as applying to those who share characteristics with themselves. The book continues… “The truth made the people feel good and proud and strong. But they do not see that their Truth is broken and incomplete. Soon they began to feel fear and even anger toward those who were not like themselves and did not share their truth. The other beings and the other people of the lovely land seemed less and less important. And the language of the breezes was seldom heard anymore.” Because they do not share their Truth with other people and other beings, all earth begins to suffer.
Then a brave little girl journeys to find the ancient wise one known as Old Turtle. With words both simple and profound, Old Turtle helps the Little Girl to hear again the language of breezes. He tells her that the truth that her people have is not whole… it is a broken truth … and then he passes on the precious piece of wisdom that will mend the people’s broken truth.
Old Turtle shows the girl the missing part of the Truth, and the Little Girl returns with it to her people, but the people did not recognize her. They could not understand her when she spoke. She explained to them about the broken truth and the need to make it whole. But still they did not understand and they began to argue. So she climbed to the high mountain where the Broken Truth was visible to all the people and she put the pieces together and they fit perfectly. Then all the people could read it – It said You are loved and so are they.
Matthew's faith community was Jewish and as Jews they were bound by the Jewish customs and norms that kept them separated – set apart from others. In Jesus' day those rules and regulations had become so complex and demanding that they defeated the purpose for which they were intended. Instead of drawing the people closer to God - the attention to difference and societal boundaries had prevented them from being fully open and willing to accept God's love and compassion that was not earned by obedience, but rather was simply offered to any and all who sought it. The whole truth! You are loved and so are they!
Jesus is not just addressing the failure of individuals to respond, but rather he is addressing the society as a whole. He is telling an entire generation that they had failed to hear the truth and that it would be the dispossessed, the weak, the infants who would hear God’s truth spoken and understand. Jesus is calling for a return to relationship building that more attentive to mercy, justice, and compassion than to impractical and oppressive societal norms that draw lines of difference between people. This freedom first to accept God's love in gratitude and faithful devotion and I might add that for most of us this is the most difficult step - and then to extend that same love to others because they are loved too - was the easy yoke and light burden that Jesus taught, that Jesus offers us.
Tomorrow our country will celebrate its independence, its freedom from the yoke and burden of colonialism. We are a country that has been and is flawed. We carry in our bosom the desire for equality and the sin of slavery – the love of God and our fellow man and the greed that drives us to opulence and oppression of those who are different – the faith in a loving and compassionate God and the fear that makes wars and tries to mold other cultures and faiths into carbon copies of our own. We are flawed nation. But that is only to say that we are human. What is also true is that we are, at our core, a nation in search of basic human rights for all people. Granted that it is a convoluted search and one that sometimes seems to go backwards instead of forwards, it is nevertheless a path that we as a people chose 235 years ago and have over those years tried to follow.
This morning on the NPR program “On Being”, Krista Tippet interviewed philosopher and professor Jacob Needleman. They reflected on building democracies. Dr Needleman commented that we as a nation must consider carefully what responsibilities come with our “rights” as citizens. The “rights” were never meant to be selfish accumulation of “stuff” but rather the right to be educated, to earn a living, to live in safety and the responsibility is to ensure that the rights of others are protected. But we must be vigilant for the ways we subvert God's intention for us.
When we put our own needs and wants above the needs and wants of all of God's children - then we have missed the mark.
When we exploit the gifts and resources of others for our own good or advantage - then we have missed the mark.
When we put others at risk in order to protect ourselves - then we have missed the mark.
When we try to make our own way alone without the love and acceptance of God, when we forego the energy and power of the Spirit, then Jesus’ way of discipleship can become a yoke and a burden that no one can bear. Jesus invites us into a different truth.
Christian faith calls us individually, corporately and globally to two basic rules of life, love God and love neighbor - because God first loved us – and them. That is the yoke and the burden to which Jesus calls us today. It is not easy and light because it does not involve work or because we will be able to prop our feet up be waited on for the rest of our lives. It is an easy yoke because God is our companion on this journey. It is light burden because Jesus shares the weight.
Let us pray. Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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