February 20, 2011, Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

Sunday, February 20, 2011
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Matthew 5:38-48
The Rev. Jo Miller

Hopefully this Sunday I will be applying salve to the bruises from last week.
No crash helmets are necessary. However, this still requires careful listening as I
attempt to weave Leviticus, Matthew, and Paul’s letter to the Corinthians together. I
think I just saw some eyelids droop.

In Leviticus we have an excellent companion to the Gospel reading today.
Most of us have not read Leviticus. It was written for an ancient people who were
learning how to live an ethical and moral life together. Leviticus 19 is concerned
with internal integrity and outward behavior in daily life: in the home and in the
field, in our words to God and in our words to each other. All three of the Synoptic
Gospels quote Leviticus 19:18, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The
reading lists a series of laws designed to guide the people of Israel into holiness,
into the image of God. The text mixes singular and plural verbs underscoring the
role that individuals must play as moral agents whose action affects the well-being
of the entire community.

In Matthew we could say we are hearing the very heart of God. We see the
heart of God through the incarnational life of Jesus. We see one who loves the
unlovable, comes among us, suffers our worst, and rises to forgive us, who turns the
cheek, who gives the cloak, goes the extra mile and loves the enemy. We hear this
from the cross: “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” Jesus gives us a
guide for living out the image of God in us.

All of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are difficult. How many
times do I end up saying Mia Culpa. And perhaps the most difficult is the
admonition to non violent resistance or the call to be perfect as God is perfect. Lev. 19:2 states it as to be holy, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."

We are seeing the power of non violent resistance being played out in the middle
east. What would it look like if American Christians could live into the inclusive
love Jesus demonstrated?

Now, let’s look at the reading from Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that
you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s
temple, God will destroy that person. .For God’s temple is holy, and you are that
temple. Uh oh, maybe we still need crash helmets or at least seat belts. Now, the
word “you” throughout verse 16 is in the plural as in you all. Paul equates the whole
community, not just the individual, as the temple of God just as the community is
the body of Christ in I Cor. 12:12-31. These readings are not about American
rugged individualism.

This is clearly about extending our thinking beyond “me, myself, and I”. We
are incarnational people. Being incarnational we are linked with Jesus as his
followers to all people. Brian McLaren writes; “When I say we are linked and
bound through Christ’s incarnation to all people, I am not saying all religions are the same....I am saying that because we follow Jesus, because we believe Jesus is true,
and because Jesus moves toward all people in love and kindness and grace, we do
the same.” It is sweet when we belong to a community that is linked to Jesus this
way.
Resurrection, you all, you are the temple of the living God, you have a job to
do between now and when you call your priest, who is only one small part of this
community. You are to embrace the reality that you are the temple. A priest does
not make this place holy, a priest does not make this place a temple. Without you
all, the ecclisia, this is only a building. It takes all of you and at all times to be a witness to who you are; people who have accepted God’s grace, call to be holy, and called to share that unconditional love of God with the world from humans all the
way down to the rocks. Sometimes it is easier to love rocks.

As individuals you also take the Incarnational Christ with you where ever you
go. It is really hard to be this kind of Christian and that is why you have each other.

When one of you falls there are others there to lift you up. When one of you can not
find the love of God in you the others are there to love for you. When a few of you
are called to search for your next priest it takes all of you to hold them up and
support them and help them to find the person who will be able to bring out the best
of who you are. You are individuals drawn into the circle of the Holy Trinity making
you as one.

Paul tells the people of Corinth in Chapter 12:4 that everyone has a gift to
give to the community from the beloved babies to the cherished elders. He writes:
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of
services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities but the same God
who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the
Spirit for the common good. You all are the temple of the living God and each
individual has been given the Spirit and the mind of Christ. What more do you need?
What have I learned from being here with you? I have learned that you are strong,
you are open hearted, you love this community of Resurrection, and you are
committed to the church -- What more do you need? Rejoice in what you do best
and do it even more.

Now a personal aside. My name will not be in the pool of names for priest-in-charge. My current calling is to be a supply priest and a spiritual companion. A spiritual companion is someone who walks with another as they work to understand who and what they are called to be on their personal spiritual journey. But, let me tell you, you all are easy to love.

*Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volumn 1
*Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodxy