Sixth Sunday of Easter 'C'

Sunday May 13, 2012

In all things, charity

It continues to astound me how the Scriptures come to life over and over again under different circumstances, age upon age. No matter how familiar I may be with a particular passage or combination of texts, life experiences continue to influence the way I read or hear the text proclaimed at worship. This is particularly true on special occasions such as baptism, weddings, anniversaries, graduations and funerals. This may be attributed to the fact that on these occasions, the congregation is present not so much to fulfill a religious obligation but freely as it were, in order to celebrate or find deeper meaning in life through the lens of special events.

Since Easter, we have been ‘pondering’ Luke’s description of the early post-resurrection communities in and around Jerusalem and as they expanded to Macedonia and eventually to Rome. Although he tells us that the early Church—more likely a movement within Judaism rather than a formal institution —was “at peace,” it was far from peaceful. I suppose he meant that the believers were ‘convicted,’ that is, confident believers.

Nevertheless they experienced some ambiguity in the application of the Christian message to new believers of different cultures and customs. The first believers were Jews who retained their Jewish culture with its rituals and customs. However, the Greek-speaking Jews received the message a little differently than their counter-parts in Jerusalem and the Greek gentiles at Antioch in Pisidia received it still differently than the Jews. For example, the Apostles needed to decide whether or not circumcision should be imposed on gentile converts to Christianity. There was no doubt in Peter’s mind that Cornelius, a Roman centurion and former pagan, and his household had received the gift of the Holy Spirit to which he, Peter, believed he must defer. And so he did not impose circumcision and exempted himself from the customary Jewish dietary law. In today’s Church, the Pope would reprimand him but Peter was the first Pope!

There are other references to circumcision and dietary laws in the Acts of the Apostles and in the writings of St. Paul. Circumcision was a major issue for early believers. The Jews and some of the apostles with them said that circumcision should be imposed on gentile converts while others who were more sympathetic to the Greeks said, “no, it was not necessary for salvation.” (I think one could make the case that this issue was even more controversial than mandatory celibacy. Could it be akin to the issue of women’s ordination?)

So naturally they formed a committee and eventually consulted with the authorities in Jerusalem, which in those days was the center of Christendom. The decision was against mandatory circumcision. Adherence to the Jewish dietary practices was sufficient. In the face of ambiguity, compromise set the pace and kept the peace. Not everyone was happy with the change but eventually all deferred to the will and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

This is just one example of adaptability in the early Church.

We would do well to take a second look at the way the early Church evolved and functioned as it gradually became acclimated to early believers, both Jews and gentiles and to other cultures as the Church expanded west toward Rome and east toward Asia.

The Church as a human institution is an living organism that can stagnate unless it engages its members and even those who are not yet members in a dialogue of mind and heart about the many ways the Gospel message can be heard and lived. In the words of St. Augustine, “In essentials, unity; in non essentials, diversity; in all things, charity.”

In his gospel and in his first epistle, John stated that faithfulness is rooted in love—not the euphoria of puppy love but tried and true love that comes only when tried and tested by the hard knocks of life. A good marriage is subject to many challenges, some of which demand radical changes in life-style. Children bring to a marriage, new perspectives and wise parents eventually learn from their children, gaining new insights into what makes love long and lasting, what makes love strong enough to endure the test of time.

In the popular marriage inventory, Prepare-Enrich, engaged couples are queried, “Will romance fade in your lives?” Most of them respond with enthusiasm, “Of course not!” Yeah, right! Perhaps the question should be phrased, “Will romance change as love deepens?” Indeed it will and indeed it does!

In his first letter to the Corinthians St Paul wrote, “When all is said and done, there remain these three: faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love,” and I would add, “adaptability!”

Many wars have been fought in the name of religion. However, true religion is not characterized by the willingness to go to war but the courage to stand for peace. In the end we will be judged not by our physical power or prowess but by our complicity with evil in the face of our capacity for love.

Mother Theresa remains a model of what unbiased love can achieve. She was not always successful, but ultimately the measure of success is not in the achievement but in the will to be faithful and in the recognition that when love prevails, everything is gift and all is grace.

It is for this reason that we need to keep our tables connected — this table and your table and the table of humanity too. We need to come here every week to break open the bread of God’s word listening to every word through the lens of our experience; to be astounded by the way the Bible continues to speak to us in season and out of season.

Life is full of ambiguity but we need not be ambivalent about ambiguity. God will continue to speak to us and answers will come and we will be empowered to faithfulness despite the changes in externals and institutional discipline.

“Love consists in this, not that we have loved God but that God has loved us.” and God plays no favorites. God’s love is impartial.

But when all is said and done, in the end there are three things that matter, faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is?

Adaptabiliy!

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