Homily for Proper 11 B, July 22, 2012

My sisters and my brothers we must embrace as Christ unity.

In the first lesson we heard today Jeremiah denounces the "shepherds" who have failed to protect God’s flock; Israel.  The poetic use of the plum line is much like our sayings about “putting it up to the yard stick” to see if “it measures up.”  The point being that God has found the leaders of his people to be doing a poor job and will provide some one better to take over the role. 

In our second lesson Paul describes how the former distinction between "the people of God" and everyone else has been destroyed in Christ.  Now all can be one as citizens of God's kingdom; those not born into the kingdom (not of Jewish ancestry) are no longer aliens but welcomed through Christ.  In him all are joined together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord!

This is one of the biblical roots of our Anglican idealism; the Middle Way.  In the beginning of the Anglican Church it was about Protestant versus Catholic.  It grew to include many people, from many cultures, from many theological perspectives, united by Christ at Christ’s own table. 

In the gospel lesson, Jesus’ reputation is beginning to spread.  He and his disciples are being inundated with those seeking miraculous healing.  The demand is so heavy that we see Jesus counseling his disciples to take some time away to rest and pray.  We must notice though, that Jesus is still compassionate, even when his plans to get some rest are thwarted. 

Paul's description of the unity we have in Christ.  Gentiles and Jews in the context of Paul’s day – liberals, conservatives and everyone else in our modern-day context is timely as we mark the close of The Episcopal Church’s 77^th General Convention.  As has been the case over the last six or nine years controversial issues were addressed in convention this year and decisions made which will be good news to some and bad news to others.

One of these is the question of the Anglican covenant, you may remember more than a year ago we took some time together to reflect on this, collect our reflections and send them on to our diocese.  Internationally the covenant has proven to be controversial enough that a number of provinces around the Anglican Communion have voted it down.  It no longer has any real value except as a bone of contention between those provinces and the ones who voted in favor.  Our GC basically tabled the matter.  This is a legislative maneuver that basically tells the world we are not going to make a decision, we are not going to choose sides, were just going to let this sit.  With refusing to take sides, our GC voiced the hope of staying in conversation with both sides.  As you can guess this may or may not work very well over the long haul.

Another issue that was given a great deal of time at convention is the formal restructuring of the Episcopal Church; particularly our internal governance.  Two sets of concerns drove this conversation: one, the simple pragmatic need to economize and streamline; two, the need to reorient and refocus ourselves on the mission God calls forth from all Christians.  The decision was to form a task force that will investigate alternative ways the church could be organized and make recommendations at the next convention in 2015.  This will of-course require long and hard work before a change comes but it is far wiser than making a precipitous decision. 

Finally, there was a long and passionate discussion about the approval of a trial ritual for the blessing of same gender unions.  At the previous convention, three years ago, the standing commission on liturgy was given the task of preparing these rituals and presenting them to this year's convention.  The final vote was substantially in favor of this ritual.  It's important we understand what this vote actually means.  Congregations are not forced to take action one way or the other nor are any Bishops.  A trial, experimental, ritual has simply been approved for use with the support of the local Bishop.  Final approval of this new ritual would not take place until after this trial period which will conclude with convention and 2015. 

I believe in the broadness and idealism of the Anglican tradition, i.e., there should be room in the house of Jesus for everyone; conservative and liberal alike.  I've spoken before about Scripture passages like the one we have today from Paul which described how the Christian faith should be open to all.  We do not get to play exclusive games "everybody must think the way I do" kinds of games.  Liberals do not get to force conservatives to take part in things they are not comfortable with and conservatives cannot get to hold back liberals from doing things they believe God is calling them to do.  Does this make us complicated and sometimes confusing and an aggravating church to be a member of?  Yes. 

We must remember the family of God is not about Jew versus Gentile, as was the controversy in Paul's day, nor about protestant versus catholic as in the early era of the Anglican Church.  It is also not about liberal versus conservative as is our present day.  The Christian faith, the Christian spiritual life and Christian community is about a life shared in Christ.  It is about the blessings we receive through Christ, it is about the life we are called to live in Christ and it is about sharing these gifts with the world around us.  No one has exclusive right to interpret the Bible only their way and no one has exclusive right to the body and blood of Christ.  If we are to live our Christian faith authentically we must begin with a clear awareness that the one God revealed by Jesus Christ showers rain and sunshine (blessings and forgiveness) upon us all!  We must embrace Christ as our unity!