Love in Action, Not Words - July 4
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 1, 2, 3; PM Psalm 4, 7, Num. 32:1-6,16-27; Rom. 8:26-30; Matt. 23:1-12
In March of 2020, our clergy began writing daily reflections based on the daily cycle of readings within the Episcopal Church, a practice that became the spiritual grounding for my life in the midst of wrestling with a pandemic and its influence on what it meant to be part of a faith community. We reduced that practice to writing three times a week, one reflection by each full-time clergy member, a few months ago, with a desire to make the practice one that could live on in perpetuity. Reading scripture daily and taking time to meditate on its meaning and influence in my own life has not only been life-giving but has personally helped sustain me through the most challenging of years.
Two weeks ago, we took a two-week break to respond to the heightened and pressing ministry needs of a mass tragedy in our community which also means that many of you are reading this email for the very first time, brought to Saint Stephen’s in search for how our faith can help us process or live with such unfathomable pain and grief in a way that is hopeful and transformative. Personally, as the Rector of the church, the path has seemed clear so far on how to respond to the tragedy at Saint Stephen’s – with love and hospitality. The mirror image of the Last Supper around the event that took place on June 16 has provided such a hopeful image to me of what it means to live out my faith. It is simple. Always welcome with love, even at the cost of life. I am not suggesting this is easy to do, in fact, it took three of the most faithful people I have ever met to sacrificially model it, but I now know what I am supposed to do, to strive for, a model for what my life can be.
However, I have struggled with how to respond in love to much of what seems to be playing out in our national discourse, especially in a place that has deeply tried to hold people together who have competing views. If we are to welcome people at the cost of our life, what does this mean for people who have views that we think are reprehensible, or destructive to the well-being of those who are marginalized? How do we welcome people who might think our own views are the very same as we think about a different point of view? How does radical welcome, love, and acceptance play out at such a time as today?
In today’s Gospel, we find ourselves in a discourse with Jesus and the Pharisees, Jesus pointing to the hypocrisy of the religious community gathered whose actions never seem to mirror the words they offer. At a first glance, it could be easy to hold up faith communities whose moral outrage at the behaviors and practices of some have highlighted just how hypocritical the religious often are. Many of us Episcopalians are quite good at this practice – being outraged at the ultra-religious.
But the gift of reading and reflecting on Scripture daily in our life is that it should always point to our own growth. Where I am in this story? Could today’s readings be a reminder that my own words, what we have to speak to into the very common life of our world today is limited in its potential, but how we act and respond is what matters? “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. (Matthew 23:1-3).
What do I say about the world today, the environmental, social, and medical implications for the wellbeing of our world? I don’t know. But I do know how to act. Maybe, it is to care more tenderly for the earth, to work more to improve the lives of the poor and those faced with impossible decisions, and to be better about sharing what I can. And I will trust that God’s word will shine through at the appropriate time.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What challenges and dilemmas keep you up at night? What do you disagree with that comes from your own faith tradition and where have you changed in your opinion over time? How can you act in love as opposed to speaking in love?
Challenge: Find one actionable step of something that you can practice that improves the lives of others that aligns with something you believe and yet have never done before.