SERMON, FR. DON PAULSON

Sept. 14, 2008

Genesis 50: 15-21

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

"Change is coming!"  So read the headlines of a recent issue of Pocatello's newspaper, quoting a famous national politician.  Change has been the constant theme, the buzzword of our nation for at least the last 6 - 9 months.  Not to be outdone, this June the good people of the Diocese of Idaho created a great deal of change of our own by electing Fr. Brian Thom as our Bishop.  While this change will clearly affect people throughout the Diocese, its immediate impact on those of you sitting in these pews has already been felt, and, there is more to come!

As some of you know, my regular paid employment is as the Director of the University Counseling Service and as a faculty member in the counseling program at Idaho Sate University.  Several years ago while preparing for one of my classes, I came across a wonderful discussion/description of change: one that I would like to share with you during this time of change you're experiencing, and then relate it to today's scripture lessons. 

The author of the article pointed out that it is naïve, at best, to assume that as soon as we get through "this," this change, whatever it is, things will be better and we can get back to normal, back to business as usual.  Rather he noted, it is much wiser to understand change and our journey through life as like running a river; a river where there is and always will be both calm water and white water. As Idahoans, many of us are familiar with what it means to run a river.  First of all, it's usually something we do together, in community with each other.  Second, we usually have a guide or at least someone experienced and knowledgeable about the river we're running.   Third, we often have a map of the river to help us plan and anticipate the vicissitudes of the journey.  Fourth, we know from experience, the map, and our guide that there will be very challenging class 3 and 4 stretches which will stretch us, as well as calm stretches when we just float together marveling in the goodness and beauty of God's creation.

Finally, we also know there may be times when the water is too high or the rapids so treacherous - that class 5 stuff - that we have to take another route, often a difficult but safer portage. 

Does any of this feel familiar to you in your life together in Ascension parish?  You are on a journey together with a great group of fellow rafters.  You already know and have learned that there are class 3 and 4 rapids to negotiate as well as some possible portages ahead.  And you also already know and have learned there are and will continue to be stretches of joy, peace and calm, moments when you can delight in and marvel at the way God's grace has come to you individually and as a community. 

But, you might be saying, "Wait a minute, where's our map, our river guide? Fr. Brian is gone! How will we know if we need to stop and make a portage?  Who will organize us, plan the trip, ensure that we have all we need for the journey, especially the food!  Who will guide us through the rough waters and lead us when we celebrate all of our passages, the difficult and the smooth?  Without our map and river guide how will we know who should do what and what are the most important lifesaving things to do?"

I wish I could just step in and answer all of those, and other, questions for you.  And while I don't know the answers for you, what seems to me as most important is that you've already begun considering these questions and have some preliminary answers yourself.  In fact, I would hazard a guess that you've already navigated some rough waters together and have already enjoyed some smooth, calm waters, as well. 

Now, while I've said I don't have answers for you, I really do want to offer you a little more than that.  You see, I believe you have the best map available in Holy Scripture, and the best possible river guide in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

So let's continue by looking at what today's scripture might be suggesting to us about the river you are currently running, about this time of change in your journey together.

Each of the three lessons speaks clearly to trusting in God's grace and the depth of the relationships we can have when we live out this grace in our lives.   Each lesson has a special message about our accountability to God AND our responsibility for each other, for our fellow rafters.  The whole story of Joseph and his relationship with his people, his father and his brother is about God's grace, is about listening to God and being responsible for others.  For me, this is wonderfully illustrated, when, after his brothers ask for and receive Joseph's forgiveness and they're all weeping, Joseph says, "Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?", and he goes on to say "So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and for your little ones."

Joseph knew that the power and authority that he had been given was a gift, not a right, and that he was to use that power and authority to help others, even the brothers who had wronged him. 

Right now and as the coming year unfolds many of you are and will be in positions of leadership like Joseph; positions of authority where your decisions affect other in the community.  Some of those in the community, as close to you as they may be, may offend you, may wrong you, may disagree with you - some may already have done so!

My prayer for you as you run these class 3 and 4 rapids is that you do so humbly, just as Joseph did; that you continue to honor, respect, and even forgive those with whom difficulties and disagreements arise.  My prayer is that you continue to run the river together, to build your community again, as Joseph did, by listening and responding to God's call.

As our Gospel lesson illustrates, our relationships with each other, especially around the issues of Grace and forgiveness, can be tricky!  The parable of the unforgiving servant clearly indicates the infinite forgiveness available to us through and by God's grace, while at the same time illustrating how unforgiving and small-minded we can be even while basking in the light of God's grace-filled forgiveness.  The phrase "self-righteous" comes to my mind whenever I hear this parable and I often find I have to apply this to my own attitude.  I can confess/admit I made a mistake, but God does forgive me, so I'm OK and I can move forward with my life.  But you made a mistake.  You wronged me, so you're not OK, in spite of God's forgiveness and we can't move forward because I won't really accept God's grace and be forgiving myself.

This is how communities get stuck, how any group, including congregations, get stuck and polarized.  They behave just like the unforgiving servant, protecting their own beliefs, their own self-interest even while accepting God's grace.

Now, I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir because I can't believe that such polarization, even in small matters, would ever happen here at Ascension.  After all, you are all of one mind, one heart on every question, every issue and every decision, aren't you?   So it's just not possible here, is it?  So, your priest search, for example, will just be a smooth class 1 float down a peaceful river from launch to take out.

However, just in case new people show up on your raft that don't raft the way you do; or someone already on the raft forgets how to row together, my prayer for you is that you take to heart Jesus' admonition to Peter that the capacity and need for forgiveness is infinite.  In doing so, you will be living like Joseph who did not put himself in the place of God as he forgave his brothers, those who wronged him, and as he exercised his authority to better the lives of the people in his community.

Let me say one last thing about forgiveness before moving to our final lesson from Paul's letter to the Romans.  In other parables and lessons and in his own actions, Jesus shows us that forgiveness is not carte blanche for continued wrong or ill intended actions.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer teaches us, Grace is not cheap.  God in Christ expects us to forgive and to do so as often as is necessary.  But there is another expectation as well: an expectation that we also challenge each other and ourselves to cease those behaviors and change those attitudes which make forgiveness necessary; that we, in our daily communal life, move from meeting our own needs, getting our own hundred denarii, and listen instead to God in Christ's call to feed and to care for and to nurture, and yes, even to forgive others.

So I pray also that, as you navigate the rapids of change in the river ahead, you do so by continuing to challenge your brothers and sisters in Christ to be better than they have been, as good as that may well be, and that you personally continue to accept this challenge, as well. 

And finally, Paul's letter to Romans, a lesson less about forgiveness and more about how to live together in community so that forgiveness is minimally needed.  To really capture the power of Paul's teaching, I want to re-read the passage, but do so from the Message Bible.

            Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do...  Say that one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other.  There are good reasons either way.  So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience. 

What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli.  None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters.  It's God we are answerable to - all the way from life to death and everything in between - not each other.  That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again, so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

 (Repeat) "That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other."

As Paul tells us, there is room for widely differing opinions on all the Ascension rafts as you float this river of change.  As you as a community hop on the rafts and run the river ahead of you, also remember that Paul tells us the petty tyrannies, which somehow never seem to disappear, can be challenged and forgiven; can be challenged and forgiven because Christ is, ultimately, your river guide, my river guide, our river guide.  Paul challenges us that as we float the river we do so in all our differences, in honor of the Lord.

In closing, let me invite you to a peaceful stretch of river: let me invite you to come to the Holy Table, to come for forgiveness, absolutely!  But also to come for strength and renewal; strength and renewal so that together as one diverse community, you can lovingly run this stretch of river God has given you to run!