And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love?

The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew 18:15-20

And They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love?

“We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

And we pray that our unity will one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.”

            So, I want to have you all do something for me this morning.  I want to have you all take just a brief moment, and I want you to reflect on that song.  Reflect on those words that we all know so well, and consider, consider whether or not you think that the world, people in general, know us, actually know Christians by their love.  Do people actually associate Christianity, today, with love?  Take just a moment.

            Now, I know full well that sometimes I can tend to err on the pessimistic side of things.  Some priest huh?  Haha!  I know that there are lots of incredible acts of love carried out by Christians every single day even right here in this church family.  From the Fish Pantries to Family Promise, from all the Ascension Cares ministries even to just the caring presence and acts of support that you all give to one another, there are wonderful things happening.  But, if I am being honest, I am also well aware, painfully aware, of the deep divisions among our greater Church body as well.  I am well aware of the real hurt that is also often caused by church communities just like this one as well as individual Christians. 

I have heard over and over again the stories of folks who find their way here, to this church, precisely because they have been deeply hurt by their previous church family, and I know of the folks who no longer darken our doors because of the same hurt that we, this community, caused them.  I know the young man whose Christian parents disowned him, never spoke to their own son again, because of his sexuality and a supposed “Christian” teaching.  I know the “Other,” perhaps racially or socio-economically, who was welcomed at first with a warm handshake and a smile but yet just never really seemed to fit in somehow.  I know the high powered professional who is a pillar of their community, an example of Christian service on Sunday, and yet who will knock over anyone in their way using any means necessary just to make another buck.  The list of examples goes on and on and none of this even touches the regrettable past Christianity shares in its history as a whole.  So tell me, how will they know that we are Christians again?  By our love????

It seems to me that this is a very serious question for us to consider these days, as the greater Church continues to decline, and I suppose that what I am really trying to say to you all this morning is that I don’t think Christianity as a whole is actually fulfilling its mission.  I don’t think Christianity as a whole is loving loud enough.  We are not loving loud enough in our communities, in our daily lives, to be noticed, to be seen, to be known by that Love.  That is actually what’s going on in our Gospel reading today.  Ironically, this scripture, which is about unceasing love and reconciliation, has been misunderstood and misconstrued to bring judgment and condemnation to folks throughout Christianity.  It has been used to excommunicate and reject members of churches and communities for years, to point fingers, to identify and isolate behaviors deemed sinful, to destroy faith instead of working to be united by it.  Unfortunately, Jesus’ words to, “let them be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector,” have been heard as a command to reject and to cut off, when, sandwiched between the parable of the lost sheep and the unforgiving debtor, they are really pretty obviously a cry, a cry for the opposite, a cry to never stop reaching out, especially to those who may be the hardest to reach, the most rejected, the most in need of Jesus’ amazing message of unceasing Love and Forgiveness.

            That my friends is your call, to be that shepherd who desperately searches for their lost sheep, to look for the most distant and to lovingly, to patiently, bring them back, to the family, to wholeness, to peace, just as God constantly does for us, constantly reaching out into our darkness, and pulling us back in, not to reprimand or to judge, but to love and to welcome and to celebrate, like the prodigal son.  So it makes me wonder, who are the Gentiles and the tax collectors in your life?  Who are the people out there in your world, who you might not want to welcome or to love?  Who are the people out there in your world who are needing just a little love, just a little light, who you pass by and perhaps don’t ever even notice?  I want you to take a moment again and think.  Who are those people in your world, in your day to day lives?  Now, consider, imagine, what would this world, what would your life look like if we were actually known by our love?

God’s call to us, walking this path, is a beautiful thing, but it isn’t easy.  In order for you to actually fulfill your Baptismal promises, your promise to proclaim the Good news with word and example, you have to speak up, you have to act.  In order for you to fulfill your promise to seek and serve all in Christ, you have to get outside your bubble, you have to pay attention and put others before yourself.  In order for you to fulfill your promise to strive for justice and peace for all and to respect the dignity of every human being, you have to know the world and you have to engage the other.  Before that though, we all have to be willing to be humble and honest enough with ourselves, so that we can first recognize where we are failing at all of this.  Then, we have to get out there.  You have to get out there.  Speak, Act, Love, Now.  For there is still so much left to be done until they will know us by our love, and we all, we each have to begin to truly Love.  We each have to begin to Love Louder!

Amen.