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July 07, 2006

Anne Jensen - July 2, 2006

Proper 8B Deut. 15:7-11, Ps. 112, 2 Cor. 8:1-9,13-15, Mark 5:22-24,35b-43

A wealth of generosity: This is a phrase Paul uses to describe the action of the Macedonians who took up a collection for the church in Jerusalem. He first shames and then uses flattery to get the Corinthians to do the same. In the process he teaches about God’s generosity through Jesus. Who for our sakes became poor. He shares this wisdom with them: “I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you…” It’s a matter of balance.

Today’s first and second readings and the psalm are perfect for a stewardship sermon. I’m going to treat stewardship lightly this morning. I encourage you to read the lessons and take them to heart. You can take the insert home and read it again during the week. Stewardship is a way of life; it goes on all year. Here at Trinity we are using the expressions, “Stewardship is everything you do with all that you have.”

It’s all about balance. “The one who had much did not have too much and the one who had little did not have too little.” This leaves us to discern what in our lives is too much, and what is too little in the lives of others.

The words of Moses in Deuteronomy and Paul to the Corinthians refer to material need, but generosity of spirit is inherent in such giving. It implies and requires an openness to the needs and ways of others.

We have a great need of such generosity within our church at all levels. Right here at Trinity I ask you to be generous with one another. If there are actions taken or statements made that seem out of order, instead of making assumptions, becoming angry or suspicious, please ask openly and without defensiveness, what the purpose or intent was. Let us treat each other as the sisters and brothers in Christ that we are.

Beyond our own congregation we are called to similar openness to the rest of the church—no easy matter in some cases.

Last week, in the wake of the General Convention, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, published a reflection called “The Challenge and Hope of Being Anglican Today.” The press has made much of a proposal he suggested—a two-tiered communion with a covenant—those who sign on are voting members; those who cannot agree to the covenant are affiliated and are in conversation and presumably in mission with the communion.

But that’s not all he said. He was emphatic about giving support to the defense of homosexual people: violence, bigotry and legal disadvantage are wrong. He also calls members to appreciate the role played in the life of the church by homosexual people.

Many people and parts of the press believe the issue is homosexuality, but it’s really about process. The issue the archbishop lays out is the question about how we make decisions corporately with other Christians looking together for the mind of Christ.
The archbishop makes a couple of points:

1. It doesn’t help to act as if the question has been resolved when in fact it hasn’t. A pointed statement to the American and Canadian churches.

2. The called-for “listening to the experience of homosexual people” hasn’t gone very far. A statement pointed to the church in parts of Asia, Africa and South America.

3. There are other fault lines, such as ordaining women.

You may have thought that the communion was going along just fine until 2003 when Gene Robinson was elected bishop of New Hampshire, but the truth is that there have been disagreements for a number of years.

One thing we must remember is that the Anglican Communion is a voluntary group, an association of local churches, not a single organization with a controlling bureaucracy like the Roman Catholic Church, so everything depends on what have been generally unspoken conventions of mutual respect. Many in the church felt these were ignored in 2003 and we have been living with the fall-out of that ever since.

The communion could just dissolve and the local churches go their own way, but the same problems exist within the local, meaning national, churches. We know that from our own country. Also the churches are bound to each other informally through networks and exchanges. For example, we have a partnership with GAIA, which is not a one-to-one church exchange, yet churches are involved.

However, at my last church, we had a partnership with a school in Uganda. The parish gave a lot of money to the school, and they were able to build a library and add a couple of classrooms. People also collected notebooks, paper, pencils, crayons and all kinds of school supplies. We were getting ready to do another project just as the archbishop of Uganda, one of the more outspoken critics of the American church, pronounced that they would not take any money from any diocese that supported Gene Robinson. Connecticut did support his election, so we asked our liaison to ask the bishop who oversaw the school if they still wanted to continue the partnership. The bishop essentially said, “Never mind what the archbishop said, we want to continue our partnership.” They needed us and that church needed to be connected to the needs of African children.

What Archbishop Rowan Williams is doing is setting the framework for a process of discernment that allows for theological discussion, something that is reasoned and open to the Holy Spirit in contrast to hardened politicized debate. We are invited into a process, one that calls for generosity of spirit and mind.

This is an uncertain time for the church and uncertainly breeds fear. Time and again in scripture we hear the words, “Do not be afraid.” In Today’s gospel Jesus says, “Fear not, only believe.” The child thought to be dead is restored to life and health. Jesus gives two commandments: “Don’t tell.” and “Give her some food.” Commentators say the food is a sign of the completion of her restoration and was probably obeyed. The other probably wasn’t. Why did he say it? The best response I can give is that this story is symbolic action—it reveals that Jesus embodies God’s power over life and death, but that the fullness of what this means wouldn’t be known until later. The healing is a sign of grace. His own death and resurrection will be the grace through which all our sins are forgiven—such is God’s generosity. We ray for such healing and restoration of our church.

As we are the recipients of this grace, we can be ministers of grace. It may mean making room for undeserved mercies for ourselves and for others in the midst of working out how we are going to live together as God’s people, being in mission for the sake of the world. It is God’s generosity that must dwell in our hearts.