Making Way for the New

The qualities of a leader are strong in every age. Our country’s historical leaders have been the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. In Delaware we are proud of Caesar Rodney, Absalom Jones and E.I. du Pont. Maryland’s leaders include Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall. In the Episcopal Church, we are blessed to have leaders like Desmond Tutu and Katherine Jefferts Schori to be our bishops. No matter what age or era, one thing is true about leaders: they insist on moving forward; they resist the status quo.; they learn from their experiences; they do what it takes to keep growing.

That’s the way it was with Peter. He had been actively working to encourage Jewish believers in places like Jerusalem and Philippi to grow as followers of Jesus.

Peter had been chosen by Jesus for a reason. Remember that he was the first to step out on the water when Jesus called. And he was the first to speak up when Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Some said John the Baptist. Some said Elijah. But Peter said, you are the Christ.

Peter was a careful person, someone who protected himself. When he ventured out on the water, he considered that it was dangerous. He got distracted and began to sink. When asked whether he was a friend of Jesus, he said that he did not know him. He was cautious for good reason, but, in the end, he made good choices.

His mission in going to Phillipi was to support believers in that region. Little did he know that he would make a critical act to open the Church on that trip. It was not his intention to include non-Jews in the fold. But something new was about to happen, and because Peter had the leadership qualities necessary, he interpreted his vision of forbidden animals to mean that God shows no partiality and that the Holy Spirit comes on all who hear the word.

If today’s lessons have a single thread holding them together, it is that

Growth embraces what is new.

Growth means making adjustments.

Growth means adapting.

The something new that Peter introduced was the idea of inclusion of non-Jews, and, that for the church to grow, it would have to both respect Jewish traditions and laws while including Jesus commandment to include and love all persons.

Up until this point, Peter operated under a code that said it was unlawful to associate with Gentiles or even be in the same room with them, for they were thought to be unclean and their uncleanliness contagious.

But then he had that vision, the text says it may have been a trance. Whatever it was, he interpreted it as an opportunity for growing the Christian Church.

The leaders of the new church back in Jerusalem were not happy with him. They wanted an explanation.

“What on earth were you thinking?” they asked Peter. “Why did you go to those unclean people?”

And that is when Peter told them the story of how he had gone to the house of a Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit came upon all the people there, and he said:

“I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

If the Church is going to grow, Peter learned, it has to be willing to make adjustments from time to time. Its leaders have to be open to the Holy Spirit. The status quo may feel comfortable, but the truth is that the Holy Spirit is always moving, so it is up to us to keep up.

To keep up takes discipline, commitment and training. It is not unlike becoming an athlete. The fact is, as some have noted, we are not born with the ability to insist on resurrection everywhere we turn. It takes the discipline and repetition that forms an athlete – in this case, a spiritually fit Christian.

We practice our faith because we must – it withers and atrophies unless it is stretched. We must continue to give evidence of the faith that is within us.

During the Easter season we are training ourselves for the purpose of what some have called “fighting the good fight.” Like Peter, God has given us a vision to stretch our hearts and minds for the future. God has renewed a life given to the evil of this world on behalf of those with no other helper. That earth-shattering and tomb-shattering rebirth has planted the seeds of hope in each one of us. Yet those seeds do not produce fruit without struggle.

The disciples were looking for new hope in the midst of death and struggle. As a nation and a people they were in grave danger as outlaws of the status quo Roman occupation. But their willingness to accept new members is evidence of the hope that was within them as a people.

The Christian community that would eventually spread from Jerusalem to the far ends of the earth was a community that could adapt and include. It had to in order to practice its faith in strange lands, with different peoples and cultures, always welcoming new members and growing in knowledge and spirit.

The Christian community is meant to be a mutual hope society, with each one offering courage to another whose hope is fragile. I am inspired by the promise that no matter how lost you might feel, new life is possible. Our work as a community is constant – it will not end until the end of all things. Like Peter, we are called to spread the word, year in and year out, and to invite others in. Our hope and joy are in the words, "Alleluia, he is risen! Indeed, he is risen, Alleluia!" For the body of Christ is risen when even a small part of it can rejoice that God continues to make old things new.

Peapods and Prodigals

"Necessity, is she who is the mother of invention."

This passage from Plato’s Republic came to mind as I thought about the many ways that people are creative. And because this morning’s gospel lesson is about the prodigal son, I thought a lot about creativity with pea pods.

In the Middle East, pea pods are used to make soup. In some Chinese recipes, pea pods are a basic ingredient for stir-fry dishes. With a handful of thyme, some olive oil and a little lemon zest, one can create a nutritious pea pod salad. In Massachusetts, there is even a restaurant named The Green Peapod Restaurant, and one major auto maker has an amazing electric mini car called, you guessed it, The Peapod.

God only knows the myriad ways one can be creative—even with simple pea pods.

The first lesson of the prodigal son is that one needs motivation to be creative, and that when we have too much stuff in our lives, we have less to motivate creativity. And so the younger son of the property owner asked for the inheritance that was going to come to him and left home. In a far away place, he ended up squandering his wealth until all that was left was pea pods.

His story teaches us that creativity is not an automatic consequence of necessity. If it were so, then the prodigal son might have done more than eat pea pods. Instead, he allowed himself to sink deeper and deeper into despair, until his only choice, apparently, was death by starvation (more likely humiliation and guilt) or go home to daddy.

Two not-very-creative options.

And so, we might ask, why did Luke want us to know that Jesus told this story to the grumbling Pharisees?

According to Luke, Jesus told this parable to Pharisees who were complaining about his association with tax collectors and sinners; Jesus was welcoming them, and even eating with them.

Lesson number two of the prodigal son is that Jesus welcomed change. According to Jesus, we might infer that rules were meant to be broken, especially if they were too strict and lacked a good rationale.

The Pharisees followed strict rules, and they imagined that they had God on their side. Rule #1 was that fear and intimidation keep us in line. Rule #1 says, “Thou Shalt Be Afraid.” It is such a bad rule because it undercuts creativity. What might happen if we try a new food, a new prayer book, welcome in a stranger who looks different than we?

The Pharisees did not like it that Jesus welcomed new ideas, new members into the fold, new opportunities for growth and understanding about what it means to be God’s children.

In answer to rule # 1, Jesus said, “Be not afraid. Only believe.”

The Pharisee’s rule #2 is the false idea that whatever situation you are in is going to continue forever. Despair, despair, despair. Accept that you cannot change things. If bad things happen, it must be because you did something wrong and God exists to punish you.

How many of us look at the newspaper or TV and say, “This is never going to change. Leaders are corrupt, selfish, power hungry, egoists; hunger and poverty and war continue, and that’s the way it is going to be … forever.”?

My guess is that most Americans have this attitude because we buy in to rule #2: Thou shalt not imagine that you can make a difference.

Again, Jesus says, “Be not afraid. Only believe.”

Finally, rule #3 says dictates that things must stay the same, and that change threatens our values and will disturb our future.

If there is one thing to notice about the life and ministry of Jesus, it is that he was constantly moving. Moving from town to town; welcoming different types of people; teaching individuals on one day and large groups the next; and moving from an old concept of God as judge, to a new concept of God as a parent who forgives.

Perhaps, as the prodigal son walks the many miles towards home, he recites Psalm 32: “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

And as he travels, a still small voice speaks to him and says, “Be not afraid. Only believe.”

The point of the parable is that forgiveness is a free gift. The boy’s father, being the strong and confident person that he is, does not hesitate one second to welcome his son home. No. He welcomes him in his heart even when the boy is far away. Compassion and love far outweigh any need of the payback the older brother (i.e. the Pharisee) expect.

And we are warned not to be like the Pharisees whose God seeks vengeance. Jesus teaches us that God is like the father in the story. God forgives. Moreover, forgiveness is a two-way gift. Both the giver and the receiver grow. In forgiving, we find the source of joy and wonder that fills us with health and vigor. When we forgive, we begin to feel a sense of purpose and direction. Our lives begin to change, really change, and we are transformed from earth bound humans to spiritual beings.

The great priest and mystic Teihard de Chardin wrote that:

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Jesus understood this and he prayed that all people would come to see that judgment of others comes out of our human experience, but forgiveness, understanding and love, come from our spiritual experience.

Jesus calls us to a life of forgiveness. It is an over and over again calling, and in order to keep it fresh and genuine, he gave us the great gift of his body and blood, the ultimate food and drink of new, never-ending forgiveness for what we have done and the charge to be forgiving to others who fall short. have wronged us.

Can we do it? We can, but we will fall short. And when we do, we must know that we can return to this table, again and again, and that we will be received joyfully, renewed, and redirected to be the source and agents of God’s never-ending love and forgiveness in the world we have been given.