As we await Hurricane Irma’s landfall in Florida, we begin with a prayer from our Bishop of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod. Let us pray. Gracious Lord Jesus, who in the midst of the storm cried out, “Peace, be still!”, we pray for the calming of Hurricane Irma and for the protection of all who are in danger. We pray for those who will place their own lives at risk for the sake of others who are in need. We pray for all in leadership positions in our communities, cities, states and nation that they may demonstrate courage and compassion as they seek to fulfill their responsibilities of providing care for those who seek guidance and relief. And, O Lord, in the midst of our own fears, by your Holy Spirit, grant us the gifts of faith, hope and love and enfold us in your peace. Amen.
Confrontation. Hurricane Irma is certainly confrontational, but we humans are not experts in confrontation. We try all kinds of different strategies to get around it. Nagging. Swallowing our anger and feelings. Complaining. It is rare to find a person good at confrontation: someone who can gently approach a subject of tension, discuss it in with a rational, reasonable way, and then leave it in the past.
Theologian Irene Nowell says “the problem with confrontation seems to be two-fold: too much fear, not enough hope. We are afraid of anger, rejection, another blow from the offender. We cannot arouse enough hope to believe we can be reconciled.
At the same time, to cease to expect anything from a person was the same as condemning that person to death. The person from whom (we) expect nothing might as well be a post on the side of the road.”1
Today’s readings are difficult. We are driven into expectation. To expect goodness when someone wrongs us. Ezekiel reveals a God who will wait until the very last minute, a God who is willing to let go of past wrongdoings to focus on how we respond today. The God of second chances demands that prophets and followers persevere and run the race. Not giving up on ourselves. Not writing off other people as hopeless.
Our Gospel makes clear that reconciliation is expected by God. That whenever we are gathered as two or more in the name of Jesus, Jesus will be there. Sounds like a great philosophy in the ancient church, but what does it have to do with us today? How does this relate to you and to me?
The Gospel cries out for us to find a way to reconcile without lifting ourselves as the righteous one and pointing out the wickedness of the other. Yet we stumble.
My heart breaks for the people in the path of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katia. For those recovering from an immense earthquake in Mexico. Flooding, fires, homelessness, loss. We all know someone who has experienced or feared the capacity of Mother Nature’s destruction.
News stories flooding the internet regarding climate change and politicians. Whose fault are these natural disasters? Price gauging and supplies running out. Looters. We hear a lot about the “bad guys”, those we label as bad. Which assumes we are the “good.” We try to convince each other to join a side, to take a stance.
But labels like this place blame. Blame is never a way to resolve a conflict. Blame is often a manipulative tool to avoid reconciliation, as we try to make ourselves right and others wrong. Blame pushes us further away from the confrontation and reconciliation described in today’s readings.
2 Side by side on the internet were two articles. One article declared concern for climate change, but denounced President Trump for policy ideas and alluding that all Republicans are not concerned about climate change. The other was a picture of Republican men banding together, driving trucks with small boats in the direction of Houston, with the intention to rescue people and animals with their own time and resources. Judgment and mercy. Death and life.
The first story was academic, debating in theory who is at fault for climate changes and disasters we experience. God is moving us in the direction of the second story. A group of people seeing that their neighbors are in need, and doing what they can to help. Mercy. Life.
Today, as Christ’s church, we need this reminder. Jesus is not a Republican or Democrat or Independent. Those are labels we use. Labels we often use to place a negative stereotype on someone. Labels that keep us from reconciliation.
Jesus constantly talks with the least of these: tax collectors, Gentiles, sinners. Jesus invites us to gather. To unbind ourselves from all that gets in the way of being in relationship. To release our judgment and love our neighbor. We struggle and fail, over and over again, to love every neighbor as we love God and ourselves. Today’s Gospel demands us to expect goodness from the other person.
Right after today’s Gospel reading is the passage, “how many times must I forgive?” and Jesus responds “Seventy times seven.”
When we struggle, when we fail, all is not lost. There is hope, the same hope that God has in each one of us. Hope that as two or three of us are gathered in His name, we will not forget that Jesus is also gathered with us. Hope that God holds out to see us turn from our desire to judge, blame, and destroy our neighbor with evil thoughts and wicked words.
If we give up hope in another person, we are surely condemning that person to death in our minds. Jesus isn’t about death. Jesus is about life. And life abundant.
“The meaning of our redemption is precisely that God, in the face of all odds, continued to hope in us.”2 Even as Ezekiel calls us to turn from our wicked ways, God does not delight in the punishment of the wicked. God delights as we transform. God delights as we seek to reconcile and be community. God delights in life.
We sit in a catastrophic climate season on this earth, both literally and figuratively. Even as the hurricane wreaks havoc with winds and storm surges, there is always a moment when the eye passes over. For a moment, there is blue sky. The calm in the midst of the storm.
The calm peace of the eye and the violence of the storm cannot be separated. But as a gathered people, we can choose how we respond. With judgment for those unprepared, or with love for those in crisis.
Our lessons today suggest that God holds out hope that each one of us will follow the example that Jesus shows on the cross. Love that overcomes evil and wicked thoughts. Love that lifts up life, not death. Love that is poured out for every person, especially where two or more are gathered in his name.
This is the love God is calling us into today, even in the midst of the storm. As we struggle with confrontation and reconciliation, can we name what holds us back from living fully into this calling of radical love? Can we release what holds us back from accepting this love from others? Even as we discern these answers, God still hopes for us.
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Nowell, Irene. Reflection on Matthew 18:15-20.