Luke 12:49-56
Proper 15 / Year C
Jesus said, “You
know how to interpret the weather, but do not understand the present time.” He is drawing ever nearer to Jerusalem and despite
what he has been telling his followers, they do not understand it will lead to
his arrest and crucifixion. The signs
are there, but they don’t see it. These words
of Jesus will take on a new and profound meaning when St. Luke writes his
gospel some forty years later. The Roman
army has sacked Jerusalem and burned the Temple. Judaism is in ruins as a result of its attempted
rebellion. Jesus’ words reverberate
across two generations. Those who led
the Hebrews to rise up are fools and hypocrites who did not know how to
interpret the times.
President Reagan
began a tradition which most have followed since. From time to time, he invited small groups of
historians to the White House to reflect with him on the state of the country
and the world. Presidents, by nature of
the job, tend to work day-to-day, but Reagan desired to step back in order to
see the bigger picture.
President Biden understands
the value of this and recently met with a handful of historians who, for lack of
a better phrase, wanted to help him interpret the times. According to one newspaper article, they
focused almost exclusively on the rise of totalitarianism around the world and
threats to American democracy. These
scholars compared our times to the era preceding the Civil War and the
pre-World War II years in which fascist movements emerged. They believe we are in perilous times because
the systems set in place to prevent the abuse of power are not working and as a
result our democracy is in a dangerous position.
I am glad our
president is working to “interpret the present times.” Seeing what is happening and knowing how to
respond to it are not the same thing however.
Let me suggest a
step forward each of us can take. I
offer it from our own Bishop Susan who wrote this on Facebook while attending
Lambeth Conference in England this past week.
Lambeth, of course, is a once a decade gathering of Anglican bishops
from all over the world:
The Bishops considered two Lambeth Calls
-- one on Reconciliation and one on Human Dignity. As we considered our call and obligation as a
church to work for reconciliation of the world to God, one idea that resonated
with me more than anything was this: Even though we are a church that disagrees
deeply on some things, our brothers (and sisters) are NOT our enemies. The bonds of affection unite us. Even if at times we seem to be walking on
different paths, we walk together. I
value this unity more than anything. Even when I am angry with a brother or
sister, I cannot disconnect myself from that person.
As we considered the call on Human
Dignity, we realized that the Church is in two different places. Many provinces (in fact, as Archbishop Justin
pointed out several times, the majority) recognize marriage as being only
between a man and a woman, there are some provinces that recognize same-sex
marriage also as being life-giving.
This is the reality of our Communion.
We were exhorted to hold this reality in
tension and allow the Holy Spirit to work a new truth. And while no formal vote was taken, we all
left our discussions with a new sense of hope and with a sense of being in love
and charity with our neighbor.
We now turn our attention to becoming
curious about this question: what do those who disagree with us need from us in
order to flourish? How can we pour
ourselves out so that the other will live? I daresay, in our own country, instead of
beating the drum of division, if we could only wonder about what it would take
for those who differ from us to flourish. Would we find life in that?
Those with whom we
disagree are not our enemies. What do those
who disagree with us need from us in order to flourish? Are not these what need to affirm and to ask in
the context of our present time?
In four weeks our Suffolk
Episcopal congregations will gather for Sunday morning worship here at St. Paul’s
with Bishop Susan here to preach and celebrate.
We will be “Remembering Together” the 21st anniversary of the
September 11 attack on our country. It
was an event none of us saw coming. I
remember very clearly the two biggest stories in August 2001 were shark attacks
at Florida beaches and President Bush hosting Little League baseball games on
the White House lawn. Never did it dawn
on us something so nefarious and world-changing was being put into play. We did not interpret the times. Had any one of us known what was being planned
we would have shouted from the rooftops in order to prevent it.
I don’t know what
the future holds. When I was ordained
they didn’t give me a crystal ball, only a pulpit. So I will use what I have been given to say “Look
around.” What do you see happening? How is God calling you as a follower of Jesus
and us as a church to respond? I sense
we are in perilous times. We need to
learn how to listen to one another in this place… and then, as our godly gift
to the world to share our common life as a witness to our community and to the
world.
