Beloved Community
Pentecost 2 June 11, 2023
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Good morning and welcome to the Second Sunday after Pentecost at the Beloved Community of The Episcopal Mission of the Center at St. Matthew’s, “We are small but mighty!” Now that I have my first run-on sentence out of the way. It was suggested to me that I talk about my thoughts on community. We, humans, were created by God to be social. In Genesis, we’re told God created Man and saw he needed a partner, so God created women, and since then, we’ve been together with others. Here right now is one of my communities. This is my faith community. In today’s Gospel reading, we hear about Jesus creating the first community of followers. Today, some 2,000+ years later, we gather to commune with others to remember Christ’s sacrifice and to learn from and nurture each other in our walk with God. Further along in Matthew, we read, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” We are encouraged, nearly commanded, to fellowship with each other. Why is this so important? Many hands make light work; no one is an island… there are so many cliches. During the COVID lockdown, humankind was reminded of our need for physical community. On Sunday mornings, I walk in here and get hugs from Fr. Grant, Deacon Babs, and Lis. Jim will ask how my week was. Here we now sit; the worship team will read the lessons, someone will “preach,” and we will share in the Holy Eucharist. Okay, that’s all good and nice, but we’re here for Jim’s sandwiches, Babs’ bread pudding, and all the other goodies as we sit around the table in the back and share an “Agape” meal. We share not only in the goodies, but we share “us.” That’s the power of community. During Morning Prayer, I shared an earlier reflection about how I wound up chewing on the downrange end of a 9mm 30-ish years ago. I was alone, isolated, and felt no one would understand or “get it” about what I had experienced after three major traumatic incidents I responded to as an Army Medic and a civilian VFF/EMT. I had no community, period. Community is not just bodies; I’ve said for years that I could be alone in a crowd. Community is also spiritual and emotional; it’s that sense of belonging. “I’m with my Peeps,” as they say now. I “belong” here at St. Matthew’s. We reach out to the homeless community and provide support in any way we can. The spiritual mentorship of Fr. Grant and Deacon Babs, as I discern my spiritual calling to minister to my brother and sister veterans. Jesus’ ministry was all about building a beloved community of those whom he said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
That’s the easy part. In the second part of our Gospel reading this morning, the disciples are challenged by the original “Community Standards Police,” the Pharisees. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” they ask in verse 11. Our “community” is not just those we share similar tastes or those with whom we are comfortable being around. Our “community” is everyone around us. Here at St. Matthew’s, on the third Saturday of the month, gather and take food and other needed items to people experiencing homelessness in our area. Grant is establishing a presence here on weekdays for Morning Prayer so the folks in our area know they can come to that prominent, beautiful spire and get help. We have a well-stocked bookcase in the back where anyone may get food. And as this new ministry expands, more resources will be made available. In other Gospel readings on following Christ, he says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Over the years, significant debate has been on the meaning and symbolism of the cross. For me, it’s simple; a cross is anything we don’t want to do or is a challenge for us to do. It’s difficult to minister to or relate to those society has deemed “lesser than or evil.” The Pharisees in today’s Gospel dropped that bomb on the Disciples. I can hear the whine now, “Ewww, sinners….” Yet, throughout Jesus’ three yearish ministry, he almost exclusively hung out with the poor, the marginalized, and any others society cast aside. The call to Christ is not easy, simple, or in vogue. On Thursday, the 25th of May, I traveled with a fellow Brother in Christ and Veteran to Soledad State Prison, where a “Veteran’s Hub” celebrated its second anniversary. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has instituted a program for Veterans to help them transition when released. It has, in two years, a 0% recidivism rate. Prisons are not fun places to visit. I had to follow a dress code, leave most of my stuff behind, and show my ID and a pass at every Sally Port. In my time in EMS, I responded to prison calls, and it was a very uneasy experience. Not there, inside the yard at the Veteran’s Hub, I fellowshipped with over two hundred of my brother Veterans and never felt any concern. We’re moving forward with starting a program at Folsom Prison. It’s a long and slow process, but it’s Christ’s call to “Follow Me.”
He invited us to continue the work he started over two thousand years ago. When he provided the most perfect sacrifice for our sins and asked that we sacrifice a piece of ourselves to God for others, that is our challenge, as Deacon Babs dismisses us later, “To go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
Amen