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A Sermon by
Cynthia Bauleke
Removing
Obstacles
Mark 9:38-50 Perhaps you have read Life of Pi by
Yann Martel, a book which many seem to be reading now. The main character,
Piscine Molitor Patel, a boy of India, goes by the nickname Pi to avoid
teasing by his classmates. Pi is a good student, with an inquisitive mind,
which helps him through the adventures of the book, when he is stranded in a
life raft with a bengal tiger, but that’s not the part of the story I want to
focus on today. Pi is a very devout young man. He faithfully
follows the religion of his Hindu culture which speaks to his heart with
wonder. At fourteen he enters a Christian church, over a number of days a
priest tells him the Story of Christianity and of God’s love. Pi meets Jesus
Christ, and is filled with a sense of peace and awe. When Pi is fifteen he is
introduced to Islam, and is intrigued by their ritual of prayer and the beauty
of this religion of brotherhood and devotion. Pi follows the tenants of all
three religions, for to Pi, “The presence of God is the finest of rewards.” He
takes instruction regularly from the Hindu pandit, the Christian priest, and
the Muslim imam, worshiping faithfully in the temple, the church, and the
mosque, as he grows in faith. One fine Sunday afternoon, Pi is strolling
along a seaside esplanade with his parents, very secular parents. As they
walk, they encounter the pandit, the priest, and the imam, also out for a
Sunday walk. All three converge on Pi and his parents at the same moment. Each
of these wise men sees this as an opportunity to meet Pi’s parents and
compliment them on the devotion of their son. As each of the wise men see
they are headed for the same destination, they are unhappy with each other. As
they realize theirs is not the sole claim to nurturing Pi’s faith they are
astounded. Soon a heated argument breaks out, each defending their turf,
extolling the uniqueness of their religion. As the tension mounts, the wise
men begin shouting, tearing down the others’ religion. When it looks like they
might come to blows Pi’s father interrupts their heated debate. The pandit
speaks, with the priest and imam nodding their agreement, “He can’t be a
Hindu, a Christian, and a Muslim. It’s impossible. He must choose.” It is Pi’s mother who turns to him and asks,
“How do you feel about the question?” With a face red with embarrassment, Pi blurts
out, “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God.”
Pi’s embarrassment is matched by that of his parents and the wise men. How can
you reprimand a boy for wanting to love God? These three wise men are trying to draw clear
boundaries around their understanding of their religions, boundaries which
include some and exclude others. That’s what the disciples are doing, in our
reading from Mark. The Bible never seems to hide the human weaknesses of its
heroes. In today’s gospel we find jealousy raising its ugly head among the
disciples. They want to domesticate God’s liberating love and make themselves
its sole distributors. The disciples are complaining to Jesus that some one
was casting out demons in Jesus name, but because this one was not following
them, they tried to forbid it. But Jesus is not threatened by goodness
outside his own circle; he does not try to domesticate the doing of good. As
he refuses to box in goodness, he invites his fragile insecure disciples to a
wider vision, to a recognition of God's goodness no matter where it is to be
found. Jesus tells them that anyone who does any act of mercy, however small,
as simple as giving a cup of water, is affirmed and welcomed by Jesus. The lesson is still
valuable for us today. The cause of Christ is not served by rejecting other
ways to God. The cause of Christianity is not helped by those who claim that
no real good can happen beyond the boundaries of one's denomination or
persuasion. We can all take pride in the good done by our community without
denigrating the good work of those who are "not one of us." As those who
follow Christ we are called to be open and receptive to good news wherever we
find it. Two weeks ago I traveled with three other
women of our church to San Francisco for study leave. We attended a retreat
and a training at Grace Cathedral, learning about the labyrinth, an ancient
tool used as a spiritual discipline. A labyrinth is a circular design laid out
on the floor. We learned that as you follow the path of the labyrinth in to
the center and out again, it becomes a path of prayer, with the movement of
the body helping to quiet the mind. The simple practice of walking the
labyrinth, of bringing burdens and questions to this sacred space, has a way
of reducing stress, creating peace, and helping to work through the issues of
life in God’s presence. It was an intense and spiritually nourishing time for
the four of us. We came away excited about the possibility of having a
labyrinth for our community of faith and the variety of ways it might be used
to deepen our spiritual lives. Since we were in San Francisco on Sunday I
thought we might enjoy experiencing worship at Glide Memorial Chapel, a United
Methodist Church. Glide is a unique experience. It chose to be in one of the
poorest parts of the city 40 years ago. Outside an old building showing it’s
age, people wait in line to worship while members with orange vests direct
traffic. The church is involved in dozens of local ministries and social
service projects, fighting hunger, homelessness, and abuse. As we arrived the
gathering congregation was far more diverse than we see in our sanctuary. All
kinds of folks from street people to professionals greeted us. People
represented the colors of the rainbow, and as you might expect in San
Francisco, there was a diversity of sexual orientations represented in the
congregation. As we arrived there was a lot of chatter with
people greeting people and checking in with each other until the “Change Band”
began to play. The ensemble of 60+ voices gathered on the stage with the band
and sang a series of gospel songs it was impossible to sit still through. As
soon as the music began people were on their feet, moving and clapping in time
to the music, while ushers walked the aisles offering fans and Kleenex. Once
they started clapping, they never stopped, there was even applause for the
announcements. Worship at Glide is based on oral tradition, with no bulletins
and lots of music. Near the end of the service, Cecil Williams, who continues
to be the driving force of Glide, even though he is suppose to be retired, got
up to preach. In his distinctive and rousing African-American style Reverend
Williams warms up the crowd, accompanied by encouraging words from the
congregation, until he has everyone’s attention: “I don’t want anyone to leave
not hearing what I have to say . . . I want to be perfectly clear . . . I want
you to understand.” By now we’re pretty sure his next line is to tell us that
God is good, or Jesus loves us. We were surprised to hear him say very clearly
that he is for same sex marriage. He went on to talk about marriage, and his
own marriage and divorce many years ago, and his current marriage, and how
difficult it is to let go of old patterns and share equally in a marriage
because, according to Cecil Williams, marriage is about love and about
equality. In closing he warned “there are those who will use the Bible to make
you feel inferior, or sick, or that you have a problem. We need to find a way
to let folks know: love penetrates every sphere of life. It’s liberation time
- wake up to life stayed on freedom.” Which of course leads into song. We were
energized and amazed by this style of worship, so very different from our own.
We felt God’s presence in a dramatic way. It was still early, so we headed out of Glide
and up the hill to Grace Cathedral where we experienced a completely different
style of worship. As you may know, Grace is a relatively new Cathedral, it was
completed in 1964, and although it is Episcopalian, it’s architecture is based
on Notre Dam. It is a huge stone edifice on the top of Nob Hill with gorgeous
stained glass windows, murals, side chapels and of course labyrinths inside
and out. Everything is on a large scale and still gets lost in that vast
space. It is a very quiet, very formal, and awesome space. The people, dressed
in Sunday best, are welcoming. Because we are part of the retreat we have
reserved seats to the side of the altar, which is helpful, since if you sit in
the back you can barely see what’s going on up front. As worship begins the cathedral bells ring
out a hymn, the organ sounds and a procession of twenty clergy and liturgists,
wearing purple cossacks and stoles process behind the cross, the Bible, and
the incense. The boys choir and the professional men’s choir complete the
procession all dressed in purple. The liturgy is long and intricate and it is
sung. The bulletins are multiple pages. No one claps, calls out, or even
speaks here. People barely move, except to stand, kneel, or come forward for
communion with the optional prayer for healing in the side chapel. On this
Sunday celebrating the arts, it is a guest preacher, Donald Runnicles, the
Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, and a member of the congregation,
who speaks on celebrating life which is art. Here too, we felt God’s presence
in a dramatic way. There were obvious contrasts between the two
worship experiences, and yet there were many similarities. Grace Cathedral
sees itself as “a place of prayer for all people.” Their welcome states that
they “believe in one God known in Jesus Christ, also known by different names,
welcoming all who seek an inclusive community of love.” Glide advertises its
self as a place where “unconditional love changes lives every day and hope
triumphs over sorrow.” Besides dramatic worship, these are both churches
where God’s love is known, outsiders are welcomed in, and church members
actively reach out in God’s love to address the needs of their community and
the world. It takes more faith and courage to embrace
outsiders and welcome strangers than it takes to insulate ourselves. It takes
more love to tolerate diversity than it does to live with the comfort of
homogeneity. It takes tremendous hope to greet those outside our circle with
confidence and grace, rather than insecurity and fear. Thanks be to God for the faith, courage,
hope, and love that we have in Christ, so evident in these two churches, just
as it is here in this community of faith. Faith, courage, hope, and love which
over comes concerns about who is in and who is out. Together, let us be
expansive in our witness, that all might know God’s dominion and love. The
good news is that God’s love is for all of us. Amen. |